chapter v.

“Halmoni, your Kibum’s back.”

Kibum crouched down in front of the gray tombstone, where the name “Kim Kiyoung” was written, and carefully placed the bouquet of white lilies, together with a small candle. Kibum had requested his driver to drop him off at his halmoni’s grave before heading home, to give respect to her and of course, tell her that her grandson’s back. The young man clasped his hands together, as he closed his eyes and started to pray for his halmoni’s soul.

“Halmoni. First of all, I want to apologize for being such a bad grandson to you. Ever since the day you took me in your care, you have given me so much that I even thought I was going to drown in it. But although you’ve always been a very loving halmoni to me, I have given you nothing, except headache and sometimes heart ache. I’m sorry. Though, you won’t be able to hear me now, I still wanna apologize to you for everything; for not being able to take care of you and for not being there on your last day.” Kibum felt his eyes b, as he sobbed softly, “…too bad you had to leave a day before my birthday.”

“I love you, halmoni. You don’t know how much I’m thanking God for giving me you. A special gift I’ll always keep inside my heart. No matter where you are right now, please remember that Kibum loves you very much, always and forever.”

He opened his eyes, a single tear sliding down his cheek.

“I’m glad to be back here with you.”

Kibum smiled and continued telling stories to his grandma about how he lived his life in the states, as if she was really there in front of him listening. He even laughed and told jokes, just like how he used to, when he was just a kid sharing stories with his grandma about his school activities.

“Ah, and halmoni! I’ve kept my promise to you that I’d take care of myself. See? I’m all grown up now. And I have an amazingly sessie body!” Kibum grinned and stood up, showing weird poses, bragging about his perfect figure to his halmoni’s grave in front of him.

“…but…” Kibum stopped his actions and bowed his head a bit, the corners of his lips slightly curving downwards.

“My promise to take care of him… I’ve broken it.”

There was silence for over a minute, until he shot his head up once again and looked at the tombstone.

“But, now that I’m back,” His lips curved upward again, “…I guess I’ll just have to start over and make up for everything I’ve failed to do for him.”

--

 “It’s been 7 years and still, nothing’s changed about the traffic. No wonder this place is on the Top 10 list of Worst Cities to drive in.”

Kibum heaved a deep sigh and rested his chin on the palm of his hand as he watched the tangled vehicles outside their car. They’ve been in a gridlock for a while now, but somehow Kibum managed to control his temper, and he himself didn’t even know how, as he sagged against the car seat. Not-getting-worked-up-about-the-traffic was a new thing for him, because normally he’d be banging on the car horn until his driver manages to convince him to stop; and normally, that doesn’t happen either. For the umpteenth time, he let out an exasperated sigh and turned to look at the wind shield beside him, and there he saw a banner where the words ‘pet shop’ were written. He smiled. That was when he realized why he didn’t lose his cool despite the distressing snarl-up. It reminded him of that time.

That afternoon, when we first met, there was a traffic jam, too. And if it weren’t for that, I wouldn’t have met him.

He felt a smile creep at the corners of his lips, and it wasn’t long before he was giggling, while every memory he had with Dubu replayed in his mind.

Mr. Jang lifted his gaze to the mirror to see a laughing Kibum beside him and smiled to the view, as the traffic began to loosen up and the engine roared to life.

--

The sky was near orange when they finally arrived at the mansion Kibum had been missing for years. The mansion was still how it was back when he was still a kid, as if he had just been out for a couple of days. Varying flowers were still sprawled around the house, the same trees still stood tall enough to shade him from the sun and the same homey scent welcomed him from the gates.

“It feels good to be back.” A faint smiled played across his face.

It was when he finally set foot through the door that he realized that it wasn’t ‘the same as before’ after all. The cold atmosphere hit his face the moment he stepped inside the mansion. Everything changed. The warmth he used to feel in that house was gone; it left the mansion, the same moment his halmoni left him. The smile that was just starting to grow was thwarted and reversed into a sad frown. How could he expect everything to stay the same, when in fact it was his everything that had gone?

He bobbed his head as those sad memories fiddled in his mind. Then suddenly, a thought crossed him. –Dubu. He shot his head back up.

                How stupid of me. How could I have forgotten about him even just for a second?

Kibum was about to run off to his bedroom when Mr. Jang called him from behind and told him that his room was being renovated, so he had to stay in another room on the 3^rd floor of the house. He was disappointed at first, but of course, he decided to just follow and let his driver him to his new room.

--

Author's Note: Sorrrrrrry. ;a; It's been a while! Ohisashiburi desu! I was too busy with school works and RP-ing Luna, I started to be less online here on AFF. ;a; But I hope you guys still read this.. ;a; I love you~