Family
Lord of Shadows
“Ugh,” Junhyung groaned, leaning back on Ilhoon’s bed. “I can’t believe I forgot my own birthday.”
“You’ve been asleep for five years,” Ilhoon replied as he laid out a black suit. “I think that counts as an excuse.”
“I guess,” Junhyung rolled over as he watched Ilhoon pull ties out from his sock drawer. “So, what do you guys do for my birthday, throw a big parade or something?”
“Don’t get too full of yourself,” Ilhoon sighed, “It’s usually just a day where the family gets together, visits your grave and-”
“Wait, back it up a second,” Junhyung sat up, “my grave?!”
Ilhoon sighed, “Yeah. Once the police had called off the search for you guys, we all just had to face the fact that you were gone. We set the grave about three years ago, and we visit it every year on your birthday. Well, dad and I visit it once a year, but mom and Jiyoon go at least once a month.” Ilhoon sighed once more before continuing. “Anyway, we usually just spend the day at the grave, talking to you, telling you what you missed and how much we miss you. Most of the time, I’ve always kept myself from crying, until the others head for the car, then I’ll apologize for causing your disappearance.”
“Man,” Junhyung groaned rolling back onto the bed, “that’s depressing.”
Ilhoon dropped his ties and glanced at Junhyung. “No, you’re right, that is depressing.” A small smirk appeared on Ilhoon’s face before turning to the door. “Mom, Dad, Jiyoon!”
“AHHH!” Junhyung immediately panicked and fazed into the bed just as the door swung open.
“Ilhoon, what’s wrong?!” His mother yelled, running over to her son as his father and sister entered.
“Nothing, I’m fine,” Ilhoon smiled, “but, can I ask you for something?”
‘Jung Ilhoon, what are you doing?’ Junhyung panicked from shadows.
“What is it, Ilhoon?” The father asked.
“Mom, Dad, I don’t want to go to Jaesoon’s grave tomorrow.”
“What, why not?” Ilhoon’s mom stammered, “don’t you want to see your brother?”
“I do,” Ilhoon replied, “But I wanna go about it differently. Why should we spend the day being sad and depressed; it’s Jaesoon’s birthday, not his death-day. And if I know my brother, he hated when people were sad on his birthday.”
‘Damn right,’ Junhyung remarked, causing Ilhoon to chuckle.
“So here’s what I think,” Ilhoon proposed, “Instead of spending the whole day mourning at the grave, let celebrate at Jaesoon’s favorite places, that way it’d be just like he’s there with us.”
The family paused, thinking about Ilhoon’s proposition.
“Don’t you think that’s a little disrespectful?” Jiyoon asked.
Ilhoon shook his head, “Trust me, Jaesoon was not the kind of person to sit around and mope. He’d want us to have fun as a family.”
“I guess that sounds alright,” their father commented. “It’ll be like he’s still here.”
“Yeah,” Jiyoon cheered. “We can go to the arcade, the boardwalk and… um… where else did Jaesoon like to go?”
“Karaoke!” Ilhoon answered as the family turned in his direction. “Um… I think he liked karaoke.”
‘I do now, it’s kinda a new thing,’ Junhyung remarked.
“I guess family karaoke could be fun,” their father remarked and the Jung siblings cheered before they turned to their silent mother.
“Mom?” Jiyoon asked, worried her mom hated the idea.
“Please,” Ilhoon pleaded, “just this once?”
The woman sighed before looking up and smiling at her two children, “Ok, let’s do it.”
The next morning the family all gathered into the car in hopes of honoring their missing member. Much to Jiyoon’s confusion, Ilhoon slid into the middle seat, next to his sister, leaving the other window seat for his fallen brother. Junhyung chuckled at this idea, insisting he didn’t need a seat while he stuck to the shadows, but Ilhoon insisted, purely for the nostalgia.
The first stop was the arcade. Although this wasn’t one of the Jung mother’s favorite places, she couldn’t hide the smile on her face watching her children playing games and observing her husband act a quarter of his age. Jiyoon and Mr. Jung were busy scoring points at Skee-ball while Ilhoon played a first-person shooter. Thankfully, because it was early on a school day, the arcade wasn’t crowded so while his family wasn’t looking, Ilhoon set up the game for two players and let Junhyung take control of the other toy gun with his telekinesis.
‘Even without my body, I’m still gonna mop the floor with you,’ Junhyung taunted.
‘In your dreams,’ Ilhoon responded, ‘I’m not the little eight-year-old I used to be.’
The two of them played trading off the lead in points. Ilhoon was often reminded of his childhood when his older brother and him would often compete in every game they could find, from first person shooters to air-hockey. Back then, Jaesoon would more than often trounce the younger, but with the five years of growth, Ilhoon finally had his moment.
“YES I DID IT!” Ilhoon cheered, holding his gun above his head. “Yeah, yeah, I did it~ I smoked you, oh yeah!” Ilhoon danced in celebration as his sister approached.
“What’s the point in celebrating when you don’t have an opponent?”
Ilhoon stopped his dancing and Junhyung couldn’t contain his laughter.
“C’mon little bro,” Jiyoon smiled at Ilhoon, “I’ll play you in air-hockey.”
‘I play winner!’ Junhyung called and it was Ilhoon’s turn to laugh.
‘She can’t see or hear you, hyung.’
‘What a rip off.’
Ilhoon and Jiyoon played video games for what felt like hours until their parents called them away. Before they knew it, they were off to the next activity.
The family arrived at the local karaoke place. The two children kept ordering beverages while their parents looked for songs to sing. Jiyoon eventually performed first with a Lee Hyori song while Ilhoon danced on the sidelines. Their parents performed a few classic ballads and duets while Ilhoon rocked out to English and Japanese punk rock tunes, of which he improvised most of the words he didn’t know. Jiyoon and Ilhoon performed a comedic version of Frozen’s ‘Let it Go’ erupting laughter from both the parents and their older brother.
It was Ilhoon’s turn to pick a song and he decided to take a chance and show his family just what he was capable of. Ilhoon scrolled through the music, s
Comments