The anticipated day had finally arrived, and Yonghwa waited by the front door of Shinhye’s house with his black attire and bouquet of white flowers he had picked up along the way. Yongguk and Sunhwa joined him after a short wait, and Shinhye also descended the stairs to see them off. Between Sunhwa and Yongguk’s head he could see Shinhye standing on the fourth step, smiling at him as if she were proud. He was pretty amazed that he was going to go through with this too, but it was something he needed to mend in his life.

            The car ride had been silent most of the time. Yongguk sat shot gun while Sunhwa found it quite comfortable and roomy in the back seats. She the white petals of his freshly chosen bouquet and smiled.

            “How are you feeling?” Sunhwa wondered as they approached the parking lot outside the grave yard. He wasn’t really sure what he was feeling, and he didn’t know how to describe it other than some form of longing mixed with anxiety, so he only shrugged. They got out of the car and Yongguk lead the way, passing the cemetery gates of rusting metal that looked weak enough to snap without effort. Like all cemeteries, it didn’t matter what time of day you went, there would always be that murky, desolate atmosphere that hung around. After all, they were entering land that the dead inhabited, but pondering it too deeply would only add to the fear.

            “We’re almost there,” Yongguk directed, still walking a few steps faster than the other two. He kept his eyes straight on the path they followed, probably feeling weary from seeing so many tombstones guarding every sector of the grave. The sky itself wasn’t so gloomy when they first arrived, but as they ventured deeper into the cemetery it looked as if the clouds were coming back to taunt them. Sunhwa was one step ahead of Yonghwa, and she could see the chills riding down her spine as she shivered and pulled her black wooly cardigan tighter to her body. Despite the cold season, she still wore opened toed shoes so she must’ve been freezing compared to the two men in black suits.

            “Just over this hill,” He pointed out as they started up a small hill, defying wind and gravity. Halfway up the small hill Yonghwa could see a gravestone, slightly more elegant in appearance compared to the many others around it. Jung Seunghyun’s grave stone definitely stood out the most, but his memorial day hadn’t been so long ago. His tomb was cleaned diligently once a year by Sunhwa and Yongguk. When they got closer, Yonghwa could see the decomposing remains of old bouquets that had been left during his memorial and other left over scrap and debris like strips of colored ribbon. Something else caught his eyes amongst all the leftover junk; sprinkles of small but blood red flower petals lay around the grave stone in a fashioned way.Yonghwa grew cautious for a moment, but his eyes caught sight of a few stems of red roses placed over the grave stone beside Seunghyun’s. It was quite likely that the rough winds blew the petals over to their side. He stood in front of it, reading the name again. Sunhwa and Yongguk both stood to the side, Sunhwa’s head hung low as she waited for someone to speak. Yonghwa was a little disappointed. After seeing his grandfather’s grave, he didn’t seem to feel anything different. To him, it looked like any other grave stone because he had never known the man on a personal level. Just knowing that they had blood ties didn’t spark any sentimental value, but he wanted to pay his respects.

            “Abeoji, your grandson is finally here to see you. I’m sorry for not being able to bring him here sooner. I know how much you wanted to see him, how much you longed to hold your own grandchild in your arms and tell them that they’d become something great.” Yongguk urged words out of his mouth while containing his tears. Yongguk stood, still staring as he listened closely to his father’s words. Suddenly, everything felt more real to him. He was born to be a chaebol, and his fortunate destiny had been stolen away from him even before he was old enough to know the magnitude of his great loss. Perhaps it was better to not have known, because after hearing all this, he was able to stay calm. He couldn’t be angry for losing something he never knew he had—it just seemed too unethical.

            “You can see him can’t you? He looks a lot like you, doesn’t he? Even though I know you’re watching over him in heaven, I just wished that you could’ve stayed long enough to see his face just once before you left.” Yongguk couldn’t hold back his tears anymore and turned away, wiping his eyes gently with a handkerchief but he made no sounds of crying. Things started to finally feel emotional to Yonghwa, and to hold his tears back he started to bow politely. He wasn’t sure when he was going to stop, but for nineteen years he’s neglected paying respects to his grandfather, and he felt guilty for giving up on finding his past. His parents watched as he bowed, hoping that at least some sort of connection would form between them. The dead still had a way of affecting the living, but in the middle of his next bow, the uncertain sound of a gun being loaded caught Yongguk’s ears. He turned around to see Kang Minjung standing with a gun in her hands, aimed right for Yonghwa’s heart. Yonghwa turned in horror and froze immediately. Her fragile body was shaking with the overbearing responsibility, and it seemed as if she herself wasn’t sure of what she was doing.

            “Minjung, don’t shoot!” Yongguk pleaded, his voice was becoming muffled in tears. They had just found their son not so long ago, and Minjung had already wanted to take him away. There was no way he could accept this. Minjung didn’t take a step closer, but her body seemed to shake more intensely as seconds passed by. In response to his plea, she shook her head side to side in a slow, metronomic manner and smirked crookedly,

            “I want you to know… Just how painful it feels to have your heart ripped out right before your eyes like I have. This is where karma comes back at you for your betrayal.” Her voice was menacing and becoming hysterical. She didn’t seem in her right mind, and Yonghwa had no doubt in his heart that any second now, she would pull the trigger and his life would be over. A quick, seemingly painful death, but a death he was not ready to encounter.

            “You’re a mad lady. I told you early on that I didn’t love you.” Yongguk countered, careful with his words because he knew if he said anything offending she would shoot without hesitation. This was an extremely dangerous situation, and for all he knew she would end up shooting the three of them. Minjung ignores his reminder and with a spiteful stare, she eyed Sunhwa who had moved closer to her petrified son and croaked,

            “It’s your turn to feel the loss of the one you love the most.” A short moment after, she pulled the trigger without any further thought or negotiation, and trembled after realizing what she had done. Committing murder isn’t easy, and bearing responsibility for someone’s life isn’t worth the sweet taste of revenge. Minjung was unable to realize this until it was too late. Yongguk cried out in terror as he watched red blood flow down, forming a puddle as it reached the bottom of the small hill. The patches of snow and dirt were soaked with fresh and warm blood, now dyed a repulsive color.

            “Is this the reality you wanted?” Yongguk breathed heavily as he held the lifeless body in his arms, tears dripping down from his chin onto the corpse’s paled cheeks. Minjung’s shaking never subsided. Instead, she dropped the gun onto the dirt and fell to her knees. No, this was definitely not the reality she wanted.

A/N: OH MY GOSH WHAT JUST HAPPENED!?!?! You all didn't see this coming did you? Or did you? Am I becoming predictable? -cries- I think the next chapter will be the last. I'm surprised it's going to reach 20 (:! Thank you for reading all this time. ^^ Some of you may know that my ultimate bias is SHINee's Kim Jonghyun, hence the last dialogue kekeke Jonghyun's catch phrase ftw :D