A/N: Hi. I'm not sure if these chapters are reaching you guys because this website is currently exploding its brains out. Regardless,

Enjoy.

October 20th, 2019

With Seraphine, the days passed at a foreign pace. Not slowly, not quickly, but somewhere between the two. Over the last week or so, we've worked day and night to get the EP finished. And between the two of us, we managed to finish up almost every song— arrangement. All that was left was the mixing, which would take a bit of time. But I was confident that Sera and I would be able to do it well, and do it quickly. The only issue, however, was agreeing on a final duet.

We had five of the tracks completed, which included Sera's solo songs, my solo songs, and the one duet we recorded.

Initially, I brought up the idea of covering a song.

"Let's just do a cover," I said.

"I don't think that's allowed," Sera said.

"The assignment never mentioned anything like that," I reasoned. "And people release covers as part of EPs all the time. Look at all of the Christmas albums over the years."

"Well, that's—" She pressed a finger to her lips in thought. "That's… totally fair. Okay. What song did you have in mind?"

"A DEAN song."

"DEAN?" She repeated. "Are you sure?"

I nodded. "It's a good song for the EP. It juxtaposes your song. Instead of wishing for an old lover to go away, the song is about asking them to come over and trying to find comfort with them."

Sera placed her hands over the keyboard. "What is it called?"

"Come Over," I answered.

She quickly found the song and played it. A few minutes into the song, she turned to me. "Let's sing it."

And the final song of our EP was finished soon after.

[;]

October 23rd, 2019

As I looked through our tracklist on the computer, Seraphine came from behind me and placed a hand on my shoulder.

"Satisfied?" She asked jokingly. "I swear, Jae. This is the fifth time you've looked at this in the last ten minutes. Is there anything you want to change?"

I shook my head. "It's fine. I'm just… afraid? Nervous?"

"Well, you're—"

My phone began to buzz in my pocket, interrupting Seraphine. From the rhythm and the ringtone, I knew it was my sister. And so did she. I picked up the phone.

"Yes?" I asked.

"Be home within the next hour. We're visiting them today."

"Today?" I asked. "But it's a week early."

"I couldn't get that day off. Sorry, Jae."

I sighed. "Okay. I'll be home by then, Noona."

"Thank you."

I hung up the phone and nervously checked the time. It was almost six in the evening. And I didn't bring my bike today because I planned on being home a little later— after the traffic cleared up— and because I was feeling slightly lazy.

"Se— Sera," I began. "Do you mind d— driving me to my house?"

Sera's mouth dropped in surprise. "Are you sure?"

I slowly nodded. My hands found their way into my pockets. "My sister needs me to be home. We're… we're visiting my parents' graves. It's the anniversary of their deaths soon, and even though we go on the exact day, my sister couldn't get that day off and… " I trailed off, realizing that was over-explaining. And how winded I was.

Seraphine nodded once. "I understand. You don't need to talk about it unless you want to, Jae. Alright?"

"Yeah." I forced a smile. "Thank you, Sera."

"Do you need to leave now?"

"Yes."

"Okay," Sera said. She began to gather her belongings. I numbly did the same.

[;]

A few inches from the handle of the passenger-side door to Sera's car, my hand froze. Seraphine, who had already pulled her door open and stepped inside of the car glanced at me warily. Seeing the look on my face, she rushed to my side and placed one hand on mine while the other came to rest on my shoulder. "Jaemin?" She asked.

Steeling myself, I grabbed the door handle until my knuckles grew white.

"Jae," Sera said. "Are you sure you want me to—"

"I'm okay, Sera." I responded. "The sooner we get this done, the better I'll feel."

She stared at me for a time. But she eventually released me and returned to her side of the car.

I popped open the door and took a seat. My hands drifted to my pockets. I stared out of the windshield, and a wave of nausea surged through me. I felt sick, even with simply sitting in the car. I glanced at Sera. "Let's… let's go."

She had her finger on the Start Engine button. "Are you sure?"

"Sera," I choked. "Please."

Sera started the car. The engine rumbled to life.

My breath left me again. I clutched the sides of my chair for dear life. Just like I had all those years ago—

"You have amaxophobia?" Sera asked.

"I… I do."

"Is it…" She trailed off.

Don't say it. Don't say it. I know you know, but please, for the love of god, don't say it out loud.

Sera, seemingly hearing my thoughts, closed her mouth and turned her attention to the road. "What can I do to help make this easier, Jae?"

"Drive safe. Very. Very safe." Sera looked like a safe driver. I trusted her. I forced myself to trust her. Because if I wasn't going to get a ride from her, I would have to walk home. And walking home would not have made me feel any better.

"Okay," Seraphine agreed. "I am a safe driver." She giggled. "Angelic, actually."

Her laugh brought some life back into me. "Really?" I checked. "You sure?"

Sera rolled her eyes. "Have some faith in me, Jae."

Her carefree attitude should have scared me, but it actually comforted me. "Okay. I trust you," I murmured.

She placed her phone in my hand. "Do you mind typing your address into my phone?"

I nodded and entered it into the GPS app. Closing it, I noticed that her home screen was a picture of herself, staring up at the camera while cutely clutching a white, mouse-like cat.

I handed it back to Sera. "I didn't know you had a cat."

"Oh. Wow. I… Have I really not talked about Bao at all?"

"Bao? As in the steamed rice thing?"

Sera giggled, nodding. "Yeah. He looks like one, right?"

"I…" I trailed off. It looked closer to a mouse than a steamed rice bun. "I guess?"

"I'll introduce him to you one day." Sera placed a hand on the stick shift. "Ready to go?"

"As ready as I'll ever be."

Carefully, Sera began to reverse the car.

My breath hitched.

As she returned the shift to the drive gear and pressed on the gas pedal, the car eased forward. A strange tingling sensation built on the tips of my fingers and roiled up my hand, up my arm, and to my shoulders. My nerves felt numb. Dulled. Like someone had stuck me in an ice bath for days on end.

"Jae." Sera's voice warmed me. "I'm going to start driving. If you need me to stop, pull over, or anything, let me know, okay?"

"Just go," I managed. "Just go there and don't stop." I shut my eyes as tight as I could. If I couldn't see, then I— I shook my head. That was dangerous. It was the passengers job to catch anything that the driver might have missed. If I couldn't see, I was being an irresponsible passenger.

Tearing my eyes open, I glanced at Sera. "I can do this," I urged. "I have to overcome it sometime, right?"

Sera nodded enthusiastically. "You do."

"And you'll be there to help?"

She grinned. "You promised me that you would stick around. And I promise to do the same for you. For anything. For everything."

"Friends?"

"Friends."

[;]

As the car pulled into its spot within the parking garage, I immediately pushed the door open and leapt out. The yellow lights that hung above me blinked like blurry stars. My legs collapsed beneath me, my nails pressing, digging into the asphalt like it was dirt— the precious, oh-so-precious, ground easing my beating heart. The numbness that wormed its way throughout every inch of my body retreated, deterred by the comfort of the earth.

Every second in the car was painful. Excruciating. Torturous. A million years passed in that twenty-minute drive. Every turn of the wheel, every push of the pedal, every creak of the breaks, every bump on the road, wrenched my painful past to the forefront of my mind.

But it would have been worse had it been anyone else.

Seraphine, even while keeping her eyes trained on the road, took moments to glance at me, to check in on me. She addressed me calmly; she repeatedly asked me if I was okay, if I needed her to pull over, if I wanted her to slow down at all, or if I needed anything at all from her.

She filled every request to the best of her ability.

While I was on the ground, Seraphine had turned off her car and locked it, the near-silent beep of the alarm echoing throughout the garage.

"Jae?" She asked, some distance away.

Slowly, I rose from my knees. After wiping my forehead of sweat with the back of one hand, I stuffed both my hands in my pockets. "I'm okay."

Sera tilted her head. Part of her hair fell to the same side. "Are you sure?"

I nodded once. "I'm sure." Glancing back to the interior of her car, I smiled slightly. "Can you unlock your car, I need to get my things."

"Oh!" Sera fumbled for her keys. Unlocking the car with a push of a button, she quickly spoke up. "I'm sorry! I forgot."

I chuckled, pulled open the passenger-side door, and grabbed my things from her car. "No worries, Ser."

"Ser?"

"Uh." I closed the door. "Too short?"

She shook her head and smiled. "It's cute."

"Any preference towards either nickname?"

Sera shrugged. "Either one is fine." She locked her door, and stepped up beside me. "So, where is your apartment?"

"Number 624," I replied. I glanced at her. "Are you coming with us?"

She smiled. "Well, I texted my boss that I wouldn't be able to make my shift today…" Sera trailed off.

Somehow, I should have seen this coming. "I'm okay with you coming along," I said, trying to hide my hesitance. "But I'm not really sure if my sister—"

"Well, we can ask her when she gets here, right?"

"That's..." I sighed. "Fair," I surrendered. Getting through to Sera was impossible. And I knew she had good intentions, but sometimes it was a little difficult.

As she and I rode the creaking elevator up to my floor, Sera stood shoulder-to-shoulder with me. She had grown increasingly touchy since I asked her to drive me home. Not that I minded physical contact with her. It felt a little out of character.

"Sera?" I tried. "You don't have to try so hard."

She looked up at me. With hesitance written across her face, she looked back to the ground. "I… Are you sure?"

"I'm sure, Sera." Placing my hand on her shoulder, I continued. "I really appreciate it. Really. You've been a ton of help."

Sera smiled softly."Really?"

I patted her shoulder with my hand reassuringly. "Yes, really."

The elevator dinged. The doors pulled open, and Sera and I stepped out onto the hallway. It was then that I realized where I was. Where Sera was.

She was in my apartment complex. My awful, shitty apartment complex.

The hallway was as much of a mess as it usually was. The edges of the hall, near the wall, clumps of dust and small piles of trash gathered. The floor itself, which was normally stark white, was streaked with shoe stains, spills, and the remnants of mostly finished cigarettes. The light yellow walls were scratched with use. Several trash bags stood outside of each door. One room in particular had an entire trash bag dedicated to cans of beer and bottles of vodka. As we passed by that room, the scent of alcohol and drugs snuck beneath the door and filled the hallway.

Fucking Darius and Draven.

I rushed to my room, walking as quickly as I could but still glancing back at Sera to make sure she didn't fall too far behind. She stuck close to me, her hands drawn in front of her. I stopped. Sera bumped into me.

"Jae—"

"Walk in front of me," I said. I didn't want to meet her eyes.

"Why?"

"For safety," I answered. "I want to make sure you're safe."

"Oh. Okay." Sera smiled slightly. "It's 624, right?"

I nodded.

She continued walking down the hall and stopped in front apartment 624. The door looked the same as all the others, save for the word "Son" written in Korean beneath the numbers.

I unlocked the door and stepped inside, Sera following me shortly after.

"I'm home!" I called as I closed the door and locked it. I undid my shoes and placed them in the shoe rack. "Noona, are you home?"

Sera mimicked me, picking a free spot to place her own shoes.

"Just washing up!" She called back.

Our apartment was small, but it was serviceable. After the front door, there was a small hallway that led to the kitchen and dining area. The black and grey countertop of the kitchen formed a J-shape. The white refrigerator stood to the immediate right after the hallway ended. Shockingly, the sink had no dishes, and our dishwasher wasn't running either.

Beyond the kitchen, on the short-end of the J, was our small dining area. A wooden, black table for four that was closer to the right of the dining area. On its right was a large window covered with tall, slate gray curtains and white blinds, and a simple grey rug rested beneath the table.

Opposite the end of the hallway was my sister's room, the door slightly ajar.

"This is my room," I said, stopping at the closed door closest to the front door. I pointed at the final door which was adjacent to mine. "And that's the bathroom. Eunkyung should be finishing up soon. I opened my door and quickly placed my backpack at the foot of my bed. Jogging past Sera and to my kitchen, I reached up and pulled open a few of the black cupboards. "Did you want any snacks?"

She shook her head. "I'm okay." Approaching me, she stood with her back against the counter. "I guess… we'll talk after?"

I nodded once. I hadn't told Seraphine about my living conditions at all. And while my sister and I tried our best to keep our own apartment clean and neat, the other tenants didn't— that was something we couldn't really control.

My sister stepped out of the bathroom, her long, silky blackhair wrapped up in a towel. She wore a pair of white shorts and a white tank-top and had her toothbrush in her mouth, looking not at all presentable.

Eunkyung glared straight into my soul. "Jae. You didn't tell me that we had guests."

I swallowed. "I… Uh…" I bowed my head deeply. "I'm sorry."

Seraphine was quick to mimic me. "I'm sorry too!"

Eunkyung sighed. "It's okay. Get up you two." Eunkyung glanced between Seraphine and I, and then she raised a brow. "Let me finish getting ready, and then I'll introduce myself properly."

She returned to the bathroom to finish brushing her teeth, and then she ran off to her room to change.

"She's.. interesting," Sera commented.

"Interesting?"

"Mmhm."

After a few minutes of silence, Eunkyung returned from her room. She left her hair down as it fell over her black blazer— with a dark dress shirt tucked into a pair of black slacks. Eunkyung looked Sera over.

"Hi," Sera said. "I'm Yeng Seraphine, Jae's friend."

Eunkyung nodded. "He's talked about you. I'm Son Eunkyung— Jae's older sister."

Seraphine flushed. "He's— he's talked about me?"

I sighed.

"He has." Eunkyung grinned. "Actually talks about you every time we eat dinner."

"Really?!"

"He won't shut up about you."

Sera glanced at me. Her cheeks were unbelievably bright with red.

"Eunkyung," I began. "I'm gonna change. Do… do you have spare clothes for Sera?"

"Is she coming?"

I nodded.

Eunkyung motioned for Seraphine to follow her. As the pink-haired woman began to follow behind my sister, I walked over to my room. Seraphine's first meeting with my sister hadn't gone too bad. But then again… they hadn't actually spoken to each other, they joked around for a bit. Leave it to Eunkyung-noona to expose how often I talked about Seraphine.

I changed into the same clothes I wore every year— a white dress shirt tucked into a pair of black slacks. Taking a simple, light grey jacket with me, I stepped back out into the living room and waited for Seraphine and Eunkyung to come back.

When Seraphine left my sister's room, she looked nothing like the Seraphine that I knew. The Sera I knew dressed in bright or neutral colors, in a strange mixture of both baggy and tight-fitting clothes. But Sera, now, wore clothes similar to my sister— a simple black t-shirt paired with a grey cardigan and grey pants.

"She and I are pretty close in size. Except for the shirts," Eunkyung commented as she shut the door to her room.

Already knowing what she was referencing, I sighed and pressed my palm to my forehead. "Okay," I said after I had gotten over myself. "Let's get going. They've waited long enough, I think."

Eunkyung nodded and made for the door. "Don't forget the flowers."

As she passed me, Sera followed, stopping beside me.

"I… I feel bad for being here," she whispered.

I shook my head. "My sister and I appreciate the company." And I'm sure they will too. I smiled softly. "Let's get going."

[;]

As I clicked my seatbelt into place, I noticed Eunkyung glancing worriedly at me.

"Are you okay?" She asked.

"I am," I replied. "Really. I am," I continued upon realizing just how unsure her countenance was.

"Okay."

The car started with a soft rumble, and we were off.

The drive was silent, save for the muffled sound of instrumental music that came from the speakers. Within my lap, the flowers— a bouquet of violet asters, pale forget-me-nots, and pale pink hyacinths— gently shook to the rhythm of the bumps in the road.

"Have you told her?" Eunkyung suddenly asked.

"About?"

"Our parents."

"I…" I trailed off. "Not the specifics."

Eunkyung hummed. She glanced up at her rearview mirror, likely catching Sera's gaze. Then, she looked back to the road. "Our parents died in a car accident."

Seraphine sucked in a breath of air. I could hear the wince from the front seat.

"It was a little under eight years ago," continued Eunkyung. "They died on October 31st."

"I'm sorry," Sera breathed.

"It wasn't your fault. Don't apologize," I interjected.

Sera pursed her lips and nodded. "Then… we're visiting their graves, right?"

"Yeah." Gently, like a pinch of sunlight that peeked through a cloudy sky, a smile crept across Eunkyung's lips. "I think they'd be excited to meet you."

"Re— really?"

My sister nodded. "It's the first time they're seeing someone other than us. And you're Jae's friend." Eunkyung chuckled. "Our parents always thought that Jae would be alone his whole life."

"It was you who thought that," I corrected. "It was hard for me to make friends when I was younger."

"It still is, isn't it?" Eunkyung asked. "You're not even friends with the girls at your work, even though you've been there for five years."

"They're co-workers!"

"I'm friends with all of my co-workers," Eunkyung countered.

"Oh? Then when was the last time you had dinner with them?"

She froze. "Well… Just because I don't eat dinner with them doesn't mean I'm not their friend."

"That's exactly—"

Seraphine's laugh cut through the air. It was infectious, causing Eunkyung and I to break out into laughter as well. It was pleasant— having someone new to talk to, especially around my sister. It was refreshing.

I hadn't seen my sister laugh or smile in front of someone like that in awhile. A long while. It felt strange, almost. Not the fact that my sister was happy, but the fact that I wasn't on the verge of breaking down inside of a car.

Which wasn't to say it was Sera's fault. It wasn't. Had she not been there… I shuddered at the thought.

"There's more to it than that," Eunkyung said to Sera, referring to what she said about our parents. "But I… I think Jae would rather tell you that himself."

Sera glanced at me.

I nodded simply, fighting back my unsteady heartbeat.

The rest of the car ride was enjoyable, as we talked about things that weren't so heavy on our conscience. It was mostly reminiscing— which meant my sister revealed as much of my past as she could during the remaining twenty minutes of the car ride.

"Did you know he used to be terrible at singing?"

"Really?"

Eunkyung nodded. "He really was. We all feared he was tone-deaf, but when he picked up the piano…" She smiled fondly. "Jae was always good at the piano."

"He won the Cyrus Recitals pretty often," Sera agreed.

"He was better than that, actually."

"Noona—"

"Really?!"

Eunkyung grinned. "He made Liszt and Chopin sound like Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star."

I flushed. "I'm really not that good."

"Are you sure?" Sera asked. "You've done some pretty amazing things for the EP."

"Oh, speaking of the EP," Eunkyung began. "Do you mind telling me anything about it? Jae absolutely refuses to tell me anything."

"He hasn't said a word?" Seraphine sounded like she couldn't believe it.

Eunkyung parked the car in the spot closest to the graveyard. I unbuckled my seatbelt and stepped out of the car, the flowers shaking gently in my hands and my jacket slung over my shoulder. I walked over and opened Sera's door for her, glancing around at the near empty parking lot.

Cautiously, she stepped out as well.

My sister was already a ways ahead of us, a stiff breeze blowing her blazer aside as she eagerly walked towards our parents.

"Is she that fast every year?" Seraphine asked. She drew her arms together, hugging herself to fight off the cold.

"She is," I replied. For a moment, I debated offering to hug her, but—

Seraphine stepped close to me. Our arms brushed against each other.

"Cold?"

She nodded.

I took my jacket and draped it over her shoulders, patting them slightly.

"Do you want to hug me too?"

I froze, my hands still on her shoulders. It wasn't so much what she said, but the environment she said it in that caught me off guard. "I… uh." I sighed. "Timing, Sera."

"Oh." She rubbed the back of her head with the sleeve of my jacket. "I'm sorry," she mumbled.

I shook my head. "It's okay." Looking back to the entrance of the cemetery, I smiled slightly. "C'mon. It's time you met my parents."

[;]

Sera and I found my sister kneeling before a pair of headstones, both wreathed in vines, and bundles of flowers already beginning to surround them. She had her hands clasped together, the tips of her fingers resting on her lips as she mumbled something.

"They're early this year," I said to Eunkyung, nodding to the flowers.

A few moments later, she stood up and brushed the dirt and grass from her knees. "That they are." She looked to Sera with a small smile. "Introduce yourself, Sera." Eunkyung waved a hand to the headstones.

Each one was engraved in a beautiful script, befitting of my parents. The one on the left read:

Son Jungwon

Music Rings True, Eternally

January 25, 1968 — October 31st, 2013

Beside my father's headstone was my mother's, and it read:

Amelia Rose

The Voice of an Angel

January 25, 1965 — October 31st, 2013

"They were born on the same day?" Seraphine asked.

Eunkyung chuckled. "Yup. Those two wouldn't shut up about being 'destined to be together'."

Seraphine and I glanced at each other.

"Wait," Eunkyung began, looking between the two of us. "Don't tell me that you have the same birthday too?"

I nodded once. "It's a cool coincidence," I said. "Not that it means anything."

"Right." Eunkyung said.

I rolled my eyes. "Anyways. Sera," I continued, turning to the headstones. "This is my Mom and Dad." I waved a hand at the headstones. "Mom and Dad, this is Seraphine." My other hand waved at Sera. "My friend."

Seraphine glanced at the headstones, then at the floor, then at Eunkyung and I, then back at the headstones. "I…"

"Don't be shy." I nudged her forward slightly and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Just introduce yourself."

"Hi." She waved. "I'm… I'm Seraphine, like Jae— I mean, Jaemin said. I'm twenty-one, I love singing and writing music, and I'm honored to be friends with your son."

I smiled, satisfied with her response. And I was certain that Mom and Dad were too.

However, now that I thought about it, this was incredibly awkward for Sera. Introducing yourself to headstones wasn't exactly normal behavior, but she did well. And it made me happy that Sera was trying so hard for me. And Eunkyung.

"I'm sorry if it's a little awkward," I said, verbalizing my thoughts.

She shook her head. "It's not too awkward. I talk to my Nai-Nai like this too."

"Oh. She's…" I trailed off.

"She passed when I was very young," she continued. "But I have fond memories of her. I'll tell you about it another time, maybe." Sera smiled easily.

"Maybe?"

"Okay," she said with a grin. "When we have time in the studio again."

"Sounds good."

"I'm gonna head back to the car," Eunkyung said. In that moment, I realized that I had entirely forgotten she was here. She held out her hand for the flowers.

"I'll put them down this year," I said.

Eunkyung's hand retreated to the pockets of her slacks. "Good. You two stay safe. Don't take too long. Got it?"

"It'll just be ten minutes," I confirmed.

And with that, my sister began to walk back towards the car.

"Did she already finish praying?" Sera asked.

"I don't think she had anything else to say this year," I said. I kneeled before the headstones, placed the flowers beside me, and clapped my own hands together.

Hello, Mom. Dad. You two know that I've been pursuing music for some time now, and normally I don't talk to you guys about how that's been going. But this year feels like it might be the year I finally get started. The project I've been assigned, if I do well, will allow me to release an EP from Universal Music Group. Crazy. I know. I can hardly believe it myself.

But besides that, I… I think I've made my first real friend.

She already introduced herself to you. Her name is Seraphine, and she's… she's amazing. Incredibly talented, passionate, and determined. Working with her has been an absolute pleasure, and every moment I spend with her has been amazing.

Every time we record, or just even just play together, has been surreal. It felt like the world just… disappeared. Like nothing else besides us, in that moment, together, mattered. Like the music we were making was more important than anything else in our lives.

It was amazing.

She's amazing.

Other than that, I'm still working at The Grand Vastaya. Xayah and Rakan have been incredibly helpful, as always. I've been thinking of getting a third part-time job, but I know you would yell at me for working too hard, so I've been avoiding it.

That's it for now, I think.

Love you both.

I miss you both.

Please watch over Eunkyung and me for the next year. And Seraphine too. She'll appreciate it.

My shoulders feeling a little lighter, and a small smile finding its way onto my lips, I gathered the flowers and placed them between both of the headstones. They laid there, gently quivering in the wind, sheltered by my mother's and father's resting places. It was past sundown now, and small lamps that rested on either side of the cemetery walkways flicked on. They illuminated the cemetery in a warm, calm light.

"Are you okay?" Seraphine asked.

"Yeah." I stood up. Placing my hands into my pockets, I began to walk back towards the car. "What about you?"

"I'm okay." She stepped up beside me. "Do other people bring flowers to your parents?"

"Mmhm. They were really popular musicians. But every year there's been less and less flowers."

Sera frowned. "That's really sad."

I shrugged. "It's just the way things work. Besides, I like the quiet."

"Even though you're a musician?"

I chuckled, nudging her with my elbow slightly. "Good one."

She mock-bowed, bringing her head lower and flourishing her hand. "I try." With a giggle, she readjusted herself. For a few moments, she was silent. But her gaze would flick between me and the path ahead of us like she was debating on speaking up. Eventually, however, she did. "Jae. I've been meaning to ask…"

"Hm?"

"Your parents. The car accident. Your sister mentioned that there was more to it?"

I forced myself to not freeze up. I had expected her to ask me about it, but not so soon. Not this early. "It's… Yeah. There is." I stopped in the middle of the pathway and faced Seraphine. "What did you want to know?"

"What happened? How did it happen?" She asked frankly.

"Do you know what my sister used to do? Before her current job?"

Sera shrugged. "Something musical, I assume."

"It was seven— actually, eight— years ago," I began. "Eunkyung had her first live performance as a jazz pianist. We were really happy for her. I was really happy for her." At the memory, I laughed softly. "I was her biggest fan, I think. When I saw her performance, I was moved. Her entire band was dressed up for Halloween." As I reminisced, I realized just how ridiculous it sounded. "I mean, can you imagine an entire jazz band dressed up as characters from Dr. Seuss, all playing out of their mind. It was amazing."

"It sounds like it was quite the experience."

"You have no idea. It was beautiful. Perfect." I pursed my lips. "When she finished, we went to congratulate her. And after that, we separated and began to dr— drive home." I mentally cursed my stutter. Steeling myself, I continued. "Most of the drive was normal. Mom and Dad talked about the concert, I occasionally chimed in and gave my own input. I… I remember Mom mentioning something about feeling bad that Eunkyung's concert was on Halloween. And then I said that I was sure Eunkyung was okay with it. I mean, that was probably me just projecting onto my sister— I wanted to be on that stage alongside her so badly. You have no idea…"

As I continued, my vision fluttered slightly. A numbness settled between my teeth and my tongue and my gums. I could feel my words slurring together. I struggled to put words together.

"Anthen we stoppedata light. It wassred." The words dripped out my mouth like leaking water. "Thenit turned green. Anthen Dad pressedon thegas."

Sera took a cautious step towards me. "Jae—"

The numbness grew into a dull sting that flooded my mouth."Mom screamed. Atleast I think shedid. She looked toherright. Before screaming: 'Stopstopstopstopstop," I echoed numbly.

My vision darkened until I could see nothing but a small, faint, flickering light.

A hand touched my shoulder.

"Let me go."

The hand did not move.

"Let me go."

"I—"

"Let. Me. GO!" I shoved the hand off. "Where's my Mom?"

"Jae—" The voice tried.

"Where is my Mom? Where is my Dad?"

My heart hammered in my chest; it thumped against my ribs. My brain roiled; every thought coiled around itself, creating a mental maze of cords, memories, thoughts I wish would just go away. Those thoughts scorched my mind; they numbed my arms and hands and chest; they chilled my spine, freezing every vein on my body.

"Where are they?"

"Jae, I don't know—"

"Where is my Mom? Where is my Dad?" I cried. "WHERE ARE MY PARENTS?" My voice shattered, the words cracking like the metal of a broken car. I collapsed onto my knees and clutched my face with my hands.

Even though I desperately fought back the tears that I had held back for years, they still threatened to break free. They treaded the edge of my eyes— pushing against the lids with the slightest of stinging pressures. If I couldn't hold them back now, they would fall. Ceaselessly. Roughly. And painfully.

I repeated the mantra that I drilled into my head:

You can't. Not right now. You don't have the time to cry; you can't afford to cry right now. Save it for later. Find your peace. Find your calmness. Find your serenity.

And my vision clarified. The tears retreated, sufficiently threatened by the words.

I looked up at Seraphine.

She looked… afraid. "Jae… I—" Her soft voice sounded like broken glass— like every word hurt to say.

I stood up and turned my back to her. "Let's get going."

Her hand brushed against mine. "But—"

"You got what you wanted, right?" I replied, not even trying to hide the venom in my tone.

Sera winced. "That's not exactly how I would put it."

I clenched my jaw and bit back a terrible retort. "Sure. But we should get going. Eunkyung is waiting for us."

And I left Seraphine alone in the middle of the pathway; the lights a little dimmer, the stars a little darker, and the gap between us growing wider.

A/N: Angst begins? Anyways, thank you for loving my story. Please leave me a review if you enjoyed it— like I said, they really do mean a lot to me.

Next Chapter: 11/13