FINESSE

√ THIRTY THREE √

Juola sat emotionlessly in the church staring into space. Ike had just been laid to rest and after crying when she died, Juola had found it hard to shed a single tear.

No matter how hard he tried, no tear would slide down his cheeks. Nothing seemed to hold the ability to stay in his head or mind. His head seemed to be extremely light as he stared at his black shoes.

She was gone.

Forever.

Two facts that could never change. She had even died in his arms. Even though he didn't get to tell her goodbye, she died in his arms which was a double blessing and curse together.

He was glad that hr was there with her in her last moments. It was the best thing that could have ever happened and she dying in his arms was something he could never forget.

A pair of bigger black shoes appeared in front of him and Juola looked up as he blinked his eyes.

"Dad" Juola called as the older man pulled him for a hug and the tears that seemed to not have been able to drop for days burst their banks and came down in an heavy downpour.

On the internet was another trend trending. And like days before, the retweets were increasing as each second ticked by.

#RestInPeaceIke.

And within hours, it was the number one trending tweet and instantly skyrocketed when Suga also posted on his official twitter account.

In our next lives, I hope we meet again. Rest in Peace Ike.

#RestInPeaceIke.

BTS official account followed and soon it was a worldwide trend. Everywhere seemed to be quiet and everyone seemed to be thinking, lost in their thoughts.

Life, could be short.

Juola flipped through his notes as a siren was heard all over the school. Sirens were used to announce assemblies. Juola looked up from his note and looked around.

Everyone in the class seemed to be sharing the same confused look as he was. He watched as the students stood up and began walking towards the Assembly Hall.

"Juola" someone called from the door as Juola sighed and closed his note. Putting a pen in the note to indicate where he had stopped before walking out of the class.

It had been two weeks since Ike had died. Everything and Everyone seemed to have returned back to their daily lives. As the First terms examinations were approaching, everyone was preparing hard.

Till that very moment, Juola didn't know how he had been living, walking, eating or even breathing. He probably ate so just in case he wouldn't drop dead as well.

And ever since they came back to school, Gbogo had stuck to him like glue. Following him and dragging him everywhere. Made him laugh a few times and Juola needed no one to tell him who had told him to do that. Deep down in his heart, he was grateful.

Gloria and Chidima sat down in the large hall as Gloria glanced at Juola who seemed to be staring at the podium with no expression in his eyes. His eyes had been ever dull since Ike died. She swallowed her saliva as the projector suddenly came on and a video started playing showing Ikeoluwa seating down in her room. Juola shot up to his feet immediately.

"Is this already playing?" Ike asked as she checked her phone camera and laughed before she sat down and smiled.

"Hello everyone, my name is Adeniyi Ikeoluwa and I have leukamia. Infact by the time you see this video, I should be dead else this video won't ever get out. So I'm going to tell you all my story. I got diagnosed with leukamia when I was around five or six years old. You could imagine telling a five year old that she's going to die before she clicks sixteen or eighteen" Ike said as she laughed and smiled.