Shall We? | NCT Lee Jeno ff

Chapter 25 - Hyun Nam

She woke up hoping his hand would still be there holding hers. But she found her sisters sitting on her armchairs instead, facing the gardens. The morning light shined brightly through the windows, bouncing off her marble floors. Though it was bright, rain was pouring lightly outside.

"Mom says that if rain falls when the sun's still shining, an important person or hero has passed," Ji Hyeon said, her face still facing the window. Eunkyung turned to the bed where Hyun Nam was still sitting. Her eyes were puffy and dry, her tears were gone. It was either she ran out or she was holding them in. By her sister's quivering lips, Hyun Nam knew it was the latter.

"Mom's not coming home," Eunkyung began crying. Both Ji Hyeon and Hyun Nam walked over to their eldest sister and hugged her tightly. The three sisters embraced each other, none of them was used to this sort of gesture between the three but it felt natural.

"It's funny how I'm the oldest and you're all consoling me," Eunkyung smiled through her tears. Her smile reached both Ji Hyeon and Hyun Nam. She didn't want to ask anything about this, afraid her sister would realize what they were doing and come back to hate her again.

"Look at your bruises," Ji Hyeon sniffled, her hands grazing Hyun Nam's bandaged arms and her clothed back, she winced at the pain.

"She didn't even leave seeing us get along together for one last time," Eunkyung grieved. The truth was, Eunkyung was crying more because of the guilt of not being able to protect her sisters and get along with them. She regretted having her mother not see them hang out together like the old times.

"I failed to protect you," Eunkyung said, holding Hyun Nam's hand.

"We both did," Ji Hyeon added, holding the other. Even by those simple words, Hyun Nam knew her sisters were back.

"Where's Dad?" Hyun Nam asked, walking with both her sisters holding both her arms to balance her.

"We don't know. While you were having a dinner date with Kang Dae-"

"It wasn't a date!" Hyun Nam sighed, rolling her eyes.

"Okay, while you were having dinner with Kang Dae, the both of us went out alone to a restaurant nearby after saying goodbye to Mom. That's where we got the call," Eunkyung said, putting Hyun Nam on one of the dining chairs.

"Then when we came back, nobody was home. The maids and butlers probably were resting out back and some may have gone home. We searched for Dad but he wasn't here, too," Ji Hyeon continued and sat in a dining chair next to Hyun Nam while Eunkyung took the one next to Ji Hyeon.

"We looked everywhere for you, only to see your phone in your room. Mr. Jungho wasn't here either so we deduced that you left again after dinner with Kang Dae," Ji Hyeon added.

"So we waited for you. Amidst the tears, Ji Hyeon found herself able to be starstruck when the boy carrying you came into the house," Eunkyung scoffed and Ji Hyeon smiled a bit, reminiscing the moment she saw her idol in her house. Carrying you? Hyun Nam felt guilty for troubling Jeno, but her face warmed up at the thought of being carried in his arms.

"You were unconscious, so we stayed in your room for a while. We insisted he went home, thanking him for bringing you home, but he said he wanted to stay for a while," Eunkyung said, taking the first bite from the breakfast served by one of the butlers.

"We asked him how he met you and it turns out you have a whole love story," Ji Hyeon teased Hyun Nam. Her younger sister lightly hit Ji Hyeon's shoulder, trying to hide the fact her face was red as a tomato.

"Then we went back to our rooms. We found him gone in the morning," Eunkyung concluded. They didn't know it, but all the butlers and maids, with warm smiles on their faces, stopped their daily chores to look at the three sisters finally reconciled, hoping their mother could see this beautiful picture.

The three sisters left their home to handle their mother's paperwork with their secretaries. The person who's supposed to be doing this was nowhere to be found. The three wore vibrant colors for the next few days to commemorate how their mother always liked floral dresses. They thought of wearing black for a week but they thought their mother wouldn't like that. Father had been gone for 3 days before he barged in the front door while his daughters were having dinner. He looked like a mess. His once neat suit was now only his long sleeved shirt and loose tie, his blazer in his arm. His once shiny shoes were now gone, he held it in his hand while he walked barefoot.

"Dad! Where have you been and what happened to you?" Eunkyung asked, dropping her spoon on the plate. Though she hated how her father hurted her younger sister, she was still curious about what happened to him and if he was okay after hearing the news.

"They found her body. I've been waiting at the pier in my car. I couldn't rest before I see her again," Father said without looking at his daughters' eyes. He walked slowly to his bedroom and locked the door behind him. Eunkyung looked at her sisters and they stared back. They didn't know what to feel. They all had a bad relationship with their Father but at the end, they shared the same grief.

The funeral was held after a few days and for once in public, people saw the sisters hand-in-hand. They saw their mother's coffin lowered to the ground. There were only 10 people attending the funeral, it was a closed and private funeral Father didn't want the reporters to come to. Jeno was definitely not there because his Father didn't know him personally and would become suspicious of what Hyun Nam's relationship with Jeno was.

"It feels weird doesn't it? The last funeral we attended was with the four of us: Mom, you two, and me."

"I remember crying after because I didn't want Mom or you two to die," Hyun Nam smiled to herself, remembering her 12-year-old self.

"You were always the crybaby in the family," Eunkyung giggled and patted Hyun Nam's head. They were sitting down under an oak tree at the cemetery, Father still having small talk with the people that came.

"I can't cry anymore, my tears are all dried up, I don't have any more," Ji Hyeon sighed, placing her head on Eunkyung's shoulder. They sat down silently, finally wearing a black dress after using almost all their colorful clothes. The silence was broken when Hyun Nam's phone started ringing.

"Who is it?" Eunkyung asked, Ji Hyeon was about to doze off, she was always the sleeper.

"I don't know, it's an unknown number," Hyun Nam said but picked it up anyways.

Eunkyung looked intently at her sister.

"Hello?" Hyun Nam asked the unknown caller.

"Hi, I'm calling to say sorry for your loss. I'm sending my condolences," the man said.

"Thank you, but who are you?"

The man went silent.

"I'm your brother."

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