The New Kid

The Night Before The Dawn is Always The Darkest

October, 2019

The funeral home is a very depressing place. People lost their loved ones and said their final good bye here. Today, the biggest hall had no deceased persons but many people from different families were gathered, saying good bye to their loved ones. A month ago the JT443 airplane crashed and lost in the vast ocean. Despite the efforts from the rescue team, the lost plane wasn't found. Yesterday a bunch of debris floated on the surfaces, indicating the final fate of all 10 crews and 123 passengers.

In this big hall, many tears fell. Parents lost their children, brothers lost their sisters, sisters lost their brothers and children lost their parents. War was standing among them, holding his little brother's hands. His brother has been silently crying for a while now. War strangely felt numb, after crying for almost a month waiting and hoping their parents would come back. War didn't have any tears left when they informed them that no one survive the incident and he knew he had to be strong for his brother. Their parents were on that plane, they were among those 123 passengers. War understood that it must be hard for a 13 years old to accept that their loved parents are gone now.

No more mom's cheerful smile saying good morning while she cooks War's favorite waffle, no more dad's horrible jokes on their dinner table, no more hugs and good nights, no more mom and dad. It's just the two of them now, it's just War and Win.

-.................-

Early January, 2020

"P'War!", Win closed their front door in a rush, "Phi! Where are you?"

Win just came back from his cram school for the exam preparation. Win was a smart boy, so their school allow him to join a fast track curriculum, so despite being only 13, he's already taking test for middle school graduation and would start high school soon.

But that's not why he was in a rush. One of War's friend who teach in his cram school said that War was dropping out of the university. Why would someone who's even smarter than him like War do that?

"P'War!"

"Oiii, why are you running and screaming inside?", War emerged from his room.

"Phi! Why are you dropping out?", Win held his brother by his shoulder, demanding answer.

"Who told you that?", War's smile disappeared from his face.

"P'New", Win's close to tears now because he knew War must've had done it for his sake.

"Phi New! He promised not to tell anyone", War whispered and carefully correct his expression and smiled at Win.

"Nong, listen to me", War tried.

"No!, I don't want phi to drop out for my sake, please, don't do this", the tears that gathered on Win's eyes started to fall.

"Nong Win, listen to me na, it's okay, phi won't regret it. We both now that mom and dad's saving can only cover your study, we've talked about this before and I want you to study until you graduate uni. Phi will work to cover our daily cost", War said while caressing his brother's head.

"I can work too, phi doesn't have to drop out", Win cried.

"Later after you entered uni and reached 18, you can get a part time job, but now, you should focus on your study. If you're successful later after you graduate you can treat me to a vacation, yeah?", War tried to console Win.

"But you're smart and I- I don't want you to abandon your dream for me", Win cried.

"Who said I'm abandoning my dream? I can still open my own restaurant someday without having a food science degree, it's just gonna take longer to reach, plus I'm doing this not only for you but for me as well"