56 ➣ epilogue: 'till death do us apart

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"... we've gathered here today not to mourn lee jeno's death but rather celebrate his life..."
the priest's words drowned out in his head as his eyes stared ahead, mind overcome with a painful silence.

he felt his cold, rigged heart struggle to keep beating as his hollow, dry eyes focused on the picture displayed above the grave.

all the tears had drained him completely, leaving nothing but a shell of the confident and not-so-lively-but-nonetheless-caring person lee taeyong once was.

and now all there was left of his little brother were some old childhood pictures, an array of broken hearts and a tombstone.

the funeral had ended without him even realizing, only coming back to his senses when he felt jaehyun's warm hand wrap around his shoulder. jaehyun. he spoke fondly in his mind, letting himself bask in the much needed warmth provided by the beautiful man beside him.

the younger had been by his side since he saved him, helping him cope with his sister's death and now, not even a few weeks after, his little brother's as well.

he was always there to treat his wounds.

however, a time had come where not even jaehyun's dimpled smile could make his heart dance in his chest again.

yeeun was gone. so was jeno.

all he had left was his mother, the woman that refused to even look at him once she got the news that both her younger children had died.

and as much as it fucking ripped his heart out to admit it, taeyong could never blame her.

after all, both of them were under his protection.

he had them in his arms again. the future seemed so much brighter with his sister and brother around, urging the leader to think about what life had in store for them.

he imagined their children running around, playing hide and seek as they used to do. he imagined everything he never had as a kid.

and the worst part is, that future seemed so fucking realistic at one point.

and all it took was a piece of shrapnel and a bullet from a raging lunatic to send all those dreams to hell.

leaving them to be just that.

wasted lives and unrealised dreams.

──💧──

"you gotta eat something, tae." jaehyun spoke softly as he placed a bowl filled to the brim with various fruits on top of the leader's work table.

he sighed as he watched taeyong continue to stare out the window as if waiting for his siblings to come running through the door.

and each time someone came into his office, he hoped it was yeeun— running into his arms to tell him about her new favourite book all the while dragging an annoyed jeno along with her.

𝗠𝗘𝗟𝗔𝗡𝗖𝗛𝗢𝗟𝗬 ☄ norenmin (✓)Where stories live. Discover now