Understanding Simple (Chanyeol X Reader)

Chapter 20 (includes Halloween special)

Hello! So since it's Halloween I will add an alternate chapter at the end. I hope you find it chilling! <3

As the rain falls to the pavement, I sit on the steps of my home. The past three days have been drowned in tears that have set this downpour to a minimum. I hug my knees to my chest as the chilling breeze whisks my black skirt around my thighs.

The rain drips from the edge of the roof onto the tips of my heels. The cold water makes my toes numb but I don't care. It seems like the entire world has stopped, and it's just the drops of rain falling drearily from the sky. 

I brush a piece of hair behind my ear, sniffling through my drippy nose. Gram hasn't eaten at all. She refuses to speak, and spends her time in her room, the shades closed and door shut, laying in bed. The only sound coming from her room is the muffled sobs that are clearly heard even behind closed doors.

I'm scared that it will be like last time. That Gram will never recover from grief, and she may too leave. It's hard to keep someone alive that doesn't want to be. Gramps was her support, her lifeline. Without him, there is no way she can keep the store open.She made meals for him every night, and they were desperately in love, even after all of these years. 

I close my eyes, letting a single tear join the droplets on my heels. The front door closes and I turn back to see Chanyeol taking a seat next to me on the steps. 

"Are you ready?" ha asks quietly. 

I raise my eyes to his, "I don't know...I don't think I'll ever be ready." 

He places a hand around my waist, pulling my closer to him, "do you know why it always rain when someone dies?"

I shake my head. 

"It's the tears that have been shed. It's a cleansing, you know? It's like the earth is washing away the pain so we can start all over again." He places a kiss on my head, and turns my face to his, "and when there is a cleansing, there is a healing." 

I walk into the room, seeing Gram stand in front of his coffin. He's laying in a soft, baby blue color, with the deep mahogany wood forming a casket on the outside. Flowers are strewn across the room, each with a sympathy places within the colors. 

I grab her hand in my mine, giving a small squeeze. 

"Gram...we have to do this together, for Gramps. He will always be with us--a strand of three isn't easily broken."

She lifts a shaky hand, and grabs Gramps'. 

"Thank you (y/n)." 

Many people show up. Some of them are customers, some friends, some family. Each one is the same, they walk in, bow twice to Gramps, and then bow to me, Gram, and Chanyeol. The words, "I'm sorry for your loss," repeat in my ears like a constant drum all day. 

We have a small ceremony for him and then close the casket. I let out a final breath as the wood is drilled together, forever cutting off his body to the world.