Strings of Fate

Chapter 26

It took them three days to set a date for the funeral. It took only a week after that to set up and have the funeral. A lot of people showed up and expressed their empathy for the family but most of it went over their head. Everyone who was close to Jimin’s grandma was grieving in their own way. Jimin’s mom held herself together the best as she prepared everything in regards to the funeral with little help from anyone else. Jimin’s dad spent most of his time taking care of Jimin’s grandfather or helping his wife. Jimin’s grandfather hadn't spoken since the news of grandma passing away, instead, he just sat silently and watched his surroundings with disinterest no matter where he was. Jihyun had spent most of his time away from everyone, keeping to himself, and not talking unless spoken too. As for Jimin, he didn’t know how to deal with the loss. He didn’t know how to help his family deal with it either. The loss of his grandma had taken a toll on their family and it would take a while to heal from it. Every one of them had been hoping that she’d make it but she hadn’t. It was too sudden for any of them and so they were all in pain from the event.

The day after the funeral, his parents had made a couple of big decisions, ones that impacted every one of them. Since Jimin’s dad needed to get back to work soon, it was decided that Jimin’s grandpa couldn’t be left alone since the elder was unresponsive to anything and everyone, he would need someone to take care of him and make sure that he at least ate, bathed, and got out of the house once in a while. Mrs. Park had diagnosed him with severe depression and in the very early stages of the grieving cycle and for these reasons, she reasoned that it was not safe to let him be alone for too long. As such, Jimin’s parents decided to take his grandpa with them back to Seoul.

With that decision came another big decision. What would they do about the house there in Busan? By the looks of things, their grandpa’s stay with them would be a while, and they thought that even when he got better he shouldn’t go back. They didn’t think that he should live alone so far away from them, they would worry too much since no one would be around to help him and take care of him the way their grandma had. Jimin’s grandparents had always taken care of each other and now that his grandma was gone, his parents wouldn’t ever feel right to leave his grandpa on his own for so long.

It was taking everything into consideration, that they decided to hire someone to look after the house while they were all away. Though Mr. Park thought it might be a good idea to sell the house or rent it out, Mrs. Park felt they shouldn’t make that decision without some input from Jimin’s grandpa, as such the two adults had decided to just have someone come in every week to maintain the house and keep it dust free so that they could decide what to do later on when the pain from losing someone wasn’t so new and raw.

* * * *

“How are you feeling, Jimin?” Taehyung asked as the two lazed around in the elder’s room. It had been approximately three whole weeks now since the news of Jimin’s grandmother’s death, and Jimin was better. It still hurt to remember she was gone but it was better than before, at least now he wasn’t tempted to cry everytime his thoughts wandered in that direction.

“I’m fine Tae, you don’t need to worry about me,” Jimin answered with a weak smile.

“...Talk to me Jimin, you’ve been so quiet since all this happened… I’m worried,” Taehyung urged.

“Don’t worry about me, I told you, it’s ok… I’m good,” Jimin responded.

“No, you’re not. Jimin, you and your grandma were close, there’s no way you’re just 'ok.' It doesn’t matter that three weeks have passed; you’re still affected by it. You and your whole family. I’ve seen the way Jihyun had built a little wall around himself initially but I also saw that Suho was able to get him to talk so he’s getting better. Your parents, I assume, have each other to talk too and take comfort in, and they take care of your grandpa and keep talking with him so I’m sure he’ll get better too, but you? You haven’t talked about it with anyone as far as I know and that can’t be good. Come on Jiminie, tell me what you’re feeling,” Taehyung pleaded.