Cigarettes

[TW] How It All Ended

"Do you hear that?" Bora asked her wife who replied with a blink of her eyes.

"Yeah...?"

"Seems to be coming from here," Bora pursed her lips as she walked to the pile of trash on the alley beside their house.

The sound was becoming louder, for sure.

"Si, help me with these," Bora began.

"...Are you telling me to touch these-,"

"Yes,"

"Okay,"

They rummaged through the pile of trash until they came upon a box with a cloth protruding from the slight opening.
The two singled the box out and to their surprise, the sound was coming from inside it.

They mustered up their courage and flipped open the box's covers. Only to reveal a very big surprise.

Inside, a month old baby lay as he cried. Bora slowly took the baby in her arms. On the baby's cloth was a name sewn in yellow, cursive letters.

"PHIL"

"Bora," Siyeon began, shocked with the events occurring.

"Si, can we keep him?" Bora looked at her lover, mouth open and expectant for a positive answer.

"But can we give him the best life?"

"Of course,"Bora smiled,"We both know we can,"

Siyeon nodded in approval,"Let's keep him then,"

The two looked at the baby with smiles on their faces as they walked inside the small house Siyeon bought years ago.

~~~

A few years later, Siyeon managed to upgrade her own place where Bora and Phil also resided at. Turning it into a spacious, child friendly two-storey building.

Bora eventually quit her job and dream to care for Phil, leaving Siyeon to be the only one working for the family. But she didn't mind, it motivated her to work harder to give her family the best life they could have.

Which meant that she had the stress from work and the constant anxiety from providing for her family.
It was late night, Siyeon had to work overtime. Again. She stepped foot outside the company building and immediately headed for the convenience store, buying a cup of instant noodles the moment she stepped in. But something else caught her eye.

She was seeing a therapist for the past few years regarding her trauma which came with dark thoughts. She remembered something the therapist said in their recent sessions.

"Look for a new hobby. That will help distract you from your thoughts,"

Siyeon bit her lip, she was gonna go for it.

"A pack of those, please,"

After paying, she slid the pack of whatever that was inside her pocket as she prepared her instant noodles.
A few minutes later, she began eating and slurping and she savored its meaty taste.

She dumped the trash right after eating as she pulled out the pack from her pocket.

And that was when Siyeon first started smoking.

~~~

Weeks passed and Siyeon brought her new smoking habits home, much to Bora's shock.
She cautiously watched the woman as she smoked, making sure to keep Phil away from her when she does smoke.