[Neo Zone] Population: 23 Kids

The Memorial

Lucas looked at the bunk beds with a sigh. Each one had two dress shirts hanging from it, either black or white. The majority of them were black, though, giving the basement an eerie feel. Almost like there were twenty-one cloaked ghosts just hanging around.

"I know, it's weird." WinWin commented, coming up from behind Lucas with Chenle and Xiaojun.

Lucas shrugged, grabbing the shirt that was hanging off his bed. He threw it on and changed into pants that weren't sweat pants, the other three doing something similar. When Lucas finished buttoning his shirt, though, he felt like something was off.

"I feel like I should be wearing red for some reason."

The three turned to him, all in various stages of getting ready. Except Xiaojun, he was petting Bella because he missed her.

"Because Jisung's Mom was shot? That's kind of morbid, man." Chenle responded.

"What? No! No, I didn't even know that. I just have a weird feeling like I should be."

"Isn't that the Chinese color for happiness?" Xiaojun pointed out, pressing a kiss to Bella's head.

Lucas paused, looking back down at his all black outfit. "Never mind then. I don't know why I wanted to wear red."

"Because you're strange." WinWin retorted.

By the time the four of them finished getting dressed and helping each other fix their hair, more people had come down to the basement to get ready. Lucas headed upstairs to see if they needed help shutting down the cafe early, just to see it was already closed up and Jisung was in one of the booths on video call with Mark.

Lucas slid in next to Jisung, waving with a smile at Mark.

"Hey, how's life?"

Mark rolled his eyes playfully, "You already know, you called me this morning."

"Just checking to make sure nothing changed." Lucas turned his attention to Jisung, glad he wasn't looking too awful. "I thought you were helping your Dad with everything."

"I was, but there was nothing for me to do."

"You guys leaving soon?"

"We should be. I think. If everyone hurries up." Jisung answered.

Mark laughed, "Well good luck then. And sorry again that I couldn't be there."

"I told you, it's fine."

"Is that a Mark?" Haechan asked, coming up from the basement in all black.

Mark gave Jisung a little salute, "That's my cue to leave. Bye!"

"Bye!" Lucas and Jisung waved, but Mark hung up before Haechan even had the chance to say anything.

He frowned, and Lucas patted the space next to him. Haechan did as motioned, leaning his head against Lucas' shoulder.

"You can talk when he gets back." Lucas reassured him, Jisung nodding aggresively.

"And if he doesn't want to, we're locking you in a room until it's worked out."

"Sounds awesome."

Johnny came up from the basement with a long line of people behind him. By people I mean everyone who wasn't already in the cafe, so there was a lot.

"You guys ready to go? Mom said she's meeting us there."

Jisung got up from the booth with a sigh. "I guess so. Let's get this over with."

The place for the memorial wasn't that far away, so any on-lookers would have seen twenty-two men walking down the street in a giant group, almost all wearing black. Hendery even switched his eye patch from his usual red one with a pirate skull to a plain black one.

The venue for the memorial was just the cemetery, a fresh gravestone in front of them as a memorial. They would've been in a funeral home, but seeing as there was no body for that, it wasn't necessary.

Taeyong leaned forward and tapped Lucas on the shoulder as they waited for the service to start, whispering just because.

"Why do I feel like you should be in red?"

Lucas shrugged, "I have no idea, but I thought the same thing."

"Didn't you wear red to our grandma's funeral because you wanted her to know from the grave that picking Renjun as her favorite grandchild was rude?" Hendery pointed out.

Lucas and Taeyong shared a glance and then shrugged.

"That might be why we think that."

Jungwoo tugged on Taeyong's sleeve, gaining his attention.

"What's up, Woo?"

"There's a man standing over there that I don't know." Jungwoo jerked his head in the direction, and Taeyong leaned around him to see.

Indeed there was a man standing there in all black like them, but he had round sunglasses perched on his head instead. Taeyong didn't know who he was either.

Their attention was drawn off of the man once the Suhs and grandparents arrived and enveloped Jisung in hugs before making rounds for everyone else. They would've brought at least one of the goats with them, but they didn't want to seem informal or immature.

Once Jungwoo had gotten all four of his hugs, he looked for the mysterious man again. Except now he was standing next to Jisung, appearing to whisper something. Jisung nodded after a second, shaking the man's hand before he disappeared on one of the paths through the woods.

Jungwoo would have asked what happened, but then the lady running the service arrived and they started the memorial. It was quick and no one did any eulogies, but it was still a nice service. Jisung was up there with his Dad the whole time; composed while his Dad looked like he was going to break at any second.

As soon as it was over and they were heading back to the cafe, though, Jungwoo pulled Jisung to the side discretely.

"Who was that man?"

Jisung tilted his head, "The one with the sunglasses that went into the woods? I thought I imagined him."

"No, Taeyong and I saw him too."

Jisung looked slightly relieved, and he actually was. At least now he knew he wasn't losing it like he thought his Dad was.

"He didn't say what his name was, but he wanted me to know my Mom was on a secret mission that would have resulted in a massive war. He said he had to take her out once he had the chance, and he hoped I understood."

Jungwoo scrunched his eyebrows. "What'd you say?"

Jisung grabbed a biscuit that was out on the table as a sort of reception as if this was a normal conversation. He took a bite, licking the crumbs off his lips.

"The same thing people say to anyone in the military. Thank you for your service."