STAY WITH ME ; ni-ki

EPILOGUE

"Who is she? "

Riki looked at the boy standing beside him with a smile on his lips before he set his eyes back on the painting.

"Whenever we're here, I always see you staring at her with those sparkling eyes. " The boy added whilst staring at the canvas hanging on the wall of the living room.

"She's so beautiful, isn't she? " The ravenette replied instead of answering the boy's question. Though, the latter nodded his head in agreement.

"She is. "

It's true, the girl from the painting is beautiful. The painting is so beautiful. You can see how the artist took their time to paint her, you can tell the gentleness behind it.

"But who is she? "

Riki sighed then smiled as he tore his gaze from the canvas to look at the boy beside him once again.

"She..." He paused for a brief moment. "She's the woman I met in my dreams. She's my happiness, the reason why I'm here and not giving up in life even though it's getting tough sometimes. "

Riki sighed as a memory flashed through his eyes.

He miss her. So much. He wanted to hug her, see her, touch her, hear her sweet voice and adorable laugh that sounded like a beautiful music in his ears. To see her smile and to tell her how much he loves her.

He wanted to go back in time, to that specific day and relive his life from then. Only if he had the power to do so...

"Her name is Amber. " He added.

The boy was about to ask a question but before he can do so, a voice coming from the kitchen suddenly erupted the room.

"Jihoon? Uncle Riki? Lunch is ready. "

"We're coming Papa! " The young boy answered then looked at the unbothered old man sitting on the chair beside him whilst staring at the painting once again.

"Grandpa, lunch is ready. Let's go? "

Riki shook his head as he weakly tapped his stomach. "I'm still full. " he answered truthfully making the boy, Jungwon's son, nodded then took his leave.

Jihoon is Sunoo's grandson. The boy and his father, Jungwon, visits the ravenette today as per the boy's request and now, they're in the ravenette's house. The same house he bought with a cheap price.

It's been what? Forty years? Forty five years? Since that night at the beach facing the sunset. Since that night when he last saw you...

It was hard. Really hard. Especially the first few years. To the point where Riki thought he's about to lose his mind. To the point where he started believing that everything related to you isn't true. That you didn't exist in the very first start and that you're just nothing but a hallucination...

But everytime he sets his eyes to that painting, his hearts tells him otherwise. That for once, he felt loved. That he's special. That even just a short moment of time, he felt happy once again.

Growing old alone is hard. It's painfully lonely. But Riki prefer being alone than with someone he didn't love. He prefer it this way than being with someone that isn't you. That's why he didn't attempt dating someone nor open his heart to someone even after getting out of jail because he knew it'd be pointless.

Yeah, he spent half of those years in prison. And he didn't regret it because he believes he deserved it.

A sigh left the ravenette's lips as he closed his eyes while smiling. A tear rolled down his cheeks as he once again recalled a memory he shared with you.

Another tear rolled down his cheeks then followed by another then another. But instead of drying them, he just simply smiled.

In a different place and time... Or in another life, I hope to meet you again. I love you and I miss you...

See you soon, my love...

And with that, Riki took his last breath with a smile on his lips as he slowly slipped away from life.