The Afterlife

23) I Breathe, I Love You

Sihyeon put the box to rest alongside her head; she wanted to talk to Taehyung as soon as she saw the picture, but everyone had left to fulfill their desires as soon as breakfast ended, so she stayed in her and Yeonjun's room, making the picture one with the ceiling to stare at it for hours.

They were long ones, she had realized when she heard the chime of the door's lock, and as she sat up, Siwoo came running into the room in his colorful swimwear and orange flip-flops. Yeonjun was following right behind him, arms carrying the towels and Siwoo's duck-shaped float.

They were all things she felt ridiculous for buying, but as soon as she had seen Siwoo's excitement to be inside them, she set her head aside and let her heart devour that which was her son's enjoyment.

"You sure look like you had the time of your life," Siwoo was giggling nonstop; he threw himself at his mother to lift him, and Sihyeon did not mind his wet clothes dripping on hers as she held him on her lap and betwern her arms as she sat on the bed, "what did you do?"

"I played with a ball," Siwoo clasped his hands, and his feet kicked to try and stand up where he was; Sihyeon held him again, and he used her shoulders to support himself as he stood with a full smile, "I won against Eunha-noona," his arms spread in the air in victory, and he slightly jumped to match it all.

"He swam like there was no tomorrow," Yeonjun was not complaining; rather, he was smiling from ear to ear, although he himself did not look like he used any swimming for himself; he had set the towels to dry, and he put aside the float before he stood by the bathroom's door, motioning with his hands for his kid, "come, you need to shower."

Siwoo was not the only one to leave the bed, but Sihyeon stood as well after she set him down; she approached Yeonjun with a slower pace, and she held his hand before he could follow Siwoo inside the bathroom.

"Forgive me," she looked up at him, her smile weakening in the face of her apology; Yeonjun's smile immediately followed, turned down by the frown that held tightly to his brows, and he turned completely to her questioningly, so she explained, "I was not there to help."

"The sun must have messed with your head," he nodded to his own words, and his smile returned when she sighed at them, "how long did you stay out there?"

"Long enough to feel it burn my skin," she agreed with him; she did, in fact, spend a few hours beneath the sun, staring, still, at the picture until it felt like flames were clutching to her shoulders, and she retreated inside the room when it had already left its mark, "want to fix that for me?"

"I cannot really say I want to fix it," he hummed in thought, and he held the hand with which she held his closer to his mouth; he kissed the back of her hand before he lowered it to give her a view of his smile, "would you wait for me?"

Sihyeon found herself nodding, smiling, ready to wait forever if that was what he meant for her to do, because with how he looked, how he talked, how he eagerly asked, Sihyeon could not do less or expect of herself to be composed, to think first.

It was not long, however, that she had to wait. As soon as Siwoo was done showering, Yeonjun slipped bim past Taehyun and Hyejin's door, asking them, or not exactly, to keep him company for the rest of the night.

Siwoo himself was not hesitant to accept; he had all but the need to sleep again despite the time he had spent giving away his energy to the pool and the playing around, so when Yeonjun told him Hyejin and Taehyun would take him out for icecream after dinner, he was jumping inside their room before he gave himself time to think.

Yeonjun would have joined them for dinner as well, except he knew Sihyeon was still in the room, and he knew he only left Siwoo at Taehyun and Hyejin's room to go back to his lover and her small efforts at a private dinner with what little she had at hand.