His Last Song- "Ji'de Tas Anse"

Epilogue 11.1

"Itsuki, wake up," Baba says.

"A few minutes more," I groan and Papa chuckles.

Wait.

I quickly sit up and I look at my grandparents, "Baba, Papa, you're here!"

"Mm-hm," Baba hums. "But not in the waking world."

"But...isn't this the waking world?" I ask and they both shake their heads.

"No, my son, this is a dream," Papa says.

"A dream? But...it's actually you guys, right?"

They both nod their heads, I let out a sigh of relief as I smile then I hug them both.

"I missed you guys so much!" I pull away, "Aiyah, you don't know how much I've been through... And...I'm sorry that I wasn't able to save you."

"You're just speaking nonsense now," Baba says. "It was our time to go."

"It was," Papa says.

"I didn't want you to go."

"We know, son," Papa says. "But just know, we will always be with you."

"Yes," Baba says, "always. And don't be held back by our departure."

"You need to keep going with your life," Papa says. "Don't feel bad for us. We are living our best life."

"We'll still be supporting you from the afterlife," Baba says. "Live your life for the people who have stopped living theirs."

"I will. I'll live my life so that I can end up with you two. And I'll live my life to help others like I was helped."

"That's my boy," Papa says as he rustles my hair and I chuckle.

"Thank you, for visiting me," I say and they both nod. "I love you guys."

"We love you too, Itsuki," they both say with a smile.

"Now, wake up, you have someone waiting for you," Baba says.

"I...do?"

"They've been searching for you.

----

12:30 p.m., 2021/ 8/1

My alarm blares in my ear, I'm startled awake as I squeeze the covers.

No... I wanted more time...

I groan and sit up as I rub my nose. I scoot back in the bed then I look at the pink plushie as it lays next to me, I pick it up and hug it. It starts to play "Tree Bird: the Song that Doesn't Exist", as I call it.

I look around my room as I'm brought back to reality.

It's a small-ish room with a window on the left; my bed is on the right side of the room with my desk next to it, there's a dresser at the foot of my bed, and a small wall closet by the door of the room.

My pictures are hanging around the room, tethered to my new set of fairy lights. There's a lot of posters on the walls to make this desolate and lonely room more lively, but none of them are Song Byeong-ho posters. There is no Song Byeong-ho in this dimension, so no one knows what he looks like. But they do know him because I've posted his songs on a website.

After Adrian, Ai, and I came to this dimension, we moved into this apartment. It has two bathrooms and three bedrooms; we all get our own rooms and Ai and I share a bathroom while Adrian has her own. Ai and I started going to school after the scientists helped us get settled into this dimension. I go to school online, and Ai goes in person; I don't feel like talking to people much. How could I completely settle into this world after all I've been through?