Wings [BANG CHAN FF] ✔️

- Epilogue -

The cold wind kept blowing from the ocean. The waves kept splashing on the sandy beach of the quiet outskirts of Sydney.

August in Australia was cold, it was winter. But that cold weather and gloomy gray clouds didn't stop a crowd of people to gather outside.

So many people gathered in one place, flying from the other side of the world just for this moment - to make two last wishes come true. They were all dressed in black. They were crying or trying not to cry.

Two young men held an urn each. Those small objects in their hands seemed heavier than anything they'd held before. And these two didn't want to hide their tears - they were openly grieving for their friends.

Han Jisung's hands trembled - he held Abby's ashes and didn't dare to look at the small urn in his hands. He held his best friend's remains, his friend who was his light, a girl who was his first love, a girl he enjoyed spending time and joking around with, and a friend who was his biggest support when he decided to get in a relationship with Minho. He loved Abby as no one did... and he would continue loving her for as long as he shall live - she will be living in his memory forever.

Lee Felix held Chris's ashes. Tears streamed down his face and his hands trembled too. He, just like Jisung, stared in the distance, at the ocean's horizon as the wind blew on his face. He loved Chris like a brother he never had. Christopher was his first friend once he moved to Oakland and he was glad that he spoke up to the young boys doodling dragons and dinosaurs that day. Felix loved spending time with Chris, loved training taekwondo with him, doing homework, or just watching a movie and eating chips. Felix was the first person who told Chris that Sophie Kim wasn't for him, that he should focus more on Abby... but he didn't listen so he let him experience everything that happened. Felix was always full of advice but Chris almost always ignored them. Yet, they were best friends until the end. 

But, what hurt these two best friends the most was the fact that they weren't by Chris or Abby's side in their last moments. That thought made them cry more.

The wind finally calmed down.

Suzy Miller, accompanied by Emma (Abby's old roommate and her maid of honor) and Meghan (a former orphanage caregiver), placed her hands on each of the boys' shoulders. Felix and Jisung turned to the old woman who cried along with them, waiting for her guidance.

"It is time..." Suzy whispered, looking down at her feet.

She slid her hands away from the boys and stepped back with Emma and Meghan supporting her to slowly walk away.

Felix and Jisung started crying more. They opened the lids of the urns slowly, walking towards the cold water of the ocean. They shared one glance and nodded to each other. Raising their arms, Felix and Jisung swung the urns, letting the ashes of their late friends spread on the surface of the water.

The act made everyone gathered cry louder - they were watching them go for the last time and it was a horrible feeling.

Felix and Jisung dropped to their knees, not caring that the wave was getting their black trousers wet, crying more as the ashes drifted away, just like both Chris and Abby wanted. They wanted to be one with the ocean and their wish came true.

Minho and Hyunjin came running to two guys, barely standing them up from the ground.

Suzy watched the young men cry and hug each other as her own tears streamed down her face.

Leslie and James, two boys who greeted Chris on his first night at the orphanage, now grown men (a doctor and a police officer) brought their cars to the beach while Emma helped Meghan and Sarah, a curly-haired red hair girl who also befriended Chris when he came and now a nurse, helped old Suzy get into the cars.

"They're finally together..." Suzy muttered while Sarah guided her to the back seat of James's car. The old woman stopped to get one last look at the ocean water, "They will be together forever..." she added through tears staining her wrinkly face.

She still remembered the day she met Chris 20 years ago. That frightened boy grew up right in front of her eyes yet she always thought that it would be him who will see her off on her last journey, not the other way around. 

She still remembered giving baby Abby a check-up to see if she was sick after Meghan found her on that cold December night. That little baby grew up in a shy young girl, a frightened teen who got her first period, and a young woman who decided to live in a far-away country with a man she loved.

Suzy loved them like her own children before she even had her own, and parting with them was as if someone cut off her legs. But she knew that now, they grew their own wings and flew away together to rest and love each other for the rest of eternity.

She also knew one fact for sure...

They grew up together and they knew that they couldn't live without each other...