a better life // hwang hyunjin ✔️

chapter twenty-four

it's always hard to say goodbye

merry christmas!! enjoy this update as a gift from me to you <3

"this is the place?" hyunjin questions, pulling into the graveyard that seulgi directed him to.

"this is it." she whispers, her eyes instant darting to the spot where chan was buried. she felt ashamed that she hadn't been here since he was buried. she could never bring herself to come here. she hoped he didn't think she left him, because she would never leave him. she just couldn't bring herself to go back. but she was back now. daehyun and dongwoo in the back seat.

"you sure you want to do this?" he asks, voice lowered so that the kids in the back wouldn't hear.

"i need to." she nods. flinching as hyunjin puts the car in park. she was ready for this, she had to be. hyunjin is the first to get out of the car, running to unstrap dongwoo from his car seat, instantly hugging him tight against his chest. daehyun climbing out of the car on his own. seulgi still sat in her seat, eyes glued to chan's grave in the distance. her heart aching seeing the grass fully grown over him.

it was daehyun who pulled her door open, looking up at his mom, he grabs her hand.

"let's go see dad." he speaks, gently tugging on her hand. she sniffles, looking down to him, silently nodding. and she climbs out of the car, hyunjin coming around, dongwoo secure in his arms. she smiles at all of her boys, squeezing daehyun's hand, she leads them to chan's grave.

her pace slows as the epitaph on his grave becomes visible, the words she could never forget. though his parents hated him in his last moments, she couldn't deny that they chose a wonderful epitaph for him.

-

christopher "bang chan" bahng

"the streetlight broke a long time ago
the shoe soles that are all worn out are left behind
footprints won't last long, they'll be erased."

october 3rd, 1997 - april 13th, 2015

-

lyrics from one of the many songs he wrote, beautiful ones at that. seulgi couldn't help but tear up upon reading them, engraved into the stone, after so long.

"channie..." she whispered, landing on her knees just before the stone. allowing her finger to run across the rough edges. hyunjin and dongwoo stood back, daehyun just behind his mom, taking in every word she said. "it's been a while..." she chuckles half-heartedly. "daehyun has grown so much, you would love the person he's become."

"i also met someone who loves me as much as you did. sometimes i wonder if maybe you sent him to me. we even had another baby together, a boy. i'm so in love with him, just like i am with daehyun. i wish you would have gotten to experience that kind of love. i know how excited you were..." she trails off, taking a moment to breathe. "i miss you... so much. you would be twenty-six by now. but i'm happy now, and i'm gonna be okay. i hope you're okay wherever you are. i like to imagine you're with us, but i also like to imagine that you're an idol, like you wanted, singing your heart out to millions of fans."

"i love you, channie. thank you for everything." she drops her head gently against the stone, a few tears dripping from her eyes. she breathes for a few moments before standing up, looking to daehyun who now walks forward on his own, ready to say something for himself.

"h-hey dad... i recognize the song on your grave, mom showed me a recording of it. i hope i can write songs as good as you did one day... i wish we could have met, i think we would have really got along. a-and i'm sorry that we didn't get to know each other, but i love you." he trails off, looking over to his mom who was smiling at him, tears streaming down her face at the same time.

"and thank you, thank you for loving mom while you could." he finishes, placing his head against the stone just as his mom did, closing his eyes. "hyunjin is a good guy, he'll take care of mom. and so will i, you don't have to worry anymore." he whispers, loud enough for only him to hear. he stands up, stepping away from the stone, the two look over to hyunjin, the only one who hasn't said anything. dongwoo playing with hyunjin's hair, blissfully unaware of this bittersweet moment.

"we'll wait in the car..." seulgi speaks up, assuming that hyunjin was feeling nervous. he didn't know chan personally, but he still felt like he should say something. with how much seulgi and daehyun mean to him, and chan was part of the reason daehyun was here. and hyunjin knew he was part of the reason seulgi was doing so well, growing and accepting chan's death. he knew he helped greatly with that. seulgi walks away with daehyun, hyunjin waiting for them to be out of earshot before he spoke.

"chan... we'll never formally meet, but i'm hyunjin," he starts. "and this is dongwoo." he says, grabbing dongwoo's hand, making him wave at the grave. the little boy giggling at the action. "i-i hope you don't hate me for being with seulgi, but i love her. i don't know how much you loved her, but i promise, i'll love her just as much as you did, if not more... i love daehyun too, just as much as i love dongwoo. i promise i'll love him enough for the both of us." hyunjin felt himself tearing up, he didn't think he could be so emotional over a man he never met.

"you were really important to her, and that makes you really important to me. so... so i hope you're resting well, or happy, wherever you may be. you can rest, because... because i've got it from here... i'm gonna give them what they deserve,

a better life."

hyunjin places his hand on the stone, eyes scanning over the epitaph, reading it before standing up. dongwoo back to playing with his long locks of hair.

"i promise."