— When Korn dies, Kim feels relieved.He does so even after the funeral when he goes home. But the moment he walks into his apartment, it's suddenly all too much for him... but he has Chay, so it's okay. Chay can hold him... —
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When Korn died, Kim felt relieved.
The news came in the middle of the night. Chay was drying Kim's hair with a towel after a steamy shower that lasted way longer than they both intended to. Kim's eyes were closed. Hand resting on Chay's thigh, he was gently massaging Chay's soft skin. Chay's fingers, scratching his scalp and a slight roughness of the towel tugging on his hair felt like heaven. He was getting lost in Chay's quiet humming when his phone lit up on the bedside table.
It was Chay who noticed it first. He stopped everything he was doing with Kim's hair and leaned across the bed to grab Kim's phone from the nightstand.
Kim protested the moment Chay's hands weren't on him. He opened his eyes and turned around, grabbing Chay's waist, "baby—"
"Phi," Chay looked at him, eyebrows furrowed, lip biting in confusion, and Kim immediately knew that something was wrong. But Chay was there with him and he was fine so Kim didn't worry too much. It was simple for Kim—if Chay was okay, nothing else mattered. But then he thought that maybe it was Porsche, and if Porsche wasn't okay, Chay wasn't okay either, and that—that Kim didn't like at all.
Chay handed him the phone, "p'Kinn is calling."
The phone call was short.
"Dad has died," Kinn sounded robotic when he said it.
"How?"
"Heart attack—the doctor said it happened about an hour ago."
"Let me know when's the funeral."
"I will."
That was it.
They both hung up, and Kim felt strings of freedom pulling on the corners of his lips, curving them into a small smile. He looked at Chay and scooted closer, their legs intertwined as they sat in the middle of the bed and Kim just wrapped his arms around Chay's small waist and whispered into the night tranquillity of their bedroom, "father is dead."
And Chay didn't say a word—he just brought their lips together and kissed Kim until their mouths hurt, until the sun was fighting for its spot in the sky again until they both closed their eyes and lost track of time.
☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆
It's three days later, and the funeral is over. Before they leave, Kim says a brief goodbye to everyone and holding Chay's hand firmly in his, he pulls Chay into the car. It's late. Around midnight, and Kim feels tired. They have spent almost an entire day around their family and people who pretend that they have ever cared about his father while in fact, the only reason they came to the funeral is to see if the family is still stable even after Korn's death.
