Step By Step | Sehun & Irene

8 | Grayscale

Black mesh masked the eyes of the daughter whose mother had just passed. She touches the string of milky pearls which accentuated her deep collarbones, and smacks her stained red lips - the same way those big, widespread hands stained her mother's neck. 

Her father kneels by the grave, looking empty. His cheeks that were once full of colour were now pale and blanched. In their hearts, the both of them knew that Mrs. Hyun's time would soon come; but not like this.
This? This was a freak murder, and it wasn't right. Who would have a grudge on her mother this much, so much so that they wanted her dead, when she was hardly even alive?

Irene shuts her eyes, feeling her head throb with subtle pain as she dwells on the situation. More than a sense of fear and worry, there was an air of melancholy. Her vision follows the trail of ladies who looked more grand than mournful, the ones who hardly blinked an eye for her mother, the ones who called her the town 'loon' back in the college days of 87'.

There, just in view from where Irene stood, beneath a lone willow tree, was Sehun. His eyes meet hers, and he starts to run, not sparing a single thought. She runs too - not caring that her black hat had fallen off, or that her hair was wildly being blown by the wind.
He was there, that was all that mattered. They stop in each other's arms, breathing restlessly. "Irene, I came here as soon as I heard -" His words trail off as she begins to waddle into him, resting her head against his chest.

Irene's had enough of the tears, but she cries. She wanted to tell him how badly she needed him next to her during the autopsy, or during the burial of her mother. She wanted him to know how she had stayed up the whole night crying, while he was soundly asleep in bed.

But she couldn't do it.
All of her sentences would turn into sobs each time she opened her mouth to speak. Her tears began to soak through his cotton shirt, but Sehun doesn't mind. He shuts his jaded eyes and cradles her in his arms. After all, he knows how it's like, losing a parent. "Everything will be okay." She was so broken, Sehun knew that just by touch.

If words could mend her fragile heart, he would say all the things that needed to be said in order to fix her. "Irene, listen to me." he whispers softly in between her hair, holding her tighter. "I'm not going to let you fight this pain on your own. I lo-"

The two feel a break in their embrace. It was Seulgi, staring at Sehun with fire in her eyes. "My apologies, lover boy. It's time for us to bring Irene home." Sehun reluctantly lets Irene go, holding onto the edge of her fingertips before she gets taken away completely.

Irene looks over her shoulder with sea-like eyes, stealing a quick glance at him. Sehun had his hands tucked into his tweed suit, with a weak smile plastered on his face. He nods, knowing they'll meet up soon again.

Concealed from the sight of the funeral attendees, a mysterious bald headed man dressed in black from head to toe, stands beside the same tree, examining the scene. He watches. Three girls fix Irene's black locks and kiss her head, taking her to the vehicle.

-

The sixty-five days he spent away from her were agonising, not knowing what she was doing or rather, how she was feeling. But the fact that he was here at her house, managed to cheer his cowardly self up, and made him realise how much he wanted her.

Sehun looks at Irene's father with a heavy heart, feeling the burden that was cast upon the family. "I'm deeply sorry for your loss, Mr. Hyun."
"Thank you." he pauses, looking deeply at Sehun's pale face. "Irene's upstairs, if that was what you were here for."