PitBabe English

Chapter 19

"Tranquility is an ideal place that many seek, but only in certain forms.

Because in some cases, tranquility can be filled with vague and painful memories and reflections of things that can never be recovered.

From birth until the age of thirty-one, Babe had never attended a funeral because he wasn't sure how many people should be present for it to be appropriate. According to his thoughts, there shouldn't be too many, as not to disturb the atmosphere, but also not too few, so the deceased wouldn't feel abandoned. But who would know how the person lying in the grave would feel about their own funeral?

The eight people who attended Charlie's funeral were Babe, Jeff, Alan, North, Sonic, Dean, and Yoshi. The eight young men stood around the grave in their elegant black suits, surrounded by a white sign engraved with the word 'Charlie'. Because that was all they knew about Charlie—they didn't know his last name or his date of birth. They only knew that he was twenty-two years old, which wasn't even certain. Even Jeff, who had been with him his whole life, said he didn't know Charlie's birthday. Since Charlie never celebrated his birthday, Jeff usually celebrated Charlie's birthday along with his own. But it seemed that tradition would have to be interrupted this year.

Charlie's funeral did not have monks like other funerals because Charlie did not follow any religion, so no one came to say any farewell words. Only eight men brought flowers and small gifts to place around the grave after the funeral workers finished burying him.

They simply stood and silently looked at the grave; no one thought of saying anything, especially Babe, who had refused to say a word since Charlie's death. He didn't even go to see his body and entrusted all the funeral decisions to Jeff and Alan, which everyone understood. This time...

Just hearing Charlie's name made him break into tears.

Babe stared at the grave like that. The eyes of the famous runner seemed empty, unable to guess what he was thinking, but one thing was certain, it was not a good feeling. The bright face that once shone had disappeared as if he were now another person. Instead, it was just Babe, pale and weak, with swollen and red eyes all the time, dry and cracked lips to the point of bleeding. But no one dared to say anything.

Although he tried to hold back, in the end, Jeff could no longer tolerate the heavy atmosphere. The small omega cried silently before turning to embrace Alan, who hugged him tightly without saying anything because he knew that no matter how much he talked, this pain would never go away. The only thing that could heal this shattered feeling was something invisible, like time.

The wind blew gently, and the sunlight was not as bright as before, indicating that it would rain soon. The gray clouds floating above their heads seemed like they were about to release raindrops and wash away all the sadness. But no one knew if it had enough power to erase this deep pain from the hearts of those who had to face the loss.

After remaining silent for a while, Alan turned to North and the others behind him and said softly, 'It's time to leave this place.'

The tall young man whispered to North to take the child to wait by the car. Upon hearing that, North nodded, took Jeff's hand, and left with the others, making it seem like now only Alan and Babe remained at the grave.

Babe walked with weak steps, dragging his feet, his thin body walked to sit on the white and clean grave next to Charlie's tombstone. He leaned his head against the tombstone before moving his hand to drag it over the newly covered ground, slowly touching the earth without caring that his hands were getting dirty, and gently touching the fresh flowers placed there as if he still couldn't believe this had happened.

'Only eight.'

That was the phrase that escaped Babe's mouth for the first time since Charlie passed away. The voice that once was clear now sounded dry, and no one heard it, but it wasn't enough to make him happy. Finally, Babe agreed to say something.