Trapped |Jake Sim|

26

Heeseung walked down the pathway as Jake looked around in thought.

"I never brought you here before because I thought you weren't ready yet. But I think it's good to bring you along now." Heeseung whispered as he stepped over the branch of a tree.

Jake listened to Heeseung as he followed after him with a takeout bag in one hand and a coffee in the other.

He looked around at the green trees, starting to feel hot in his suit, but his eyebrows raised as he realized where they were. Some trunks of the trees had small plaques with names on them, death dates recorded.

"I come here to talk to her about things sometimes. Anything really." Heeseung said under his breath as they started approaching a small clearing, next to a wisteria tree.

Jake stared at the beautiful purple on the flowers, before looking down at the spot next to it.

"This...is her grave?"

"Mhm." Heeseung said as he sat down on the grass, before gesturing towards the grave while looking at Jake. "It was torture not being able to tell you where she was buried, because you didn't know who she was. And then after you did, I wasn't sure when you would be fully ready to come here. Since your doctor gave me the clear... here we are."

Jake's heart was raising as he stared at the grave, before placing the takeout bag on the grass, before kneeling down next to Heeseung, in front of Sonny's grave.

He placed his hands on the grass in front of him, his heart feeling heavier and heavier.

"She's here?" His voice broke, his throat tightening.

Heeseung nodded his head, feeling tears in his eyes.

Jake leaned his forehead against the ground, before letting out the sob he was holding.

"I'm sorry I didn't send you away like I should have Sonny. I'm sorry." Jake sobbed as he shook his head against the ground. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry I didn't remember you. I'm sorry I wasn't here for you. I'm sorry I want to forget you."

The thought of Sonny's remains being under him made him feel like his shoulders were being pushed down by blocks of cement.

Sonny was really dead.

He missed her funeral, and he missed her burial. His true last chance to see her was completely lost.

"I couldn't tell you anything. You were in the hospital for a couple of days." Heeseung explained as he stared at his hands. "When I found out you got sent back home, I wanted to talk to you to plan the funeral together, so I went to get your contact information from the first responder because I didn't know any other way to find you. The policeman told me that you thought that you were in the hospital from a virus, and that you made an entire story without Sonny in it, that you didn't know who she was."

Jake remembered when he was discharged from the hospital that time. He had lost track of the days and genuinely felt sick. When he got back to his own apartment it didn't feel much different besides his stomach feeling like it had been ripped apart.

But Sonny had died just a couple of days before.

"You somehow ended up moving in at Sonny's. I'm not sure if you remember how you got the job at the cafe but-"

"-there was a hiring flyer outside of the studio. You did that?" Jake sniffled as he looked over at Heeseung, who nodded his head.

"I wanted to help keep an eye on you somehow."

"This is just..." Jake whispered as he shook his head before crossing his arms over his chest.

He continued to stare at the grave as he felt like he couldn't control his tears yet.