Rain | k.ms

ii: 2011

"Hey, Minseok."

Minseok lays his pencil down on the table, and turns around to face me. "What's up, Sonagi?" He inquires, taking a drink of his latte.

"Are you free tomorrow?"

Light brown droplets of coffee splatter all over the table, and onto the papers on the table as well. To the side I see a coughing Minseok, and I hit him on the back so that he won't choke.

"Are you okay?" I ask him, after his coughing episode.

His face still red from having almost choked on the caffeinated drink, he nods. "I'm fine, thanks." Then he pauses to catch his breath before speaking again. "Back to what you were saying."

"Well, I—um—have to attend this funeral tomorrow, and I was-" I begin, but my sentence is sharply cut off.

"A funeral?" Minseok interrupts.

I nod, before continuing. "My aunt passed away last week." I explain.

Minseok goes silent. "Oh." Then he looks up again, clumsily meeting my eyes. "A-are you alright?" He questions.

I nod vigorously. "Yeah, fine." I respond. "I wasn't ever really close to her, anyway." I utter, the last few words in my sentence quieter than the rest.

"Oh."

It remains awkwardly and suffocatingly silent after that.

A/N: In case anyone was confused, this story alternates between present day (2017) and the past (2011).