Cigarette | Song Mino |

| 9 |

Saturday, June 24th 2017.

It was a warm summer's day, and he soon started to regret his choice of clothing. Wearing a black tee along with black jeans and sneakers- he seemed to be attracting the hot rays of the sun. Of course his mother always told him not to wear black when it's warm outside because he would be attracting heat. However for today he decided to ignore his mother's advice.

This time he had a good reason why he was wearing all black.

He glanced behind him, only to see that Sohye had put her head on her brother's shoulder. Mino was aware of how nervous the two of them were, and he understood why. He would be nervous as well if he was in their position.

Junhee told him this morning that this would be the first time the two of them would visit their mother's grave. Ever since she passed away, they didn't have the courage to visit her. His friend told him that if they would visit their mother, her dead would become a reality- that they can't pretend she's away on vacation or out of town.

"Junhee, I'm scared" the soft voice of Sohye sounded.

Mino turned around in his seat and gave her a gentle smile, "it will be okay Sohye, your brother and I are here with you".

"Is that supposed to make me feel better" she asked with a small smile, and the boys knew that she didn't mean it. She was nervous, just as nervous as her brother if not more.

"If you're not ready to see her, then we can get out here and just get some ice cream instead" Mino suggested, "because I feel bad for being so hard on you guys".

He remembers how he kept asking them why they never visit their mother, that she would like it if they came to visit her from time to time. Mino didn't understand why they never went to her grave, especially because the two of them never gave them a proper answer to why not. That was all until he heard the reason this morning from Junhee.

Junhee shook his head.

"No you're right, we should visit her. It's time to stop pretending she's still around and pay our respect, this woman raised us, she loved us and it doesn't matter if she's dead. She still loves us and she's still our mother" Junhee said as he tucked a piece of hair behind Sohye's ear, "right?".

His sister gave him a nod.

"This is our stop" Junhee told them, as he stood up.

Mino and Sohye followed him out of the bus. Once outside Mino started to fan himself with his hands, still regretting not wearing white like his friends.

Sohye snickered as she gave him a friendly push, "overheated yet Mino" she asked.

He rolled his eyes at her before wrapping an arm around her shoulders.

"Ew don't rub your sweat on me" Sohye shrieked as she tried to get out of his embrace, but the smiling Mino didn't let her get away.

Her brother on the other hand rolled his eyes at the pair, "guys let's go, it's hot".

With his arm still wrapped around the younger girl's shoulder he followed his friend. Sohye still complaining on how he should let her go because he was just using her as a tissue. That was not the reason why Mino was holding her, he just wanted to make sure that she wasn't nervous.

However his plan seemed to work out because when they neared the cemetery he noticed how she serene she was.

They walked the path, looking around until at one point Junhee stopped walking. He was just staring ahead until his sister poked his side.

"With is it Jun" she asked him curiously.

He turned around, swallowed away the lump that was forming in his throat, "she's over there, I asked before we left this morning".

They followed his gaze and saw he was looking at a large tree that was creating shade.

"Let's go, if you're ready" Mino suggested.

Junhee simple nodded before they continued walking again, Sohye got out of Mino's and walked beside her brother. She held onto his shoulder as comfort, it was a moment that Mino liked seeing. How the Kang siblings were so close even though they were often bickering.

They looked at the graves until he heard Sohye let out a sob.

"Sohye what's wrong" Mino asked as he held onto her shoulder, his eyes followed her gaze. "Lee Jieun" he said softly as he looked down at the grave.

"Loving mother of Junhee and Sohye" Junhee said in a mere whisper.

It was silent, the only sounds that could be heard were of the birds chirping up in the tree above them. Both Junhee and Sohye started to sob softly, "I can't believe she's dead" Junhee said softly.

Sohye on the other hand couldn't speak, causing her brother to wrap an arm around her shoulders.

"It suddenly feels so real, and we're sorry we never came to visit you mom. It was so painful since you were gone, one day you were breathing and then the next it suddenly stopped" Junhee continued, "we miss you so much mom".

Mino wanted to comfort them, but he didn't know what to do. Realising they might want to be alone with their mother, he decided to wait outside the cemetery.

But before he got the chance to leave, Sohye suddenly caught his hand with hers. She looked up at him with teary eyes mouthing to him not to go.

He gave her a nod, using his other hand to wipe away the tears that were threatening to fall.

"I promise we will visit you more often, next time we will bring your favourite flowers" Junhee said, almost choking in his own words before looking at Sohye.

"I love you mom" Sohye managed to say.

Mino felt how Sohye gave his hand a soft squeeze, causing him to look at her.

He gave her a reassuring smile, "I think your mom is happy you guys came to see her, and she'll be glad you two are doing well".

His friends gave him a smile, knowing he was right.