Don't tell me bye bye (mystery/ thriller)

End / Epilogue

Epilogue

I still visit the mill, even though blue and white police tape criss-crosses every entrance, blowing in the wind like forgotten Christmas decorations. I climb down the wheel and listen to the rush of water as it babbles beneath me. I go there to be alone, and to think about Rose, and each time I open the door, a tiny part of me expects to see her smiling face duck around the corner. But it never does.

The police began a search for Rose's body following interviews with Dan and after they reviewed the recording that Jennie made. There was a lot of embarrassment on the police's part that they hadn't treated her disappearance as suspicious in the first place, instead taking the word of the parish priest. I can't bring myself to read the details, but Jin told me they'd found Rose buried inside the mill. Her family was contacted and they came to collect her remains, taking her away from Seoul forever.

A few days after they found Rose's body, I went to see Jimin and asked her whether he believed in the afterlife. He didn't seem surprised by my question, and gave me a broom and made me sweep up as he wiped the tables down, giving me his opinion on life after death, and why Seoul might be a magnet for that sort of thing. He told me he'd felt a presence at the tea shop for the last few years, but then it disappeared, like a puff of air.

He then offered me a job, and I've been working as a waitress there for a few weeks now. I really like it. It keeps me busy, and I can give Namjoon free hot chocolate whenever he comes in. We're nowhere near being back to what we got so close to, what with his Dad being arrested and his brother being investigated, but I'm more than happy to take things slowly.

I think about Rose every single day. I feel particularly close to her at Jimin's as I can just imagine her hanging around people's tables, listening to conversations and trying to be a part of life. I was having a pretty tough day there last week; a screaming toddler kicked me in the knee, I burned myself on the milk frother, and I dropped two milkshake glasses. Jimin could see that I was going to have a meltdown any second so he made me sit down at the table under the stairs.

I tried to block out the mayhem going on behind me and Jimin brought over a cup of hot chocolate. Before I could stop heim she picked up the full bowl of sugar, and whisked it away saying it needed filling up. I watched him bustle away then turned to my drink, a smile spreading across my face as I noticed something scratched in tiny, jagged letters on the top of the table.

Rose was here.

That was all the strength I needed to get through the rest of the day.

I let myself in through the front door, and sling my schoolbag onto the floor in the hallway, the sound of family life drifting from the living room. The television is on and Teddy is squealing between delight and panic; the unmistakable sound of a tickled toddler.

Jin is lying on the sofa, his legs crossed in front of him, watching the TV with a discarded newspaper on his chest. mum is on the floor by the open fire place, on her knees over Teddy as she tickles his little pot belly, his Star Wars t-shirt bunched up under his armpits providing a better target for his Mum, his hair wet from an evening bath. His delighted laughter makes my heart smile, and I let myself be a part of it.

"Hey."
"Hi, Y/n." Mum looks up at me and smiles. "Did you have a good time with Jennie?" "Yeah, I did thanks."
Mum nods her head. "That's good."
"How's Tae doing?" Jin asks, not taking his eyes off the TV.

"He's doing really well, apparently. He and Namjoon are staying with their Auntie who's a nurse so she's been able to make sure Tae gets what he needs while he gets tutored at home. He's obviously got all this stuff going on with his dad and the police, but physically, he's doing better."

"Sounds good." Jin shakes his head, blinking at screen. "I still can't believe what happened." He sits up and retrieves the remote control from down the side of the cushion. "What have we got tonight then?" He frowns at the TV guide that's popped up on the screen. "Fancy watching something with us, Y/n?"

"Peppa!"
"No, Teddy, time for Daddy's programmes now. Bed-time soon."

I loiter by the door, torn between wanting to run up the stairs to the solitude of my bedroom, and wanting to be with them.

"I'm ok; I think I'm going to head up now."

Mum stands up and grabs a comb from the mantelpiece, then sits of the armchair and beckons Teddy over to her.

Teddy ignores her, and stands up and heads towards me in the doorway, before suddenly turning back to mum and snatching the comb from her hands. He pads over to me, holding them up in his little hands.

"Y/n brush my hair."

It's an order rather than a question, and I don't protest as he takes my hand and leads me to the end of the sofa, showing me to sit where Jin pulls his feet up. I sit down and Teddy stands in front of me, his feet together and arms by his sides, facing away from me before clumsily holding the comb above his head. I take them from him and look at Jin whose smiling eyes flick away from my face, and then at mum who is watching us with such love that if she were a cartoon she would have hearts for eyes.

"Ok." I start working the comb through a mass of wet curls. "Tell me if I hurt you, Teddy." "You'll be okay y/n."
I smile and kiss him on the back of his perfect wet head; I think he might be right.

Author note : That was my first full story , if you have made it to the end then I really hope you enjoyed. I had so much fun creating and writing this and I hope you enjoyed reading it just as much. I don't really think people are gonna read this because it seems most people stopped reading after chapter one but if there is someone who has completed reading this chapter by chapter, then let me just say thank you :)