The Last Time | 2jae

Come In With The Rain

He landed face first on his sofa; his mind tricking him to just give in and sleep right there but the other side wouldn’t stop running to him the lists of work he has yet to do. With a grunt, he moved around and lay face up in the ceiling. Maybe a nap, I think I deserve that. He thought, as his body melted, exhausted, on the soft cushion the sofa has, thankful for a minute rest.

Youngjae’s breathing is still a bit heavy for him to take a nap. It’s quite impossible, he knows, but he feels like anymore move is going to make him fall and just lay there unconscious. He basked at the quietness his surrounding provided, it kind of serve as a soft lullaby to him. The noise the midnight brings him is his favorite, the darkness seems to be endless but it effectively calmed his nerve.

He’s only twenty-one, but the dull back pain he’s enduring makes his body age than he likes it to be. Youngjae bitterly thinks that he can’t do anything about it, he has to work. Ever since that disastrous day when he was only seventeen came, he didn’t have the time to rest.

He lost both his parents at a plane crash. They were on their way back from their much needed and prized one week vacation in Thailand—a wedding anniversary gift of his father for his loving wife. It was supposed to be a family trip but when an ever-curious Youngjae found out about his Dad’s plan accidentally he immediately bombarded him with questions, albeit jumping on the ball of his feet, excited. His father has to hold his son’s shoulder to calm him, a warm smile on his face; he’s reminded of how much of a kid his son is. His baby, their baby, no matter his age is.

“Can you promise me that you won’t tell your Mom?” his father whispered, when they settled on the same sofa, knowing his wife is in their room at the end of the corridor. Youngjae looked around himself to check and when he deemed that his mother is out of earshot, he nodded fervently. He hugged his dad, a wide smile on his face where his lips are pulled on each side that might hurt his cheek from such smiling but he’s so happy he couldn’t hide it.

“It’s for your twenty-fifth anniversary, right?” the other whispered back. He knows it is, their wedding date is next month and Youngjae isn’t one to miss such an important event.

His father lovingly ruffled his hair. “It is,” he confirmed, earning a squeal from his child.

“But Dad…,” Youngjae trailed, suddenly in deep thought. The parent looked at him, humming, to know he is listening. “Wouldn’t it be better if only the two of you travels? Don’t mistake it as me not wanting to be with you both! I do!” he immediately added when he saw his Dad frown. “But since when was the last time you two had been on your own? Maybe this could be a good time to relive your time when you were still a couple! A date! That’s kind of romantic,” he grinned, his mind imagining it for his parents.

His Dad chuckled. He knows his child has always been a giving person and even though it worries him and his wife that Youngjae doesn’t have friends, even after all the time his kid would convince them that he has, Youngjae still has a way to connect to people in his kind way.

“Well, I haven’t planned everything yet and your plan doesn’t seem so bad but… who’s going be with you while we’re out of the country?”

Youngjae sits upright, smiling even more at his Father, head held quite high as his hands come into the air, thumbs pointing at him. “Me.”

And that’s how it’s always been since then.

When he received a call from the supposed airline authority relaying the news to him, while he was taking his lunch break at a shady part of the field, he couldn’t focus at the whole phone call but the word, “Mr. and Mrs. Choi is found dead after the plane they were in was experiencing turbulence…” kept on ringing. He doesn’t know when the call ended or when has his school mates went on their classes already as he takes everything in, seemingly stoned on his seat.