Cupcakes, Cars & Swords

Chapter 3

Kyuhyun carefully shut the bedroom door, pausing in the brightly lit hallway. He stared at the door for a moment, as if able to see through the wood, but then shook his head. Praying Misa would sleep for the rest of the night, he quietly made his way downstairs to the living room where everyone was currently gathered.

"Is she alright?" Mikko asked, guilt written across his face. He stood, his posture somewhat slumped, near the fireplace, looking worn and tired.

Kyuhyun nodded, thinking of his wife's tear-stained cheeks against the pillows on their bed. "She finally fell asleep," he answered.

"Poor Misa," Taeyeon said, her eyes troubled. She shuddered at the memory of Misa's grief-stricken screams and tightened her grip on Kangin's hand. Her husband softly smiled at her and gently kissed her cheek.

"So I don't understand," Siwon spoke up from his seat beside Hei Ryung on the loveseat, "Your great-grandfather died and the police suspect...murder?" His thumb absently drew circles against the back of his wife's hand, comforting her.

Mikko heavily sighed before nodding. "Sousofu was found this morning by the housekeeper," he answered. "His throat had been sliced and there was a katana buried in his chest." He kept his voice down as the kids were in the next room, watching a DVD. Sungmin and Sooyoung had hurriedly herded them into the small playroom once Misa's screams had threatened to break every single glass object in the house.

"Do they know why he was attacked?" Kyuhyun asked.

Mikko shook his head. "The police suspect it was a burglary gone bad," he answered, "Sousofu must've stumbled in on them and they panicked."

"That's so horrible!" Hana murmured from the comfort of Heechul's arms. She shuddered, causing her husband to hold her tighter.

"Who uses a sword in a burglary?" Shingdong wanted to know, frowning. Mikko shrugged, not knowing how to answer.

"Was...Was Misa close to him?" Sooyoung asked, hesitantly. Although she and Misa had grown closer over the years, there was still a lot that she didn't know; she wanted to understand the reason behind her friend's anguished cries.

Kyuhyun nodded. "She went to visit him every month, even when she was younger," he replied, "When the family opened a small bakery there in town for the tourists, Misa went every month and stayed with him while she checked up on the business." He turned to Mikko and added, softly, "She loved him very much; her face would light up whenever she would tell me stories about him."

"Misa was his favorite," Mikko said, solemnly. "He said she made him feel young all over again." He chuckled then, remembering.

They fell silent, all lost in their thoughts.

"Did Ichiro the Great go to heaven?" A small voice suddenly asked from the doorway, startling them. All heads turned to the source, worry clouding their eyes when they saw Sunny standing there. How long had she been standing there and what did she overhear?

Kyuhyun walked over to his daughter and kneeled in front of her. "Hey, why aren't you watching the movie?" he asked, gently.

She wasn't going to be dismissed so easily. "It's true, isn't it?" Sunny asked. "That's why umma was so upset." She looked at her father for confirmation.

Everyone held their breath as Kyuhyun contemplated his answer. He stared at her, debating whether or not she was old enough to process the meaning of death in life. Finally, he nodded and said, "Yes, Ichiro the Great went to heaven."

Sunny solemnly nodded, as if relieved he had told her the truth. "I'll miss him," she whispered. "He was fun." Despite his advanced years, Ichiro the Great had never backed down from an invitation to play with his great- great grandchildren. On many of his visits, Misa and Kyuhyun had often found him being pushed on the swings by the twins or pulling Mari in her wagon around the neighborhood.