Sleep.

A five-letter word that couldn't come harder to Soobin if it tried.

Rolling over in bed, Soobin's eyes looked at the darkness coating his room; milky white strips of moonlight flowing in from the outside to highlight various things throughout his bedroom. The half-opened window let in the cool autumn breeze as it whistled through the trees outside. The wind was a bit stronger than normal, grabbing ahold of the curtains on the way into his room and making them dance about like ghosts.

'A storm must be coming,' thought Soobin, wondering if maybe the future drumming of rain and cracks of thunder would lull him to sleep.

He doubted it though. He hadn't been able to sleep properly for the last four months. Not ever since Yeonjun died.

Rolling over so that his back was to the window, Soobin grappled for his cell phone off the bedside dresser. He pressed a button along the side of his phone to illuminate the screen. The white digitals numbers displayed the time: 4:52AM. If he was lucky, exhaustion would kick in soon and he might be able to have one hour of sleep before he had to wake up for work.

Luck unfortunately wasn't with him tonight either. No matter how many times he closed his eyes and tried to concentrate on the darkness on the undersides of his eyelids, Soobin couldn't pass out. Opening his eyes again, certain that he must have at least wasted a half hour trying to sleep, he grabbed his phone to see that only five minutes had passed.

Letting out a frustrated sigh, Soobin sat up in bed and threw his feet over the edge of it. Cramming his feet into his slippers, he navigated his way through his bedroom and towards the door. He was soon treading down the narrow hallway towards the open floor living room and kitchen of his small two-bedroom apartment. He was thankful that he was wearing slippers, stubbing his toe against the leg of the pale blue couch in the living room on his journey.

Soobin navigated his way through the apartment with the help of the moonlight's flashlight like beams through his half open curtains. Rounding the back of the couch, he walked past the sink stacked with dishes in a Jenga like manner. After having passed the sink and the loudly humming fridge, he stepped down the one small step to the front door area. Leaning up against one of the walls was his bicycle. Even though he couldn't admire the dark blue bike and its black accents in the darkness of his apartment, he could see it all so clearly in his mind's eye. He still remembered the day that he and Yeonjun had gone to the shop and picked out matching bikes.

"We live in a small town," said Yeonjun. "Getting a bike is better than a car. It's not only healthier for the environment, but it's healthier for us! It's a win-win!"

Soobin gave a half-hearted smile as Yeonjun's voice echoed in his mind. When Yeonjun died, part of him wanted to get rid of this bike, but Soobin couldn't bring himself to. No matter how painful it was, he didn't want to pack the memories of Yeonjun away. To Soobin, he felt like if he did so, it was as if he was trying to forget that Yeonjun ever existed.

Slipping his apartment keys off the hook on the wall, Soobin traded his slippers for shoes before opening his apartment door and wheeling his bike outside. The night sky's midnight blue was starting to become gradually lighter; an ombre of colors that was the herald for the start of a new day. Pushing the bike down the weeded walkway of the apartment after locking up behind him, Soobin soon reached the sidewalk where he got on his bike and began to ride off down the sleepy streets.

The cool air of the night kissed his cheeks and stained them a rosy red as he navigated with ease over the sidewalks towards the outskirts of town. The gusty breeze of the storm-to-come seemed to propel him forward even faster like wind on a ship's sails. Once Soobin reached his destination, he hopped down off his bike and wheeled it alongside him as he entered through the black iron gates.

The same stony faces that Soobin was getting to know well stared at him and his bike as he picked his way delicately and slowly along. The well loved and trodden path that many had walked before him and many would walk forever after crackled underneath his feet; the grass alongside him wet with dew to the point that it sparkled like the fading stars in the sky above him. Soobin soon followed the path up a small incline where more stony faces watched his approach. A cherry blossom tree erected behind them seemed to wave in greeting as Soobin leaned his bike up against it, soon moving to sit in the wet grass alongside Yeonjun's grave. Soobin's eyes looked out towards the edge of the more populated city in the distance; the sky there touched with yellow and orange as if on fire with the life of a new day being born.

Yeonjun would have liked this spot. He was a man that loved the sunrises, but hated being up for them. Towards the end of his life, Yeonjun had changed his attitude though, dragging a reluctant Soobin with him so that he didn't have to experience it alone.

'Maybe that was a sign I should have watched out for,' thought Soobin. It was as if Yeonjun was so desperate to cling to everything life had to offer that he - someone that used to love sleep - had avoided it at all costs right before his death.

"I know. You must be sick of me," said Soobin out loud as he turned to look at the granite stone beside him that bore Yeonjun's name. "I can't sleep again, but I suppose that's okay. At least one of us is able to have a peaceful rest."

Soobin turned his head forward again, watching as the first rays of the sun started to transform the sky into a new masterpiece; swirling the ombre of blues into blush pinks and lavender purples.

"You'd like this sunrise," remarked Soobin as he watched it.

His eyes caught sight of a star twinkling bright before fading from view followed by another and yet another. It was like the new day was extinguishing the hopes and dreams from the night before in an attempt to slowly bring everyone back to reality.

"I'm sorry that you can't be here to experience things anymore," continued Soobin. "I wish I had seen the signs. I wish I had been a better friend. You died right in front of me and I...I couldn't do anything to save you. I found you too late."

Swallowing the salty tears that were building up in his throat, Soobin reluctantly moved to stand to his feet. He placed one of his hands gently on the top of the gravestone.

"I promise I will figure out what happened...who killed you," said Soobin. "I'm not going to let your death be in vain. I just wish somehow...someway...you weren't really gone."

Tears as cold as the cool air he was surrounded by silently rolled down his cheeks as he moved to walk towards his bike. Soobin knew that the alarm on his phone that he had left at the apartment would soon go off to indicate that it was time for work.

Once he had had walked out of the graveyard, Soobin started riding his bike through the slowly awakening town back towards his apartment. Even if the world felt like it came to a standstill when someone died, time kept moving and Soobin had no choice but to play along. On the way home, a few rain drops started to fall from the sky. It was as if Mother Nature itself was commiserating with Soobin.

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AN: Thank you all SO much for the show of support when I posted the author's note last night! I promise you that this story will pick up speed as it moves along. I have to set a few things up so that the future scenes make sense.

I look forward to interacting with you all in the comments. I wonder when I should update this next? 😂