Those who you miss the most are the ones who are the most valuable to you. Those who you respect the most, are the ones you must cherish and support.

—NOTVANTE

🦋⊰

What?... But his brother... He was the boy I saved a day ago...

I stared at him with stinging eyes, speechless. There was no way in heck I.. saved him. He was deceased as his brother was saying, so who had I actually saved?

I quickly said my goodbyes to Taeyong before taking off to my locker. None of this was making sense and the little spark of hope that I had for myself was slowly dimming with every step I took. What now? Am I going insane myself? Was I trapped in a world of lies? What was going on?

"W-what?.. but how?."

Taeyong popped out of nowhere and began unlocking the locker next to me. From what I had known, that locker had been vacant for a while now... I watched him as he placed his things back where they belonged rather quietly and well organized.

"He was in a train accident. That was a two and a half years ago..."

I shivered violently, stopping everything that I was doing completely. Okay, that was most definitely impossible. I remember seeing him with my own eyes! Trying to save him with my own eyes! So what, now I was going crazy too?

"O-oh.. okay. Well, thank you for all your help here. I'll be going now. My mom is waiting for me."

I bowed and thanked him for his help before leaving.

When I arrived home, it was about six in the afternoon. Mom had gotten dinner ready, so I felt sick, distant even when I walked into her finishing up.

"Eomma.. I'm so sorry.. I really didn't mean to leave you all the work. I promise I won't do anything like this ever again."

Eomma only smiled at me, her kind aura calming me as she pulled me in for a hug.

"Honey, you are my daughter. I'm the mother here. As long as you stay close to me and support me with the small things, you're okay. You don't need to have so much weight on your back. Leave that to me, your mother."

But I refused. I didn't want her to have all the weight in her back. I wanted to take half of it for myself and support her. I felt like it was the right thing to do. After all, it was only me and her in this battle. And we were winning it.

I smiled up at her and told her how I felt. We were a team, and teams don't let one person have all the struggles, they go through them together.

"No, eomma. I'm here to help. I'll help as much as I can. In some things, I won't be able to, but in most of them, I will. I hope you're okay with that."

Eomma nodded her head softly, grabbing a hold of my face in her hands. Her gentle hold on me was very comforting.

"Thank god for every good thing he has given me, especially you. Your father would be so proud right now... I'm so proud of you right now, Lee-Xang."

🦋

Once more, I set off on a small adventure. Mom had fallen asleep after a long day of work and I set off to go say my last goodbyes to this long winter that was leaving. Don't get me wrong, I love winter. It was truly magnificent. What I didn't like about it was the fact that when you were the coldest ever there's never anyone close to you who could wrap their arms around you and reassure you that you are okay. I at least didn't have that. That's what I was missing at this moment.

My bike wouldn't have been good for the weather at the moment, so I went ahead and left barefoot. Most of the cold was blocked by my thick winter boots, but the little cold that was getting in them made me speed walk. If I got to the station before it was too late, I would be so happy.

I didn't understand why really, but there was something about the station that kept calling me back to it. It could be the fact that I met Taehyung there or the fact that father used to bring me here all the time before it was closed down. Still, once again I was here. Standing in two inches of snow, looking around to pure darkness. The only light I got was from the lampposts around and my phone flash.

"Father... I'm back here at this hour, but I don't understand why... I might have come back to understand everything. I-..I've been so confused lately, and.. I don't know what's going on. Something keeps bringing me back here, I want to understand.."

Now I was lost talking to myself. It was completely strange to me how I kept going back here, the place was flawed, closed, and covered in snow. Yet I still found melancholy comfort in it all...

Out of nowhere I gagged and bent down to throw up. Since yesterday I kept feeling worse and worse. I even noticed how pale I was getting. From all the cold I've been receiving I'm sure...

"Ah.. maybe I should be careful.. these boots aren't exactly that stable."

Oh, fan-freakiNg-tastic! Now I was talking to myself too.. Something from far away was flashing brightly, blinding me suddenly. I covered my face and went for whatever it was, but I lost my footing and fell. I squealed as the cold snow melted and got inside the material of my gloves. I flung them off. I guess freezing my hands was the next step? What the heck, that light left.

"What? Where'd it go? But it was just-"

"Here. What are you doing here at this time? It's late, don't you think?"

I screamed as the voice popped out of nowhere. I was about ready to cry by now.

"Lee-Xang. What are you doing here?"

I squinted my eyes against the tears.

"Taeyong? Is that you?"

"Yeah, it's me alright. But again back to the question. What are you doing here? It's dangerous."

I nodded and wiped my tears away.

"I know! I just about died from that fall. Why are you here so late? Shouldn't you be at home?"

He nodded.

"Yeah. I just do late night walks."

"Even when the founding fathers say not to?"
He nodded again. I understood him, so I didn't blame him at all.

"Okay.. well, could I maybe get some help up? My ankle hurts a bit.."

He laughed softly and helped me up slowly. I thanked him.

"How about I take you home? I'll see you tomorrow at school too if that's fine."

I smiled and nodded.

"I don't see a problem. Thank you for wanting to take me home actually."

He shrugged and nodded, telling me that it was fine and that it was his duty to do so.

🦋⊰