"We're going somewhere today."

Curious, Jongho's father lifted his eyes from his journal. He had immersed himself in it ever since the early morning and read about popular mechanics' labour and life further in the mainland. Some rich travellers had spread the paper to try and hire a few workers for their projects the day prior. Neither of the two men would go, but Jongho's father enjoyed to immerse himself in anything that spelt news once in a while.

"Together? Where? I don't think I'll be able to join you, even if I feel fine today."

Jongho lifted his duffel onto his back. Earlier that morning he had garnered some objects that reminded him of Yunho in their humble home. He had packed his music bunny, a gauntlet that Yunho had liked to wear before they forbid him to in the army, and their shared pillow. All of them served as his last reminders of his brother, whose face had become a distant memory by now. They would help his father remember, too.

"It's Yunho's day, dad. I'll take you this year." Jongho's voice sounded breathy and quiet in his throat. For a second, the silence stretched in the room when his father didn't answer yet.

"Or do you... Not want to go?" Jongho poised the question with careful consideration. His father had every right to refuse, and if he did, Jongho had no way to force him. Still, he hoped for him to agree.

His father sighed the sigh of an old man who had lived for too long. As his eyes travelled over Jongho's face and read everything right off it, Jongho felt uncomfortably exposed. He fumbled the cord of his bag with his fingers.

"I asked my friend to come over and help, so you don't have to worry. He can help us get you there and back."

The tension thickened when Jongho's father let his paper sink. Jongho prepared for rejection as he already chided himself for even considering to ask. His father was sick. He should concentrate on regaining his strength rather than accompanying Jongho on a trip that he could go on alone very well.

"Fine, let's go together."

At the sudden approval, Jongho gasped softly. Glee filled his chest as he sprung over to his father's bed. The man smiled indulgently as Jongho rambled about Mingi and how he would help while he collected some clothes for his father to wear. They hung slack around his thin shoulders, but as long as they would keep him warm, that played no role.

Jongho was about finished with dressing up his dad when Mingi shyly knocked on the door. He introduced himself with his best smile that had Jongho's father copy the gesture to the best of his ability.

Then, the two young men exchanged restless gazes.

"Should we support him one arm each?" Mingi suggested with wrinkles that dug into his forehead. Jongho nodded carefully.

"Maybe sling his arm over your shoulder and hold him around the waist? We'll try to balance the difference in heights."

Mingi handled Jongho's father with great care as he aided him to stand. A mumbled inquiry if he was comfortable passed his lips, and Jongho's father hurried to reassure him. At seeing the two of them quickly be casual with each other, Jongho disentangled his worried mind. Mingi was there, too, and he had managed to convince his father to join them.

Yunho had to wait just a bit longer for them to arrive.

They took the less popular alleys through Zey. Jongho knew them like the back of his hand, and only a few people passed them to send curious glances their way. Mingi quietly conversed with Jongho's father and made sure that he could breathe through his mask and didn't faint on them.

When they stepped out of the city and towards the mighty cliffs, Jongho reached over to feel his dad's temperature. His forehead had ignited with the usual feverish warmth it held, but it didn't seem worse than usual. Relieved, Jongho helped him over the stones while his father was still blinded by the brilliance of the skies and the ocean. Both were clear blue today even if Jongho suspected that it might snow later. Some ice had covered the streets in the morning.

The sight captivated his father for long enough that they could safely position him on one of the large stones near the drop down to the water. While he was busy marvelling over the airships in the distance, Jongho left it to Mingi to supervise him. Jongho pulled the items from his bag one by one. Neatly, he set them down in a row next to each other on the stone in front of him. A bunny, a gauntlet, and a pillow.

Then, he reached for the pen and three ribbons he had also packed. They didn't have flowers since none grew in or around Zey, and he hadn't wanted to travel too far to get them. He distributed the ribbons for everybody to write a message to Yunho on.

However, as soon as he sat down on his father's side, Mingi suddenly reached into his own bag.

"I brought something! They are slightly squished and maybe not the right kind, but they have the correct colour." He pulled a bunch of flowers seemingly out of nowhere. From the looks of it, they were random garden flowers he had found in Asora, but their pure white petals shone prettily anyway.

Jongho smiled thankfully.

"Those are great, thanks a lot. Here, dad, you write first." While Jongho neatly arranged the flowers on the stone, his father and Mingi wrote a message on their ribbons for Yunho. No word was spoken as they shared the reverent tranquillity. The cliffs were outside of the centre of noise, but the city sounds in the distance disrupted their mourning anyway. The sloshing of the waves was dull from up here.

When it was time for Jongho to write, Mingi assisted his father as both twined their ribbons around the flowers' stems.

Jongho's hand trembled as he lowered it to write. As usual, he had no idea what to tell Yunho. He didn't even believe that the messages actually reached him. Yet, his mind at least supplied him with a basic wish.

Yunho, I miss you. Take good care of yourself.

Wherever Yunho was now, he would need those words most. Satisfied, Jongho huddled closer to the other two who shivered in the cold ocean breeze. His unpracticed fingers fiddled with the task, but Mingi reached over with his slender hands to do it for him. The little smile on his face showed empathy.

All three of them sat back then to make their wishes for Yunho. Jongho was the only one who left his eyes open to stare out over the ocean unseeing. He hoped that Yunho was fine and that he was in a good place that didn't pain him. If he was a spirit who still haunted his wrongdoers, he prayed for him to be successful. In all, he just hoped that Yunho was still as happy as he had been as a human.

After a while spent in peaceful silence that directed their thoughts at Yunho, Jongho's dad was the first to exhale. His sigh severed the spell that grief had woven around them. While his voice was stricken with sadness, he didn't shed a single tear.

"Thanks for dragging me out here, you boys. It's refreshing to think about Yunho and get a change of view once in a while."

Jongho's chest swelled with pride and happiness. As long as his father was content, he continued to smile, too.

"I'm glad I could help! Even though I have to confess, I'm quite curious. About Yunho." Mingi crossed his legs, and curiously leaned closer as he buried his hands deep in his pockets to store warmth. Jongho exchanged a glance with his father, but the man already started to recall. Today he was stable enough to tell the story himself.

"It has been several years now. Jongho was still a kid when the men came by and asked every man between eighteen and twenty-five years old to join them in their pointless war. They went through every home and forced the people to obey them, no matter their importance to the family or health status. I know that some people managed to hide, but Yunho didn't want to. He met them head-on and told us he would be back soon after he won the war."

Mingi nodded with rapt attention. From what Jongho knew he had an older brother himself, but he either must have sneaked off or managed to trick them somehow.

With a sad smile, Jongho's father stared into the far distance.

"He was gone for a couple of months. And then, they told us that they lost everyone in the war. The broadsheets were everywhere, in case you remember. They tried to get off with the information that everybody died, but I dug deeper at that time."

Jongho noticed him balling his hand to a fist next to his thigh. He lowered his eyes.

"They just said they lost their men, but they sent Zey's men on a suicide mission. They strapped explosives to their bodies and told them to run into the enemy base. They were forced to give their lives no matter how successful they were." His voice shook with anger. Jongho noticed the shocked and hurt expression on Mingi's face. Yet, he was the one to reach over and squeeze his father's hand with his own.

"All of them. Not a single man returned. They sent all of them to kill themselves, and when they failed, they withdrew their own troops. A few of Asora's sons came back, but Zey's were lost without fail."

Jongho wondered if Seonghwa and Yeosang knew of this. Were they told what Asora did to people their age? About how their fate would have looked if they had been born on the other side?

"That's incredibly cruel. I can't believe that they would do that even to those who willingly joined. They defended Zey, too, after all!" Mingi's protest warranted a bitter grin from Jongho and his father all the same.

"But they did. And they never told us what happened. They only said they lost against the enemy. Enough of them would have been far more able-bodied to flee than Asora's soldiers if not for their mission. Even the opposing army found the act incredibly dishonourable. And thus, we were left in the dark and without our son. His mother grieved for him for nearly a year until her heart couldn't take it anymore. Asora took both of them from us."

Mingi had lowered his eyes, but he didn't apologise for asking. With rhythmic strokes, Jongho massaged his father's hand.

"So, by all means, if you boys can avenge him in any way, I will support you until the day I stop breathing. Asora deserves to feel the wrath of the people they hurt so cruelly with their actions," Jongho's father growled full of hatred and vengefulness. His face had contorted into an angry scowl that had Jongho hum at him comfortingly.

"We are tripping them wherever we can, but we will also be safe with it."

Immediately, his father calmed. His wrinkly and limp hand relaxed in Jongho's.

"True, yes. Please take good care of yourself. If Asora wipes you two out, too, then I have nobody left. I learned to hide my sons first before I send them away so that I will remember that."

Jongho agreed as he glanced at Mingi's shivering form.

"Come on, let's get home. I can make us all some tea, and you two can talk some more while I do my delivery."

They left the flowers for Yunho and collected the rest before they dragged Jongho's father home. Mingi stayed for some tea and entertained his father while Jongho went and sprinted a circle through the city to bring a package. Once he came back home, curfew approached with the setting sun. Mingi sat alone at Jongho's workbench, and interestedly inspected his work while his father was asleep already.

Jongho accompanied Mingi to the door after they quietly snuck out.

"Thanks for helping today. I really couldn't have done this without your help. I think he liked meeting you." Jongho smiled at Mingi honestly and full of gratitude. Shy, the man rubbed his neck.

"No problem. I'm happy you two let me in. I hope this might ease his mind a bit. If you ever want me to help drag him out into the air again, just tell me." He stepped down the rattling metal staircase that led up to the second floor on the side of the house. Jongho rose his hand in greeting.

"I will, get home safely!"

"See you tomorrow."