Seoul, South Korea
July 19, 1995
The tears didn’t stop.
She couldn’t stop crying.
But how could she?
He was there, on the floor, slowly turning cold and all that she could do was hold him and pretend that he was still there but in reality he wasn’t anymore.
She grabbed his paw, feeling her whole entire body shake from holding in her feelings, her sorrow, her second heartache.
“Hey,” a soft voice called out to her gently. A hand was placed over her shoulder, squeezing it lightly. “It’s going to be okay.”
She didn’t bother looking up, didn’t bother answering. If anything, she could only cry more, trying her best to hold in her whimpers.
But Momo nudged her again and showed her something. “She sent you another letter.”
Through her tears, she saw the familiar white envelope and she took the letter in her hand, placing it gently on the ground next to her.
She kept apologizing to Dahyun in her head because she wasn’t in any way fit to read her letters, even if it always had given her comfort. She couldn’t. Not this time. Not when this happened.
Nayeon tried to utter her words, but each time she tried, she could only cry more. Each exhale made her let out a shakier breath and then a pathetic whimper would escape and then she was crying again.
She frantically wiped her tears from her eyes and muttered. “Thank you.”
“You did your best, okay?” Momo said, her hand now holding hers.
Did she though? Did she do her best? Could she even say that she was a responsible owner because of the days that she had left him at home while she was out the entire day because of work. Did he grow weak because she didn’t walk him enough? Was it because he was lonely? Was it because she didn’t have time to bring him to the vet?
How could she agree with Momo when she was feeling this way?
And there was no turning back. She couldn’t just say she was going to try again because there was no chance for her to do so. It was all gone, and she couldn’t take him back. She didn’t even get to say goodbye.
She folded over, knees scraping over the carpet as she pushed his unmoving paw onto her forehead.
Nayeon started sobbing. The ugly cries that escaped her mouth, tears that couldn’t stop flowing. She tried, she tried her best to stop crying but she couldn’t.
He was gone.
4 likes from KangSeulGun, TheReturnofTheBlueBird, TripleDubu, and kryphtot.