that night, niki returned home. he walked through the door and went straight to his room, standing there motionless, staring at the empty space around him. his body felt like it wasn't his own, numb and heavy. he heard a soft knock on his door, and after a moment, hana slowly entered. her eyes were red and swollen, traces of tears still fresh on her face. she didn't say anything at first—just walked toward him and wrapped her arms around him, her own sobs escaping quietly. niki stood frozen for a moment before he finally responded, his arms tightening around her.
he bit his lip. "what did she do to deserve this?" he murmured, his voice thick with sorrow. "suddenly she just... died. just gone like that."
tears pooled in his eyes once again, blurring his vision. he shut his eyes tightly, trying to hold back the flood of emotions threatening to consume him. "why did she have to..." his voice finally broke, and he paused, struggling to find the words. he buried his face deeper into hana's shoulder, unable to stop the sobs that wracked his body.
he finally let the question slip out, raw and desperate. "why... why her? i never got the chance to tell her i loved her, hana."
his voice trailed off, a bitter ache in his throat as he clung to her, finding solace in the familiar warmth of his sister.
hana held him tighter. "she knew, niki," she whispered, her voice breaking slightly. "she knew how much you loved her." niki's grip tightened around her, his tears soaking into her shirt.
"but i never told her. not in the way she deserved," he choked out.
hana's hand gently rubbed his back, offering what little comfort she could, her heart aching for both of them. "you don't always get the chance to say everything, niki. but she knew. and she felt your love every day."
niki didn't respond, the ache in his chest making it hard to breathe. all he could think about was that last moment, when he smiled at her and held her hand, never knowing it would be the last time.
★
hana and jaehyun sat outside on the staircase, the cool evening air brushing softly against their faces. hana's eyes were red, traces of tears still visible, though she had stopped crying for now. jaehyun held her hand, his thumb slowly moving over her fingers, offering a silent comfort.
the quiet stretched between them for a while, both lost in their thoughts, until hana finally spoke, her voice small and soft. "just so many things we had to do. we were supposed to go on a trip to her grandparents house."
"you know what i'll hate the most?" she asked, her gaze distant, as though she was speaking more to herself than to jaehyun. her voice cracked slightly but she pushed through. "not being able to grow old with her."
she paused, her eyes momentarily closing as if she were gathering her thoughts. "we probably would have argued every day about the silliest things," she said with a faint, sad smile. "but i wanted to be with her. every single day. i wanted us to get old together, to turn gray side by side."
jaehyun squeezed her hand tighter, listening, understanding. she looked up at him, her eyes filled with an almost bittersweet longing. "i would've held her hand through it all and told her how proud i am of her. of how much we've grown."
the pain was there, raw and undeniable, but in her words, there was love—a love that would remain, even in the absence of her best friend.
★
hana walked into yejin's room, with the silence that filled the space. the room, once full of life and laughter, felt cold now. her eyes were drawn to the covered canvas in the corner, the same one yejin had been working on so tirelessly. the one yejin said she had never gotten the chance to finish, and a strange, uncontrollable urge to see what lay beneath the cloth overcame hana. with a trembling hand, she pulled back the cover, revealing the painting.
it was a portrait of her, beautifully rendered with delicate strokes of color that captured her likeness in a way that felt almost real. hana's breath caught as she took in the image — the way yejin had captured every detail so perfectly. it was so clear in its emotion, as if yejin had poured everything into it.
her eyes stung, and without thinking, hana reached out, her hand lightly brushing the canvas. a tear slipped down her cheek, falling onto the painting, staining it with her grief.
eventually, she sank to her knees, overcome with emotion. the sobs came suddenly, violently, and she couldn't stop them. everything she had held back, all the pain of losing her best friend, crashed over her in waves.
yejin's brother rushed into the room, his face full of concern. "shh, hana." he crouched beside her, his arms wrapping around her tightly as he tried to offer comfort. but there was nothing that could ease the pain, nothing that could fill the void left by yejin.