Before they knew it, the day had flown by. As soon as the sun peeked over the horizon, the little one was already bouncing around, excitedly waking the two of them up. Trips to the city were his favorite, he got to see cars and shop to his heart's content.

"We have to eat breakfast first before we go."

"But I wanna go nowww."

"Baba's reminding you remember last year? You begged to leave early, and not long after we set off, you cried because you were hungry."

"That's 'cause I was little then. I'm big now!"

"Nope. Gotta eat first. Come on up here, now."

"...Yesss."

When arguing doesn't work, obedience is the only option. Joong didn't like eating too early in the morning, so Dunk had packed some sandwiches for later in case he got hungry on the way. Dunk and his son would eat together before leaving. Since the trip was long, the whole family tried to head out early. That little rascal was just like Dunk chattering nonstop at first, then dozing off halfway and sleeping the whole way there.

Oat had also gotten up early that morning, taking time to prepare some of Joong's favorite dishes, along with a few nourishing things for em and the little one. Ally had even closed the restaurant for the day just to bring Oat along. He did that every year.. on days like this, there was no way he'd let Oat go alone.

"Ally."

"Again with just Ally? It's Hyung Ally."

"Nope."

"Then I'm not listening."

This time, Ally stood firm—he wanted to hear that one word: hyung.

"Can you get the basket of strawberries from the fridge, Ally?"

"..."

"Ally... please get the strawberries for me. My hands are full, it's gonna burn..."

Silence. Ally just stood there, waiting.

/Damn it, forget it then/ — x

Oat left the pan of fried shallots and rushed to get the strawberries himself, refusing to say hyung. He hurried back to stir the pan, but...

"Ughhhh, it's burnt already... ahh!"

"Oat!"

He'd moved too fast. Oil splashed and hit his hand.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

"Is it really that hard to call me hyung?"

"Yeah... I just don't like it."

"Alright. I won't push anymore."

Ally's face clearly dropped. Oat noticed... but didn't say anything. He just didn't have the courage yet.

Once everything was ready, Ally drove him to their usual meeting spot.. where he'd reunite with Joong's little family after a whole year apart.

They parked the car outside and walked in. The place was open and breezy, with just the right amount of fresh air for everyone to enjoy. Joong's family had already arrived a few minutes earlier, and not long after, Ally and Oat showed up too...

"Boss, I'm here."

"You brat, stop calling me that. I don't even do that job anymore."

"Come on, give me a break, Boss. Old habit. How's Dunk doing lately?"

While he talked, Oat started laying out the food he'd prepared onto the picnic mat.

"He's doing well. Just look at him. Hey, son, go say hi to Uncle Oat—and Uncle Ally too."

"Hello, Uncles!"

"Hey there, little guy. Uncle brought you a toy today. You're five now, right? You can probably handle cars already. Just... stay away from guns, alright? Don't follow your dad's footsteps."

He pulled out a few toy cars and placed them on the mat for the kid to play with.

"Ally, are you gonna help or just stand there?"

"Yeah, yeah."

"Sorry, guys. He's got that gloomy face on again."

"Come on," - Joong said, "if he likes you, just open up a little. What are you guarding your heart for, huh?"

Oat didn't respond. He pretended not to hear it, too embarrassed to talk about love or anything like that. A couple of hours passed. Suddenly, Ally stood up and started packing up the things.

"Let's go, Oat. It's getting late."

"I wanna stay. You go first."

"Why is it like this every year?"

"Ally, what's wrong with you? The boss is still here. Why are you always trying to separate us?"

Oat's face tensed up. His eyes locked onto Ally like they could cut him in two.

"Stop looking at me like that. It's been five years, Oat. Come back to the present. They're gone. All of them. They're gone. You have to let them go."

"...."

The wind howled in Oat's ears, drowning out the chaos in his heart. Ally's words made everything around him blur..like reality itself was slipping away.

Five years ago...

The day em waited for Joong's signature.

The day the explosion rang out as Joong tried to escape...

That was the day their whole family reunited..forever.

The doctor had urged them to sign the paperwork to start the IV, but only a family member could do that. So they waited for Joong. Everyone had already jumped out the window and rushed to Ally's car. Oat, though, had waited behind he was supposed to run first, but he stayed, so he left last.

In that split second, Ally, already in the driver's seat, spotted a sniper perched high up and shouted out. Joong, out of instinct, turned and threw himself over Oat...

And then..

A bullet tore through his chest, right near the heart.

He shouldn't have died. He was rushed to the hospital. The bullet had already been removed.

During surgery, somewhere between consciousness and oblivion, Joong saw Dunk.

Dunkwas standing there, holding the baby in his arms, just outside the door... waiting.

He didn't call Joong to come with him. He came to say goodbye, to remind Joong to live a good life. But Joong ... he didn't want to stay. He dropped to his knees, pleading silently, but Dunk just turned and walked away with the baby in his arms.

Caught between watching Dunk leave and seeing his own body on the operating table, Joong made his decision...

...he followed them.

When the doors to the OR finally opened, the monitor let out a long, endless beep...

And at that very moment, when a nurse came to check on em, they realized...

He was already gone.

He'd slipped away quietly.

Maybe he left because Joong had gone first.

Maybe... because they'd finally found each other again.

"Oat... listen to me, let's go home, okay?"

Oat was the one who stayed behind.. the one still carrying the weight of those haunting memories. He was scared. Everyone who had ever loved him... eventually left. And now, what he feared most was that if he admitted he loved Ally... then one day, Ally would leave him too.. just like the others had.

"Oat, please don't shut me out. I'm not angry anymore... let's go home, yeah?"

"Everyone who's ever loved me ends up leaving me, Ally..."

"Yeah... they suck. They left you—but I love you, and I'm not going anywhere. So come on, let's go home."

"Really?"

"Yeah, really. I'm not leaving you. Not ever."

After that, Oat quietly helped Ally finish packing up.
They lit a few more sticks of incense, fixed the flowers in the vase, and headed home as the sun began to dip into the late afternoon.
________
#sapo🇻🇳 ( 12:15 / 040625)

[ The story comes to an end here. Perhaps the ending isn't perfect, but it stayed true to the journey.
Thank you for following Platinum through all 27 chapters—thank you, truly.

If you enjoyed this story, I hope you'll stay and look forward to the next one : Melodie, coming soon...
And if you choose to stay, leave me a little star—I'd be so happy to receive it.]