The Other Side [EXO]

7 - Final

Joonmyeon just followed. He followed grim faces out of the church. He followed them into the van and back out again. He followed them down the cemetery path and up to a gaping whole in the ground.

Joonmyeon just stood and watched as his coffin was lowered into the ground and covered by chunky brown earth and grey gravel stones. His grave stone, shining marble with gold engravings, stood at the head of where he laid six feet underneath.

Kim Joonmyeon.

A leader, a son and a cherished friend to many.

1991 - 2014

It was short and simple. Almost like his life, he'd thought dimly. Though the simple part he'd had to reconsider. There was nothing to complain about, though. That was if Joonmyeon could complain, but he was already past that.

He didn't know exactly how to react anymore. All his members were showing sides that he'd never seen before. He had been the cause and he wished he could've gone back to change what had happened. Maybe if he hadn't told his body guard to leave him, he would've still been there with them. This, this funeral would never have taken place, not for another fifty years he would have hoped. It could've been either an injured Jongin or a dead Joonmyeon. He himself had chosen dead Joonmyeon with out even realizing it. Jongin was right. He had been too selfless to even think about his own safety. Just look at where it had landed him, as well as the rest of them. What a painful mistake he'd made.

Out of all of the members, despite the ones who always played it cool on camera, Kyungsoo was the one who had held together the best. He stood still, shoulders straight, gazing at the tombstone with a soft expression. Some had ceased to cry but the rest still had tears streaming down their cheeks with trembling lips. Kyungsoo didn't, and that made Joonmyeon curious. Hadn't the two of them been two of the closest? But in another way, Joonmyeon was thankful because there had to be at least one who could stand strong for the group.

Kyungsoo himself had known that that was what his dead friend would have wanted.

"Hyung, you bastard," Kyungsoo muttered. He was completely oblivious to the fact that the hyung he was insulting was standing right beside him. "You had to leave us now, like this, didn't you?"

Joonmyeon laughed bitterly, "Aish Kyungsoo, you brat." He wanted the younger to keep speaking because it felt almost real the way they were falsely communicating. It felt nice. Relieving.

"We'll carry on for you, Suho hyung," Kyungsoo whispered then. "You don't have to worry about that."

The crowd of mourners began to melt away as the time dissipated into the night, the silhouettes of the black figures dissolving into the paths that led to the exit. The sky was a dark blue by the time Joonmyeon's parents gave their final look at what was EXO. His mother was honestly trying hard to not despise the innocent boys. But she couldn't help it. Her boy would still be alive if it hadn't been for them.

EXO were also then urged to leave by Seunghwan and Hyunkyun because of the fans and reporters that had seemed to have piled up outside the cemetery. Hence the newly discovered safety issues, the members were told they had to exit the premises as soon as possible. Though, Tao seemed reluctant to leave, his laments for Joonmyeon unwilling to conclude. Sehun had tried wrapping his arms around him, but was shook off harshly as Tao fell to his knees. He covered his face with his hands and shook his head, over and over.

Joonmyeon realized at the exact same time the other members did, that he was the one who was supposed to step forward and kneel down next to Tao. To embrace him and to coddle him until he felt better. But who would do it now? Joonmyeon couldn't and for the first time since his adventure had started, he didn't even try. His feet were rooted to the ground as he watched his younger brother wail.