𝐖𝐈𝐋𝐃 𝐅𝐋𝐎𝐖𝐄𝐑

F O R T Y - E I G H T

Jangmi flips through the same pastel sketchpad where his name is etched, she gives it to him with a sweet smile.

It's his now.

"How are you still able to smile...?" he asks all of a sudden.

She gives his question a moment of thought then finally speaks, keeping the beam on her face, "Most people in my position would probably cry, but sadness is not the last thing I wanna feel."

Falling into an abyss of fear, sadness, and loss, he can't climb up. While she accepts her fate. Or so, she does try.

Then again, no one has instruction manuals for situations like this.

"It's okay to be lost, right...?" he mutters to no one.

She then shows a book with photographs of all her travels, being excited like a child, "This was published this year, my very own picture book... I made my life matter - These pictures, they showed my adventure, that I... I was here. I had happiness and I shared it."

From where he stands, he sees how they're different.

He is very much alive and free, he has a long journey ahead.

And she is...

He can't even dare say it in his mind.

So he brings all his strength to smile for her.

"You did well, Jangmi."

"Yeah... And good luck to you. Now my adventure has ended."

They continue to talk and talk about mundane things. About everything, some catching up on each other's lives and more shared laughs.

But when night comes, she disappears from her room.