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Because Seulgi had told her that it was Irene's turn to decide what to do next, Irene had chosen to go to her late brother's grave in the Heavenly Gardens Cemetary. It was an odd choice, and it was already one in the afternoon, but Seulgi didn't ask why.
Irene had told her plenty of stories of Jonghyun. Jonghyun was the eldest of them, Irene being the next, then Seokjin, and Jisoo the youngest. Their family had been separated and scattered, so she barely knew anyone except for Jonghyun. Irene spoke of him highly, telling Seulgi that the girls in their school often delivered love letters to his locker and that he was a skilled singer.
"Do you know where his grave is?" asked Seulgi. Her legs were starting to tremble again and she feared that she would fall down on the sidewalk.
"Yep. It's not too far now, Seul; don't worry."
It was very warm now. The sun made Seulgi close her eyes and bring her hand up to cover them. She rolled up her long sleeves to her elbow and tied her hair.
Cars zoomed past them, making deafening screeches as they did. The smoke from them floated in the atmosphere, dirtying the light blue skies. Seulgi was so exhausted of walking under the heat that she leaned on Irene for support.
"It's alright," assured Irene. "We're almost there and Joohyun will let you sit down."
Seulgi nodded, groping on the girl's hand with a trusting grip.
They continued to walk, and now Seulgi could get a glimpse of high black metal fences stationed around a large patch of land. There was a guardhouse in the front and a tarpaulin had the words "HEAVENLY GARDENS" on it in italicized words. As she looked further, she could spot plenty of headstones and tombs.
"We're almost there!" cheered Seulgi happily.
Irene smiled and nodded affirmatively. They crossed the busy road mindfully with the help of a polite traffic enforcer who let them pass.
After crossing the road, they were finally at the entrance of the cemetery.
"Should we buy flowers?" Seulgi suggested. "So Jonghyun would be happy?"
Irene thought about it. She still had money, and if it was for her brother, it was definitely worth it. She shrugged. "Sure, why not?"
"Yay!"
She followed Seulgi to the inside of the cemetery. Street vendors had camped in there to sell flowers and candles and matches. They looked poorly but very cheerful when they saw Seulgi and Irene admiring the roses.
There were large floral arrangements for wakes and also flowers tied in a ribbon to throw down on coffins when they were being lowered.
The vendors were old women with tattered rags for clothes and dirt smeared on their faces. Irene pitied them, so she decided to buy something from each of them.
