Final Goodbyes (1/1)

Jiho's parents wanted a traditional Korean funeral for their son. His body was placed into a simple black coffin and set at the front of a large room in our house. We placed a partition in front of it, set up a small table with my beloved's picture and some lit incense. After sending notice to family and close friends that weren't already staying with us about his death, the media was also informed, letting his fans know is the least we could do to thank them for their love and support.Mrs. Woo and I dressed in black hanboks and Mr. Woo, Taewoon, and the twins wore black suits with white collared shirts. I put Layla in a black dress. Hikaru and Kaoru decided to both assume the role as sangju, something the first son takes charge of. Added to their attire of black suits, they wore black ribbons on their arms and hemp hats. Jiho's father stood at the door to greet people entering to give their condolences. After sitting at the table with Jiho's photo and saying their farewells to him, the guests came over to us, telling us how sorry they were for our loss. Then, they would put white envelopes with "謹弔"(Chinese characters roughly translated to "I am sorry for your loss") written on it. Mother-in-law explained that the white envelopes contained money to help for the funeral costs. I didn't pay much attention to what was happening throughout the entire three day funeral process, everything happened happened so quickly, all was a blur. All I can remember is the last thing my husband wrote to me. Before the casket left the house for the burial, during the short ceremony where the dead's personal history is spoken about and people say a few words about him, that's when Yongguk came up with a crumpled paper. He cleared his throat, "Woo Jiho, a good pal of mine, asked me to read this on his funeral. Fatima," I broke from my daze and looked up, "He said this was for you."He began reading:Finished reading, he walked towards me and handed me the paper. As a tear slid down his face, he whispered to me, "He wrote it himself back when he still had one good arm..."I caressed the paper, Its his handwriting...he had such neat handwriting... "Thank you." Tears flowed like a waterfall. Turning around, Yongguk thought to himself, Jiho, I don't think I can do this...You can. You promised.Hordes of people came to say their final goodbye to the great man. Fans kept their distance from the actual burial site, I thanked them for their consideration. Their wails mixed in with ours; we were sharing the pain. The hole was dug. Now it was time for the casket to go six feet under, Jiho was going away from all of us. My close friends comforted me, staying by my side. Father held Mother. The usual strong older man now could not help but cry for his deceased son. Block B picked up their leader's coffin and began carrying it towards the grave. Mother broke away from her husband and grabbed onto the casket, "NO! WHAT ARE YOU DOING??? MY BABY ISN'T DEAD! He's just sleepinggggg. He needs his Mommy! He...needs...his...Mooooooooommmmmmmyyyyyyy," She slid to the floor in dispair, breaking down in tears. Father and I ran to her. Hikaru and Kaoru pushed Layla's cart over and hugged their grandmother. We cried together, even Layla began bawling. Its all over. Jiho, why did you have to go?*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* For the one-hundred days of mourning, I refused to meet with anyone. Mother and Father stayed with us, knowing that I wouldn't take Jiho's death well. They helped take care of Hikaru, Kaoru, and Layla. Even after the memorial service, I wasn't well. I acted like everything was fine, like I was doing great. But deep down, I was slowly crumbling. Losing someone.....it isn't easy obviously. And getting over it isn't a simple walk in the park either. I lost a chunk of my heart. I still wore the beautiful handmade necklace he gave me one Valentine's Day. It comforted me. I resumed my daily roles, I began teaching again, dropped&picked up my kids from school, took care of Layla, etc. Mother and Father moved back into their home. I was all alone. I've been a single parent before, its no big deal. so...why do I feel so helpless now?Yongguk called often and the others would visit often. I felt better with them around, like the old times..."I can't do this anymore," I told myself one day. "I have to get out of here...." I sat down with my twins before taking any other steps. "We're moving to America.""WHAT?! WHY?!" "Its hard for Mommy to be here...Daddy's memory is everywhere I go...""Mommy, you can't just run away whenever you go through a rough patch," Hikaru took his mother's hand in his small hands, "Running away isn't the answer. Stop torturing yourself, Daddy wouldn't be happy if he saw you like this."Kaoru moved from his seat and sat next to me. "You can get through this, Mommy. You have us and all the aunties and uncles to help you. We all love you." I pulled them both in an embrace, "Okay."*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* *Ding Dong*When I opened the door, I saw Yongguk standing in a suit with a dozen red roses."Hey Yongguk...?"He knelt down on one knee, and held up the flowers, on top of the bouquet, sat a box with a beautiful gold ring. "Yo, Fatima. Will you marry me?"*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Author's Note: The final chapter is next!~ I had a lot of fun writing, hopefully you all had a lot of fun reading~ Subscribe, comment, and/or upvote please! :D