Seunghyun stayed quiet, eyeing her

Seunghyun stayed quiet, eyeing her and the red fleece Bom held with her hands. It was small, double-ed, and buttoned up military style. He recognized it right away. Sighing, he placed a hand on hers.





“I was in the States,” she spoke, breaking the silence between them. “I begged my mother for it the minute I saw it on the windowsill.”





Seunghyun inched closer, gripping her trembling hand. He narrowed his eyes at her deflated face.





“She said no, but my aunt secretly bought it for me,” she swallowed thickly, hot tears brimming in her eyes. “When I woke up one day, she told me we’d be going on a walk and that it was cold outside. So I ran to my closet and there this was…”





She laughed sadly, “Even though it was burning hot, I never once took it off. I went everywhere in it. It was my favorite.”





He bowed close and gently gathered her bent head to the curve of his shoulder. Over her auburn hair, he eyed the calendar fastened to the wall: The 16th of August marked the date. He should have known better to plan a party on the same day. He was one of the few people who knew the coat was a goodbye gift from her aunt—the last one before she unexpectedly passed. It was morbidly stupid, and he should have known how today would take a toll on her. And from the look of her face, it hurt her still. God, he hated it when she cried.





Seunghyun smoothed his hand reverently over the coat, feeling the softness under his fingers. It was impeccably clean, pressed and folded with the sharp precision that he knew was immeasurably Bom’s handiwork. He ran a careful hand over the collar and frowned when he felt the stitches unfasten at the seams. He heard Bom recoil and mutter a string of cuss words under her breath. Her hands shook visibly as she clutched the fabric to her chest, biting back the latest onslaught of tears. Seunghyun immediately dove to give her shoulder a reassuring squeeze and leaned over to the cabinet to dig out a sew kit. Gently detangling the coat from Bom’s fierce grip, he raised his brows.



“I can fix it,” he said, locking eyes firmly with hers."It's just loose."





Bom stared, doe-eyed, opening her mouth to speak before donning a curt nod, wiping her tears. She watched as he combed through the opened box, tugging on a needle and unraveled a red string. Niftily, he threaded the yarn and bringing the coat to his face, Seunghyun delicately poked the needle through the coat and slowly weaved the gap shut.