The Author's POV

Pitter! Pitter!

The muffled sound of rain hitting against the window beside me, woke me up.

I groggily opened my eyes and glanced toward the window, where I was greeted by a gloomy scene. It was a dark and dreary sight, typical of any rainy day.

It perfectly synchronized with my mood.

[You have 37 missed calls]

When I finally had the opportunity to check my phone, I noticed several missed calls. They seemed to come from my parents, Amanda, Kevin, and the others. I ultimately didn't answer them back and just shut off my phone.

I wasn't in the mood to talk with anyone at the moment.

Everything felt like a dream to me at the moment. No, rather, a nightmare. One that I couldn't possibly escape from.

'What time is it?'

An unknown period of time passed while I lay on my bed just blankly staring at the ceiling of the room I was in.

Raising my hand and turning my wrist, I checked the time. I felt a sudden pang in my heart while I stared at the time. 16 : 39 P.M.

"...It's almost time, huh?"

I reluctantly got out of bed and stumbled toward the closet where I pulled out a set of black clothes. Grabbing onto the clothes, my hands shook.

It was almost time for Smallsnake's funeral to start.

A few days had passed since the incident, and those few days had been among the most difficult in my life. It was difficult to prepare a funeral for someone you had assumed would accompany you till the end and would always be around.

I...I just couldn't stomach it.

How?

Just where did things go wrong?

Why must things have turned out this way?

"What's this?"

Unknowingly, I felt something wet stream down from the side of my face.

"..Ah, shit."

I raised my hand and clenched my chest as a sharp, heartbreaking agony swept across my chest.

It hurt.

It really hurt.

I...I really didn't expect things to turn out this way. I...I really didn't.

***

Ryan looked toward the empty casket in the distance as he passed through the long aisle that was covered in a long red carpet and seemed to stretch for miles. It was probably shorter, but to him, it looked endless.

His footsteps felt heavy, and his eyes were rather blurry.

It still hadn't sunk into his mind.

...The fact that Smallsnake had left him.

The fatherly or brotherly figure he had been missing throughout his entire life was gone just like that.

"I..shouldn't be like this."

He mumbled to himself while he walked down the aisle.

'Fix your clothes, you look like a total mess like that.'

'Is that really how you want to look at my funeral?'

wipe your

mess, I thought I taught

as he suddenly thought of his appearance. Raising his arm, he wiped his

if he saw me

escaped from his

Once again, he felt the corner of his eyes tear up, but as

show him

may not have been here, but to Ryan, he

He was always here.

lowered his head. He then made his way to a seat and sat

disguised as a cat, Ava, Hein, Leopold, Kevin, Amanda, Emma...all of Ren's friends and people that were previously on the other planet. All of them were mourning Smallsnake's

But...

only one

'Where is he?'

look for Ren. It didn't take long for him to spot his parents whom he had met once with Smallsnake...they were

was here

'Why?'

he

'Why isn't he here?'

he was the only one that was looking for him. Practically, almost everyone in the chapel was also looking

...How could they not?

was the one that was supposed to speak first. He was supposed to be the one guy that

why wasn't

he should've

Why?

Why!!

Why!?

'D..does he not care?'

found herself thinking about the dream he had witnessed as a result of the

just think of

back when he was watching everything. In the first place, he didn't understand much of

...It made no sense.

there was one thing he managed to pick up from the

and treated everyone as though they were expandables that could be tossed at

matter whether he knew them or not. If they were in the way of his goals, they were nothing but a

the visions, and this was also this behavior that made Ryan understand that the dream was probably a fake. The Ren he knew

He wasn't.

Never.

was what he

down waiting for

no, no, it

emotions were gradually beginning to spiral downward in a negative direction, possibly as a result of the

probability of that Ren being the Ren he knew, Ryan just couldn't stop

no..they are not

Smallsnake conversing with Ren in the same way as before was the only thing keeping him from going further down. He was also the one that informed him

words that kept him from going

"Keum."

of his thoughts was a small cough. Raising his

"Why is he there?"

he looked at Kevin. He barely knew Smallsnake, what right did he

you are uncomfortable with my sudden appearance

his head, Kevin turned his wrist and checked

is here yet. Since we can't afford

Clank—!

slammed open abruptly. As soon as that happened, more than half of the audience turned to look in the direction of where the noise came from, and there they saw a ragged

'Ren?'

as he spotted him

that notice his appearance as

pale face, crooked tie, and wrinkled clothes, Ryan pursed

several figures rushed to him, only to be rejected by

his teeth,

shame rise from

me to think like

Ren the hardest. He previously thought that he should've been the one who was supposed to be the saddest about his apparent death, but staring at Ren who had trouble walking, Ryan realized how