02. Doubled Pain

“You can’t enter, sir,” A guard strictly uttered, blocking the way. Luke’s trying to enter the sliding door of the hospital, seems so lost at all. Nothing sinks into his head. He can’t accept the fact that his old friend is dead. “Sir!” The guard shouted at Luke, pointing his gun at him. 

Luke has gone back to his senses and sighed heavily. “Why can’t I?” He gazed at the guard’s eyes. “My friend is here! What’s with you, man?!” Luke shook his head in disbelief. He didn’t even bother to sleep earlier, as right after he heard the terrible news, he asked the whereabouts of Enrico and headed there. Now, it’s seven o’clock in the morning. He has been waiting outside because the guard doesn’t want him to enter. 

“Sorry, sir. I’m merely following orders.” Luke gasped and attempted to leave when a car stopped in front of the hospital. He can’t remove his attention to it, as an elegant woman and an old man, along with his right-hand man went out of it.

“What are you doing here?” The old man sardonically asked, walking toward Luke’s direction. “No beggar is allowed here. You're ruining the ambience,” he added and shook his head. He then moved his gaze to the guard. “What are you waiting for, huh? Isn’t it your responsibility to clean this waste?”

“Sorry, Mr. Shin,” the guard retorted, bowing his head in shame. 

Mr. Shin straightly went inside, while Luke's ex-wife cleared her throat, attempting to get his attention. Luke slowly took a snap on her only to see how the right-hand man kisses his ex-wife's lips. 

"How's it, Alecia?" The right-hand man asked in his deep voice, kind of like seducing her.

Alecia stared at Luke first, giving her sly smile like the way she did before. "How enlivening, Marcus," she then focused her attention to the right-hand man and squeezed the latter's biceps. They started to walk inside afterwards, intimately talking about something.

Luke looked at their fading body from afar. He wanted to punch that arrogant man until he drops dead and strangle his ex-wife along with his ex-father-in-law; nevertheless, he can't do so for his body is shaking whenever he sees them. He loathes them to the fullest, but he can’t fight back. At least not this time when he's lost. He can’t afford to lose his two sons. 

He merely strolled away after that. 

“Dad!” 

Luke seemed splashed by cold water, hearing that screeching voice from behind. He turned back. 

“Dad! No!” It’s boy who’s about of his sons’ age, grieving outside of a hospital. Like his case earlier, the guard doesn’t want the boy to enter. Luke was about to go there and help the boy when he saw Mr. Shin going outside of a hospital; ergo, he remained steady on his position. “Mr. Shin, please, let me see my father. Please!” He pleaded. Mr. Shin halted and held the boy’s face and smiled. “Don't worry, son," he assured the boy. He then signed his men to present the boy with a gift and handed a jar to the boy who's discombobulated at the moment.

"What's this?" He confusedly asked. Mr. Shin lightly chuckled and sighed heavily.

"It's your father, son," he answered. 

The boy was stiffened after realizing that's the ash jar of his father's cremated body. Tears fell on his cheeks. He couldn't even utter a word. He merely hugged the jar, while mumbling his father's name.

Before Mr. Shin left, he stared at the boy and whispered, "Your father chose his own fate. He opted for his death than protecting his sole son." 

As Mr. Shin left, the boy's body deliberately fell down. "Dad, why? Why?!" Continuously murmuring this. 

Luke ran toward his direction and hugged him tightly. 

"Uncle," he uttered when he saw Luke's face.

Luke weakly smiled. "I'm here. Don't worry, hijo."

The world seemed stopped that day for the both of them. One who lost everything, and the other one who lost his everything. Pain is intolerable; nevertheless, they have to live and fight. That's the only way they have to survive.

Days had passed, and now it's the last day of mourning. 

"Xandro?" Luke called Enrico's son. He's wearing black to give respect to his old friend. Xandro blankly looked at him. "It's time to bow to your father." Xandro merely did as he was told.

Afterwards, they proceeded to leave.

"Uncle?" Luke caught Xandro's attention, as they're walking on the pathway. "What happened to dad? How did he die?"

Luke was stiffened for a moment. He doesn't even know what to retort to Xandro. He was about to say something when Xandro continued speaking.

"Can you promise me something, uncle?"

"Huh?" Luke's eyebrows drew together. "What do you mean?"

"Please find the truth about my father's death," Luke breathed heavily, as he heard Xandro. "The same day he died, he gave me something. A flash drive." 

"A flash drive?"

Xandro nodded. "I hid it to the jar of my father's ashes. I believe that file has something to do with his death. He mentioned that whatever happens, I have to hand that to you." That's the last thing he said and left.

Luke was frozen in his position, trying to absorb everything he heard from Xandro. If that's the truth, then there's only one person comes to find.

He closed his fists and looked at the electronic billboard posted on the tallest building in the area. There, he saw an old man smiling widely during the ribbon-cutting ceremony of his newly open restaurant in the area.

"Mr. Shin…" Luke bit his lower lips, trying to control his anger. As the tension went down, he proceeded to leave.

Two hours had passed. Luke went to the bus terminal, waiting for the next bus to stop by.

(kring)

Luke got hold of his phone and answered it.

"Uncle?"

"Oh, Xandro? Why?" He asked, hearing Xandro's weeps over the phone. "Hey, hijo. Where are you?"

"Please promise me, uncle." Xandro’s voice cracked.

"Xandro, where are you?!" Luke repeated, completely alarmed. 

"I can't live anymore, uncle," Xandro's hopeless voice attracted chills to Luke. He breathed heavily and ran without knowing where he was heading for.

"Hang in there, Xandro. Please, don't do anything stupid. I'm be—"

"Sorry, uncle." A loud bang was heard thereafter and the line put to an end.

Luke dropped his phone, wholly tormented, frustrated, and wounded. 

"NO!!!!"