DYSTOPIA | BOOK 2 of Death of the Future Series

THREE

MIN SEO 

Min Seo didn't go after her brother. Her gaze was firmly on the ground, fingers curling together as she took in a deep breath. Jae wouldn't listen to her now and she needed a little time to process this information as well.

Cremated.

He wanted to be cremated.

Min Seo raised both of her fists and placed them against her eyes, feeling the pressure on her face. She knew that Appa wouldn't do anything that would deliberately hurt them. He loved them like he loved his own life. He loved them so much, she knew he did.

He was a logical man, came off stern but deep inside, he was kind and caring. He never left them feeling alone, never turned her away when she came looking for help. Appa took over the roles of a mother and a father. Even though they never met Ma, Appa would tell them of how lovely she was, how she was relieved we were born safely even when she didn't make it at the end.

He never let them forget that they were both loved.

Min Seo bit her bottom lip, hoping the small pain would make her think clearer, push her through the fog that circled her. She dropped her hands to her sides, opening her eyes, and looked at Uncle Mike and Ricky. The blond man met her gaze before looking away, pushing himself away from the desk he was leaning against.

"I'll go talk to him," Ricky said, his voice thick with emotions.

Min Seo could only give him a nod, letting Ricky walk out of the room, leaving her with Uncle Mike. She knew they were just as shocked as she was with her father's decision. Appa must have had kept this a secret from the few people he trusted the most too. She wasn't aware much of how they met, only that Ricky and Uncle Mike had been her father's closest comrades since they were born.

Uncle Mike took the tablet and looked at it. Min Seo stepped closer to the desk, touching the edge of the device and pulling it away from the man's grasp. She turned it around so she could reread the words no doubt typed by her father.

"He must have had a reason why he did this," Min Seo said.

"I know," Uncle Mike replied.

Min Seo sighed, her shoulders drooping as she shook her head. "If this is what Appa wanted, then we have no choice."

She scrolled down the document, skimming through the words until she reached an important section of the will. It detailed on how the cremation was to take place. A shaky smile crossed her lips, her heart throbbing in her chest. He had been a careful man until the day he died.

Min Seo handed the device back to Uncle Mike, pointing at it. "Appa specified how the cremation should be done."

Uncle Mike's gaze dropped to the screen, his eyebrows furrowing. She waited for him to read, all the while acutely aware that her heart was aching in her chest. There would be no way for her to look for her father when she needed him anymore. He was going to be gone, no evidence of the man had lived.

It was a sad thing.

She wished she and her brother had a place to return to when this madness ends.

If it ended.

"We should inform the doctors," Uncle Mike said, his voice shaking.

Min Seo closed her eyes again, just for a second, as she tried to gather her composure that threatened to break.

If she let herself to think more, she could probably figure out what her father had been thinking when he drafted that will.

What made their fearless Appa figure out a way to cremate his body in a way that left minimal smoke to catch attention.