The morning sunlight slipped gently through the thin gaps in the wooden walls of the small house, illuminating traces of dust floating lazily in the air. It was early — the kind of early where the world is halfway between night and day, quiet yet preparing to wake. And in the middle of that calm, the house echoed with something precious and rare: laughter.
Li Kyo stood at the stove, a worn-out pan sizzling under his careful hands. The aroma of eggs frying mixed with the faint smell of wood smoke that always lingered in their small home. His long black hair brushed lightly against his forehead as he leaned closer to check the eggs.
It should have been a normal morning, just like countless others…
But today was special.
Not because it was a birthday.
Not because it was a holiday.
But because today, Li Kyo had decided he wanted to give their mother something she hadn't felt in a long, long time — happiness.
Behind him, little footsteps pattered across the floor. His five-year-old brother, Sin Kyo, approached the stove like a soldier approaching the battlefield — serious, determined, and extremely cute.
"Hyung! Hyung! Spoon do! Spoon do!" Sin Kyo practically bounced as he grabbed a spoon nearly as big as his forearm.
Li Kyo chuckled under his breath. "You can help with stirring… but don't spill anything, okay?"
"No spilling!" Sin Kyo declared proudly.
The spoon almost slipped from his small fingers the very next second, but he quickly tightened his grip with a startled gasp. His eyes twinkled like stars — bright, full of life, and overflowing with excitement.
"Mom will be so surprised!" he said, his voice ringing through the kitchen.
Li Kyo smiled, one of those smiles that were gentle yet heavy with something unspoken.
"Yeah… we'll make her really happy today."
For a brief moment, his heart felt light.
For a brief moment, the brothers existed in a world where nothing could go wrong.
For a brief moment, everything felt safe.
But fate has a cruel way of ripping moments apart.
The sharp ringing of the old telephone cut through the warmth of the morning. It was loud, sudden, almost urgent.
Li Kyo turned off the stove, wiped his hands on the nearest towel, and called back to his brother, "Wait here, okay? I'll be back in a second."
Sin Kyo nodded, swinging his feet playfully as he hummed a tune only he knew.
Li Kyo walked toward the phone with a faint smile on his lips.
A smile that would soon be his last one as an innocent boy.
He picked up the receiver—
BOOM!!!
The explosion shattered the world.
The floor lurched violently.
The windows burst into shards.
The kitchen table snapped into two.
Heat, fire, sound — everything collided at once.
Li Kyo's ears rang so loudly that it felt like the whole world had gone silent.
He hit the ground hard. Dust and debris clouded the air, choking him. His left arm throbbed painfully, and warm blood trickled down his forehead. His vision blurred, white spots dancing in front of him.
He tried to breathe.
He tried to understand.
But then —
Then came the realization that stabbed deeper than any wound.
"Sin… Kyo…?"
There was no answer.
Only crackling flames.
Only the settling of broken wood.
Li Kyo dragged himself across the shattered floor. Every movement sent pain shooting through his entire body, but he didn't care. His hands were scraped, bleeding from crawling over rubble. Smoke burned his throat. But he didn't stop.
He couldn't stop.
And then he saw him.
His little brother's small body lay only a few feet away, partially covered by debris. He wasn't moving.
Li Kyo's heart nearly stopped.
"Sin Kyo… Sin Kyo!" he cried, pulling broken pieces of wood away.
The boy's chest rose slightly — he was breathing — but too weakly. His tiny fingers were curled, his skin pale beneath the dust.
But what struck Li Kyo the most…
What broke him completely…
Was the faint smile on Sin Kyo's lips.
A peaceful, gentle smile.
A smile too calm for a child caught in an explosion.
A smile that didn't belong to a moment filled with pain.
"Why are you smiling…?" Li Kyo whispered, his voice trembling.
Sin Kyo didn't answer.
He couldn't.
Li Kyo held his little brother close, shaking as tears spilled freely down his cheeks.
"Please… wake up… please…" he begged.
But the world remained cruelly silent.
---
When Li Kyo opened his eyes again, everything had changed.
He was no longer in the burning house.
No longer surrounded by smoke or screams.
He was in his own small room.
His breathing was ragged, his clothes soaked with sweat. His heart hammered against his ribs as if it wanted to break free.
A nightmare.
A memory.
A curse he couldn't escape.
He sat up slowly, wiping the sweat clinging to his hair. The room was dim, lit only by the faint streetlight leaking through old newspapers taped across the window.
He used them to block out the world — a world he had stopped wanting to see.
A small desk stood beside his bed. Its surface was covered with dusty books, old notebooks, and papers filled with scribbled thoughts he never showed anyone.
At the center of the desk was a single photo frame.
Sin Kyo.
Smiling brightly.
Forever frozen.
Forever untouched by time.
Li Kyo reached out and traced the edges of the photo with trembling fingers.
"I'm sorry…" he whispered.
The words had become a daily ritual — a prayer he repeated without fail.
A prayer without forgiveness.
He forced a small, empty smile onto his face — a smile he had mastered over the years.
Some smiles were full of joy.
And some…
Some were the only way to hide pain.
For Li Kyo, smiling had become easier than breathing.
---
THE DAYS AFTER THE TRAGEDY — A PAST THAT DOESN'T HEAL
---
After the explosion, everything changed in ways that no one talked about, but everyone felt.
The house was gone.
Their mother… broken beyond repair.
Li Kyo… trapped in his guilt.
He blamed himself.
For answering the phone.
For leaving his little brother alone for even a moment.
For not being strong enough to save him.
Days blurred into nights.
Nights blurred into nightmares.
He avoided people.
He avoided the world.
He avoided life.
School? He stopped going.
Friends? He never replied.
Dreams? He stopped having any.
All he had left was a silent promise — to never forget.
---
THE SMILE — A SYMBOL OF SOMETHING MORE
---
Years passed.
No one understood his smile.
Teachers thought he was polite.
Strangers thought he was quiet.
Neighbors thought he was shy.
But none of them knew the truth.
That smile wasn't real.
It was armor.
A mask.
A wall between him and the world.
Inside, he was a battlefield of regrets, memories, and a question that haunted him every night:
"Why was Sin Kyo smiling… even in that moment?"
He didn't know if the answer would heal him or destroy him.
But he wanted to know.
He needed to know.
---
THE DREAMS BEGIN
---
It started slowly.
First, he heard Sin Kyo's laughter.
Then he saw glimpses — tiny, blurry pieces of that morning.
But the dreams changed.
They became clearer, vivid, almost real.
Sometimes Sin Kyo ran around the kitchen.
Sometimes he tugged Li Kyo's sleeve.
Sometimes he whispered things Li Kyo couldn't understand.
But always — always — he smiled.
And every morning, Li Kyo woke up with tears in his eyes.
---
THE MYSTERY OF THE SMILE
---
One night, the dream was different.
The kitchen wasn't destroyed.
The air was calm.
Sin Kyo stood holding the same oversized spoon, smiling brightly.
But this time… he spoke clearly.
"Hyung… don't cry."
Li Kyo froze.
Sin Kyo stepped closer.
His tiny hand reached out, warm and soft.
"I wasn't smiling because I was scared," he whispered.
Li Kyo's breath caught in his throat.
He couldn't move.
He couldn't speak.
"I smiled because… you were coming for me."
Li Kyo's heart shattered.
Before he could respond, the dream faded into darkness.
He woke up with tears streaming down his face, clutching the photo frame against his chest.
---
ACCEPTANCE — OR SOMETHING LIKE IT
---
Li Kyo understood then.
Sin Kyo had smiled not because he didn't feel pain…
Not because he didn't know fear…
But because he believed in his brother.
Even in his final moment…
He trusted Li Kyo would find him.
That trust — that love — had remained frozen in that peaceful smile.
And now, years later, it was the very thing saving Li Kyo from collapsing completely.
---
THE FINAL SCENE — A SMILE RETURNED
---
Li Kyo placed the photo frame gently back on the desk.
He wiped his face and let out a slow, shaky breath.
This time… he smiled again.
A small smile.
A real one.
Maybe one day he'd forgive himself.
Maybe one day the nightmares would stop.
Maybe one day he'd live again.
For now, he whispered softly into the stillness of his room:
"Thank you… Sin Kyo."
A whisper returned from memory…
Some smiles are full of joy.
And some…
Are the only way to hide pain.
But some — just some —
Are the bridge between a broken past and a healing future.
— Ajiro Shin