Work Text:
Today Qin woke up to the sun already high in the sky. He had slept in again, but he never felt guilty anymore. After all, he's retired. What does an old man have to do that requires waking up so early anyway.
But one thing Qin never misses is opening the mustard-colored curtain he used to hate so much but Duang insisted on getting because it matches their sofa, and greeting his one and only love.
"Good morning, Duang," he says, looking up at the sun with squinting eyes. "Are you happy today? You look brighter than yesterday."
Qin makes his way to the garden. He looks at the jasmine, bougainvillea, and plumeria growing and smiles. He remembers how much Duang took care of them every morning. Qin would wake up and find his late husband standing there with a hose or watering can. Though he would drop it immediately upon hearing the sliding door open, turning to find Qin standing there with a blanket wrapped around him, hair sticking out in every direction, mid-yawn.
"Morning, my love," Duang would say as he kissed him.
Even now, with Duang gone, Qin sometimes still wants to scold him for passing away first. They had promised to go together while holding hands. Duang always kept his promises. Every single one. Except that one. Even though both of them knew, deep down, it was something very unlikely to happen.
"You're so warm," Qin says to himself as he picks up the watering can. The sun is shining so brightly he probably shouldn't have worn the yellow cardigan out. But since Duang left, he has been wearing colorful clothes so that the color of his world doesn't feel entirely gone, now that the brightest part of it is.
"Morning, Qin!" The neighbor next door greets him, heading out with his wife for a walk.
"It's so hot out. Don't tire your wife out too much!"
His neighbor chuckles. "Don't stand too long in the sun yourself, Qin."
Besides taking over the care of the flowers and wearing bright colors, Qin has also learned to be more cheerful, to smile more at people other than Duang. Because then it feels like the love Duang left inside him can still be seen by the world.
After finishing with the plants, Qin comes back inside and sits by the easel where his unfinished painting waits. The paint from yesterday has dried. He's ready to continue.
A few months ago he asked Pae and Jamie for tips on how to paint on canvas, and they were more than happy to show him. He wishes he had learned more from Duang while he still could.
But that doesn't matter now. What happened, happened. He doesn't want to dwell on regrets. He lived a lot of things with Duang. Good and bad. New places, new activities he never imagined doing. It was a good life, full of happy memories. And those are what he wants to hold onto when he thinks of Duang.
He knows that's what Duang would want too.
So today, Qin will paint the sun. His sun. And with every stroke of his brush, he hopes Duang feels it as the caress of his hand, somewhere far away and warm. In heaven.