FATED TO LOVE YOU

Part 4 :

"Ajhussi." I said to the man standing in front of me. "You know who I am, right?"

He smiled at me with teary eyes. "The first and last Goblin's bride."

I smiled with tears now streaming down my face as he pulled me in his arms and hugged me tight as though I would disappear once again.

I could hear his shallow and uneven breathing and feel the strong beating of his heart. Then I was suddenly filled with laughter of joy and ecstasy upon realizing that this wasn't just my fantasy. This wasn't just any dream, but rather the reality.

He pulled slightly away as he cupped my face in his hands and leaned closer and closer. My erratic heart felt like it's going to burst from my chest as our lips met in a passionate kiss.

His kiss was long and filled with all of his longing. Like a drowning man in the middle of a sinking ship. I was his only hope for survival as though I was the very breath he needed in order to live.

He slowly pulled away until his forehead was brushing against mine as I reached up to hold his hands. 

And that was the moment when my stomach had to break the precious moment. I felt it growling.

I winced in embarrassment, silently berating myself. 

I should've eaten something this morning. I was too excited to see him that I forgot to eat.

Way to go, Jae Hye Jin. You just met the love of your life and your stomach has to interrupt the moment.

It was even my first kiss.

Well, my first kiss in this lifetime..

The goblin looked down at me as he burst out laughing. "You didn't change at all." He said.

I raised my brow, annoyed. "Really?" 

Must he really tease me so?

He looked at me defensively as he continued to snort. "Why, you are always asking me to eat with you. You don't know how much money I spent trying to satisfy your—"

"Ah!" A sudden thought came to my mind as I grabbed his arm. "Ajussi! Ajussi!"

He looked at me suspiciously as I hang onto his arm like a snake. "W-what?"

"Take me to that restaurant." I said with excitement.

"What?"

"The restaurant! You took me to that restaurant when I was twenty-nine years old."

He looked at me for a moment before shaking his head, both in disbelief and annoyance. "Is there nothing else on your mind but food?"

I grinned at him with unabashed happiness that of which he wouldn't be able to resist.

After a few seconds, he finally relented but not before he sent a scowl at my direction. "Fine. Alright."

Oh how I miss my short-tempered husband.​​ 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 "Uwaaa." 

My face said it all as I looked around the famous steak restaurant. The astonishment and joy that I suddenly felt the minute I walked past the door was nothing compared to the moment I stepped on the very soil of Canada. It was, after all, a very sentimental place for us. Though it wasn't exactly my first time seeing the place since I ate there several times in the past, still, I couldn't help myself. It was like finding a small piece of a puzzle.

I walked in a small circle as I stared at the antique tables and chairs. The beautiful decor, some which lookd quite familiar while some were new. I smiled at the nearby couples as they relax in the romantic atmosphere of the place. Then I inhaled the very nostalgic scent wafting from the kitchen.

"Ugh.. It smells so good." I muttered to myself as I draw in the smell of expensive beef steak.

The man besides me snorted as he looked at me acting like a child. "I'm sorry." I whispered. "It's just that I miss this place."

"I see you still like eating steak." He said.

Grinning, I shot back. "Who wouldn't like steak?"

He pulled out the chair for me. "Well, I can vouch one person or two."

"Ah." I sat down, understanding what he meant. "What happened to the grim reaper?"

He sat at the opposite chair and folded his hands with a look of elation and seriousness on his face as though he's recalling something that is both sad and happy at the same time. "I guess the heaven finally granted him his wish."

"Did he and Sunny.."

"Yes." He nodded. "They're finally happy. Maybe not on their last life but they're definitely happy now."

I quickly exhaled as though I was suddenly breathless. There was an unexplainable lightness in my chest. A feeling of joy and sorrow both clashing together at the fate of our two friend. "I wish I could've seen that."

Kim Shin smiled at me. "You will."

I frowned in confusion. "What do you mean?"

But rather answer, he gestured to the plate in front of me. "The steak's getting cold."

"So," I said in between a biteful of the saucy meat. "What have you been up to these past thirty years?"

The goblin paused in his meal. "Nothing much. All I did was to continue living like what you said."

"I see." I said. 

He said it so simply yet I know that it wasn't just like that. I know how much it hurt to live a life of loneliness. To see your beloved only in your dreams. To feel her only through the air you breathed. To live several years yearning for her touch but could never feel it. It was a blessing before when God took away my memories after he died. Still, even though I couldn't remember anything the sadness still remained like a curse— whenever it rained I'd feel so lonely and whenever it snowed I'd feel so empty.

When I finally got my memories back I was suddenly filled with a deep sense of longing. Every second and every minute away from him was pure torture.

The man in front of me went through life and death many many times. Who knew that God has a more severe punishment in lay for him. To make him remember everything in his life. To long for the life of someone taken from him.

How much pain did he endure for the past thirty years? For what reason, for what purpose did God give him such punishment?

To cherish life.

That's the lesson God wanted him to understand. For those thousands of souls he sacrificed. For those thousand lives he killed with his sword.

He made him immortal in order for him to see the value of human life while making him resent his own.

How cruel the divinity is. And just how kind.

"If you're truly a bad person. He would've just created the Goblin. He wouldn't have let you meet your bride."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Ne, Ajussi." I pulled at the goblin's arm as I pointed to a nearby church. "Can we stop there for a minute?"

The goblin glanced at the church. "Why?"

I rolled my eyes at him. "Just come with me." I said, leaving no space for argument as I forcefully pulled him towards the entrance of the church.

We walked past the giant double doors and past the half empty benches until we reached almost the front, near the altar.

There we knelt. I, rather. The goblin was too hesitant and nervous that I had to pull him down to make him kneel.

"Don't be so nervous." I whispered, eyes closed and palm to palm.

"Don't mind me." He said in an attempt to sound casual. "It's not like I'll die anyway."

I elbowed him at the side.

"Ouch." He rubbed at the sore spot.

I ignored him and focused on my inner dwellings. "Dear God, I want to thank you for letting me have my second chance at life. I want to thank you for letting me meet my husband. For allowing him to live." I prayed out loud. 

"I don't want to ask you many things because you already gave me so much that's why I will not ask for my sake but rather—"

I slowly opened my eyes to look at the man beside me. "I want you to forgive him for all his sin. Please allow him to be happy just this once."

The goblin looked at me his eyes getting moist as he heard the words.

I closed my eyes once again. "Oh, I have a wish after all." I smiled sheepishly as I took a deep breath. "Please let me live a long and happy life with him. I want to have children with him. I want to grow old with him so that he will no longer be sad, so that he will no longer wait for me. Please let us be happy."

"That's three wishes already."

I opened my eyes and looked at him as he smiled at me with tears in his eyes. I, too, couldn't help but become emotional as we both laugh and cry at the same time.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The church bell rang as the signal of the ending mass. People went out of the church with their spirits filled with gladness and exaltation. The old and the young. They all want their prayers to be granted. 

"Well?" A lady in red walked up the altar and towards the chair where an old man, wearing a white coat, white undershirt and a similar white pants, sat cross-legged.

"What are you going to do with those two?" The lady asked, gesturing to the disappearing silhouette of the two lovers as they went out of the door.

He let out a heavy breath. "What else but to grant them their wish."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Author's Note: I will post an epilogue. It's the final chapter of this story. So far please give me a feedback or a review. I want to know what I should improve since this is the first time for me to use 1st POV. If you could give me some tips or techniques, I'd greatly appreciate it.