After a sleepless night spent on the living room floor, Shin Hye thought about skipping classes altogether.  However, as the stale light of the morning came through the windows, the need to know what had happened to her other half was unbearable.  She pulled herself together, scrubbed her red face clean and caught the train to Coventry.

Debauve and Gallais was closed when she reached the station, and she was both relieved and distraught that she’d have to wait a little longer to have her worst fears confirmed.  Shin Hye sat in on classes for the sake of passing the time.  She stared blankly at the videos and slides that the teacher showed them, wrestling with the urge to connect Yong Hwa’s number and find out if he was okay.

Yong Hwa.

Shin Hye closed her eyes.  She thought she might run mad from the shame of leaving him on his own when he was in so much trouble, but in that moment, when she’d feared for his life, her heart had loved him.  In that moment, he was all that had mattered.

Had she killed her other half?  Shin Hye believed she had.  Her chest felt cold and empty as she approached Coventry Station later that day.  Her heartbeat seemed weaker as she entered the shop and heard the familiar ring of the bell above her.  The witch looked up from her position at the register, but she didn’t smile.

Shin Hye approached the counter with a dry throat, and stared at the wooden duck.

“Is he...” She couldn’t bring herself to finish the sentence.  She swallowed and tried again.  “Is he-“

“He had a bad night,” the witch said sternly.

Shin Hye sobbed, and leaned on one of the tables for support.

“I nearly lost him.  He could have died.”

She froze.  “Then...”  She blinked.  “His heart isn’t broken?”

The witch lifted the corners of , and gave her customer a smile.

Shin Hye wept freely.  There was hope, and she wanted to cling to it with all her might.  “I’m sorry,” she said in between gulps of air.  “I didn’t mean to care so much for a-a friend, but in the end, even if every fibre of my being told me not to, I chose... I chose...”

“You did, which is why he is still alive.”  The shop assistant reached behind her for the chocolate heart.  It was decorated with coloured icing, wrapped in clear plastic and tied with curly ribbon.  “Go to the train station, he is waiting there for you.  Give him this heart, and he will recognise you as his other half.”

“Thank you,” Shin Hye said with puffy eyes.  The plastic wrapping crinkled in her fingers.

“Remember that you must always love and care for him, or he will die of a broken heart.  I can never change that, because it’s not my spell,” warned the witch.  As she spoke, she turned to look at the photograph of an old man on the wall.

Still in shock, Shin Hye found it hard to process what the woman was saying.  “Not your spell?  What does that mean?”

The assistant sighed.  "I hope you can forgive me,” she said, looking back at Shin Hye.  “I lied a little to you, but I had to test you before I brought him to you. Couples change their minds so often these days, and I needed to show you what was at stake."

She blinked.  “I-I don’t understand.”

“You will,” she replied.  “You’d better go.  He’s looking for you.”

Shin Hye hesitated, nodded, and backed towards the door, heart in her hand.

She looked closely at the people standing around on the Station’s platform, tucking the hair out of her eyes so that she wouldn’t miss him.  Most of the strangers she knew from her daily commutes.  A man in a business suit moved back from the others to take a call on his mobile.

A pale face appeared, and Shin Hye held her breath as its owner drew closer.  His kind brown eyes scanned the station before landing on her.  He looked exhausted, but he was smiling.  He was smiling like he knew what she was there for, and how much she’d wanted it to be him.

‘I’m imagining that it’s him,’ she thought, glancing over at Debauve and Gallais for help.  To her surprise, the shop owner was standing in the window, and gesturing for her to go to Yong Hwa.

Shin Hye choked on her own tears.  Yong Hwa was her other half.

Time seemed to slow down as she watched him walk towards her, coming to a halt when there was an only inch between their feet.  He was there; he was really there, giving her another boyish smile that she didn’t deserve.

“You’re pale,” she said, studying his face.  “And it’s all because of me.”

His facial expression softened.  “I knew you’d be blaming yourself over last night.  That’s why I came to find you today.”

Saltwater trickled down her face and over her lips.  With a deep breath, she turned his hand over and pressed the wrapped chocolate in his palm, breaking the spell.

As if aware of the magic in the air, the Coventry church bells rang deep and full, and an old train groaned noisily as it pulled into the station.  Energy crept back into the pupils of Yong Hwa’s eyes, and colour flooded his pale cheeks.  Mere seconds ticked by as recognition sparked and then grew on his face like a forest fire.

“Strange,” he finally said.  With his free hand, he rifled through his pockets and pulled out his wallet.  The frayed black leather was flipped open, and a small collection of tickets fell out onto the ground.

Shin Hye bent down to get them, but he firmly grasped her hand and shook his head.  “Leave them; they’re nothing.  Look.”  He flipped through the plastic book of credit cards and showed her a photo of herself as a toddler.  She was smiling, and she guessed that it had been before social services had taken her in.

“My godfather was a bit of a strange guy.  He used to tell me all the time that he created me for this girl,” said Yong Hwa.  “His granddaughter gave me this photo when I started college, and I’ve been searching for you ever since.  I don’t know why, but I just had to find you.” He looked troubled.  “In the picture, you look just like how you did in grade school.  I don’t know why I didn’t make the connection earlier.”

Shin Hye gave the chocolate shop a dark look.  She had an idea that the assistant might know something about it.

‘She lied to me,’ Shin Hye thought, getting upset.  ‘That woman didn’t create anyone because he was already here, looking for me... And she used him to test me.’

The witch had disappeared from the window...perhaps to hide before her ‘customer’ came in there with a justified complaint about cruelty.

However the growing anger was prematurely snuffed out when her other half yanked at her arm.

She stumbled forward, and her whole body went into emotional shock as she crashed straight into his arms.  He enfolded her in his warm, breathing body, giving her the affection that she’d craved her whole life, and it was better than she could ever imagine.  It was better because it was him.

Her wet cheek brushed and settled against his clothes, and she found herself letting go; falling slack against him.  His arms moved up her back and under her hair to rest on her shoulders, holding her securely in place so that she wouldn’t fall.  Her head was rushing so fast with the rich sweetness of it all that she almost missed him speak.

“Are you paying attention to me?” he grumbled.

Enjoying the moment, she lifted one hand to feel the rise and fall of his chest.

He sighed and held her tighter.  “My crazy godfather was right.  Now that I know you, I need you more than air.  So... So don’t make me give you up.”

Moved by his words, and the courage needed to say them, Shin Hye tilted her chin back to gaze up at him.

“I’m not leaving your side ever again,” she said, reaching up to small pieces of his hair.  “Not today, not ever.”

Suddenly, his fingers were touching her cheek.  “Would it scare you if I told you that...”  He exhaled.  “...I loved you the moment I saw you walk into that post?”

Shin Hye stilled, and tried to calm her panicking heart.  His fingers were still moving over her cheek, making it hard to breathe, and he didn’t drop his intense brown eyes from hers for a second.

“It terrifies me,” she confessed.  “But I-I feel the same way.  I don’t know you, but I trust you, and...”  She swallowed.  “I love you so much.  Let me be with you tonight?”

Their train chose that moment to roar into the station, distracting them, and sending a gust of wind over the platform.  As the people-mover dragged to a stop on the tracks, Shin Hye lifted her eyes back to Yong Hwa’s.

He looked stunned.

She blushed - guessing that he was now as scared as she was - and led him by the hand onto the train.  Shin Hye found an empty double seat, and sat him in it before dropping down at his side.

As the old metal beast began to move, she noticed that Yong Hwa relaxed.  His arm slipped around her waist, and she suddenly felt his mouth tickling her cheek, making her burn with happiness.

Keeping his lips on her skin, he said, “This means I beat the other guy, right?”

*****

They lived happily ever after.  The End.

*****

This is our story which we have related. If it be sweet, or if it be not sweet, take some elsewhere, and let some come back to us.