"Thank you for the encouragement, Kwangmin," Yuna, a young lady who committed suicide because of her boyfriend who dumped her, says as she holds both my hands. "I accept my fate. I'm ready to move on. I'll be glad to give Kwanghee-ssi a chance to be able to move on from here too. Thank you both so much," she continues. She turns to look at Seol who was beside me. "Thank you so much for the friendship, Seol-unnie," she says and hugs Seol. "I'll miss you so much." She pulls away from Seol and waves at the two of us. Slowly, she disappears and we don't know where she could've gone to. 

   "Well, that was one less soul again, huh?" a boy in his teens says as he walks towards Seol and me.

   "Yeah," Seol tells him and smiles.

   "Only five souls are now left; including me," the boy tells us. I look around and indeed, we were only very few now. I can't believe Seol and I managed to convince those hundreds of souls to move on and accept their fate during these past months. I look at the blossom tree that wasn't very far from where I'm standing right now and I spot Junhee, the pale girl, just sitting under the shade with her head down. 

   "Wait a sec," I tell both the boy and Seol. They both nod in response and then I walk towards Junhee. "Hey," I softly say. She looks up and smiles at me.

   "Yes, oppa? Did you need anything?" she asks politely. I shake my head and sit beside her.

   "Are you okay? You seem kinda down," I tell her. She looks at me and smiles bitterly. She looks up and sighs. "You know you can tell me anything, Junhee-yah."

   "Oppa, Kwanghee-ssi told me earlier about something he never told any of us before," she starts. Being the curious person I am, I lean in closer to listen to what she has to say. "He said that once we accept our fate and move on, we won't have any memories of this place or of Earth. Our memories will completely be erased. We will forget everything and start anew in the afterlife. The reason why we can still remember the people on Earth and we're still hurt about the fact that we died is because... we're just, after all, in the pre-afterlife. But once we move on, we will forget everything. Everything that ever happened to us when we were still alive. Everything that happened here. We will create brand new and beautiful memories in the afterlife. So even if there were any chances of any of us meeting each other once again... I'm afraid we wouldn't know one another anymore. We'll be complete strangers," she says.

    "Are you sure about that, Junhee-yah?" I ask. "I mean why would Kwanghee-ssi suddenly tell you something like that where in fact he didn't have any plans of telling any of us at all."

   "B..because I asked him about it earlier. At first he was hesitant but then I was finally able to convince him to tell me. Now that I know about it I... I don't know what to feel. I've had beautiful memories here with you guys and I don't want us to be just strangers when we do bump onto each other someday. I'm glad that my memories on Earth will be erased because... they're... they're not worth remembering. But I want to keep the memories I have in here," she answers me and looks at the ground. I look at her with sad eyes and pat her head.

   "Well, at least we'll forget about all the pain we've been through, right? And when we do see each other in the afterlife then... let's just become friends and start from scratch again. Afterall, we all started out as strangers in here, right?" I tell her, trying my best to comfort her although deep inside... I'm hurt.

   "You're right," she said as her face lit up with joy. "Thanks, oppa."

   "Sure. I'll go ahead," I tell her and stand up. She smiles and nods. With that, I walk away.

   Forget our memories? I look at the figure from afar; Seol. Suddenly, I don't feel like moving on anymore. What if we do meet each other again in the afterlife but we don't even know one another? We're going to be back from scratch? I look up and close my eyes. Please let me keep my memory of Seol. I open my eyes again and I see Seol playing with the boy we talked to earlier. I look to my right and I see Kwanghee-ssi a few feet away from me with his eyes closed as if he's praying too. Does he also wish to keep his memory of us here in the pre-afterlife? 

   Months have passed and Junho, the boy, finally decided to move on as well.

   "I've had fun with you guys. I hope to meet you again then we'll definitely play again," he says with a smile. If only...

   "We will so take care, okay? I'll miss you," Seol tells him and wraps him in her arms. I haven't told Seol about the memory thing. I was afraid to see her reaction whether she would be okay with it or not.

   "Wait," Junhee says as she runs towards us with a smile plastered on her face. "I'll go with you, Junho-yah," she adds. Junho smiles at her and nods.

   "We'll leave then," Junho says and grins at us. "We'll see you guys soon. C'mon, Junhee-yah," he continues and looks at Junhee and reaches his hand out for her. Junhee gladly holds it and smiles at us. "'Til then."

   "That leaves us and Kwanghee-ssi," Seol says as she looks at me. "Kwangmin-ah, are you happy?"

   "As long as we're together, I'm happy," I tell her. "Seol-ah... I need to... tell you something."

   "I'm listening," she says and closes her eyes. She looks so peaceful and so happy.

   "Junhee once told me that once we move on we will... our memories of everything will be erased from our minds. We will be starting anew in the afterlife so even if there was a chance that we'll meet one another again we might... we won't know each other anymore," I tell her nervously. She opens her eyes and looks at me. "I'm sorry I... I only told you now. I was afraid..."

   "Kwangmin-ah," she utters and holds my hand and puts it on her temple. "You'll always be here," she says and then lowers my hand on her chest, where her 'heart' is before adding, "and here. Though we may be strangers once we get there but... I know that somehow... my heart will be able to recognize you. Believe in me... please Kwangmin-ah. Have faith." I bend down to plant a kiss on her forehead.

   "I love you," I tell her and wrap my arms around her. "I love you and I'm not gonna be tired of telling you that everyday while we're still together."

   Half a month have passed already and Seol and I are enjoying each other's company. But today Seol has decided that we should move on. We should accept our fate today to give Kwanghee-ssi a chance to move on too. I want to be with Seol a little longer but I don't want to be selfish and deprive Kwanghee-ssi of his freedom.

   "Seol-ah, please don't forget me," I tell Seol while holding her hand.

   "Look," she says and unfolds a paper. "I've written your name on it so in case we do meet each other, although I'll be clueless as to who this guy is... at least, I'll have a clue, right?" 

   "It's funny 'coz I did too," I tell her as I take out a piece of paper from my pocket. We chuckle and hug each other. "I'll miss you, Seol-ah. I don't know if I'll be able to bear the pain of losing a loved one again..."

   "We'll meet again, I'm sure," she says as she soothes my back. "I... I love you, Kwangmin-ah." I pull away and look at her only to witness her blushing. It's the first time she ever told me that. I pull her back in my arms and shed a few tears.

   "Keep the paper, okay? Someday... somehow... we'll be able to see each other again and reunite. Like you said before, our hearts will be able to recognize each other," I tell her. I feel her nod against me and she hugs me tighter.

   "Just... one... last time," she says softly and pulls away from me. "For the last time..." she adds and leans towards me. "I love you, Kwangmin."

   Then she presses her lips on mine. I shed a tear and pulls her closer to me, deepening the kiss. She wraps her small hands around my neck as I wrap my own hands on her waist. I open my eyes and see her shedding tears too. I look at her face for a moment, memorizing her features. She's so beautiful. I'm sure that when we're in the afterlife and I see her, she'll catch my attention again just like she did the first time. I will fall for her all over again. Finally able to memorize her features, I close my eyes once again. Wrong move. As I do, I feel her slowly disappearing. I open my eyes and her figure fades away slowly as she opens her eyes and smiles at me. I didn't want to let her go. I try to hold her once again to stop her but my hands just passed through thin air as I see her finally disappearing and out of my sight. She must've already accepted her fate and has moved on. I didn't even get to tell her that I love her too. I look back at Kwanghee-ssi who wasn't that far from me and see him smiling at me with content. I smile back and look up at the skies. This is it then. I pull the paper out of my pocket again and look at the name scribbled on it. I smile upon reading it: Lee Seol. I gently brush my fingers on each letter and kiss the paper. I grin at the name written on the paper and take a deep breath. 

   "'Til we meet again, Seol-ssi."

FIN♥