Final Voice

He is right. He is undeniably right.

He has heard the name ‘Soojung’ in the past. Why is he so dumb to pass over as though nothing has ever happened beforehand?

“Jongin-ah. Where are you going?”

“It’s recess so yeah, cafeteria of course.” The younger looks pretty much bewildered. “What’s wrong, hyung? You look in a tizzy.”

“Have you ever heard the name ‘Soojung’?” he asks bluntly. He needs to crack the unknown name before he can help the female ghost.

“Soojung?” He grimaces. “Who is she?”

“Then what about Choi Sulli? Do you know her?”

“Sulli? The girl who passed away last year?”

“Ah, yes! She’s the one I’m talking about?” Lu Han smiles excitedly. “So you really know her?”

Jongin nods, dumbfounded. “She was my classmate back then.”

“Do you happen to know who her closest friends are?”

The younger seems to be in deep thought, trying to figure out his question. “Ah, I finally remember something!”

“What is it?”

“It’s about the name you mentioned just now; Soojung,” he remarks, “Soojung is Krystal-ssi.” He swallows the lump in his throat to reiterate the name again coherently. “Krystal Jung Soojung.”

Lu Han rubs his temple restfully and lets out a sigh. Truth be told, Yoona was the one who cracked Krystal’s real name but he overlooked it. In fact, the reason why the ghost, Sulli, touched her neck at that moment was only to show him a piece of evidence.

The necklace.

Yoona’s eyes peer through Krystal meticulously as she sees her smiling. She thinks she’s not bad at all. Her shimmering smile doesn’t make sense that she’s one of the mysterious Jung Sisters. When she lets out a smile, it’s as if making the others to smile too.

Her gaze then falls upon the shining, silver necklace coating around her long neck. It’s just a plain necklace with an ‘S’ letter hanging in the middle of it. “Your necklace’s beautiful, Krystal.”

“O-oh, really?” Krystal seems to be thrown off guard of the sudden flattery. Her fingers slightly quake when she attempts to say a few words. “Thanks, unnie. It’s my treasured one.”

“But may I know why the letter’s ‘S’?” she asks, furrowing an eyebrow. “It should’ve been ‘K’ since your name’s Krystal, right?”

She presses her lips together into a cautious line. “Oh.... actually my real name is Soojung. Krystal is like my some sort of stage name so that’s why I use ‘S’ instead of ‘K’.” She lets out a nervous chuckle.

“Ah, I see...” Yoona nods.

The younger impetuously rises from her seat, shoving her school bag into her grip before she looks at them. “Uhm, seems like I’ve got to go now. I kind of have to attend my dad’s company dinner tonight so I need to rush to the mall for dress,” she remarks hastily and promptly dashes towards the door.

That was why Krystal seemed to be so anxious and sounded so wobbly the moment Yoona touched upon her necklace. Her treasured necklace.

Checkmate.

To: Krystal

Subject: Urgent!

Can we meet after school at Jung’s manor? I have something to talk with you...

***

“Oppa!” Krystal cries as soon as Lu Han barges in the manor. “Why do you want to meet-”

Lu Han, on the other hand, without making an eye-contact to the younger, hurriedly leaned against her and grabbed her neck harshly.

“O-oppa.... w-what’s wrong with you?” Krystal shoves Lu Ha mildly and takes a step backwards. She covers her necklace and puts on an intimidated expression on her face.

He knows his act may seem rash but he has no idea he would be this harsh to this extent. Getting a grip of himself, he eyes the petrified younger. “I’m sorry if I scared you just now but I just want to make sure of something.”

“What is it?”

“Is your necklace yours or did you, by any chance, steal it from your friend, Sulli-ssi?”

Krystal’s face darkens in an instant and her breath gets hitched but she tries to withstand it. She does not want him to sense her sudden change. “W-what are you t-talking about, o-oppa? This is my necklace and how the heck did you know her?!”

“You wouldn’t have been stuttering if you are talking the truth, Krystal,” he remarks, earning her silence. “Listen... I just want to know the truth. It’s not that I want to rip the necklace off just because you lie or anything...”

The younger takes a deep breath. “Fine, what do you want to ask me? I’ll tell everything.”

“You know Sulli-ssi, right?”

“Yes.” She nods lightly, face remains neutral. “She was my best friend back then and... she died last year on Christmas’s eve.”

“Why did she die? Accident?”

“I don’t know much because I didn’t pay attention. My heart sunk to the bottom and I was really mourning over her loss. She was my best friend. We did everything together.... and... all of a sudden, she... died... That broke my heart, really...”

Lu Han could not help but pull Krystal against his body when the younger could not hold back her tears. “Let it go, Krystal. The tears you’ve been holding back... just let it go.”

The ice princess finally breaks the ice – no matter how frozen it is.

Krystal wraps her arms around the elder’s waist tightly. “I miss her, oppa. I really miss her so badly. Though I’ve had a lot of friends, no one can surpass her. She was the only one who can move my tears, make me laugh and...”

“I know what you feel, Krystal...” He pats her back, as if giving her comfort.

At the corner of the manor, Lu Han could see Sulli is watching them hugging with tears flowing down her cheeks – but it not bloody tears. It is tears gleaming with happiness.

After a while, he parts the warm embrace and impulsively, wipes the tears off her face. She has stopped crying and yes, it is a good thing.

“You know what, Krystal?”

The younger flashes her faint gaze towards him questioningly.

“You’ve always been giving me a lot of advices but I’ve never given you one.”

Krystal chuckles insipidly. “That’s because I’m not troubled with problems.”

“Still, this time you need an advice,” he says, looking at her fervently. “Sometimes, we have to let the cherished ones go even though it’s hard. Letting them go doesn’t mean we are bound to accept the fate but simply, we learn to accept the fate and be a better person starting today onwards.”

“And you know, Krystal? You still have a debt to Sulli-ssi.”

“What debt?”

“Gratitude,” Lu Han replied, “she wants gratitude for the necklace. She gave it to you, right?”

The younger nods. “Just so you know, oppa... that’s why I shoved you away when you wanted to look back on my past,” she confessed, laughing. “I don’t want anyone to know about my memories because it is only filled with bad ones...”

Lu Han suddenly replays the scene in his head the moment Krystal had just revealed his second ability.

“Retrospective,” she blurts out smoothly, “whenever you touch someone’s hand, you have the ability to look back on his or her past.”

“Ret… reto… retospective?”

“Retrospective, oppa.” Krystal emits a playful chortle.

“Reto… retro… ah… retrospective.” Since the term is derived from English term, so it’s quite tough to pronounce it.

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“So I can look back on everyone else’s past including myself?”

“Excluding yourself,” she answers, “and I forget to add a little more details, oppa. It’s not like you only have to touch a hand. You have to hold it tightly and when you break the grip, you’ll get back to reality…. so that means no more past events you can look back on.”

Lu Han nods, understood. He then flickers his eyes back to the younger. “But Krystal… do you think this ability is functional?

“No comment,” she remarks shortly. “You have to test it first… then, you can judge it.”

“Then should I test it on you?” Lu Han steps forward the younger, only to get shoved away from her in an instant. He lets out a quite strident grunt at her abruptness.

“I’m sorry, oppa,” she remarks with a sarcastic grin. In spite of it, Lu Han could somehow sense the unpredicted difference of her tone – unnerving.

“Actually, Sulli was supposed to give me the necklace as my Christmas present during the party but before she could reach the meeting place, she was hit by a car and passed away right away.”

“Soojung-ah,” Mrs. Jung calls out her daughter’s name as the door is clicked open. “Someone’s waiting for you outside.”

“Who?” Krystal unplugs the headphone, rising from the bed only to make her way to the door.

“Police officer?”

“What?” Krystal frowns. “Why would he want to meet me? I don’t think I’ve committed such a crime in my life, omma!”

Her mother lets out a playful chuckle. “He’s not here to catch you, Soojung-ah. He just wants to hand you something.”

As curiosity drives her nuts, she goes downstairs and the 30-ish police officer is leisurely sitting down on the couch.

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