“Yong, I’m going to sleep now.” She whispers to him.

Yonghwa instantly realize what those words mean.

            “Really? Alright….sleep well.” His voice cracks.

            “Don’t cry….” She tells him in a faint voice.

Yonghwa looks at her face and does his best to hold back his emotion. He wants to send her off with a smile on his face so that she won’t be worried.

            “Hm.” He says while smiling a bit.

Seo Hyun sees Death raising nir head. Nir handsome face is expressionless. Ne stares at her with those black and cold-looking eyes. That’s it….ne’s going to take her.

Yonghwa cups both of her cheeks and gives her a kiss on her forehead.

Farewell, my beloved—her mind says.

Seo Hyun’s arms holding on to his arms loosen their grips before finally falling to the sides. Yonghwa’s tears roll down his face as he remains in that position for a moment. He swallows hard. Seo Hyun is gone.

He then embraces her. Yonghwa cries hard while holding Seo Hyun’s lifeless body tightly. Her appearance slowly returns to its original self.

            “Seo Hyun!!!!!” he cries.

In his black suit, Yonghwa enters the funeral hall. The Seo family’s lawyer is the one in-charged as master of ceremony while the former servants helps in assisting the guests. There are only few people here and most of them are from their neighborhood.

He stands in front of Seo Hyun’s funeral altar. Her photo is in the middle of the floral wreath. In that picture, Seo Hyun is an old woman.

            “Those are lady Joohyun’s favorite flowers.” The old woman tells him. She’s the same old woman he talked with that day. Base in her action, it seems like she doesn’t remember about their encounter.

There is no indication that she recognized him. Is this what Seo Hyun told him before? She said that once she’s gone, the things that happened will be erased from people’s memory. But for him, things are very clear. He remembers every single detail from the first day he met her up to now.

His eyes water up so he decided to go out for a little bit. Yonghwa bows his head a bit to the old woman.

The lawyer returns from taking a phone call. His eyes caught the last name written in the funeral log book. Jung Yonghwa.

            “Is this person in here?” he asks the receptionist.

            “Ah…Yes, attorney.”

            “He’s inside then?”

Yonghwa walks pass them.

            “That’s him.” The receptionist says.

The lawyer follows her gaze and sees him.

            “That young man?”

            “Hm.” She nods.

He quickly follows him.

            “Excuse me.” He calls.

Yonghwa turns around.

            “Are you Jung Yonghwa?”

            “Yes.” He just answers.

The lawyer breathes in before speaking.

            “I’m really waiting to meet you.” He says and takes out an envelope from the inside pocket of his suit. “Lady Seo Joohyun left this and I think she wants me to relay it to you.”

Yonghwa slowly receive the said envelope. They exchange a civil bow after that. The lawyer returns to the funeral hall while Yonghwa goes outside. His steps are heavy and unsure. Outside, the rain is falling from the night sky.

Yonghwa leans his back against the wall and stare at space. The night is cold and quiet. The pouring water in front of him is the only sound he could hear. The atmosphere is lonely and as if the sky is shedding its tears too.  He looks at the envelope in his hand and opens it. He gets his former phone, the one he gave to Seo Hyun. For the second time, she gave it back to him. He sighs.

Next, he found a letter that was neatly folded inside.

Yong,

            I don’t know if this letter would reach you but if you’re reading this now by chance, it will be great.

            I came out of nowhere, barge in to your life and left just like that. I had been a troublesome girl, right?

The side of his lips goes up from a forced smile as he continues reading.

It was pretty complicated I know……Right, I haven’t introduced myself properly to you. My birth name is Seo Joohyun and was born on year 1947. I lived in a time which is very different from the recent. The things that took us long to do that time are being done in a few minutes now. The world seemed to be too big then but now it can be within a grasp of one’s hand.

Back then, I chose to rely too much on my parents and let myself to be afraid of stepping out to the outside world. When they left, like a kid I fell on my knees and hug myself………but the world keeps spinning…..and it won’t stop just because you choose to live in misery and fear. Then a rare opportunity came one day and I desperately grabbed it. I was given a little more time to go back and walk the different path. That’s when I met you. You guided me on that one last journey and with you there next to me, it had been the best days of my entire life.

            I’d like to think that those three weeks as the real part of my youth. The wonderful days at school, happy times with Ji Ah and Yumi, and standing beside you feels like my own though I know that this reality is a borrowed one from a crack in time. I know clearly that loving you and being loved by you in return is a luxury for a person like me. Now that my time here ends, I don’t regret nor feel afraid because as long as I remember how warm your heart is, no matter where I am, I'll always feel like I'm alive.

            I’m thankful because meeting you is the best thing that came out of that last chance I got. Because of Jung Yonghwa, I walked my last days in this earth with a big smile on my face.

As I write this, I see our first meeting as Seo Hyun and Yonghwa in my head. Looking back to that moment, your stare and the expression in your face when we first met on the street….I really like that….

I wonder…….if we didn’t meet like that, do you think we’ll ever meet in the first place?

Yonghwa’s tears race against his cheeks.

            “Idiot………..Of course, we will.” He utters answering the last line in her letter.

He really believes that their paths crossed for a reason. If they didn’t meet that time in that street….definitely they will meet somewhere else in some other way.

Yonghwa clutches his chest. It feels like his heart is going to burst because the pain is unbearable. His heart is aching so much and that excruciating pain proves that the Seo Hyun he loves existed and their memories and love for each other are real.

He slowly bends down and rods both his hands on top of his two knees. His shoulders shrug as he mourn and cry.

Within the misty view of rain, someone in black suit slowly walks and stops in front of Yonghwa. That person lift the black umbrella ne’s holding and reveal nir face. Yeong Won stares at Yonghwa.

            “Jung Yonghwa.” Ne calls his name.

Yonghwa looks up. Within his tears, he sees nem. Their gaze meets.

That’s it and Yonghwa’s vision suddenly turns black and he passes out.

_________________________________________________________________

Seo Hyun found herself walking on a misty road. She’s not sure what to call this place. In front of her, she sees the back of a tall person. Seo Hyun is sure that ne’s the one who came for her….the spirit named Death.

            “Excuse me……mister….” She calls nir attention.

Death stops walking and turns nir head a bit. Seo Hyun suddenly swallows.

            “Are you bringing me to where I should be?” she managed to ask.

Death gives her a slight nod before ne continue walking. Seo Hyun quietly follows her. This fellow is very handsome unlike what she pictured in her head before. Almost every person thinks that the grim reaper will look horribly scary but it’s the complete opposite. Some dead women might think that ne’s an angel. But Seo Hyun still prefers Yeong Won over nem. Death is cold and emotionless while Yeong Won is quirky and lively.

What could Yeong Won be doing now?---she thought. Ne’s probably strolling around or might be even searching for the next person ne’d grant with the same chance ne gave you…..her mind also answers.

            “Miss me?”

A mischievous voice startles her.

            “Y-Yeong Won?!” she’s surprised to see nem beside her.

            “My ears are kinda itchy now because a dead girl keeps on mentioning my name…..” ne says jokingly.

Seo Hyun smiles.

            “Aren’t you busy enough to be here?” she says.

            “Sure, I am…but I think you’d miss my presence….especially around that spirit.”

They both look at Death whose walking in front of them.

            “That fellow is too boring for a company, right?” ne whispers.

Seo Hyun awkwardly smiles. Death stops and peeks over nir shoulder.

            “Alright…alright….jeez….you don’t have to be so grumpy…..” Yeong Won tells nem as if they’re having a conversation of their own. “Death thinks that I’m badmouthing nem when I’m just stating a fact…” ne says to her.

Death is still not moving from nir spot.

            “I will just chat a bit…..I will leave quickly.” Yeong Won says to nem.

Seo Hyun doesn’t know how to react with these two spirits in front of her. They continue with their walk.

            “Is this the road to afterlife?” she asks Yeong Won.

            “I guess so……I don’t usually linger around here so I’m not very familiar.” Ne answer.

            “The destination……there’s only two, right?”

Yeong Won nods.

            “Hm. And Death will bring you to one of those destinations.”

Seo Hyun is not feeling anxious about her last destination. Whatever door Death leads her to, she won’t complain because that’s where God think she deserves to be.

            “Have you seen God?” she asks nem again.

            “Yes, I have…..” ne smiles.

She couldn’t bring herself to ask more. She knows that everyone will stand in front of God when time comes and in a few moments now, she would face Him. Seo Hyun knows what she wants to do once she meets God…..She’d thank Him and ask forgiveness for her sins. One last thing……she’d whisper to Him to take care of her love one….Jung Yonghwa.

Death turns to them. She sees a stairway behind nem.

            “Prepare……” she finally hears nem speak. Nir voice is so deep and hearing it brings chills to her spine. “The two of you are now going to cross to the other side. As you do that, you’ll see the life you had made for yourselves in the land of the livings.”

The two of you……..? she looks at Yeong Won beside her but ne shook nir head.

She turns back to Death and follows nir eyes that go behind her. Within the thick mist, draws a silhouette…..little by little, that silhouette becomes clear. Seo Hyun couldn’t believe her eyes.

Jung Yonghwa finally opens his eyes. He looks at his hands for a moment before raising his head. There, he sees Seo Hyun’s terrified face staring at him.

Seo Hyun swallows hard. Her vision starts to become blurry because of the tears that are threatening to fall.

            “What…….did you do?” she asks him with strain in her voice.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

[Author's Note]:

Comments please and enjoy the weekend, people!