CHAPTER 1: Unsatisfied

          At a faraway place where the skies never allowed the sun to seep, where the forest surrounded their place of escape, in a solace where no one dared to visit, there lived Scarlett and Yakov whom have lived for endless years together in a standstill of their youth. Like vampires who never aged, they stayed flawless and beautiful, but their inner souls have turned extremely dark and heartless. When they first moved in this dark, forbidden house a century ago, they were deeply in-love, endlessly doing lustful play since they were the only ones in their solitude. Nobody could tell them what to do and no one would judge them.

          However, the longer they lived there, the more it got lonely. The air eventually became stale between them. They planned on having children but the consequence of their paused lives did not allow them. They planned on adopting kids in the kingdom nearest them, but the thought of confronting people after so many years of seclusion made them shiver. Slowly, pleasurable moments fleeted away and grew unsatisfying—their interests for each other withering like a flower. Nothing lasts forever.

          Since they never age, Yakov started creating something for endlessness years, telling his wife that the heavens have given him an answer of what he needed through his dreams. He never told her what it was he exactly discovered, making her grow colder towards him. They say the key to long-lasting relationships was communication… well, that’s what they lost.

And one day…

          “I’m leaving you, Scarlett.”

          It was a phrase that triggered every bit of innocence she had left to fall apart. They’ve been together for as long as she could remember, and though not always in good terms, they were beside each other since no one else wanted them. They were outcasts who found acceptance from each other. Now, this period of acceptance will be done.

          “Why are you doing this?” she scoffed as he watched him put on clothes she had never seen before. He looked like a grizzly blue bear with the parka—something that never existed in their world. It looked so foreign to her eyes that she was definitely convinced her husband has gone crazy. “As if you have no choice but to be with me. Had the heavens introduced to you another imaginary woman to love in this god-forsaken life of ours?”

          “No,” he chuckled rather intimidatingly. “I still have you.”

          “What?” her eyebrows crumpled up. “Then what’s your point here?”

          “You’re not pleasing me anymore, but I love you still. I’m going to leave you for another you.”

          “Do you even make sense anymore?” Scarlett laughed, “Has this broken world finally driven you insane?”

          “Yes, it has,” Yakov said as he started packing up his bag. “I am traveling the world, but not this world. I am traveling to the parallels hidden among our reality, wherein fantasies of our lives come true in another world. I’m going to leave you, to find a better you, because obviously we’re as good as dead being together in this dark abyss of no sunshine. There is no end to this. And when there is no end, there is no purpose. If there is no more purpose, there is no life.”

          “What are you saying?” Scarlett said, finding his words utterly nonsense. “Would you snap out of your dreams?! I am your reality and you best not leave me when we’ve only got each other.”

          “There are more realities than you, sweetheart, and I’ll look for the best one. I’ll go for the best one,” Yakov winked, irritating his dear wife. “So I won’t exactly leave you, since the girl whom I have fallen for on the other side of these hidden barriers is still you. You no longer appeal to me, but at the same time, you still do. There is nothing more I’d want but a better you. So wish me luck, my darling. At least we’ll be together in a different world.”

          He headed off to their humungous basement where all his inventions and research lay waiting. Scarlett followed behind him as she tried to decipher what he was saying. Was he just playing with words or was he really being serious?

          The basement lit up automatically as soon as they entered, showing different kinds of machines made out of gold and brass, diamonds and pearls. For years, Yakov had worked on these high-class and extraordinary elements but never did he reveal to Scarlett what all these were for.

          At the end of his basement was a wall covered in a large screen. Yakov pressed a few buttons on his desk and the screen . It showed the face of a woman exactly like Scarlett’s, panting with sweat on room full of mirrors (a dance studio). The way her eyes shone, the way her cheeks puffed up, and the way her pout goes, it was exactly like his wife’s features. Scarlett was utterly shocked and speechless seeing herself on screen in attire she’d never wear, and in bright place where she clearly had never been on before, let alone imagine.

          “Oh this is Sica-unnie’s part. Who’s going to cover for this again?” the girl exactly like Scarlett said.

          “Ugh… me, me,” one short girl with a jersey jacket grumbled.

        “No, wasn’t I supposed to cover this part?” argued another girl wearing a pink hoodie.

          “I’m pretty sure I’m the one covering this part. You both can’t possibly reach those parts perfectly,” casually said another short girl with flowing black hair and bangs that darkly covered her eyes.

          “Oh, so you’re degrading our skills now just because you have the best voice?” the one on pink said. “I’m the one covering this part.”

          “Did I ever say that as degrading, huh, Fany-ah? Why don’t you try singing her part then and prove to me that you’re the one filling in,” argued the black-haired girl and the one with the pink hoodie just glared at her.

          “It’s Sica’s part, that’s for sure,” a blonde woman snarled as she rolled her eyes. Everyone else in the room sighed feeling very incomplete and tired from all these arguments.

          “Can we just get over this and come back to it later?” huffed a woman a little darker than the rest.

          “Fine, why don’t we just leave that part blank and let the fans sing,” grumbled the tallest one in the room.

          “Come on, Unnies. I know it’s a bit frustrating without her but can we all try to at least try to do our best? I’m tired of you guys fighting when this is the time we should all support each other. We’re still up for two or more years. We should try to last for as long as we can. We have to stay strong. Please resolve these problems gently!”

          “Sorry, maknae,” everyone apologized. “You’re right. We shouldn’t fight now…”

          “Ah, how gorgeous and kind-hearted she truly is,” Yakov chuckled making Scarlett’s mouth drop.

          “Who in the world is she?!” Scarlett erupted. “Wha-how did you even… what in the world?!”

          “That right there is Seo Joo-Hyun, a parallel of yours whom in a bright world is a stunning celebrity who’s got everything a man like me could ask for. She is basically a better you and I aspire to be her man. So to put it in a way, I aspire to be your man still.”

          “No! Stop saying that we’re the same thing! And even if what you say is true, that I really am her parallel, that doesn’t mean I’m her! I am different!”

          “We’ll see, my love,” Yakov smirks. He slings his bag on his shoulder and pulled down a lever that sparked a machine to function. He stood on some box-like room and waved his hand at her. “See you in the other life, my love.”

          “What?” Scarlett tried to laugh it off, but it became no laughing matter when the electricity above Yakov’s head and beneath Yakov’s feet thundered wildly. He laughed like a maniac as his body faded in and out. In a second, the machine emitted a blinding light and a powerful force, pushing Scarlett to the floor.

As the process died down, Scarlett looked around. Yakov was gone.

          “No… no, Yakov… No!” she screeched at the silent basement. She panicked at the thought of losing him and searched around the house for every nook and cranny where he could possibly hide. She even went out of the mansion only to find that the eerie dark world would be impossible to explore.  After hours of futile discovery, she fell on her knees and cried tears of anger and sadness.

          “You can’t leave me here!” she screamed out on the top of her lungs.

          She went back to the mansion to try to sleep it off. For a few hours, she managed to curl herself on the empty bed but the inerasable black eyeliner streaming down her face would not stop falling. She didn’t want to be alone in this dark world, ever. And though it may seem annoying to have Yakov for endless years, it was only at that point that she realized she truly needed him beside her. It didn’t matter what state they were both in. As long as they’re together, their world will never fall apart…

          It was when she remembered all they’ve done together… how they fell in love, how they got married, how they fought over the world, and how they played for centuries. Their time together was supposed to be forever but it ended in the most unexpected way.

          “No, it can’t end like this,” Scarlett breathed heavily as she wiped her tears. She struggled to stand up from the bed as she trembled while her brain was in an overdrive of emotions. She ran down hastily to the basement where Yakov’s inventions stood still. She ran her fingers through the high quality brass, gold, and metal equipment until something sparked her interest.

          It was a stack of handwritten papers—profiles to be more specific—filled with her face, only with different backgrounds, names, and styles. All of them, they were her… only in a different world.

          “It’s all because of these parallels!” she gritted her teeth. “Their faces have swerved Yakov’s love for me. They are not me!”

          Suddenly, a brilliant idea clicked in her heartbroken heart. She looked at Yakov’s teleportation platform and a mischievous smile crept on her face. “I’m going to kill all of them… yes. Only then will he realize I’m the only one he’s got! First one…” she marched to Yakov’s main desk and read the profile:

“Seo Joo-Hyun ‘SeoHyun’

Celebrity in South Korea, member of a popular girl group, Girls’ Generation

Only child, 23 (24) years old…”

          She packed her bags and fixed her messed-up appearance into gothic elegance (since that was the only style she knew of). When she figured she was ready, she stood at Yakov’s invention and huffed, “Now, how do I work this thing?”

          She pressed random buttons in hopes of activating something and managed to turn the large screen on. There showed her face—obviously a parallel of hers—and a smirk formed. The teleportation platform started crackling its electricity. She pulled the lever Yakov did earlier and she stood on the box-like platform. While she waited for the teleportation platform to take her to Girls’ Generation SeoHyun’s world, she watched the screen.

A frown fell upon her face.

The girl on the screen had bangs… SeoHyun didn’t have bangs, did she?

          “No… no, that’s the wrong world!” she cursed herself. She wanted to change the world but it was too late… she transported to another parallel other than the one she meant to go to…

And there it fell on the silent basement the profile of the parallel she accidentally visited:

“Seo Joo-Hyun

Piano teacher for kids at Star Museum Elementary

Only child, 23 (24) years old…”

A/n: I actually started on this last year so the era is from tragic 2014 era to Lion Heart era :)