[1 month later]

The days passed by with the delicacy of a dream. So had managed to adjust to his new life, his life as Lee So. He spent his days at the library; he was finally able to understand the characters that had once been so foreign to him. His memories, however, were still in the process of being recovered. It was like piecing a massive puzzle together, only to find out halfway that some pieces hadn’t even been in the box to begin with.

Somedays he would miss the intelligent Baek Ah, the man who had been more of a free-spirited musician than anything else. Although they had parted ways in the past life, he still considered him to be a true brother.

Other times he would miss Eun. The small child who had lit up the palace even on its gloomiest days. The child that had died as a man, a man who had been selfless and caring until the last hour of his life.

But above all, it was Yeon Hwa who he missed. Whom he longed for. She had always been by his side, always smiling. She had never feared him, when others had, claiming that he was a demon from hell and that the scar was proof. She had loved him when others had thrown him away without hesitation.

She had been his Queen, and he had been her King. Together they had changed Goryeo. Yeon Hwa had healed even the deepest of his scars—the one across his heart.  

--

When Ha Jin finally came to, she opened her eyes and then closed them again. 

She had not died. Nor had she returned.

--

Silence discolored the red roses that sat in a porcelain vase on the table beside the bed.   

Then Bok Soon, Ha Jin’s best friend, broke the stillness.

“Why did you do it?” She managed to ask, her voice weary and sore. 

She was no longer pleading nor begging now that Ha Jin had made it. She was simply wounded, devastated. She was just trying to understand.

Ha Jin’s eyes met with Bok Soon’s. Ha Jin saw fury, grief, and… fear. Then she shook her head weakly.

Bok Soon took a deep breath. She was trying to calm down. She had always been a character that acted boldly, but never irrationally. She was always calculating, and she knew well of the consequences things in life could bring. She also knew that there was no point in pushing Ha Jin to answer her. She would not get an answer. Not now, not never.

Yet at that moment, she couldn’t help herself. 

“Do you know how frightened I was when I heard you tried to drown yourself? What on earth were you thinking?! Answer me, Go Ha Jin. Just... say something."

Even a lie would suffice. 

“I’m sorry, Bok Soon.”

Bok Soon started to cry again.

“You can’t just… leave me here. You’re my closest friend. You’re family to me, Ha Jin.”