Even If Ten Years Pass
Mystical Love
chapter nine
Even If Ten Years Pass
"The countless nights that made my heart pound
The promises we made in each other’s arms
There’s no more of that, did you forget?
I still haven’t forgotten you"
– Even If Ten Years Pass, Fly To The Sky
*flashback in italic*
*thoughts in bold*
“Chorong-ah?”
“A-Ah, yes- Augh!” A certain woman who looked like a teenage girl yelped as her kneecap hit the bottom of her office table. Seeing this, the woman who called out couldn’t help but burst out into a loud laugh.
“Chorong-ah~ how could you be that clumsy?” she said in between her laughs, clearly amused. Meanwhile, Chorong’s face was beet red due to extreme embarrassment. She couldn’t believe herself for spacing out in front of her employer, her boss. “I-I’m sorry! Aish, how silly of me…”
“Hahahahaha! Okay, you’re forgiven, baby-faced angel~” the older woman cooed teasingly. Chorong’s lips formed a thin line as she grumpily stared at her still-giggling boss and began to rearrange her paper works, “Is there something I can help you with, Mrs. Horvejkul?”
The other woman pouted, “I told you to call me Mrs. Hwang at work, Chorong-ah…”
Chorong sighed, “Yes… so, Mrs. Hwang, is there something I can help you with?”
“Oh, you’re already helping me!”
The younger woman raised one of her eyebrows, “huh? I don’t remember…”
Mrs. Hwang chuckled, “I was bored, and you already entertained me with your clumsiness. You were being cute daydreaming for a long time… HAHAHAHA!” she bursted into laughter again.
Chorong gaped, “h-how long have I been spacing out?”
Mrs. Hwang almost couldn’t breathe, “Long enough for me to go out and come back… twice.”
The Park gasped, “a-and you didn’t do anything?”
“Oh, trust me…” the boss smirked, “I did more than just ‘anything’… you don’t realize it, do you?”
Chorong knew what that smirk means. What the hell did she do!? She thought as her eyes scanned her office room before landing on her own table. She shrieked, “what is this!? I don’t remember having these piles of papers!” and she made a huge mistake by accidentally glancing at the mirror, “Oh God! M-My face!” she frantically yelled as she examined her face which was smeared with lips marks all over the place, “Mrs. Hwang!”
That was it for Mrs. Hwang as she burst out laughing again until she fell on her , “Oh my God, Park Chorong! You should’ve seen your face! EPIC!”
Chorong’s face went crimson red as she hastily wiped her face clean with a napkin. “A-Ahem!” she awkwardly cleared , “I-I don’t think that’s your only reason here, Mrs. Hwang…”
“O-Oh right!” the older woman breathed out, “I kind of, you know, overheard you mumbling something interesting…”
“Mumbling…?” Chorong trailed off, confused. “Yeah, something like ‘engagement’ and accompaniment’.”
“I-I mumbled that out loud?” Mrs. Hwang nodded robotically, “what’s wrong? You’re going to get engaged? Wait… YAH! PARK CHORONG! WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL ME THAT YOU HAVE A BOYFRIEND!? I’M YOUR BOSS! TELLING ME EVERYTHING SHOULD BE YOUR TOP PRIORITY!”
“N-NO! You misunderstand, Mrs. Hwang!” Chorong shouted to match her employer’s loud yells, covering her ears tightly. I swear Mrs. Hwang’s voice is the loudest in the whole world… and how come she’s my top priority? She thought. The older woman pouted, “Fine! Then tell me, when are you going to get engaged?”
“It’s not my engagement, Mrs. Hwang…” the younger sighed, “my friend from ten years ago sent me an invitation last week. She’s the one who’s going to get engaged… and she said I can bring someone else to accompany me since her place’s quite far from here.”
“O-Oh…” the boss muttered, embarrassed, “s-so, what seems to be the problem then?”
Chorong actually kind of disliked it when someone pries in her own problem, but she knew Mrs. Hwang was someone she could trust. Besides, once she set her eyes on something, Mrs. Hwang wouldn’t stop at anything to get it. “I… I don’t have anyone to accompany me.”
“What about Dara-ssi and Chanyeol?” the older woman asked. “They’re away for a business trip.”
“And your father?”
Chorong smiled bitterly, “he passed away… last week.”
Mrs. Hwang cursed herself for being insensitive, “I’m sorry, I-”
“It’s okay… I forgot to tell you anyway,” Chorong dismissed it. She still felt uncomfortable talking about her beloved father. After all, she did throw everything away for the sake of taking care of him. In the end, though, human beings have their own lifespan that no one could twist to their liking, prolonging or shortening it like batting their eyelashes. Humans simply couldn’t be an immortal being for that would require the power and will of God to do so.
Speaking of immortal, how was she? Chorong thought. It had been ten years since she last seen her beloved. She then dozed off again, back to the last time she had felt a certain elf’s presence.
[FLASHBACK, TEN YEARS AGO]
“STOP THE CAR!”
“Wait, what? Why-”
“JUST STOP THE ING CAR, DAD!”
Mr. Park was about to scold his youngest daughter for the bad choice of words when Chanyeol suddenly used his abnormally long legs to stomp on the brake, causing the car to stop abruptly in place. He looked at his frantic-looking sister and smiled, “go, noona!”
Chorong didn’t even have time to thank him as she busted the car’s door open and stormed off, leaving the frozen Dara and Mr. Park as well as the smiling Chanyeol. The tall man had accidentally seen the same girl Chorong was currently chasing after and now, he finally understood just why Chorong was so not eager to leave at all.
“C-Chanyeol!” Dara croaked, “w-why did you do that!? I-I almost had a heart attack!”
“Sorry, Dara-noona!” Chanyeol smiled sheepishly, “this is for Chorong-noona’s sake… I think she’ll be eaten by guilt for the rest of her life if we didn’t let her…”
“W-Will she return?” Mr. Park asked. The younger man shrugged, “I don’t know, dad. It depends on Chorong-noona.”
Chorong was running as fast as she could without minding her surroundings at all. She didn’t care if she was already way too far from the car, she didn’t care if she was stomping on a dead frog or rotten rat, and she definitely didn’t care if she gets lost. All she could care of was Bomi.
She could swear on her fortune that she definitely saw Bomi looking at her car from afar while mumbling something incoherent.
When she arrived at an open space, she blinked.
Blinked,
Blinked,
And blinked again,
Until her jaw dropped from the sight in front of her eyes.
The garden! She thought, where is it!?
What was once a beautiful flower garden was now nothing but empty grassland. No sight of any flower, no sign of lush field of colors, no sign of Bomi.
Bomi wasn’t there.
“Chorong-ah! Chorong-ah!”
Chorong snapped out of her reverie upon hearing Mrs. Hwang’s worried voice, “y-yes?”
“Don’t you ‘y-yes?’ me! Why are you crying!?” she asked frantically, panic written all over her face. Confused, Chorong brought her right palm to her cheek in a slow motion. Upon contact, she could feel wet substance tainting her cheeks. She turned to look at the damned mirror and went dry. Falling tears decorated her pale white face. She was crying.
She was crying over Yoon ing Bomi.
Again.
As realization hit her, Chorong hastily wiped her eyes and cheeks with the sleeve of her silk suit. She sensed someone giving her a worried look and turned to meet Mrs. Hwang’s teary eyes. The younger woman’s eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets, “Mrs. Hwang! Why are you crying!?”
“I-I… Yah! It’s your fault, you know that!?”
Chorong almost jumped off her seat, “M-My f-fault?”
“You… you look as if you’re thinking about someone! Like, s-someone important! Then you go all sad and teary and… and… and then you cry all of a sudden! There’s only so much that my heart can take, you know!? Idiot Chorong!” the boss ranted senselessly before her tears fell.
The clueless woman could only gape at her employer, not understanding anything at all. How could Mr. Horvejkul keep up with his wife? Somehow, I feel so sorry for him… she thought.
“I-Is…” Mrs. Hwang continued with much difficulty, “Is that engagement really that important to you?”
“H-Huh?” by now Chorong was already lost.
“I-I’ll ask someone to accompany you if you want! Like, I’m sure whoever is getting engaged must be someone important to you. So…”
“I-I wasn’t… I mean… It’s not like that…” the poor woman tried to reason with her boss, but it proved to be an extremely difficult task.
“When?” Mrs. Hwang demanded, “When will the ceremony be held?”
I give up, the questioned girl decided. “I-In three days.”
The older woman clapped her hands, “ah, we still have time! Where will it be?”
“Uhh…” Chorong tried to remember. It was understandable that she had forgotten considering the fact that ten years had passed since she last heard of the village. Plus, she had left the invitation at home. “I think it was… uh… To-Tong-something…?”
Mrs. Hwang suddenly went stiff, “you mean… Tongyeong?”
The younger woman clapped her hands, “ah, yes. Tongyeong! That’s the name!” she exclaimed excitedly, but calmed down as soon as it had started, “hold on… Mrs. Hwang, how do you-”
“Park Chorong,” the called girl shut almost immediately. Her boss never used her full name before, only calling her as ‘Chorong-ah’ or sometimes ‘Chorongie’, “by any chance, is there a family named ‘Kim’ in Tongyeong?”
Not knowing where this would be going, Chorong treaded carefully, “uh, ‘Kim’ is a common surname, Mrs. Hwang.”
The boss sighed, “Fine, I’ll rephrase my question,” she said, “by any chance, is there someone named ‘Kim Taeyeon’ in Tongyeong?”
“UNNIEEEEE!” A woman shouted happily as her eyes spotted her favorite cousin getting off a very luxurious-looking car. She gasped, “Chorong-unnie! Why didn’t you tell me that you’re rich now!?”
For this, she received a smack on the forehead. “OUCH! It hurts, Unnie!” she whined, pouting. Chorong rolled her eyes, “shut up and stop pouting, Jung Eunji. You’re being such an idiot I can’t help but smack you.”
Eunji glared at the older woman, “I’m. NOT. An. Idiot.” She said, emphasizing on ‘not’. “So, whose car is this? I don’t think you can afford such a good-looking Lamborghini, especially with the way you dress right now…”
“Yah! Are you saying that I look poor!?”
The Busan girl laughed, “no, but you certainly did!”
Chorong groaned and smacked her cousin’s head again. “OUCH! Would you please stop that!? Seriously, whose car is this? You didn’t steal this, right?”
“This car is mine,” said an unfamiliar voice, well at least for Eunji. The confused look on Eunji’s face intensified at the sight of another woman exiting the car from the opposite side, “who’s that, Chorong-unnie?”
“My boss at work, Mrs. Hor-” Chorong gulped as she felt Mrs. Hwang’s murderous glare burning holes on her back, “Mrs. Hwang.”
“Omo, she’s your boss?” Eunji gasped, covering with her hands, “h-hello, ma’am! I’m-”
“Jung Eunji, Chorongie’s cousin, right? She told me about you on our way here. I’m her employer, but you can just call me Mrs. Hwang,” the oldest woman said briefly, flashing Eunji her beautiful eyesmile. Only then did Chorong realize that they both had eyesmile.
“So, shall we go in? It’s freezing out here,” the Park interrupted awkwardly. It was true, though, as winter was around the corner and the cold air had made her breath visible. Eunji smiled at her, “sure, let’s go! I’ll bring these for you two, so just go in and warm yourselves!”
Mrs. Hwang raised an eyebrow, “but won’t you get cold out here, Eunji-yah?”
Eunji’s smile faltered slightly, “It’s alright. I’m already used to cold.”
“Girls, I’ll be out for a while, okay?” Mrs. Hwang’s voice echoed throughout the whole house. Eunji flinched at the loudness of the voice. “Unnie, is your boss always that… loud?” she whispered ever so slowly to her cousin, not wanting the other party to hear. The asked girl responded by nodding discreetly, “almost all the time, actually…”
“Girls?” the oldest in the house’s head emerged from the guest room. The cousins jerked slightly, surprised. “Y-Yes, sure,” Chorong replied with a nervous smile, “but will you be okay? I mean, this is your first time here, right? What if you get lost?”
“Oh, don’t worry. That’s what I’m aiming to do, anyway. Getting lost and who knows, maybe accidentally meet ‘her’,” Mrs. Hwang answered, her mind drifting off somewhere, “so, I’m going!” she shouted before leaving the house.
“Take care!” Eunji shouted back even though she knew the older already left. She then turned her attention back to her cousin and engulfed her into a hug, “Damnit, I miss you Chorong-unnie!” she shouted, her voice muffled by the older woman’s collar. Chorong smiled widely, “yeah, I miss you too.”
“Ten years, unnie. Ten ing years! Had it not been for their engagement, I doubt you’ll ever come back, you know.”
“Yah, Jung Eunji! How could you say that!?” Chorong rebutted, feeling offended, “of course I’ll come back for my cousin! What the hell is that?”
“Really? I thought you’d want to stay as far away as possible from this village since, you know, Yoon Bomi happened.”
Chorong choked on her saliva, “uhm, well…” she trailed off awkwardly. It would be a huge lie if she said that Eunji was wrong because let’s face it, as much as she didn’t like to remember about Bomi, she still missed the elf like hell. But then again, Bomi left her and they would never meet again. So what’s the point in remembering about her?
But as always, it was easier said than done. In the last ten years, Chorong didn’t just sit around idly waiting for the day she would be reunited with Bomi. Sure, she had promised to be Bomi’s for eternity, but the moment Bomi kissed her for the last time and gave her the ‘blessing’, she knew Bomi had let her go. She knew that Bomi knew that they could not be together. So for Chorong, Bomi had let her go ever since.
She had since went to various blind dates and had her own share of flings, but they never went too far and serious because Yoon Bomi always had to invade her mind like a stupid parasite and made her lose all her interest in dating.
Yes, even after ten years, Park Chorong was still madly in love with Yoon Bomi.
“… but you still live here, Eun,” Chorong finally said, “I want to visit my cousin. Can’t I?”
Eunji noticed how sad her cousin had sounded and felt guilty for bringing that topic up in the first place. “O-Of course you can!” she chirped, trying to ease the tense atmosphere. She smiled proudly to herself when the end of Chorong’s lips curved up into a smile.
“Eunji, how have you been? Where’s Naeun?” Chorong asked. Eunji’s smile dropped a bit and it didn’t go unnoticed by the other woman. “Wait, what happened?”
“She… she passed on.”
Chorong’s heart dropped, “… she did?”
“Yeah…” Eunji looked away towards the balcony that showed the vast, blue ocean, “Five years ago, she told me her last farewell…”
“I-I’m sorry…”
The Busan girl smiled, “don’t be. It was her time. She said that she will be reincarnated, as that’s what happens to all mythical creatures. They’ll enter the ‘reincarnation cycle’, or so she said, and will be reborn as a human. I’m still hoping that I can meet her again one day, even if she won’t remember me.”
The older woman smiled, “she’s so lucky to have you, the faithful girlfriend.”
“Yeah…” Eunji smiled back as she fished out an invitation card, “and so are these two lovebirds. Aigoo, how I feel really attacked right now. I’m older, yet they simply decided to rush things and got engaged at a very young age,” she paused, waving the card senselessly, “I shall wish them eternal love and happiness, then.”
“You should, Eun,” Chorong chuckled as she took out the same card from her pocket, “it feels nice to know true love still exist in this world,” said the older woman as she read the content of the card;
You are hereby invited to attend the engagement ceremony of Kim Namjoo and Oh Hayoung
As Eunji had predicted, Mrs. Hwang had now lost her way around the village. The unfamiliarity of the structure, the coldness lingering in the air, as well as the thought of a certain woman had made her space out while strolling around. She had missed that woman greatly. She knew ten years must have been a long time for Chorong, but she had not meet Kim Taeyeon for 58 years now.
So when the angelic voice that she had missed greatly suddenly spoke from behind her, her heart almost stopped beating entirely.
“Excuse me?”
Mrs. Hwang turned around hastily and was greeted by the sight of a confused-looking, baby-faced woman. She waited for the woman to say something, anything.
“You dropped this,” Taeyeon smiled warmly, handing her a piece of handkerchief, “it looks expensive, so be careful.” She added and walked away. The other woman’s eyes widened in shock. Does Taeyeon not remember me? She thought.
“E-Excuse me!” she called. The shorter woman stopped on her track, but didn’t turn around. “U-Uh…” she trailed off, not knowing what to say. She had, after all, called her without thinking. Taeyeon turned around since there was no sign of the slightly taller woman going to continue what she wanted to say, “Yes?”
“B-By any chance…” she stuttered, “do… do you remember me?”
Taeyeon raised an eyebrow, “Why should I?”
“W-Well… by any chance, are you from Seoul University?”
The shorter woman’s expression faltered, but she didn’t say anything. Mrs. Hwang almost lost all hope until the other woman spoke out of the blue,
“You’re Tiffany Hwang, right?”
Tiffany’s ears perked up and she smiled, “you remember me!”
“I already did when I saw your back profile,” Taeyeon scoffed, “what are you doing here?”
The eye smiling woman felt hurt from the harshness of the other woman’s tone, but she knew she deserved it, “I’m here to accompany my employee. Engagement ceremony?”
“Oh right, my daughter’s engagement,” the baby-faced woman said nonchalantly. Tiffany flinched upon hearing the word ‘daughter’, “how’s she?”
“None of your business, Tiffany. Just go back to your Nichkhun.”
The Hwang finally snapped, “This has nothing to do with him, Tae! This is between you and me!”
“And Baekhyun. And Leeteuk. Please, Tiffany, Just leave me alone.”
“Not until you let me know what happened to you after graduation!” Tiffany yelled, grabbing the slightly older woman’s hand harshly, “I deserve to know, Tae! I’m your best friend!”
“Ex-best friend.” Taeyeon corrected, “If you so wish to know, convince me.”
“I-I…” Tiffany stammered, “I-I… am your ex-lover. I deserve to know.”
The shorter woman sighed. “Fine, follow me.”
Tiffany gaped at the sight of the place Taeyeon was bringing her to. ‘Tongyeong Cemetery’ was clearly written on the signboard. Gulping her saliva down loudly, she quickened her pace to catch up with the other woman. Because of this, she accidentally bumped into her when Taeyeon suddenly stopped walking.
“Yah! Why-”
“Ssh! Show some respect, won’t you? We’re in a graveyard!” the village woman shushed harshly before adding on with a voice that was barely above a whisper, “we’re in front of his grave…”
Tiffany brought her hands to , gasping slightly. “I-I’m sorry…” she muttered as her eyes scanned the tombstone. ‘Park Leeteuk’ was engraved clearly on it.
“I thought no one would want me ever again…” Taeyeon said, “but he… he came to me, and said that it was okay. That it was okay because I didn’t do it on my own account… He offered to take care of me and the baby…” she whipped her head to Tiffany’s direction, “that bastard who me got jailed after that… and you… some girlfriend you are, leaving me for a guy because-”
“Taeyeon! I didn’t want to leave you at that time!” the slightly taller woman said desperately, “it was… it was…”
“Save it, Tiffany. I don’t want to hear it,” Taeyeon dismissed, but the younger wouldn’t buy that. She grabbed the baby-faced woman’s wrist, “It was forced.”
Taeyeon went silent.
“I… I was really shocked when I heard that Baekhyun you,” she said brokenly, “I tried to contact you, but Nichkhun… he was in the way. He was sent by my parents to distract me from you, and they also threatened me that if I didn’t marry him, they’d destroy you…”
“That sounds so cliché isn’t it?” Taeyeon laughed bitterly, “and then what? You didn’t want that to happen, so you agree with them and left me alone, broken and humiliated, on the pretense of ‘protecting me’?” she snapped, “I was already destroyed even before your parents did anything! I didn’t need any more problems! I only needed you, Fany-ah! But then you have to ing left!”
Tiffany’s heart broke.
“I know that I’m worthless, unneeded, a trash…” she whispered brokenly, “but… when you were near me, I could face the world… I could feel my worth.”
“Taetae…” Tiffany couldn’t bear it anymore. She hugged the other woman tightly, “I’m sorry… I still love you, Tae… please, give me a chance…”
“What chance?” Taeyeon asked, sounding so weak and bitter, but didn’t make any effort to pry away, “you’re married. You’re Mrs. Horvejkul now.”
“Tae, he knows.”
Taeyeon pulled away from the hug, “Nichkhun knows?”
“Yeah, I told him,” Tiffany said firmly, “and he said he knew. He had always knew, Tae.”
“And?”
“I… I’ll get divorced with him.”
Taeyeon shook her head, “Don’t. You’ll hurt him.”
“But Tae!”
“I still have my daughter,” the shorter woman said, “but you only have him and he only has you. You shouldn’t be selfish.”
“Tae, I still love you!” Tiffany shouted desperately, “even after 58 years, all I could think of have always been you!”
Taeyeon stared at her ex-girlfriend sadly. “Fany-ah…” she whispered, voice broken and lost against the cold winter breeze, “I loved you too, and I still do. But sometimes, loving someone doesn’t have to be having them in your arms,” she paused, pained expression latched onto her beautiful pale face, “and if by having you with me means destroying someone else’s life, then I’m content with the fact that my feeling for you is mutual, and I’ll gladly let you go, even if it hurts like hell.”
“Taetae…”
“Fany-ah, Nichkhun needs you…” the shorter whispered, her expression unreadable, “he knew, yet he never told you until you did so yourself. That means he needs you, more than you ever know…” she paused, looking away, “he took you away from me, but I’m not that cheap. I don’t seek for revenge, Fany-ah. I won’t take you back from him because you’re his now, even if your heart says otherwise.”
“But what if I give myself back to you?” Tiffany pressed further, “Would you accept me?”
“Fany-ah, it’s been 58 years.”
“So what? Love knows no boundaries, Taetae. You always said so to me. For me, those 58 years serves as a period of repentance, of self-reprimanding. I trailed off to those days back in Seoul, when we were still young and reckless, when we only had each other and no one else, when only you mattered to me and only I mattered to you,” she paused, catching her breath, “And then I’ll broke down, thinking back to those dark times in our days together, when obstacles were common, when fights erupted way too often, when we almost crossed the thin boundaries between fighting to sort things of or fighting to break each other’s hearts. It hurts, Tae! 58 years! I know, you know, we all know, that it has been a very long time. But I also know it serves as a boundary for you, and then I remember again that you were the one who kept telling me that wisdom word of yours!”
Taeyeon was stunned, speechless. She was rendered mute.
“And I keep on holding to your promise…” the city woman broke down, “that stupid, childish, yet romantic and lovely pinky promise of yours, done under the gracefully withering cherry blossom tree. That promise of eternal love…”
The other struggled with her words, went dry. “…you remember?” she asked, her voice soft and quiet.
Tiffany looked at her with the look that she missed so much. The look of longing, affection, and raw love, mixed into one and shown only to her, only to Kim Taeyeon.
“I always do…” she spoke, firm and sure, “because every part of me only remember you…”
It was the day of the ceremony, and Chorong couldn’t help but be nervous. Even though she only came as a guest, the thought of meeting the two kids she missed the most made her excited and afraid at the same time. What if they forget about me? What if they can’t recognize me? What if…
“Yah, Chorong-unnie, stop fidgeting your fingers and shuffling your feet. You’re making me dizzy,” Eunji reprimanded, “Why are you so nervous, anyway? It’s not like you’re going to meet the President.”
“Shut up, Eun,” Chorong smacked the younger woman’s arm, “I’m just nervous, okay? I don’t even know why.” It was true. Even though she kept thinking about the two kids, she was also thinking of something else. Why do I feel as though something is going to happen?
“Hey, girls!” the cousins turned around to see Tiffany walking side by side with Taeyeon, their hands interlaced together firmly. The Park raised an eyebrow, “uh… hi?”
“Fany-ah, you stay here, okay? I… I want to see Namjoo,” Mrs. Kim stammered, face flushed red. Maybe she isn’t used to skinship, Chorong concluded. Mrs. Hwang gave the shorter woman a deadly glare. “What!? Who’s this Namjoo!? How dare you, Kim Taeyeon!” she furiously asked. The two youngest stared at the bickering others confusedly. Why does it feel as though Mrs. Hwang is jealous at Mrs. Kim?
“Fany-ah, she’s my daughter…” Taeyeon inquired. Then it hit her that she hadn’t told Tiffany the name of her daughter yet, “sorry… I forgot to tell you.”
“… oh.” The city woman mouthed, her face a deep shade of crimson, “s-sorry… then, can I… can I come with you?”
“Can we come too?” Eunji butted in, “Chorong-unnie kind of missed her… well, Hayoung too, but… well, you know what I mean.”
“Oh, sure!” Taeyeon agreed almost too quickly, “Let’s all go together.”
“Eunji-unnie!” a young woman excitedly shouted as she stood up from her seat and engulfed the Busan woman into a hug, “you’re here!”
“Hey, Namjoo! You look beautiful!” Eunji pulled away and scanned the other girl from head to toe, “yep, perfect.”
“Hi, Namjoo,” Chorong timidly greeted. The called girl narrowed her eyes and the supposedly older woman felt tiny under her gaze. Only after Namjoo had bear-hugged her did she feel comfortable and relaxed again.
“Chorong-unnie!?” she voiced against the older’s neck, “God, I miss you so much!”
“I miss you too, Namjoo-ah. You’ve… become taller.”
“Is that your best compliment?” Namjoo playfully rolled her eyes. Chorong laughed, “and beautiful. There, your compliment. Happy?”
“Ah, Unnie!” the younger woman whined. She then suddenly turned her head to her mother’s direction, “hi, umma! Who’s that?”
“Uhm, this is…”
Tiffany beamed Namjoo her most beautiful eyesmile yet, “I’m Tiffany Hwang, and I’m Taeyeon’s girl-mmph!”
Taeyeon grinned awkwardly, “my friend! Tiffany’s my friends back in my university days!”
Chorong knew from the death glare Taeyeon’s currently receiving from Tiffany that they weren’t simply just friends, but she couldn’t and wouldn’t want to know. It seems to be something private, she thought.
“Oh, really? Wow, the world sure is a small place!” Eunji said, amazed. University days meant… what, 50 years? Well, however long it was, surely it was a very long time.
“Yeah…” The older Kim nodded stiffly, glancing every so often at the woman beside her who looked like she was ready to commit a very dangerous crime, “I… I think the ceremony’s about to start… why don’t you and Chorong wait at the hall? I’m sure Namjoo’s going to get ready now.”
Noticing the desperation and fear in Taeyeon’s words, the two cousins could only quietly nod and escaped from the room. Namjoo’s voice called for them, “it won’t start until an hour from now, so you unnies can go somewhere to avoid boredom!”
Chorong made a mental note to thank the younger Kim later. Surely walking around somewhere was better that witnessing a murder or getting swallowed by boredom.
Eunji had noticed how off Chorong was at some point during the whole time they were together that day, so when the opportunity came to her, she let the older woman slid away from her and sorted her own thoughts alone. In simple words, Eunji ditched Chorong for her friend back in high school, Bang Minah.
Chorong felt hurt and thankful at the same time. Hurt because Eunji left her alone and thankful because she did need some time alone. So, it was both blessing and curse.
She wandered aimlessly, away from the town plaza where the ceremony would be held, somewhere her two feet had brought her too.
Somehow, she was both surprised and not surprised at the place where she ended at; the empty grassland.
“Of course…” she spoke to no one. Of course it had to be there. That place brought back both good and bad memories, although it leaned more on the former. So much had happened in that place, so much that it hurt her head to think about it. The past resurfaced, but the present remained.
The present remained… Basically, it meant that Bomi was gone. Like the wind. There, but not there.
But it surprised her that someone was there. Someone stood in the middle of the swaying grasses, her brown with blonde ombre hair blown left and right, dancing with the winter breeze. A song was hummed, a tune both familiar and foreign to Chorong’s ears,
The Vow
Please let me only love one person
Please give me a heart that does not shake
I hope it lasts forever like the flowing river
I hope my last love is you
Until the day of my last breath
I will only love you and die
Please don’t let me be scared, I believe in you
I won’t let go of those hands
I give thanks for the gift that is you
I will lay down everything in front of you
And I promise to love you forever
Because you are my life
Until the day of my last breath
I will only love you and die
Please don’t let me be scared, I believe in you
I won’t let go of those hands
If only I could grow old with you, who I love
If only we could cook, eat together and fall asleep in your arms
Because love is about giving, because it’s still about giving when it hurts
I love you, I love you even if I die
In my heart, only you bloom and wither
Even if I’m born again, I will meet you
And love you until I die
“Miss…?” a childlike voice spoke innocently, “excuse me, why are you crying?”
Chorong didn’t remember spacing out nor did she remember crying, but she did both nonetheless, and she hastily wiped her freezing tears with the collar of her shirts. She looked down to meet an oddly familiar pair of a little girl’s eyes, but she was more than sure that she had never met this girl her entire life before.
“N-Nothing… I’m okay…” she croaked, went dry, “little girl, what are you doing here alone? This is in the middle of a forest, you know? Are you lost?”
“No,” the girl smiled, and the weird feeling surged back, warming Chorong’s entire body and heart, “I just happen to stumble to this place, but I’m not lost! Like, really! I know my way back to the village!”
“You do…?” it was not a question; at least Chorong knew it wasn’t. She didn’t voice it out as one, “So what are you doing here…? Where’s your parent?”
“I don’t know… my feet brought me here, and I don’t have any. I’m an orphan.” the kid said, making Chorong guilty as hell, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to…”
“Oh, it’s okay. Unnie, what’s your name?” the kid asked as if she wasn’t bothered in the slightest with the mention of her parents. Chorong was taken aback, but she answered nonetheless.
“I… I’m Chorong, Park Chorong…” she smiled, “what’s yours?”
The kid smiled along.
Eunji couldn’t help but cast her cousin an intrigued look the moment Chorong reentered the plaza with a little girl beside her, hand in hand. She wanted to ask, but got interrupted by the announcement that the ceremony would begin soon. She decided to save it for later.
The start of the ceremony was weird. Hayoung had been waiting for a good fifteen minutes, but there was still no sign of Namjoo. Until suddenly the closed door reopened, revealing a graceful-looking woman in wedding gown.
“Oh my God,” Eunji whispered to her cousin, “This isn’t what I think it is, or is it?”
“I think it is, Eun…” Chorong whispered back, equally surprised.
Before they knew it, vows were exchanged, followed with the exchange of rings, and ended with the priest’s “you may kiss the bride” part.
It was a wedding ceremony.
“YAAAAAH! Kim Namjoo! Why didn’t you tell us you would do a sudden wedding!?” Eunji scolded the two younger women. Chorong laughed, “Yah, Eun! You shouldn’t be so rough to them.”
“But… But…” the Busan woman pouted, “they shouldn’t have gotten married before me! It’s not fair!” she whined. The Park rolled her eyes, “then go get someone.”
“What!? Unnieeee!” Eunji whined again, but stopped the moment her eyes landed on a little girl that was hugging Chorong’s leg, “unnie, you haven’t told me who this cute little girl is.”
“Oh, this?” Chorong suddenly smiled the warmest she had ever smile, “this is my daughter, I-”
“WHAAAAAAT!?” The combined screams of Eunji, Namjoo, and Hayoung was no joke, “UNNIE!? HOW- WHAT- I-”
“CALM DOWN, YOU THREE!” Chorong had to shout to match their voice, “Not that kind of kid, geez! Before the ceremony began, I went to that orphanage at the other town.”
“O-Oh… a sudden adoption? Why out of the blue?”
“I just feel like it,” she smiled gently, shocking the trio. The oldest pushed the kid’s back gently, gesturing her to go ahead and introduce herself. The girl smiled and bowed,
“Hello, my name is Yoon Bomi. Nice to meet you!”
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author's note » the first of the two endings! This... is painfully long (the longest chapter I've ever written at 5851 words ;A;) and painfully hard to write OTL I'm so glad I can finally post this *cries legit tears of joy* just one more ending and BOOM! Complete :"D those comments for the ending announcement... I laughed and got sad at the same time OTL XD after this is the ending chosen by all of you, the 'reincarnation ending, part II'! and btw, I think I'll make another poll later (or not, depending on the mood) so just stay tune! :D P.S: answers below are for comments on ch. 8
@OrangeLove: I'm sorry for being so evil OTL and fine then, I shall let you praise me or whatever because I don't know how to stop you ;__;
@akumatsubasa: LOL Bomi did leave though XD the ending is heeerreeeee XD oh no, really? don't worry it's just a dream (a bad dream though ._.) and I'm fine now, thanks chiinguyah! :D
by e.g.
finally putting this story to a rest. final chapter is up gaiiissss :D that 'complete' status makes me a bit teary :"
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