Eternity
Mystical Love
chapter seven
Eternity
"A cruel night is endlessly coming to me
I close my eyes again, taking me back to that dream
Into an eternal dream that I won’t ever wake from"
– Eternity, VIXX
*flashback in italic*
*thoughts in bold*
At the beach…
Naeun stared at Eunji worriedly as the latter still hadn’t opened her eyes.
It scared her that maybe, just maybe, Eunji was now afraid of her and would run away from her.
It scared her even more at the thought of Eunji’s back facing her, going further and further away from her the moment she opened her eyes.
It was the Busan girl’s melodious voice that broke her from her stupor, “Naeun-ssi?”
“Y-Yes?” the called girl stammered, obviously surprised. Eunji opened her eyes and the ghostly girl could only hold the former’s hand tighter, too afraid to let go. The human girl noticed Naeun’s trembling hand and smiled at the sight.
“Why? Afraid that I’ll run away?” she asked, smiling as Naeun nodded like a kid, “I won’t, don’t worry.”
Even so, Naeun still wouldn’t let go of her hands. In fact, she held it tighter than any human could ever do, almost crushing it. Eunji grinned to mask the pain and placed her thumb on top of Naeun’s cold, porcelain-like hand and rubbed it affectionately.
Naeun flushed at the intimate gesture and loosened her grip a bit. Eunji took the opportunity to sneak her hand out of the other girl’s palm, which shocked Naeun so much, she almost screamed in fear of losing the human girl.
“Wh-”
But she stopped talking when she felt a warm hand landed on top of her head, ruffling her hair lovingly. She blushed even more than before; finding the warmth radiating from the Busan girl’s hand overwhelmed her entire body, melting the ice that was Son Naeun.
But a part of her was still full of doubts.
Why was Eunji not reacting the way I thought she would be?
Why was Eunji fine with everything?
Why was Eunji not scared?
“Ah, so it isn’t just one-sided mind reading ability.” Naeun’s eyes widened and she soon realized that their foreheads were still touching each other. Eunji sighed and said, “Honestly, everything still feels so surreal right now, but I’m not surprised, let alone afraid.”
“Really? Were you not… scared of me? You know… when we first met…” the technically older girl asked. Eunji quickly shook her head vehemently, “no, why would I?”
“That’s weird…” Naeun whispered, “but, I’m glad… you weren’t…”
“So, Naeun-ssi…” Eunji finally pulled away, and they both soon frowned inwardly from the loss of warmth, “I don’t mean to pry but… Can you tell me how you died? Since, you know… we saw it from your sister just now…”
“… Ah, yeah… that’s fine with me…” Naeun smiled slightly, “I think you deserve to know, Eunji…”
“So, where do you guys want to play next?” Taeyeon asked while still her banana clean from the chocolate fudge. Bomi scanned her surroundings before landing her eyes on the masks stall. “Let’s buy some masks!” she exclaimed, pointing at the stall and jumping up and down like an excited little kid. The oldest girl diverted her eyes from her choco-banana and looked at the direction Bomi was pointing. Immediately the corner of her lips curled up and formed a huge grin, “Alright! Let’s go!” she half-shouted excitedly and skipped away towards the masks stall. Naeun could only shook her head in defeat, “Sometimes I wonder who the oldest is…”
Suddenly a middle-aged man whisked past Naeun, his face contorted in sheer fear. He stopped and, without even catching his breath, shouted at the top of his lungs,
“IT’S THE WOLVES! RUN!!!”
“Wha-”
Before the young girl could process what just happened, all people around her started running in panic. The same man that had shouted just now noticed Naeun and the cluelessness on her face and quickly grabbed Naeun’s hand, surprising the girl.
“It’s not safe here, young lady. We have to leave now!” he shouted amongst the screaming masses. Naeun became terrified and tried to break free from the man’s grip, but to no avail.
“Wait, no! Taeyeon-unnie! Bomi-unnie! HELP!” she screamed, trying to call her unnies. They looked at her in shock and tried to reach her.
“NAEUN!”
But her vision was soon blocked by the running masses. She panicked even more when she realized that she had truly lost Bomi and Taeyeon this time.
“W-Wait sir! M-My sisters-”
“What!? You’re not alone?” the man asked, to which Naeun responded by nodding frantically. “Wait, we’re nearing the exit!” the man announced.
Soon they reached the festival’s gate. The man grabbed Naeun’s shoulders gently, giving the girl an apologetic look, “I’m sorry, I didn’t know. I’ll try to look for them inside the festival’s area, while you run away as far away from here as possible. Do you understand, young lady? Whatever happens from here on, don’t let the wolves caught you. Okay?” he asked. A small smile curled up from the corner of his lips and he let go of Naeun’s shoulders, “Go, and live.”
He ran back into the festival’s area before Naeun could say anything. Trusting him with her sisters, Naeun ran away from the festival. The only place she could think of: her family’s house.
“It’s the same house you’re currently living in, Eunji…” Naeun spoke out of the blue, breaking the suffocating silence between them. The human girl’s eyes fluttered open and she looked at Naeun expectantly, urging her to continue.
“That… may have been the worst decision I’ve ever made when I was alive…” She said lowly, “And I… honestly don’t want to… talk about it anymore…”
“It’s okay…” Eunji whispered and moved to hug the technically dead girl, closing her eyes again as the coldness of Naeun’s body seeped into her body, “you don’t have to recall anymore.”
“I’m scared, Eunji…” the taller girl muttered, “I’ve lost so many people dear to me… all because of… because of my selfish request…”
“Naeun-ssi…”
Eunji felt her shirt became wet, dampened by the other girl’s tears.
“I-I…” the crying girl struggled to speak properly, “I k-k-killed m-m-my si-sisters…”
“You obviously didn’t-”
“I did!” she shouted, her voice muffled against Eunji’s shirt, “I-I w-was the one w-who a-asked them to g-go to the f-festival!”
Knowing that Naeun wouldn’t listen to whatever she was going to say, Eunji stayed quiet.
“I-If only…” the taller girl gripped Eunji’s shirt tightly, almost like glued, “If only I-I wasn’t s-selfish, t-that w-would’ve n-never ha-happened!”
“Ever since that night, I-I couldn’t even close my eyes w-without r-remembering t-that night!”
“I-I hate how I constantly remember all t-those nightmares!”
“I h-hate how that man d-dragged me away f-from my sisters!”
“I… I HATE MYSELF!”
And Naeun finally burst out, wailing up 50 years’ worth of pain, guilt, and self-loath. And then there were Eunji, hugging Naeun like the most precious treasure in the whole world, delicately and affectionately.
And, as if the sky cried along with her, there started a drizzle, then came rain, and eventually downpour. And Eunji was really thankful for it, because she had to be strong for Naeun. She had to be the wall of support for her. And the rain, the downpour, helped in masking her tears.
Eunji was actually crying. She was crying for Naeun. She was crying for her love.
“Oh my, it’s raining,” Hayoung said, “How am I supposed to go home now?”
“How about staying here for a little longer, Hayoung-na? I’m sure your parents won’t mind if you arrive home later. It’s a downpour, after all.” Taeyeon suggested. The young girl nodded before her face turned serious, “Tae-umma, can I talk to you?”
“Sure, what is it?” Taeyeon tilted her head to the side. Hayoung looked at the living room, where Namjoo was talking excitedly with Grandma Kim. “Not here, Tae-umma. I don’t want Namjoo-unnie to hear it.”
“It’s a secret from Namjoo?” Taeyeon got even more confused. She knew that Namjoo and Hayoung never kept secrets from each other. Hayoung nodded, “it’s concerning her… and me…”
The older girl sensed the seriousness in Hayoung’s words and nodded, quietly ushering the young girl to her room that she once shared with her late husband. As she closed the door gently, trying not to make any noise, she asked in a hushed voice, “so, what is it again, Hayoung-na?”
“Tae-umma, how do you know if you love someone?” Hayoung asked bluntly, causing the unprepared Taeyeon to choke on her own spit. She padded on her own chest, trying to lessen the pain. After she got better for just a bit, she carefully asked back, “Hayoung-na, aren’t you still too young to talk about love?”
“But I thought someone once said that ‘age is only numbers in the matter of love’?” the girl pressed further. Taeyeon could only sigh at the question. She pinched the bridge of her own nose, “okay… well, I don’t know if you’ll be able to understand what I’m going to say though…”
She sat on top of the bed and gestured Hayoung to do the same, “for me, you love someone if you start off hating that person to the very core, but end up liking him anyway. You start giving him more attention, even though he is annoying as hell. You start talking more with him, even though you didn’t even spare him a glance at first. You start noticing more things about him, even though you forced yourself not to. You start knowing more and more about him, even though he was being secretive about it. And you have fallen too deep for him if you start having butterflies on your stomach every time you see him, your heart beats faster when he’s near you, and your eyes can’t stop looking at him when he’s around.” She said, gazing at the window. The downpour was being melancholic; she had actually felt really sad while she spoke all that.
“But I’ve never hated her before…”
“… Hold on, what?” Taeyeon diverted her gaze back to the younger girl, seemingly shocked with what she had just heard. Her?
“… P-Please d-don’t hate me, Tae-umma…” Hayoung sobbed a bit, droplets of tears falling from the corner of her eyes, “I-I… t-the last part… They’re what I always feel when I s-see Namjoo-unnie…”
“Namjoo…?” Taeyeon gasped. She had never expected to hear this. No, not even in a million years.
But she soon remembered how clingy and affectionate the girl was towards her daughter, how she had once see Hayoung giving Chorong a death glare when Namjoo hugged the older girl, how she had said just now that she wanted to talk about something that was concerning about Namjoo. It all made sense now.
In a way that Taeyeon didn’t really want it to.
“… Now, why would I hate a sweet and brave girl like you?” she whispered gently, patting Hayoung’s head, “it’s okay, Hayoung-na. You can’t control who you like. Love knows no boundaries.”
“But-”
“Actually, it’s fine.” She whispered, “You can pursue my daughter if you want.”
“R-Really?” Hayoung cutely asked which prompted Taeyeon to pinch her cheeks, “Aigoo, you’re so cute! And yeah, I approve.”
“T-Thank you, Tae-umma!” Hayoung wiped her tears and hugged the older girl. Taeyeon affectionately returned the hug and whispered, “Never regret ever falling in love with someone, no matter who, no matter what. Don’t end up like me, a coward who’ll be haunted by the same nightmare for eternity…”
“W-What, Tae-umma?”
“… Nothing.” Taeyeon broke the hug, “now go back to your Namjoo. I’m sure she’s looking for you right now.”
Hayoung nodded and hugged the older girl again briefly. “Thank you, umma.” She said before leaving the room.
After the youngest girl closed the door, the downpour became more intense than before. Taeyeon glanced blankly at the window before she whispered to no one in particular,
“Stop lying to yourself, Taeyeon. It was not a ‘he’. It was a ‘she’.”
“I’m home…” Chorong quietly announced the moment she stepped into the house. Dara approached her with a spatula on hand, giving her younger sister an unreadable look. “Where were you, Chorongie?” she asked.
“At a friend’s…” she answered, “Is something wrong? You’re looking at me with a weird expression…”
“Well, it depends…” Dara shrugged, “go see dad. You’ll see why.”
Although Chorong suspected that Dara was hiding something from her, she decided to just shrug it off and went straight to the living room, where her father was.
The moment she saw her father, she immediately realized that her worst nightmare had finally came back.
“Chorong-ah, we have to move back to the city in two days.”
___________________________________________________
author's note » WHAT IS THIS HOW COME THERE'RE LIKE 8 COMMENTS FOR THE PREVIOUS CHAPTER OMG LET ME CRY SOME LEGIT TEARS OF JOY I CAN'T OMG DON'T MIND ME ;A; you guys rocks OMG what did I do in the previous life to deserve all that LOL and some of you even outdid yourself by doing a long and detailed comment LOL what details ;_; and exam's in two days... let me cry tears of frustrations at the corner *goes into the secluded corner* but what is this amazing author thingy? I'm not amazing ;_; I maybe good (emphasize on maybe) or probably decent but I'm nowhere near amazing ;A; you guys are too nice, like really ;A; I'll work harder to be even more better and fulfill your expectations *bows* oh, you guys are probably wondering about that Hayoung-Taeyeon convo esp. the last part haha it might seems like a filler but it's quite important for... something LOL XD ah friendly reminder though that Mystical Love will end in like what, 2-3 more chapters perhaps? LOL not much time left XD
@athousandreveries: ah you're not crying? TSK *snaps finger in disappointment* and I was hoping that everybody would cry LOL jk XP #IAmNotAmazingButThankYou XD
@troublemaker92: aigoo hahaha thank you XD
@akumatsubasa: chinguyah your comment was super long and super surprising XD fighting to me! wish me luck 'cos my exam will be on Tuesday like I'm really nervous ;A; ah this chingu... I remembered how I removed some gore descriptions because I couldn't bring myself to post them LOL and you still said it was descriptive ;A; and about my major... chinguyah, I wish I could be an English Literature major but nooo I'm aiming to be an Architecture major so really wish me luck ;A;9 hahaha let them have their moment because soon... *meaningful winks* ;)
@ChristiiChan: thank you so, so much! ;A; and how did I do that? that's a family secret ;D
@OrangeLove: thank you very much! ;A; ahaha that's like yin and yang don't you think XD and yeah Bomi's life is :( but let's see what fate still has in store for her okay ;)
@blxckdrxgxn: OMG thank you ;A; I'll work harder from now on :"D
@Taeny4everinlove: no you're not mistaken but I only realized it after you said so LOL XD thank you very much ;A; I'm not that amazing ;A; decent perhaps but amazing? no, not yet :") I'll work harder from now on and ensures that you'll still remain seated in the exclusive roller-coaster of emotion XD
@ckaz99: welcome to my humble story XD I laughed at your comment like 'so is Naeun alive or dead' LOL hard to determine XD I can't even do a back roll how am I supposed to do a somersault LOL XD and btw about that Bomi's confession thingy... I thought it was a major fail LOL XD
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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