The Weather Report

It was the second quarter of 2009 when I played the role of Persephone during the spring festival and with great determination ran after my Hades.

“Seunghyun!”  I was half puffing and screaming at the idiot in front of me.  He deliberately ignored me and continued walking away.  I let out a curse and ran after him.  I, Sandara Park, do not run after men but with Seunghyun, I take an exception.  So in chunky heels and lacy Grecian dress that barely cover my thighs, I marched on.

“Will you stop following me?”  I heard him say.  I scoffed at him. Idiocy is in his genes I dare tell you. He is a moron.

“I will if I can.” I bent to pick up a discarded prop and aimed at his face. I missed… barely. 

“Oopf!”

“Oaf! Yes that is what you are.”  I shook at the iron ring that held my wrist to his securely.  May the good Man in heaven have mercy on me.

He stopped to glare at me. Fine!  I admit, I lost the key but he was not even supposed to lock it. The small metal clasp should have done the trick but no he just had to lock it. Now an hour after the play, we are still locked together.  Prop man in a frenzy.

I huff in annoyance.  He was partly at fault but I am the one who gets dragged around.

I looked at the theatre right behind us. It felt cosier inside.

I asked him if we could please go back. “I don’t like parties.”  He was curt.

Great.  Choi Seunghyun is a snob and I don’t respond well to anxiety.  Being out here, alone with him in chain is not exactly a bright idea.  My evil twin is slowly scratching the surface.  I was hot, I am anxious. I am far from comfortable.

“Please.” Yes I have resort to begging.  I just saw someone I recognize.

“Dara.” I heard him call my name.  It was Seunghyun , right? There is nobody else here or is there?  I tugged at the chains once again. I really have to go but he was quick to pull back.

I can help you, I heard him say. Help? How do you exactly help someone like me?  I smiled at him. I don’t think I need help.

Dara. And the last thing I remember was the taste of his lips and the feel of his skin.

That was the start of a death so painful, the soul was scarred.

It has been 3 years since I left.  I left without a word, not a kiss and without anything apart from the clothes on my back and bills in my pocket and his ring on my neck.  It was made of silver, iron and wood.  A tribute to the metal that held us together, iron in our blood, like my soul… corrosive.

I pushed the door open and pulled my umbrella close. It was past 4o’clock in the afternoon and it was raining. It had been raining non-stop for 2 straight days and will probably do so for a couple more. I turned to look at my potted plants by the window sill.  I worry as water splatters from the brim. They would not need watering but they may drown from too much moisture.  Water... How come I am so parched when there is water around?

I willed myself not to cry.  It was my choice to leave.  I forfeit the right to feel because of it.

“Seunghyun.”  I called. I still call his name though, every now and then in anguish and in ecstasy.

“Jagiya.”  I froze.  I did hear the door open and the sound of the chime as it close.  I took a deep breath.  He can’t be here.  Impossible!

But the firm grip of his hand on my shoulder confirmed my fear.  “You can stop running now.” He said.

I felt my knees shook and my world spin slowly. “Do not fear, Jagiya.”

I cried when he held me.

How can he still care for me? I asked myself, when I spent the last 3 years hating myself. 

“I have missed you terribly.”

I couldn’t talk. I shook my head.  He just smiled and touches my lips with his.  I was near maudlin. 

I heard him sob.  My Seunghyun is crying.  I have not done anything proper in the whole time we were together. 

“I cheated.”  I finally said.  Cheated with his best friend.

“You didn’t.”  He held me closer.  “You are sick.”

Sick. I am…an addict.  I move my head in agreement.

“I love you.”  Still?  Still.

And in between sobs I struggled to reply. 

I love you.

Sickness... Health… Till death…

Death doesn’t matter, not when I married Hades.