"I'm going to forget you. I will forget everything. Even in my dreams…..all of you."
Almost as soon as I utter my last words, I feel incredible pain ; my soul is cleaving itself from what was once Hae Soo's body. There is a brief period of darkness , then light. I am in the same place , & Jung weeps over my corpse . Tears fill my eyes again at the sight ; I don't want to see this.
A cold hand slips into mine. When I glance sideways, there is a man standing beside me, with red lips, like a vampire from the Chinese horror movies I used to watch, long ago. He wears a black suit, with a matching fedora on his head, & a black briefcase in his hand.
"Grim reaper" My statement is a question, to which he replies with a nod.
"Are we leaving?"
Darkness swallows us. We are seated atop plush cushions in a large, airy room with a floor to ceiling windows that provide us with the view of a cobbled street, a wooden table between us. I stare at it, unable to do anything else for a while, vision blurry as I tear up once more. He didn't come till the very end. He will hate me forever. I wipe my eyes with the back of my right hand hurriedly, taking into consideration the man sitting in front of me, who looks bored out of his life.
"Where are we?"
"The grim reaper welcomes Go Ha Jin to his tea shop"
His voice is surprisingly normal, not what you expect from a demon.
"I am not a demon" he admonishes, irritated.
"Sorry" I apologize, tiredly. He can read my mind. How interesting, I think, dryly. Regarding me with a blank expression, he snaps his fingers. A black teapot appears in front of me, as well as a jade teacup. He pours out a honey coloured liquid, filling the cup halfway.
"Drink, & you will enter heaven" he informs me, motioning with his fingers for me to pick it up, impatient.
"I deserve heaven?" I ask, taken aback. There was that whole disaster with the 8th prince, Lady Oh had died because of me, crown prince Mu lost his sanity because of my blind faith in Chae Ryung… I had influenced history…
He interrupts my silence, raising a hand in front of my face.
"Please stop, your negative energy is giving me a head ache,& I've already dealt with over 15 troubled souls today, I am tired" he says, now nearing the end of his patience. He snaps his fingers again, & the view outside the window shifts, showing me Lake Dongji, like it was in the middle of spring, only with more flowers, & a shining pink walled palace where that ruined hut used to be. There is more, but it all disappears in a swirl of colour before I can register it, leaving behind that dreary street. My mouth waters.
He glares at me from under the brim of his hat, arms crossed over his chest.
"I suppose you wish to spend eternity elsewhere?" he asks me, voice dripping with sarcasm.
"No, I do wish to go there" I whisper out loud, my mouth suddenly dry. I want to go, but I need some answers before I can move on. He sighs, waiting.
"What is this place?"
"This is where souls pass into the afterlife" he replies, stifling a yawn. I resist the urge to fling my tea at him ; he is way too unserious with his job.
"Hey-"
I cut across him quickly.
"Will I see him there one day?"
"That depends on how he lives his life" he responds, with a stoic air.
I reflect on his answer for a minute, & then make my decision, raising the little teacup to my lips.
"You should inhale mint infused steam for headaches" I advise him, by way of goodbye. He nods again, & I swallow. It is rose tea, hot & sweeter than anything I have ever tasted before.
I am at Lake Dongji, at peace, for a century, as seasons change around me. I do not despair ; now all that separates us is time. There are nymphs to befriend, & beauty products to make from ingredients in the palace kitchen. There are the calm, warm waters of the lake to swim in as well, since my body is no longer crippled. I am content.
He appears beside me one day as I sit alone in grassy hills, weaving chains out of wild flowers. He is just as I left him, my prince. There is no resentment in his gaze, nor disappointment , only mischief. His scars have faded considerably, but are just as I remember, his story etched into his skin. He has made his peace with them now. His hair is as black as a Ravens wing, no trace of the few grey strands that had worked their way in during the early days of his reign. This place was made for him as well.
The skies here have stars brighter than any in the world we left behind , that light up brilliantly against the inky blue darkness, telling stories with their patterns. The grass is warm, & it is here that we lie together for many nights, learning more of each other's pasts, nothing keeping us from the truth any longer, nothing left unsaid, till we know each other more than ourselves. This is what I had yearned for so much in my last life : the freedom to love him as much as I wanted. We talk of our girl, about how she grew up, what she looked like, how she lived, till it is as if I had been there as well. We know that we will meet her someday , here.
Endless & grey is the sky above us. From there, a single snowflake descends, slowly. My hands reach out, involuntarily to catch it. The first snow. The place we are in is strange, beautiful, calming. We move constantly, travelling from one landscape to another. At times we swim in the deepest seas, making bubbles & laughing in the water ; we ride quiet creatures that take us, astride their scaly green backs ,to caverns that glisten on the inside with gemstones embedded in their rough walls. At others we are dressed in strange clothing like nothing we have ever seen, walking across mountainous terrains, & climbing trees in a vibrant forest tall enough to reach the sky ; he loves it here the most, after our lake. Will this journey end? I hope not. We are together now, & have been, in precisely this manner, for an age now. There are no more obstacles to overcome ; there is no crown to taint his soul, & no compulsion that can ever drive me away from him again.
We exist together, in time.