Threads of Fate (Catnipz)

A Stubborn Soul

"You're not protecting her," Minji continued, her voice softer now, but still firm. "You're only holding her back too. You can't protect anyone if you're trapped in this place. I'm not going to let you make the same mistake I did. I stayed for far too long, and all it did was make me a shadow of the person I could have been. I can't let you make the same choice, Haerin. Not when you have a chance to go, to finally be free."

Haerin didn't respond right away. The words hung in the air, heavy and suffocating. She looked at Minji, but her eyes were unfocused, lost in the maze of her thoughts.

"What if I'm the only one who can save Hanni?" Haerin whispered, the uncertainty clear in her voice.

Minji stepped closer, her presence solid and unwavering. "You can't save her by staying here, by being stuck in the same place. She needs you to be whole, to live a life that's not chained to the past. She deserves to have a future where she isn't burdened by the things you've carried for so long."

Haerin swallowed hard, feeling the weight of Minji's words settle in her chest. She had always believed that if she stayed, if she protected Hanni long enough, she could keep her safe. But now, in the quiet of the moment, Haerin realized that she was only prolonging the inevitable. She couldn't protect anyone if she didn't let go.

"I don't know if I can let go," Haerin murmured, her voice barely audible. "What if I'm abandoning her?"

Minji's expression softened, her voice gentle. "You're not abandoning her, Haerin. You're giving her a chance to stand on her own. And in doing so, you're giving yourself the chance to finally heal, to be free."

Haerin stood there, the weight of Minji's words pressing on her like a force of nature. For so long, she had carried the burden of responsibility, of guilt, of protecting everyone else. But now, faced with the reality of what it meant to stay, or to leave, it felt like the world was shifting beneath her feet.

In the end, it wasn't about saving anyone. It was about letting go. Letting go of the things she couldn't control. Letting go of the guilt. Letting go of the past.

Haerin's gaze wandered off into the distance, the weight of everything Minji had said still settling deep within her. She hesitated for a moment, then spoke again, her voice quieter, more uncertain than before. "What's it like in the afterlife? Is it peaceful?"

Minji looked at her, her expression softening as she considered the question. "It's different for everyone," she began, her tone gentle but laced with a sadness that Haerin could hear beneath the surface. "You'll be able to create your own afterlife, your own dream. A place where you can escape, a place that feels like home, like peace. You can create anything you want; landscapes, memories, people. But there's one thing that will always remain the same."

Haerin's brow furrowed, a mix of curiosity and trepidation building in her chest. "What's that?"

Minji's eyes darkened for a moment, the weight of her words heavier than before. "There will be no one real with you. You can create people, people from your past, people you love... but they won't be real. They'll be figments, echoes. The dream you create will be yours, and yours alone. The people you create won't truly be there with you. It's... a lonely existence."

Haerin's heart twisted at the thought. She imagined a world she could create for herself; an ideal, perfect place where no pain existed. She could bring back her family, her friends, Danielle, Hanni, but none of them would be truly there. They would just be illusions, shadows that couldn't touch her, couldn't hold her.

"It's just... you, in the end," Minji continued softly, almost as if she were speaking from experience. "It's peaceful, yes, but it's also empty. You'll be alone, with no one to talk to. The people you love will only exist in the way you remember them, but they won't be real. They can't be."

Haerin's chest tightened, the reality of what Minji was saying sinking in. She had always fought to keep the people she loved close to her, always tried to protect them, but the idea of an eternity alone, even in a world of her own creation, made her stomach churn.

"But what if... what if I don't want that? What if I want to be with them, really with them?" Haerin's voice trembled as she spoke, the fear in her words evident.

Minji gave her a soft, almost sympathetic look. "I wish I could promise you something else, Haerin. But it doesn't work that way. No matter how much we wish it, no matter how much we want to keep them, the people we love, eventually, we all have to let them go."

The weight of those words pressed down on Haerin's heart. It was as if the universe itself had decided that even the most powerful emotions, even love, would fade into nothingness in the end. And there, in that dark truth, Haerin realized that in the afterlife, she wouldn't just be alone physically; she would be alone in every sense of the word. There would be no real connection, no true companionship, only the ghosts of her memories, fading with time.

Minji's eyes softened as she looked at Haerin, understanding the turmoil swirling inside her. "I know it's hard to accept, but sometimes the hardest thing we have to do is let go. Not just for them, but for us too."

Minji's voice softened even further, as though a secret was slipping through her lips, one she hadn't shared with anyone in a long time. "You remind me of someone I used to love," she said quietly, almost as if speaking to herself.

Haerin blinked, caught off guard by the sudden vulnerability in Minji's tone. She turned to her, studying the older woman's expression closely. Minji's usually guarded face was open for the first time, a slight sadness flickering in her eyes.

"Who?" Haerin asked, her voice barely above a whisper, though part of her wondered if she had the right to ask. She'd barely known Minji for a short time, but there was something in her words that made Haerin want to know more. The soft, almost melancholic way Minji spoke, the weight of the past in her voice, made her realize there was a side to Minji she hadn't seen before; a side that had loved, had hurt, had lost.

Minji let out a breath, her gaze drifting off into the distance, as though the past was tugging at her again. "She was... like you, in a way. Stubborn, strong, and yet so lost in the world. She had a heart full of good intentions, but the world just kept pushing her down, just like it did to you. She fought so hard to protect everyone around her, even when she didn't have anything left to give."

Haerin watched Minji's face carefully, sensing the weight of the memories. "What happened to her?" she asked, her voice almost tentative.

Minji paused, her eyes hardening slightly as she looked at the ground. "She couldn't save everyone. And in the end, she was left with nothing. Not even me."

There was a rawness to Minji's words, an ache that Haerin could feel reverberating in her own chest. The regret in Minji's voice was palpable, like a scar that had never fully healed. Haerin couldn't help but feel an odd sense of connection to the girl Minji had loved, even though she was no longer there.

"Did you... did you ever tell her how you felt?" Haerin asked quietly, almost afraid of the answer. She didn't know why she was asking, but the question felt necessary. Maybe it was because she had never had the courage to tell the people she loved how much they meant to her. She wondered if Minji had been able to express her love or if, like Haerin, she'd stayed silent out of fear.

Minji's lips tightened, and she shook her head slightly, the pain evident in her eyes. "I thought there would be more time. I thought I could protect her. But in the end, I was too late."

Haerin's heart sank at the quiet admission, her own guilt creeping up again. She felt a pang of sorrow for Minji, someone who had been forced to live through the regret of lost chances, lost love, much like Haerin herself had experienced.