The Lonely God (Rosekook)

19

"Well, to cut a long story short and simply put: these two are soulmates, joined by the red thread of destiny. They are fated for one another."

A stunned silence followed his proclamation, in which Apollon's smile broadened as he nodded along to what Prometheus said.

"It's true," Apollon concurred, "I have seen it for myself."

"A vision?" Athena guessed shrewdly.

"Multiples," Prometheus said, "Apollon seemed to be troubled by his daughter's predicament and came to me for counsel. Together, we used our combined gifts of prophecy to explore more about this lovely couple here." He turned to a frozen Jeongguk and Chaeyoung. "Would you like to see?"

"Yes," they answered simultaneously. Jeongguk's mouth had turned dry.

Could it be possible....

Was that the reason why they felt so comfortable around each other?

The reason why Chaeyoung said it was as if she had known him all her life?

Prometheus waved a hand and suddenly Jeongguk's mind was flooded with an avalanche of images, all about him and Chaeyoung:

there they were hugging on a smoky plain as terrible noises of war raged around them; 

there they were running together in a meadow beneath the sun; 

there they were dressed in outlandish clothes with smoking sticks stuck between their teeth;

dancing in a crowd in a dark place with flashing lights; 

hugging each other in white beds in a stark white place;

him pointing something black and heavy in his hand as she held her hands up in terror; 

him crying as she locked lips with a stranger;

them running hand in hand in a strange shiny city as menacing, stilted soldiers chased them;

them shouting at each other as they threw plates at each other;

them floating upside down in a cylindrical space as shooting stars passed them by;

them waving to each other as he boarded a huge vessel belching smoke;

her crying as he slammed the door;

them holding on to each other at the edge of a cliff—

Jeongguk jolted back to the present with a deep inhale, his mind spinning from the influx of emotions he had gone through in such a short period of time: he had felt it all—euphoria, melancholy, rage, betrayal, disgust, affection, adoration....

Chaeyoung looked similarly disoriented as she held on to Jeongguk's arm.

"Those would be past, present and future lives from other dimensions," Prometheus explained, "and as you can see, although in some of them you do meet, yet you still do not end up with each other through some circumstance or other. So my parting advice to you would be—have hope and if you do meet...I hope you make the right choice. Got that?"

Jeongguk's knees were weak but through sheer will he responded, echoed by Chaeyoung: "Yes."

It was clear now—if Fate brought them together, it would be up to them to choose to stay together.

A quick glance at Chaeyoung confirmed the same thoughts were running through her head. There was a new meaning in her grip now, a different aspect to the way she leaned closer, brushing ever so slightly against his arm.