RINEI
"Ten coins, missy."
I drop a pocketful of golden coins into the old woman's hand. She gapes for a second, her frail body freezing in place.
"This..."
"Keep it, please." I say, forcing a smile as I take the paper bag of hot sweets. "I won't be needing it, anyways. Thank you for the food."
Then I keep walking, past all the booths towards the end of the street. Every once in a while I risk a glance behind me.
But I don't see his familiar, tall figure anywhere.
Maybe he really had left.
I doubt that, I think to myself as I peek inside the warm paper bag. He's an elf. If he wants no one to see him, no one will see him.
With careful fingers, I pull out one of the sticky rice buns, powdered with sugar and full of mocha cream. It's one of the best things I've tasted for a while.
Because elves could only eat fruits and sarieh, I'd been missing so much of this back in Elven. These treats were the little things Jungkook and I'd always helped ourselves to in the Festivals.
I keep walking, while chewing.
The night wind is cool against my cheeks. Soon the rows and rows of booths turn into blossom trees, lining the wide path. Cherry blossom petals cover the ground.
The end of this path was a dead end. It was the steep rock face of a cliff, barren stone and overlooking darkness.
But Jungkook and I'd found a secret path around the rock face years ago. To the right was the edge, where someone might think it would lead to nothing but a dead end.
Follow along the narrow ledge, and it would lead you to a small platform where you could sit and watch the skies. And the moon, the stars.
I start on a second sticky bun just as I weave my way around the cliff overhang, finding the little ledge.
A faint smile curves my lips.
I sigh softly, setting down the paper bag and sitting down on a large rock covered with soft moss. It keeps the hard surface soft for me, and I lean my head backwards to touch the stone there.
It's a stunning view in front of me.
A spotless night sky. And the moon is a full moon tonight. Its light is so bright that it outshines the stars.
I bask in it. In the moonlight, and the warm chill of spring. It makes me feel alive.
I wish that he was here with me.
I wish that he was here, his arms around my shoulders and the warmth of his body surrounding mine. His soft breath against the back of my neck, the tip of his chin rested on the top of my head.
This had been a place I'd wanted to bring him.
But now I could never.
The elf I loved didn't exist during the night.
_________________________________
TAEHYUNG
She's gone.
My eyes flicker open. And my mind is sluggish, body cold with the chains. Darkness spans out in front of me, making it hard to tell if there is an end to it.
I look up. It takes so much effort to even move my head a single inch, and my gaze roams across my bonds. It's nearly wrapped all over me, from my wrists to my legs.
How was I...
How was I back here?
But a voice had woken me. And it echoes again, sharp and familiar. I recognize it.
Because the voice is mine. Except it sounds colder, angry, and anxious. It whips at me.
Wake up. She's gone.
It's hard to breathe. Even harder to make a sound, but I force myself to speak. The sound rasps through my throat.
"She...?"
Yes, she. The girl.
My lips press together in pain and fatigue. But I feel more and more alert, as life slowly floods back into me. The chains grind as I shift.
"...Rinei?"
There's a harsh laugh.
Is that her name?
I can't.
I still can't wrap my head around the fact that the voice is mine. It's mine, there is no question.
How.
Was I talking to myself? Speaking to myself, somehow? But this... this didn't feel like that.
It felt like an entirely different consciousness. A completely separate person, another soul.
Soul...?
I realize.
"You're him."
He makes a deep sound, full of distaste. The moment my doubts are confirmed, I glance up sharply into the darkness. My head feels clearer now, with the fury and panic.
He'd said that she was gone.
"What did you do to her?"
I pull against the chains. The noise it makes is terrible, but I don't hear it at all. All I can focus on is the things he'd said. The thoughts running through the haze of my mind.
He growls.
Not me. She went off to a damn cliff and disappeared all by herself.
Most of his voice is full of anger and annoyance. But the strain of worry underneath is unmistakable.
I fall silent.
"A cliff?"
She took me to a festival held in the outside world, he whispers. So she could make me fall in love with her, and bring you back. Must have been that damn elf, who told her.
His whisper turns to a hiss.
Maybe I should've just killed her off.
The outside world?
I remember Rinei telling me about a Festival.
The memory is vague. But I force myself to remember, recalling the day ago. I picture her soft features, glowing in excitement as she talks about the annual celebration.
She's talked about somewhere secret.
"You said she disappeared at the cliff line?"
Yes, he says sharply. I searched everywhere— scoured the Forest below for miles around. I'd thought she'd fallen.
I tense. But he continues, in that voice deepening with uncertainty and desperate worry.
I didn't find her.
My eyes flicker. He'd said how Rinei had brought him to the outside world, to make him fall for her. He'd said it in a way that it made it seem as if she'd been stupid for even trying in the first place.
But she is irresistible. I was the one who knew that best.
It was clear that he had grown to love her.
I know where she is." I say. And I feel the air shift, against my skin. My voice turns softer.
"Will you let me find her?"
There's a chilling silence.
It lasts for a long second, before he breaks it with a cold sigh. It ripples through the space, and I can feel it with my entire body.
He sounds defeated. Almost forlorn.
Yes.
I called for her, over a thousand times. She may have not responded because she didn't want me to find her.
His words flicker.
She may respond to you.
The chains click. The weight of it slowly slides off my figure, dropping to the floor with a heavy sound that echoes into the darkness. With each one, I feel lighter. Stronger.
My mind feels clearer, by the passing second.
He was letting me go.
Because he loved her.
The darkness slowly changes. It takes on shapes, distant silhouettes until it turns into the shadow of a landscape. Just as it fully disappears, I hear a low murmur.
Find her. She loves you, does she not? She loves you in a way that I will never come to understand.
He doesn't hide the anguish. Or the coldness of the warning.
Fail to find her, and I will kill you myself.