The rain continued to pour lightly as Minji walked around the area she used to live in. One hand gripped ber umbrella as the other gripped the strap of her little backpack. It wasn't near as harsh as the rain was earlier but rather light drizzle. The ex-Vampire couldn't help but admire the essence of the Human realm.
The beautiful morning is a canvas of pastel hues, where the sun's gentle embrace awakens nature's symphony. All that is heard at the moment is the birds singing. The level of noise pollution during these mornings are minuscule compared to the other times of the day. The sun is a tranquil dance of light and shadow, as the world stirs to life in peaceful harmony.
Minji took meticulous steps along the side walk, ensuring herself that she would arrive to where she wanted to be. It was a little house she hadn't visited since she left for the Vampire realm decades ago. She arrives just to see that someone else was there before her.
Minji sighs in content when she realizes who it was. She rushes her steps a little bit so that she could stand beside that person and stare at the comfy house before them.
It was silent for a long time. Minji would glance at the girl beside her from time to time, waiting for her to say something first. However, the girl's focus was too locked on staring at the house. Minji decides to let her take her time.
Although she was trying her best to maintain calmness, Minji couldn't help but appear eager and delirious. She takes a few deep breaths, wanting to be careful. She wanted to know if she was right. Was Danah beside her right now?
Yona was completely drenched. There was a plethora of water droplets on her skin and her clothes were soaked. Her hair was so wet that it looked like she had just taken a shower. Even with all those factors in mind, she continued to stare longingly at the house.
Hesitantly, Minji extends her arm to the side, hovering the umbrella over the both of them.
Finally, Yona says a word. "This place was once home to me." Minji reverts her focus back to the house. That was true. This was where Choi Danah lived when she was in high-school before she moved out of her parents' house. Yona blankly continues as she observes the balcony, "That balcony is where he and I fell in love."
The house was no empty and had lost almost all of its quality. When Danah's parents died, it was no longer in use. Being almost 120 years old, newer generations of people weren't interested in living in it. Like that abandoned amusement park, most unwanted places become devoid of life and become simply a bearer of memories.
Similar to how Minji was attached to the abandoned amusement park due to sentiment, this house was the first place Yona went to because bore her most happiest memories. Minji licks her lips before asking, "Are you happy with your decision?"
"Danah told me of all the side effects of my decision to remember my past life, but those don't sway me. I'm still processing everything, so I need time. Though, I'm happy with my decision and don't regret it at all. I now understand a lot of things that confused me before."
"Like?" The ex-Vampire girl queries. Minji was usually an action-oriented person and preferred things to be done in a fast pace, but with Yona, she decided to take her time in questioning her. She wasn't even sure if she was talking to the Yona. She wasn't sure if this was the same Yona she encountered before Yona went to visit Danah.
"I saw Jett one day when I was with Leehan, and I don't think Leehan saw him. Jett was taunting me with threats. For the longest time after experiencing that, I wondered what the hell happened. Now, I know. He is a stray Soul who invisibly wanders the earth. He refuses to move on. So unless he surrenders his memories to his current life, he is stuck like that. Trapped, in his own bitterness."
Minji didn't know much about the afterlife since she never experienced it. That topic was out of her knowledge book. "Wait, then was Danah...?" Yona nods. "Oh." The thought of Danah being a stray Soul for many years until Yona showed up broke Minji's heart.
Yona swallows before saying, "It's funny what decisions were made because of my- or her and my love for him." Minji eyes her once again momentarily to see something on Yona's neck that she hadn't seen in a while. Danah's bite mark from Jungwon reappeared.
Minji lets herself grin, "A Human's love is one of the most dangerous things in the universe. It's a reason as to why Vampires avoided Humans back then."
Vampires are not nearly as sentimental as Humans, so to protect themselves from the vulnerability of Human love, they chose to stay at a distance. The separation of the realms aided this.
At hearing Minji's words, Yona began to ponder deeply. A Human's love is dangerous. It can make you do risky things or pursue insane decisions. Jungwon giving up his Vampire state and all its advantages was risky and insane. But they were done out of his love for a Human.
"Do you think Jungwon is going to realize that I'm back?" For the first time in Yona, her voice sounded like Danah. Her "first person view" usage basically confirmed to Minji that it wasn't just Yona beside her anymore. Danah has always been a part of Yona's identity, but somehow everything changed.
"He's been very distant, so I am not sure if he'll notice. Let's not talk about him right now. I'm worried about you, Yona. I know of a few other people who regained their past life's memories. Some of them went insane because they struggled to carry the burdens their previous life gave them. One was sent to the mental hospital, one isolated themself from the world, one took their life - they couldn't take it." As Minji spoke, Yona turns her head to look at her, wondering what her point was. Now, Minji looks at her, "My point is that I want you to take care of yourself. The universe will turn its back on you due to your decision, and you may experience heartbreak."
A smile crept out of Yona's face. She assures the ex-Vampire girl, "I'll be fine. I won't make the same mistake as Danah. I'll live the rest of my life in happiness, and I'll persevere no matter what."
Seeing the smile relieved Minji. She was worried that Yona was going to be changed or aloof due to carrying the burden of two lives, but her light-hearted expression proved Minji otherwise. "I missed you," Minji confesses.
Yona's heart - that was now shared with Danah - softened. She was quick to respond, "Me too." She nudges Minji's shoulder softly with her hand so that they'd face each other.
All formality was dropped, then the two girls hug each other as friends, platonic soulmates.
=
Yona stood in front of her present home's door, staring straight ahead. It was 10AM, so she was missing school. How could she go to school after what she had just done to herself? Further, she no longer felt like herself. It felt like different thoughts, perspectives, and opinions were now clouding her once-independent mind.
From Danah's earliest memory to now, she remembered everything. Yona couldn't help but chuckle at how different yet similar she was from her previous life. They both had distant parents and were independent. However, Danah was much more decisive than she was, and she was much more charming. Yona couldn't believe they shared the same soul. Our soul must've been cursed since Danah fell in love with a Vampire.
Yona looks down to laugh at herself, and that is when she realizes the water droplets that were escaping from her drenched clothes were dripping unto the cement ground. She extends a hand to grip the doorknob, but she hesitates.
There was someone on the other side of that door that wouldn't make this easy. Well, now wasn't the time to get sick.
She turns the doorknob and lets herself in, and she is automatically met with the old woman who sat quietly on her usual chair. Yona closes the door behind her, not letting her eyes leave the woman. "Hi..." she trails off, struggling with the name she usually called her.
Yona had been distant from her grandmother for a long time without realizing. All the difficult occurrences had been pulling them apart from each other. Slowly, Yona approaches her. She kneels before the woman's chair, sending her a look of sorrow. Now that she was physically closer to her grandmother, she realizes how old she was getting, how weak she looked.
Grandmama's faded eyes stare ahead; she had been blind for years, and she seemed oblivious to the current moment. Grandmama's withered skin and her posture shrunken like a fading rose were evident of her nearing her end.
Something additional was breaking Yona's heart: this old woman was also her best friend. The feeling of injustice engulfs Danah's heart. She selfishly died in front of her all those years back. Yet here she was, once again young and free, watching Wonyoung inevitably succumb to age with a death that cannot be stopped. She wondered that, if Jungwon fell in love with Wonyoung instead, if she would've lived a longer life.
Wonyoung had always been there for her, whether it be for Danah or Yona. Danah felt like a cheater, like she was advantaged. She treated Wonyoung horribly after the severance of the realms due to her depression. Wonyoung deserved to live long, but she didn't have the connections Danah had.
Yona could hold the emotions no longer and she fell to the floor in a disheveled heap as her grief poured out in a flood of uncontrollable tears. She almost silently mutters, "I'm sorry. I am so sorry." Yona catches a glimpse of the table beside her grandmother. There was a framed picture of her, Sullyoon, Danah, and Minji. Grandmama must've been alone for so long. Yona gets up and carefully wraps her arms around the lady, crying against her.
"For the longest time, I wondered why the universe decided to take my eyesight away. I think I know why now," Grandmama suddenly speaks in a hoarse voice.
Yona didn't know if Grandmama recognized her nor how if she did, but she could care less at the moment, she was too busy embracing the woman who had been by her side for both her lives. She repeats, "I'm so sorry."
"I always knew you'd come back, Danah. Perhaps the universe didn't want me to see it happening." The old woman weakly lifts her arms to wrap them around Yona. She rubs her thumb against back of the sobbing girl's head as a way of comfort. This gesture reminded Yona of when she was young and the moments her grandmother comforted her whenever she got hurt. "I am blessed that they let me live long enough to experience this. I've always wanted to die with all my dreams fulfilled."
Yona brings her body up so that she could look at the woman in the face, "We could find a way to get you to live longer."
"There's no need." Wonyoung chuckles as she attempts to find Danah's cheek with her frail hand, "It's my time to go, Danah. I've lived well." There was something different about Wonyoung now. Although it was evident that life was leaving her, her face glowed of happiness.
"You never know.... The universe could do something... Maybe... What if... But." Yona mumbled incoherent, unrealistic things and choked on her sobs.
"Tell your father I'm proud of him even though it may not seem like I am," Wonyoung coos before her body goes limp. She no longer hugs the girl, letting her arms slide to her sides. Then, Yona no longer feels a pulse or a heartbeat. Yona sobs louder upon registering what just happened.
Minji was right. The universe was starting to turn its back on her. As punishment, they decided to take Jang Wonyoung away.
I promise, Wonyoung, Grandmama. I will live life beautifully.