CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
1798
While the rest of the world was burning up in flames with revolts and wars, our love was the only peace that I had known of.
Or so I thought...
The aristocrats began to revolt against us, calling it illegal and a shame to the higher classes.
And so we decided to escape this village at Jimin's advice. But it wasn't possible because we were trapped.
If it wasn't for your childhood friend, we wouldn't have ever gotten out alive... but eventually I was the only one who ended up alive... and alone.
Why did you leave me?
You said we could trust him and I trusted you. You said you had known each other since childhood, and there were circumstances when I witnessed the deep friendship you both had. I was jealous at times, imagining myself in his place. Being of the same status, class and extremely handsome. Being the "rightful" husband to you as your parents always said.
But I wasn't him.
Not even close...
I wish I hadn't slept that night.
I wish I had stayed up just to see you safe in my arms.
I wish... I wish I hadn't found you soaked - not with water, but your own blood.
I wish I wasn't cursed to remember your blue lips and pale skin all my life.
I closed my tear-filled eyes for a moment. But I wish that moment was eternal.
The next time I opened my eyes, I was no longer beside you. I was on a lone bed, inside what seemed to be a hut lit up with candles scattered around the place.
I didn't know where I was.
I struggled as I supported myself to sit up. It was as though my body hadn't moved for a very long time. All I wished for was this to be a dream and that I'd see the love of my life outside this hut... alive.
"You're awake." An unknown feminine voice echoed.
"W-where am I..." My heart began to pound in my chest, "And- and who are you?"
I shivered when she pushed me back onto the bed, "Rest. You've been through a lot..."
Even though she whispered the last part, it was loud enough for me to hear. My mind was drowning in questions. Why was I here? And how did she know me? I was confused and also afraid.
"Where is Addelyn?" I whispered, tilting my head high enough to see the woman's back as she searched through her cupboard filled with different kinds of jar bottles.
She froze and turned around. She had an expression that I couldn't decipher, "Addelyn is safe in her resting place."
That was when I realised... I was living in a nightmare that I would never wake up from.
"Why am I here?" I asked as I forcefully fed myself.
The woman who had introduced herself as Margeret Parker answered, "My family found you by the riverbank. You and..."
"Addelyn." My eyes brimmed with salty liquid. I sniffled and placed my half-empty plate aside.
"Yes." Margeret looked down, "You were unconscious. So they took you in."
"H-how long had I been unconscious?" I asked as I played with my fingers.
She gave me an unreadable glance and let out a deep breathe, "You have been asleep for over 76 years, Kim Taehyung."
1875
A year passed by, and I still found it hard to believe that I had been asleep for 76 years. It was as if God was enjoying this joke that was my life.
Over the few months after my awakening, I had learnt that life was not what I thought it was. There were many things hidden away from the sight of humans to maintain the equilibrium of normalcy.
One of those secrets was... all this time, I was taken care by a coven.
A coven.
After losing consciousness by the river - that was apparently their territory - they took me to their village and buried Addelyn in a nearby forest that I visited the next day after gaining consciousness.
They said time healed... but 76 years didn't take away the pain that drowned my heart.
In this past year, I began witnessing changes in my body. I tried killing myself many times... too many times that I could no longer count it on my fingers and toes.
But I never died.
They said it was the magic of the river. A life was lost, while the other turned eternal. It was hard to believe, but constant proof reminded me that it was true and I was now immortal, carrying my pain and dread on my shoulders for a lifetime.
But that was until... I met you again.
Jimin came looking for me a few days after I woke up. He stayed back and took care of me until I got used to the new things that had appeared in 76 years of my sleep.
With the help of the coven, I was able to get a job for about a year at their vineyards in Donten. I acquired enough money to buy myself a little house by their estates.
That year was the year I learnt new things about my best friend Park Jimin. He too, was a cursed being like me who had to carry the weight of ever growing sorrows. He never told me how and why it happened and neither did I push him to answer.
I was sure it was something similar to the pain I experienced and I didn't want to reopen the stitches of his deeply-cut wounds.
Now that the secrets were out, we became closer than ever and I was grateful to have gained a lifelong friend.
I eventually realised that Jimin was not like most men. But that didn't make me feel indifferent towards him. I still had the same love and appreciation for him.
There were times I'd see a spark of unknown emotion in his eyes towards me, but I always shrugged it off whenever his eyes went back to being the same warm brown ones.
A fraction of me knew that our friendship wasn't just an ordinary friendship to him, but what could I do? I could never feel the same feelings he felt.
I could never be the one Jimin could have.
1886
I returned to my hometown along with Jimin.
Even though this town held too many memories that my heart couldn't hold, I had to go back since it had been 100 years since my beloved mother died.
The town had changed so much. The roads were better. There were new pubs around the town. More houses had been developed. I would've believed that it was a different place if it wasn't for the well known Bust of Queen Elizabeth I that was located in the centre of the town square.
While my eyes were scanning through the new features of the town, it was too late for me to realise that I had bumped into someone. My legs tangled up, pushing me against the ground. A groan of pain left my mouth while my eyes lifted up to check if the other person on the ground was okay.
My heart stopped.
While I was frozen on the ground, the man stood up and held out his hand for me, "Are you alright, mister?"
I broke from my trance and looked up at the man I had last seen about a century ago. The man who led us to our fall.
Whispers broke me out of my shock and I realised I had left him hanging for a few moments. I stood up by myself and dusted my trousers, "I'm- I'm fine."
Is he immortal as well?
No, that couldn't be possible. It looked as if he didn't remember who I was. It had been a century...
"You seem lost. Are you new here?" A warm smile curled onto his lips, but it was anything but warm to me.
"Uh, yeah. I guess. It's been long since I last visited."
"Taehy- what's happening..." Jimin finally joined me, face puzzled.
"I am Mr Jeon, my family owns the mines in this town. If you're new here then I'm sure you're still looking for work?" He looked back and forth between Jimin and I, "I'd like to offer you work at the mines, that is if you don't already have an occupation."
He smiled again.
"Sure, thank you for your generosity, Mister." Jimin smiles back, "But please excuse us for now, we have somewhere to be at."
"Okay." The younger man nodded his head, "I will see you in the mines."
"It was him!" I smashed down the beer glass onto the counter, "It was him that led us to that place! He's the reason why she's dead!"
"Taehyung... it's not him." Jimin sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, "He has the same face, but that doesn't mean he's the one who did those cruel things to you and Addelyn."
I was frustrated and angry. I wanted to kill him right then and there, but if it wasn't for the large crowd surrounding us I might've really drove a knife through his torso. It took every ounce of willpower in me to not punch that smile off his face.
"Then... how does he have the same face!"
"Taehyung, once you become immortal, you'll find people with the same faces being reborn. It is just the law of nature, but that doesn't mean they remember what they've done in their previous lives. It's better to just leave it at this because beating him to pulp or killing him won't give you your answers. And knowing you, you'll only regret it later."
"So... does that mean I'll find Addelyn again?"
A small flame of hope flicker in my heart, wishing that I'd see you again and somehow relive our moments from the past.
Little did I know that I'd come across you one day but only end up losing you again...