[All places, incidents, and names in this novel are a work of fiction and any similarities with real life are purely coincidental.]
***
On the day Kang Jinha died, it was drizzling lightly.
“Proceed!”
Along with that holler, a powerful force struck the back of Kang Jinha’s legs, forcing him to kneel down on the execution ground with a loud thud.
Thin curtains of rain descended gently from the overcast sky, filling the air with the damp smell of petrichor. The distinct scent assaulted his nostrils, suffocating him bit by bit, yet Kang Jinha’s eyes were vacant as he stared past the tall metal gate meters ahead, gazing at the crowd who had come to witness his humiliating death. Each of them bore a look of hatred, glee, and schadenfreude, their exuberant cheers lashing at his thin body akin to burning whips. If not for the sturdy gate, they would have rushed ahead to tear him apart themselves.
“Kill the devil!”
“Kill him! Kill him! Kill him!”
“You evil bastard, give my son back to me!”
“I hope you rot in Hell forever!”
Ka-cha!
Kang Jinha's thick and damp lashes quivered gently as the hard muzzle of the gun pressed against the back of his head.
Many said that one would replay the most important events of their lives when they were on the brink of death, but somehow Kang Jinha found that his mind was blank. He reckoned it must be because he had reminisced a lot during the five years he spent behind the prison cells.
He had grieved, wept, mourned, and lamented.
Now, though, there was nothing left.
Nothing but a bleak, despairing emptiness.
“Any last words?” the executioner asked in a gruff voice.
Faintly, the voices from the television drifted to his ears. One of the officers must have cranked up the volume in the back room to rival the loud cheers outside. “...the golden AA pair of the century, Chu Myungki and Han Yunju, are currently preparing to enter another new dungeon. Let us pray for their safety! Since the demise of the last S-Class hunter in the country a few years back, Chu Myungki-nim[1] is now the strongest candidate to advance to S-Class grade…”
Kang Jinha’s chapped lips parted. If only…
If only there was a next lifetime, he wished he never had to meet and fall in love with Chu Myungki.
But to the executioner, he simply said in a soft and hoarse voice, “...Nothing.”
He closed his eyes, and in the next second—
BANG!
***
“...-ssi!”
“...Jinha-ssi[2]!”
“Kang Jinha-ssi, can you hear me?!”
The sensation of the bullet shattering his skull was so real and vivid that Kang Jinha was stabbed with an intense headache. With a muffled groan, he forcibly pried his heavy eyelids open, only to see a few blurry faces in his field of vision.
“Oh thank God, you’re awake!”
“I was almost scared to death when you suddenly fainted in the middle of our usual practice!”
“Are you okay, Jinha-ya[3]? Is it your low blood sugar again?”
The last feminine voice was so painfully familiar that Kang Jinha shuddered awake, the haze in his mind dissipating in an instant like faint mist swept away by a violent typhoon.
It was an incredibly surreal experience— one second he was still kneeling on the execution ground with the dull, gloomy sky above his head, and the next second he was lying on the bed with warm sunshine spilling in through the window. The stark contrast further highlighted how dreamy the scene before him was. And Kang Jinha did wonder whether he was dreaming, even more so when he was surrounded by people whom he thought he would never see again. They were all gazing at him with the equal amount of confusion and concern.
Let alone blink, Kang Jinha dared not even breathe, fearing that this wonderful scene would dissipate and he would wake up to find his cold, lifeless body collapsing on the dreary execution ground.
“It's over…” a girl in a light pink leotard covered her mouth and whispered to the person beside her. “I think he has knocked himself silly. Should we call an ambulance? What if he forgot today's dance sequence?”
The other girl rolled her eyes hard. “Jinha-ssi has and will never forget any choreography he has seen once. Why don't you speak for yourself, Soonhee-ya?”
Yang Soonhee stuck out her tongue sheepishly.
“Jinha-ya…?” Kong Narae couldn't help but feel a little nervous as Kang Jinha had not taken his eyes off her since he woke up.
If one had to pinpoint the best feature on Kang Jinha’s face, then it would be his eyes. He had a pair of enthralling, limpid blue eyes that appeared utterly harmless, even when the owner was angry. Usually, Kang Jinha would have his head in the clouds for most of the day, looking dazed and sleepy, with the only exception when he was dancing. In their nine years of friendship, never before had Kong Narae seen such a focused look on his eyes before, as though… as though he could not quite believe what he was seeing, thus dared not take his eyes off.
The blue in the depths of his eyes rippled like the brilliant surface of the sea, containing a myriad of emotions she could not quite comprehend.
Goodness, w–why did he look like he was on the verge of tears?!
“A–Are you okay?” Kong Narae became more flustered upon seeing the tears on the corner of his eyes. “Does your head hurt that much? Should we go to the hospital?!”
In response to her barrage of questions, Kang Jinha finally parted his mouth, a tremor in his voice that was barely above a whisper. “...Narae-ya?”
“Oh, oh, it's me. What do you need?”
Kang Jinha’s breath abruptly seized in his throat. He had known Kong Narae since they were ten, when they took the same ballet lessons at a local dance studio. This friendship continued on as they entered a specialized ballet school, dreaming of performing on the same stage one day. But alas, their paths eventually diverged when Kang Jinha awakened as a Guide and chose to enter dungeons instead of pursuing a professional ballet career.
Due to a series of arguments, they gradually lost contact with each other.
And the last time he heard of her news…
Kong Narae had taken her own life by jumping off the building at the age of twenty four, just a few days before he was sent to the prison.
Looking at her youthful, healthy and lively countenance, Kang Jinha nearly could not control his own emotions. He threw an arm over his face and called out again with a trembling voice, “Narae-ya…” a chuckle that sounded more like a sob slipped out of his lips. “What is this? Have I gone to Heaven…?”
After everything he had done, he was still qualified to enter Heaven?
Kong Narae exchanged glances with the other two girls, whose faces eventually distorted in mirth.
“Pfft,” Yang Soonhee tried her best to stifle her laugh until her shoulders trembled. “Seriously, Heaven, Jinha-ssi? Do you mean to say that I am as beautiful as an angel?”
“Ya[4]! Could you please look at yourself in the mirror?!” the other girl retorted in a mixture of disgust and amusement.
Kong Narae did not share their sentiments, though. She was really worried now. Something told her that her best friend’s current state was amiss. He seemed like a changed man after waking up from a short ten minute fainting spell. She had never seen such a look on his face before. So… vulnerable, so fragile, as though he could shatter with the slightest touch.
Before she realized it, she had taken hold of Kang Jinha’s hand. Her grasp was gentle and careful, yet Kang Jinha still jolted as if the touch had physically scalded him, his eyes wide and flustered like a deer in the headlights.
“What’s wrong, Jinha-ya?” she inquired, her brows furrowing. “Did something happen? Or… did you have a nightmare?”
Kang Jinha stared at the delicate hand holding his own. So soft, warm, and so… real. Vivid enough that it couldn’t be a dream.
This… wasn’t a dream? Really not?
Kang Jinha drew in a sharp, shaky breath. An intense headache pounded the base of his skull and tinnitus roared beside his ears ceaselessly, yet his dull eyes were getting brighter and brighter. Instead of responding to Kong Narae’s inquiry, he shot another question, so agitated that he nearly bit his tongue, “W–What date… what date is it today?!”
The concern in Kong Narae’s eyes intensified, but she still replied truthfully nonetheless. “It’s 8th April, a whole week after April's fool.” So you’d better not try to trick me, young man, was what her doubtful eyes were saying. “Do you need me to remind you that today is your birthday? You… You have even made an appointment with that person!”
However, Kang Jinha took no notice of the underlying meaning behind her gaze and continued to press for answers with an almost manic desperation, “How about the year?”
“20X5,” Kong Narae said tersely, feeling a little upset now.
She was just about to say something when in front of her, colors visibly drained from Kang Jinha’s face. He stared at her with a terror-stricken look as if what she relayed was not simply today’s date but the news of his entire family being murdered in cold blood. It sent the hair on the back of her neck rising on its end.
“What are you—”
Her sentence was cut off when Kang Jinha suddenly flung the blanket aside and stumbled off the bed, nearly tripping over his own feet.
Kong Narae was instantly alarmed. “Ya! Where do you think you’re going? Kang Jinha!”
All the exclamations and shouts behind him fell into deaf ears as Kang Jinha stumbled out of the school infirmary and ran along the deserted corridor, the twilight glow bathing his desperate form. His head still ached so much as if it was going to fall apart and beads of sweat slid into his eyes, sending a stinging sensation that blurred his vision. But he did not stop running. He could not afford to.
8th April 20X5— even after dying once, this date was still engraved deep into his mind and soul.
How could he forget it? It was his nineteenth birthday, as well as one of the days he had come to regret the most in his life.
.
.
[1] -nim = an honorific suffix that is used to show respect or politeness to someone in formal and professional settings. Often translated as Mr or Ms/Mrs
[2] -ssi = used to address someone of a similar social status and age, and is common upon meeting strangers.
[3] -ya: used between friends or someone you are really familiar with. If the name ends with consonant, then ‘-ah’ will be used for example, ‘Jinyoung-ah’
[4] Ya! = meaning ‘hey!’ in English, it can be used to get someone's attention, to scold, or to express surprise or frustration
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