Trials of the Good and Evil

CHAPTER TWENTY: TALE AS OLD AS TIME

"Jisoo! Jisoo!" Park Yuri was shouting her name a lot of times when she saw her friend's eyes are a little more opened than before. Her intuition was right that Jisoo was slowly gaining her consciousness after she allegedly tripped, hit her head on the tree, and fell unconscious; then was later found by a local farmer who was also harvesting for apples.

"What? Where am I?" Jisoo groaned as she softly caressed her head. "I'm in a hospital bed? What?" She processed everything out. All those Princess things that happened were all just a dream. But it all seemed so real.

Yuri was blabbering everything that happened while Jisoo was just silent as a ghost. Princess Jennie wasn't real. The Good and Evil castles weren't real. Prince Kim Seokjin, the villains, the royals. Kim Taehyung.

"I-I need a moment, Yuri." She stood up went to the hospital bathroom. There, she cried. She was dazed and traumatized that all that seemed to be a dream and perfect was just fiction. As fiction as the books she loved reading. "Oh dear! Me and my dramatic fantasies!" She exclaimed and laughed at herself. "How foolish."

"Jisoo, are you okay?" Yuri's concerned voice was heard from outside.

"Yep, Yuri. Just shocked. That's all." She said as she sniffed her nose and wiped her tears. "How long have I been hospitalized?"

"About 2 and a half days." Yuri answered. "Everyone was so worried for you including those men who courted you before. They even sent bouquets but it's just that the flowers all dried out so quickly." She added, "You should still get some rest though. I prepared breakfast for you!" Her friend said with enthusiasm.

"Thanks, Yuri." Jisoo said softly. It was time to face and accept reality and longer be a kid. The reality that they don't exist. And it was all because of her obsession towards fairytales.

***

3 years later

Jisoo was dressed in a light pink patterned dress. She had her typewriter with her. The lady was now working at the village's official publication center. She wrote dozens of articles of all sorts of news to inform truth to the citizens. But first, she went inside the library of Ms. Lee who seemed to not have aged a bit. She was still that charming and enthusiastic woman who owned the local bookstore loved by many.

"Good morning, Ms. Lee-" She was cut off because the bookstore was crowded than usual. They were all lined up to buy this new book. And Ms. Lee was the one assisting their purchases. Jisoo then carefully placed her typewriter on a blank table. She then went to the shelves of the newly added books. She saw the book that was being the cause of chaos in the bookstore.

'Tale of the Princess and Villain'

Jisoo's eyes widened. She immediately opened a copy and read the story through. Everything. Everything she read was what happened in her so-thought illusion of her being in a fairytale. They even had the same names. She quickly went to Ms. Lee. "Good morning!" She greeted first as she read the book's author. And it was yet again, unknown.

"Good morning, deary Jisoo." She said, "Oh yes 25 cents for the newly published book." She answered a customer, "I know, it's very uncanny the Princess in that book has exactly the same name as you. And even personality if I may analyze the details!" She chuckled.

"Do you know who gave you this book to republish?"

"Oh no. They just come in when their times are perfect and now it's causing chaos to my cashier over here! But nevertheless, I love its moral. It has its own spark among the many fairytales I've read." She smiled delightfully.

Jisoo smiled both happily and sadly. "I quite...agree." She added. Then, she put the book back on the shelf. 'It's real! But not quite. It might be just a coincidence. But...I experienced everything that was stated in the book. I...just need more evidence.' She thought.

She took the typewriter and then went to the trading center of their village. Jisoo will be attending at a Diamond trading event as a journalist and write about that particular event. As she was heading out, she bumped into someone. "Oh my- dear lord! I'm very sorry!" Jisoo apologized.

"No it's okay, I was in a hurry too!" The girl smiled. While Jisoo's face dropped.

"Jennie?" Jisoo whispered.

The girl's eyes widened. "H-How do you know my name?" She stuttered.

Jisoo gulped. "I- just guessed. I mean, I have a friend before who looked just like you a-and is named Jennie." She laughed awkwardly. "Anyway, please...attend to your business. I'm very sorry once again."

The two girls bowed at each other and went their way to their agenda for the day. Jisoo checked her watch and looked to see that she was already 10 minutes late. It was a very unusual day for her so she didn't really pressure herself about not being on time. She then settled herself in a place where journalists were also sitting.

As she was fixating her paper on the typewriter, "Excuse me, Miss. Do you know where the restroom is?" A familiar voice asked her.  It was Seokjin.

She gulped and calmly said. "Go straight there and turn right, Sir." Jisoo politely answered.

"Thank you." Seokjin smiled and headed towards his way.

They didn't recognize Jisoo and that bothered her very much. They were once close and now, they're just plain strangers with different lives to live. But she was happy enough to see them have their own happily ever after in the real world.

Then suddenly the photographers rushed to the red carpet, "It's the biggest Diamond trader in the industry!"

Jisoo then readied her typewriter to jot down the event and important people in the event. Then, a man with a fully polished black tuxedo with messy dark hair, and poker face appeared in the scene. He went towards the nearest stall set up by a miner who found beautiful diamonds. "These are extraordinary." The man complimented the miner.

Jisoo was even more stunned now. It was her true love from the fairytales. Kim Taehyung. Looking for diamonds. Diamonds that he once built on the side of the villains' lair because the light hurt her eyes.

She just sat their and can't believe who she's seeing. After 3 years, she finally saw him again. The man who saved her life. The love of her life, even up until now.

Then, the man caught a glimpse of her. At first, Jisoo thought that Taehyung was just going to look at her and proceed with admiring the diamonds. But he straightened his position and had the same emotions in his eyes as Jisoo. He approached her even though the cameras were still focused at him, "Kim Jisoo?" He asked and smiled at the same time. "Princess...Kim Jisoo?"

Jisoo smiled as tears fell from her eyes. The lovers hugged each other after their reunification. "Is this the happily ever after they've said?" Jisoo joked.

Taehyung hugged her even tighter. "No." His answer made Jisoo confused, "Because our story will never end." He added making Jisoo smile.

"And real happy endings never have endings."

~ The End ~