Lovers in the Night II | Yang Jungwon

XXIX

Yona sighs before she drops her hand to her side, and the disappointment was evident in Danah's face.

The sky now illuminated civil twilight as the sun was prepping to bloom into the horizon. In the west, the blood moon that casted the gentle, eerie glow upon earth was now getting ready to rest, dipping out of Human range of vision.

Danah sadly sighs out into the cold, though no frost breath comes out. She wasn't Human anymore, after all, but a Soul. On the other hand, the Human Yona breathes normally, yet her exhaled breaths noticeably condensate.

Yona bore an expression that was hard to interpret. She was carefully putting her thoughts together, unsure of what the right decision was. She was just an innocent Human who doesn't know better.

The Soul girl closes her eyes upon realizing that her wishes of speaking to Jungwon may never happen. Was this karma? She knew that it was selfish to use Yona to her advantage, but she missed Jungwon too much to think about anyone else's feelings.

Perhaps it was time for her to move on.

What Danah doesn't tell Yona is that she is a Stray Soul. When you die, you have two options as a dead Human: give up your memories and morph yourself with your current life, or give all your memories to your current life. The latter is considered absolutely immoral and unnecessary to the Soul realm council.

For the longest time, Danah didn't choose either option and, again, let herself become a Stray Soul. Inherently, she was a begrudged entity who dwelled upon the earth, unready to move on from the depressing life she lived.

Souls are unable to travel across realms, so when they die in one, they are stuck there. When she found Jungwon in the Human realm, she was ecstatic. Danah made sure to give Yona visions of her life; since that was the only way you could communicate with your past life as a Soul.

She waited for an opening to become visible to Yona, and here it was, but it was seemingly not going her way. Danah could feel herself disappearing as the sun rose little by little. In a matter of minutes, she would revert back to being invisible to Humans.

It was until she felt a body of warmth engulf her cold and lifeless physique. Bewildered, she opens her eyes and stares at the girl in a questioning manner.

The embrace was soft and beautiful - nothing like what Danah experienced as a Soul. She had almost entirely forgotten what it was like to be lovingly touched by a Human since she spent 18 years invisible to them. She lacked such affection for so long, and it didn't take long for tears to brim in her eyes. Yona tightens her grip on Danah as she whispers, "Thank you for being you."

Yona had finally made up her mind after thinking about Danah's offer for a while, and she knew she wasn't going to regret her decision.

Danah finally hugs Yona back, nuzzling her face into the crook of her neck. She was so grateful that Yona decided to accept her plan, and she didn't know how to thank her enough. Her voice cracks as she says, "No, thank you for letting him fall in love with us twice."

Just then, an unknown force between their bodies causes them to be thrown apart from each other. The two girls groan as they land on their backs. The sky begins to rumble as a storm quickly conquers the sky. Yona gets up on her shoulders to check on Danah, but at that moment, Danah transforms into an ethereal substance that floats into the air.

The substance looked like the humanoid version of the milky way, and Yona couldn't help but get lost in the majestic view before her.

She wasn't sure if she was supposed to be horrified or amazed at the sight - it was all happening so fast. The ethereal substance that was once Danah then dives down toward Yona from the sky at an alarming rate, and Yona screams in fear.

She gasps as it enters her body, and she immediately passes out right after.

=

Our first pair of partners are Jungwon and Danah!" Ms Song begins.

Danah's three friends instantly turn around to eye her. "This is the second time in a row you both have been partnered together," Sullyoon states.

Minji simply smirks, assuming that something was up. "Must be fate," she coos in a quiet tone.

"Shut up! He might be listening," Danah lectures her. She turns around to make sure that he wasn't paying attention to see that his seat was empty.

"It seems like you've been zoned out during the entire school session. How didn't you notice that Jungwon didn't come to school today?" Wonyoung raises an eyebrow.

"For real, didn't you have the hugest crush on him during freshman year?" Sullyoon points out, bemused. "You raved on how much you loved his curly hair."

Danah chokes on her saliva after hearing that. "Exactly. Remember when you got a perm to match his hair? You used to drag us around school just to stalk him," Minji reminisces the old times.

Danah scrunches her nose, embarrassed. "Guys, I'm a new person."

"Remember, in gym class, when Danah got face-slammed by a dodgeball and Jungwon shortly came to check up on her? She never stopped talking about the apparent signs he gave her since then," Sullyoon adds on. At that, the entire friend group laughs.

Minji's train of thought gets interrupted when lightning suddenly booms in the sky, and a harsh rainfall deluges her body. She was still in the amusement park, recalling all the precious memories she had with her friends, so she was caught a biff off guard.

She takes out her umbrella from the pocket of her backpack and hovers it over her head.

Once again, lightning aggressively strikes. The girl doesn't flinch this time, however. The sudden change of weather definitely indicated something. So Yona did it, she says to herself, a little bit of disbelief and relief in her expression.

Minji smiles as she looks up at the rain, "Welcome back, Danah."