Recrudescence (✓)

Chapter Thirty Four

YN never thought that standing on the edge of a cliff would be calming. But the salty wind blows through her hair and fills her lungs and she feels so entirely at peace. Jungkook stands next to her with his eyes closed, seeming to let the wind sway him back and forth gently.

"It's been so long since I've been here," he says, raising his arms as if he could embrace the surroundings, "I forgot how good it feels."

YN allows herself just to stare at Jungkook, a siren out of water. He looks so serene here, trapped in this moment in time. YN almost feels like an intruder until Jungkook opens his eyes and looks at her, lifting his hand to capture hers.

"I'm so glad that you agreed to spend time with me today, YN," Jungkook says, lifting her hand to lay it on his chest, "Really, it means the world to me."

YN doesn't know if she's more flattered, embarrassed, or ashamed, but she smiles at him the very best she can.

"This is another one of your spots, then?" she asks him, taking a step back from the edge and looking towards where Jungkook parked the car.

There really isn't much space on this ledge at all. If a third person were to join them, YN feels one of them would be shoved off and land on the sharp cliffs below.

"Yeah, it is," Jungkook says, "But this one means something different to me than the lake. I only found the lake after I came to live with your other soulmates. This place is from before."

Curious, YN finds herself asking, "Before?"

Jungkook sits down on the edge, his legs dangling over. It feels only natural for YN to take a spot beside him.

"It was hundreds of years ago at this point," he says, no real trace of emotion in his voice, "The memories have only barely started to fade. I used to live in these waters with my pod. For so long, all we did was have fun. It was so fun to sing and watch humans fall victim to our voices, watch them throw themselves towards their death."

There's a bit of something in his eyes that causes YN to tense ever so slightly.

"It was fun to rip them limb by limb and feast upon them and laugh. But then humans started getting smarter - getting angrier. And then we were the ones being hunted. Entire pods would be rounded up and slaughtered. It even became a delicacy to eat siren fins for a while."

YN winces, placing a hand on Jungkook's thigh. He smiles appreciatively at her and continues his tale.

"It also became a status symbol to own sirens in huge tanks. When I got caught, I thought I'd end up on someone's plate, but instead, I became the pet of some obnoxious princess. It was awful. For years, I was trapped inside of a cage so small that I could barely turn around and each day I grew angrier and angrier. And when the opportunity came - I killed her."

There's uncontained viciousness to his words, his sharp teeth glinting more in the light.

He remembers that moment clearly. The obnoxious princess had long since grown from a child into a woman turned ugly by power and generations of inbreeding. She wore white makeup so often that it burned her skin, leaving wounds that would never heal.

Jungkook hated her more and more with every day. He hated the way her smile was ruined with crooked teeth and rotten breath but she insisted on showing it to him every day. He hated the way her hand would linger on the thin piece of glass that separated them, looking at him with barely hidden pride. But more than anything, he hated her voice. Every inch of the princess was ugly and vile but her voice was a torture he endured each and every day. He wished he could sing and kill her, but his vocal cords had been ruined beyond repair by the fishermen who had caught him. So instead, in a cruel twist of fate, the siren was the one who suffered under another's voice.

But she grew complacent. Years of getting everything she ever wanted led the princess to become pompous and arrogant, completely free of fear and sense. It was too easy. One day she leaned a little bit too close and he grabbed her head by her hair, pulling her into his tank with him with all the strength he had.

The princess fought but was no match for sharp teeth and claws that have gone much too long without tearing into flesh. The smell of blood was nearly erotic. He wanted more, needed more, but she was already dead. The guards were already running, grabbing spears to attack him until his own lifeforce mixed with the dead princess'. He was going to die, surely, but what difference would it make at that point? He was long since dead. Jungkook didn't even think he had a soul anymore.

Imagine his surprise when, instead of closing his eyes for eternity, he found himself under bright lights with a whispering voice above him.

"Pass the scalpel please,"

"The scalpel? What on Earth is a scalpel?"

"Just leave, will you? You're getting in my way,"

"Well excuse me! You're the one who bought this half-dead monster. I swear if he dies and you blew all of our food money for the month -"

"Well if you shut up maybe I can focus and save him!"

A door slams as Jungkook flutters his eyes open.

"What happened then?" YN asks him.

"Seokjin saved me," Jungkook replies, "He healed my wounds and managed to fix my vocal cords so I could speak and sing again."

YN feels her heart soften.

"That was sweet of him!"

Jungkook snorts.

"Oh please! He didn't know sirens existed and wanted to see if he could harvest any of my organs to make potions."

YN isn't quite sure what to say to that. Thankfully, her stomach answers for her. It growls loudly.

"Why don't we eat that lunch Jin packed for us?" Jungkook suggests.

"That sounds great," YN says.

The two of them set the wicker basket between the two of them. Even though YN's stomach had been the one to rumble, Jungkook digs in first, taking a huge bite of his sandwich.

"You know," he says, chewing, "I guess I'm thankful to that shitty old princess. If I hadn't killed her, I wouldn't have ended up with Jin. I wouldn't have fallen in love with you or gotten this mark."

Jungkook swallows and shows the mark on his arm. YN's mark begins to burn and she smiles at him. The sweet moment doesn't last long at all, though, as Jungkook begins to choke violently.

"Kookie?" YN asks, trying to reach around to pat his back, "Are you okay?"

Her mark begins to burn even more and Jungkook's skin begins to turn a deathly shade of white.

"Jungkook?!"

YN scrambles to her feet but it's too late. Jungkook falls forward and goes careening off of the cliff. For a moment, YN's entire word slows down. She can practically see the air molecules float around her face, watch as they no nothing to slow her soulmate's rapid descent.

"No!" YN calls out, fighting against fate to chase after him.

Before YN can even take a moment to think, she's stepping off the cliff, diving towards her doom with one arm extended towards the deathly still Jungkook, watching with wide eyes as the jagged rocks at the bottom inch closer and closer.

_____

AN: Hey guys! Letting y'all know that I am now on hiatus. This story will still be updated weekly since I already finished it, but you probably won't get much other content out of me besides that. I'm focusing on publishing my next book, Intro: Laconic, debuting September 22 2020. If you're interested in my original works, please follow me on Instagram and Twitter (whysteriarose) for updates and news. The cover will be revealed on August 11 2020.

Thanks!

Whysteria