One-shot: Reborn
Title: Reborn
Pairing: Jessica x Tiffany
Rating: G
Genre: AU, Fluff
Word Count: 3,144 words
Summary: Do you believe in reincarnation?
A/N: Something inspired from a documentary~ Also, anything italicized and in brackets is a flashback.
Rain pounded harshly against the tiled roof of the bar somewhere in downtown Seoul. The streetlight just outside the entrance flickered in an unsteady pace. Inside the establishment, two women occupied the vicinity, one sitting on a stool and the other behind the counter, most likely an employee. The woman sitting on the stool had her head resting against her left palm, elbow propping her up while her other hand held a shot glass containing a clear liquid. Eyes fixated on the stagnant alcohol, she soon downed the liquid, slamming the glass onto the counter as the alcohol burned her throat. Taking a second to recover, she slid the cup closer to the bartender.
“Give me another shot, Sooyoung.”
Sooyoung merely shook her head as she grabbed the bottle beside her, but hesitated in pouring.
“Jessica, I think-“
“Don’t call me by that name.” The girl snarled, cold eyes harshly glaring at the bartender.
“Sorry, Sooyeon… but I think you should stop drinking.”
When Sooyeon didn’t reply, Sooyoung simply sighed, filling up the shot glass and shoving the cup across the counter.
“You know Sooyeon, it’s been 6 years since the accident. I think it’s about time to move on, don’t you think? You need to realize that she’s gone, and you can’t bring her back.”
The bartender flinched when Sooyeon looked up from her drink, prepping herself for the older girl’s drunk rant. However, Sooyeon instead cracked a small bittersweet smile, returning her attention to the shot glass which she held in the air, observing the swirling liquid as she tilted it around. Sooyoung felt a wave of sympathy course through her body at such a calm reaction.
“Hey, Sooyoung.”
“Hmm?”
“Do you believe in reincarnation?”
“Do I what?”
Sooyeon eyed the bartender, slightly amused at the response. Rotating the shot glass in her hand, she lightly shook her head, drank the alcohol, and said after recoiling from the shot, “Never mind. Forget what I said.”
-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
Sooyeon watched the inactive neighborhood surrounding her inside her car. Absentmindedly tapping the steering wheel, she peered down at her lap which cradled several documents for her job. After rereading the address printed on the paper, she returned her attention to the apartment complex in front of the parking lot.
This is definitely the right place.
She exhaled deeply as she reached for her purse on the passenger seat, sloppily gathering the documents back into their designated folders. Once done checking to see if she had all her materials, Sooyeon opened the car mirror that hung above her. She silently chuckled at what she saw: eyes bloodshot from fatigue, strands of hair in disarray due to lack of grooming care, and little effort in make-up. Sooyeon knew that she would not be happy with her current appearance.
A blast of cold air slapped her in the face when she stepped out of the car. Observing the coarse exterior of the apartment complex, Sooyeon ran her hands over her jacket to smooth out any wrinkles, and made her way to the entrance.
-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
It took 10 seconds for someone to answer the door, and Sooyeon put all her effort into smiling when a middle-aged woman opened the door.
“Hello, is this the Seo residence?”
“Ah, you must be the psychologist we called! Jung Sooyeon-sshi, right?”
Nodding in confirmation, Sooyeon found herself being ushered into the apartment by the woman. She was escorted into the living room, seating herself on a couch and placing her belongings on the coffee table in front of her.
“Let me prepare some tea for you. I’ll be back real quick.” The woman offered, already shuffling into the kitchen before she could decline the offer.
Sooyeon uneasily shifted in her seat, eyes scanning the foreign environment. Attempting to relax her nerves, she reached for the folder she had set on the table. The label on the folder read ‘Project Reborn’. The project was simply a data collection project, documents containing cases on children who were possibly “reincarnated” into the world from past lives; it was Sooyeon’s job to obtain this data.
Opening the folder, she ran a finger over the text as she silently read the information.
Name, Seo Joohyun. Age, 5 years old.
Born on June 28th, 2010.
Something inside Sooyeon flinched when she read the birth date. Though she was trying to move on, she could never forget the day she left her. She randomly noted that though it was the same date, the year was off by 1.
The lady soon returned with a tray containing two cups of tea. She sat herself on another chair, placing the tray onto the coffee table, and handing Sooyeon a tea cup. Sooyeon thanked her, and sipped a little bit of the tea, lavishing in the hot, comforting feel of the liquid traveling down her throat.
“So, could you tell me a little bit about Joohyun?” Sooyeon asked, setting the cup onto a coaster which was laid out on the coffee table.
“Ah yes. Well, it began when Joohyun turned 2. At that age, she was starting to talk more, but the only thing she talked about was a life that she had once lived. I just thought it was something she had made up, but she constantly kept talking about it, elaborating more details the older she got. Oh, and Joohyun loves talking about this girl. I thought she was an imaginary friend that she added to her ridiculous story, but she just never dropped the idea. It’s been getting worse recently; she’d go into tantrums, screaming that she wanted to go back to where she once lived and she wanted to see this girl. Honestly, I don’t know what to do with her when she’s like this.” The woman concluded with a sigh, taking a long sip of tea afterwards.
Sooyeon nodded slowly, staring at the notes she had taken while listening to the story. So far, the case sounded like all the other cases she observed. Most likely, this one would be no different.
“Would it be ok if I could talk to Joohyun?”
“Of course you can! She’s in her room right now; let me go get her.”
She watched as the lady made her way into an adjacent hallway. Sooyeon reached for the child’s profile from her folder, examining the picture that was placed next to her information. The girl looked like the average Korean child, though Sooyeon felt the corner of her lip twitch when she saw the child’s innocent eye smile. She once had bright, innocent eye smiles to enjoy, but that was luxury she could no longer have.
Sooyeon jerked out of her thoughts when she heard the sound of approaching footsteps. Again, she forced a smile when the lady returned, who was holding the hand of a little girl. The girl looked exactly the same from the profile picture, except she adorned a white, frilly dress rather than a school uniform. The woman returned to her previous seat while the girl performed a 90-degree bow, introducing herself to the stranger, before choosing to sit on the ground behind the coffee table, fussing with the doll she brought along.
“So Joohyun, your mom told me about your story; your story about how you once lived a different life.” Sooyeon found herself speaking in a softer, kinder tone than she did with adults.
She could tell that Joohyun was displeased at her choice of words, but did not make a scene of it. Instead, she corrected in a sweet voice, “It’s not a story. I did live somewhere else as someone else.”
“Alright, I believe you. Let’s start from the beginning. Your name wasn’t Joohyun then, right? Do you remember what your name was?”
Joohyun stopped messing with the doll’s hair to think. Within several seconds, the little girl merely frowned and shook her head, “I don’t remember.”
Sooyeon nodded while jotting down a couple of notes on her notepad.
“Do you remember where you lived?”
The little girl’s face suddenly brightened; satisfied with a question she could easily answer.
“I lived in Diamond Bar, California, but when I was older I ran away from home to go to San Francisco.”
Sooyeon arched an eyebrow. America; it was quite the distance for an American to reappear across the world in Korea. She learned that the hard way, when she flew to Seoul for the first time, but she had good reason: to abandon the chaos of her past when she too once lived in California. She didn’t consider it a coincidence though; the state had a population of over 37,000,000 people after all. She side glanced at the mother who shook her head in disbelief, a sign that this family had never been to America before.
“You said you ran away from home? San Francisco is very far from Los Angeles, you know. Why did you do that?”
At that point, Joohyun broke into a toothy grin, cheerfully exclaiming, “To be with Jessi, of course!”
If Sooyeon had been drinking her tea, she would definitely have had a spit-take moment. Instead, she nearly snapped her pen in half, her grip never relenting. A name she shunned, a name she never wanted to hear again, but here she was, the accursed name still ringing in her ears. Calm down, Sooyeon thought, there are hundreds of ‘Jessi’s out there.
“W-Who is Jessi? Do you remember what she looked like?”
“Well her real name is Jessica Jung,” (Sooyeon began mentally beating into her head that there were many Jessica Jungs out there as well), “but I’ve always called her Jessi, because it sounded cuter. As for what she looked like…”
Joohyun trailed off, eyes fixated on Sooyeon. The examining, curious eyes suddenly made her feel uncomfortable. The little girl tilted her head left, and then right seconds later. In a contemplating tone, she nonchalantly stated, “If I look hard enough… you kind of look like her…” She paused, as if to collect her thoughts. She then extended her arms into the air. “But my Jessi had a smile THIS big.”
Sooyeon felt an acute gripping pain on her heart. When was the last time she truly smiled? Probably when she was still around. It was beginning to bother Sooyeon; this little tale was starting to become less of a coincidence; it conflicted her mind. ‘She’s gone, and you can’t bring her back.’ Sooyoung’s word still echoed in her ears. She wanted to believe those words, but this little girl was hindering her process of moving on.
“Can you recall any memories from your past life?”
Joohyun had the doll in her hands again by the time Sooyeon asked the question. The little girl placed a finger on her chin, droning a monotone hum as she thought.
“I remember this one time. Me and Jessi were walking on this beach. We could see the San Francisco Bridge from where we were. It was probably late, because I remember seeing a sunset. We sat on this giant boulder, watching the sea for a long time. Then, Jessi gave me a present.”
“What did she give you?”
Joohyun lowered her eyes, viewing her open palm, fingers outstretched.
“She gave me a ring. She had a ring also, but she wore it around her neck.”
Sooyeon’s hand unconsciously rose to her chest as she absorbed the information, fingers pressing against her jacket. Underneath the layers of fabric, a silver ring was suspended by a fragile metal chain. She would be damned if she ever threw away this precious ring, regardless of what she needed to do to move on.
[A wind blew by, blowing a scent of seaweed and salt into Jessica’s face. The setting sun colored the sky and water a deep color of scarlet. They only reason the sun wasn’t blinding her now was thanks to the humongous bridge nearby towering a large shadow over them. She ran her left hand over the coarse rock’s surface until it found shelter on a fragile, soft hand that intertwined with her fingers. Her right hand made its way into her pocket, which pulled out a small box.
“What’s that?” The brunette beside her asked, eyes gleaming from her discovery.
“A present.”
Jessica handed the box to the girl. She excitedly opened the box, gasping in utter awe at its contents.
“Oh my god Jessi; a ring? You shouldn’t have!”
The brunette held the metal object between two fingers midair, trying to get a better look. On its side, the words ‘Jessica Jung’ were engraved into its smooth surface.
“Actually, the ring is a part of our couple rings”
Jessica reached into her collar to pull out a chain, a ring dangling on its end.
“Why aren’t you wearing it on your hand?”
“Because I want to keep you close to my heart.”
Hearing the answer caused the brunette to grin widely, eyes curving into little moons.
“Jessi…”
The girl soon reached for the back of Jessica’s neck, pulling the girl in for a rewarding kiss.]
“And then, this one time during winter. I was walking with Jessi at night, and started snowing! San Francisco never snows; it was amazing to see it with Jessi!”
[The moon barely shone its light on the two girls walking down the vacant street, gray clouds coveting the suppose night sky. Jessica sighed, watching a white vapor escape her mouth. She mentally questioned why she was out in the cold, freezing herself when she could’ve been snuggling in a nice and cozy bed. She quickly remembered the answer, when a warm hand slipped in her frozen one.
“Cold?” The girl asked with bemused smile on her face.
Jessica had her pride to protect, so she merely snorted, causing the other girl to giggle at her reaction. Despite her pride, she didn’t let go of the comforting hand.
She flinched at a sudden wet feeling on her nose. The other girl quickly noticed her distressed and stopped walking. They both looked up, and to their amazement, white flakes were beginning to fall from the sky. Jessica could hear a gasp of awe shriek out of her friend, as she let go of her hand and danced around in front of her.
“Jessi, look! It’s snowing!” The girl gleefully cried.
“Weird… it never snows here.” Jessica stuck a hand out in front of her, watching as snow melted on her skin.
“It must be a sign!”
Jessica stared at the girl curiously as she ran back to her, her smile never dropping.
“A sign? A sign of what?”
The girl suddenly hugged her, arms wrapping around her waist as she burrowed her head in the crook of Jessica’s neck. Jessica shivered at the whisper against her chilled skin.
“That we were meant to be together.”]
“Sooyeon-sshi?”
Sooyeon jumped at sound of the mother’s voice. She had been brought back to reality after a long period of silence.
“Sorry… I was just thinking.” Sooyeon nervously replied, reaching for tea and awkwardly taking a sip.
At this point, her past was beginning to unravel before her; the past that she tried so hard to throw away. She abandoned her name, her memories, her life. And yet, it was all coming back, and it was because of this child she didn’t know. It was impossible, Sooyeon thought, that though her project involved the dead being reborn, it couldn’t have been possible. That she had the possibility of coming back into this world after leaving her for so long.
“So Joohyun, do you remember how you died?”
It took several seconds for Joohyun to answer. Sooyeon could obviously see the little girl crushing the doll in her hands.
“I don’t really know… Every time I try to think about it, I feel like I’m being crushed, and then thrown around like a ragdoll.”
Sooyeon felt her teeth gritting in slight anger. Just thinking about how she died infuriated her. She still remembered the call she had received. She had ran a mile (leaving in the middle of her part-time job) to reach the scene. Police cars, ambulances, and people were everywhere. She saw the wreck in the intersection, and it barely looked like two cars. One of the policemen told her everything: a drunk driver ran a red light, and completely crashed into her car as she was crossing. The crash itself was so intense, that the driver of the crashed vehicle had been ejected from the car, tossed and rolled several feet from the scene. It was unfair. The killer lived, and the innocent died. Sooyeon had done nothing wrong, and yet she lost her so quickly, so unexpectedly. She would have never forgiven life for the cruel reality.
“Ah, it looks like you’ve ran out of tea,” The mother noted. “Let me get you some more.”
Sooyeon nodded as the woman took her tea cup as well as her own, exiting the room into the kitchen. By this time, she had long stopped taking notes. Watching as Joohyun fretted with the doll’s hair, Sooyeon stood up, moved around the coffee table, and sat on the floor beside the little girl.
“Joohyun, I have two more questions for you.”
The little girl stared at her with puzzled eyes, but then nodded.
“Are you afraid of dying?”
Joohyun giggled, as if delighted by the question.
“Of course not! It’s not like we disappear forever when we die. God gives us the option to come back into the world; He gives us a second chance. I remember God gave me a ticket when I went to Heaven. That ticket led me to this giant, black hole. He told me to go through it, and I did. One minute, I was a tall girl, and then the next minute, I’m a little girl. I’m sure God put me back into this world to reunite me with my Jessi!”
“Final question. Do you recognize this?”
Sooyeon reached into her jacket, and pulled out the chain to reveal the ring. She figured it wouldn’t hurt to show her the object of her affection; she could longer deny the possibility that her long lost love was in front of her now. She watched as Joohyun’s eyes widened in shock.
“That’s Jessi’s ring! Why do you have it?!”
“Because Joohyun… I’m Jessica Jung Sooyeon. I am Jessi.”
The little girl stared at the ring in silence. She then looked at Sooyeon, as if re-examining her with a new outlook. As if something clicked inside of her, like as if everything suddenly made sense, Joohyun smiled. When Sooyeon saw her eyes curve into little moons, she saw her lover’s face reflect off of Joohyun’s for a split second; it took only a split second for her tears to finally spill.
“Hi Jessi.”
“Hi… Tiffany…”
Do you believe in reincarnation?
-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
I realize that this is a very sensitive topic towards religion, so if you don't necessarily believe in reincarnation, that's perfectly fine. Personally, I think it's a wonderful thought, but I'm not really religious enough to believe in it. :P
Penny for your thoughts? :3
Pairing: Jessica x Tiffany
Rating: G
Genre: AU, Fluff
Word Count: 3,144 words
Summary: Do you believe in reincarnation?
A/N: Something inspired from a documentary~ Also, anything italicized and in brackets is a flashback.
Rain pounded harshly against the tiled roof of the bar somewhere in downtown Seoul. The streetlight just outside the entrance flickered in an unsteady pace. Inside the establishment, two women occupied the vicinity, one sitting on a stool and the other behind the counter, most likely an employee. The woman sitting on the stool had her head resting against her left palm, elbow propping her up while her other hand held a shot glass containing a clear liquid. Eyes fixated on the stagnant alcohol, she soon downed the liquid, slamming the glass onto the counter as the alcohol burned her throat. Taking a second to recover, she slid the cup closer to the bartender.
“Give me another shot, Sooyoung.”
Sooyoung merely shook her head as she grabbed the bottle beside her, but hesitated in pouring.
“Jessica, I think-“
“Don’t call me by that name.” The girl snarled, cold eyes harshly glaring at the bartender.
“Sorry, Sooyeon… but I think you should stop drinking.”
When Sooyeon didn’t reply, Sooyoung simply sighed, filling up the shot glass and shoving the cup across the counter.
“You know Sooyeon, it’s been 6 years since the accident. I think it’s about time to move on, don’t you think? You need to realize that she’s gone, and you can’t bring her back.”
The bartender flinched when Sooyeon looked up from her drink, prepping herself for the older girl’s drunk rant. However, Sooyeon instead cracked a small bittersweet smile, returning her attention to the shot glass which she held in the air, observing the swirling liquid as she tilted it around. Sooyoung felt a wave of sympathy course through her body at such a calm reaction.
“Hey, Sooyoung.”
“Hmm?”
“Do you believe in reincarnation?”
“Do I what?”
Sooyeon eyed the bartender, slightly amused at the response. Rotating the shot glass in her hand, she lightly shook her head, drank the alcohol, and said after recoiling from the shot, “Never mind. Forget what I said.”
-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
Sooyeon watched the inactive neighborhood surrounding her inside her car. Absentmindedly tapping the steering wheel, she peered down at her lap which cradled several documents for her job. After rereading the address printed on the paper, she returned her attention to the apartment complex in front of the parking lot.
This is definitely the right place.
She exhaled deeply as she reached for her purse on the passenger seat, sloppily gathering the documents back into their designated folders. Once done checking to see if she had all her materials, Sooyeon opened the car mirror that hung above her. She silently chuckled at what she saw: eyes bloodshot from fatigue, strands of hair in disarray due to lack of grooming care, and little effort in make-up. Sooyeon knew that she would not be happy with her current appearance.
A blast of cold air slapped her in the face when she stepped out of the car. Observing the coarse exterior of the apartment complex, Sooyeon ran her hands over her jacket to smooth out any wrinkles, and made her way to the entrance.
-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
It took 10 seconds for someone to answer the door, and Sooyeon put all her effort into smiling when a middle-aged woman opened the door.
“Hello, is this the Seo residence?”
“Ah, you must be the psychologist we called! Jung Sooyeon-sshi, right?”
Nodding in confirmation, Sooyeon found herself being ushered into the apartment by the woman. She was escorted into the living room, seating herself on a couch and placing her belongings on the coffee table in front of her.
“Let me prepare some tea for you. I’ll be back real quick.” The woman offered, already shuffling into the kitchen before she could decline the offer.
Sooyeon uneasily shifted in her seat, eyes scanning the foreign environment. Attempting to relax her nerves, she reached for the folder she had set on the table. The label on the folder read ‘Project Reborn’. The project was simply a data collection project, documents containing cases on children who were possibly “reincarnated” into the world from past lives; it was Sooyeon’s job to obtain this data.
Opening the folder, she ran a finger over the text as she silently read the information.
Name, Seo Joohyun. Age, 5 years old.
Born on June 28th, 2010.
Something inside Sooyeon flinched when she read the birth date. Though she was trying to move on, she could never forget the day she left her. She randomly noted that though it was the same date, the year was off by 1.
The lady soon returned with a tray containing two cups of tea. She sat herself on another chair, placing the tray onto the coffee table, and handing Sooyeon a tea cup. Sooyeon thanked her, and sipped a little bit of the tea, lavishing in the hot, comforting feel of the liquid traveling down her throat.
“So, could you tell me a little bit about Joohyun?” Sooyeon asked, setting the cup onto a coaster which was laid out on the coffee table.
“Ah yes. Well, it began when Joohyun turned 2. At that age, she was starting to talk more, but the only thing she talked about was a life that she had once lived. I just thought it was something she had made up, but she constantly kept talking about it, elaborating more details the older she got. Oh, and Joohyun loves talking about this girl. I thought she was an imaginary friend that she added to her ridiculous story, but she just never dropped the idea. It’s been getting worse recently; she’d go into tantrums, screaming that she wanted to go back to where she once lived and she wanted to see this girl. Honestly, I don’t know what to do with her when she’s like this.” The woman concluded with a sigh, taking a long sip of tea afterwards.
Sooyeon nodded slowly, staring at the notes she had taken while listening to the story. So far, the case sounded like all the other cases she observed. Most likely, this one would be no different.
“Would it be ok if I could talk to Joohyun?”
“Of course you can! She’s in her room right now; let me go get her.”
She watched as the lady made her way into an adjacent hallway. Sooyeon reached for the child’s profile from her folder, examining the picture that was placed next to her information. The girl looked like the average Korean child, though Sooyeon felt the corner of her lip twitch when she saw the child’s innocent eye smile. She once had bright, innocent eye smiles to enjoy, but that was luxury she could no longer have.
Sooyeon jerked out of her thoughts when she heard the sound of approaching footsteps. Again, she forced a smile when the lady returned, who was holding the hand of a little girl. The girl looked exactly the same from the profile picture, except she adorned a white, frilly dress rather than a school uniform. The woman returned to her previous seat while the girl performed a 90-degree bow, introducing herself to the stranger, before choosing to sit on the ground behind the coffee table, fussing with the doll she brought along.
“So Joohyun, your mom told me about your story; your story about how you once lived a different life.” Sooyeon found herself speaking in a softer, kinder tone than she did with adults.
She could tell that Joohyun was displeased at her choice of words, but did not make a scene of it. Instead, she corrected in a sweet voice, “It’s not a story. I did live somewhere else as someone else.”
“Alright, I believe you. Let’s start from the beginning. Your name wasn’t Joohyun then, right? Do you remember what your name was?”
Joohyun stopped messing with the doll’s hair to think. Within several seconds, the little girl merely frowned and shook her head, “I don’t remember.”
Sooyeon nodded while jotting down a couple of notes on her notepad.
“Do you remember where you lived?”
The little girl’s face suddenly brightened; satisfied with a question she could easily answer.
“I lived in Diamond Bar, California, but when I was older I ran away from home to go to San Francisco.”
Sooyeon arched an eyebrow. America; it was quite the distance for an American to reappear across the world in Korea. She learned that the hard way, when she flew to Seoul for the first time, but she had good reason: to abandon the chaos of her past when she too once lived in California. She didn’t consider it a coincidence though; the state had a population of over 37,000,000 people after all. She side glanced at the mother who shook her head in disbelief, a sign that this family had never been to America before.
“You said you ran away from home? San Francisco is very far from Los Angeles, you know. Why did you do that?”
At that point, Joohyun broke into a toothy grin, cheerfully exclaiming, “To be with Jessi, of course!”
If Sooyeon had been drinking her tea, she would definitely have had a spit-take moment. Instead, she nearly snapped her pen in half, her grip never relenting. A name she shunned, a name she never wanted to hear again, but here she was, the accursed name still ringing in her ears. Calm down, Sooyeon thought, there are hundreds of ‘Jessi’s out there.
“W-Who is Jessi? Do you remember what she looked like?”
“Well her real name is Jessica Jung,” (Sooyeon began mentally beating into her head that there were many Jessica Jungs out there as well), “but I’ve always called her Jessi, because it sounded cuter. As for what she looked like…”
Joohyun trailed off, eyes fixated on Sooyeon. The examining, curious eyes suddenly made her feel uncomfortable. The little girl tilted her head left, and then right seconds later. In a contemplating tone, she nonchalantly stated, “If I look hard enough… you kind of look like her…” She paused, as if to collect her thoughts. She then extended her arms into the air. “But my Jessi had a smile THIS big.”
Sooyeon felt an acute gripping pain on her heart. When was the last time she truly smiled? Probably when she was still around. It was beginning to bother Sooyeon; this little tale was starting to become less of a coincidence; it conflicted her mind. ‘She’s gone, and you can’t bring her back.’ Sooyoung’s word still echoed in her ears. She wanted to believe those words, but this little girl was hindering her process of moving on.
“Can you recall any memories from your past life?”
Joohyun had the doll in her hands again by the time Sooyeon asked the question. The little girl placed a finger on her chin, droning a monotone hum as she thought.
“I remember this one time. Me and Jessi were walking on this beach. We could see the San Francisco Bridge from where we were. It was probably late, because I remember seeing a sunset. We sat on this giant boulder, watching the sea for a long time. Then, Jessi gave me a present.”
“What did she give you?”
Joohyun lowered her eyes, viewing her open palm, fingers outstretched.
“She gave me a ring. She had a ring also, but she wore it around her neck.”
Sooyeon’s hand unconsciously rose to her chest as she absorbed the information, fingers pressing against her jacket. Underneath the layers of fabric, a silver ring was suspended by a fragile metal chain. She would be damned if she ever threw away this precious ring, regardless of what she needed to do to move on.
[A wind blew by, blowing a scent of seaweed and salt into Jessica’s face. The setting sun colored the sky and water a deep color of scarlet. They only reason the sun wasn’t blinding her now was thanks to the humongous bridge nearby towering a large shadow over them. She ran her left hand over the coarse rock’s surface until it found shelter on a fragile, soft hand that intertwined with her fingers. Her right hand made its way into her pocket, which pulled out a small box.
“What’s that?” The brunette beside her asked, eyes gleaming from her discovery.
“A present.”
Jessica handed the box to the girl. She excitedly opened the box, gasping in utter awe at its contents.
“Oh my god Jessi; a ring? You shouldn’t have!”
The brunette held the metal object between two fingers midair, trying to get a better look. On its side, the words ‘Jessica Jung’ were engraved into its smooth surface.
“Actually, the ring is a part of our couple rings”
Jessica reached into her collar to pull out a chain, a ring dangling on its end.
“Why aren’t you wearing it on your hand?”
“Because I want to keep you close to my heart.”
Hearing the answer caused the brunette to grin widely, eyes curving into little moons.
“Jessi…”
The girl soon reached for the back of Jessica’s neck, pulling the girl in for a rewarding kiss.]
“And then, this one time during winter. I was walking with Jessi at night, and started snowing! San Francisco never snows; it was amazing to see it with Jessi!”
[The moon barely shone its light on the two girls walking down the vacant street, gray clouds coveting the suppose night sky. Jessica sighed, watching a white vapor escape her mouth. She mentally questioned why she was out in the cold, freezing herself when she could’ve been snuggling in a nice and cozy bed. She quickly remembered the answer, when a warm hand slipped in her frozen one.
“Cold?” The girl asked with bemused smile on her face.
Jessica had her pride to protect, so she merely snorted, causing the other girl to giggle at her reaction. Despite her pride, she didn’t let go of the comforting hand.
She flinched at a sudden wet feeling on her nose. The other girl quickly noticed her distressed and stopped walking. They both looked up, and to their amazement, white flakes were beginning to fall from the sky. Jessica could hear a gasp of awe shriek out of her friend, as she let go of her hand and danced around in front of her.
“Jessi, look! It’s snowing!” The girl gleefully cried.
“Weird… it never snows here.” Jessica stuck a hand out in front of her, watching as snow melted on her skin.
“It must be a sign!”
Jessica stared at the girl curiously as she ran back to her, her smile never dropping.
“A sign? A sign of what?”
The girl suddenly hugged her, arms wrapping around her waist as she burrowed her head in the crook of Jessica’s neck. Jessica shivered at the whisper against her chilled skin.
“That we were meant to be together.”]
“Sooyeon-sshi?”
Sooyeon jumped at sound of the mother’s voice. She had been brought back to reality after a long period of silence.
“Sorry… I was just thinking.” Sooyeon nervously replied, reaching for tea and awkwardly taking a sip.
At this point, her past was beginning to unravel before her; the past that she tried so hard to throw away. She abandoned her name, her memories, her life. And yet, it was all coming back, and it was because of this child she didn’t know. It was impossible, Sooyeon thought, that though her project involved the dead being reborn, it couldn’t have been possible. That she had the possibility of coming back into this world after leaving her for so long.
“So Joohyun, do you remember how you died?”
It took several seconds for Joohyun to answer. Sooyeon could obviously see the little girl crushing the doll in her hands.
“I don’t really know… Every time I try to think about it, I feel like I’m being crushed, and then thrown around like a ragdoll.”
Sooyeon felt her teeth gritting in slight anger. Just thinking about how she died infuriated her. She still remembered the call she had received. She had ran a mile (leaving in the middle of her part-time job) to reach the scene. Police cars, ambulances, and people were everywhere. She saw the wreck in the intersection, and it barely looked like two cars. One of the policemen told her everything: a drunk driver ran a red light, and completely crashed into her car as she was crossing. The crash itself was so intense, that the driver of the crashed vehicle had been ejected from the car, tossed and rolled several feet from the scene. It was unfair. The killer lived, and the innocent died. Sooyeon had done nothing wrong, and yet she lost her so quickly, so unexpectedly. She would have never forgiven life for the cruel reality.
“Ah, it looks like you’ve ran out of tea,” The mother noted. “Let me get you some more.”
Sooyeon nodded as the woman took her tea cup as well as her own, exiting the room into the kitchen. By this time, she had long stopped taking notes. Watching as Joohyun fretted with the doll’s hair, Sooyeon stood up, moved around the coffee table, and sat on the floor beside the little girl.
“Joohyun, I have two more questions for you.”
The little girl stared at her with puzzled eyes, but then nodded.
“Are you afraid of dying?”
Joohyun giggled, as if delighted by the question.
“Of course not! It’s not like we disappear forever when we die. God gives us the option to come back into the world; He gives us a second chance. I remember God gave me a ticket when I went to Heaven. That ticket led me to this giant, black hole. He told me to go through it, and I did. One minute, I was a tall girl, and then the next minute, I’m a little girl. I’m sure God put me back into this world to reunite me with my Jessi!”
“Final question. Do you recognize this?”
Sooyeon reached into her jacket, and pulled out the chain to reveal the ring. She figured it wouldn’t hurt to show her the object of her affection; she could longer deny the possibility that her long lost love was in front of her now. She watched as Joohyun’s eyes widened in shock.
“That’s Jessi’s ring! Why do you have it?!”
“Because Joohyun… I’m Jessica Jung Sooyeon. I am Jessi.”
The little girl stared at the ring in silence. She then looked at Sooyeon, as if re-examining her with a new outlook. As if something clicked inside of her, like as if everything suddenly made sense, Joohyun smiled. When Sooyeon saw her eyes curve into little moons, she saw her lover’s face reflect off of Joohyun’s for a split second; it took only a split second for her tears to finally spill.
“Hi Jessi.”
“Hi… Tiffany…”
Do you believe in reincarnation?
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I realize that this is a very sensitive topic towards religion, so if you don't necessarily believe in reincarnation, that's perfectly fine. Personally, I think it's a wonderful thought, but I'm not really religious enough to believe in it. :P
Penny for your thoughts? :3