44th page_3rd fiction_Sad Memories of The Lost Love
Fan Fiction
Title : Sad Memories of the Lost Love
Written by : Arij bt Yusof
Starring: Kwon Ji Yong, Rei.....
(this fiction's storyline is inspired from one of the episodes in Natsume Yuujinchou anime)
blue indicates Ji Yong's inner thought....red indicates Rei's inner thought
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
I’ve been waiting all along,
It took me years just to move on,
The memories are painfully strong,
Since I could feel you;
Though you’ve been long gone,
Ji Yong
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
Prologue
The lake’s water was shining as the evening sun laid upon its golden ray on it. The soft wind came along, befriending with the chilly breeze, making the trees surrounding the lake shuddered, not only because of the cold but also out of sorrow. The crumpled piece of paper, revealing one’s secret of the heart has brought tears to a being, taking the form of shadowy translucent figure. Her long wavy black hair flew gracefully, revealing her half-masked face, showing one of her sad teary eye, following the solid figure, with his back on her, walking away, after the last sad goodbye.
‘I wish you happiness, Ji Yong, out of sorrow. As you deserve better, for a brighter tomorrow,’
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
“Come out now, you wimp!! Don’t go hiding around that bush or you’ll find yourself being caught by something else!!” shouted the big guy, stomping his fists together in anger.
“Yah, Kook Jong..do we have to go this far? We’ve already trespassed private property of Ishigaki, you know?” fretted the bald shorty, whose face was contorted with fears.
“So what? It’s not like someone would come and chase us from here. I won’t budge till i get my hands on that new transfer student. How dare he spill coffee on my shirt!! Yahhh!! You stupid chicken!! Come out now on the count of three..” screamed the big guy.
“One... two...,”
Whoooosshh...
There was a sudden strong wind blew both bullies, making them flabbergasted. Round-eyed, the bald shorty ran for his life, shakily followed by the big guy whose whimpers clearly heard by Ji Yong, who was hiding behind the big trees 3 meters away from the bullies.
“I’m a dead meat..Mommy won’t like this..this coffee stain is killing me!!”
Ji Yong slumped on the wet ground. His face was shiny with sweat, due to exhaustion of running away from both guys together with the fear from the fact that he was in the middle of the forest that was totally alien to him.
He got up and started to walk randomly. On the first day of the new semester at the new school, he was already becoming the target for the school’s bullies. He could not understand why people liked to pick on him even though he was trying his best to stay out of troubles. Well, maybe like his previous homeroom teacher said, he was the trouble’s magnet. An easy target for those brainless gits to bully.
He looked up at the sky, only to find the trees’ canopies, blocking the sunlight from reaching the ground below. Now he was in huge trouble. He was lost and there was nobody there. His cell was in his school bag, which he unmistakeably left at the grocery store where he had stopped for a drink. He was opening the canned latte when a big guy bumped into him, spilling the drink on his big school uniform.
‘It wasn’t my fault!! He was busy nicking the food from the counter when that old man counting my money.’
Now, totally worn out, Ji Yong stopped dead as he saw a glint. He listened hard to the sound around him. He heard something splashing.
‘Is there a river down here? Maybe I could find my way back if I follow the riverbank.’
He ran to the source of the sound. He stopped in a halt as he found himself facing a very beautiful lake. Its surface was glinting as the sun showered its light upon it. The soft breeze made him feel refreshed and alive as it mingled the scents of the tree and the lake together, making Ji Yong light-headed. It was less than three minutes when Kwon Ji Yong was lying on the ground facing the lake, deep in sleep, as a shadow of a girl came approaching him, together with the new fate that would change his life.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
He was there when I was playing in the lake. It was hard to find a human in this deep forest. That fact really intrigued me to approach him though it was wrong for me to do so. As the safe keeper of the lake, I was restrained to make any contact with humans. The consequence might be severe. Yet, I could not hold my curiosity.
I sat beside him. He was in deep sleep. Sometimes his face twitched with emotions. I slowly touched his cheek, as to subside the pain shown on his pale face. He was back to his normal kind face after that. I looked at his hands. Bruises. I blew at those bruises and they slowly healed. Suddenly, he moved aside and his hand was on me. I tried to pull his hand off and I regretted it. He drew nearer and ended up sleeping on my lap. I was statued there. Yet, hearing upon his steady breath made me feel warm inside. I let him stayed like that while I was humming the melody of the nature, expressing the happiness that I felt inside.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
I heard something but I could not make it up what was it. It was almost like a song but no distinguish word I could catch. Only soft voice, humming a beautiful melody that made me felt at ease and cherished.
‘If this is a dream, I hope it won’t stop. I pray this would last for a little while,’
He opened his eyes slowly. The sun blinded him for a while and he stood up. He yawned and then..
“Arrrghhhh!!!” Ji Yong screamed
The girl in front of him stood still.
“Who..who...who are you?” Ji Yong asked the bewildered masked girl.
He found it funny as she was concealing only one side of her face, with her big round eyes staring blankly at him. She didn’t answer. She looked around her and then her face slowly showed her confusion together with pleasant surprise.
“Can you see me?” asked the girl.
“Pfft..of course i can freakingly see you!” replied Ji Yong.
Her lips broke into a wide smile. Ji Yong thought it was amusing as she looked pretty with only half of her face shown.
“What are you doing here in the forest? It’s dangerous for a girl like you to wander off all alone,”
“Well, I live here,” she replied innocently.
Ji Yong stared in disbelief.
“Are you pulling my leg? Cause it ain’t funny. Come on, it’s getting dark now. I’ll take you home,” said Ji Yong, standing up before the girl.
He walked in front and waiting for the girl to follow him, but she just stood there.
“What are you waiting for? Come on,” he urged.
He looked around the forest. He himself didn’t know how to get his way out of the forest. He just acted cool since he didn’t want to lose his ego in front of a girl whom he thought so fragile looking, he needed to act out reliable.
Suddenly, he felt a chill on his hand and when he looked down, the girl was holding his hand.
‘Maybe she was afraid,’
He tightened his grip and walked together with the girl. The journey felt like in a blink for him as minutes after that he found himself standing at the side of the road near the forest and across it was the grocery shop he went before.
“So, where is your home?” Ji Yong asked.
He looked at the girl. That was when he realized she was wearing a dress robe resembling Yukata. Her hair is waist-length, shiny black and wavy. Her skin was pinky white that she looked almost translucent under the sunlight.
“Don’t worry, I can go back by myself. Thank you for your help. Goodbye,” she replied and walked away.
“Wait...my name’s Ji Yong, Kwon Ji Yong..what’s yours?”
“Rei..”
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
Now, a month had passed by. After school, Ji Yong always headed to his sacred place, the place where he could find tranquil and happiness. The lake was in sight now and there, he could see a girl was sitting at the edge of the lake. Her white leg was submerged into the water. He could clearly listen to the melodious humming of hers. However, there was something different with it. It was not the usual one, yet, it sounded painfully beautiful as if there was sadness in her tone.
“Rei,” Ji Yong softly called.
The girl turned around, smiling, yet, the beauty of her smiles didn’t reach her eye. It didn’t twinkle just the way it always did, only a glint of sadness reflected.
“Is something wrong?”
Ji Yong slowly approaching her. He sat next to her, cross-legged. He took her cold hands. He noticed that lately, her hands had been colder than usual.
“No, I’m okay. Tell me, how’s your day?” Rei asked
Ji Yong reluctantly smiled. She always avoided any question coming from him. Sometimes he felt he was a burden to her as he was the only one who talked about himself for this passing month. Not a single word coming from Rei, about her own life.
“Come on, I want to hear your story first, then I’ll tell you mine,” she chimed.
“Really? You will tell me about yourself today?” asked Ji Yong excitedly.
“Well, you will know about it soon, if not from me, maybe from others,” she replied slowly.
Ji Yong frowned. He was about to ask what was that all about when Rei softly pushed his head on her lap. That was their routine, he told Rei his day and she would listen intently, with her cold soft hands caressing his hair and his cheeks.
Sometimes, they would play around the lake or maybe climbing the trees as to clearly see the lake’s view from higher point. He felt so cherished and no word could describe how he felt deep inside every time they spent their evening time together.
He didn’t press much on Rei to tell him about herself as he knew one day, he would know the truth behind this beautiful secretive girl.
“Rei,”
“Emm?”
Ji Yong stared at the girl above him. He took her hand that was caressing his cheeks and put it on his chest, where his heart was.
She felt the beats. It was steadily fast. Suddenly, she felt hot tears on her face. It was trickling down Ji Yong’s cheek. Ji Yong got up, panicked.
“What’s wrong Rei? Are you hurt somewhere?”
‘Yes, I’m hurting inside,’
“No, just got sand caught in my eyes,” she replied awkwardly.
“Let me see,”
Before Rei could stop him, Ji Yong opened the mask worn by her. He stopped dead. He didn’t believe his own eyes, gazing at the girl in front of him. She was breathtakingly beautiful. Ji Yong brushed away the tears from her cheeks. He slowly drew nearer and blew her eyes softly, as to get rid of the sand, proclaimed by her. Ji Yong touched her face slowly. He devoured her beauty. Still, the sadness shown in her eyes bugged him so much that he felt so helpless for not being able to wash it away.
He bent down, kissing her forehead and both her eyes. He hugged her.
“I’m tired, lets’ stay like this for a while,” Rei whispered.
Both of them lying down on the ground, hugging each other till they silently fell asleep.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
He heard someone calling his name. Is it Rei?
‘Rei? Rei..Rei..’
“Ji Yong, Ji Yong..oh my boy, what happened to him Dr.?”
‘Doctor?’
Ji Yong flung open his eyes, he stood up so quick that he felt his surrounding was about to collapse.
“Stay put, boy, you are still too weak,” a strict voice said from his left side. He saw a middle-aged woman was fussing around beside him, tucking him back to his bed.
“Where am i?”
“Owh, Ji Yong, are you okay? You got Omma all worried about you,” cried Mrs. Kwon.
“Hello there, Ji Yong. I’m Dr. Kim. You’re at the hospital now, due to fatigue and heat stroke.....’.....
Ji Yong felt all his world is falling apart. All that he could hear was a buzzing sound.
‘Hospital? Fatigue? But..what about Rei?’
“Excuse me, other than me, is there a girl also been hospitalized?”
The puzzled looks upon everyone’s face answered his question.
‘At least Rei is safe. I wonder what really happened,’
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
He was running as fast as he could towards the forest after being discharged from the hospital.
“The old man from the grocery stores found you lying on the side of the road near the forest. He also said that you have been going in and out of that dangerous forest for a month now. What are you doing there all alone? You better stop going there before Ishigaki’s family caught you in the act, trespassing their land property,”
His mother’s voice was still playing in his head. There were still a lot of puzzles left untold from the so-called incident. He was only passed out, nothing serious, but Omma made a big deal out of it.
“The doctor said you are not only having fatigue, but also being a bit of malnutrition. Now people would accuse me of being an irresponsible mother for not feeding you properly when actually you are very well-fed,” shrilled Omma
He felt sorry for Omma but there was nothing that he could do. He admitted, he ate a lot, yet it seems the food didn’t reach his body cells, all burnt up before time. He blamed it on his high metabolism. But lately, he also noticed that he was getting thinner and it started when he met Rei.
‘Maybe I’m too happy that the adrenaline uses up all the food I consumed,’
He was in front of the grocery store, ready to cross the road when a hand caught him from the back.
It was the old man from the shop.
“Going somewhere?” he smiled kindly.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
At the grocery store:
“I would like to advise you to stop going to the lake in the forest,” the old man spoke slowly but vivid.
“Why? There’s nothing wrong there. Furthermore, I have a female friend who lives there,” snapped Ji Yong.
The old man stared at Ji Yong. His expression was between amused and sad.
“So, it is true that she is actually exist,” whispered the old man, more to himself, but undoubtfully, audible enough for Ji Yong to hear.
“What do you mean?” Ji Yong asked suspiciously, his heart started to beat so fast.
The old man told Ji Yong the story about the safe keeper of the lake who was rumoured taking the form of a beautiful girl. No one has ever seen her, only her presence could be felt, which was meant to scare the people not to go near the lake. It was believed by the old folks before, that when humans made contacts with spirits, their health condition would be worsen due to the different entity of life.
He said it was all fit with what he saw happening to Ji Yong. Ji Yong became thinner and not in a fit health nowadays.
Ji Yong just walked away. Staggering slightly. He looked at the forest in front of him. He crossed the road and went inside to dig the truth.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
“Rei!! Rei!!! Rei!! Where are you Rei?!”
He could hear his restrained voice echoing through the lake. He searched for the face he longed to see. But it’s nowhere to be found.
He slumped on the ground, heaving with pain. It hurt him more than any physical pain he got before. It was the pain coming from his broken heart that slowly shattered into pieces.
‘That old man is a cheating git!! No way..no way Rei is...’
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
She was standing in front of him now, reaching her hands to touch his cheeks. However, he could not feel it. His head bowed down as heavy tears trickling down his pale face. His body shook as he was sobbing, lashing all the frustration and sadness he felt inside, losing the one that he dear most.
Rei was hugging him tightly, humming the soft mournful melody, as she knew; this was the day of the new vain beginning for both of them, as they wouldn’t be able to see each other, ever again.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
Epilogue
5 years later:
He walked into the forest, following his feet, going towards the place where the sad memories kept haunting him, mingled together with the regret for not being able to say those three words. He slipped his hand in the pocket and took out the folded paper, bearing one paragraph of hand-written poem:
I’ve been waiting all along,
It took me years just to move on,
The memories are painfully strong,
Since I could feel you;
Though you’ve been long gone,
He read it for the last time and crumpled it. He took a deep breath and threw the paper into the lake. Without a haste, he walked out from the scene.
The wind suddenly blew rather strong, making him staggered and the blinding sunlight has made him turned his head aside, and just for a brief moment, he swore, he saw her. The poem paper he threw was swaying lazily in her grip. Her outlined ghostly figure vanished together with the wind after she opened her mask, revealing her serene beautiful face, sadly smiling to him.
He dropped on his knees. Hot tears streaming down his hollow cheeks, the place where she always touched whenever he was feeling down. The sun slowly set, leaving the crying heart of a man who has loved a ghostly being named Rei and it turned out that their story was full of sad memories of the lost love.
Title : Sad Memories of the Lost Love
Written by : Arij bt Yusof
Starring: Kwon Ji Yong, Rei.....
(this fiction's storyline is inspired from one of the episodes in Natsume Yuujinchou anime)
blue indicates Ji Yong's inner thought....red indicates Rei's inner thought
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
I’ve been waiting all along,
It took me years just to move on,
The memories are painfully strong,
Since I could feel you;
Though you’ve been long gone,
Ji Yong
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
Prologue
The lake’s water was shining as the evening sun laid upon its golden ray on it. The soft wind came along, befriending with the chilly breeze, making the trees surrounding the lake shuddered, not only because of the cold but also out of sorrow. The crumpled piece of paper, revealing one’s secret of the heart has brought tears to a being, taking the form of shadowy translucent figure. Her long wavy black hair flew gracefully, revealing her half-masked face, showing one of her sad teary eye, following the solid figure, with his back on her, walking away, after the last sad goodbye.
‘I wish you happiness, Ji Yong, out of sorrow. As you deserve better, for a brighter tomorrow,’
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
“Come out now, you wimp!! Don’t go hiding around that bush or you’ll find yourself being caught by something else!!” shouted the big guy, stomping his fists together in anger.
“Yah, Kook Jong..do we have to go this far? We’ve already trespassed private property of Ishigaki, you know?” fretted the bald shorty, whose face was contorted with fears.
“So what? It’s not like someone would come and chase us from here. I won’t budge till i get my hands on that new transfer student. How dare he spill coffee on my shirt!! Yahhh!! You stupid chicken!! Come out now on the count of three..” screamed the big guy.
“One... two...,”
Whoooosshh...
There was a sudden strong wind blew both bullies, making them flabbergasted. Round-eyed, the bald shorty ran for his life, shakily followed by the big guy whose whimpers clearly heard by Ji Yong, who was hiding behind the big trees 3 meters away from the bullies.
“I’m a dead meat..Mommy won’t like this..this coffee stain is killing me!!”
Ji Yong slumped on the wet ground. His face was shiny with sweat, due to exhaustion of running away from both guys together with the fear from the fact that he was in the middle of the forest that was totally alien to him.
He got up and started to walk randomly. On the first day of the new semester at the new school, he was already becoming the target for the school’s bullies. He could not understand why people liked to pick on him even though he was trying his best to stay out of troubles. Well, maybe like his previous homeroom teacher said, he was the trouble’s magnet. An easy target for those brainless gits to bully.
He looked up at the sky, only to find the trees’ canopies, blocking the sunlight from reaching the ground below. Now he was in huge trouble. He was lost and there was nobody there. His cell was in his school bag, which he unmistakeably left at the grocery store where he had stopped for a drink. He was opening the canned latte when a big guy bumped into him, spilling the drink on his big school uniform.
‘It wasn’t my fault!! He was busy nicking the food from the counter when that old man counting my money.’
Now, totally worn out, Ji Yong stopped dead as he saw a glint. He listened hard to the sound around him. He heard something splashing.
‘Is there a river down here? Maybe I could find my way back if I follow the riverbank.’
He ran to the source of the sound. He stopped in a halt as he found himself facing a very beautiful lake. Its surface was glinting as the sun showered its light upon it. The soft breeze made him feel refreshed and alive as it mingled the scents of the tree and the lake together, making Ji Yong light-headed. It was less than three minutes when Kwon Ji Yong was lying on the ground facing the lake, deep in sleep, as a shadow of a girl came approaching him, together with the new fate that would change his life.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
He was there when I was playing in the lake. It was hard to find a human in this deep forest. That fact really intrigued me to approach him though it was wrong for me to do so. As the safe keeper of the lake, I was restrained to make any contact with humans. The consequence might be severe. Yet, I could not hold my curiosity.
I sat beside him. He was in deep sleep. Sometimes his face twitched with emotions. I slowly touched his cheek, as to subside the pain shown on his pale face. He was back to his normal kind face after that. I looked at his hands. Bruises. I blew at those bruises and they slowly healed. Suddenly, he moved aside and his hand was on me. I tried to pull his hand off and I regretted it. He drew nearer and ended up sleeping on my lap. I was statued there. Yet, hearing upon his steady breath made me feel warm inside. I let him stayed like that while I was humming the melody of the nature, expressing the happiness that I felt inside.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
I heard something but I could not make it up what was it. It was almost like a song but no distinguish word I could catch. Only soft voice, humming a beautiful melody that made me felt at ease and cherished.
‘If this is a dream, I hope it won’t stop. I pray this would last for a little while,’
He opened his eyes slowly. The sun blinded him for a while and he stood up. He yawned and then..
“Arrrghhhh!!!” Ji Yong screamed
The girl in front of him stood still.
“Who..who...who are you?” Ji Yong asked the bewildered masked girl.
He found it funny as she was concealing only one side of her face, with her big round eyes staring blankly at him. She didn’t answer. She looked around her and then her face slowly showed her confusion together with pleasant surprise.
“Can you see me?” asked the girl.
“Pfft..of course i can freakingly see you!” replied Ji Yong.
Her lips broke into a wide smile. Ji Yong thought it was amusing as she looked pretty with only half of her face shown.
“What are you doing here in the forest? It’s dangerous for a girl like you to wander off all alone,”
“Well, I live here,” she replied innocently.
Ji Yong stared in disbelief.
“Are you pulling my leg? Cause it ain’t funny. Come on, it’s getting dark now. I’ll take you home,” said Ji Yong, standing up before the girl.
He walked in front and waiting for the girl to follow him, but she just stood there.
“What are you waiting for? Come on,” he urged.
He looked around the forest. He himself didn’t know how to get his way out of the forest. He just acted cool since he didn’t want to lose his ego in front of a girl whom he thought so fragile looking, he needed to act out reliable.
Suddenly, he felt a chill on his hand and when he looked down, the girl was holding his hand.
‘Maybe she was afraid,’
He tightened his grip and walked together with the girl. The journey felt like in a blink for him as minutes after that he found himself standing at the side of the road near the forest and across it was the grocery shop he went before.
“So, where is your home?” Ji Yong asked.
He looked at the girl. That was when he realized she was wearing a dress robe resembling Yukata. Her hair is waist-length, shiny black and wavy. Her skin was pinky white that she looked almost translucent under the sunlight.
“Don’t worry, I can go back by myself. Thank you for your help. Goodbye,” she replied and walked away.
“Wait...my name’s Ji Yong, Kwon Ji Yong..what’s yours?”
“Rei..”
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
Now, a month had passed by. After school, Ji Yong always headed to his sacred place, the place where he could find tranquil and happiness. The lake was in sight now and there, he could see a girl was sitting at the edge of the lake. Her white leg was submerged into the water. He could clearly listen to the melodious humming of hers. However, there was something different with it. It was not the usual one, yet, it sounded painfully beautiful as if there was sadness in her tone.
“Rei,” Ji Yong softly called.
The girl turned around, smiling, yet, the beauty of her smiles didn’t reach her eye. It didn’t twinkle just the way it always did, only a glint of sadness reflected.
“Is something wrong?”
Ji Yong slowly approaching her. He sat next to her, cross-legged. He took her cold hands. He noticed that lately, her hands had been colder than usual.
“No, I’m okay. Tell me, how’s your day?” Rei asked
Ji Yong reluctantly smiled. She always avoided any question coming from him. Sometimes he felt he was a burden to her as he was the only one who talked about himself for this passing month. Not a single word coming from Rei, about her own life.
“Come on, I want to hear your story first, then I’ll tell you mine,” she chimed.
“Really? You will tell me about yourself today?” asked Ji Yong excitedly.
“Well, you will know about it soon, if not from me, maybe from others,” she replied slowly.
Ji Yong frowned. He was about to ask what was that all about when Rei softly pushed his head on her lap. That was their routine, he told Rei his day and she would listen intently, with her cold soft hands caressing his hair and his cheeks.
Sometimes, they would play around the lake or maybe climbing the trees as to clearly see the lake’s view from higher point. He felt so cherished and no word could describe how he felt deep inside every time they spent their evening time together.
He didn’t press much on Rei to tell him about herself as he knew one day, he would know the truth behind this beautiful secretive girl.
“Rei,”
“Emm?”
Ji Yong stared at the girl above him. He took her hand that was caressing his cheeks and put it on his chest, where his heart was.
She felt the beats. It was steadily fast. Suddenly, she felt hot tears on her face. It was trickling down Ji Yong’s cheek. Ji Yong got up, panicked.
“What’s wrong Rei? Are you hurt somewhere?”
‘Yes, I’m hurting inside,’
“No, just got sand caught in my eyes,” she replied awkwardly.
“Let me see,”
Before Rei could stop him, Ji Yong opened the mask worn by her. He stopped dead. He didn’t believe his own eyes, gazing at the girl in front of him. She was breathtakingly beautiful. Ji Yong brushed away the tears from her cheeks. He slowly drew nearer and blew her eyes softly, as to get rid of the sand, proclaimed by her. Ji Yong touched her face slowly. He devoured her beauty. Still, the sadness shown in her eyes bugged him so much that he felt so helpless for not being able to wash it away.
He bent down, kissing her forehead and both her eyes. He hugged her.
“I’m tired, lets’ stay like this for a while,” Rei whispered.
Both of them lying down on the ground, hugging each other till they silently fell asleep.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
He heard someone calling his name. Is it Rei?
‘Rei? Rei..Rei..’
“Ji Yong, Ji Yong..oh my boy, what happened to him Dr.?”
‘Doctor?’
Ji Yong flung open his eyes, he stood up so quick that he felt his surrounding was about to collapse.
“Stay put, boy, you are still too weak,” a strict voice said from his left side. He saw a middle-aged woman was fussing around beside him, tucking him back to his bed.
“Where am i?”
“Owh, Ji Yong, are you okay? You got Omma all worried about you,” cried Mrs. Kwon.
“Hello there, Ji Yong. I’m Dr. Kim. You’re at the hospital now, due to fatigue and heat stroke.....’.....
Ji Yong felt all his world is falling apart. All that he could hear was a buzzing sound.
‘Hospital? Fatigue? But..what about Rei?’
“Excuse me, other than me, is there a girl also been hospitalized?”
The puzzled looks upon everyone’s face answered his question.
‘At least Rei is safe. I wonder what really happened,’
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
He was running as fast as he could towards the forest after being discharged from the hospital.
“The old man from the grocery stores found you lying on the side of the road near the forest. He also said that you have been going in and out of that dangerous forest for a month now. What are you doing there all alone? You better stop going there before Ishigaki’s family caught you in the act, trespassing their land property,”
His mother’s voice was still playing in his head. There were still a lot of puzzles left untold from the so-called incident. He was only passed out, nothing serious, but Omma made a big deal out of it.
“The doctor said you are not only having fatigue, but also being a bit of malnutrition. Now people would accuse me of being an irresponsible mother for not feeding you properly when actually you are very well-fed,” shrilled Omma
He felt sorry for Omma but there was nothing that he could do. He admitted, he ate a lot, yet it seems the food didn’t reach his body cells, all burnt up before time. He blamed it on his high metabolism. But lately, he also noticed that he was getting thinner and it started when he met Rei.
‘Maybe I’m too happy that the adrenaline uses up all the food I consumed,’
He was in front of the grocery store, ready to cross the road when a hand caught him from the back.
It was the old man from the shop.
“Going somewhere?” he smiled kindly.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
At the grocery store:
“I would like to advise you to stop going to the lake in the forest,” the old man spoke slowly but vivid.
“Why? There’s nothing wrong there. Furthermore, I have a female friend who lives there,” snapped Ji Yong.
The old man stared at Ji Yong. His expression was between amused and sad.
“So, it is true that she is actually exist,” whispered the old man, more to himself, but undoubtfully, audible enough for Ji Yong to hear.
“What do you mean?” Ji Yong asked suspiciously, his heart started to beat so fast.
The old man told Ji Yong the story about the safe keeper of the lake who was rumoured taking the form of a beautiful girl. No one has ever seen her, only her presence could be felt, which was meant to scare the people not to go near the lake. It was believed by the old folks before, that when humans made contacts with spirits, their health condition would be worsen due to the different entity of life.
He said it was all fit with what he saw happening to Ji Yong. Ji Yong became thinner and not in a fit health nowadays.
Ji Yong just walked away. Staggering slightly. He looked at the forest in front of him. He crossed the road and went inside to dig the truth.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
“Rei!! Rei!!! Rei!! Where are you Rei?!”
He could hear his restrained voice echoing through the lake. He searched for the face he longed to see. But it’s nowhere to be found.
He slumped on the ground, heaving with pain. It hurt him more than any physical pain he got before. It was the pain coming from his broken heart that slowly shattered into pieces.
‘That old man is a cheating git!! No way..no way Rei is...’
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
She was standing in front of him now, reaching her hands to touch his cheeks. However, he could not feel it. His head bowed down as heavy tears trickling down his pale face. His body shook as he was sobbing, lashing all the frustration and sadness he felt inside, losing the one that he dear most.
Rei was hugging him tightly, humming the soft mournful melody, as she knew; this was the day of the new vain beginning for both of them, as they wouldn’t be able to see each other, ever again.
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Epilogue
5 years later:
He walked into the forest, following his feet, going towards the place where the sad memories kept haunting him, mingled together with the regret for not being able to say those three words. He slipped his hand in the pocket and took out the folded paper, bearing one paragraph of hand-written poem:
I’ve been waiting all along,
It took me years just to move on,
The memories are painfully strong,
Since I could feel you;
Though you’ve been long gone,
He read it for the last time and crumpled it. He took a deep breath and threw the paper into the lake. Without a haste, he walked out from the scene.
The wind suddenly blew rather strong, making him staggered and the blinding sunlight has made him turned his head aside, and just for a brief moment, he swore, he saw her. The poem paper he threw was swaying lazily in her grip. Her outlined ghostly figure vanished together with the wind after she opened her mask, revealing her serene beautiful face, sadly smiling to him.
He dropped on his knees. Hot tears streaming down his hollow cheeks, the place where she always touched whenever he was feeling down. The sun slowly set, leaving the crying heart of a man who has loved a ghostly being named Rei and it turned out that their story was full of sad memories of the lost love.