Euphoria

50: Annyeong

Her eyes on Maya. She knew the easiest way too crack people. Her fingers tapping an intimidating melody in the quiet room.
"Maya, what do you think about that realm? Wasn't it cold, grey, harsh, dirty..."
"All of the above."
Maya didn't even stutter. Her voice low, as if sinking away. Tama didn't miss how her eyes were slowly gaining some dampness and losing their focus.

"Get up, you useless bitch!"
"Look, the ugly duckling's acting brave!"
"Tsk... Tsk... Fatso. You should have picked on someone your standard. Dirty and fat and ugly. You curry eating dumbo."
"Have you tried bleaching?"
"Look at that fatso!"
"How thick her thighs are, Gosh!"
"Look at the stretch marks! How dare she even think of wearing a skirt?"
"How can she wear a crop top? It's too revealing! Her waist is way too thin!"
"Her hair's way too curly!"

Maya felt her heart stop. As if her ribs were crashing against each other. Jungkook saw how Maya's breathing became hitched. He tried to take Maya's hand in his, but she stood still. Like a stone. Her teeth sunk deep on the cherry red lips. The memories coming back.
"Maya, which realm do you want to dwell in?"
"This realm."
Jungkook felt detached from Maya. As if a wall has been drawn between them. As if she wasn't herself.
The room filled with a bitter chuckle. Tama couldn't help but feel her power over them. How broken they were. How torn apart they were.
"I can't believe it. My oh my! You both are absolutely the opposite. Ain't you now?"
Dorchados calmly enough, leaned closer. His face straight as a plastic board. A smirk on his crooked lips,
"Now, allow me to ask you two a simple question. If you could choose one realm out of the two, which would you choose?"
In front of Dorchados were two emotionally driven souls. They looked lost. As if sculpted out of wax.  Eyes blurry with the ghost of their past memories.
"This realm."
"That realm."
The voices overlapping each other. Their mind still not fully aware of what just happened. It was all foggy inside their heads.
"Is that your final choice?"
Tama's voice acted like an anecdote. Maya jumped away from the other side calling to her. Her eyes wide and mouth agape. Hand clutched on her chest, while the other pointed towards the sinister pair of twins,
"WHAT THE FUCK HAVE YOU DONE?"
Her words came out as a rather broken howl. Her gaze quickly fixated on the dreamer she fell for. The dream still glued on his eyelids. An opportunity of a lifetime. A choice that ends in a second.
"Jeon Jungkook, which realm do you want to choose?"
"That realm. Where the other Jeon Jungkook is successful."
As if a under a spell. He didn't even blink once. He stared into the empty thin air, holding his fate.

"Answer Locked."

"NO!"
Maya fell on the ground with a loud thud. Sobbing. She couldn't feel her heart anymore. She felt hollower every second.
Jungkook snapped out of the space he had fallen into. Regretting what can't be undid now. What has he done! He has broke her heart.
"I'm so sorry Angel..."
"It hurts, Kookie. It hurts."
She crawled on his chest. Sobbing. Knowing this would be the last time. Who would she rely on when everythings heads South? What about the nightmares? The nightmares! Everything was falling into pieces.

"When opposites clash one has to give in
The moon and sun don't stay together in the same morning
I've seen peasants, I've seen kings
Dear lovers, it ends where it begins..."
"If you had to choose between one realm, keeping love aside as if it never happened. Which would you choose?"
"But beware, finding realms can result death"

Death. What even is death? Isn't it the unbearable pain inside? When the thing you treasure the most breaks? Isn't it when the heart stops calling out to another? Isn't it when all the poems slolwy become nothing but a waste of paper? When love letters turn into just casual pieces of writings? When words of affirmation become nothing more than words? Death means an end. An end of everything that flows through you.

"Jungkook, I'm sorry."
Jungkook brought her closer. His vision blurred out from all the years,
"I'm the one that should be sprry Angel. I was just thinking of my ownself."
He tried to kiss the top of her head. But they were too immersed in crying.
"Jungkook don't bother about that. I wish you all the happiness in that realm. Hope you enjoy the life you always dreamed of. You'd be happy there. You won't have to disband. The whole world would know you. Just be happy, okay?"
He had broke the heart who he meant to protect the most. His words tangled against each other,
"I know it's hurting you. Won't you take out your anger on me? Please take out on me. Please hurt me the amount I hurt you. Please ask me to stay, when I can't so that I get to have the guilt of your words for all my life."
Jungkook cupped her cheeks, looking into her eyes. Beautiful brown eyes. Eyes like a feline. Eyelashes grouped together with tears hanging at the ends. Cheeks flushed. Sobbing. Why did she looks so warm? Was it because it was going to be his last?
Maya deepened the eye contact. The tension in this room could kill.
"I won't ask you to stay with me when you have already decided to walk away, cause I will always hold a piece of you inside my soul."
Maya cupped his bread cheeks one last time. Moving closer, her lips matching on his forehead. Savouring the cold of his skin against her warm lips. This felt way too early. Way too soon.

"This is it."
Maya murmured, trying to hold on to something that was equivalent of a fistful of sand. Tears waltzed out of their eyes, looking into each other for the last time.
Tama-Dorchados felt a certain peace. Seeing the rebels pushed to the edge. Just one push before they fall apart. Fall apart through the getways of two separate worlds.
The steel plank was high and sturdy. Almost like a bridge, with an open end. Below it bubbled tubs of liquid. In big industrial tubs. Deeper than a blank space.

Jungkook looked into Maya's eyes, before slamming his lips on hers. Maya's long fingers gripping his hair as their souls collided against each other. His hands gripping her waist. Their tears becoming one. Maya, standing on her tiptoes, devoured every single second.
Her toes gave up. The steel hurting her sore feet. Her full body gave up. Pulling Jungkook down with her.
The air soaring through their ears. Hitting their faces as they fell down. Head over heels. Not for once did they break their last kiss.

The cold liquid hit her fragile frame. She found Jungkook sinking down. Both trying to hold each other's hand.  But they jist couldn't. As if merging away like a distant memory. Maya tried to swim back tp him. But her breathing capacity was up. She had no other choice but to float upto the surface.
Gasping for air, she rubbed her eyes. Trying to get rid of the aight she saw. Jungkook sinking down. To another realm. The realm of his happiness. Her lips somehow moved,
"Goodbye Hwangjanim, Jeon, Kookie, Gguk, Ggukie, Love, Tokki Kookie, Kookie Doe, the doe eyed idol. I hope you stay happy, following your passion, as well as the curse of never being able to forget me. May you always suffer Jungkook."