Invisible String

Past

Joong-Gil couldn't stop thinking about the conversation he had had with Si-eun.

During the days that had passed after that, he had not seen her around the halls of Jumadeung. Not that he was looking for her. Or even looking forward to them meeting.

He could not get her out of his thoughts. Even when he was working, he began to remember that conversation.

How sad Si-eun looked.

Disappointed.

Hurt.

And how she seemed to know something that was unknown to him.

Walking through the corridors, he stopped when he saw Koo Ryeon. She was not out of his thoughts either, strange as it was.

Seeing her greet him, he repeated the gesture, watching her walk past him. Joong-Gil stared at her, until he couldn't see her anymore.

He didn't know why he was so bothered by the way Si-eun ignored him when they bumped into each other, or how she didn't even acknowledge his presence.

He also didn't know why every time he closed his eyes his mind went back to the night they had been together in his office, and how he had been so close to her.

He looked around his office, bothered by the silence that filled the room.  He couldn't control the uneasiness he felt.

What Si-eun had said bothered him. And Joong-Gil was sure that she knew something he didn't.

Standing up, he walked in steady steps to the door, leaving the office and walking toward the Jade Empress' office.

- Why can't I remember Si-eun in my past life if we are connected by a red thread?

The Empress looked at him, raising her eyebrows. Propping her elbows on her desk, she intertwined her hands, sighing.

- You asked me to erase any memory of yours in which Si-eun was present.

Joong-Gil frowned, confusion filling his face.

- Why would I do that?

- You told me you couldn't live with the guilt felling you had.

- I don't understand. - he said.

The Empress looked away from him for a moment.

-  Si-eun died for you.

He blinked, looking at her seriously to make sure that what he had heard was correct.

It was impossible. 

If this were true. it meant that Si-eun probably knew it too. And that explained the way she had been acting.

He bowed and then hurriedly left the room, heading toward the Archive Room.

Entering the place, he approached the reaper working there.

- I would like to see my books.

The man looked at him, nodding and disappearing and returning with a book in hands.

Joong-Gil tried to control the anxiety he was feeling.

— Weird. - the reaper said. - The book of your most recent past life is available, but the book before that is locked.

Frowning, Joong-Gil asked:

- Is there any way to unlock it?

The man denied.

- Only the Jade Empress can unlock it.

- Do any other reapers have a locked book?

- Hm, yes. Ms. Koo Ryeon's book is also locked.