The team had a practice session at the grand ballroom of the hotel about an hour after breakfast.
It was now late afternoon and practice had ended roughly two hours ago.
By his guesstimate, most members were either asleep now or at the very least, were trying to. Yet here he was, all alone in the hotel’s C-Lounge, struggling with himself to make a decision.
Not a single other soul was in sight.
He read the message that he had typed out on his phone. ‘Are you free to talk?’ He shook his head and deleted the message.
Too desperate.
He typed out another message. ‘Can we discuss something?’
No, that was too demanding.
‘Ugh, man up!’ He chastised himself.
Whatever this was, he needed to discuss it with her as quickly as possible and get it over with.
Ever since he was having those dreams, he felt uneasy. He was able to keep it at bay for a few months now because she had been a blurry, faceless person.
But last night, he finally saw her face.
And with her showing up all of a sudden, he knew he had to take that as a sign that something was happening in the universe. He felt it deep in his bones.
Suddenly, he knew what he had to do.
The Manila concert was in a little more than 24 hours and she would be leaving before the day’s end, tomorrow.
It was now or never.
If he waited until they all returned to Seoul, it may be difficult to find an opening in her schedule to talk to her.
Or find a moment alone with her, for that matter.
He had to have this conversation now.
Steeling himself, he dialed her number using a prepaid SIM that he had bought.
She answered after three or four rings.
Her voice sounded like she had just woken up. Using his most business-like voice, he asked her to meet him downstairs at the lounge.
Within ten minutes, she walked into the C-Lounge dressed in a black, sleeveless, knitted dress. She had black matching wedges on that added three or four inches to her 5’8” frame.
No matter. He was 6’2” anyway.
“Mingyu-oppa.” Tessa greeted and hugged him.
“Hey, gorgeous. Managed to get some shut eye?”
“Finally!” Tessa exclaimed. “I felt like I’ve been walking around with an entire squadron of clouds in my brain space.”
“Does that mean you didn’t, I don’t know, maybe dream of anything lately?” He saw a shot and he took it.
Tessa’s bright smile faded slightly. “What kind of dream?”
“Like a story of a past life kind of dream.”
“I don’t know. You tell me.”
“I have been dreaming a lot lately. One of them was when my wife died from a broken heart after we lost our son and daughter. She was eight months pregnant with our fifth child.”.
Tessa blinked. “That’s pretty specific.”
“But I never saw her face for the longest time. Until recently.”
“You finally saw who the woman in your dream was then?”
Mingyu looked straight into Tessa’s eyes and nodded.
“Where were you in the last dream?”
“Are you going to answer my initial question about having dreams of a past life?”
Tessa licked her lips and replied. “After I finally saw your face, I knew you were going to bring it up at some point.”
Mingyu took a sip of his iced caramel macchiato. “I really feel like we owe it to ourselves and Hoshi-hyung to talk about it.”
“Do you recall where we were in the last dream?” Tessa asked.
“Let’s say it together on three?” Mingyu asked. “One. Two. Three.”
“Garden.” They both said.
“Wow!” Mingyu sat back in his seat. “Do you remember the name that I called you?”
Tessa nodded. “Deuk-im.”
“And you called me Jeongjo.”
Tessa eyed him suspiciously. “How do you know that name?”
Mingyu’s voice almost dropped to a whisper. “Because you called me by that name in the garden.”
Tessa fell silent. Had she really had the same dreams as Mingyu? And if she did, what did all that mean? “Look, Mingyu-oppa, we obviously are affected enough by these dreams to come out here and discuss it with each other in person but they’re just dreams. They don’t mean anything.”
Mingyu stared straight into Tessa’s eyes. “Tell me you’re not the least bit curious about why you’re dreaming about me so vividly. Tell me you don’t wake up with lingering feelings that the dream you, Deuk-im, felt.”
Tessa studied his handsome face. Mingyu’s eyes told her that he knew he had her cornered. He knew that she too was bothered by the dreams.
“You can’t, can you?” He challenged.
“What do you want from me, Mingyu-oppa?”
“To be honest with me.”
“Oh is that all?”
“Tessa, I know you and Hoshi-hyung are in a good place. It’s not my intention to come between you two. But can’t you at least acknowledge that there’s something the mystical world wants to tell us?”
“Which is what?”
“That maybe you and I were always meant to meet.”
“I won’t argue with that, Mingyu-oppa.” Tessa sighed. “But what do you want to do about that information? Maybe people are meant to meet every day. Maybe I was always meant to meet the pilot who flew the plane from Seoul to Manila. Maybe I was always meant to be in the same elevator as the lovely family I happened to run into on the way here. So what?”
Mingyu took another sip of his iced caramel macchiato. “At the very least, take the time to read the history of Jeongjo and Deuk-Im.”
“I already know it. Most Koreans do.”
“But you’re not Korean, are you?”
“I grew up in Seoul, live in Seoul and will probably die in Seoul. My ethnicity has nothing to do with it.”
“So you know that Deuk-im was the only woman whom King Jeongjo loved.”
“Yes. What of it?”
Mingyu breathed in deep. “Tessa, do you remember what I told you when you died with our baby in your womb?”
Tessa looked away from Mingyu’s intense stare.
“I said that I would find you in the next life until we exhaust all our lifetimes. I asked you to wait for me.”
Apparently, they did have the same dreams.
“Mingyu-oppa, you found me. But then what? I love Soonyoung.”
“I’m not asking you to leave him, Tessa.” Mingyu spat out.
“What then?”
“At least acknowledge that I found you.”
“You actually believe that you are the reincarnation of a Joseon dynasty king and that I am the reincarnation of his most beloved concubine? Don’t you think that’s a little far-fetched?”
“You may call it that, Tessa. But how else can you explain what's been happening?”
Tessa stood up. “I have no interest in exploring this conversation any further, Mingyu-oppa. You clearly believe there is something worth exploring here. I do not. We’re not going to see eye-to-eye.”
Mingyu licked his lips and stood up to his full height. “Tessa, be honest with me. If you weren’t with Soonyoung when these dreams began, would you have given me a chance?”
Tessa squared her shoulders. “That argument is moot, Mingyu-oppa. I probably never would have gotten to know you if it wasn’t for Soonyoung anyway. Now if you’ll excuse me, my boyfriend may be waking up soon and looking for me.”
“Will you discuss this conversation with him?”
“And what, pray tell, would I tell him, Mingyu-oppa? That you and I were married in the past?”
Mingyu stopped himself from saying anything more. She clearly was not in the proper headspace to be open to the possibility. “Alright, Tessa. I see where you’re coming from. But I promised you back then that I would exhaust all our lifetimes. If it won’t happen now, I’ll find you in the next one.”
Tessa stepped closer to Mingyu and hugged him goodbye. “Mingyu-oppa, if it did not work out before, why would it work now?”
She then gave him a curt nod and left.
