The Red String of Fate

12. "He Didn't Tell You?"

Ryeon didn't get any sleep that night. She spent it sitting down on her bed, staring out her window into the clear night sky. She wasn't sure how to 'prepare' for hell, I mean it wasn't her first time so that made things easier, right? Wrong. It's hell, she knew all too well the emptying nature of that place.

She was meant to go there later the next day, but it quickly became 'that day'; meaning her night became the morning of the day after. She looked behind her shoulder to check what time it was on her clock that rested on her nightstand: 06:00. She turned back to face the window, sighed, and pulled her body to the edge of the bed.

Her head was hung low, completely defeated, and quite depressing. There were no tears in her eyes nor were there any tear streaks dried on her face. She didn't cry, she couldn't. This was her choice and if she was being honest, the only thing that truly frightened her was the fact that her punishment would be her deepest wound, multiplied.

Hell isn't excruciating because of how hot it is or how unfamiliar it is, it's that fact that you must walk for an eternity with the burden of your deepest fears and sorrows on your back. For Ryeon, this was Jungil. More accurately said, the choice she made that affected Jungil.

Though she had stopped allowing that trauma to affect their newly rekindled relationship, subconsciously, it still affected her. The way she didn't allow herself to truly be affectionate with him, though at times she put that fear behind her and initiated their more intimate moments, it was always a hurdle for her.

Or how she always found comfort in arguing with him because that resembled the Jungil that hated her, the Jungil that she spent more time with and sadly, the Jungil she felt more accustomed to.

Those feelings were always pushed to the back of her head for the sake of their relationship but now, they were going to be brought to the front; And that shook her to her core.

She stood up and headed out of her room. As she shut the door behind her, she began walking toward the King's office. She figured it'd be easier to start the punishment as soon as possible so that both Jungil and Ryungu couldn't try to say anything to make her change her mind.

As she found herself in front of the King's door, she took a deep breath, sighed,  and opened the door. The King was busy signing papers when their head flew up and looked at Ryeon with confusion. "What are you doing here?" The King called out to her. Ryeon replied to the question with an explanation for her early attendance.

"I'm ready to go now, Your Majesty." The King lightly threw themselves back flush against their thrown, and chuckled in disbelief. "..Are you trying to make a fool of me Koo Ryeon?" Ryeon lifted her head from the respective head bow to look at the King with a scare. "Of course not, Your Majesty. ...I'll just wait until 10 pm, I apologize."

The King's face immediately relaxed as they realized Ryeon was unaware. "...He didn't tell you?" Ryeon was on her way outside of the office when she stopped in her tracks. She slowly turned her head towards The King, confused about the vague sentence that was just put into the air.

"He?" The King Replied, "Yes, He didn't tell you about what happened after you left yesterday night?" Ryeon gently shook her head from side to side, still stuck in a haze of confusion. The King sighed and began to explain the situation. "After you left, he came to me, begging me to not let you take Ryungu's punishment." Ryeon's eyes grew bigger with every word that left the King's mouth.

In disbelief, she uttered "And then?" The King sighed but continued, "I refused but he said that he couldn't live with himself if he allowed you to go back there." Ryeon's eyes were filled with water, preparing to break free. In almost a whisper, she asked: "..Where is he?"

The King put their weight on the throne behind them and just stared into Ryeon's eyes. "....The punishment was already set into place, someone had to fulfill it" In a heartbeat, Ryeon turned her body and propelled herself towards the door. '..no..no' She didn't even have the energy to teleport so she ran down the corridors of the building, heading to Jungil's room.

Out of breath, she hurriedly opened his door. She looked around, he was nowhere in sight. She ran towards the bathroom, he wasn't there either. She thought about where he could be but stopped when she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror in the bathroom.

She immediately broke down, disheartened by the reality of her situation. '...He's gone. He's gone..'
She found herself dwelling in a fetal position on the ground of his bathroom floor, crying to her heart's content. She felt empty, completely bare, and exhausted.

She stayed there for the rest of the day until evening, drowning in her sorrow accompanied by a heavy silence. The only thing that broke that emptiness of sound was the occasional sniffles and drops of tears that hit the wooden floor. '...Now I'm really on my own..' With that epiphany, she broke down once more, feeling even more weak.

Yes, Jungil would only be gone for 6 months, which isn't that long compared to eternity but it was the state that he would be in. She knew all too well what hell was like and knowing that Jungil would be going through it shattered her. Completely. But what could she do? Only wait for him to come back; Come back to her.
...

At first, things were hard. For the whole Jumadeung Team but especially for Ryeon. In the first couple of weeks, she didn't eat much and spent her days curled up in Jungil's bed. She took off on working for a week and The King allowed her but that week became weeks. This was extremely unlike her. Ryeon had experienced very saddening moments but never one that hindered her ability to work.

She was eventually forced to come back to her duties as the head of the joint team of crisis management and grim reaper management teams.

In the beginning, there were many speculations as to why Jungil was absent and why Ryeon took a break from work. Gossip of 'I saw them making out in the lobby a couple of weeks ago, they probably got caught dating!' And 'No, they hate each other, they probably got into another fight and got suspended' were very prominent.

The only person that stayed quiet was Ryungu, he knew what really happened and he felt guilt beyond imagination. He couldn't stand the fact that he not only put both of his seniors in tough places where they had to sacrifice their well-being but that he was also partly responsible for Ryeon's depression.

He was in the lobby where the members of both teams were summoned. Up until this point, they were led by a random staff member who wasn't the best at managing but they did their best. As they waited for their temporary manager, Ryungu caught a glimpse of someone familiar.

"...Senior". When everyone heard the word that Ryungu said, all mutters quickly stopped and everyone stared. Koo Ryeon was back. She was dressed in a black suit, accompanied by a white shirt. Her face was as blank as ever and no emotion could be read.

It had been almost a month since anyone saw Ryeon, and she was different. Her aura was one of a foreign nature but she also carried a sense of confidence.

She stopped in front of the crowd of members and said "Let's get to work." In unison, everyone replied with a "Yes Ma'am." With that, everyone made their way to their respective work sites after being instructed by Ryeon. As Ryeon saw everyone scatter, Ryungu stayed behind and stared at her in disbelief. She gave a small smile his way and bowed her head. He reciprocated the bow and stumbled on his way to his desk.

'I can't sit and do nothing. He's going to come back soon and he can't come back to me depressed and sad; His sacrifice will be for nothing. I have to live, for him.'

—- author note —-
Thank you for reading! If you enjoyed, don't forget to ⭐️ and boost my ego by commenting! Until next time~