Mine | Bbangsaz

(21) Love & Redemption

It's been a month, once again, Minji knelt on the ground with her empty gaze filled with sorrow and loss. Her neck felt frozen, constantly turning towards an engraved name on the tombstone. Her tears seemed to have run dry, leaving a burning sensation and redness. Her heart, shattered into pieces, ached all over.

Hanni, someone Minji loved the most, now peacefully slept forever, resting on the earth and covered by it.

With pain coursing through her entire body, she tried to open her dry and pale mouth. "I haven't even had the chance to tell you how much I love you," she uttered, her voice hoarse, sincere pain evident in her words.

Minji broke down again, as if the heavens returned her dried tears. She clenched her pants, bent down, and wept bitterly. She couldn't accept the reality that her wife had become one with the earth.

"Forgive me..." Her sobs were uncontrollable, she crawled and embraced Hanni's grave, still just a mound of soil.

"Kim Minji..." Sunoo called her softly, intending to ask Minji to stop lying beside the grave. But seeing her mistress so utterly broken and helpless, he fell silent and let her be. Occasionally, his own tears mingled with the sight of Minji, so powerless in this moment.

Minji's shattered heart had bound her, her soul shattered and directionless. The loss of a love so great came to her again, but this time it felt even more painful. Like a thousand knives piercing her from the front. Dark thoughts always hovered over her head, wanting desperately to join Hanni in the sky. She cried again, hiding her face in the soil, drenching it with her tears.

"A baby who still doesn't have a name till now is what keeps me going, Hanni," she sobbed, her hoarse voice echoing, the place so quiet that her voice exploded into the silence. Even the sky seemed to support her, the distant rumble and faint lightning decorating her melancholy, the overcast sky mirroring Minji's mental and physical state. Now the drizzle followed, but she didn't care how many times Sunoo called her as the tears streamed down even harder.

Minji just wanted to spend time with Hanni, even though the girl no longer breathed the same air.

"Kim Minji, it's going to rain soon. Please come back now..." Sunoo couldn't hold back his own tears, with a little sob, he tried to get Minji to rise, pulling at her heavy arm. But Minji wouldn't move at all, she shook her head firmly.

"No, I won't let her be rained on alone here."

Sunoo shook his head, his boss's words were so resigned. If Sunoo were Minji, he would surely do the same, but however you looked at it, this wasn't good. Minji needed to be healthy.

"Minji, Mrs. Hanni is in heaven now... she won't get rained on. Don't make her sad by doing this..." Sunoo reluctantly said this, in order to get Minji to stand up.

But she still didn't budge. She even closed her eyes, enjoying the rain that was starting to pour, letting the drops wet her face and clothes, as well as savoring the moments when the soil mixed with the water splattered onto her face. Unconsciously, the hallucination made her lips curve into a faint smile, and she ignored Sunoo who continued to call her, his voice becoming more and more distant in her ears.

"Kim Minji?" Sunoo gently nudged Minji until her body swayed, but Minji still didn't respond to Sunoo.

"Kim Minji, wake up!" Sunoo grabbed Minji's face and shook it firmly. Sunoo tensed as Minji's face turned very pale, and so did her lips.

"Kim Minji!" Sunoo slapped Minji's cheek, hoping she would wake from her slumber.

"Kim Minji..."

Minji opened her eyes and immediately got up, causing Sunoo to tumble back onto the waiting chair.