Even Death Doesn't Apart Us (English Version)

Prologue

A pact crossed death

uniting two separate and longing hearts

Shouting each other's names

"We will not be apart,"

"Even by death."

January 2024 / ᐠ｡ꞈ｡ᐟ❆\

/ᐠ. ̫ .ᐟ\

The January winds swirled around the young woman, and never failed to make the hair on the back of her neck stand on end. The temperature is almost below zero degrees. However, it's not just the cold that causes the shivers. Her chest doesn't want to stop racing, her face instead feels warm. Waiting for the person behind the old sliding door in front of him.

The person he had only been able to see from afar, from the screen for the weekly uploaded video, from the orange field divider. The same person who made his heart beat so fast during his last year in elementary school.

Creak! The door opened slightly. The owner of the house only tilted his head slightly, and only his eyes were visible. That was enough to make the woman hold back her shock. Those golden amber eyes, there was no mistaking it.

Since seeing it for the first time, when the sunlight added it's shine under the trees which were starting to turn green. Realising that herself and the man next to her were the guests he was waiting for, the door opened wider. In more than ten years, there has been no noticeable change in him. The man standing was slightly slouching, small in stature, but still taller than her.

The man was still cold even with layers of clothes on. When the wind blows, he pulls his red haori over a black hoodie, his go-to outfit every time he records a video. Not forgetting the crumpled red training trousers that had holes everywhere tucked into long white socks. There was a small change indeed, the brown hair remained only at the ends of his long black hair. If people didn't recognise this man, no one would ever think he was a popular YouTuber and that young CEO who was famous all over the country, even abroad.

Because of the lighting, his eye bags don't look that thick in the video. The man's appearance was different, but to her, he was still the same. A witful player on the volleyball court who is able to outsmart his opponents in his game. That player who makes her eyes can't take eyes off of him during the game. Something flared up in her stomach, just like when she saw him for the first time in the volleyball court.

Her shoulder nudged, in the back the man's lip furrowed. If it weren't for her editor company, she wouldn't have dared to come here. To meet that man, who wants to make an agreement with her, in exchange for a safe place to live.

The editor had been waiting for him to greet him, because she had insisted at first. Now, when came face to face with the man, her tongue became stiff. She couldn't help but give a poke as a sign for her editor to start the introduction.

After her editor finished her supposed task, the woman gave a greeting with a much higher voice than she wanted. It is difficult to make the body obey the brain's command to remain calm. She couldn't help, seeing that she wanted to explode in panic and joy being one. Her face felt like it was burning when the man greeted them in return and invited them in.

The woman was still standing outside when the others came in. Processing what was going to happen while watching the homeowner walk in. Is it a dream?

All this time, she only dreamed of getting to know this man, even being in a close distance to him was just a dream. Especially after embarrassing himself in front of him last time. Which made social media buzzed and laughter at night at the yakiniku restaurant.

/ᐠⓛꞈⓛᐟ\

The girl never came inside. Just looking at the house from outside with his pitch black eyes, like obsidian. The guy accompanying the girl called her to come in. The girl walked quickly inside. She was covered in black from head to toe, only her glasses were visible. Yet, only her scarf is different, dark red.

Those obsidian eyes bothered him. Neither because of the incident on the live streaming last month or her drunken state. Those obsidian eyes were the same as the ones he saw in the dream that had always haunted him since childhood. Lifeless dark obsidian eyes with a body soaking wet with blood in his arms. He rubbed his nape, because he always got goosebumps whenever he remembered that nightmare.

If asked, he doesn't want to be close to that girl. Not just because of his dream, but also the woman's request in their agreement. For him to provide a safe place to live for herself. According to her, because of the incident on the live streaming, she experienced 'harassment'. Notwithstanding, it wasn't him who made it viral, it was his viewers, his fans. In fact, it was her own fault who carelessly entered the camera.

None of that now is important. If by making an agreement with her the project he had worked so hard to create could be carried out, it wouldn't matter if he had to live under the same roof as her.

However, apart from dreams, that particular memory wouldn't shut up. It kept hopping in his cranial cavity. Ever since he saw that girl, memories of that little girl who he met at his first spring in high school came back to him. At that time, he tried to escape from the abuse from his upperclassmen, which made him almost decide to stop practicing volleyball.

That little girl came while he was hiding to play. The first thing he remembered about her was eyes as black as obsidian. The more he tried not to remember, the clearer the child's face became. Carelessly cut bangs with oversized glasses for her small face. The unexpected encounter allowed him to breathe. It had been a long time since the man remembered that little girl, but when he saw the girl, memories that had been buried for a long time began to come back to him.

"Excuse me," said the woman as she took off her black combat boots and went into the house.

/ᐠ｡ꞈ｡ᐟ\