༺Masterpiece༻

XXXIII :: Mai

"What? No? You're kidding, right? Right?"

A silence settled between us, heavier than any canvas I’d ever lifted. Y/n—no, Esmé—looked at me with eyes that now held a thousand untold stories.

The feeling of letting your own world shatter before you sank in me whenever whatever I built only seemed to build anew.

“I wish I were kidding, Kook. But it’s true. Dr. Shane Albertson and Prof. Lee Ju Gyeong has only one child. I am that child. Ju Gyeong is my mother.”

A rush of disbelief, confusion, and realization hit me. “But how? I mean, all this time, the dreams...”

Esmé, no, my Y/n nodded. “It’s strange, isn’t it? But I never knew Mai. My mother left Korea long before I was born, and she never spoke much about her past. She told me that she had a mother, but they never saw each other again after she left. I grew up knowing I had a grandmother, but I don’t even know if she’s alive.”

I took a deep breath, trying to process this revelation. “So, you’ve never dreamt about them? You never knew any of this?”

“No,” Esmé said softly. “All I have are vague stories and a few old photographs. My mother died years ago, and I never had the chance to ask her more.”

I looked at her, feeling a strange mix of emotions. “Love, do you realize what this means? All those dreams, all those people—they’re real. Your family is real. Mai is real.”

"Though we just met, I must confess,
With you, I sense a boundless quest.
You'll be my undoing, my heart's great test,
My fiercest rival, yet I feel blessed." The words of a very known poem flowed through lips and my veins.

I know it. I know now. I didn't feel Mai on me, I have felt Y/n. I haven't touched Mai, I have touched Y/n. I never spoke to Mai, the voice had always belonged to Y/n. And the face that I yearned to see, blessed me with the view long before I knew.

"In your eyes, a storm I see,
A force of nature, wild and free.
You captivate, you mesmerize,
A fleeting glance, and my soul complies." Her voice now sang. Mai's words sang.

"For now, we're caught in passion's fire,
Our spirits dance, our hearts conspire." My voice felt hoarse when sang the words I had by heart. "Though the future holds uncertainty, In this moment, it's just you and me."

She nodded, tears welling up in her eyes. “I know. And I don’t know how to feel about it. It’s like finding a piece of myself I never knew was missing.”

I reached out and held her hand. “Then let’s find out together. Let’s uncover the story of your family.”

"Am I ready to do it?" She squeezed my hand back, the weight of our shared dreams and newfound reality binding us closer. “Together?”

“Esmé,” I began, “if your grandmother is still alive, we need to find her. She needs to know about you, about everything. Also, why did I never correlate your name before?”

"That is the one question I should ask. But how? Where do we even start? And, if it will only even work.”

I thought for a moment. “Your mother must have left some clues. Letters, documents, anything that could help us trace her steps.”

Her eyes dimmed down. "There's nothing that she left, Kook. She's gone for about 10 years now. All I have are address less letters. And a photograph.”

“Then that’s where we’ll start,” I said with determination. “We’ll go through everything and piece together the story. We’ll find Mai. What photograph, by the way?"