Bubble

43. Waiting For Us

Limbo was a weird place to be. It was a place where you were neither dead or alive. Chris was used to this land of limbo ever since his "accident", watching life pass him by and watching the ones he loved suffer. After Jongsu had attempted to shoot I.N, Chris found himself in a different type of limbo. For whatever reason, he was stuck in this in between place that was festooned with stars. He couldn't go towards the light in front of him nor the light in back of him. He was just stuck in this sort of odd space floating, watching as the occasional white wisp of a spirit passed him by.

Chris didn't know how long he was in this limbo space before one of the white wisps that passed him seemed to stop. It swirled about like smoke from a cigarette, the top end of it tinted golden. He squinted his eyes for a moment as the smoke hovered in front of him before becoming a translucent figure filled with pastel colors. It muted what life this person originally had, but yet provided them with an ethereal beauty all its own.

"Mom?" Chris asked.

Before him stood a figment of a woman that had been violently taken from his life when he was four. He felt the tears come to his eyes as a warm smile took over her face. Chris couldn't help but wonder if his mom was here to escort him out of this limbo and to a place of rest finally.

"Hello my darling Christopher," she said. "My how you have grown! You have turned into quite the remarkable man."

"I've missed you."

"I've missed you too," his mother said. "I've been anxiously waiting for the day when I would see you again."

"Does this mean you've come to take me with you?" Chris asked.

His mother left the question unanswered as he noticed another wisp swirling down to materialize before him. Even though the figure next to his mother looked exactly like him, he knew that it wasn't him. He knew that as crazy as it sounded, it was none other than Bang Chan.

"Bang Chan? What are you doing here?"

"He's here to take you home, Chris," his mother said. "It's not your time yet to come with me. There are people that need you still."

"But...but I'm dead. I've been dead. I don't understand..."

"When you and I collided together when we tried to protect I.N from Jongsu, you made my body real," Bang Chan said, "but that doesn't mean I'm real. I'm able to go back to my show now and instead of the body dying, I think you should use it to go back to your loved ones."

"But I..."

Chris was having a hard time wrapping his mind around it all. It almost seemed too good to be true. After all, this was the whole reason he had tried to use Bang Chan as a vessel to begin with. His mother came closer to him, hovering in front of his face.

"Go home, my handsome son. I'll be here when you someday return to me, but I want you to live a life first. Okay?"

He nodded as he felt a tear trickle down his cheek before looking over at Bang Chan.

"I don't feel right taking away your chance to be alive though..."

"You're not," Bang Chan said. "Just because I'm going back to my show doesn't mean I'm not alive. You gave me a chance to feel what it's like to have a family again and to be loved. As a fictional character that has spent a large chunk of time alone, there's nothing more I could ask for."

"Thank you," Chris said. It was the only thing he could think of to say in that moment.

"No, thank you," Bang Chan said.

Chris watched as his mother went backwards and Bang Chan approached him instead. Bang Chan extended a hand towards Chris. Sticking out a hand, Chris grabbed Bang Chan's in his and watched as the stars he was surrounded by faded away.