The Next Life (다음 생에 만날래)

The Ashes

The world came to me in an instant, the remnants of a scream, my own scream, fresh in my ears. I bolted upright, fighting the material that covered me, tossing it aside. No. Not again. Not another nightmare. Not...

I looked around, and an unexpected familiarity with my surroundings took some of the edge off. My heart still pounded so loud I could barely hear, and my back was soaked in sweat.

My room. At least, the room I stayed in when I was in Blackpink Mansion. Everything was just as I had left it. Admittedly, I hadn't slept in this room since the first few nights in the mansion, as most of my nights there were spent with Jisoo.

Jisoo. Where was she? Where were the others? What happened in the Queen's... lair?

What happened with the Queen?

Interrupting the slew of questions in my head, the bedroom door opened on its own accord. I spent a good half minute staring at it, trying to sense what had caused it. No, if it was a ghost or something, I should've been able to see it. But there was nothing, no one in the door frame. I felt no unnatural presence, either. There was no way the door just opened itself, it was pushed all the way...

My gaze on the door broke when I noticed something in my periphery. I turned to see a shape forming, fading into existence right next to my bed. The shape became a person, and the person became someone I knew all too well.

"Jisoo..."

The surprise of her appearing out of thin air was dimmed as I quickly realised what it meant. Judging by the solemn expression on her face, she must've already known.

"I can't... I can't feel you... anymore."

Jisoo pursed her lips, letting a knowing sigh loose, before reaching for my hand, taking it in both of hers.

"How do you feel, my love?"

I considered my answer, gripping her hand. It felt the same, like solid air, no real temperature to it. "It's... peaceful. For the first time, you're right next to me, and I don't feel your presence. It's usually in the background, like a dull ache you forget about if you don't think about it. But now... nothing."

She shook her head. "That is... not what I was referring to."

"What do you mean?" Her fingers stiffened in mine.

"Do you remember nothing?"

The bed sank under her weight as she sat on the edge, turning herself to face me. With her free hand, she grabbed the side of my face and turned it towards her. As her eyes bore into mine, I saw, for the first time since she'd appeared in my room, how lifeless her eyes were. Not in the sense that she was dead, obviously. They were shaky, strained, weak.

My memory was still there, for the most part. I remembered my encounter with the Queen, navigating her death trap, her monologue as she held Jisoo and I captive, provoking her to attack me. And then... that figure that appeared, before everything went black.

I shook my head. "N– no, I do remember. Just, only up until I passed out."

Another sigh escaped her lips as she tilted her head, heavy eyes still locked on mine.

~~~

The Mogwai could only watch in horror as her love spoke in another's voice. One that shook the cold stone walls she was chained to, one that filled her with a dread rivalled only by the way she'd felt when she found out what the she-demon had done to him.

As he spoke, Y/N yanked his arms forward, completely snapping the chains that held him, with so much force his bones should've snapped. He fell on his feet, standing upright, slightly hunched, as he glared at the Queen before him with... black eyes. She was sure of it—it wasn't just the lack of light.