Looping Hearts

Chapter 1 - Park Jimin

Sitting by the sea on a row of huge rocks with perfectly random shapes and slowly rubbing his neck, a young man contemplated the vast oceanic expanse that presented itself under his lost and weary eyes. Almost curled up on himself, the boy somehow tried to withstand the winter cold and the winds of the impending storm. He could see them in the distance, these long and unrefined ephemeral and dazzling lines piercing the heavy gray sky which, little by little, was getting closer to the place where he was sitting.

It was the first time he saw the ocean and he thought he would be delighted, dazzled even. The stories told by the elders spoke of a vast azure sky, vast expanses of peaceful, calm and sparkling salty water, fine white sand, unique but very sweet and pleasant smells, and flying animals in the sky like the wind blowing on Lyka. Jimin, because that's what he was called, had more or less believed these stories. It was not good to venture alone in the wild, but, skeptical, he had still left his clan quietly to wander several days in order to find this so-called paradise. Now that he was there, sitting on the edge of that rough gray sea, Jimin sadly realized that he had been naïve. These stories had never been or had not been for a long time. The sky was just as gray and threatening as anywhere else. The vast expanse of salty water was there, but it was far from living up to its reputation among the elders. The sand was cold, wet and rocky. The smell that emanated from this place was neither sweet nor warm; it was almost nauseating. And these flying animals, Jimin could not see any. To tell the truth, the young man was certain that such specimens could not really exist. Of course he knew winged beings, but the image of the birds, as the elders liked to call them, was very different from the flies, mosquitoes, bees, or even cockroaches he had lived with since his early childhood.

So Jimin stayed there, sitting facing the wind, wondering now if whatever the elders told them was real, or if on the contrary everything was just fairy tales for children coming straight out of their imagination or that of their predecessors .

To be completely honest with himself, Jimin respected the elders just as much as he cursed them sometimes. He and his group had been able, and this was still the case now, to survive thanks to the elders who possessed great wisdom and who, over time, had inherited an almost limitless knowledge of life on Lyka. They narrated the stories of yesteryear and filled the people with hope in order to see them live, but above all to survive. However, this was the exact reason why Jimin cursed them. Maybe it was due to his lack of education or his naivety, but he did not understand. Why did the elders tell stories that, if they really existed before, did not exist at all anymore? Why did they bring this vain hope? How could this hope specifically help them when they had to face the harsh reality day after day?! Deep down, Jimin was jealous. Jealous of their wisdom, jealous of their knowledge, but especially jealous of their time spent on Lyka. According to them, Jimin was two hundred and ninety-nine years old and his mother had died at the age of four hundred and two years, leaving behind at that time a little boy barely twenty years old. The elders said that it was impossible for them to know exactly their species' longevity, some individuals unfortunately aging more quickly than others. While some people could reach more than two thousand years of age, others on the other hand were not so lucky and never exceeded more than five hundred years.

The three elders, because there were three of them, were respectively one thousand four hundred and twenty-eight years, one thousand four hundred and fifty-seven years, and one thousand five hundred and two years. In their clan, they were the only three survivors of the misfortune that descended upon Lyka eight hundred years ago. Because, still according to them, Lyka had trembled, the burning rays of their star called the sun had knocked on the door of their planet, the volcanoes of the world had awakened, the ice had melted, the oceans, like the one he had in front of him for the first time right now, had infiltrated their lands, but above all, the sky had fallen on their heads. Something that again, Jimin did not quite understand, of course. How could rock fall from the sky? Apart from the clouds, the rain, the insects, the lightning and the wind, Jimin had never seen anything else fly, let alone earth. Sometimes, when he thought about it, he concentrated and tried to imagine the scene: a pile of earth covered with stones and a fir tree falling from the sky or just floating in the air. So really, no, he did not understand. And that was exactly what the elders narrated, when they themselves could not rationally explain what had happened to Lyka.

Jimin sighed and looked up to see the lightning now falling a few miles away from where he was sitting. He loved contemplating these dazzling lightnings cutting through the sky, but like probably anyone on Lyka, Jimin feared these lugubrious storms; being trapped in one of them could be fatal. It was thus, still wearily and without much haste, that Jimin stood up. He quietly rubbed his thin holey silk clothes, a top that looked like a tank top a bit too wide and a trousers looking like a pair of short pants. He checked his sandals to make sure the strap was still tight, and turned to leave from where he came. The rocks on which he had climbed were particularly slippery and sticky, so it was with double caution that Jimin resumed his journey in reverse. On Lyka, hurting oneself badly meant perishing if one was alone. Too many people had disappeared this way; alone, suffering, frozen, hungry, forgotten. For Jimin, it was inconceivable to finish this way.

Lost in his dark and distant thoughts and as he tried to reach the beach with cautious steps, a huge wave hit the rocks full force, causing him to lose his balance. He fell to his knees, clinging the best he could to avoid falling into the water, when a second wave hit the side of the rocks and made him lay down this time to not to be swept away by the violence of the waves . His ribs crashed against the pointed, almost sharp end of one of the rocks, and Jimin, gasping for air, held back the scream of pain that only asked to come out. With tears in his eyes, Jimin remained in this position for several minutes, snaping out of it and waiting for a new wave to strike. And it was only when a few drops of rain hit him and he turned his head towards the storm that Jimin realized he was really in danger. The strong winds pushed the storm far too quickly; and the closer it would get, the more the sea would break loose. He did not have a minute to lose. Ignoring the piercing pain in his chest, Jimin rose slowly; he had to stay focused. « I'll be fine. » He thought. He knew very well that giving in to panic or rushing to the beach could be fatal. And that is why, when he was once more on his feet and more serene, he glanced around him to prevent a possible new danger; decided not to be fooled again. But it is at this moment that something floating in the water, rocking among the waves, held his attention. Something very pale, almost white, seemed to be dancing in the middle of the dead woods. Jimin started walking again, not looking away from the floating body and losing himself in his thoughts once more. Was this a marine animal? Although he did not quite understand how such beings could survive in such cold, dirty and turbulent waters, the elders had sometimes spoken of tiny as gigantic creatures living in these places. Some of which never went up to the surface to breathe. How? Why? He could not remember. All he knew for the moment was that something had been unusual enough to get his attention. Was it a fish? An orca? A shark? A mollusk? A seal? Determined to find out more, but knowing full well that he would be unable to identify the animal, Jimin left his thoughts a second time and arrived at the end of the rocks.

The young man looked around before coming down from his perch and, seeing a new wave speeding in his direction, did not think twice and jumped. The shells and pebbles scattered on the sand pierced his skin as the wave reached him and splashed him with icy water. But, too happy to have been able to reach the bank safe and sound, Jimin did not pay much attention to the condition of his knees and hands, nor to the cold that almost pierced him to the bones. He remained in this position for several seconds; knees on the ground, head down and face smiling despite his teeth banging strongly. Until the image of the mysterious floating body came back to him. Frantically straightening up, Jimin wiped his hands on his top that seemed tattered, and quickly turned around to, in the end, stop dead and widen his eyes with astonishment and dread.

« - Not a fish... » He almost murmured. « A man. »