My Moon Flower 『ᴊᴀᴇᴡᴏᴏ』

Chapter 46 : Goodbye for Now

J A E H Y U N 

Whoever said that they 'welcomed death with open arms' can talk to me, because there was no such thing. Trust me, been there and done that. 

If I can put my experience into words, I can say that it's a 'hell of an adventure'. Something that I don't want to experience again unless it's my final call. It was painful, at first. Painful, when I felt my insides burned like a hot coal in a fire, but it was just for a moment until I lose consciousness. 

Then, came the calmness. It was disconcerting, some may say that it's peaceful but I think it's eerie. I felt the calmness after I regain my consciousness when I heard Jungwoo's voice. I remembered vaguely that I called out his name because for me it felt like a dream. I remembered that I asked my mom to take care of Jungwoo as I felt my life slipping away bit by bit until that calm void took me.

Looking back, it doesn't sound so bad but the other side was a different issue. If other people saw light at the end of the tunnel, then I guess I was in the wrong place because the other side was not welcoming at all. It looked grey, dead, and unstable, just like the static on the television.

Now, came the fear. Cold, paralyzing fear suddenly enveloped me as I walked towards an unknown destination. It was silent except for the random howls that the wind carries whenever it blew. Where did the wind come from? I don't know. 

After walking for some time, I finally saw something just a few meters away from me. It was a garden of some kind, with ivy crawling on the black iron gates. With my gut instinct telling me what to do, I pushed the gates to open for me and stepped inside. 

White carnations with black leaves populated the garden as far as the human eye can see. The garden was vast and eerily beautiful. As I walked deeper, I noticed that the flowers were almost 'glowing' against the black bushes and leaves. 

In the middle of the garden, was a small clear pond. I walked towards it filled with curiosity and carefully peeked into its waters. I took note that the pond reflected the starry night and the white full moon. Intrigued that there is a starry night sky here, I looked up and was greeted by nothingness. The 'roof' or 'sky' of that place was empty, except for the darkness looming in as I stayed longer in that place.

"Full moon, I see." I heard a man chuckled as he saw the full moon's reflection in the pond. Surprised, I whipped around and saw him standing under a tree, hiding his face in the shadows.

"Who are you?" I called out while I mustered my courage.

"Just someone," he answered back with an amused laugh that didn't feel right to me. He's acting as he knew me.

"Oh, I knew about you alright." he sniggered. "But, I think our dear Moon God, forgot to mention me."

"Should I care?" I asked out loud. Dear, Moon God? Is he close to Jungwoo?