The moon shone brightly in the night sky upon the two figures as they leaned on each other in more than just weight.

One of them was now bleeding black smoke as her form had begun to slowly dissipate forever.

"You are right, you know," she said calmly. "I feel like I did take away everything that we could have had.

"There were times when I thought of not following through with your plan. But I couldn’t, because the only reason that you chose this plan of yours was that, aside from us, you loved humanity. So much that you had to die for them.

"Often times, I find myself wondering about humanity and their attitude towards everything, and I can’t help but question why you loved them. But then I realized that, in the end, no one knows humanity better than you.

"You know their good, their bad, and their evil. You know them all because you have experienced them all, lived them all.

"You are a beginningless cycle of death and rebirth, so you have lived countless lives and have experienced countless deaths. You have watched people die, you have brought them to life, and when they died the second time, you guided them to reincarnation. You bring a different version of them to the world based on the karma they accumulated in their lifetimes.

"That... is who you are. The wheel of life.

"You are not good. You are not evil. You are all. You are love. You are hatred. And... you are a being I will never understand."

She exhaled deeply, and after a brief moment of silence, she spoke.

"Min-jun. In the future, you will become cold, yet warm. You will no longer fear death, for you will realize that it is as natural to die as it is to be born. And in the end, you will always find your way back to yourself. For you are your home."

She paused again, and slowly, she turned to stare into his blue eyes. Then she asked in a voice that trembled, "Do you hate me for keeping to the plan and being loyal?"

Well... truth be told, he couldn’t be upset with her for manipulating his life because it was not her; it was himself. Or rather, it was the other version of himself.

So...

"No..." he replied. "I do not hate you."

He exhaled deeply, and after a brief moment, he said, "You know, it really is a bitter irony. They say I am death, but I can’t stop you from dying. They say I am life, but I will never see you again."

Seo-yeon gave a bitter smile.

"That is because my story is silent. It is a questioning story. A story of a narrator and guide in the background. One that fades away after its Chapter is closed, never to be found again."

Her face cracked like a broken vase, and parts of it began to evaporate into the night air. But her eyes — oh, her eyes remained beautiful. Cedric looked into those wet, brown eyes and muttered from the depths of his heart, "It was a great story. One that made me. One I will never forget for as long as I live. Which shall be forever, my Seo-yeon."

His lips quivered with every word.

Pain.

This was a feeling that couldn’t even be described as that.

But... it was definitely painful.

She smiled and slowly stood up, then gestured for him to stand.

When he did, she leaned in close to him and said, "You uh... do you remember? I used to ask you every day to visit the Hongdae clubs with me, but you never came. You said you were afraid of dancing. Should we dance? Our last dance together."

Cedric smiled.

...a bitter smile.

There was no music, but he took her fading hand. Then he brought her close to himself, and she hugged him.

He took a step back, and she moved with him.

A step forward, another, and another...

He couldn’t see where he stepped because his eyes were blurry, but he didn’t need to, because she guided him as well.

They leaned away, but he pulled her back to himself, causing her to laugh.

He smiled, because he used to like it when she laughed.

In the silence of his heart, he wished that he could keep hearing this laugh every day.

But the truth that he would never again broke him.

"Promise me one thing," she said with her head on his shoulder.

"Anything," he replied.

Slowly, she leaned back a bit and looked into his eyes. "Take care of Aika. The poor girl has suffered enough."

Cedric nodded. "I promise."

Seoyeon sighed as even her clothes faded now until they were just brittle threads.

Cedric held onto her hand, but that didn’t stop the dissipation. Eventually, the last thing he could see through his blurry vision was her beautiful smile.

And then... her Chapter came to a tragic close.

Cedric dropped to his knees and picked up the pendant that had fallen to the ground. Then he hugged it close to his chest.

***

"Hello, my dad calls me Seo-Seo. What’s your name?"

"Min... It’s Min-jun."

"That’s a nice name, Min-jun."

***

"Gosh, I’ve told you to always tidy up, babe.~"

"Hey babe. Did you get dinner?"

"Yep. I got tteokbokki, fried chicken, and some kimbap."

"Tteokbokki? You really know the way to my heart..."

***

"How was work today?"

"The usual..."

***

"As long as we are finally living in a place we actually own, I’m happy. It doesn’t matter where, really."

***

"If you ever were in a position to grant a second chance to someone you didn’t know. It would make me happy if you did."

***

’I wish... I wish I could grant you another chance.’ Cedric cried. ’Thank you... thank you, and goodbye... my first true friend.’

At that moment, his entire body slowly began to decay. Green flames erupted and cracks spread across his skin as he willed his flames to take him. His skin, his kimono, all of it withered away. Just before his hand faded, he put the pendant into his inventory.

And then, even Cedric was gone.

At that moment, a drop of rain fell from the sky onto the floor, followed by another and a sudden downpour.

[End of Volume 2]