It's always exciting.
If we meet again someday, what will we become?
.
.
Chapter 27. At the end of the wait
*
“Jungkook, try this.”
“It looks delicious! Did your sister make it?”
It was a peaceful day. No whales leaped, and the grasses of the garden danced to the breeze. After settling down for a moment, Jeong-guk told Yeo-ju about the world he'd seen. Yeo-ju used these stories to imagine the world: the bird carrying the universe on its tail, the dynamic dance of lights in the sky, the tall trees reaching for the sky.
“Sister, I heard there’s a festival in the town next door. Do you want to go?
“What festival?”
“I don’t know, but I heard there’s a really big church there, so let’s go see it.”
That day, Jimin was unusually busy with deliveries. Jimin, who had been smiling more and more since settling in, didn't know how to care for Yeoju's empty heart any longer. Still, Yeoju wasn't upset. Jimin, who had spent all that time caring for her, thought it was time to leave her.
“Oh... look over there. The doll is huge!”
“Yeah, it’s pretty..”
The festival, though brief, was delightful. It was filled with smiling people, bright and vibrant. A shower of flowers fell from the sky, and various, brightly colored dolls greeted her. Among them, Yeoju saw a child selling flowers. It was a face she'd never seen before, yet felt familiar. She saw the faces of countless children she'd seen in her travels over the past few months. Yeoju bought the flowers for them. She then made a wreath out of them and placed it on the child's head.
“Is this the church?”
“Yes, it’s big, but there aren’t many people.”
Unlike the town where the festival was taking place, the church was strangely quiet. I looked at the tinted glass that Jeongguk had mentioned, and observed the world that appeared red and blue because of it. Wasn't Yeoju like that too? Hadn't she lived only seeing the world of whales and the world of flowers?
“What is this place?”
"It's a confessional. It's a place where you can confess your wrongdoings and be forgiven."
While Jeong-guk left, saying he was meeting someone he knew, Yeo-ju, now alone, gazed silently at the confessional. Nothing wrong, not even a single thought, came to mind, but she couldn't leave. Finally, she opened the door and entered. The darkness of the confessional allowed her to hide herself. As soon as she was greeted, Yeo-ju, unable to even sit down, poured out what she wanted to say.
“Welcome.”
“...there must have been people waiting, but I ignored them all.”
“......”
“..I promised to come find him, but he turned away. But I think he’ll be happy without me.”
“It’s okay. God will forgive everyone.”
"Well then, that's right." Yeoju, momentarily letting go of her hopes, left the confessional. As she gazed at the painting that filled the ceiling, depicting the beginning of all things, the side door of the confessional quietly opened. Yeoju, her eyes slightly saddened, turned around, and her eyes were filled with something unbelievable.
“Taehyung... Taehyung...?”
"...Is that me? I'd be happy without you. I waited and searched for you for so long..."
“No, no, Taehyung...”
What a magical coincidence. Curiously, Taehyung sat down in the pastor's chair in the confessional, and I almost passed him by, just a door behind. Seeing Taehyung again after such a long time, he hadn't changed at all. Aside from being a little taller and having a brighter complexion, he hadn't changed at all. Who was that woman back then? Didn't you miss me? All the questions were swallowed inside. The truth that the woman the female protagonist had mentioned in the confessional was Jimin was something she'd never know.
The two held each other for a long time. They felt each other with a steady heartbeat that was no longer unusual. Jungkook never returned to the church that day. In the world, there were only Yeoju and Taehyung, and each other. Wasn't it a relationship that went back too far? Wasn't it enough for them to be happy like this?