episode_0098

When I opened my eyes, the unfamiliar ceiling… seemed strangely familiar.

The white ceiling that I was used to seeing, with a faint smell of disinfectant in the air, made me realize that I was lying in a hospital bed.

Oh, another hospital visit?

Despite my will, I found myself sobbing uncontrollably, not even understanding why, and maybe even passing out in that state…

With my memories so hazy, I couldn’t recall what had happened at the end, but since there was no discomfort or pain in my body, I could consider myself lucky in the midst of misfortune.

“I should get up.”

I should get up before my husband starts worrying again.

I shifted my stiff body and sat up, realizing that there was nothing wrong with me. As I did so, I noticed someone sitting on the edge of the bed.

A small girl, looking like a kindergarten student, with long brown hair that reached her lower back.

She could have been a lost child who wandered into the hospital room by mistake, but the eerie stillness around her and the mysterious aura emanating from the girl in a black dress made it clear that she was someone unique in this world.

“Eunhye?”

“…Long time no see, oppa.”

Turning towards me, Eunhye spoke softly, looking somewhat downcast.

The sight of Eunhye in front of me was reminiscent of when we were always together, back when I last remembered her at the age of five.

I couldn’t fathom why she had grown older, but it was comforting to see Eunhye again after she had been absent for a while.

“It’s been a really long time. What have you been up to all this time? Do you know how worried I’ve been since you disappeared?”

My words came out scolding, and Eunhye shrugged her shoulders, narrowing her eyes. It wasn’t meant to make her angry, but she seemed hurt by my words, raising her voice slightly.

“I’m sorry… I’m so sorry…”

“No, don’t apologize for being upset… *sigh* So, after disappearing for so long, why did you suddenly show up now?”

“I didn’t have much time left…”

Eunhye said, raising her head slightly and gazing at the ceiling.

“You see, oppa, when I forced you to take my body to save you, I only had one year left. And that time kept decreasing every time I appeared in front of you… If things had gone as they were supposed to, when we met before, it would have been the last time. So, I thought it was really the end.”

Eunhye’s gaze, which had been fixed on the ceiling, now turned towards me.

“At the last moment, you held onto me. Asking me where I was going. Not to leave.”

Was she talking about that time? When she tried to leave in tears on the night I proposed to her, and I held onto her.

It felt so vivid that I considered it a dream, but it might not have been a dream after all.

“So, you’re not going anywhere now, right? You’ll stay by my side forever?”

Whatever happens, even if it was an accidental occurrence, if my actions at that time kept Eunhye from leaving, I would never regret it. I would make the same choice again if a similar situation arose.

“Yeah, it might be a little different. Probably.”

“Probably? What does that mean?”

“The Grim Reaper told me. Because of what you did, I was tied back to the real world. The law of causality got entangled because of you, giving me a chance for a new life.”

“So… does that mean you could be reborn?”

If a chance for a new life was given, it meant that I would become an ordinary person visible not just to me in an unrealistic form, but to others as well.

“As my brother said, the Grim Reaper mentioned that I might be able to be reborn. It’s not certain, but maybe that’s why I appeared in this young form.”

Her figure, speaking while swinging her legs, made me feel even more confused.

But it’s not unfamiliar.

Even if I may not recognize the more grown-up version of her here, I will surely remember the faint image of her childhood deeply in my heart.

“True, I was extremely upset that things went wrong, and I said I didn’t like people like you.”

“It doesn’t matter what you said. Even if given another chance, I would make the same choice.”

Whoever tries to take my sister away from me, whether it’s the Grim Reaper or anyone else, I will never let them act freely.

“Is the Grim Reaper listening to all of this right now?”

“What? There’s no one here besides you and me.”

Indeed, even after looking around, there seems to be no one else in this hospital room besides me and the young Eunhye.

“Oh, that’s because the Grim Reaper can’t be seen by the living, as they are beings without life.”

Though I can’t see it with my own eyes, Eunhye was speaking while looking at the empty space, as if that Grim Reaper fellow was there.

While the Grim Reaper helped by granting Eunhye’s request and allowing me to live on through her, trying to take Eunhye away without my consent is something I cannot easily forgive.

“So, I’m really not dead, and you… have become Eunhye in body and mind.”

“Yeah. I guess it means that you’ve become Eunhye in body and mind, not just a reincarnation of Jueunseok. If you want to add more, you can say that I’ve become a woman who is more like me than me.”

Eunhye’s mocking tone made me want to grab her cheek in frustration.

If we had always been siblings, wouldn’t we have played mischievous pranks like others and gotten into frequent fights, becoming a normal sibling relationship?

But if that had been the case, I wouldn’t have become Eunhye, nor would I have met my husband and… well, our relationship wouldn’t have become this deep. From the moment I became Eunhye, I was alone, but maybe I accepted too easily the fact that I became a woman after meeting my husband. Well, it doesn’t matter now.

The memories of being a man are truly just memories of the past. Before accepting the fact that I became a woman, I had already promised to be my husband’s wife, so I have always been his woman.

“It’s really serious because of me. I might not like a mother like this.”

“A mother?”

The title that used to go back and forth between sister and brother has now changed to mother. Perhaps this fellow who claims to be reborn.

“…It may sound strange, but let me ask you again. Mother.”

“You…!!”

While Eunhye spoke casually, I was shocked and speechless.

In fact, it wasn’t completely unexpected.

Since that day, the night I was proposed to by my husband, the moment I dreamed of grabbing Eunhye who was trying to leave me, I couldn’t feel any sense of loss without her in my body.

Maybe I was relieved, speculating that Eunhye had returned to my body.

“Back then, I didn’t know how lucky I was that you held onto me. I really thought it was the end, but you didn’t let go until the end. Thank you.”

“Why would I let you go? You’re my family. You’re my one and only twin sister in this world.”

“But now I won’t be your sister anymore, right?”

“…Yes, it seems it turned out that way.”

If Eunhye were to be reborn, her intertwined relationship with Eunhye would all fall apart.

No, perhaps our relationship had already been twisted from the moment Eunhye resurrected me. No, it was already twisted.

From the moment I became Eunhye.

“Yeah, she might have noticed, but since it’s the end, I wanted to say it clearly. I wanted to apologize to my brother who risked his life to save me, and I wanted to stay with him. Everything.”

“…So when you held onto my ashes and cried…”

“That was me.”

I guess that’s how it was, that’s what you did. Because I couldn’t let go of the regret that remained with me…

“I’m sorry. It’s an excuse, but I couldn’t help but face my brother who had become like that. It’s all because of me that my brother ended up like that. It’s really the end now. It’s a chance that will never come again. I wanted to convey what I wanted to say…”

“Don’t apologize. Whatever the result, it’s all over. And I’m grateful to you enough. If it weren’t for you, I would have remained a fool who didn’t trust anyone until the end. I was just a fool who didn’t even trust the approaching kindness.”

If it weren’t for you, Eunhye, I wouldn’t have known that fact at all.

“And why do you think it’s the end?”

If what you said is true, if I became your mother.

“You said it yourself. That I will be reborn as your child. That I will become your mother. Even if we can’t go back as twin siblings, even if I can’t become your younger sibling, we will become a family and meet again.”

I approached Eunhye, smiling as I placed my hand on her small, tender hand.

“This time, I will never let go of this hand. As your brother, I eventually let go, but this time, as your mother, I will always be by your side, in my arms.”

I won’t leave you alone again. I’ll make sure you’re not lonely. Even if I’m a little clumsy, I’ll be by your side. Both me and our husband will support you together.

Whether you are born as a man or a woman, I will always love you. We will remain as a family.

Even if we are reborn, we will always be together.

So, when the time comes, let’s start again.

Got it? My little star.