As soon as Seoha, Sejin, and Riyoung arrived at Sari’s apartment, they ate the food that Sejin’s mom made just for that visit. As Riyoung said, it was better for them to do this first to have the energy in the duration of the discussion that they would have regarding the plans that they were about to make.
It was a good thing that Riyoung didn't bring up anything related to what they had discussed over the phone earlier to Seoha and Sejin. But she had the feeling that the three of them were just testing the waters at the moment.
"Sari, did something happen to you before we arrived here?"
That question from Sejin made her raise her head and look at her friends. She shook her head as a response, though.
"Then why are you so quiet right now? I'm pretty sure it's not the visions that bother you right now."
Sari went even more speechless after hearing that. But Sejin was right. It wasn't the visions that made her quiet at the moment.
"It’s just... I don't know why I have this strong desire to know more about Professor Soohoon's past lives. Even more so than finding out about what happened to my father and his possible whereabouts at the moment. Seriously... Why is that even coming up right now?"
After that, she took a deep breath and faced her friends. All three of them had this knowing look on their faces and none of them showed sympathy. Only understanding. Then again, they knew about her strange ability and the frustration that went with it for a long time now.
It was one reason why she could only confide her troubles related to her ability only to them and it gave her relief. They hadn't shown her any prejudice about all of it.
"This is just a thought, but..." Riyoung started, which soon snapped Sari out of her thoughts and made her face her friend. The others also looked at Riyoung and waited for her to continue talking. "You did mention to us that the woman in your dreams also appeared in some of your visions about Professor Soohoon's past lives. Have you ever thought of the possibility that they're related in more ways than one?"
"Well... I did consider that," Sari admitted. "But right now, I couldn't see anything that would connect those two people. Only the fact that the woman in my dreams appeared in a vision of the professor's past life from about 400 years ago."
"That long time ago?"
Sari nodded. "It's weird, right?"
"Sari..." Rein called out, soon shifting the focus from Riyoung to him. "I've been meaning to ask you something for a long time now. But I've never really had the chance. Or maybe I just put it in the back of my mind and forgot about it until now."
"Okay. Should I be scared?" Sari joked. Seoha smiled and shook her head. "Alright. Fire away."
"Ever since you found out about your ability to see other people's past lives, have you... ever had the chance to use it for you to know your own past life?"
The question made Sejin and Riyoung frown and soon after, faced Sari who remained silent. But it seemed that the others were patient in waiting for her to speak.
After a few seconds, she let out a sigh. "Honestly... no. It didn't work on me at all, for some reason." She shook her head again. "And I have to admit that I can't blame it on my ability. You might think that I should feel bad because this means that my abilities are useless for me if they aren't useful to help someone else, but... No." Sari shrugged.
"How can you even stay calm like that?" Riyoung nearly exclaimed.
"Because there's nothing for me to freak out of." She even smiled at Riyoung who pouted. "Then again, this is the first time that seeing visions of other people's past lives made me restless to this extent that I have this desire to know what really happened."
That answer made everyone go silent and stare at Sari.
She noticed that everyone kept glancing at each other, probably wondering who would speak next. In the end, it ended up being Sejin who spoke up.
"What exactly do you mean by 'what really happened'? Are you still talking about the professor's past lives here?"
Sari nodded. "Similar tragedy kept happening to the professor's past lives that haunted him to this day. And it always involved a woman dying in his arms whom he would later realize has feelings for him, but too late to even reciprocate them because she confessed her feelings as she drew her last breath."
"Ouch! Too little, too late, huh?" Riyoung remarked. "Do you want me to write something down so I can take notes?"
Sari chuckled while shaking her head. "No need. I already know most of the details. So, I don't really see a need to elaborate more."
"Are you sure? I could just make a new note..." Riyoung suggested.
"No, thank you. I'll be fine."
Riyoung sighed and then turned to Sejin. "So, what do you think about this whole situation? Do you think that we should try to find out more about Professor Soohoon's past lives?"
Sejin nodded. "Yes, I do. It doesn't matter how far back we want to go, but we will definitely get answers eventually."
"Maybe we should start from here. If we want to know about Professor Soohoon's past lives, then we can at least start from where they occurred."
"Sounds like a great idea to me, actually."
Everyone agreed with Sejin’s opinion. They had already talked about the possibilities that they could have done, so they needed to find out things that they could do, or at least start with. After that, there was another conversation to take place between the four friends: about how to proceed with their investigation into the young professor's past lives.
xxxxxx
At 4 am, Sari sat quietly at her desk, going through her emails. Her eyes were getting used to the dark so that she could see clearly enough.
When her screen went black, however, she felt the urge to turn off her computer. She groaned and decided to stop working. At this point, she wouldn't be able to fall asleep anyway.
So instead of sleeping, she opened the window. It was chilly outside and there was a slight wind blowing. She closed her eyes and leaned against the windowsill.
This calmed her nerves quite a bit. But not enough to stop her from doing more thinking. Not that she could help it, anyway.
Sari had dreamt about the mysterious woman again. But this time, there was a story that slowly formed after all this time. And yes, that woman was someone close to the man that looked like Professor Soohoon.
The man that she knew was the professor's past life about 400 years ago.
Those two seemed to be friends and both belonged to noble families, if she were to base it on their clothings and the formality of their speeches. But the rest of the dream would always return to that tragic moment when the woman lost her life and drew her last breath in the arms of the man she loved secretly.
Sari’s heart would always ache at the sight of that man that looked like the professor crying in horror like that.
How he had held her tightly in his arms while whispering agonizing words of apology to her. For realizing everything about her feelings for him too late...
"Why did it feel so real like... as if they happened to me?"
That was a scene that would never get old in her memory. And yet, the more that she recalled it, the more it hurt. It didn't seem real. It almost seemed unreal, like she wasn't dreaming it at all.
However, it had to be true. There was no way that she could lie to herself like that. It simply couldn't be a dream.
It had to have happened somewhere.
'I just have to find out where.'
There was one thing that was clear in her mind though; she couldn't ignore it anymore. Her dreams. Her nightmares that came back at times.
It was like a warning sign, telling her something. And at the moment, it was becoming clearer and clearer.
Even if she wanted to believe otherwise. That she was wrong somehow... that she must be mistaken, her dreams couldn't lie to her. Because her intuition wouldn't allow her to be wrong. Not even once.
She had to know the truth. That was the last thing she needed.
If she could find out what actually happened in the past, then the nightmare wouldn't come back again. Or at least, the nightmare that would always tie back to that of the professor's past lives.
'If I can find out what really happened back then and how that person died... Maybe... it will help me to stop feeling these damnable feelings for the professor.'
Seriously, this was getting even more confusing than ever. Did she just admit feeling something strange just like that?
"Urgh! What the heck? This is starting to get out of hand."
Now Sari couldn't help wondering what her father would say if he found out she was starting to feel something like this. She couldn't help smiling sadly at the thought, as it was something that made her decide to shut her heart for a while as she looked for her father.
"Not yet, I guess. Not yet..."
As bad as it seemed, it was probably the best step possible. For now. Whatever she was feeling for the professor at the moment, she was aware that it was still premature. At the moment, she had to maintain it that way.
She still had to wait until this problem in front of her was solved, or rather, if this issue would even be solved.
It was just a small hope...
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