194 [Bonus chapter]Fate is something
Jun blinked several times until it could register in his mind. “Happened to you too…?”
Ai trembled as the situation dawned upon her. She took a sharp breath, and her heart pounded louder and louder in her chest. She stared into Jun’s eyes and thinking about what he just said, she compared it parallely to her own life. That raised goosebumps on her skin.
“Yes. You have died once and have been reborn…it means that this is your second life as Liu Jun, and you have all the memories of your past life, doesn’t it?”
He slowly widened his eyes.
How-how does she…?
“How do you know-“
Ai met his gaze and confessed.”It’s because this is my second life as well. I…” she trembled, and she felt heat rush to her neck and cheeks. “I died when I was thirty-three years old from falling off the Dream High building’s terrace.”
Jun stared at her.
That fateful, chilling night’s memory which was firmly imprinted in her mind rushed back to her as she laid everything bare in front of Jun. Her breaths became slightly messy, still unable to believe that she was having this conversation with Jun.
“I thought I died at that time, but…” her voice turned into a hushed whisper, “I suddenly woke up with a gasp. It was unbelievable to see myself still alive. There was no blood. It was a day outside instead of that night when I fell to my death. I was supposed to be dead. But when I came to my senses and saw the date, I found that time had turned ten years back. I was twenty-three once again.”
With a tear that formed in the corner of her eye, she watched Jun looking back at her with an incredulous expression. His dark brown irises were wide as he quietly listened to her.
“This was what I wanted to reveal to you today. I thought I would keep this secret forever. But now that we are in a relationship, I didn’t want to hide this from you even if you might think that I sound crazy. But I could have never guessed that y-you also…”
She didn’t know why, but an ache enveloped her chest coming to know that Jun suffered the same fate as her. She felt an indescribable emotion.
She was reborn. She thought it was a phenomenon that only happened to her. But Jun was reborn too. The man whom she spent her last moments with and coincidentally met again in this life was someone who was reborn just like her.
Jun, on the other hand, was at a complete loss of what to say. He had never expected that instead of disbelief, Ai would answer him with her own account of rebirth. Everything that happened until now bounced up and down like crazy in his mind.
He saw her in his dying moments.
He met her once again in this life as well and fell in love with her.
And now she was reborn just as him?
Jun wondered if life was playing an elaborate scheme with them because all these coincidences seemed too good to be true.
He slowly raised his hand, and his trembling fingers lightly held onto her cheek. He whispered in his breath, “Y-you are reborn…”
Ai shivered and quietly nodded.
“That means…Do you recognize me?” He felt his heart stop beating in his chest.
She looked up at him and parted her lips. “Yes. You are the same man upon whose car I fell that night. You are the same man who I held hands with as I took my last breath. I know you. That’s why, when we met in the library that day, I couldn’t believe that I met you again. It was so surreal.”
She softly smiled. “I wasn’t staring at you because I was interested in you but because I recognized you from my past life.”
His mouth twitched, and he coughed.
Ai thought back to a certain day and asked, “That time when you suddenly woke up from your nap and staring at me in disbelief…was it because-“
“Yes. I recognized you are the same woman. I was having recurring dreams about you, but it was hazy. At that time, your face and everything that was blurred got cleared in my mind.”
Jun pulled her in his embrace and hugged her hard. “Ai…Ai…”
They didn’t know what to say. To think that both died at the same time and were reborn to live a second chance at the same time too was something they couldn’t find the right words to express for.
“Fate is really something huh…”
Ai buried her face in his chest and felt it couldn’t be truer. “Yes.”
She clutched his shirt in her fist and softly asked, “H-How did your accident happen?”
Right now, Jun was alive and in front of her. She could touch him and hug him. But thinking about his death made her heart race in fear.
Death was forever parting. Even if it was in their past life, Ai didn’t wish to hear that Jun had lost his life once.
Jun whispered, “…You will be angry at me.”
She blinked. “Why?”
“Because it-it wasn’t an accident. I killed myself. I crashed my car into the building.”
Her eyes widened in disbelief. She jerked her head up and stared at him, stunned.
Jun averted his gaze, feeling ashamed. “I know you will be furious at me. That day you slapped me when I tried to jump in front of the car.”
Ai bit her lip hard. Her gaze was full of resentment and grievance. “Yes, I am angry. I was disappointed at that time itself that you took your life so lightly. But to know that you were about to throw your second life too just like that…” Her incredulous countenance was mixed with anger and grief. “Jun, you call others idiots, but you are a big idiot yourself!”
“…”
This was the first time Ai had raised her voice. The usual tranquility was nowhere to be seen.
“Fate blessed you with another chance to live a life without regrets, to not repeat the mistakes you made in your past life and to live a happier and fulfilling life this time. You have the power to change your fate with the memories you have. How many truly get that chance? How could you think of ending your precious life just like that?”