Chapter 5: The Confession
Byulseo does not speak for an hour.
She sits on the porch, wrapped in the same grey blanket, staring at the violet rose bush. Twenty-eight petals. Twenty-eight chances.
"I don't want to meet her," she finally says.
You kneel in front of her, take her cold, translucent hands. "I know."
"She's everything I hated about myself. The part that could walk away. The part that didn't care who got hurt." Byulseo's voice cracks. "I buried her so I could love you without guilt."
"And now?"
She looks at you. Her eyes are wet, but her jaw is set. "Now I'm dying anyway."
The walk to the forest takes longer than before.
Byulseo stops twice. Once to touch a tree she remembers from a previous life. Once to pick a wildflower and tuck it behind her ear. You don't rush her. The petals will fall whether you run or walk.
The abandoned shrine appears through the mist. The well waits behind it, dark and patient.
Byulseo stares at the stone rim. "I can feel her. She's angry."
"Wouldn't you be?"
She almost smiles. "Yes."
The water ripples. The spirit rises—same featureless face, grey robes. But when it sees Byulseo, its form shifts. The robes become a hanbok. The face becomes hers. Younger. Harder. A mirror with sharper edges.
"Little sister," the spirit says.
Byulseo flinches. "Don't call me that."
"We shared a soul once. You cut me out like a tumor." The spirit steps onto the grass, solid now. "You wanted to be pure. Gentle. Lovable. So you left me here to rot in the dark."
"You were cruel."
"I was honest." The spirit tilts its head. "I told you the traveler would die one day. I told you love would end in grief. You buried me because you couldn't face the truth."
Byulseo's hands shake. "Why did you help me, then? Why make the deal?"
The spirit is silent for a moment. Then, softer: "Because I loved him too. The traveler. Before you buried me, I loved him just as much. I simply knew it would hurt."
The spirit steps closer. Byulseo does not move.
"You broke the rules," the spirit says. "The deal was for one lifetime. One chance to love him, grow old, die. But you cheated. You searched for him again. And again. Seventeen times."
Byulseo's face pales. "I couldn't let him go."
"So you stole time. Every extra lifetime, I grew stronger. Feeding on your stolen years, your suppressed grief. I am not a separate entity, little sister. I am the weight of your cheating."
You step between them. "What does that mean?"
The spirit looks at you—and for the first time, its eyes hold something like pity. "It means the cycle cannot be broken by merging alone. She must confess. Admit that she stole those lifetimes. Accept punishment."
"What punishment?"
"The loss of all supernatural memories. She will become a normal human. No past lives. No spirit bonds. She will live one mortal lifetime with you—and then die. Truly die. No more returns."
Byulseo gasps. "I won't remember anything? Not even—"
"Not even how you found him the first time. Not the forest. Not the deal. You will be a blank slate. A woman who loves a man for no reason she can explain." The spirit's voice hardens. "That is the price of freedom."
The forest is silent. Even the birds have stopped.
Byulseo turns to you. Tears stream down her face, but she's not sobbing. She's calm. Resigned.
"I stole time," she says. "I was greedy. I wanted you so badly I broke the universe."
You reach for her. She takes your hand.
"I would do it again," she whispers. "Every single time."
The spirit watches. "Then confess. Speak the words."
Byulseo looks at the well, at the dark water, at the face that is her own. She straightens her back.
"I, Kang Byulseo, stole seventeen lifetimes that were not mine. I cheated the deal. I fed the spirit with my grief." Her voice does not waver. "I am sorry. And I accept the punishment."
The spirit nods. "Then let it be done."
It steps forward and embraces her.
No light. No thunder. Just a soft, warm pressure as the two forms press together. Byulseo's body shudders. The spirit's form dissolves, flowing into her like water into sand.
She gasps. Her eyes go wide. Memories flood—not just the first death, but every death. Every loss. Every time she woke in a new body, searching for a face she barely remembered.
She collapses.
You catch her.
The rose bush behind the house—thirty kilometers away—drops every petal at once. Twenty-eight violet petals scatter across the garden.
Then, slowly, a single new bud appears. Green. Small. Not glowing. Just a normal rose.
Byulseo opens her eyes.
She looks at you. The same dark brown eyes. The same love.
But deeper now. Tired. Wiser.
"I remember," she whispers. "All of it. Every death. Every goodbye."
"Are you—" your throat closes. "Are you still her? Still my Byulseo?"
She touches your face. Her fingers are warm. Solid. No light passes through.
"I am everything I was. And everything I buried." She smiles—sad, but real. "I still choose you."
You pull her into your arms. She feels heavy. Alive.
Behind you, the well cracks. The water drains into the earth. The shrine's bell rings once, then falls silent.
The curse is not broken.
It is transformed.
Author's Note:
Chapter 6 will explore the new normal—and the consequences of altering a deal with the spirit world.
New chapters will be posted every Tuesdays and Fridays, 21.00 PM (GMT +8 - Malaysia Standard Time).
If you're enjoying the story, please consider leaving a rating or comment.
— Ha Ru Kim.
