IV

"The you that I've dreamt about"

Time Stamp: 03:02 pm

"Didn't Junie tell you?"

Jin asked as he held a cup of tea in his hands. Looking at Seung with a worried expression on his face. Seung had asked him why Chae-young hadn't shown up and Jin's facial expression now morphing into that of compassion, had just looked at Seung. His mouth not saying anything but his eyes showing concern and confusion all in one. Before he himself had asked Seung a question of his own. Seung just wondered why, why did Jin look at him like that, why did he look at him with such pity in his eyes?

"Tell me what?"

Seung said as he stared at Jin, his expression showing nothing but confusion and hopelessness . Looking at him sadly, Jin patted Seung on the shoulder as he gazed out the window. The raindrops pouring down heavier than ever before. Sighing to himself, Jin turned his head back to face Seung, his eyes boring into him as he spoke.

"Go ask him yourself."

Jin said his voice firm and resolute but laced with a hint of dejection.. Seung just stared at him, Before standing up abruptly. He had already started running out the door. Almost tripping on his way because of the slippery mud. Finding his balance, Seung continued his pursuit into the forest.

What did Jin mean by ask Min Jun? What wasn't Jun telling him? Why didn't Jin want to tell him? Why didn't Chae-young show up to their meeting place? All these questions kept swirling in Seung's mind as he reached the edge of the village of Eros.

He needed answers and he needed them now.

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Without thinking twice, Yoon Chae-young ran out of the Council room. Not even caring that her mother was yelling her name, or that all of the Elders were taken aback by her sudden outburst. The rain had begun to fall even harder now but it had honestly been the least of her concerns. She wanted to see him, no she needed to see him. She needed to see Seung before they caught up to her.

Reaching the head of the village, Chae-young ran down the path that she would usually take to avoid being seen by the Elders. By then her clothes had gotten muddy from the amount of times she had slipped and fallen but even so she still regained her footing. Reaching the path, Chae-young saw the silhouette of Seung as he ran down the opposite side from where she was. With tears streaming down her face, she mustered up what little strength she had. From the top of her lungs, she yelled out his name.

"Seung!"

Chae-young said as she kept yelling out Seung's name over and over again. Her cries going unheard due to the sound of the heavy rain and the thundering sound that the clouds seemed to emit. She was sure of it. Looking back now she regretted it more than anything. She regretted being apart of such a village. She regretted the fact that people like them actually had the guts to control her life, but more than anything she regretted not being able to fall in love with the person she wanted to.

Falling to her knees, a choked-up sob escaping her lips as tears streamed down her face. Her cries being drowned out by the sound of the heavy rain. Not even caring that mud was dirtying her clothes, that the rain was soaking her from head to toe, what did it even matter if she couldn't choose how she wanted to live her life.

Not too far from where Yoon Chae-young laid in the dirt crying, someone watched her with a saddened look on their face. It had been her mother. Her mother knew that she had been meeting up with a man from a different village, but she had never said anything. Because it was the first time that she had ever seen her daughter smile so genuinely with anyone aside from herself. She wanted nothing more than to help Chae-young, but she didn't know how to or in what way that she could.

Laying there without an ounce of fear. Chae-young started laughing to herself. So this was what the elders had meant. She had been tainted yes, but honestly she didn't care. As long as it was for him, she didn't care how tainted she got. She didn't care but she wanted him to take responsibility. Wanted him to take the blame for making her have these kind of feelings for someone that she wasn't even destined to be with.

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Arriving at the village, Seung tried looking for Min Jun but couldn't find him anywhere. By then his muddy clothes had been stuck to his body in a rather uncomfortable way. The rain was still pouring heavily outside. Although it was normal for that amount of rain to fall because of where they lived, Seung thought to himself that the timing couldn't be any worst.

Looking back on it now, he guessed Min Jun had gone to the other village to make preparations for the new girl. Deciding that he'd have to speak to him tomorrow, Seung headed towards his house to change off his clothes and get out of the rain.

He was tired from running and his body had been exhausted. After taking a bath, he threw himself on his bed ready to go to sleep, but he couldn't.

His mind kept wandering back to earlier. He could've sworn he had heard someone calling him. It had sounded like Chae-young but maybe, just maybe his mind had been playing tricks on him. Sighing to himself, Seung laid on his back. Thinking to himself that maybe he would get to see her tomorrow and ask her why she hadn't shown up.

Two hours had passed with him just lying-in bed not being able to sleep. Hearing something hit his window. Seung's ears perked up at the sound. By then the rain had stopped falling and all was quiet, getting out of bed Seung wondered who it could be. Looking out his window, he noticed a woman standing not too far away, hiding behind a tree. Assuming that it could be Chae-young, Seung made sure to lock his door in case someone came looking for him.

Climbing out the window, he approached the woman. As he got closer, Seung noticed that in no way was the women Chae-young. Putting one hand to her lips, the woman beckoned for him to follow her. Looking back one more time at the village, Seung followed the woman without uttering a word. By the time he had realized where she was taking him, they had reached the border that divided the village of Dionysus and Aphrodite.

Wondering to himself why the woman had brought him there, Seung was about to ask her when she pointed a finger towards a tree that was just in the line of sight from his house. There he noticed someone sitting on the ground. Their head buried between their arms as their knees were curled up to them. Looking back to ask the woman who it was, Seung was surprised to see that she had disappeared.

Turning back towards the tree, Seung just shrugged his shoulders and started to approach the person that stayed crouching on the floor. He could hear sniffling, so he assumed that whoever it was they were crying. Clearing his throat he spoke softly.

"Um, hello?"

Seung said cautiously. The person on the floor flinched slightly. From the way the figure was shaped he guessed that it had to be a woman. The woman raised her head up to look at him, Seung's breath hitching slightly when he realized who it was.

"Chae-young-"

Before Seung could have finished his words, he was tackled down to floor. Letting out a loud oof, his body had hit the ground. Whatever leaves that had been there flying to the side, he was about to ask her what had happened but was cut off when she started crying, this time her sobs were a little bit louder than before. Sighing to himself, Seung just glided his hand across her back. Up and down, trying to comfort her as much as he could. He honestly didn't know what to do in a situation like this and who exactly was the woman that had brought him here? And how did she know where he'd be? More importantly how did she know that him and Chae-young knew each other?

"S-Seung, I'm s-sorry"

Time Stamp: 12:00am

"Has invaded my thoughts more times than ever before"