Chapter 1: Dont you recognise me? (1/2)

'If you don't have the strength to acquire something that you want from the depth of your soul, then you should try to acquire the strength to give up on that wish.'

Those were the words of my late grandfather. It's funny that I would remember those last words during the last moments of my life. Death has arrived in the form of a car accident. Time is slowing down. I feel my warm blood rushing out of my body and reaching my outstretched hands. I wonder if that's the only warmth that I am allowed to feel during my last moment. My body is going numb. I can't feel pain. I can't hear the people around me. In my blurry vision, I see a familiar figure running toward me.

”Aisa…”

His voice is a distant dream that started with an everlasting and ended with shattering pain. I had been lying to myself for my whole life. It is miserable how my shattered heart would be revived by his voice alone. My vision is darkening. I wish to see that smile again once more.

___

He is standing right in front of me.

He looks the same. Slender. Tall. Clear skin. Messy dark hair. He is a foot taller than me. His honey brown eyes have a hint of sadness and longing, but there is that almost smile on his lips. This is the moment I fell in love with his almost smile for the first time. It's been nearly 20 years since this moment. I have never forgotten. I remember how much I wanted to make him smile. How much have I wanted to see him again?

”Miss, do you know the way to H high school?”

My dead heart flutters when I see his smile. I don't reply. It's just a dream. I want to stay in this moment forever. I don't want anything else.

”Miss?” His smile falters a bit. He waves his hands in front of my face. ”Are you okay? Can you hear me?”

I am sure that I am 30 years old. This is the moment when I met him for the first time at the age of 15. I don't care whether this is a dream. I just want to stay in this moment forever. The boy keeps asking if something is wrong.

”Umm...” This is awkward even in the dream. I foolishly question him. ”Don't you recognize me?”

This is clearly not a reality. I am sure that I was in a car accident. There is a chance that I am lying unconscious in the hospital and dreaming about this moment. If it's a play created by the mind, shouldn't he recognize me or I should wake up by now?

The boy looks into my eyes. ”Have we met before?”

”I...” There is something wrong here. Should I just tell him the way to high school? Usually, I wake up as soon as I realize that it's a dream. Why I am not waking up?

”It's just a dream,” I tell myself. I won't worry about this. He has heard me. He looks confused at first. I let out a chuckle when I see him making his 'thinking' face again.

He pinches my cheeks and beams at me, ”It's not a dream.”

Wait, what?

I cry out in pain. It hurts. It's not a dream? It shouldn't be hurting.

”It's not a dream.” He pinches harder. ”You are not dreaming, miss. Can you tell me the way to H high school now?”

”…”

I stare hard at him. I am speechless beyond words.

”Are you awake, miss?” He grins with eyes are full of mirth.

I bite my lower lip. Why is he still pinching my cheeks? My cheeks are not for pinching. First love or not, he doesn't have the right to pinch my cheeks like this even in the dreams, all right?

Why did I forget about his cracked personality? Even in my dreams, he is slightly broken in the head.

”Hey, you!”

I recognize this voice. I look behind the boy who is still pinching my cheeks like they are rubber balls. ”What are you doing to Aisa, you pervert?”

I frown when I see her. It's my friend, Wang Mei. This girl is the second daughter of the mafia head, Wang Feng. Her hair is dyed red. Her eyes are gray like rain clouds. She is also fifteen. She is a few inches shorter than me, but she can beat up people who are double her size.

In the next moment, everything happens like a movie. It doesn't follow the original memory of my life at all.

”Pervert! Pervert! Pervert!” Wang Mei yells at the top of her lungs and runs toward us. I try to step back, but the boy is still holding my cheeks and looking at Wang Mei with a shocked expression.

She lunges at us like a cheetah and aims her iron kick at the boy's head. I widen my eyes. Everything is slowing down by ten times. Just before her foot can touch the boy's head, the boy shifts his body and it comes at my face instead.

Wang Mei breaks my nose and my misunderstanding of the situation. It's not a dream at all. Somehow, I have turned back the time and returned to the day I met him for the first time.

___

”I was only asking for direction. She acted as if she knew me.”

”If you haven't moved, she wouldn't get hurt.”

”It was still your foot that broke her nose,” He replies to Wang Mei's accusation with a calm voice.

My nose is still hurting like hell. I wonder if it is broken. What if my nose is crooked? A woman's face is important to her.

”I wonder if we have ever met before.” He mumbles. He is sitting quite close to me. This is the same boy who is the reason behind my broken nose. Sung Jun. He is 15 years old. He moved from K country to C Country with his mother after his parents' divorce.

I know because I am reliving my life. Somehow, I have turned back time. Wang Mei's iron kick has broken my nose and awakened me to the harsh reality. No matter how real a dream feels, it cannot make you feel the pain that I am currently experiencing.

So, I have concluded that I am not dreaming at all. I am reborn to the day I met him. Currently, we are fifteen years old. But I am mentally thirty.

In my past life, I died in a car accident. In my last moment, I wished to see him again. The memories of past life are crystal clear. I don't believe that my past life was a dream. I don't know whether it was the devil or the god who granted my dying wish. I am not happy about this. I want to find that entity and beat him to death for doing this unnecessary thing.