The clicking sounds of the hands of the clock moving hung silently in the air that seemed to become still. Amidst the clouds that looked to have taken the form of a spun cotton candy hung a magnificent golden clock. It shimmered like a guiding star amidst the dark skies, illuminating the world below with its seraphic glow. For Jin who took a glimpse at the clock, it didn't seem any less than a celestial jewel adorning the heavens.
Even though he was dead, he could still feel his heart in his throat as he witnessed the magical phenomenon right before his eyes. The clock's intricate design was a marvel to behold. He immediately knew that no jeweler - absolutely no jeweler in this whole wide world would be able to even think, much less produce that level of creativity and accuracy.
The frame was crafted from pure gold which gleamed with a lustrous radiance and with the delicate engravings of the ethereal and celestial constellations. He felt as if he was getting sucked into the infinite cosmos just by staring at the wonder. The numbers on the clock face appeared like stardust, twinkling softly with an otherworldly glow. They were not the familiar digits of mortal earth but rather looked like indecipherable celestial symbols that held secrets which the heavens could only know.
As the clouds shifted and danced around it akin to a fog clearing a blurred pathway, the clock remained steadfast, seemingly untethered from the earthly world. The clock's delicate hands glided gracefully, signifying the passage of time in the realm where seconds and minutes held no sway. The clock's presence in the sky was both captivating and surreal as though time itself had been transformed into an artful masterpiece.
Jin felt as if he could lose himself in the clock's beauty forever, but a deep voice seemingly echoing from the clouds broke his trance.
"You are a very troublesome soul."
He blinked his eyes and immediately felt a shudder by the bright and blinding golden light, threatening to close his eyelids.
"Wh-who…who are you…?" His voice could only escape as a whisper.
He didn't know why but a sense of fear engulfed him as he instinctively knew that whatever was happening was beyond his control. It was a space where he couldn't possibly even begin to imagine intervening. Even so, he kept his tight hold on Jun as if he wanted to protect him from this goosebumps-inducing event.
Suddenly, the scenery before him changed. There were no people around, shouting and screaming or the rush of vehicles and emergency. There wasn't the building of Dream High visible any longer where the tragedy had unfolded. Instead, it was a strange place where Jin wasn't sure how he was supposed to describe it. It was simply beyond his imagination.
But far ahead of him, he thought what he saw were three apparitions floating in front of him. The light which the golden clock casted upon them made it difficult to decipher their figures, forms or faces any further.
"Where is this place!?" He exclaimed a little agitated because he had absolutely no clue of what was happening. The golden clock, the weird space in the sky and now the three unknown figures.
"Don't you think we should be the ones more agitated here?" The voice from the left shapeless form echoed with a hint of annoyance. "You already broke your own chain and the fate that would have guided you to your next birth. Instead, your soul gained consciousness by your sheer attachment you hold towards your mortal brother. I am really not so sure whether to be fascinated by it or punish you for your ignorance?"
Jin frowned.
Chain? Next birth? What the hell is he talking about?
"What the hell am I talking about?"
His eyes widened by the apparent mind-reading but at this point, he thought that he shouldn't be surprised by any more inexplicable events.
"You do realize that you are dead, right?" This time, it was the right figure talking to him.
Jin stiffened. "...Yes."
"Correct. As such, all your mortal connections that you held with your family ceased to exist the moment you breathed your last. After your death, the cycle of your next birth was supposed to begin. But even if it was an excruciating experience for you, you managed to shatter the link and remain on earth as a soul. We don't allow for souls to wander after their deaths or it hinders the fates and births of not just their own but for the other living beings too who might share fate with them ahead. What might remain would only be an aura of their strong earthly feelings hovering around but that too dissipates soon enough."
The left figure said, "But now you are here, completely aware of your identity and memories. You are an anomaly for us and now you are extending that anomaly to the souls that you are not letting go of. You are hindering their cycle of birth as well. You really shouldn't have been able to intervene with another's soul fate and birth, but your feelings towards him are so strong that your brother's soul is being able to feel a fraction of that love, attachment and desperation. That soul, unconsciously though, is allowing you to hold onto him. Is it his regret of killing you?"
Jin stared at the shapeless form of his brother's soul and the woman's soul too with whom he had shared his death. "I am not doing anything to her."
He heard the middle figure's enigmatic and calming voice. "Their deaths are linked in a way that they would start their journey to their next destination together. But because you are not letting go of your brother, the woman's soul is also being suspended in time-space along with him."
Jin didn't really know who these figures were, but he knew that they were the only ones who could turn this impossible situation to what he wished for.
A tear rolled down his cheek as he clenched his jaw. "Yes. I am not letting go of my brother. I won't let him go because I don't accept his death! I don't accept the miserable ending he had to face. I don't care about the next birth or the next fate. The only thing I know is that his destiny as Liu Jun cannot end here. I know you can do what I wish for. That's why…That's why I want you to turn time back and let my brother live once again!"
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