Aereum glared at their intertwined hands, lips pressed together and a hundred thoughts circling her mind.

“I cannot believe this.”

Yoon Min wondered how Seokjin was able to stay confident right now. He could meet back the princess's glare easily and fearlessly unlike her. She didn’t even have the guts to raise her head. Not in this moment. Her eyes were on the floor, nervous and scared.

The princess knew who she should talk to. “What is the meaning of this, Senior Guardian Seokjin? I sent you to break up with her and you two made up?”

Her ears straightened up after hearing her words. She sent him to break up with her? Why?

He tightened his fingers with hers, “We want to be with each other.”

Yoon Min knew the princess wasn’t gonna like the sound of that.

“Be with each other? Am I hearing it right?” Aereum for the first time was being sarcastic. “You guys can't be together! Don't you understand? Not every relationship is meant to last forever. Some people are only meant to fall in love--”

“People who are meant to be together are the ones who go through everything that is fated to tear them apart and come out stronger than they were before.” Seokjin cut her off unhesitatingly. “They don't give up on each other even when it's the easiest thing to do.”

She wanted to smile at how he defined the theory.

He took a glance at her face for a second, before looking at the princess again. “Yoon Min didn’t give up on me. I almost did, but not anymore. It's time to do what is truly right.”

Aereum argued as if she didn’t even hear him. “You're joking, right? What truly right is not continuing this relationship. Did you already forget what happened?”

Seokjin didn’t like her judgement. How could she say that? It's impossible to forget what happened with them. Yet they chose to fight for each other. “Princess Aereum, it's our mutual decision to forgive and live the rest of lives together. That doesn’t mean we've forgotten everything.”

“You cheated on her, Senior Guardian Seokjin!”

Yoon Min closed her eyes at the outburst of the princess. She didn’t want to hear the history again, it triggered the pain as well.

He was silenced by that striking truth. Somehow he always lost his confidence when this matter was being talked. It was his only weakness for now.

“And the human you didn’t save intentionally was her! Don't you think it's time for her to have a peaceful life? This is why this universe was created. For people like her to find peace and happiness. If you think only the happiness of yours, if you choose to be with her, she's not gonna be happy. I fear you'll break her heart again!”

“What's best for both of you is to leave each other. I understand you love her, but for the sake of each other, you have to stop holding on, you have to stop thinking she needs you. She'll be very happy without you, I can gurantee that.”

“And what makes you gurantee that, Princess Aereum?” Yoon Min finally questioned after realizing she was going too far.

When the princess glanced at her, she didn’t feel the anxiety she was feeling a minute ago. Instead, she bravely said, “You don't understand, do you? Yes, it does hurt to accept what Seokjin did, what I did to end up here. But what truly hurts more is we both have come too far to stop everything, shared so much joy and pain that it doesn’t make any sense to throw them away. There must be a reason it all happened. We met at the crossroads of life, and we met again after the undeniable death; but our love still stands strong and unbreakable till this second.”

Aereum asked further, “I want you to think before you answer. Aren't you scared of the consequences? Don't you fear forgiving him might be a mistake?”

Seokjin so far wasn't scared of anything. But right now, he was curious to hear her answer. Because deep inside his chest, he felt a jumpscare and wondered if whatever they’re thinking to do was right. He glanced at her face and waited patiently.

Yoon Min didn’t reply in a second. She took her time before saying,

“Fear isn't a reason when it comes to love. It's rather an excuse. When love happens, you don't think about the consequences. You would turn your entire world upside down to be with that person. You would do anything actually.” She didn’t stutter.

With a pause, she continued, “And grief makes a monster out of us sometimes. It makes us say or do horrible things to the people we love the most. Grief blinded me in a pool of anger and hatred. Which was why, I was unable to see Seokjin beyond guilty for his mistake and what a tormented state he was living in. I couldn’t see that.”

She could feel his eyes on her, somehow feeling sad.

“We shouldn’t let all these negative emotions control us. Grief, fear, hatred, anger turned me into such a horrible person that I couldn’t save him when he needed me the most,. So I'll choose him now in every moment, in every heartbeat, in every life.”

Her words seemed to relieve and impress him because he smiled emotionally. He was glad she meant each and every word she said back at the beach. So he didn’t have any doubts anymore.

With an exhale, he opened up, “I never told this to anybody. I didn’t think I would ever have to say this, but I wasn’t entirely dead after I committed suicide.”

His words sent an electrifying surprise within her skin as she turned her head towards his. Not only her, even the princess seemed to be taken aback by what he said.

“I was still alive when I took the last breath of my life. The darkness consumed my soul, the sound of living faded away. But I heard one person whispering my name at the last second; and when I realized that's the last time I heard her voice...” Seokjin met back her soft eyes. “I died before I could wake up again and see her.”

She felt overwhelming to imagine he actually heard her when she cried his name in front of his body. If she had a little idea he could hear her, she would've begged him not to go. She would've done anything.

He turned towards the princess again, “So please, don't end us, Princess. I have received this chance to make things right. I have a chance to apologise to God. I've a chance to love her the way she deserves. Please, don't separate us after everything we went through to be with one another.”

Yoon Min nodded her head, wholely agreeing with him.

Aereum remained silent for the next few minutes. She wasn’t convinced enough to give her blessings, but she was satisfied more than before. Their words changed her mind and it was their choice. If they thought they would be able to stay together without letting obstacles stop them, they were happy to do so. She shouldn’t stop them.

But everything wasn’t that easy. Not in this universe.

She sighed, eyes dropping in tension. She had no idea how to break the news.

“But you have to know there are going to be consequences.”

Both Seok Jin and Yoon Min stared at the princess in pure confusion.

“Since Guardian Yoon Min has been given her memories, other guardians and fairies are raising a storm about it. They also want to know their pasts. They think it's unfair to let one of them get to know her past because she has some serious issues. Even today, I received three requests from residents to give them their memories.”

Yoon Min was taken aback by the news. That explained why the other guardians weren’t being friendly with her. They kept staring at her, gossiped about her and threw baseless comments. They were jealous of her obviously. Only a few people such as her friends and the senior guardians were different.

“Not to mention both of you have broken so many rules. Because of you two, several humans have not received help when they were having suicidal thoughts, some even died already!”

Now that was a discussion. Both of them lowered their heads in shame. Till now, they were so confident to boost off their love but now they wanted to hide. It was their faults. Undoubtedly they shouldn’t had neglected the humans no matter what.

“Seeing you two not attending human calls tempted many guardians. They're ignoring their human's calls and giving the same excuse every time.”

Aereum was decently mad at them. They were the brightest guardians in the universe. She never thought these two would disappoint her.

Yoon Min was the first one to apologize, “I'm sorry, Princess Aereum. It was very wrong of me. I should've never ignored the humans' calls. It's my fault.”

Seokjin didn’t want to but he ended up saying, “Yeah, I'm sorry too. I will not let another human die on my watch again.”

They heard a sigh from the princess.

“It's not about your apologies. What I want to tell you is, Love Universe is under a serious threat because of you.”

That was definitely not what they expected.

“What do you mean?” He asked, lifting his eyebrow.

“The whole universe is provoked by your relationship. Now that you guys remember your pasts and broke several rules freely, they also want to be treated the same as you. I fear our own residents are going to ruin the peace of the universe.”

She was very anxious about this. “My plan was, you guys will cut off ties with each other which will be enough for the residents to calm down at least. It will be a sign that remembering the past is not a good thing. But you had to ruin that plan of course.”

Seokjin was offended again, “Why do I have a feeling you don't want to see us happy, Princess Aereum? You should be happy we got back together instead of breaking up.”

“I shouldn’t be happy over the reunion of two long-lost lovers who are risking the universe.” She sounded selfish when she spat back.

Before he could throw another argument, Yoon Min interrupted calmly, “What is your plan now, Princess Aereum?”

She took a deep breath and massaged her forehead. “I was thinking if you two could test for the crystal ball?”

Silence was what she received from them. It was Seokjin who taunted, “Crystall ball? The one that tests two guardians' love for each other and decides if they can reincarnate as humans again? The one that turned down your love with Guardian Hong Jong Hyun aka Ozul Vex and claimed your love wasn’t enough?”

Yoon Min had no idea why he was being sarcastic right now. She glared at him and elbowed him to stop.

He looked at her and defended, “What, she is the one being unfair! Why do we have to sacrifice for the other guardians? Tell them to mind their own business and leave us alone.”

Aereum was extremely pissed by the way he behaved but she didn’t lose her patience with him.

“You can do least this much for breaking the rules. All I'm saying is, test for the crystal ball and get the chance to reincarnate. I'm sure if you two set an example, the others might get inspired to focus on being in love instead of obsessing over their past. After all, they want to be humans more than anything.”

The suggestion had their expression quiet and engaged in thoughts. They didn’t think they would've to prove their love.

Yoon Min questioned, “What happens if the crystal ball says our love isn't strong enough?”

Aereum licked her lips. “Then I'm afraid the future events that are about to befall on us will not be peaceful. The result of the crystal ball will not only murder the hopes of the guardians, but also dishearten both of you.”

They knew what was she trying to say. She went through the procedure decades ago. How will you feel if the bond of love with your partner is not strong enough to be called Love? Most importantly, what will you feel if you lose the chance to reincarnate?

The result of the crystal ball was going to be the hardest challenge for both of them.

She grew quiet after hearing the princess. Suddenly she lost all the confidence and courage she had a minute ago. No guardian has ever reincarnated as their love wasn’t enough. How were they supposed to break that record?

The princess noticed their hesitation, “I'm giving you two months. Spend quality time with one another, sort out your misunderstandings and learn to heal. Now that you have each other rightfully, make the best out of this chance. Try to strengthen your relationship in every aspect. Only then, you can win.”

“Don't worry. We'll prove to the crystal ball how great our love is. And we'll make sure the others believe in the chance of reincarnation.” Seokjin was brave and confident in this subject.

However, Yoon Min was debating if they could possibly win against the crystal ball that has turned down many guardians. Was it worth to fight for?