The Love That Remains

It's a radiant day. There is a fresh and sweet fragrance of spring in the air. I take a sip from my coffee and gaze out of the window. The valley is full of plum blossom. The streets are being decorated for the spring festival. Everything is vibrant and bursting of colors.

The cat in my lap purrs and swings its white tail. I snicker and put it up on the table. It's my eighth death anniversary. I can't help but feel amused at the thought.

"Do you regret it?" The cat opens its yellow eye and asks me again on my death anniversary like it's a custom.

"No." I keep my voice steadfast and confident. There is no room for regret or doubt.

"That's good." The cat shuts its one eye. "When you take this path, there is no return."

"Or you won't let me return." I glower at the cat. "I know our deal. I won't go back or contact them again. I even changed my name and faked my age. I am pretending to be three years older than I am." Reis managed to get me a fake identity card. When I asked him how he did it, he replied that he could do anything because he was a god.

If he could do anything, he wouldn't need me. Would he?

Since then, he always states that he is a god when he doesn't want to answer a question or reveal his secrets. Whenever I tried to press him to tell me his secrets, he would take his human form. His human form has a special undesirable effect. It would turn off the logical part of the human brain off. That's the reason why I acted like a drunk girl and made that video with Sung Jun that night.

The cat yawns and gets down from the table. With a flash of light, he changes into his human form. I look away instinctively and take out my sunglasses from my pocket. I wear them and avoid looking at him.

"It's been eight years, Eshe." I hear him speak in his deep and magnetic voice. I am still not used to my new name. "You are still mentally weak."

I had gone through a lot because of his human form's enchanting effect. He laughs at me because I am not immune to it. He made me do exercise every day at five of the morning to become physically and mentally fit for the last eight years. I wonder if this is my personal hell.

"Tsk!" I shift in my chair. "You are a god of time. Why do you age with me?" Surprisingly, he looks somewhere in his late twenties. I am currently twenty-three, but my age is twenty-six in the papers. I thought that the gods were immortal.

"I don't want to make you jealous of my anti-ageing ability." He takes the chair opposite me. His silver hair covers most of his forehead. He is wearing a dark blue shirt and grey trousers. The rays of the sun fall on his face, making him look like an angel. He has a special aura around him.

I look away again. The sky is blue and cloudless. Five months ago, we came to this village. Tomorrow, we are leaving. Living here is quite peaceful. Maybe, when everything is over, I will come and remain here permanently.

"Your heart wants him." Reis makes another unwanted comment. "After learning the truth, you could have gone to him and yet, you chose to follow me."

"The truth didn't change the circumstances back then." I finish my coffee. "Cook roasted meat for lunch today. I am going for a walk."

"I dare you to take off the sunglasses and command me again, woman" Reis yells behind me. "I am a god. I am not a cook. Come back here. You didn't do the cleaning."

I run out of the front door before he can catch me. If he takes my sunglasses off, he can make me do anything.

I ride my bike to the village. Today, It is my last bike ride on these mountain slopes. I don't know where I will go after today. I know that I am not going back to H City. Sometimes, I wonder how they are doing. Because I have been investing in some businesses, I have news on the Fang Corporation. Fang Qi, my father, has taken the position of CEO. My grandfather is already dead. I wonder if Granny Lan is doing well.

The Wang family are doing well too. Wang Mei has taken the role of the family head three years ago. I heard that she married Bae Jaemin two years ago. I didn't expect that. That's not what happened in my past life. Both of them are too different to be together. Anything is possible in this world.

I don't know how Sung Jun is doing. I never check his news. I don't think that I have the courage. When I learned why he left me in my past life, I could only blame myself. Learning the truth doesn't change anything. I could only leave them before the circumstances force them to leave me eventually. Probably, my reasoning is flawed and my decisions are wrong. At least, my fake death closed all the loose ends.

I stop in front of the landlady's house. I need to get back the deposit. Reis never interacts anyone other than me in human form. Everyone knows him as Rene, the cat. So, it's my job to deal with these chores except for cooking. Reis handles the cooking because he hates anything that I cook except coffee.

Currently, Reis is going through a heavenly trial because he broke several laws. So, he must eat despite being an immortal. In short, the god of time and the god of fate are fighting. Reis doesn't remember what started the fight because it happened some indefinite time ago. Now, it's a matter of pride to give up now. To annoy the god of fate, he turned back time and brought me back to the past. This way, he changed my 'fate' and screwed up the fate's design. He chose me because of my lineage. It's my misfortune that I am mixed up in their mess.

What we can expect when a cat is a god?