[A Century ago]
"Choose."
"You want me to choose?" Jae looked at the man before her with disbelief. "Do you think this is fair? Why can't we have both?"
The man paused for a moment and seemed taken aback. Doubt, hesitation and conflict all crossed the handsome face, but a moment later he shook his head as if to clear the unwanted thoughts and he replied: "it's... it's not possible."
"Why?" Jae moved towards him and said, almost pleading, "why is it not possible? Isn't it better to stay in this place together, instead of going to an unknown world? Anything could happen there!"
Taking her hands in his, he took a different approach and spoke to her gently: "staying in this place means them catching us and forcing us to spend the rest of our lives in servitude, but if we go to the other world, we can finally be free and... and together."
Seeing her softening expression, he continued, "together we can spend eternity doing the things we want, and not having to worry about them watching our every move. Just think about it, Jae."
Holding his hands tighter, Jae was about to reply when she felt a pulling force behind her.
"Jae!" The man yelled as he tried to grab hold of her, but ultimately he failed when someone forcefully drew him into their chest - with a long sword now pressed against his neck, he could only watch as an armed guard held her up by the throat.
"Did you think you can get away that easily?" The guard sneered while gripping her neck tighter, making it hard for her to breathe.
Jae might've been able to live a long life because of her witch powers, however, it didn't mean she couldn't die from outside forces: like getting stabbed, poisoned, choked to death, etc.
So, the fear she felt was intense, and she struggled to move her gaze to the man still fighting to free himself from his captor. It was difficult, but if this was her last moment, seeing him for one last time would make it worth it.
All was forgotten about the ultimatum she was given about staying in this world or going to the next. Even if it wasn't, it was pretty obvious now what would be the best choice - going to the new world. A world where they didn't have to constantly look over their shoulders and be wary of every step they took.
There, they could start afresh, and live the life they always wanted. In a place where no one knew who they were, where they came from, or that they had to run away from the world they had previously called home.
Still being strangled, Jae grabbed the guard's fingers and tried to pry them from her neck. If they couldn't get out of this situation, they wouldn't be able to escape to the new world or anywhere else, because instead, they would only be six feet under the ground if they got a hold of them.
A sticky, red liquid splashed onto Jae's paling face, and a jolt ran through her body. Moving her eyes back to the man's direction, her eyes widened in shock when she saw the terrible scene playing out before her.
☽
[Present Time]
She collapsed on the sofa once she had returned to the teahouse and tried to block out the unwanted memories that had come storming in.
The accident hadn't been her fault, but if she had decided sooner, none of that would have happened: him getting injured, the events that transpired afterwards, and growing to hate the man she had loved so dearly before.
Seeing him at the cafe had done nothing but bring back feelings she had long forgotten and didn't want to remember. They were pointless now anyway - after she had decided all those years ago to erase everything to do with him out of her life for good, including the person himself.
She had learned the hard way that nothing good came out of being associated with him. And she'd like to keep it that way for as long as possible.