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                 Ever since Ren learned of the stranger's existence, he befriended her and Jungwon did not want to watch how their friendship blossomed.

He watched how Ren broke down the stranger's walls, carved himself a place in her mind, and made her feel all sort of things she never thought she even was capable of feeling. he looked at fate who stood beside him as she forced him to finish watching the memory.

Jungwon was starting to understand why Jihee would always make bad remarks about fate whenever chance she gets.

"I don't want to watch this." He tells her.

"This is the interesting part, Jungwon. This will give you a better understanding as to why your girl is so angry with this reality that she almost desolated it from my library." She replies to him. She snapped her fingers and he felt his neck move on its own, forcing him to return his gaze to the memory.

They were currently in Ren's home and the stranger looked around, noticing the badly structured and untidy house. Ren was not fortunate enough to be born into the privileged families in his reality, he was forced into a life that no one could ever wish to have.

"Your reality is horrible." The stranger seemed to like saying that sentence.

Suddenly, a woman dressed in dirty clothes a little older than Ren came out from one of the rooms. Though it took time, Jungwon realized it was Ren's mother because of how similar they looked but she seemed so young. He concluded that she may have been pregnant at a young age. Her eyes widened upon seeing a cleanly dressed individual in the premises of their home.

"What is she doing here?" The woman asked.

"She's a friend of mine. She can help you with your illness." Ren says, glancing at the stranger with a hopeful expression. They never discussed it but now that she was put in the spot, she knew she had to fulfill Ren's wishes. "She has a heart disease, can you heal her?"

Forcing a smile for her friend. "I'll do it."

"What are you--" The woman was cut off when the stranger had grabbed her hand and a bright light appeared.

Jungwon raised his eyebrow. "What has this got to do with why she's angry with this reality?" He asked fate.

Fate then swished her hand and in a blink of an eye, they were no longer in Ren's home. He looked around and realized they were now in a larger house and a bunch of people surrounded the stranger, asking her to do all sorts of things with her magic. She was reluctant at first but given her young age and Ren's convincing, she made their wishes come true.

Turning paper into money. Producing food to ease their hunger.

They took advantage of her powers, asking her to make things come true until her hands were sore from having to cast so much magic.

Jungwon clenched his fist.

"I don't want to see this anymore."

Fate chuckles. "Our time is up anyway. Good luck Jungwon, something big is about to appear."

"Can love truly conquer everything?"

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To tell the truth, Jihee first thought was she didn't fit in this reality.

When she first started as a stranger, she was venturesome given that she was now capable of all sort of things and death will never be a problem for her. She long thought she would find a home in a reality that was far from the word simple, but those expectations was washed down the drain the moment she got attached to everyone in this reality.

"Yes... Of course, yes." She answered and the expression on Jungwon's mother's face was unrecognizable. She couldn't tell whether it was relief or something else. "It's my turn now. How did you know I was a stranger? You have no protection spell on you, you can't see the true color of my eyes."

She smiled. "How perceptive of you. But what gave it away was the crystal in your wrist, I know that crystal very well. That's a crystal only a stranger can make."

Jihee controlled her expression, that was not the response she expected.

"Does Jungwon know the truth about you?" This time it was Jungwon's father that had asked the question and she gave him a simple nod as reply to him. His wife glanced at him and she swore she saw a glint of worry appear on her face.

"How?" She asked.

Then Jihee explained to them everything, that she was stuck in that reality because of the protection spell that had made Jungwon immune to her magic. They listened intently especially the old stranger given that she also was a witness of how horrible fate can be. By the end of her narration, she already prepared her next question. A question that will guarantee that by the end of the day, the truth will surface.

"You're very powerful if you can cause an apocalypse, that is no easy feat for me and I can imagine how tired I would've been if I had caused the same damage as you." She tells Jihee. "It also must've been a lot of damage considering she gave you a rule I never had in the 400 years I've been a stranger."

"I have trouble separating emotions with my powers." She guiltily admits.

"And Jungwon... who would've thought his protection spell would continue to take effect until today." There was a long pause after.

"Do you think..." Her husband looked at her in a concerned manner.

Jihee raised her eyebrow, wondering what they were both thinking at that very moment. Was there more to the truth? She wanted to ask them to explain it to her, but she didn't want to waste another question on a truth that she wasn't even sure she wanted. Taking a deep breath, she looked at them preparing herself for the worse and for the better.

"Are you the stranger before me?" 

They both looked at her, blinking more than they should be. There was a long silence that engulfed the huge home, a silence that served as more than enough of an answer to Jihee. She looked down and her heart dropped the instant the truth sunk down to her. 

At that same moment, the door swung open and Jungwon emerged, panting as if he had just ran a marathon. "Grandma isn't at Ms. Hong." He frowned as he informed his parents then his eyes travelled to Jihee whose head was faced down. "What happened?" 

Jihee took a sharp breath and fixed her expression so he won't be suspicious of her but she knew he would never believe it. Still, acting like she was alright was way better than telling him at that very moment the horrible news she has incoming for him. She stood up, giving him a smile. Another thing she knew he would never buy.

"It's nothing. I actually have an errand to run so I guess I'll be taking my leave." She tells his parents as they gazed at her with eyes filled with guilt and concern. 

"Of course, let's continue our conversation at a better time." His mother smiled at her, lacking the energy she usually carried. "I'll see you again, Jihee." 

Jihee approached Jungwon and he escorted her out of the house, refusing to ask any questions while inside the house where his parents could see and hear them. As soon as he closed the door behind him, he looked at her and her heart almost shattered when she saw just how much concern his eyes carried at that very moment. It took everything within her to withhold the tears that was threatening to fall.

"Are you okay? Did something happen while I was gone? Did they say something?"  He asked.

She hated herself for only realizing something now. 

"I love you." 

She caught him off guard but she didn't need a response. Truth be told even a response wouldn't be any good of an help to her. "I have to go, you have to talk to your parents." She tells him but before she could walk away, he stopped her to place a kiss on her forehead. 

You don't have to say it.

Because the moment you do, I'll lose control.

Letting her cowardice take control of her, she pulled away from him and ran away, refusing to look back. Her mind was clouded and all she could think about was how horrible everything was to her.

Jungwon watched how she ran away. 

I love you.

His head continued to replay those words and his heart was beating so fast it began to hurt. None of them has ever said those words, so what makes today any different? What happened when he was gone?

Returning back to his house, he looked at his parents that were busy talking about something in the living room. He has never seen them so worried or at least talk to each other as if they were facing a very big problem. They only stopped when they heard the sound of the door closing and their gazes diverts to their son that had just entered after escorting his lover out.

"What happened to Jihee? Did something happen while I was gone?" He asked them. When they avoided his eyes, he grew even more confused. "Mom, dad. What's happening to the two of you? Do you not like her?"

"We like her very much, believe me we do. It's just..." His father trailed off. "Your situation, it's complicated." 

He raised his eyebrow. "What do you two know about our situation?" 

"Won, I was a stranger." 

His mother's sudden confession hit him like a bullet. And suddenly, everything started to make sense except for why Jihee suddenly stormed off or why his parents are acting so weird. This wasn't what he expected, none of this was going the way he expected. 

"So what then? That doesn't make a difference, right? You were a stranger, now she is. She can just pass it off to someone else." Jungwon said. "Just like you did." 

"Jungwon you have to understand, you'll only get hurt if you continue loving her. The two of you will only get hurt, right now she's hurt and it's only because of you why she hasn't exploded." His mother tells him, grabbing him softly on both his arms. 

Fate keeps telling him the same thing. 

"Why are you saying the exact same thing fate is saying? Why can't none of you answer me?" 

His parents' faces suddenly turned pale. "Y-You saw fate first hand?" She asked in surprise and he nods. "Oh heaven forbid, after years of being so quiet now she shows." She mumbled something that he didn't really quite get. 

"What's wrong with that?" 

"Jungwon, you have to let her go. You're young, she's young, there's more out there. Let go now while it's still early, because in three months, losing her would only hurt you." She was almost pleading. 

He doesn't know a thing at all, how could he just follow his parents without even knowing why? He can't let go of her, not after what they've been through, he spent almost seven months with her, experienced things he never thought he would and felt things that were only written in books. He wasn't going to let go, not when his knowledge about the truth was limited to none. 

"Mom, just tell me. Tell me truth, why do you want me to let go? And what do you mean in three months? Did she say she was going to leave?" 

"Jungwon, she can't stay." There were tears falling out of her eyes. "She can't stay."

"W-What?"

"I'm sorry Jungwon. I'm so sorry." She continued to apologize to him. "Before someone becomes a stranger, we have an agreement with fate. In exchange for a chance to find a new home, we have to agree that we can't return to our original home." 

"I gave Jihee my powers. S-She's from this reality." 

"She wants to stay but she can't because of her agreement with fate. She can't return to her original home."

Then he fell to his knees as the truth sunk into him.

He can't be with her.

Rushing to his room, he closed the door behind him shut and forced himself to sleep. He needed to talk to fate and the only way he could do that is in his dreams, he has to do something, he wants to do something. He can't let go, he can't just give up on everything. 

He loves her.

"How does the truth taste?" Fate asked Jungwon. He actually fell asleep.

They were at a movie theater now and the movie playing was his mother's confession. He sat two seats away from her with a popcorn on hand that seemed so real he had to keep in mind that it wasn't real. Putting it down, he faced fate. 

"What do I have to do so that you would let her stay?" He asked her. 

A slight smirk appeared on her face. "There is a way for you to be with her but you need to do something for me." 

Bargaining with fate seemed like a bad idea but that was his only choice right now. Only she could make the impossible, possible. 

"Finish watching her memories and learn the truth of your existence. Only then will I tell you what you can do to be with her." 

The truth of my existence?

"That's all?"

"A mortal can't do much. If it were the stranger bargaining, I would've asked for more." She shrugged. "Plus, learning about those two things will help you when I tell you how you can be with her. So, will you do it?"

It was presented right in front of him, a way to be with her. She wasn't asking for much, he could do it. 

"I'll do it."

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AUTHOR'S NOTE :

am i finally going to write a sad ending /j