Vantage || Hwang Hyunjin

~Chapter 55~

We followed the now named "Dong Hyun" Hyunjin, our walk was very silent. First and most of all, The fact that I changed with the man was awkward enough, I was worried we'd remain like this for a while.

I had no idea of where we were going, and neither did Hyunjin, we were just walking and walking, hoping we'd be one step closer to solving this.

We arrived to what seemed like a small shop; My jaw dropped, I couldn't believe my eyes.

It was the most beautiful shell collection I've seen in my life. Every time I went to the beach, which was almost never, I used to walk from side to side of the shore picking up the shells that the sea had dropped out; the ones inside this shop were like from another planet.

"Is this shop yours?"  I asked Dong Hyun.

"Yes, it has been for a long time now."

"Years?"

"Yes, a lot."

"What do you know about this whole situation?" Hyunjin asked him impatient.

"I know enough." He replied dryly. I found it curious how my body looked with his... soul? Inside? I mean, when Hyunjin switched with me and he had to "be" me, my expressions looked different than how I am normally, but with this Dong Hyun, oddly, it looked exactly like me.

I mean physically of course it'd look like me, since it's my actual body, but the expressions and gestures were like mine.

"Why did we switch up just by touching?" I asked him.

"Because of the Tide Jewels"

"Tide Jewels?" Hyunjin and I questioned in unison.

"Clearly you are not from this timeline, am I right?" He asked, we nodded.

"Year?"

"2020"

Dong Hyun opened his eyes in awe, as if this one detail he didn't know.

"That is a lot. That means before you, there were others." He whispered to himself. Hyunjin became more impatient by the second and I was following. This man knew a lot of things we didn't, but he wasn't telling us anything helpful.

"If you mean people who look like us then yes, there were two before him and me." I pointed at Hyunjin. That reminded me that if there was someone exactly like Hyunjin right now, then there'd be someone like me.

"Where's the girl that looks like me?"

"More like you look like her." He scolded.

"What ever. Where is she?"

"Dead."

"What do you mean "dead"?!"

"She drowned."

The way he so dryly expressed himself about the girl, made me uneasy. If what Hyunjin and I guessed about the pearls in my apartment was really true, then that girl should've been his soulmate, or at least someone important for him.

"Why would you say I drowned?"

Suddenly, another voice sparks from behind us, making Hyunjin and I to turn around to locate where the voice was coming from.

There she was. I felt like I was trapped in a legit fairy tail or a movie. We looked exactly the same, her and me; and I could tell how we had the same face but different hair and of course clothing.

Yulhee had long straight black hair, as Sang Hoon described her, and I saw her several times now. I have medium brown wavy hair, and now this girl has short dark brown hair, but it's the same face.

"Dong Hyun, who's this?"  She asked intrigued, "and why are you in her body? What's going on?" 

"Relax, Hana, I have no idea, but I think this is related to the Jewels." Dong Hyun sighed.

"Okay, stop for a second!" Hyunjin raised his voice, placing his hand on my shoulder, but my body's shoulder, he was talking to Dong Hyun.

Again, the weird feeling came back, and I was back in my body. I palmed my face, feeling myself, and let out a relieved laugh. Hyunjin smiled and grabbed my hands.

"Are you back?" He smiled

"I- I think so." I smiled too. I now turned to the other two, I had to question them. They were acting as if all of this was normal, and they weren't telling us anything.

"Okay, wait." I prepared to bombard them with questions.  "Why did we change? Who is this? I pointed to the woman, " what are the tide Jewels? Why are we even here? How can I go back to my timeline? Why did you say she drowned? How do we fix this?"

"Wow okay, okay, too many questions." Dong Hyun said.

"Why are you surprised? You do that too all the time" the woman laughed to him, and he pouted. They acted like kids, but I could tell they were just a few years older than Hyunjin and I.

The woman turned now to me, and with a soothing voice, she tried calming me down a bit.

"What is your name?"  She asked me.

"Aeri."

"And his?" She pointed at Hyunjin.

"Hyunjin." He replied.

"Okay, look, Aeri, Hyunjin. Do not worry too much, I promise you, you two are not staying more than today here. But you do have to tell us what you know and how did you get here."

"You two know more than us two." I claimed.

"Fair enough, we do. But you both need to explain how much you know about the Jewels."

"What Jewels?" Hyunjin asked her.

"These Jewels" she pointed at an old painting hanged from the wall.

"Aeri..." Hyunjin called me, as if he wanted to make sure I was seeing the same.

"The pearls." I replied back.

"Oh so you call them pearls? Fine, we can call them that too." The woman smiled.

"My name is Jung Hana, I am one of your past lives." She smiled and extended her hand to me. How unreal did that sound? 

"How can you say that so relaxed?"  I shook her hand.

"You will understand that later today, don't worry." She said.

"And you" she turned to Dong Hyun frowning.

"Stop joking like that, people can actually believe you."  Hana scolded Dong Hyun the same way I scolded Hyunjin every time he messed with me like that too. It's funny how through the years some things just don't change.

A/n

Hello everyone! I'm sorry it took me some time to upload😥 I'm constantly having arguments and fights with my parents so the times I have alone I use them to just relax a bit. Writing is my escaping method now, but sometimes I just want to lay down and close my eyes, I'm so tired.

Any ways! Sorry for the sad message lol I just wanted to let it out! I hope you're enjoying my story, please don't forget to vote and share🧡 Thank you so much!

Stay safe!❤️