Fading Echoes

Chapter 9: Fading Echoes

Hyun's consciousness drifted between light and shadow, the echoes of a past he didn't fully remember whispering in his mind. Distant voices, the roar of rain, the metallic screech of brakes—it all blurred together, slipping through his grasp just as he tried to hold onto them.

Then, a warmth.

His eyelids felt heavy as he stirred, his senses slowly realigning. The first thing he registered was the soft touch against his hand. A presence—familiar and comforting.

"Hyun… are you awake?"

Yuna.

He blinked his eyes open, the golden hue of sunset casting gentle shadows across her worried face. They weren't in the park anymore. Instead, he found himself in a quiet café, a warm cup of tea sitting untouched before him.

"You scared me," Yuna admitted, her fingers still lightly curled around his. "You suddenly collapsed."

Hyun let out a slow breath, trying to push away the lingering dizziness. "Sorry… I didn't mean to."

Yuna scoffed, shaking her head. "Apologizing for fainting? You really are something."

He chuckled weakly but then hesitated. The momentary laughter did little to shake the growing unease inside him. Something was off—he could feel it in his bones. The visions, the strange familiarity of Yuna's presence, the way his body reacted as if it had experienced all of this before.

And then there was the memory.

The rain. The car. The gut-wrenching sense of loss.

His chest tightened. He had to know.

"Yuna," he started, his voice careful, "do you ever get the feeling that we've… been through this before?"

She blinked at him, surprised. "What do you mean?"

He exhaled sharply, running a hand through his hair. "I don't know. It's just… there are moments with you that feel too familiar. Like we've lived them already."

Yuna stayed quiet for a long moment, her fingers absentmindedly tracing the rim of her cup. Then, softly, she said, "Sometimes… I feel it too."

Hyun's eyes snapped to hers. "You do?"

She nodded slowly. "It's hard to explain. But being with you… it's like déjà vu. Like I'm remembering something that never actually happened."

A beat of silence passed between them, thick with something unspoken. And in that moment, Hyun knew—this wasn't just coincidence. It wasn't just his mind playing tricks on him.

Something had happened between them before.

And somehow, fate had brought them together again.

Chapter 10: Unraveling Threads

The world around Hyun felt like a delicate illusion, one that threatened to shatter with every breath he took. The familiar scent of coffee, the warmth of Yuna's presence—everything was real, yet something about it felt like it had happened before.

Déjà vu. The kind that clawed at the edges of his mind, whispering secrets he couldn't quite grasp.

He had tried to dismiss it before. But now, after the collapse, after seeing the raw concern in Yuna's eyes, he couldn't ignore it anymore.

"Yuna," he said, voice quieter than he intended, "what if we've been through this before? Not just in a vague sense, but… literally?"

She looked up from her cup, startled. "What do you mean?"

Hyun hesitated. How could he explain it? The flashes of memories that weren't his, yet felt so personal? The way his heart clenched at the sound of her voice, as if mourning something he had long lost?

"I don't know," he admitted. "But every time I'm with you, it's like I'm remembering something I shouldn't."

Yuna was silent for a long time, staring at him with an expression he couldn't quite decipher. Then, finally, she spoke. "There's something I never told you."

Hyun's breath hitched. "What is it?"

She exhaled slowly, as if bracing herself. "Before we officially met at the event, I saw you once. A long time ago."

His eyes widened. "When?"

"It was raining." Her voice was barely above a whisper. "And… there was an accident."

His heart pounded in his chest. The rain. The car. The gut-wrenching loss.

Yuna's fingers trembled around her cup. "I don't know why, but when I saw you again at the event, it felt like… I'd been waiting for you."

Hyun swallowed hard. The puzzle pieces were falling into place, yet the picture they formed was one he wasn't sure he was ready to see.

And deep inside, he knew—this wasn't just a second chance.

It was a haunting echo of something unfinished, something that demanded to be remembered.

Chapter 11: Echoes of the Past

Hyun's head throbbed as he lay on his bed, staring at the ceiling. The déjà vu wasn't just a fleeting feeling anymore—it was suffocating him, crawling into his thoughts like vines wrapping around his consciousness.

Every moment with Yuna felt like a shadow of something that had already happened, but the details slipped away just as he tried to grasp them.

The rain. The accident. Her voice calling out…

He sat up abruptly, gripping his head as the pain intensified. It wasn't just a memory—it was something deeper, something his mind refused to unlock completely. The more he tried to remember, the more it slipped away, like sand between his fingers.

Yuna noticed the change in him. Over the next few days, his usual confidence wavered, his smiles didn't reach his eyes, and there were moments where he would suddenly go quiet, as if lost in a world only he could see.

"Hyun, are you okay?" Yuna asked one evening when they were walking home together.

He forced a smile. "Yeah, just tired."

But Yuna wasn't convinced. "You've been acting strange lately."

Hyun hesitated before sighing. "It's nothing, Yuna. Just… nightmares."

Her eyes searched his face. "About what?"

He wanted to tell her, to say that every time he closed his eyes, he saw flashes of something familiar yet foreign. But he couldn't. Because every time he got close to remembering, a sharp pain in his head forced him to stop.

Yuna reached out, placing a gentle hand on his arm. "You can tell me, you know."

Hyun looked down at her hand, feeling warmth spread through his chest. "I know," he whispered. "But I don't think I'm ready yet."

As they continued walking, the sky darkened with an approaching storm. Raindrops began to fall, and with them, another memory surfaced—a fleeting glimpse of Yuna standing in the rain, reaching out to him.

And just like that, it was gone again.

Hyun clenched his fists. The past was trying to tell him something.

And this time, he wasn't going to ignore it.