"You cannot be that woman…You are a man now!" Jin angrily whispered.
An enigmatic smile encased his lips, not really bothered with Jin's guess. But Shui's mouth did twitch.
"You are a man now…What are you even talking about, Jin? Of course, he is a man. Do you have any doubt about his gender?" She coughed.
"Ah don't worry, dear. He is just confused," the man's eyes mischievously twinkled. "I might feel familiar to him though I would very much like to say that I am indeed a man. The woman you met previously might be somebody else~"
Jin recalled the elderly woman and now fixed his gaze at the man.
He means that they belong to that same weird cloudy space but are different entities?
"I must stress that I am very much a man," he smiled.
His countenance soured.
For some reason, I don't want to believe him. Whatever, I don't care!
Jin grabbed Shui's wrist and said with a chilly voice directed at the mysterious man. "We will get back to our seats."
Shui pointed a displeased glare at him. "First, you say that it's good to swap seats and now you suddenly changed your mind? I am not going to follow your unpredictable whims and wishes!"
At that point, the speakers hummed with a mild crackling noise and the captain's voice vibrated through them to give his passenger announcement, greeting the passengers, informing them about their destination and weather ahead and lastly to buckle their seats as the flight would take off in a few minutes.
Jin remained persistent. "Come with me!"
"No!" She shook off her hand, sending another glare his way.
The man waved his hand carefreely. "Just sit here with us. I don't mind. The aisle seat is free anyway."
"No, thanks," he managed to say through his gritted teeth, tension tightly clenching his facial muscles. "Shui…"
"I might as well enjoy my time with an expert's palm reading than sitting beside a grumpy face who clearly doesn't appreciate my company." Follow current ɴᴏᴠᴇʟs on novel※fire.net
There was no more time to change seats as the flight was about to take off. "Fine then! Then you!" He scowled at the man. "You take the aisle seat."
Clearly, Jin wouldn't allow for them to sit together.
"No way!" Shui exclaimed her rejection too. "You didn't want us to be neighbors before so what's the point of sitting beside each other now whether that row or this row?"
Amidst Jin's various protests and resistances, the flight finally took off with Jin unsuccessfully still stuck at the aisle seat, unable to change anybody's mind.
This man…he seethed with anger, He is definitely that same woman! Or maybe another one like hers! Nobody dares to give me that attitude! Did he come here to keep an eye on me? To keep me in check?
The more he thought about the possibility, the uglier and nastier he felt. It worsened upon seeing Shui already cozying up to him and continuing her palm reading adventure.
"Your heart line," the man smiled, tapping his finger at the said line on Shui's palm. "It shows a bright future ahead of you although a little patience is required for that moment to realize."
"Patience?" She softly gasped.
Is he hinting at Jin accepting his feelings for me?
"Yes. That soul will come to you. He will confess his feelings to you. But it requires time. The burden on that man's shoulders needs to be lifted. The guilt in his heart needs to be set free. Only then will his heart welcome you."
Jin's expression darkened, watching the man lean closer and closer to Shui and seemed to be whispering to her. The proximity didn't affect Shui but for Jin, it felt as if he was dropped into a pool of bubbling volcano. He couldn't hear his complete reading, but Jin managed to catch the initial words.
That soul will come to you. He will confess his feelings to you.
Who is he talking about…? Jin couldn't help but wonder.
The deal set with the Gods disallowed him to dream of his happy future. A future where Shui belonged to him. That's why he couldn't be the man to confess to her. If he wasn't a part of Shui's bright who would sweep her off her feet and make her forget Jin.
future, then it meant it would be somebody else.
Another man to walk in her life and capture her heart. Another man who would sweep her off her feet and make her forget Jin.
Jin's fury-laced dark gaze turned somber upon this realization.
What was the point of getting all salty with this man's company beside Shui or even if they grew closer? There would come a time where he would have to watch Shui embraced in somebody else's arms. He would have to give his blessings to her and the man who would vow to live their life till deaths do them part.
Was there any meaning left to his petty jealousy then? He wondered.
The flight had well reached its altitude and the seatbelt sign was then switched off. Passengers could now move. Jin unbuckled his seatbelt and got up from his seat.
Shui noticed him stepping out and asked, speechless, "Where are you going now?"
"Back to my seat. It was right to swap seats. You sit here. I will head back."
He silently left and returned to his original row, occupying his original seat.
Shui caught the abrupt change in the light of his black irises. Something happened to make him change his mind and discard their petty banter. Whatever it was, the hint of melancholy his demeanor gave off made her eyes slightly well with tears. It was that feeling again.
The feeling that Jin was bearing a heavy burden all alone, all by himself. The invisible wall somewhere that always stopped him from taking a step forward and putting a brake to his emotions.
"That burden…Can I help to release that burden chaining his heart?" She asked in a hushed voice, not wishing for man to realize her slightly breaking voice.
The man slightly squinted his eyes, offering her a veiled smile which seemed to hold a myriad of secrets. "You are an important key for him to attain his freedom for sure. But it's a freedom that he must achieve by his own efforts too. It will take time. As much as he needs your forgiveness, so does he needs his own."