Prologue ; second lives , red strings, lost boats

"When you're coming home on a rainy night,

what is it that becomes your umbrella.

A voice that answers when you call.

A memory of seeing the same thing at the same time.

The first time you matched someone's pace.

Does someone come to mind?

Yes, it's that person."

- Goblin

"Do you believe in second lives abeoji ?" Jin Ae asked her father as they sat for dinner that night.

It was a quiet night; the moon loomed above the sleeping buildings of Gangnam amongst the stars, although they are barely visible as they flicker behind a thin layer of smoke. Her father, taken aback by his daughter's question, placed the knife down against the handkerchief, the freshly cut apple still resting against his other one.

"Why do you suddenly ask?"

Jin Ae, who 's eye level didn't reach the tabletop tugged onto the hem of her father's clothes, unhappy with the fact that he had answered her with another question," The woman downstairs said that cats have seven lives, but that's not the point, I asked you a question abeoji! "

"Well," He chuckled softly, lifting her up to sit on his lap. He passed her the apples and she gnawed on them excitedly, he paused as if to think about it, and Jin-Ae had finished the last slices by the time he finally answered," We are not cats, are we ?"

She shook her head, and he only smiled wider.

"But I believe in second lives," He hummed wistfully, looking out to the window to watch the trees rustle against the autumn wind, "I believe we all deserve second chances at life, so that's why we have them. I also believe, we share these second lives with someone."

"Will I share mine with you abeoji ?" She immediately asked eyes as wide as plates.

He smiled at her uncertainly, "I'm not sure Jin Ae, all I know is that you'll share your second lives with someone you love most. Someone who you want to spend your entire lives with."

"That's you!" She exclaimed, nearly falling out of his lap as she clamored upwards, pressing her hands ( or smacked, given by the way her father flinched ) against each side of her father's cheeks," I love you and I want to spend my life with you."

Her father laughed, and she proceeded to hug him as he carried her towards her bedroom. The wood creaked gently under his steps, accompanying the cicadas as they began to sing outside.

" That is sweet Jin Ae, but I know someday you'll find someone you'll love more than me, someone you'll want to spend your life with, and your second life with, someone you want to be with forever. This person will be bind to you by a red string, " He laid her down on the cushions, and she intently listened to him as he pulled her under the covers.

" This red string is unbreakable," He smiled softly," It is the thing that binds you together, and no matter how far you are, like two lost ships in the sea you will eventually meet."

" But how do I know who this person is ?" She whined, before turning away to whisper in a timid voice," Is it when I suddenly want to hold his hand? Or when I want to hug him?"

" You'll know it when it's time, and it is more than that Jin Ae," He swept her bangs aside, "There will come a time where you will feel as if you've known this person for a very, very long time. As if you were two old friends who met after years of being apart. Sometimes the other person doesn't recognize the other, or maybe they both don't recognize each other at all! But then you will feel this pull, where you feel at home with this person. When despite everything, they made you happy, they made you feel loved."

" Is that why you always said eomeoni will always still be with you?" She asked, and her gaze began to slide onto the portrait across her, sitting above her desk. It is a picture of the three of them, in the middle Jin Ae was grinning as her parents hugged her. Her eyes trailed downwards to the banquet of flowers wilting above her table, given by her neighbors after their yearly visit to her grave. The smell still lingered around the dimly lit room, and her father followed her gaze, sighing as he watched it die.

"I don't have to worry, your mother's time has come, and maybe mine will come to –"

Jin Ae flinched at that.

" But I am not afraid, we still have plenty of time to meet and fall in love with one another in another life, another time and another place. Maybe she would be taller, or maybe I would be bald."

Jin Ae snorted.

"We will be two different people, but we still carry the same souls, the same love. We are still two lost boats tied onto the same strings. Maybe she doesn't know who I am, but she would feel it, and so will I."

He bent down to kiss her forehead, "And when I will meet her again I know, I am no longer lost. And maybe, just maybe…."

He sighed, trying to hide his eyes from his daughter. But Jin Ae knew better, so she reached up to touch her father's cheeks, wiping away the trail of silent tears that tumbled down. She could feel her own eyes sting, and her vision began to cloud as tears well up. Suddenly, the room felt colder, as if a gust of wind has swept through them. Her father let out a shaky sigh.

"Maybe I won't feel lost anymore."

+ A/N : So,this is the first chapter ! I hope you guys like the intro, I'm quite frustrated by the lack of diversity within Hobbit Fanfictions, so I decided to take things into my own hands ! Jin Ae is Korean, who is currently living in Gangnam, South Korea. Thank you for reading, drop by your comments and thoughts if you have any ! 3