“Right,” the gumiho snaps back. “You’re tired. Tired of working yourself to exhaustion in school, in the hospital, and now on this ship. But you aren’t tired of being you. Reincarnation can be a pain in the ass, Kisa, trust me on that. You lose so much to gain so little.” She gives her a rather pointed look. It stings. “I’m sure you can think of something that doesn’t involve leaving Seokga with a broken heart. You do it a lot, after all. Thinking, I mean. Besides, what if you reincarnate as a slug that somebody sprinkles salt on? So far, you’ve had all of my karmic punishment. Sorry about that, by the way.”

“No, you’re not.” Kisa’s voice is bitter. Hani has, unfortunately, made a rather valid point about the slug thing. And, possibly, about some other things. Truths that she’s not ready to face.

“No, I’m not. I had loads of fun being a terrible person.” Hani flops back down onto the couch. “Look, Kisa. I understand that you’re frightened to fall. What you need to understand, though, is that you already have—in more ways than one. That ache, the longing you’ve felt…Is it a coincidence that it lodged itself in your chest the day that the Red Thread of Fate appeared? Don’t tell me that you believe in coincidences, Kisa.”

“There is no coincidence,” she says automatically. “Only correlation. Sometimes causation.”

“Exactly,” says Hani with a smug glimmer in her eyes as Kisa’s mind whirls, cabinets trembling as neatly filed emotions threaten to spill out. For something deep within her has known, for a while, that Hani is right.

That ache feels like the pull of a magnet toward Seokga. It is relieved only when he is near.

When they are together.

Kisa swallows hard, hand fluttering to her chest.

“And, darling, just because you’re falling again doesn’t mean it will end like last time, with a painful impact. There’s something you’re forgetting…And what Seokga, bless him, is somehow forgetting in the afterglow…is that he’s the interim heavenly emperor.” Hani smirks as Kisa freezes, heart stopping mid-pound in her chest. “Or he will be, once he returns to Okhwang and sits on the throne for the first time. You can ask him for anything then, within the confines of his power. Living again isn’t an option, but there are other things to ask for…As soon as you admit to yourself what you want.”

More time.

“You know exactly what you would ask for, don’t you?” Hani blinks guilelessly at her.

“You’d still be dead, of course, but you’ll hardly be able to tell. And there can be so much more to life than, well, living.”