My first day of school ended quickly. I was swarmed with homework even on the first day, I was lucky to have studied all of these subjects in heaven. After my student duties, I had some heavenly duties to fulfil such as jotting down my observations of my client today. Luckily, I met her right away. My pen wrote on the paper smoothly:

1: She cannot hold proper conversations without a topic or someone with her (already knew)

2: She cannot express affection well (already kind of knew)

3: She is hopelessly in love with her ‘best bud’ Pierre, who is hopelessly in love with her best friend, Valery Jing. (did not notice/suspect) New!

4: Her friends call her by her surname. She does so to Valery. - Ask why

5: I could feel her heartache?? - report back to the guardian ASAP

Her face when she saw Valery and Pierre was enough to break my heart, this was something I did not notice from the well. I was also so focused on her actions but not her face or feelings. I have a brief outline of her personality and everyone around her but this was just depressing. Maybe it’s because I’m her dreamcatcher, that’s why I can feel the pain in her heart. I should do something for her tomorrow. I headed to the bathroom, where the beautiful well stood upon me. Once again, I lightly touch the delicate surface and mutter the words “Call upon the guardian.” This time, numerous water droplets emerged up from the well. Forming ripples every millisecond until the figure of a tall, elegant lady materialized right before my eyes. Her long wavy braided hair reached her chest along with her mesmerizing flowy dress that would send chills down you spine by even looking at it. “Morning M’Lady.” I grin. “Is that any way to speak to your guardian Hong Joo?” She smirks. “How are things in the overworld? Anything new to report to me?” She asks as her fingers twiddle with her lengthy bangs. “You are in fact correct. Something strange happened today with my client. To cut it short, I could feel her heartache. Just wanted to know if you would have any idea on this topic.” For a moment, I could feel it again. Her heartache along with an extremely uneasy feeling in my chest. “Hmm… This happened to one of our old dreamcatchers before, he retired just a few years before you became a dreamcatcher. I’ll double check with the other Guardians later during the meeting. For now, if you feel anything more than a little heartache, report it to me immediately. ” I nodded. “If that is all, I’ll be going now.”

“Nothing else to report M’Lady.” She smiled. “Noted. I’ll be going now. Take care Joo.” I bowed my head in respect for the Guardian. The water droplets fell to the ground, completely soaking me from head to toe. I sighed as I walked towards my room to get my towel. “Time to shower, again.”

~

The next day at school, I waited patiently in the classroom for Khim- Ash to enter. From what I observed in heaven, she only comes to class late when she meets up Valery but on other days, she’s the first one to enter. I sat there quietly, reviewing her file on my phone.

“Cause of death: ----i--”

My eyes opened widely as if they were about to bulge out.

I can see an alphabet? Are my eyes failing me right now?

I rubbed my eyes and looked closely again.

No… This cannot be real… The cause usually comes out a week before the death, at most two weeks. It’s my second day and something already came out? It’s even weirder for only a single alphabet to come out. I need to speak to the guardian again.

Right when I was about to leave the classroom, she entered.Head down, phone in one hand, earphones in another.

My heart ached. No- Her heart ached. I clutched my chest and took a deep breath.

She stopped and stared at me. “You good?” Her eyebrows furrowed. “Uh… Uh… I’m not feeling well. Tell Mr Yi for me please.” I ran out of the classroom as if there was a monster chasing me.

What was that? Why could I feel it again? Her heartache.

I ran as quickly as I could towards the bus stop and frantically searched for my bus. Luckily, it arrived right away. I boarded the bus and looked at the file again, staring intently at the ‘i’. Thousands of theories flashed back and forth in my head. Is this a sign for something bad? Or is this good? Nobody has ever heard of a cause of death being revealed so early. Earliest I’ve heard was two weeks.

Something is going wrong.

I slammed my door open and rushed to the toilet. I stuck my finger into the well again and desperately tried to stabilize it.

I could feel it again. It’s even worse this time. It feels like needles are slowly entering my heart.

“C-Call upon the guardian!” I screamed. I stared at the water droplets, gathering and piecing together the form of the guardian. “Perfect timing Joo! I was just about to call you- Joo?” My vision became blurry. “Joo are you okay?” I shook it off. “I-I’m fine. What were you about to tell me?” I took deep, heavy and painful breaths. “Wait there I’m sending an angel to fetch you.” The grip around my heart tightened, the feeling of the heartache got more and more painful. “I’m fine really. Please just report what you found out to me.” Every breath got deeper and more painful. “I’ll tell you in heaven! For now hold on, Kris is on his way!” My entire body became numb, my hearing became muffled. I lost every ounce of strength I had just now. “No… I don’t like Kris.” Then my body finally gave in and fainted.

I awoke to the melodious sound of harps. The delicate tune tickled my ear as I opened my eyes and was met with a bright, soft, luminescent light. “Feeling better?” This deep voice… “Yep. Thanks Kris… I’ll be on my way then.” I quickly sat up and started walking towards the exit. “Hold it.” Kris grabbed my arm. “The song isn’t finished. You can’t leave yet.” I sighed.

There’s no use fighting. I’ll just stay here then.

“Fine. Continue ur tune.” I sat down on the cushioned bed. Resting my mind, I took deep and heavy breaths accompanying it with a sigh. For what felt like forever, the music finally came to an end. “See? I’m all better. Can I go now?” Kris sighed and shook his head. “Fine. You can go now. By the way the guardian of dreams wants to see you. She said to meet at her office once you have fully recovered.” I nodded my head and finally left the room.

I made my way to her office while collecting my thoughts on what had happened just now.

How did the pain escalate so much? At first it was bearable but to the point of passing out? What is going on?

I touched my heart, where the pain resided and kept going through the thoughts in my head until i reached the office. “Oh dearest guardian of dreams, I am pleased to inform you that Hong Joo has recovered.” The door creaked open and the guardian quickly pulled me into the office. She gestured for me to keep quiet and brought me to her desk. “Take a look at this Joo.” She passed me a thick file. I breezed through the first few pages and saw a folded page. Unfolding it, my eyes were immediately draw to three highlighted words.

Signs of reincarnation.

“M’Lady… What’s the meaning of this?” The guardian looked at me right in the eyes. “Joo. All those heartaches you were feeling, they were all signs of reincarnation.” I felt my heart sink. Millions of thoughts flashed in my mind. Memories of my previous lives all played back.

Reincarnation? Is she being serious?

All these thoughts, yet all I could mutter was an exasperated yet confused, “What?”