A Second Bloom

Looking out the window, An Ran felt a strange stillness settle over him.

Everything was the same.

The sky stretched endlessly, pale and calm. The sunlight slipped gently through the curtains, resting against his skin as if nothing had ever changed. As if he had never died.

As if that night had never happened.

His fingers tightened slightly against the edge of the bed.

I’m… really back.

The thought echoed quietly in his mind, fragile and uncertain.

Was this fate’s mercy?

Or something else entirely?

Did the heavens pity him enough to grant him another chance… or was this simply a dream too vivid to question?

His gaze lowered, watching the way light pooled across his hands. There were no scars. There are no traces of blood. No proof that his life had ended on a cold, rain-soaked street.

If this was a dream…

Then he didn’t want to wake up.

Not now. Not ever.

Drawn by something familiar, his eyes shifted toward the window again.

Outside, the rose garden bloomed quietly beneath the morning light.

It had always been there.

Carefully tended by his mother, each rose standing proud and delicate, their petals soft yet guarded by thorns. Even from a distance, he could almost catch the faint scent carried by the breeze.

Memories surfaced without warning.

A younger version of himself, kneeling beside the garden with his sleeves, rolled up. His older brother was laughing softly as he guided his clumsy hands.

“Careful,” his brother had said. “Roses aren’t as gentle as they look.”

But he hadn’t listened.

A sharp sting.

A thorn pierces his finger.

He remembered the way a bead of blood had welled up, bright against his skin. How it had fallen onto the petals, staining them deeper—making the rose seem even more beautiful… and more dangerous.An Ran’s eyes darkened slightly.

Beautiful… and dangerous.

The thought lingered.

In his first life, he had been neither.

Too soft.

It's too easy to reach.

Too willing to give everything away.

And what did it bring him?

Nothing but heartbreak.

A quiet breath escaped his lips.

Why can’t I become like that?

Beautiful.

Dangerous.

Unreachable.

Someone no one could touch… no one could break.

A faint smile slowly bloomed on his face.

Soft.

Calm.

And utterly different from before.

“A’Ran, are you awake?”

The voice came gently, carried through the slight creak of the door as it opened.

An Ran froze.

His heartbeat stumbled.

Slowly, almost hesitantly, he turned toward the sound.

There she stood.

Just as he remembered.

His mother.

Her expression was warm, touched with the usual quiet concern as she stepped into the room. The morning light followed her in, wrapping her figure in a soft glow that felt almost unreal.

For a moment, An Ran couldn’t move.

Couldn’t speak.

Couldn’t breathe.

He had imagined this moment before—dreamed of it in fragments he could never hold onto.

But now that she was here…

Alive.

Within reach.

His vision blurred.

Tears gathered before he could stop them, spilling over as his chest tightened painfully.

He didn’t realize he was shaking until his hands curled into the bedsheet.

This feeling—

It was too overwhelming.