Talotkan and Yim were still there.
The same stillness.
The same cool breeze.
The same falling leaves.
The same quiet river flowing gently by.
But inside Talotkan, there was no calm.
Yim finally broke the silence.
She turned to Talotkan with a curious expression and asked,
"Why did you give this pendant such a strange name?"
Talotkan smiled faintly, as if the question itself touched something she cherished.
"Because I believe people's destinies always turn out to be the exact opposite of their names. They never become what their name claims they are meant to be.
Take yourself, for example. Your name means 'happiness.' But tell me… did you ever truly feel happiness before you met me?"
Yim's lips parted slightly, but no words came out. She fell silent.
Talotkan, however, continued, her voice soft yet unyielding:
"That's why I gave this pendant its name. So that it would do the opposite of what it means. Its name is: 'Get lost, go far away.'
And because of that… it will always stay by your side.
Even if it's lost, even if it vanishes, it will find its way back to you somehow."
To Yim, these words sounded like nonsense...just like all the little strange things Talotkan often said.
Sometimes she claimed someone was guiding their path.
Sometimes she said feathers appeared on the road just to speak to them.
And though Yim often found it impossible to believe such things, she never said so.
Instead, she simply listened, quietly smiling at Talotkan's ramblings.
But then Talotkan's expression turned serious, and she whispered,
"This pendant will stay with you. Always. Even when I'm gone."
Yim's heart sank at those words.
She felt a sudden heaviness in her chest.
"Gone? Where are you going?" she asked, her voice trembling with unease.
Talotkan smiled with warmth, as if she were speaking of something gentle, not tragic.
"I will go away… because my destiny says so. My name says so.
Talotkan means 'come together.' And because my name says 'come together,' my fate is to disappear, to be forever lost.
So whenever you miss me, Yim… just look at this pendant and smile.
Wherever I am, I'll come to you."
Yim's hands trembled. Her mind could not comprehend a single word.
She tried to ask, again and again, desperate to know what Talotkan meant.
But the sky was already darkening.
Night was creeping in.
And with it, Yim's fear grew heavier, pressing against her heart.
Talotkan rose to her feet.
The same pain she had felt that morning began to swell inside her once again.
She turned, preparing to leave.
Yet before she stepped away, she looked at Yim and said softly...
"Yim… do you know? Death… death is so much beautiful."
And with those chilling words, she left.
Yim's panic broke loose.
She ran after her, crying out,
"NO! Talotkan!"
"Talotkan! Talotkan!"
But Talotkan was already astride her bike, the engine roaring.
Within moments, she was gone, swallowed by the road.
Yim leapt onto her own bike, started it, and gave chase.
But Talotkan had chosen a different path.....
a path Yim did not know.
Her cries tore through the night, desperate and raw.
"Talotkan! Talotkan!"
She screamed until her throat burned, until her voice broke, until her cries dissolved into harsh coughing fits.
And when there was nothing left but silence…
when despair finally drowned her strength…
she had no choice but to stop.
Yet Yim did not return home.
Her heart refused to let her.
Instead, she turned her bike toward Talotkan's house.