I had had some time to process and accept the reality of my situation.

Behind me, Miri was fighting with everyone about how I shouldn't have seen this. She was arguing that I should realize everything on my own. Jean was having none of it, it seemed she had determined that I was too dense to understand anything on my own.

If I had left as soon as nonsense started flying out of my friends mouths, maybe I could have ignored all of this.

Valentin holding me like a misbehaving child had been a good strategy on his part. I couldn't run, I just had to soak in my new reality.

I was slowly coming to terms with it, mainly because the turquoise Imugi kept talking to me in Miri's voice and making lovey dovey eyes at me.

Valentin freed me of his grip but I still couldn't stand on my own. I tried pathetically before the Imugi loudly said "Let me help you."

Under my bewildered eyes, it turned into a very naked Miri. I averted my eyes. I could feel myself blushing. At this point, I thought it was best to crawl away than stay with these mad people I called my family.

Before I got very far, a very naked and very wet Miri picked me up princess style, like I weighed nothing.

"Are you okay? Your face is very red, Yeobo." She said in a worried voice, whilst Laura and Dali snickered in the back.

I didn't respond, I just closed my eyes and imagined I was anywhere but here.

She carried me to one of the houses, my friends trailing behind her. When we went in, she put me down. "I think you might not be very used to casual nudity. Sorry. I'm going to go dry myself off and put something on." She turned on her heel after saying that and disappeared in the dark corridor.

Sol tapped on my shoulder, "You're still sticky from being in Grandma's mouth. You should take a shower and change too. We'll talk afterwards."

I followed him to the bathroom submissively, as this was a welcome break from all the madness. A few minutes later, I was washing my hair. The hot water was revigorating. For the duration of the shower, I could pretend that nothing was happening and that everything was entirely normal.

Alas, that time was done too soon, as I finished drying myself off and started putting on underwear, the feeling of dread came back.

I stepped out of the bathroom not too long after, but not before taking a big inspiration.

When I stepped into the living room, I didn't know what I expected but it wasn't such a normal image. Everybody was gathered around the table, looking very human, chatting happily, whilst snaking on a charcuterie board.

I sat down between Anya and Laura. Anya was always the logical one so if I stayed by her side, it felt like I would be safe from any type of craziness.

Sol gave me a little plate and put some cheese and meat on it. I carefully ate them whilst everyone's eyes were fixated on me.

Whilst I slowly nibbled at my snacks, Miri got up to pull out what looked like a photo album. She put it on the table in front of me and waited for me to open it.

My left hand trembled as I flipped to the first page of the album. The first picture was of someone that looked like an exact copy of Miri. Next to her, was the woman I saw in my dreams a few nights ago, the woman that I was. The photo was in black and white, under it was the inscription "1845, Miri and Anna".

I flipped through the other pages carefully, Anna made a few other appearances until 1860. There were a few photographs of her with children, one of whom ressembled Dali. Starting on the 10th page, Anna was no longer photographed, it was only Miri and a number of different children, all of them ressembling my friends.

Towards the end of the book, there were color pictures of Miri and my friends, under each picture was an inscription that went like this "Miri and descendant Sol from family founded in 1526 with Kito form." The dates and the name of the form varied from child to child.

Watching all of this history unfold in front of my very eyes left me baffled, but I still couldn't believe it. Pictures and visions weren't enough to make me question the reality I had believed in all my life.

I could accept that Miri was an Imugi as I had been in her mouth, but to accept that my friends were actually my descendants or that Miri and I had previously been married was too much for me. Despite my reticence, I was also curious. Maybe their answers could either push me to believe them or instead back my position.

If I were to be entirely honest though, I didn't know if their answers would sway me, but I liked this fantasy. To know that I had this grand love and this close knit family that cared enough about me to follow me throughout different forms and centuries, made me feel really warm and appreciated. Even if I didn't believe in it, I could still bask in it.

I cleared my throat before asking, "When was the first time we met ? How many families did we have ? How many times was I reincarnated?" I intended to ask only one question but the floodgates opened for some reason and now I had just bombarded Muri with multiple.

Miri closed the photo album in front of me before answering. "We met 2000 years ago, when you stumbled into my forest. You were so innocent and sweet back then that I kept you with me. You didn't have any family left and soon enough, you and I became family to each other." She paused for a moment, "We had seven families together. One of our descendants 200 years back didn't want children so her line died with her and the other line was wiped out in the Korean War."

Anya jumped in at that moment, perhaps because Miri looked sad. "You were reincarnated ten times since you and Grandma met."

This left me with even more questions than before "I thought Imugi turned to dragons if they caught a Yeouiju or lived for 10 years. So why are you still an Imugi? Or do Dragons and Imugis look a lot like each other?"

Miri gave me a small smile, "No no, you're right, I'm still an Imugi. I never transformed even if I caught a Yeouiju. Simply because I used the Yeouiju for something far more important than turning into a dragon." I gave her a quizzical look, "I used it for you, for us."

That did my head in "Wait, am I an Imugi too?"

They all chuckled in unison, I felt dumb.

Sol jumped in to give me the answer, "No, you can't turn a human into an Imugi. Grandma asked for something other than transforming when she caught the Yeouiju. By that time, she was already married and pregnant, so what she desired most was for her family to always be together. She asked for the two of you to be linked as soulmates till the end of times. That is how she finds you in every new form, in every new lifetime."

That sounded really romantic. As I looked at Miri's soft features, I wished desperately like all of this was true and not some shared collective psychotic episode.

How nice it would be to have a love like this.

A love that transcended everything.