seul’s Reviews > The Last Tiger > Status Update

In the midst of darkness, we found a light to carry us through. That light belongs to us now. And we will carry it with us, forward into history.

I'm not alone anymore. I know my people. Their very memories live in me.

I lean back, feeling full and happy. There's no place in the world I'd rather be.

We're desperately in need of healing from a time of intense grief. I don't know what Eunji's and my role in all this will be. I don't know what will happen to the Tiger people from here. And yet, I have a feeling that, no matter what, we'll find a way through. We're a resilient people. We've survived centuries of abuse, occupation, colonization, only to emerge from the ashes every time.

We may have brought back hope to the country, but that hasn't yet solved all our problems or removed our old grievances.

The light fades as the creatures begin to take shape. One of them gives a little kitten call.

They're tiger cubs.

Nearly a dozen of them.

Seung and I share a stunned glance, our cheeks glistening with tears.

As we part, I feel the hope bloom in my chest. And perhaps it's a trick of the light, but Seung seems to almost shimmer, to glow. As he holds my hand, a brilliant luminescence shines around us. The light expands, covering the world...

With hope living again in the Tiger Kingdom, so will Tiger ki. I hear the spirit's voice echo in my mind.

I lean forward and let his warmth envelop me as I shut my eyes. Our lips touch, and as we sink deeper into each other, suddenly I'm back on that rooftop, gazing at the stars in Seung's eyes—I'm back at the cliff side, falling faster and faster-I'm at the foot of the dragon, adrenaline pulsing throughout my body-I'm somewhere that I've never been, somewhere that I've always known-

"Eunji..."

I finally raise my head and turn to face him. "Yes?"

He smiles forlornly and reaches out his hand-and I take it.

As I face him, my heart grows full. With hope, and with pain. The pain of having lost him and found him again; the hope of the future that we might still, somehow, have together.

He's come a long way from Kidoh. We both have.

But now that I know it is possible, I choose to step out and beyond. Not to be led by fear, but by purpose. I know now that sometimes you have to be willing to step away from power to truly find your own.

For so long, I chased freedom, believing I would find it in power.

Instead, the closer I got to the top, the tighter the cage became around me. I was looking in the wrong place-to the wrong people-for the key.

I had to let go. I had to fall. To break, and put myself back together. I had to finally listen to myself, to take the terrifying risk to trust myself to do what I knew was right.

And I did. Finally, I did.

"With hope living again in the Tiger Kingdom, so will Tiger ki."