GRR 15

Jion had thought he would never have to see him again, yet here they were, facing each other once more. Only two days had passed since the day Kwon Chasa had visited the convenience store to erase his memory. That unbelievable coincidence was fascinating, but it was far from welcome.

In the meantime, the two grim reapers descended to the ground at a certain distance from Jion. Even while standing in the drizzle, their clothes and hair remained perfectly dry.

Just like Yoo Kanghyun standing beside him, this was proof that they were not human. The alien feeling made his body tremble slightly, but Jion quickly regained his calm. He didn’t avoid Kwon Chasa’s gaze despite his frown, and greeted him.

“Hello, Ahjussi. We meet again.”

“…What? Again?”

Creases appeared between Kwon Chasa’s brows. He must have believed that Jion’s memory had been completely erased. His strong reaction to the word “again” was only natural.

“Kwon Chasa-nim, didn’t you say you erased his memory…?”

Yu Chasa nervously looked back and forth between Jion and Kwon Chasa, and asked cautiously. Kwon Chasa stared at Jion and gave no answer to Yu Chasa’s question.

Jion felt satisfied upon seeing his cold expression tinged with visible confusion, and he almost smiled. He cleared his throat once and barely managed to not laugh. Meanwhile, the jeokpaeji held in Yu Chasa’s hands was still shining with a dazzling white light.

“…Let’s begin.”

“Ah… yes!”

As Kwon Chasa spoke while roughly running a hand through his hair, Yu Chasa immediately unfolded the jeokpaeji with both hands.

“Yoo Kanghyun.”

Just as Suho had before, Yoo Kanghyun’s body floated up into the air at Yu Chasa’s call. He responded without resistance to the second and third calls, shackles appeared around Yoo Kanghyun’s ankles, identical in form to those that had once bound Suho’s. Seeing that he now responded to the call of a grim reaper, it meant that he had finally come to terms with his situation.

“Yu Chasa, do you think you can take him alone?”

“Eh? Me-me, alone?”

“There will be Kings sent by Yeomra at the entrance of Mount Sacheon. Since Yeomra said she would send Cheonjo and Gamsu, hand them over to them and report directly to Yeomra. They will will accompany you to the trial. It’s not difficult, right?”

“Ah… yes, I think I can handle that much!”

Yu Chasa didn’t understand why Kwon Chasa was suddenly sending him to the underworld alone, but after hearing the explanation, it didn’t seem too difficult. After bowing his head to Kwon Chasa, Yu Chasa flew toward the hongsalmun that had appeared.

Even while being dragged helplessly by Yu Chasa due to the shackles, Yoo Kanghyun waved both hands at Jion to say goodbye. Jion also raised his hand high into the air and waved enthusiastically from side to side.

Not long after, as Yu Chasa and Yoo Kanghyun were drawn into the pitch-black entrance, the hongsalmun that had served its purpose vanished in an instant. Left behind in the rain were only Jion and Kwon Chasa.

The sound of rain filled the silence between them. Jion adjusted his grip on the umbrella and shrugged toward Kwon Chasa, who still looked at him with a displeased expression. As he watched Kwon’s expression crumple more miserably with each passing moment, the corners of Jion’s mouth began to rise.

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After Yoo Kanghyun left, the rain stopped. Jion closed his umbrella, shook off the moisture, and walked through the apartment complex with Kwon Chasa. He kept following along because he was told to, but he had no idea what was going on.

Not long after, Kwon Chasa found a secluded spot, suddenly crouched down, and placed his hand on the ground. As a blinding light appeared, he stepped back, and in that place a gate resembling the kind seen in a hanok appeared.

Without hesitation, Kwon Chasa grabbed the door handle and opened it, then turned to look at Jion standing behind him. The inside was completely black, like a black hole that one could never return from once stepping inside. As Jion swallowed once, Kwon Chasa suddenly extended his hand.

“Take it.”

“W-why?”

“Just take it when I tell you to. Why do you have so much to say?”

Kwon Chasa clicked his tongue once and grabbed Jion’s hand, pulling him forward. Jion was startled first by the overwhelming strength, and then by the warmth of the hand that didn’t match the man in front of him.

His body felt as if it were being drawn into a weightless space, then suddenly regained weight as his feet touched the ground again. Jion, who had closed his eyes, slowly opened them.

“Wow……”

An exclamation of awe escaped his mouth when he saw the scene before him. A stone path stretched across the center of a landscaped garden filled with lush green trees and beautiful flowers, and at the end of the path stood a grand and elegant hanok big enough to resemble a palace.

Feeling as though he had traveled back in time, Jion quickly looked around. Only then did he realize that it wasn’t raining in this place. Even though it was the time when the sun should be setting, the area was as bright as midday, and the sky was clear without a single cloud.

Just as the thought that he might have come to another world crossed his mind, Kwon Chasa, who had already walked far ahead without him noticing when he had let go of his hand, turned back and clicked his tongue.

“Hurry up.”

In response to his dissatisfied tone, Jion pouted slightly but quickly crossed the stone path. He lamented not being able to look around more leisurely, but faithfully followed behind him. Jion took off his shoes on the stepping stones and entered the house after Kwon Chasa. The interior structure, a blend of hanok and modern apartment styles, was unusual and intriguing.

After passing through a short corridor, a spacious living room appeared with only sofas and a table placed in it. As Kwon Chasa leaned back into a single-seater sofa and sat down, Jion sat on the sofa positioned diagonally opposite him. Kwon Chasa rubbed the bridge of his nose, then asked Jion,

“So, none of the memories were erased?”

“Yes. They were just the same as before.”

After Yu Chasa and Yoo Kanghyun disappeared beyond the hongsalmun, Kwon Chasa had asked Jion a similar question.

‘Don’t tell me you remember me?’

‘Yes.’

Kwon Chasa hollowly laughed, while Jion had straightened his shoulders with more confidence, thinking there was no need to feel guilty about something that wasn’t his fault. Judging that something had gone wrong, Kwon Chasa had said they needed to talk and stopped Jion. That was why Jion had ended up entering this unfamiliar space.

After giving the same answer to a similar question he had heard just minutes ago, Jion quietly waited for his reaction. Kwon Chasa rubbed the bridge of his nose for a long moment, then abruptly stood up and approached Jion.

As a big hand settled on top of his head, Jion slowly lifted his gaze. When he had seen that he didn’t get wet even under the rain, he had felt that this man was far removed from a human being, yet now he felt a warmth like that of a living person’s, which was strange.

Was it because he had taken a human form? From Jion’s perspective, he looked no different whether as a grim reaper or as a human, so he couldn’t make a definite judgment.

“Shall we try again?”

“Yes.”

Now that he knew the memory hadn’t been erased, he judged that it was better to try once more. Jion closed his eyes as before, then suddenly spoke up.

“Shouldn’t I drink the bitter thing first?”

“Let’s just try once more first. It seems related to the fact that your spiritual eyes are fully open, so I don’t have high expectations.”

The pessimistic tone left an unpleasant feeling, but Jion didn’t particularly want to keep his memories of the grim reaper for the rest of his life either. He obediently closed his eyes. More than anything, Jion was the one who hoped most to lose these memories and sever ties with the grim reapers.

Jion closed his eyes, and relaxed his body. Not long after, unintelligible murmurs tickled his ears, and his mind grew cold. As if a fuse had been blown, he lost consciousness for an instant, then quickly came back to his senses.

As his dazed mind gradually returned to normal, his vision also came into focus. And not only that…

“…It doesn’t seem like it’s working.”

“Ha…”

The memories that were supposed to have been erased still remained vivid in his mind. Upon hearing Jion’s words, Chasa Kwon laughed in disbelief. Jion was just as surprised.

“Is it normally this hard to erase?”

“Well. I’m not sure, I’ve never dealt with a human with spiritual eyes like you before.”

When Kwon Chasa returned to his seat after giving a halfhearted reply, he heard the sound of the door opening and footsteps hurrying towards them. Not long after, Yu Chasa appeared in the living room and was startled the moment he saw Jion.

“Huh! The living one, how are you here….”

Kwon Chasa nodded toward the empty seat with his chin to signal Yu Chasa, who had covered his mouth with one hand, to sit down. Yu Chasa trotted over and sat in the seat facing Jion.