GRR 1

“Are you going to stay here?”

A shadow crouched inside a deserted, eerily quiet alley spoke in a gentle voice. It was a dark space where not even a ray of light could penetrate, as the streetlights were broken.

“It must be scary alone….”

Right near that streetlamp, Jion was conversing with a dim figure invisible to others. It was closer to one-sided coaxing than a conversation, since the other person remained silent.

“Hmm… what should I do….”

Jion rubbed his chin. He sighed, then quickly looked around. There were no wandering souls nearby, it was highly likely that the family of the child who was wary of him was still alive. And this child must be a soul who had failed to leave the mortal world in time.

Whenever Jion faced situations like this, he would burn with a sense of responsibility that no one had ever given him. He wasn’t a grim reaper, yet he lived as if it were his duty to comfort souls who couldn’t leave this world and help them move on to the afterlife.

Souls bound by resentment were beyond what he could handle, but for those who weren’t, he tried to help them no matter what. Especially when they seemed to have a story, like the young child sitting in front of him now.

“Haa… I need to know why so I can help you…….”

Jion let out another sigh and muttered to himself. His gaze, which had been wandering aimlessly through the air, landed on the child’s soul crouched beneath the streetlight.

He looked like he was about four or five years old. Jion wondered how he passed away. Even though it was September, the weather still felt like summer, yet the child wore a long, thick padded jacket that covered his ankles… it felt like he was going to get heatstroke at this rate.

Jion stared at the child, then let out a hollow laugh. He remembered that a soul wouldn’t feel heat.

What am I even worrying about?

Jion muttered self-deprecatingly and knelt down opposite the child again. The child had his head bowed, showing Jion only the back of his head. The hair, matted with thick blood, looked pitiful.

Jion took a deep breath to steel himself. He stretched out his bent knees once, then crouched down again. Making the child let his guard down was the priority.

“What’s your name?”

“……”

“Hyung is Jion. Chae Jion.”

When he spoke again, the child slowly raised his gaze. At first, he had kept his head down the whole time, but now there was finally a meaningful response. Jion smiled brightly and looked at him. Perhaps reassured by that gentle smile, the child’s lips began to move. Jion perked up his ears.

“Jun…ung….”

“Jung?”

“Jung… Su… ho….”

A choked voice slowly flowed from the child’s mouth. Jion nodded vigorously and took a step closer with a duck walk. He could not miss this opportunity now that a response had come. Since many young children among the souls who could not go to the afterlife were deeply intertwined with their mothers, Jion decided to ask Suho about his mother first.

“Suho, then can you tell me your mom’s name too?”

“Uh, mom… mom….”

As soon as he went straight to the point, Suho’s lips trembled and he suddenly began to cry. Ah, that was a mistake. Startled, Jion waved his hands quickly and changed the subject.

“N-no, Suho, wait a second. Hyung will just ask one more thing. Can you answer just this? Have you been here for a long time? Hyung wants to help you.”

Suho pursed his lips at Jion’s words. Then he began to wiggle his stiff fingers.

One, two, three, four….

He counted by folding them one by one, but when he ran out of fingers, he clenched both fists tightly and looked at Jion. In that moment, Jion closed his eyes briefly and focused on feeling the energy of the soul.

Suho carried a bit of the energy of this world. Since he was wearing a padded jacket, he must have died in winter. And judging by the severe injury on his head, it seemed like he had suffered a tragic accident.

Jion took a breath, then asked again.

“Are… are you here because you want to see your mom?”

Suho wiped away the tears filling his eyes with the back of his hand and nodded. Seeing that his guess was somewhat correct, Jion felt a little relieved. Since Suho still had the energy of the mortal world, he could have gone to see his mother directly, yet he stayed here, which meant there was likely some reason he couldn’t.

Maybe he was too scared to leave, or he couldn’t remember his home.

“Hmm… Suho, do you remember your mom’s phone number? Or your home address?”

“……”

“Uh… it’s okay if you don’t know, just don’t cry… right, it’s okay if you can’t remember. It’s okay, Suho. Hyung is sorry. This is my fault, so stop crying, okay?”

Seeing Suho about to cry again, Jion panicked and rambled, then let out a hollow laugh. Every time he mentioned the word “mom”, Suho burst into tears like a broken dam, the conversation made absolutely no progress.

Jion quietly waited for Suho to calm down. To help him, he needed information about his mother, he had to get answers. Thinking about what to do, Jion began to explain softly.

“Hyung wants to help you meet your mom… but I don’t know her name or her face, so that’s why I’m asking.”

“……”

“You don’t remember your mom’s name well either?”

Jion asked as he looked over the blood clumped hair. With an injury like that, it made sense if his memory was hazy. If there was this little information, it would be hard to find her….

Just as Jion sighed and looked at Suho with pity…

“Lee… lee… Yu….”

“Hm? Yu, what?”

“Yu… jeo…ng….”

“Lee Yujeong?”

“Mm….”

Lee Yujeong… Lee Yujeong….

Jion rolled the name around in his mouth, then smiled. At least he had gotten a name. It would be even better if he knew the address or phone number, but he couldn’t push a child who already looked so anxious.

Hoping the child’s family lived nearby, Jion tapped his increasingly sore knees with his fists. If he stayed any longer, his grandfather would scold him again, it was better to reassure Suho and come back tomorrow.

“Suho, are you going to keep staying here? You can’t go somewhere else?”

“Mmm….”

“Hmm… then you have to stay right here and not go anywhere else. Hyung will try hard to find your mom.”

“…I can see Mom?”

“Yes. Hyung will make sure you can meet her. But I need your help too… I’ll come again tomorrow, so if you remember anything, tell me then. Stop crying now, okay?”

Suho’s face brightened. Jion looked at him fondly and held out his pinky finger.

“But after you meet your mom, you have to follow the man in black clothes, okay? Promise.”

Jion smiled softly as Suho’s stiff pinky finger passed right through his hand without any feeling. Right now, all he had were the names of the child and his mother, but since he had already hooked pinkies, he had to find the mother no matter what.

“Grandpa… I’m sorry for being an unfilial grandson.”

He could almost hear his grandfather’s scolding him not to make promises carelessly with the dead, but Jion dismissed it and muttered to himself.

This is bad. Grandpa just bought a new pipe recently. If he hits me with that… it’s going to hurt a lot…

***

“Haa, huff….”

The moment Jion opened the back door and stepped into the classroom, the school bell rang. He ignored the attention directed at him and quickly took his seat.

Fourth row by the window. It was a decent spot to avoid the teachers’ eyes, and his closest friend in class, Oh Hyunsoo, sat right in front of him, which made it a good place to chat.

“Chae Jion, overslept again?”

“Haa, ah, I’m out of breath… my heart feels like it’s going to burst, ha….”

Jion collapsed into his chair, then dropped onto his desk while groaning. Oh Hyunsoo clicked his tongue as he looked at him, then grinned mischievously and started tugging at Jion’s messy hair. Too exhausted to resist, Jion muttered weakly.

“Hyunsoo… what’s for lunch today? I’m starving.”

“You didn’t eat breakfast?”

“I ran all the way from home, so I digested everything. Ah, I ate and ran right away, my side hurts.”

He had barely eaten because he overslept, and then sprinted so he wouldn’t be late, he was already hungry. Oh Hyunsoo chuckled and shook his head.

Just then, as Jion was catching his breath, the front door burst open loudly. Startled, he sat upright.

At that exact moment, his eyes met the homeroom teacher’s who had just stepped inside.