GRR 14

“Jion-ah!”

When he reached the area near Building 103, Yoo Kanghyun, who had been pacing in circles there, spotted Jion first and raised his hand. Jion checked his surroundings and confirmed that no one was there before walking closer to him.

“It’s far from your place, and you even had to come out in the rain. That must have been tough.”

“I’m fine. Oh, are your parents at home? They’re not still at the shop, right?”

“They’re at home. They only got inside not long ago.”

Yoo Kanghyun pointed toward a nearby entrance to indicate where he needed to go. Before moving, Jion took a deep breath. Since he had helped many souls over time and had often been treated like a crazy person, taking a deep breath in moments like this had become a habit to calm his nerves.

“Hyung, shall we go?”

“…Yeah.”

Jion, having prepared himself mentally, asked Yoo Kanghyun. When he noticed that Yoo Kanghyun looked somewhat downcast, Jion smiled even more brightly on purpose and playfully urged him to hurry up and go. After folding his umbrella and entering, Jion continued speaking softly while facing Yoo Kanghyun before climbing the stairs.

“Hyung, in exchange for granting your favor, you have to promise me one thing.”

“A promise? What kind of promise?”

“You probably already made up your mind when you came to find me… but after I deliver the letter to your family, you have to let go of all your attachments here and go to the underworld. It’s not good for a soul to stay in the living world for too long.”

“So what Bomi-noona said was true? That if I stay here, I’ll end up in hell.”

At the mention of hell, Jion couldn’t bring himself to nod and instead gave an awkward smile. A righteous person like Yoo Kanghyun likely wouldn’t end up in hell even if he wandered the living world for a long time. However, Jion had no way of knowing what he might experience in the underworld, so he couldn’t give a definite answer.

“Alright, I promise.”

Yoo Kanghyun first extended his pinky toward Jion. Reassured by his calm attitude, Jion ‘hooked’ his own pinky with his. Once their fingers were ‘intertwined,’ even a soul couldn’t be completely freed from a promise made with a living person.

Jion climbed the stairs with a slightly lighter heart. Since the family lived on the second floor, he quickly arrived in front of the entrance. After exchanging a glance with Yoo Kanghyun, Jion pressed the doorbell.

“…Who is it?”

After a brief silence, a man’s exhausted voice came from beyond the door. It probably was Yoo Kanghyun’s father. Jion moistened his lips with the tip of his tongue and swallowed dryly. As Yoo Kanghyun had advised in advance, he planned to introduce himself as his junior.

“Hello, I’m… Kanghyun-hyung’s high school junior.”

“……”

“I’m sorry for dropping by so suddenly. I have something to deliver to your family.”

Yoo Kanghyun, who had been active in a volunteer club during high school, had often brought close juniors to his home, so he had said that his parents wouldn’t find it strange to hear that. The only problem was that he had already passed away quite some time ago, but fortunately, Yoo Kanghyun’s prediction proved correct. The front door opened.

“Our Kanghyun… high school junior?”

“Yes, hello. My name is Chae Jion.”

The person who appeared through the crack in the door was a middle-aged man who resembled Yoo Kanghyun. His voice trembled slightly as he asked whether Jion was a junior. Jion greeted him as energetically and politely as possible, then smiled. A middle-aged woman, likely Yoo Kanghyun’s mother, walked toward the entrance after hearing the sound a bit late.

“…Please come in for now.”

“Ah, no, it’s alright. I need to get going to my academy soon. I just stopped by briefly to deliver this.”

The longer the conversation continued, the higher the chance his lie would be exposed. Jion quickly took out an envelope from his bag and respectfully handed it to him. Inside the envelope was a letter that Jion had put his heart into writing.

Yoo Kanghyun’s father took the envelope Jion offered with trembling hands. Jion used the moment to glance at Yoo Kanghyun standing beside him. Up until he had hooked pinkies with Jion, he had worn a smile, but now he was biting his lip, as if he were trying to hold back the emotions welling up inside him.

Upon seeing the letter, they would be confused. It was not a will left by their son during his lifetime, but a letter filled with thoughts recalled while looking after his family after his death, and a wish that they would no longer grieve.

That was why Jion had to leave before he ended up needing to explain things in detail. After exchanging a glance with Yoo Kanghyun, Jion bowed toward his father.

“…Then I’ll be going.”

Fearing that he might be stopped, Jion hurried down the stairs. Fortunately, no one followed him. Standing on the first floor, he held his breath, and then heard the rusty hinges creak as the door closed softly without much noise.

Only then did Jion feel relieved, so he slumped down on the bottom step of the stairs and let out the sigh he had been holding back. Yoo Kanghyun also carefully knelt down beside him. Jion looked at his toes and then asked softly.

“Hyung, are you sure you don’t want to see your parents anymore?”

“Yeah, it’s fine. If I see them any more, I think I’ll end up not wanting to leave, so I’ll hold back.”

When Jion looked up to meet his face, disappointment, relief, and sadness were all mixed together in a mess. Jion followed Yoo Kanghyun, who had gotten up before him and was heading outside. In the meantime, the sky had grown a little darker, and the rain was still falling.

Jion opened his umbrella and tilted it toward Yoo Kanghyun. Even though a ghost wouldn’t get wet in the rain and didn’t need an umbrella, he didn’t want rain pouring directly over him. Seeing the transparent umbrella placed above his head, Yoo Kanghyun seemed to understand Jion’s feelings and chuckled.

“After they read the letter, they’ll understand everything… and they won’t be as sad anymore, right?”

Jion and Yoo Kanghyun, standing side by side under an umbrella, walked slowly. Upon hearing his question, Jion fell into thought, immersed in the sound of the rain.

What was written in the letter Jion transcribed Yoo Kanghyun’s words exactly. He said that even if he went back to that time, he would have made the same choice, and that he was glad he could save anyone. He added that it pained him that it became a lifelong, incurable wound for the family, and that although he knew he was being selfish, he still hoped they wouldn’t be too sad.

Jion couldn’t be certain that his family would fully understand Yoo Kanghyun’s wishes. However, Jion nodded, hoping that he could leave with at least a little peace of mind. His blackened face, covered in soot, seemed to have brightened up.

“Haa… I finally feel relieved. I really wanted to tell my family. Thank you so much, Jion-ah.”

“I just wrote down whatever hyung told me, that’s all.”

Jion answered with a deliberately playful tone and smiled brightly. He still felt suffocated, and he felt bitter when he thought of Yoo Kanghyun’s parents, whose faces were still filled with worry. However, since Yoo Kanghyun was trying to let go of all his emotions and regrets, he knew he shouldn’t let it show.

Jion took a deep breath to calm himself down. He thought of what he would tell him. He had granted his wish and made a promise with Yoo Kanghyun, so now he had to let him know in advance what was about to happen. Once they crossed the apartment complex, which was unusually silent perhaps because of the rain, Jion slowly opened his mouth.

“Hyung, when a grim reaper came to take you before, they called your name, right?”

“Yes. But nothing happened. They panicked for a bit, then just left. They came a few more times after that, but it was always the same.”

“That was probably because you still had strong attachments to the living world due to worrying about your family. But now you’ve sorted out your feelings, and you’ve also made a promise with me… so if a grim reaper comes again within the next few days, you should be able to go to the underworld.”

“I see… Jion-ah, how do you know things like this so well?”

The moment he heard that question, filled, Jion’s skin crawled. He looked up at the sky through the transparent plastic of the umbrella and saw a familiar face.

“Eh? Living one…?”

Kwon Chasa, who had “erased” Jion’s memory, and Yu Chasa, who had once said he would properly take care of him on the way to the underworld, were looking down at him from midair. Yu Chasa, holding a jeokpaeji edged with a glowing white border, exclaimed in surprise as he looked at Jion. As Jion hesitated and stopped, Yoo Kanghyun pressed himself closer to Jion, and whispered.

“Wow… Jion-ah, they came right away, not even a few days later. How did they arrive this fast?”

Jion kept his eyes fixed on Kwon Chasa alone. Seeing that he was holding the buwol today, which hadn’t been there when he had come to the convenience store looking for him, it must be an object used only to escort the deceased to the afterlife. The buwol, which had flaunted the chill of a blade with its whole body even at night, was emitting a menacing light even now that the day was overcast.