GRR 29

Was Kwon Chasa saying that out of concern for him? Was he worried something bad might happen to him? He called him idling and all that, but could that really be the reason he wanted to go with him?

Jion placed his chin on his hand. His thoughts were leaning ever so slightly in a positive direction. But once he recalled Kwon Chasa’s cold face, he solidified his conclusion that ‘there is absolutely no way that could be true.’

What was there to worry about? He probably just wanted to finish the work quickly. On that note, Jion sighed and decided to focus on his studies for the first time.

It was when he had finished solving an entire chapter amidst moderate white noise and was just about to pick up a red colored pencil to grade it.

“Hello, student.”

“Aargh!”

Jion was startled by the pitch-black figure that appeared across from him and a low voice. Startled as well, grandfather and the customers inside the cafe stared at Jion with wide eyes. Jion waved his hand at grandfather, who had stepped back behind the counter, to signal that it was nothing.

“Did you have a nightmare while dozing off?”

“No… I was studying.”

Feeling wronged, Jion tried to protest, but his grandfather clicked his tongue in disapproval. Jion sighed before turning to look at Kwon Chasa, who was sitting nonchalantly across from him, with resentful eyes.

Jion glanced at his grandfather, then scribbled hastily on a notebook he took out of his bag. Since there were people watching, he couldn’t voice his grievances.

[Please make some noise when you go around]

“A grim reaper shouldn’t be making his presence known.”

[Then at least contact me in advance. Why do you show up like this every time?]

“Hmm… should I buy a cell phone? I heard humans contact each other using that.”

His calm voice was completely different from the voice that had lashed out at him yesterday.

I thought he would hold a grudge and be petty… but maybe not?

Jion tilted his head as he looked at the man, then decided to not say anything. He felt that if he showed any sign that he was holding a grudge over yesterday’s events, he would be the only one seen as petty.

“Is that the grandfather who told you to watch out for water ghosts?”

As Jion drew lines on the corner of his notebook with a mechanical pencil, Kwon Chasa gestured toward the counter and asked. Jion simply nodded without saying a word. Kwon Chasa looked back and forth between grandfather and Jion, then casually remarked.

“You inherited it from your grandfather.”

As Jion tilted his head, Kwon Chasa pointed with his thumb and middle finger.

“Those eyes that see ghosts.”

“…….”

“That’s unusual. People inherit it at a similar level, so why are your spiritual eyes fully open?”

How would I know that…? Jion muttered to himself words he could not bring himself to say aloud. Although Kwon Chasa would not be visible to his grandfather, he was simply on edge, fearing his grandfather might sense his presence. He felt he needed to hurry out of here to prevent his grandfather from fainting from anger.

[Please go outside. I’ll follow right out.]

After showing the handwriting in the notebook to the grim reaper, Jion slowly packed his bag. Meanwhile, Kwon Chasa got up from his seat, walked toward the entrance, and exited the cafe.

Only then did Jion feel relieved and quietly get up from his seat. He felt sorry for his grandfather, but he had no choice but to lie.

“Grandpa, I’m going to the library. Hyunsoo wants to study together.”

“Are you going straight to work after that?”

“Uh… yes.”

Jion tensed as he watched his grandfather adjust his glasses with his index finger. He was afraid his grandfather might notice his lie. However, instead of questioning Jion, grandfather rummaged through his pants pocket and took out his wallet.

“Don’t skip meals; make sure to eat properly.”

As Jion looked at the few ten-thousand-won bills his grandfather handed him, his conscience pricked and stung. Normally, he would have accepted them without hesitation, but today, he simply could not bring himself to do so.

“I still have plenty of the allowance you gave me last time left, so it’s fine. Then I’ll be going!”

Jion hurriedly left Dakyung, fearing that his grandfather might force money into his hand. He looked around and saw Kwon Chasa observing the exterior of the cafe with his hands clasped behind his back. He leisurely took a step, following Jion as he moved away from Dakyung. Only then did Jion breathe a sigh of relief and ask Kwon Chasa.

“…You appeared as a grim reaper earlier, but are you human now?”

“Yes. You will be less affected if I’m a human being. Besides, if it looks like you are just talking to yourself, wouldn’t everyone think it’s strange?”

What was this? It sounded as if he was being considerate of his situation. Although Jion thought that Kwon Chasa couldn’t possibly have acted with such good intentions, he stared at his face just in case. However, his expression was as indifferent as ever, so he couldn’t tell what he was thinking or what emotions he was feeling.

Instead, Kwon Chasa suddenly reached out his hand to Jion. When Jion tilted his head in confusion, not understanding the reason, Kwon Chasa took Jion’s hand, which had been swaying back and forth slightly, and lifted it up. The touch was warm.

“Can’t you tell just by looking? If you’re not sure, try holding hands. If it’s warm, I’m human, and if it’s cold, I’ve shed my human form.”

“Ah… I, I see….”

Why did I have to find out in such an embarrassing way? Jion cleared his throat when he felt the warmth and tickling sensation of their hands clasped together. Then, he quietly slipped out of Kwon Chasa’s grasp.

Jion walked without knowing his destination, fidgeting with the hand that had been held by Kwon Chasa. The latter was looking for a suitable spot to summon the gate. Watching Kwon Chasa, the unresolved conversation from yesterday weighed on his mind, making him feel increasingly indecisive about how to treat him.

“Um… Chasa-nim.”

Even if Kwon Chasa got angry again, wouldn’t it be better to have a proper talk? It would turn the relaxed atmosphere cold again, but Jion felt it would be best to reach a definite conclusion before the emotional rift between them widened further.

… Perhaps the emotional rift was widening only for me, and Kwon Chasa might not be thinking anything of it.

“…I think it would be fine for me to meet Park Seolhwa alone.”

“…….”

“I heard from Yu Chasa yesterday that she is the same age as me… so we probably would get along much better?”

Jion quietly raised his eyes as he felt Kwon Chasa’s gaze fixed upon him. Kwon Chasa sighed and ran his hand through his hair.

“Are you planning to go alone and idle with the deceased again?”

“No… I’m not just idling; I’m trying to comfort them. There are plenty of people for whom the carrot works better than the stick. I’m telling you, just blindly threatening them like you do doesn’t work on everyone. You saw what happened with Seoyoon-noona.”

To think Kwon Chasa would belittle his efforts as mere idleness. Despite feeling that it was unfair, Jion spoke softly. Kwon Chasa, who had been listening, scoffed.

“Let’s assume you’re right about everything. But what are you going to do if you keep wasting time and end up being too late for them to reincarnate?”

“Doesn’t the underworld even have that much mercy?”

“It’s because they have mercy that they try to reincarnate them as a human, even if they wander the living world for months.”

Jion ran out of words to refute. Kwon Chasa seemed obsessed with the ‘reincarnation’ of the deceased. He had even brought up reincarnation to Suho, threatening him that he needed to go to the underworld immediately.

Jion thought a grim reaper’s duty was simply to collect the souls of the dead and take them to the underworld, but did he really have to take responsibility for their ‘reincarnation’ as well? If that was the case, he could understand why Kwon Chasa was in such a hurry, but he still hadn’t changed his mind that persuasion was a much better method than threats.

“Student, this way.”

Instead of continuing the conversation on that topic, Kwon Chasa stopped Jion. He gestured with his chin toward a deserted path. He planned to summon the gate leading to the place where the soul was located from there. Jion sighed and followed him without a word.

As expected, Kwon Chasa summoned the gate by placing his palm on the ground, and as soon as he opened it, he extended his hand to Jion. They had just been arguing, and now he was offering his hand like nothing had happened… maybe he really didn’t hold grudges?

Jion glanced at Kwon Chasa’s expression and paused briefly before placing his hand on his palm. Yu Chasa explained that the reason they had to hold hands when going to ‘home’ was because that home stood on the boundary between the underworld and the living world. Jion wondered if it was really necessary to hold hands, considering that crossing this gate now would take them to where Park Seolhwa was, not home.

However, the doubt did not last long. This was because Kwon Chasa clicked his tongue in frustration and pulled Jion’s hand. Jion was sucked inside the gate without even a moment to catch his breath. When he closed his eyes and opened them again, a familiar scene appeared before his eyes. He was standing on the path leading to the columbarium where he had gone with his grandfather just two days ago.