Decisions
The first snow hadn’t come yet. That was the only reason she could keep postponing the sword-pulling thing. Eun Tak still needed the Goblin to have another reason he had to keep her there; another reason to let her stay in the house.
The shop was empty again, and Eun Tak was mopping the chicken shop floor. Her pretty manager, Sunny, was eating popcorn at the window seat, glaring at her phone. The call she was waiting for had no intention of coming.
“Um, can I ask you a question?”
Sunny looked up at Eun Tak’s voice. Eun Tak's only friend was the library ghost and she needed someone to get advice from.
“What do you think about marrying early?”
“How old’s the boy? 19? 20?”
“... He’s a bit older than that.”
“Well how old could old be… What’s he like?”
“Um… He always keeps music, art, and books by his side. He used to be a civil worker.”
“Not those kinds of stuff. What’s he like to you? Does he treat you nicely?”
Sunny had only asked an obvious question, but Eun Tak felt like she had fallen over a huge rock.
“At least for now… He needs me.”
“Then what about you? Do you like him?”
“N, no.”
“Then what about that guy? Does he like you?”
“No…”
“Why is this marriage happening? You both don’t even want to.”
Eun Tak became ashamed of herself. They had no reason or excuse to get married and if she unravelled the string of destiny between them, they were nothing. Having just realised, Eun Tak sighed. The man did not like her; from the beginning till now, he did not like her. He was just a soft-hearted god.
‘If that is needed, I will. I love you.’
The cold voice haunted her again. She was on the way home from the chicken shop, but her mood wasn’t getting any better.
“I don’t need that kind of love; you better not ask for it either. I’m never going to make you pretty.”
Eun Tak muttered as she passed the bookstore.
Inside the bookstore, the Goblin saw Eun Tak and ran towards the door. He needed to get home before her.
He couldn’t explain why he had been waiting for the girl, but he was. If he had to make up an excuse, it was because he was worried. In case her classmates talked behind her back to her again, in case another crew of loan sharks came and kidnapped her again. The Goblin was that girl’s guardian angel; at least until the end of this life.
After rushing home, the Goblin sat on the sofa, as if he was sitting there and reading this whole time, when Eun Tak came inside the house. She greeted him with a small voice and then walked past him
He crossed his legs over coolly, but Eun Tak ignored him and walked towards the grim reaper. The sudden coldness made the Goblin flustered. He couldn’t say much, so he just watched Eun Tak and the grim reaper being friendly with each other.
The grim reaper was folding the laundry so Eun Tak sat down and helped him. The Goblin kept walking around the two, trying to catch either’s attention, but they both ignored him. Eun Tak was ignoring him purposely even though she knew that the Goblin hadn’t done anything wrong. She was just upset. No. That was something wrong. He had made her upset. He had done something very wrong.
The grim reaper looked at the Goblin who was trying to get their attention and looked at Eun Tak, ignoring him completely. Were they fighting over the 5000 dollars again? The grim reaper couldn’t handle the angry atmosphere so he looked at Eun Tak.
“I saw that scarf when you were nine. It’s the same scarf, isn’t it?”
“Oh, you’re right. It’s the same one. It’s my mother’s. My mum always thought that the reason I saw ghosts was because of this mark, so she always made me wrap this around my neck. Truthfully, it didn’t help at all, but it’s sort of becoming a habit… Now it just seems like my mom.”
The grim reaper had asked the question to lighten the mood, but the answer had been so sad, the grim reaper was lost for words. So was the Goblin who had heard the story too.
“Pay her.”
“Why do you keep telling me to date her?"
Eun Tak widened her eyes in surprise. The Goblin had misheard again.
“And you! Why do you have so many sad stories? I’m too scared to ask you anything anymore!”
The Goblin tried to hide his embarrassment by shouting at Eun Tak, but the girl pretended she couldn’t hear anything and asked the grim reaper if he had chosen a name yet.
As soon as Eun Tak turned her attention to the grim reaper again, the Goblin tried to get it back. He started talking about university and radio production. About how she wouldn’t be able to get into university at this rate, that she wouldn’t be able to be a radio producer.
Eun Tak bit her lip.
“If you haven’t chosen a name yet, what do you think of Blade? Y’know, Blade?”
“What? Blade? I was only treating you nicely just because you could see the sword! Stop acting up!”
“My gosh. Whose fault is it that I got this mark and whose fault is it that I can see ghosts?!”
Eun Tak stopped folding the towels and stood up angrily. She had tried to get over her sorrow by not seeing him for a while, but the Goblin kept trying to make it worse. Eun Tak glared at him.
It wasn’t only Eun Tak who was upset, the Goblin was too. He had no idea why Eun Tak had suddenly become so angry, and he had no way to find out. Was it really because of the 5000 dollars? He was thinking things that would have made Eun Tak angrier if she had heard.
The Goblin walked over to the girl and swished her hair away. Eun Tak froze at the sudden distance.
“What about this mark? It’s pretty.”
“Did you… Did you just hit me? Wow… I just figured out the reason why something like a sword was stuck through your chest. I can understand why someone stuck a sword through you. There's always a reason behind murder.”
"How could you talk about someone’s pain so sharply? Are you psycho?”
“What, did you think you weren’t like that at first? You’re not the Goblin’s Bride, live in the present, not the rumours… You talked very sharply too! Did you think you were very blunt?”
“Everything I said was for you! So you could live a better life”
The grim reaper was looking at the two, not knowing what to do, but their argument just kept getting louder. Eun Tak was planning to say everything she hadn’t managed before; she had a lot to say to him.
“If you want me to live a better life, give me a boyfriend! Part-time, aunt’s family, and boyfriend! You didn’t make that come true! What kind of guardian angel is this? You didn’t make my boyfriend come true!”
“Your boyfriend is right here!”
“Where? I can’t see him! Where?”
“Here! In front of you! Me!”
Silence followed. The glaring eyes found each other but both turned away quickly. The grim reaper’s white face creased.
Fast walking upstairs, Eun Tak slammed the bedroom door behind her. She had been angry just a moment ago, but suddenly she couldn’t think about anything at all. Her heart was beating fast.
“He must be insane… What? Boyfriend? Who said you could be my boyfriend? Do you like me? What’s his problem?"
Blood flowed to her cheeks. It was the end of autumn - the start of winter - but she was hot. Eun Tak fanned herself while trying to cool herself down.
The Goblin was also very flustered. He had misspoken for the first time in 900 years; he was a husband not a boyfriend. Was he supposed to go to her and correct himself?
"This is terrible."
He had clearly stated a negative comment, but a smile spread on his lips.
The next day, the two ran into each other in the lounge. Eun Tak quickly walked towards the fridge for water; she wanted to avoid this sticky situation.
"Eun Tak," the Goblin called.
She turned around and saw the person who had called her, but that man was staring out into some other place, as if he hadn't spoken at all.
"Did you call me?"
"It's awkward."
The Goblin finally managed to say something truthful, and Eun Tak decided to go along with it,
"Me too. Then should I naturally tell you that I am hungry?"
"Could you? Then I'll naturally ask you if you want beef."
Eun Tak nodded enthusiastically.
"I'll quickly grab my coat; you should grab yours too."
She ran off, up the stairs, smiling widely. The Goblin teleported, got his coat, and teleported back in a blink of an eye.
"I'm done!"
As soon as she followed the Goblin out through the front doors, they came into a restaurant. It was truly an incredible power every time she experienced it. They had come overseas again. It was already the third time.
"We're going to become regular guests at this rate," Eun Tak said happily. They were sitting in the same spot as before.
The waiter came and served the menus. The Goblin had visited frequently, so most of the workers there knew him. The waiter's hand skimmed past the Goblin's.
His vision whirled.
It was the same place. The middle table in the restaurant. Eun Tak was sitting there, she looked the same but different. Her clothes were different. She was wearing a cream coat not the blue one she had worn a moment before.
Her hair was cut short and neatly. Her phone rang so she picked it up with a happy smile. The Goblin stared at her with a blank face.
“That’s what I mean. It’s not like I’ve ever come abroad before.”
A voice came through the phone.
“So why would you go abroad in your 9’s? When I was 29, I didn’t even go out to the supermarket.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. No one called me.”
Her neck showed under her short hair. It was her first time abroad, and her neck showed no traces of green.
This girl wasn’t the 19-year-old Eun Tak he knew. This lady was the 29-year-old Eun Tak.
“I travelled quite smoothly if you think about it. I didn’t Wander around much and I didn't even miss a meal. I’m going to eat a big piece of steak now. To tell you the truth, I’m at a beautiful restaurant with a man.”
“What will you do with a beautiful restaurant? You should have a beautiful man instead. I’m tired. Goodbye.”
The person Eun Tak had been calling was Sunny. Eun Tak laughed; the girl looked very happy. After ending the call, she turned her head towards a person who was walking towards her.
“Over here, mister.”
Eun Tak smiled very brightly.
The Goblin couldn’t find any traces of him in her smile. 10 years later in Eun Tak’s world, he was not there. He had been erased from her memory. Completely.
The present vision came back.
When the future had shown itself to him, only a moment had passed in the present world. Eun Tak was staring at the menu with the most serious face in the world.
‘You are still bright at 29. But I’m not there with you. My life will finish in the end. After my death, after all that time, after me, you will sit there without a single memory of me. This is how your life would become perfectly complete.”
The times he had spent with Eun Tak passed through his mind like a panorama. The buckwheat flowers, the sudden confession, the zebra crossing, the girl who always ran towards him with a smile.
‘I have to disappear. That is the decision I have to make for your pretty smile. Ending this life.’
All the excuses he had saved up, disappeared and turned into a blank piece of paper.
“So, I’ve made that decision.”
His lonely mutterings made Eun Tak look up from her menu. His face contained sorrow again.
1 Comments
The Goblin sees Eun Tak's future in chapter 10! Comment and give me feedback!
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