Goblin: The Lonely and the Great God - Chapter 16

Me, Who Likes You

Eun Tak was worried; today was her university interview. She walked past the door the Goblin had once sent her through because she was late. The day she had run down the streets with her Goblin ‘boyfriend.’ The tense in her body started to loosen as she thought about the man. Looking at the door, Eun Tak smiled, when the Goblin suddenly walked out of the door. His appearance was always sudden but welcoming.

“You didn’t even care when I left. Why’d you come to see me now?”

The Goblin was holding something behind his back.

“Haven’t you forgotten something?”

“What? Oh, my scarf! This is all because of you! You keep getting me nervous…”

He handed the scarf he had hidden behind his back and wrapped it around her neck. 

“Don’t be scared. Don’t be nervous. Should I go with you?”

“I can go by myself, thanks.”

“Are you still upset?”

Eun Tak looked up at the Goblin angrily.

“I was going to, but you messed it all up. It’s all because of the scarf.”

“You were jealous, weren’t you?”

“So what if I was? Do you like me being jealous?”

“Yeah. It made me happy. All day.”

Her heart dropped. It did this frequently these days.

“You can go back home now. I’ll do well at the interviews.”

Eun Tak backstabbed her way to the bus station. 

“Thanks for the scarf.”

“There’s a person behind you; be careful.”

She tried to avoid the passerby, but bumped into them. Eun Tak quickly apologised and turned to the Goblin again. 

“I was going to avoid them. Really. I can see everything behind me because of your big, crystal eyes.”

Because the only thing that filled those big, crystal eyes were Eun Tak.

“Alright; just get on.”

Quickly boarding the bus, Eun Tak stood near the window and waved to the Goblin. A warm smile was on his face. When the bus door closed, a scream filled the street.

“Help me!”

The Goblin turned to the shout and saw a woman fallen over on the street. A man wearing all-black had the woman’s handbag in his hands and was escaping the scene with a bicycle. The bike rode past the Goblin with a fast speed. He saw the bike-rider's future in his mind.

The bike is speeding too fast and it bumps into a rear car full of socks. The surroundings become a mess, and the rider flies into the air. The rider bumps into a car; the car stops suddenly; a bus hits the car; the bus flips over; the passengers slowly die with blood all over. 8:37 am. The bus driver; the new-born and it’s mother; the salaryman; the students; the girl going to their university interviews… Eun Tak. Eun Tak was on that bus.

The Goblin looked at his watch. It was 8:20 am. He froze.

“Why are you… But you’re not in that vision…”

She had not been in the vision when he had seen the accident a few days ago; she was not in the vision he had just seen; but she was on that bus.

He was walking fast. More faster than ever. He went through the door and came back out through another. The Goblin needed to stop whatever was going to happen; whatever it was. He went back through the door and came out through another. In front of him was the rear car the rider was going to bump into. The Goblin bought all the socks and told the owner of the rear car to stop selling and go back home. He didn’t have time to explain.

It was 8:30. The Goblin walked through the door and came out through another when the bicycle whooshed past him. He was late. He ran back through and walked back out another. This time, the bike was heading towards him. The rear car owner had stopped selling and had left; the bike did not bump into it. The Goblin waited until the bike went past him and kicked the wheel with his foot. The sudden force to the fast-spinning wheels made the bicycle flip over. The boy fell to the ground too. Something fell out of the boy’s pockets. 

“What the hell! Wait a second; you’re the guy from the bus station aren’t you? Why do you keep following me around?!”

“What do you think?”

The Goblin made the boy who was trying to stand up, fall over again. The force of the Goblin’s powers made the boy roll over on the floor again. 

“The money that you stole is only 23 dollars, 32 dollars, and 15 dollars with 3 meal vouchers. Do you know how many people were going to die today, because of you?”

The boy quickly opened one of the wallets and sure enough, there was 23 dollars. 

“What, what the hell are you?! Are you the police?”

“The person who you just stole this purse from will need to be in a cast for 3 weeks because of a fracture. But you’ll get fired from your job if you don’t go to work for three weeks, so this person will go to work, without a cast, for three weeks. Because of you. Their salary will go to their medical fees, but the fracture that was neglected for 3 weeks will go into shock. Because of you.”

He spoke as if he could see the future; it scared the boy even more. Reaching in his pocket, he grabbed out a knife. 

“Shut the hell up! Tell me who you are if you don’t want to die!”

“Letting people like you live is not really my thing, but I don’t involve in the life and death of a human. So just live. Don’t think that your punishment is over now; you’ll be punished again when you die. But eye for an eye; tooth for a tooth; this is my way. It’s going to hurt a bit. Endure it.”

The boy’s scream filled the street. His thumb had broken. The scream was horrifying, but compared to the accident that he would have caused; this was nothing. The bus drove past him. Without an accident. Peacefully.

A whole group of grim reapers were waiting at a bus station near where an accident was going to take place. The bus stopped in front of them and a girl waved to the group of grim reapers. The grim reapers felt sorry for the girl; people who were about to die could see grim reapers sometimes. The reaper waved back at the familiar face before he realised what was happening.

“Who’s got Eun Tak’s name on their list?”

One of the grim reapers quickly counted the people on the bus.

“Why is there an extra person on the bus? I thought everyone died! Why is there one more person?”

The reaper sighed.

“The accident is not going to take place today.”

The stopped bus went off, and Eun Tak waved to the reaper again. It was 8:37.  The bus was supposed to crash now. But it didn’t.

“Why aren't the cars crashing? What’s happening?”

It was a miracle; dozens of people had just become missing souls. The reaper frowned as he looked across the street; the Goblin was standing there. Things were starting to get very tiring. 

*

The two were sitting in the grim reaper’s tea shop together. It was exactly how the reaper expected. 

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Why do you keep getting involved in the life and death of humans?”

“Eun Tak. She was going to die today.”

The grim reaper understood what the Goblin was saying, but there were rules in this world.

“And if that is her destiny, you’ve got no choice but to accept it.”

“Says who? The only thing I’ve got no choice in, is my death. Do you really want to see me getting involved in the life and death of every human in the world? I could do anything for that girl.”

He had come to another one’s workplace and was making a nuisance there too. The Goblin didn’t even know how he felt; if he had known that Eun Tak was riding that bus, he would have tried to stop that accident too. The reaper cared for Eun Tak too. 

“I didn’t know she was on that bus. Eun Tak is a missing soul. Her name doesn’t get written down on our list.”

“Have you not sent up the papers yet?”

“Don’t be mistaken; I just wasn’t bothered enough to write up 19-years-worth of paperwork. That’s all.”

The Goblin’s anger ceased as he heard the grim reaper’s truth behind his lies. 

“This accident was really strange. I foresaw the accident a few days ago but Eun Tak wasn’t in that vision. And also, I saw the girl’s future 10 years later. But this accident was one that would have killed her for sure…”

“It’s because missing souls don’t have a future you can foresee. No one knows what Eun Tak will be doing next. She was just a slight change in the accident.”

The grim reaper had been explaining to the Goblin calmly, when he suddenly shouted.

“Because you’re going to save her!”

The Goblin nodded, meekly.

“Humans are weak. If the strength of someone's death is really strong, other people who are not destined to die at that time, get pulled into the death with that person. But this time it was the other way round. A missing soul who has a Goblin boyfriend, made dozens of new missing souls, and also made a poor grim reaper have to work overtime.”

That was the reason he was so angry. Eun Tak was already enough trouble for him, but now the grim reaper had more missing souls he had to try to handle. The dozens of miracles were going to make him terribly tired over the next few days. The grim reaper’s sad face made the Goblin sorry, so he laughed apologetically and left.

A car was waiting in front of the university.

“Did you come to pick me up?”

“I came to digest my food.”

Eun Tak and the Goblin were driving back home. She smiled.

“I know, I know. It’s not like you came to pick me up for my comfort. But what’s with all those socks?”

There were boxes full of socks in the backseat. 

“The twenties and thirties of someone I saved today.”

“Oh. Are you going to save my twenties and thirties by starting a sock business? Because I asked why you were always at home?”

Her thoughts were not something he could follow. The Goblin laughed. 

“Do you want to do it with me?”

It would be nice if they could just live selling socks together. It would have been nicer if they could keep growing old together like that, but he couldn’t grow old. The Goblin would just have to be Eun Tak’s son, and then her grandson. It was a stupid imagination but the Goblin hoped that the stupid imagination would come one day.

“Okay, fine. I’ve finished my interviews now and I’ve got a lot of free time in my hands so I’ll take care of you now.”

“Take care of what?”

*

He regretted not telling Eun Tak that he didn’t want her to take care of him. Sighs just kept escaping him as he saw the girl lifting weights in the terrace. Apparently, she needed more arm strength if she was going to pull out the sword.

“Take it easy.”

Without even being able to tell the girl that he had no intention of pulling out the sword, the Goblin sighed again. A butterfly flew into the terrace. A butterfly in winter; it probably wasn’t a normal one. 

“Eun Tak, can you leave the room for a moment? I have someone I need to talk to.”

She looked around, but saw no one; who was he planning on talking to? But the Goblin shooed her away, and she headed towards the lounge. 

As soon as Eun Tak left, the Goblin tried to catch the butterfly, but it wouldn’t come into his hands. The gods were always so close, but so far. 

“Come here. Come down here for a moment. Let’s just have a talk. Don’t you think I’ve been punished enough? I’m not even asking for much; I’m only trying to reward myself a bit; do you hate it that much? That future, you showed that to me on purpose didn’t you? So I wouldn’t be able to do anything. But I’m never going to make that choice. I’m not going to. Even if I die.”

The butterfly flapped its wings peacefully. 

“Come here! Let’s talk face to face!”

Eun Tak, who had come back to see what was going on, stared at the Goblin who was talking to air. Was he still ill? Was he crazy? The Goblin walked out of the terrace towards her.

“I didn’t hear you. Really.”

The Goblin sighed again. 

“I really don’t like me, who likes you.”

The Goblin kept confessing.

“I couldn’t be more stupider.”

Eun Tak picked up her dropped heart.

“What are you talking about? Are you talking to me?”

“Never mind if you didn’t hear me.”

“But I did.”

“Good.”

It wasn’t only Eun Tak who liked him. He liked her back too. 

    (This is a translated version of "Goblin: The Lonely and the Great God." Written by Eun Sook Kim and Soo Yeon Kim.)