Goblin: The Lonely and the Great God - Chapter 17

Prayer

Colourful light bulbs were hanging everywhere on the streets; it was beginning to feel like Christmas. The grim reaper was in a good mood; he was walking with Sunny. 

The man who made Sunny smile always disappeared abruptly and appeared suddenly. But this time, it was the grim reaper who had called first.

“I was really surprised. Isn’t this your first time calling me first? And 10 missed calls, at that.”

“I was working overtime when I thought of something to tell you.”

“It must be quite important.”

“Yes, it is. Religion. Atheism.”

Sunny stopped walking in shock, She blinked up at the man. His eyes were as clear and pretty as ever; what was going inside this man’s head? This man had gotten an answer ready for the question she had just asked without much thought. 

“Did you call me 10 times to tell me this?”

“I thought I needed to tell you this quickly.”

“Why are you so cute?”

Sunny laughed in astonishment. 

The grim reaper stood in astonishment too. It was his first time hearing someone call him cute. 

“Am I cute?”

“Did you not know? Didn’t any other girls tell you this?”

“I don’t have any other girls…”

Sunny jumped.

“No! Don’t! Don’t have any other girls. That’s exactly good. No other girls. Alright?”

The grim reaper smiled and nodded quickly. The smile on Sunny’s face came back; why was this man so cute?

“Are you a player? Never mind, just answer my question truthfully. I’ll tell you something in return.”

“Tell me what?”

“My real name is Sun. Sun Kim. It’s the name my parents bought off a fortune teller. The fortune teller said that Sun had to be my name, but I like Sunny way better. It makes me… Shine.”

In the grim reaper’s eyes, Sunny was always shining. Like her name.

“I really don’t like that name. It sounds all sad and stuff…”

He was about to say that Sun was a pretty name too, but Sunny opened her mouth first.

“What’s your real name? I know Woo Bin Kim isn’t your real name. I don’t mind if it is really old or if it doesn’t suit you. Can’t you tell me?”

The look in her eyes showed the grim reaper that she really wanted to know his name. The grim reaper really wanted to tell her his real name, but what could he do; he didn’t know it either. He looked at Sunny with his mouth shut tightly, when a sharp pain filled his heart; his hand tried to grab the pain. Sunny was asking if he was alright, but this pain was first to him as well. He couldn’t answer. Something kept stabbing at his heart, and the pain was suffocating him. The grim reaper didn’t want Sunny to see him in pain; he looked at Sunny in the eyes. 

“We didn’t meet today. I’m sorry I couldn’t take you home. Turn around and go back home.”

Today’s Sunny would only be a memory of the grim reaper’s now. He fell to the ground in agony; Sunny walked further away.

Back home, the grim reaper looked at the scroll in the Goblin’s room again. The pain in his heart seemed to be looking for this girl.

“Something's wrong and I think it’s because of you…”

He looked at it again and again, but he couldn’t remember anything. Walking back downstairs, he met Eun Tak. She had been looking for him. Eun Tak had a question for him. 

“What are you so curious about?”

The atmosphere was a bit cold; Eun Tak didn’t know where to start.

“It’s just… You know the sword in the Goblin’s chest? What will happen if I pull out that sword? He kept saying he needed to go somewhere, but where is that place?”

The grim reaper stared at her with sad eyes.

Before it became the coldest part of winter, the Goblin always had a memorial for the people who had died with him. HIs family, his servants, and his subordinates. 

Lighting the lights for the Goblin every year was also one of the things the Yoo family did for him. With a brush in hand, the Goblin slowly wrote the people’s names down.

金善

Sun Kim. His dead sister. Shin’s bit lip was a reminder to himself that today was not a day for crying. He kept writing the names down, but it was the last name he wrote down that made a tear fall down his cheek.

王黎

Yeo Wang. Every flick of his brush was filled with anger and sadness.

The people he had once loved; the lanterns flew into the dark, night sky. 

The way back home was always sad. Hundreds of years had passed, but he was still in pain. While walking, seeing the bookstore Eun Tak and he always walked past, he remembered the girl again. 

He wanted to get home quickly; to the place where Eun Tak was. With a solemn face, he walked into the book store. He had realised his feelings now; the choice had been made before he had even made it. From the moment their eyes met, the Goblin had decided to choose Eun Tak. To like her. 

‘My life and death, I like you. So I ask the heavens for their permission with this secret of mine; let her not know for another day, another hundred years.’

His diary was not a will anymore. It wasn’t a wish to die anymore. It was just a memo that he lived that day again. 

With a small smile, the Goblin was about to walk back out the bookstore again, when he heard the click clacking of heels. The bookshelves floated into the air and replaced themselves. The Goblin turned around, but a bookshelf was blocking his way. He was trapped.

A long-haired woman walked into the room. It was Samsin.

“You probably know who I am already.”

Samsin took out one of the books from the shelves.

“If you’re not going to buy it, just place it back in. The shop owner is a bit strict.”

“I have something to tell you. Do you have time?”

“Tell me quickly. I don’t really want to meet any types of gods today.”

Her eyes filled with worry for a moment.

“Pull out that sword quickly. Pull it out and go back to nothing.”

The Goblin’s face hardened; he really didn’t like gods. 

“You come out of nowhere and tell me to die… I hope you have a good reason.”

“You’ve lived enough; it’s been over 900 years. But that girl hasn’t. That girl has a life to live; I was really happy when I created her. Make your decision.”

“That’s quite ironic. Aren’t I one of the children you created too? Am I not precious to you? Anyway, I’ve got no idea what decision you’re talking about.”

Samsin looked at the Goblin with more worry; what he said was right, to her eyes, he was nothing more than a child. 

“That’s why I’m telling you this. For the child I wished would be happy. This is what you will want.”

“What do I want?”

“You want that girl to live. If you don’t go back to nothing, Eun Tak will die.”

‘Eun Tak will die.’

The Goblin just stared at the Samsin in confusement. Eun Tak had already been on the verge of death before. 

For the first time, he had felt the want to live. Live with that girl. He had been punished for nearly a thousand years; the time he wanted was less than a tenth of that. But now even that had become impossible. Someone’s death would become someone’s life.

“That girl was born with the destiny of pulling out your sword. No actually, you gave her that destiny. If a tool doesn’t do what it is meant to do, the reason for its existence disappears. There’s no reason for that tool to exist anymore. If that girl doesn’t pull out your sword, death is going to keep finding her. I assume that it has already happened a few times.”

The memories played in his mind. The loan sharks and the bus accident. If it hadn’t been for him, she would probably already have died.

“It’s going to happen more often now; more often and more seriously. You nearly killed her too. With your own hands.”

 He had pushed away the girl trying to pull out his sword. The Goblin looked at Samsin with bloodshot eyes.

The bookshelves fell back to the ground, and Samsin had vanished, but the Goblin’s hands were shaking. A tear fell from his eyes.

‘My life and death, I like you. So I ask the heavens for their permission with this secret of mine; let her not know for another day, another hundred years.’

He had thought that before.

‘And after living a hundred more years. On that day. On that normal day. I  ask the heavens for their permission to confess my first love.’

But he had been rejected. The feeling of being rejected was miserable. 

Tears fell down Eun Tak’s cheeks. Unbelievable words were coming out of the grim reaper’s mouth. They were so unbelievable things, she couldn’t believe it, but it was the only thing that made sense. The girl who had been happy that she was the Goblin’s bride, that girl was the stupidest being in existence. 

“When the sword gets pulled out, the Goblin will die. If I pull out that sword, the Goblin will disappear from the world. Without a trace.”

That was all she was. A tool to end the Goblin’s eternal life. Because that was her destiny. He was like this till the end. He was a selfish, lying Goblin. Eun Tak hated it, and hated it more. She hated him and herself. 

After wiping her tears, Eun Tak walked back to her room and found her bag. She started to pack everything she could see. She needed to leave this place; anywhere but here. 

“This wasn’t my house either. I don’t think I’ll ever have a house in this house.”

The sadness overwhelmed her, the tears were suffocating her. It was a lonely life. She had no one. She just had to get used to the loneliness again.

All she had to do was get used to it; that was all she had to do, but when she went to find Sunny, tears started to fall again. This part-time job was also one of the places she had felt welcome. Dark clouds started to fill the sky, and rain fell/ 

Sunny was upset; Eun Tak had suddenly come to find her at night, and was telling her that she quit. Knowing that Eun Tak was a girl with many struggles, Sunny had no choice but to let her go. What was going on this time? Who had made her cry like this? 

“What’s wrong? Is it that guy you mentioned earlier? Have you broken up with him?”

“... For now. But how did you know?”

The packed bags, the ringing phone, the swollen eyes, Sunny could guess what had happened. Not being able to stop her, Sunny gave her some money and sent her on her way. 

“Thank you. I’ll come back to see you when things get sorted out.”

Eun Tak didn’t want to be alone again. She had never been used to loneliness. The place she had found herself was broken into particles because of the Goblin; Eun Tak hated him more. She hated the lonely and the great Goblin so much, she was willing to give up all of this. 

“Don’t say stuff like that, and just leave. If I hear that, I’m going to be waiting.”

Sunny was also so sick and tired of goodbyes. No one liked goodbyes. 

Eun Tak walked out on the streets again. She had left, but she had nowhere to go. The bag on her shoulders was heavy, and her footsteps were so lonely. It was raining.

‘Every moment with you shined. Because it was a good day, because it was a bad day, because it was a normal day. Every day was a good day.’

And the sentence he had added in after. 

‘Whatever happens… It is not your fault.’ 

It had been his last goodbye to her. She had smiled at that hateful goodbye. The snow that had fallen on the buckwheat flowers, the Goblin who had been standing under the snow…

Rain fell down her cheeks. The Goblin was crying. All she could do was worry; she couldn’t go back to him anymore. Eun Tak was never giving the Goblin what he wanted; she was never going to give the Goblin death. They both had to live without each other; it was their destiny. Eun Tak stood in the rain, crying.

And she walked again. She walked in his tears for a long time. So that death wouldn’t be able to find the Goblin ever again.

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