Goblin: The Lonely and the Great God - Chapter 5

Miracle

“Am I really going to get a job today?”

There was a hiring sign on the door of a chicken shop, so Eun Tak walked inside, muttering. There were a lot of tables, but no customers. A woman sitting next to a window was eating popcorn with a bored face. The woman was unrealistically beautiful; Eun Tak just stared at her in awe.

“Takeaway?” 

The woman asked. 

“I saw the hiring sign out there and came in. Is the manager here?”

“She is here.” 

The woman pointed at herself. The woman was pretty, but when Eun Tak learnt that she was the manager, the woman looked even prettier. Tapping her finger on the table, the manager motioned for her to sit down. Closer up, the manager was even more prettier.

"High-schooler?"

“Yes... I thought you were a customer because you looked so pretty.”

“I know. Customers are pretty. But I can’t remember the last time I saw a customer.”

Her truthful words made her more attractive. The manager’s name was Sunny. Actually, it was something else, but the manager preferred being called Sunny. Eun Tak had never been to an interview like this, and she was nervous. She asked the manager if she had questions, but Sunny didn’t say much, so Eun Tak just talked about herself.

“I can listen to all of your requests; I’ve got nowhere else to go. If I had to tell you about myself, I became an orphan at the age of 9, and since, my life has been nothing but trouble. In other words, I’m in a bit of a pickle right now, so I really need this job.”

“Pickle… Our restaurant's pickles are yummy. But I can’t remember the last time they asked me for it.”

There must really be no customers, thought Eun Tak. Cold sweat was forming on her back.

“Are you poor?”

“You could say so.”

“What about school? Do you not go to school?

“I do. I’m in Year 13.”

“It must be nice. Being young.”

Their conversation kept jumping from topic to topic; Eun Tak did not know what they were talking about. 

“Do you have plans for later?"

“No.”

“Then today is our day one. Work. “

And like that, she got a job. Eun Tak thanked Sunny and quickly told her that she would work very hard. The manager smiled at the cute and young girl and left the shop, saying she had something to do.

He must really be a guardian spirit. He had said that he wasn’t a Goblin but Eun Tak was pretty sure he was. She looked at the nametag she had gotten from Sunny and smiled. Eun Tak wanted to tell the man straight away. He had helped her. Eun Tak thought about the man, but the man did not come. He had said that he would appear if she thought about him, but the man did not come. In the end, she took out a match and blew on it. 

“I finally got a job! The manager is a total beauty!”

Eun Tak looked at the man who had appeared in front of her. The man looked a bit different than before. He was wearing a hotel slipper and pyjama gown. At least he had the gown on. In his hands, was a steak stuck on a fork. 

The Goblin was trying to eat when he had been summoned. The Goblin closed his eyes in shame. 

“You’re eating quite expensive stuff. But you won’t give me that 5000 dollars.”

“Don’t you have any plans to call me and meet me, like how normal people do?”

“I’m quite fine like this.”

“I’m not fine! Don’t you even think about how I feel?”

“I did think about you. But you wouldn’t come.”

The Goblin felt a bit bad. It had been a lie that he would come when she thought about him. But still, he couldn’t just keep appearing when he wasn’t ready. 

“I do have plans to call you and meet you… I love you.”

These confessions could not go on either. This time, her words just felt silly. Eun Tak was in a good mood because she had gotten a part-time job. The Goblin disappeared without congratulating her, but Eun Tak didn’t mind. The only problem now was that she was hungry now because of the steak. 

A new worry troubled the Goblin now. Being summoned at random times was more tiring than he thought. He walked up and down the house and in the end barged into the grim reaper’s room. They did bicker a lot, but they didn’t have anyone better to converse with.

The grim reaper watched the Goblin busily walking in and out of his room. It was clothes, at first. After changing several times, he asked the grim reaper what was better. The grim reaper was so tired that he hadn’t even noticed that the Goblin had changed. It was music, next. The Goblin brought a CD case and an LP disc and asked what suited him better. The theme was that he listened to all sorts of music, from classical to k-pop. The grim reaper was annoyed.

“No one listens to music with those anymore.”

As soon as the grim reaper bombarded him with facts, the Goblin dropped the CD file and LP disc and left the room. The grim reaper smiled, thinking that it was over, but the Goblin came back into the room with two paintings. 

“Concentrate! This is very important! Just think that this is what I’m taking when I leave this house,”

Those words made the grim reaper much more enthusiastic than before. But now, the grim reaper was saying that everything looked good, so the Goblin left the room to get some books. The grim reaper put his blanket over his head and got ready to sleep. The white cloth covering his body looked like a corpse. The Goblin walked away, a shiver going up his spine.

*

The weather forecast was playing on the television, warning them about heavy rain. Rain was falling outside the chicken shop too. Eun Tak looked outside the window, leaning against a mop. Sunny was sitting on the same spot as before and was looking outside the window too.

“The rain is nice…”

Eun Tak went up to her manager.

“Why is the rain nice? If it rains, there aren't any customers.”

“Regardless of whether it is raining or not, there will be no customers. Since there won't be any in the first place, it’s nice to watch the rain."

She was a very strange manager. The pretty manager had said that it was fine, so she was fine too. But she didn’t have an umbrella. 

“Take one of mine. I have a lot. I was never bothered to take any home. And don’t bring them back either. I’m not bothered to take them back.”

“Seriously? Can I take an umbrella?”

There were a lot of umbrellas in the stand next to the door. Eun Tak chose the most casual one and smiled.

“Wow. I’ve got an umbrella now. Thank you so much.”

Sunny watched the young girl being excited over the umbrella and silently ate her popcorn. She thought that her part-timer was a very strange girl. But it was normal to stare, as Sunny did not know Eun Tak’s story.

There had always been 2 umbrellas at her aunt’s house, but she had never had either. The umbrella that Sunny had given her was very special to her. The job and the umbrella. Eun Tak’s life seemed to be getting better. Was it really because she had met her guardian spirit? The rain wasn’t that hateful today. 

*

She spun the laminated maple leaf in her hand. It was pretty. The bookmark that she had made was really pretty. It was a deserted night and Eun Tak was standing at the park. She tidied her hair and then blew out her match.

“I’ve got a present for you…”

Eun Tak’s eyes widened and she froze to the ground. The man standing in front of her was not the Goblin, but a grim reaper. He had a familiar face. It was the same face that had tried to take her to the upper realms 10 years ago. Eun Tak squeezed her eyes shut and turned around. 

“Scarf. I haven’t put on my scarf.”

Eun Tak felt around her neck and was relieved that she couldn’t feel anything. She spun around again as the grim reaper suddenly teleported in front of her. 

“You’ve been caught. 10 years ago and now. Your excuses are still the same. I know you can see me. No one’s here to save you now.”

Running away was not a solution. Eun Tak clenched her fists and slowly turned around. Her heart was beating fast. 

“I know I’ve been caught.”

“I saw that you moved. Thanks to that, I’ve been looking for you for 10 years.”

“Then you should have given up. In this world, we call people like you stalkers. I’m going to sue you. You don’t even have my name on your list.”

“Your name is on the missing soul’s list. The 19 years of paperwork will be a bit tiring, though.”

If people in this world called people who survived death a miracle, grim reapers called them missing souls. A soul that had gone missing. A soul that had to be written on the list again. 

“Then what’s going to happen to me? Am I going to die? I’m only 19.”

“People die at 9 and at 10. Everyone dies. That’s death.”

The cold grim reaper’s words made Eun Tak’s brain go blank. She was scared. Eun Tak might have been tired to death, but she had never wanted to die. She had never wanted to die because she was waiting for hope. Hope that would come. Someday. And someone had come. Someone who would make her wishes come true. She didn’t want to die. 

Behind the breathless Eun Tak, a dark silhouette appeared. The grim reaper’s face contorted. 

“Who’s protecting you this time?”

Eun Tak turned around and saw the man standing there. After seeing him, Eun Tak ran over to the man. She went up onto her toes and covered the man’s eyes. 

“Shut your eyes. You can’t make eye contact with him. That man’s a grim reaper.”

The Goblin looked down at the girl covering his view. Eun Tak was trembling. Her voice was shaking too. But still, she was covering his eyes. As if she was trying to protect him from that grim reaper. 

The reason for the heavy rain that day was because of the Goblin. The weather in Seoul reflected his emotions. He had been waiting all day for Eun Tak to call him, perfectly ready. He had been nervous all day. But he couldn’t figure out why he was nervous. 

And finally, she had called him, but they were facing a grim reaper. She was a very strange girl. The girl made him feel weird. Feelings he had never felt before. A different feeling every time he met her. The Goblin grabbed the girl’s hands and took them off his eyes. He looked her in the eyes and said.

“It’s alright. We know each other.”

The Goblin looked at the grim reaper.

“Are you working?”

Eun Tak breathed again but kept looking at the grim reaper with burning eyes. 

“I am. But I can’t figure out what you’re doing.”

“I’m involving in the life and death of a human.”

“I thought so, but you’re making a big mistake. This child was supposed to die 19 years…”

Before the grim reaper could finish talking, thunder lit up in the sky. The Goblin’s face darkened, and the grim reaper gulped back in fright. A deep voice came out from the Goblin.

“Didn’t you learn to listen to a Goblin when he’s angry? Be careful. I might want to be involved in your life and death too.”

The grim reaper still had no idea what the two’s relationship was. Who was this girl that the almighty Goblin was getting involved with? He did not want to make the Goblin any angrier. He saw the girl pulling on the Goblin’s arm, trying to get him to run away. 

“It’s okay. Stay still. He can’t take you.”

“He has been looking for me for 10 years! He would…”

“Still. Even if he has been looking for you for 10 years. Still. No one can take the girl who wants to marry the Goblin. In front of the Goblin himself.”

The Goblin’s low voice surprised Eun Tak. They could hear the sound of an ambulance siren from close by. Fixing the hat on his head, the grim reaper said goodbye to them. He had come for something, or someone else. More specific things could be discussed later at home. 

“Let’s meet each other again. I don’t mind if we meet each other like this again, or we can make plans.”

Eun Tak took a step back. Death was telling her to make plans and meet again. The grim reaper left towards the sound of the ambulance sirens. 

Only the Goblin and Eun Tak were left. Eun Tak looked at the Goblin with sharp eyes.

“Say it. You look like you have a lot to say.”

“I knew it. I knew you were the Goblin. But why did you say you weren’t?”

She wanted to shout at him, but the voice that came out of her was still trembling. The laminated leaf was in her pocket. She was right. He was the Goblin. But he had been saying he wasn’t. Eun Tak felt angry again. He had said that she wasn’t the bride. That was the reason she had wished that he was not the Goblin, but at the same time wished that he was. He had said that she wasn’t the bride. 

“At first, I didn’t know I would see you again. How would I have known that you would come in through my door? A door that no one has ever entered through before.”

“After that? I asked you several times after that.”

“After that, I had no reason to correct you. From the beginning to now, you aren’t my bride, and you never will be.”

“Then what am I? The ghosts keep coming and telling me that I’m your bride! If I pretend to ignore them they harass me, and if I don’t pretend to ignore them they harass me. I’m alive like this, but the grim reapers say that I shouldn’t be. What am I?"

“I told you. It’s something you need to be grateful for. And you shouldn’t be angry at me about your life.”

When he wasn’t the Goblin, it was fine for him to say that she wasn’t the Goblin’s bride. But he was the Goblin. And still, he said that she wasn’t his bride. It was very confusing. She was shocked after seeing the grim reaper, and she was grateful that the Goblin had saved her. She was grateful. She really was. 

Tears fell. To her, being the Goblin’s bride was the only thing she wanted to hold on to, and the only thing she wanted to grab ahold of. It was Eun Tak’s one and only hope. The only reason for her existence… But so easily. So easily he had said that she wasn’t. He had everything that he wanted, but he was harsh to a high-schooler who had nothing.

“Do you think I would have actually married you, just because you are the Goblin? Tell me truthfully. There’s another reason, right? Is it because I’m not pretty? Because I’m completely different from your ideal type?”

The Goblin got a bit sad. He couldn’t cry or smile at the girl who was always saying random stuff.

“You’re pretty.”

Eun Tak’s heart dropped. He had said that she wasn’t his bride, but he said that she was pretty. In his sad, black eyes, she could see herself. A normal high-schooler was standing there with a sad face. 

“I’ve lived for over 900 years. I’m not looking for someone pretty. I’m looking for someone who will find something about me. And you haven’t found anything, so you aren’t the Goblin’s bride. That’s just all it is. That’s what I meant by you not being useful to the Goblin.”

Explaining the reasons why she wasn’t the bride. It was unbearably painful. 

“You don’t need to be hurt. Rather, be thankful. If you had found something on me, you would have hated me. A lot.”

She had no idea what this man was saying. He should have just kept saying that he wasn’t the Goblin. Eun Tak asked why he had suddenly revealed his identity. 

“It’s the same reason why I didn’t tell you I was the Goblin. Don’t keep calling me with false hope. I’m going to leave soon.”

“... Where?”

His deep eyes just stared at him. More tears filled her chest. He shouldn't have let her known what it felt like to walk with someone if he had really wanted her to not have false hope. He was one, mean Goblin. 

“Never mind. Don’t tell me. Who said I was going to be your bride anyway? I’m at the flowering age of 19. I’m not crazy. Never am I going to call you again, so live a nice life. I don’t need you either.”

She wanted to look the bravest she could, but it seemed to have failed. Eun Tak turned around, sorrowfully. It was no use holding onto someone who was going to leave. She wasn’t useful to anyone. To the guardian spirit or the Goblin. 

*

Between dark curtains, the sky filled the window. The sky had been dark for several days. The Goblin was sitting down on his couch with rain clouds floating around him. The girl was hurt. And the girl was crying. He had made her cry. 

“I heard that you will die when the bride appears.”

The grim reaper walked towards the Goblin. The atmosphere was so moist, it was hard to breathe. 

“Funny enough, I can’t die. She can’t see the sword.”

“It might be temporary. The girl’s still young.”

“The girl’s still young, so don’t touch her.”

The grim reaper flinched back as the Goblin glared at him.

“Why are you protecting her? She can’t even see the sword.”

Why was he? The girl couldn’t see anything. The Goblin’s bride would have seen the sword stuck in his chest, but the girl couldn’t see anything. He had just told her the facts. He had just told her that she wasn’t. It had resulted in her tears. It felt like he hadn’t made any of her wishes come true. The part-time job had been taken care of and her aunt’s family would soon be solved. But he felt like he hadn’t done anything for her. He felt responsible for the girl he had saved. 

The atmosphere was getting too damp. Duk Hwa ran out of his room in anger and put on the dehumidifier. The Goblin took a deep breath and the rain clouds became bigger. Duk Hwa screamed.

“Uncle! No! No rain! Who will tidy that up?”

The grim reaper explained the story to Duk Hwa. That the Goblin was moody like this because of a 19-year-old. Duk Hwa became excited and asked questions about the high-schooler. The Goblin said that he wasn’t thinking about the girl, but the grim reaper nodded as if he understood everything. 

“But Uncle, if you hurt her you can just apologise, like a man.”

Duk Hwa did not know much, but his words made the Goblin feel bad. But he had no reason to apologise. He had done nothing wrong.

*

The chicken shop was dark. A bed was made from the chairs and benches. It was quite nicely made. Just a bit cold. All sorts of bad thoughts came to her mind as she lay there. 

Eun Tak had moved places because she had seen a grim reaper. There was nowhere else to go. Thanks to Eun Tak’s fast thinking, the Goblin and the grim reaper were looking for her. 

The Goblin had no intention of apologising but he was still worried. He had lived for 939 years, and Eun Tak had lived for 19. An unrecognisable responsibility came over him, and he was looking for Eun Tak again. He was going to tell her to move house, but that smart girl seemed to have already. 

Eun Tak slowly blinked her eyes. If she got caught, she would probably get fired. But she had to. She couldn’t sleep outside in this cold winter. An under-minor really had nowhere to go in Seoul. 

It was her destiny to be the Goblin’s bride. That man was the Goblin. Destiny. It was a very romantic word. Romantic? She had nearly been sold off to a random stranger. She had never actually thought of marrying the Goblin, but he had beat her to it and had cut her off completely. That man could win first prize in a ‘Saying Mean Words’ competition.

“That stupid broomstick!”

In old stories, they had said that goblins were originally things like broomsticks. That stupid broomstick. Eun Tak stood up in rage. She was feeling so upset. 

It was the first time she had looked for the ghosts. 4 ghosts sat in front of Eun Tak and waited for Eun Tak to talk. 

“You said that I was the Goblin’s bride. Why?”

The Grannie Ghost spoke first. She had been a witness to the car accident. 

“He probably saved her because she was pretty. Your mother had a nice appearance. Her breath was slowing down when the Goblin blew life into her. Cherry blossoms fell in winter. It was very mysterious.”

Eun Tak’s angry face melted. The Goblin had saved her life. She had not even known that and she…

“Your mother and you. You were destined to die that day because a grim reaper came to that spot a few minutes later.”

“He saved his bride.”

The romantic Virgin Ghost squealed with delight. It was a very romantic destiny. But nothing about this was good. Everything was just sorrowful. 

“The man was right about everything. I had no right to hate him in the first place. If it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t have been here. I wouldn’t remember my mum. I wouldn’t have been anything…”

Her life was really a bonus. She should have been grateful, but she had been angry. She felt sorry but at the same time felt upset too. Only if he had been nice to her, she wouldn’t have shouted at him. She wouldn’t have misunderstood anything and would have said thanks. Her life was hard, but thanks to him she had known a loving mum. 

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