The Jade Ring
“I’m sorry. Did you worry a lot?”
“A little. It was him who worried a lot, and it was Duk Hwa who found you.”
“And I brought you home.”
The Goblin smiled proudly, and the grim reaper laughed.
“It’s weird; having somewhere to come back to. This place really feels like home now.”
“You’re off at it again. Why do you have so many sad stories? I’m too scared to ask you to come back anymore!”
After putting Eun Tak’s stuff on the floor, the Goblin tried to take off his jacket when the grim reaper stopped him.
“Just wear it. You need to go somewhere with me.”
“Where are you taking him? I’m quite sensitive to things like that!”
It was Eun Tak who was stopping the grim reaper now. After fighting life and death, the two were back to normal again. The grim reaper grimaced and glared at the Goblin; he was smiling because Eun Tak was on his side. Eun Tak had been saved by her ‘fabulous goblin boyfriend’ again, it meant more work for the grim reapers. They had a lot to talk about.
Eun Tak started working again at Sunny’s chicken shop, although she felt a bit bad.
After coming home from work, Eun Tak opened her laptop. The results for university would have come out by now. With a nervous face, she stared at the laptop screen, waiting for it to load. ‘Congratulations, Welcome to Yeonhee University.’ Eun Tak gasped in excitement; she had been so worried, but now she actually saw the acceptance email, it made her even more happier. All her hard work had all been for this day.
She was going to get the fees over and done with, but her fees had already been paid.
The Goblin sat proudly on his armchair, his legs crossed, reading a book; he was waiting for Eun Tak to find him. The girl knocked on his door and walked in.
“Did you pay my fees for me?”
“I asked them to keep it a secret.”
“Apparently, you requested that they tell me. Apparently, they were asking for the student’s name, but you kept telling them your name.”
He coughed in embarrassment and closed his book. Eun Tak smiled at the Goblin, when he pointed at the table in front of him. It was the handbag he had stolen from her. The perfume was there too.
“Congratulations.”
Eun Tak hugged the handbag tightly and nodded. She searched through the bag and her face fell.
“I didn’t put in the 5000 dollars. I used that to pay your fees. Don’t be too touched; I’m just lending it to you.”
“How could a person be like that? You just gave it to me at first, but why are you lending it to me now?”
“The only person in this house is you. Have you still not realised that?”
Eun Tak blinked in fury when the Goblin smiled.
“Pay me back 5.208 dollars a month over 80 years. You can’t miss out on a single month.”
“For 80 years?”
“Yeah. You can’t pay me back faster either? Why? Do you not want to?”
She couldn’t stop her lips from turning into a smile.
“If you’ve seriously made your mind about this, I’ve made up my mind too.”
“You’ve made up your mind about what?”
“Let’s go on a date.”
Eun Tak put her new bag over her shoulders.
*
For the first time, the two had a date-like date. They went to an ice cream shop because Eun Tak wanted to eat something sweet.
She joked that if he had brought the handbag not the report card, she would have come straight home. The Goblin sighed and said that he had thought of that way too, when Eun Tak reached out her hand towards him.
“Eat yours. Don’t try to eat mine while I’m talking.”
“But I’ve finished mine.”
“Don’t try to eat mine while smiling.”
“Just one bite. I’m just curious, but…”
Eun Tak nudged her chin at the handbag. What was she going to say now; this girl always made him nervous.
“Somewhere in between these things, would I be able to find love?”
“Have a good look. I did try to put it in.”
Her cheeks became red.
“You should have told me before you put it in. Don’t hide anything from me now.”
The two looked at each other and smiled. He remembered what Samsin had told him and hoped and hoped again that this prettily smiling girl would last for eternity.
The grim reaper and the Goblin were sitting on the terrace again, drinking beer. The lounge was filled with loud noises. Duk Hwa and Eun Tak were fighting over the camera the chairman had sent to her. It was for her university acceptance present.
“Do you remember the man who came into your tea shop?”
“How could I forget?”
One day, when the Goblin had gone to visit the grim reaper at his tea shop, when the door had burst open. A person who was alive had opened the door and had actually run inside; he had been looking for a toilet.
“A human’s desperation can open up any door, and wouldn’t that desperation make a change in the gods plan? So I’m going to try to find it. Desperately. I need to find out what door I need to open in order for the gods' plan to change. I don’t know how much time we have left; whether it is 100 years or a few months, I’ve chosen to stay with that girl.”
Eun Tak’s laughter filled the house.
“I wonder what’s behind those doors.”
The Goblin gulped down his beer.
*
He had only meant to walk Eun Tak to her work place, but now he was sitting in the chicken shop with the grim reaper who had been here before him. The grim reaper was solving math problems with glasses on.
“What in the world are you doing?”
The grim reaper tsked.
“You know nothing about women.”
“I just think you don’t know the answer.”
He had asked Eun Tak what girls liked. Today the grim reaper had smiled when Sunny talked, guided her inside the path, and had solved math problems with a mechanical pencil.
The grim reaper dropped his pen, annoyed.
“Just drink. Sun Kim, can we have two more cans of beer?”
At that moment, the chicken shop’s atmosphere froze. The Goblin had become rigid, and Sunny was looking at him with a weird expression. He realised what he had done wrong. Sunny had never told him her real name.
He was pulled out of the shop straight away.
“How do you know my name? I don’t remember telling you.”
“I think I said Sunny Kim… It’s cold isn't it? I’ll go grab your coat…”
“I haven’t finished talking yet!”
She grabbed him, before he could leave.
A beautiful woman was smiling. She was the beautiful queen and the sister of someone. The world this woman saw was the stupid king and a soldier walking up towards him. A jade ring covered with blood rolled on the floor. It was the same jade ring that had made him meet Sunny. Shin Kim’s sister. The woman on the scroll. The grim reaper was seeing Sunny’s past life.
“Why…?”
He stared at the beautiful woman with shock. His hand was so cold, but his reaction was colder; Sunny let go of his hand.
“What’s wrong? It wouldn’t be your first time holding a woman’s hand… Are you married?”
“No…”
“Then are you a grim reaper?”
The pale face became even paler.
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A short but eventful chapter 19. Comment and give me feedback below!!!
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