Goblin: The Lonely and the Great God - Chapter 22

Happy New Year

    It was the last day of the year. The grim reaper was walking around with his arms crossed; scared of touching hands with anyone. With a hand wave, Sunny walked towards him; she was still pretty, and the grim reaper was still staring at her in awe. 

    They greeted each other in the midst of all the people. It was a special day and they had met on that special day, but they weren’t in a special relationship. One of the two didn’t even know the other’s identity. 

“I will hold your hand.”

The grim reaper wanted to know a bit more about her past life; it was against the rules but he couldn’t win his curiosity. Sunny liked the fact that the man wanted to hold her hand but she couldn’t give in that easily. She had already given him enough; now she wanted him to give some back.

“Me too. I want to hold your hand and hug you. But I want to know who I’m holding and what I'm hugging. You haven’t answered my question yet. What are you? You still haven’t answered how you knew my real name, I’m only giving in till this year because you’re handsome. There’s only 2  hours left of this year.”

There was nothing wrong about what she was saying, so he froze. He could hear the sincerity behind her voice, and that made him more scared. All he could do was blink and stare at her. If he wore his hat, she wouldn’t be able to see him. Would he have to become a stalker, like Eun Tak had said before? Everything scared him; especially the words that Sunny was going to say next.

“Am I asking for too much?”

“... I’m sorry.”

“Alright then. Should we stop this? Pushing me into the inside of the road and solving math problems with a mechanical pencil is cute and all, but I can’t have that anymore. Let’s just say that you’re the one who dumped me, so don’t call me anymore. Even if we meet coincidently, don’t greet me.”

His worries had become true. The 31st of December, so today was that day where everything became a mess. 

“Happy New Year.”

Sunny pushed the sorrow deeper inside her heart; she had gone this far, but this man still wouldn’t tell her his name.

The grim reaper could see Sunny walking away from him, but he couldn’t do anything. Her silhouette looked cold, his heart felt cold; it was a cold new year’s eve.

*

Secretary Kim knew about the existence of Shin Jae Yoo too. The man that his Chairman had been serving for all his life. He had met Shin Jae a few times over the course of years, but the man didn’t grow old. Today, it was the first time Shin Jae Yoo had actually called him.

It had only been a few days since the Chairman had told Secretary Kim that Shin Jae Yoo’s real name was Shin Kim. Shin Kim was the man that had made him study for university, when he was poor, with no dream. 

The Goblin smiled proudly as he sat facing Secretary Kim. He had met him a few times before, but he was still pleased at how well he had grown up. The Goblin requested Secretary Kim to secure Eun Tak’s insurance money; she needed permission from her aunt.

Secretary Kim understood what the man was talking about; he bowed down in greeting.

“Thank you. For everything.”

He knew what he had to do.

Tomorrow, Eun Tak turned into an adult. Not everything would change but it would still be a special day for her. The Goblin was waiting for her in his room, all ready to go out; but it was 11:30 pm, and Eun Tak still had not come. Disappointment flooded him, but there was a knock on his door at 11:59. Eun Tak walked inside; all ready to go out too. The clock rang twelve times; it was midnight.

“It’s twelve o’clock! The first of January! I just became an adult!”

“So what? Why are you all dressed up?”

“I'm going out to meet someone, since I’m an adult now,”

The Goblin started to shout at her, saying where in the world she was going out at this late, but Eun Tak smiled weirdly.

“I’m going out to meet you.”

Hearing Eun Tak’s words, the Goblin stood up quickly with a smile.

“That’s why I was ready all this time.”

“You’re so stupid. Do I really have to tell you, for you to understand?”

“Yes. I hope you do that in the future. Go out? What do you want to do?”

“Are you going to do it with me?”

“Anything. If that is needed, I’ll do that too.”

Eun Tak smiled again.

“Alcohol. I want to drink alcohol! Buy me a drink. At a food stall! Soju! Very romantic. Isn’t it?”

The Goblin blinked in surprise; this wasn’t what he had expected. But Eun Tak pulled him along, and he had no choice but to go to the food stall.

Their glasses hit each other with a clang, and Eun Tak gulped down the bitter soju. 

“Are you sure this is romantic?”

“The dim light; the small side-dishes; the bitter beer! The city is full of romance today.”

Her eyes were a bit dazed; she was tipsy. She smiled weirdly and looked at the Goblin.

“I just need one more thing, for everything to be perfect.”

“What?”

“My first kiss.”

Eun Tak suddenly stood up.

“That wasn’t a kiss last time, so don’t move.”

She quickly moved next to the Goblin and leaned into him. The Goblin just stared at her, and quickly stopped the time. The cars, the people, and even Eun Tak all stopped moving. He sighed, as he saw Eun Tak with her eyes closed.

“That is so unfair.”

The Goblin quickly turned around towards her; she was moving.

“Did you forget that I’m the Goblin’s bride? This won’t work on me. You can’t stop me.”

“I didn’t stop you.”

He grabbed the girl’s shoulders.

“It was hard enough stopping you once.”

His hands moved up to her neck, and he leaned in and kissed her. Every moment was sweet.

“This is perfect.”

Eun Tak walked back to her seat and smiled. It was perfect. It was a perfect night. The start of her twenties. They caught each other's eyes and smiled. 

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