Goblin: The Lonely and the Great God - Chapter 23

The Queen of Goryeo

  

     It was hard to calm down his racing heart whenever he thought of 20-year-old Eun Tak. This girl would soon grow older to… 29. A sudden sorrow hit him. He replayed the ‘sir’ in his mind over and over again. Everything about 29-year-old Eun Tak was lovely; her short cut hair, her markless neck, and her pretty necklace….

    He remembered that necklace from before. The last time they had gone to Canada, the Goblin had seen Eun Tak admire it. She didn’t have any money, and so had come back empty-handed. So she must have bought it in the end, or had someone bought it for her?

The Goblin was thinking about the vision with mixed feelings, when he stood up, realising something.

“It must be me; who buys her that necklace.”

Another truth hit him, and he opened the door, out into the streets of Canada. 

*

The sad atmosphere from the grim reaper was filling the house. Annoyed by the dampness, the Goblin and Eun Tak were trying to ‘coincidentally’ make them meet, but nothing worked. The grim reaper looked at the two with an annoyed look; they looked more friendly than before. The two were smiling more than often; but today the Goblin looked a bit sad. He was drinking beer by himself on the terrace. 

“There’s probably a name on your list.”

“Who? Eun Tak’s?”

“No, Chairman Yoo’s.”

The Goblin had just met the Chairman and had seen his near future. Although the Goblin could see his future, there was nothing he could do. He couldn’t stop the Chairman’s death or slow it down even. All he could do was be sorrowful for longer.

“Did you tell Duk Hwa? I think it would be better if you told him beforehand. So that he doesn’t regret anything.”

“When we’re facing death, regretting is all we can do.”

Death was something common for the grim reaper, but it was a familiar face that he had to send up. He felt uncomfortable. The Goblin noticed, and changed the topic and asked about how  things were going with Sunny. The atmosphere got more uncomfortable.

“I think that woman is a bit stupid. Take one glance at you; anyone would know that you’re a grim reaper.”

“Is that all?”

“What do you mean?”

“Is that all you feel when you see Sunny?”

“That woman doesn’t suit her name. Sun Kim; that’s my sister’s name, and well, my sister is very different from her. For instance, my sister is really sweet and kind. It’s a good thing you broke up with her; that woman has serious personality problems.”

“... I think you should stop saying bad stuff about her.”

The Goblin raised an eyebrow.

“Are you taking her side?”

Taking a deep breath, the grim reaper looked at the Goblin. He had to tell him; the Goblin wanted to see his sister. A lot.

“There’s something I didn’t tell you. Remember I saw Sunny’s past life before?”

“You said it was a secret.”

“I think Sunny is the reincarnation of your sister,”

“... Not you?”

“Sunny’s past life looks the same as the woman on the scroll.”

The Goblin’s face, full of mischief, suddenly fell. 

“She was standing in front of a huge palace. Her dress is pearl white. She gets shot by an arrow and falls to the ground, bleeding.”

“What else?”

“She’s riding a carriage and smiles at someone through the window. With the smile on her face, she asks the person how she looks that day. A voice replies, you look…”

“Ugly.”

The grim reaper looked at the Goblin; his face was hard to read. Sunny was the Goblin’s sister. Whether it was the sadness or the happiness that overwhelmed him, he didn’t know, but the Goblin could feel tears falling down his eyes. 

Sunny looked at the man with weird eyes. 

“Sun…”

“How do you know my name?”

The Goblin ignored Sunny’s question and hugged her tightly. Sunny pushed him away with  a disgusted look on her face; she looked at the grim reaper.

“Is he crazy? Why are you just standing there?!”

Grimacing, the grim reaper tried to stop the Goblin, but he held Sunny’s shoulders and kept talking.”

“Are you truly Sun?”

“What if I am Sun? What’s wrong with him?”

The grim reaper tried to make Sunny understand, but there was nothing he could do to try to make her understand. 

“The thing is… Well, this man was actually your brother in your past life.”

“What in the world? Past life? This is crazy. What kind of scary story did you make up to come see me? I suppose you did want to see me?”

Not able to do anything, the grim reaper just looked at her, but the Goblin kept ignoring them both.

“Can you truly not remember anything?”

“You look quite normal on the outside, but… Well, give it a go. I’ll have a listen. So what was I, in my past life?”

“You were the queen of Goryeo, and I was a military official.”

“Past life? Queen? Next time, make your stories a bit more believable! Now, get out of my restaurant!”

Sunny tried to get the two out of the shop, when Eun Tak walked inside. The Goblin was staring at Sunny with longing eyes, Sunny was glaring at the Goblin, and the grim reaper was looking at the two, not knowing what to do. The shop was a mess.

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