Persimmon, Flower Shoes, and Silk
Eun Tak nodded thoughtfully after she heard the whole story. To Eun Tak, it was just another one of those mysterious fates, but to Sunny, who was a normal person, it was obviously hard to accept.
But for some reason, the Goblin did not think about that, and kept going to find Sunny.
He brought her persimmons, the shoes she had always wanted, and silk of her favourite colour. It was all the things he had not managed to do in their past life.
Sunny watched the man walking away sadly and was confused. Was there really such a thing as a past life?
Knowing about his past pains, the grim reaper and Eun Tak could not do much. Everyday, the Goblin came to the chicken shop, but Eun Tak couldn’t stop him.
Customers filled the shop, but the Goblin had a whole table to himself.
“This is the last table left, so can you please leave? As you can see, we’re doing quite good these days.”
“It’s because of me. I am wealth.”
Sunny stomped angrily into the kitchen. She couldn’t understand how a person could proudly say out loud that he was wealthy.
“Are you sure it has to be that man, part-timer? Are you sure you want to keep dating him? If you really want to keep meeting him, go tell him this. If he wants to keep coming here, he should stop bringing persimmons, shoes, or silk, but come empty-handed, and take home some chicken.”
Eun Tak looked apologetically at the Goblin’s drooped shoulders; he had heard everything already.
The shop was empty; even the Goblin had left. Sunny and Eun Tak sat on a table, eating spicy rice cakes.
“Part-timer, do you believe in past lives?”
“... Yes.”
“You do?”
“A person has 4 lives. A life where you sow your seeds, a life where you water your seeds, a life where you harvest your seeds, and a life where you use your harvested seeds. If a person has 4 lives, it means that there is such a thing as reincarnation and past lives.”
“That sounds a bit believable… Where’d you hear that from?”
“I think I've heard it from somewhere before…”
“What else did you hear?”
Eun Tak looked at Sunny; her eyes were bright unlike her past life.
“That Sun Kim was a brave person when it came to love.”
The corner of her manager’s lips turned down.
A knock filled the Goblin’s house. The three looked at each other in fright; Sunny had come to find them.
Sunny looked at the surprised grim reaper and was surprised too; she hadn’t known that the three were living together. Another coincidence had made them meet again.
She demanded for information, and the Goblin rushed into his room, bringing out the scroll.
“Is this person, the past queen of Goryeo? Your sister?”
“Can you remember anything?”
The woman was just a beautiful person to Sunny, but for some reason a fear filled her/
“Well, she’s pretty. And young. I was ugly at this age… So what happened to this queen? Did she live happily, ever after?”
Eun Tak grabbed the Goblin’s hand and squeezed it lightly. She motioned to the grim reaper, and they left the lounge. Sunny looked at the leaving grim reaper once and stared at the Goblin.
“Was she unhappy, this queen?”
“There were more days when we saw each other through letters than face-to-face. When I went through violent days, my sister’s letters were the only thing that kept me alive. It might not have been ‘ever after’ but there must be days when she was happy. Even when she closed her eyes for the last time, my sister was looking at that idiot…”
Sunny wanted to think that the pain in her heart was just empathy, but cold sweat was dripping down her neck.
“What about the king? Did he reincarnate too?”
“I… don’t know.”
“I wonder what he looks like. How does he look?”
The Goblin smiled; it was the same thing his sister had asked on the day of her marriage.
“At least there’s something in common about you two.”
“But why do you keep talking as if you remember everything? As if you were alive all this time.”
“You probably won’t believe me, but I haven’t forgotten a single moment.”
“Yeah, you’re right. I don’t believe you. The reason I came to find you today was because of the persimmons, the shoes, and the silk. You must have a sad story behind those, but I was a bit mean about it. How could I suddenly welcome a brother from my past life? I can’t even remember it. So don’t be too upset.”
The Goblin sat at the window, watching the grim reaper walk Sunny out of the house.
“Did she leave?”
“That woman always leaves too well.”
“Are you alright?”
“Who drew that portrait?”
“... Yeo.”
The monarch who had killed him and his sister.
“This is the last moments of my sister’s life and it is filled with Yeo’s guilt and longing. This drawing was probably one of the last things he ever did.”
“But he killed everyone.”
“Yeah. He killed everyone.”
The grim reaper looked at the Goblin in confusion; he couldn’t understand the reason behind Yeo’s actions. Well, the Goblin probably wanted to know too.
She didn’t believe in things like past lives, but after hearing the story, Sunny got ill. After spending all morning at the shop, Sunny went back home with the help of her part-timer.
Eun Tak looked at her manager anxiously. Someone was walking around Sunny’s heart; her heart was beating painfully; and everything was making her heart crumble into dust.
A long shadow appeared behind Eun Tak, who was walking back home.
“What are you doing?”
“I came to pick you up.”
“Since when?”
“Every time you took a step, I took one too.”
Eun Tak smiled and turned around.
“You and your pretty words.”
The Goblin took two steps forward, and they were walking side-by-side back home.
“What is past life?”
“A life that has passed by.”
“If I remember my past life, would I be able to find traces of you?”
“I don’t know.”
“I really hope you are my manager’s brother. Sunny is a really good person.”
“I’m not so sure about that.”
“Siblings are always quarrelling over silly things. I wish I had a brother like you. Oh yeah, I do! Tae Hee!”
He hadn’t heard that name in a while, but it still annoyed him. The Goblin was now quite sure that the ‘sir’ Eun Tak had called to was Tae Hee.
“You might go to Canada and eat steak with him, at this rate!”
“Oh, the restaurant I frequently visit?”
“What do you mean, frequently? You’ve only been there two times! I’ve been there for over 50 years!”
“I’m not going to go there with someone else; I’m only going to go with you.”
“Yeah, right! I saw you go there with someone else!”
Eun Tak looked at the Goblin weirdly; could he see her future now?
“I’m not going to your graduation tomorrow!”
She shook her head in amusement; he was such an immature and sensitive adult.
1 Comments
Do you believe in past lives? Comment and give me feedback! P.S. I don't ^^
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