Young and Foolish
An unspeakable pain rang in his heart. It was the same heart-breaking pain that had hit him before when he was with Sunny. The grim reaper had heard coincidently from Duk Hwa that the Goblin had gone to light the lanterns at the temple today.
So he was on his way to that temple alone. The candles had been lit, and behind them the grim reaper saw the names of the people the Goblin was praying for. Seeing the name Yeo Wang, the grim reaper’s eyes wavered. It was a weird feeling.
The grim reaper fell into deep thoughts.
‘Was I… Yeo Wang? Leftover emotions from memories I can not recall. Are those emotions trying to tell me something? Are they trying to tell me that I should not have forgotten that I was Yeo? Is it the punishment I called on myself? My worst memory is myself. Sunny and Shin’s worst memory is me too.’
Listening to the grim reaper’s thoughts, the Goblin walked up the stairs. Like before, it was the grim reaper who was looking down at the Goblin. It was Yeo looking down at Shin. The Goblin walked up the steps without any hesitation.
In order to check whether the grim reaper actually was Yeo, the Goblin had gone to find Sunny. If she had remembered her past life, there must have been Yeo in there too. The Goblin asked Sunny if the grim reaper was Yeo, but she had nothing to tell him. In the end, Sunny was protecting Yeo again. And in the end, the Goblin was walking up those steps again.
‘I know you can hear me.’
In the grim reaper’s deep thoughts, the Goblin’s voice pushed its way through. Surprised, the grim reaper looked down and saw the Goblin walking up the steps towards him. There was fury in his eyes.
They were the steps he had not been able to walk up before, but today, he had. The Goblin regretted not being able to do it before; he shouldn’t have let go of his life so easily.
‘Because I can hear your thoughts too. Very clearly.’
The Goblin walked up to the grim reaper and grabbed him by the neck.
“General Shin Kim is here to meet His Majesty.”
There was a growl in his low voice.
The grim reaper let the Goblin strangle him; there was a painful glint in his eyes. The man who was in pain because he could remember everything, was holding the man who was in pain because he could not remember anything, by the neck.
“I meet Your Majesty in 900 years.”
The man in his hands was Yeo. He had seen the man in his hands every day, but today the grim reaper looked different. The Goblin glared at him without blinking. The strength in the Goblin’s hands made the grim reaper short of air, but the grim reaper endured the Goblin’s overflowing anger.
“I don’t know what covered my eyes. Whether it was the 900 years, or whether it was my hatred towards the gods, but I didn’t recognise you. You are Yeo.”
“So, it turns out I am he. No excuse I try to make up will work. So, the young and foolish face turns out to be me.”
He still couldn’t recall his memories, but the leftover emotions made tears fall down his face. The tears that were streaming down the grim reaper’s face were tears of regret. Regret fell down the grim reaper’s face.
“War was always hell, but we always came back with victory. Not even our enemies could kill us. My subordinates, my young sister, my innocent family, all died by the sword and arrow in front of me. It was the king's order. All because of that young and foolish king’s one word!”
“So I am he… I am Yeo…”
“I still remember every minute and second of that day, but you must be peaceful since you can’t remember anything.”
The Goblin let go of the sobbing Yeo’s neck. The force made the grim reaper lose his balance. Yeo had already been dead when he had gone to find him at the palace, and finally after 900 years, the Goblin had the king’s neck in his hands. The grim reaper was Yeo, but he wasn’t Yeo. He was just a grim reaper without memories.
“Does the heavens want to be on your side this time too?”
From the highest place, Yeo had said that the heavens were always on his side. Yeo wasn’t scared of the heavens; the heavens were always on Yeo’s side.
“900 years has passed, but the heavens are still on your side.”
The Goblin turned around, leaving the grim reaper on the ground. The grim reaper looked at the Goblin disappearing into the woods without looking back, and felt his heart crumbling into nothing.
“What… have I done? What have I erased from my memory? What decision did I make? How much of a coward was I…”
*
Eun Tak was waiting in the lounge for the Goblin. When she heard the footsteps of the man come in through the doorway, she ran towards him straight away.
“What happened? Did you meet Joong Heon Park?”
“Yes, I met Joong Heon and Yeo. Go pack your bags lightly. Let’s go somewhere. We can go to Duk Hwa's house.”
She looked at the Goblin, not able to understand what he was talking about, but nodded. The Goblin probably didn’t want to live in the same house as Yeo.
“Eun Tak.”
While going up the stairs, Eun Tak turned around to the Goblin’s call.
“Why aren’t you asking any questions? Did you know? That he is Yeo?”
“... The ghost told me. I couldn’t understand his intentions, so I didn’t tell you straight away. But I figured that you would find out soon enough since it was a destiny you would have to face once in your life. I’m sorry.”
This wasn’t something to be angry at. The Goblin wanted to be angry at someone, but there was no one to be angry at. His path kept splitting, and he couldn’t figure out where his heart wanted to go.
1 Comments
The Goblin and the grim reaper's painful history in this chapter. Comment and give me feedback.
ReplyDelete