Goblin: The Lonely and the Great God - Chapter 40

The Person I Have Forgotten

The place where the sword had been felt empty. 

At the place of neither hell nor heaven, the Goblin stood lonely by himself. With the clothes and hair he had had when he died, he stood there looking around. 

‘You have been erased from everybody’s memories. That is for their peace, and it is my compassion to you.’

That was a relief. If the girl couldn’t remember, she wouldn’t be sad. That was enough. 

‘Your punishment is over. Let everything at rest, and fall asleep in peace.

A tear dropped from his eyes. He had finally realised the cost behind his decision.

“... I have finally realised what I have chosen. I will stay here. I will stay here and go to the girl as rain. I will go to her as the wind and the first snow. This is my last request; I beg you with all my soul.”

‘I have been with you all your life, but at this place, I will be with you no more.”

The Goblin’s mind did not change. It was a stupid decision, but the Goblin felt like he did not have a choice anymore. The shadow of the butterfly left, and the man sat there lonely. He was, in the end, alone.

*

At the place where there was no light or darkness, the Goblin walked and walked. The same scenery came into his eyes how much he loitered around the place. There was day and night, but nothing ever changed; the wind blew hard and strongly against his body, but even the wind didn’t change direction. Shin walked forward endlessly, there had been a time when all he wanted to do was to walk forward, but now he had no choice but to. The only footsteps at the place were Shin’s own prints. When the loneliness was a bit unbearable, Shin turned around and walked the other way. He wanted to see footprints in front of him.

The Goblin didn’t know whether he was walking forwards or backwards, but he wished that at the end of his footsteps, Eun Tak’s world would be there. His lips dried up and teared in the cold, his face was peeling from the frost, but the Goblin did not let go of the paper in his hand. 

The wind blew strongly, and Shin couldn’t take any more steps forward. From his strengthless hands, the paper fluttered away from him. 

‘B’ will agree to be summoned every time the first snow comes. ‘A’ will be waiting.

He tried to reach out and grab it, but his knees buckled, and he fell to the ground helplessly. The paper flew away, and strength was nonexistent in his body. Through his barely opened eyes, the Goblin watched the contract fly away. It fluttered gently in the wind. Almost as gentle as the movements of a butterfly.

Snowflakes fell onto the ground prettily; tears fell onto the ground painfully.

*

It was the first snow of the year; it had come very early. Eun Tak looked up into the sky; it had become a habit now. She had come onto the broadcasting station’s rooftop, and here she was looking up at the sky again. There was a feeling inside of her, a feeling that made her think maybe she had broken a promise. There was a promise that she had made that always made her uncomfortable, but she couldn’t remember what the promise was. Had it been a promise to the skies? Was that why she always looked up into the sky? Her eyes prickled at the cold wind, and the tears she had been trying to keep in fell. Eun Tak rubbed her eyes quickly and sat down on the bench. She opened up the cake box; it had been a present to the whole radio staff, and she had saved a piece for herself. On the small piece of cake left, Eun Tak stuck a candle that had come along with the cake on it. 

‘What have I forgotten? Who have I forgotten?’

Eun Tak lit the cake with a match. A snowflake fell onto the cake gently. 

‘What face have I forgotten? What promise have I forgotten? What have I forgotten that is making me this miserable?’

The snowflakes fell like tears. It was the tears of the Goblin. He could hear Eun Tak’s wish. The girl’s desperate voice found his ears.

‘Someone, anyone, please… Save me…’

Her eyes were squeezed shut as she blew out the candle. The Goblin’s light found her, and he disappeared from the heaven-nor-hell. 

A shadow walked towards her, after she had opened her eyes. A tall man with a weird costume was looming over her with the saddest eyes in the world. Eun Tak stared at the man, who was staring at her, and placed the cake down on the bench. The moment she stood up, the man in the weird costume, strided over to her and embraced her tightly. 

The person he had in his arms was Eun Tak. It was not an illusion or hallucination. He could feel her in his arms. 

Eun Tak stood there in the man’s arms in shock. Why had she not avoided him? Without even looking at his face, she knew that the man was crying. His body was trembling against hers. Tears fell down her face too. Sadness overwhelmed her. As if the sadness she had felt the past 9 years was all because of this man, Eun Tak cried along with him. She soon realised what she was doing and stepped back in disgust at herself. 

“I’m sorry. I get very emotional often. I’m sorry… What in the world am I doing right now… Why am I the one who is apologising? What do you think you’re doing? Why did you hug me? Do you know me? Who are you?”

“I am B.”

The Goblin looked at Eun Tak carefully. This was Eun Tak in her 29’s; she had forgotten him completely. 

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