GRR 63

It hadn’t been long since Jion first met Kwon Chasa. And realizing his feelings had changed into something special was a even more recent development. So his feelings couldn’t be that deep.

He thought feelings were supposed to grow with time, but the heart didn’t always operate in proportion to how long it had held an emotion. Sometimes, it was like a bolt from the blue at the most unexpected moment, it embedded itself deep within the heart.

Jion sighed, the convenience store was enveloped in an eerie feeling. He turned his head and saw Baek Kitae passing straight through the glass door.

‘Stay away from him. I don’t have a good feeling about this.’

The moment Jion saw him, he remembered what Kwon Chasa had said. He swallowed hard, and goosebumps ran up on his arms. He knew he needed to keep his distance from Baek Kitae, but facing him so directly left him flustered and unsure of what to do. To make matters worse, he was currently on the clock and couldn’t simply walk out of the store.

As Jion took a step back, Baek Kitae was suddenly standing right in front of him. He was so quick, as if he had teleported.

“Hi, Jion.”

“Hello…”

Jion greeted him with a smile, and tried his best to act natural. Baek Kitae smiled back. If it had been shortly after they first met, Jion would have been able to return that bright smile, but now that suspicion had taken root, the corners of his mouth trembled.

‘If a ghost can conceal their true intentions or ulterior motives so imperceptibly that you don’t notice anything strange, it means they have already become a vengeful spirit or are close to becoming one.’

If what Kwon Chasa said was true, he couldn’t afford to let his guard down. Jion clenched his hidden fists beneath the counter and feigned calm.

“Hyung, you were at school yesterday…?”

“Yes, I was.”

“Why… did you come by?”

Baek Kitae laughed.

“I was just wandering around because I was bored. [visit our site]I happened to see the school and went in, and there you were.”

“Oh… I see….”

Since he spoke as if it were nothing significant, Jion found himself at a loss for words. When he failed to keep the conversation going, Baek Kitae maintained his smiled and floated slightly into the air. He began to roam around the convenience store, and occasionally stopped in front of the shelves to look at the items.

Jion could only steal glances at him, caught in a state of indecision. Should I contact Kwon Chasa? Telling him about the situation would benefit both of them. However, he couldn’t bring himself to act rashly. He feared that Baek Kitae might notice.

I should have just told Kwon Chasa, or even Yu Chasa, from the very beginning.

Jion mulled over his belated regrets. He tried to discreetly pull his phone out of his pocket, but Baek Kitae, who had been inspecting the cup ramen shelf, suddenly lunged toward him. He stared into Jion’s face.

“Jion.”

“Yes…?”

“Could you give me your hand for a second?”

Jion swallowed dryly. His hands were already tense, and as he clenched them tighter, his fingernails dug into his palms. Baek Kitae had asked for his hand once before. He remembered how he had been overcome with sudden exhaustion and fallen into a death-like sleep afterward. He knew he shouldn’t give it to him. But he had no plausible excuse to refuse.

“Oh, well… my hands are really dirty from organizing the stock earlier–”

As he avoided his gaze while making vague excuses, a strong gust of wind blew from nowhere and pushed Baek Kitae back. The wind didn’t affect Jion or the store; only Baek Kitae was sent reeling. Startled, Jion looked around, but there was no one else there besides the two of them.

Jion turned back to Baek Kitae, and saw him wearing a terrifying smile. Baek Kitae looked out beyond the glass door for a moment before turning his gaze back to Jion. His throat went dry as his gaze met Baek Kitae’s.

“Someone keeps interfering with our meetings.”

It was a chilling voice that made one unable to help but be wary. Jion bit his lower lip, unable to understand what he was saying. It was just him and Baek Kitae here right now. The convenience store was deserted, with not even a single customer around. He couldn’t figure out who was causing the disturbance.

Baek Kitae beamed at Jion with a piercing gaze. The dread Jion’s felt made his heart hammer against his ribs.

“Next time, don’t bring useless things along, Jion. Let’s meet just the two of us.”

“…….”

“See you again. Then… Hyung will make sure we have a fun time.”

Baek Kitae vanished from sight after leaving those cryptic words behind. Jion tried to decipher the meaning behind them, but it only brought unpleasant questions, so he eventually gave up on thinking too much about it.

Instead, he opened the door and stepped outside to check the terrace and the surrounding area. However, there wasn’t even a trace of anyone having been there.

“…….”

Could it have been Kwon Chasa?

As soon as the thought crossed his mind, Jion looked up at the sky. The dark blue night sky was peaceful, as if nothing had happened. His shoulders slumped in disappointment as he headed back inside.

He failed to notice the pitch-black [Read on]silhouette holding a buwol on the railing of a nearby commercial building.

***

Several peaceful days passed. Jion spent his time without seeing Kwon Chasa, Baek Kitae, or any other ghosts. The only thing slightly unusual was the sudden bouts of chills that pierced through to his very bones.

Every time it happened, Jion would look around with a glimmer of hope that Kwon Chasa might have arrived. But each time, he was met only with frustration.

He spent his time staring at his phone, which remained silent without a single message from Kwon Chasa. On his way home, he kept his senses on high alert, wondering if the reaper might be nearby. This made him walk so slowly that a trip that usually took fifteen minutes turned into forty, earning him a worried lecture from his grandfather.

Jion finally regained his senses when he remembered the gift Choi Heechan had asked him to send to his mother.

After packing the gift, which had been sitting safely on a corner of his bookshelf, Jion headed to school. He decided to use his lunch break to visit the post office. After shipping the parcel to the address Choi Heechan had provided, he bought a sandwich and some milk from a convenience store and returned to campus. Since the classroom was bound to be noisy, he took a seat on a wisteria bench in a corner of the playground.

Jion chewed on his sandwich while staring at the field. He habitually pulled out his phone. With an expressionless face, he tapped the screen a few times and looked over the messages he had exchanged with Kwon Chasa. Since the man preferred calling over texting, and meeting in person over calling, there were very few traces of him left on Jion’s phone.

Is he not even coming to give me the water anymore? He talked all that big talk about responsibility and duty, [visit our site]so why the sudden lack of interest?

Jion pouted.

Is he avoiding me because he’s seen right through me and feels burdened by my feelings? They wouldn’t give a grim reaper that kind of ability. That would be just too unfair…

Jion squeezed the plastic sandwich wrapper in his hand. Even though he had thought it was better not to see him, he realized he kept coming back to the same point like a broken record, thinking only of Kwon Chasa.

He regretted coming here. He should have just stayed in the noisy classroom. Jion sighed and stood up to head back.

“Uh….”

Right then, a familiar figure caught Jion’s eye. The silhouette, which blurred into the surroundings, belonged to a ghost. Moreover, the blood-stained white T-shirt and jeans, the big build, and the twisted right arm, it was definitely Baek Kitae.

Jion held his breath and froze. Baek Kitae floated in the air while looking around.

…Why is he at school again? Did he just drift over here while wandering around today, too?

Jion was debating what to do when he spotted Im Juseong and Go Youngjae walking slowly across the field while eating ice cream. He couldn’t hear what they were talking about, but their laughter was loud. Drawn in by the sound, Baek Kitae began to approach them.

Because of the distance, Jion couldn’t make out his expression. Coupled with his unpredictable behavior, Jion was paralyzed with indecision. Suddenly, Baek Kitae’s body was shrouded in a black mist, and he slammed into Go Youngjae and Im Juseong one after the other.

The moment Baek Kitae passed through them, both of them collapsed simultaneously. With a smirk, Baek Kitae vanished instantly.

Jion gasped and ran across the field. His face had turned deathly pale. His mind was a mess, but his priority was checking on the two of them.

“Go Youngjae! Im Juseong! Please… please wake up!”

Other students nearby and a few teachers who noticed the commotion finally arrived. Two teachers hoisted Youngjae and Juseong onto their backs and ran toward the school building.

Another teacher who arrived late asked Jion several times if he was alright, as he sat there on the ground, pale and shocked. But Jion couldn’t answer. He simply couldn’t hear what he was saying.