GRR 72

Jion bit his lip. He had no idea what was going on. The eerie atmosphere still lingered around him, but since he couldn’t see anything, he grew even more anxious.

“Jion, are you alright?”

A familiar voice came from behind him. When he turned around, he saw Yu Chasa radiating the chill of a grim reaper. He, too, held a buwol that looked similar to the one Kwon Chasa carried. It was the first time he’d seen Yu Chasa wield a buwol, and the fact that he was holding one confirmed just how serious the situation was.

“Yes, I’m fine… but I can’t see where Kwon Chasa went…”

“He’s probably chasing after Baek Kitae right now. He told me to stay here with you while he went after him.”

Jion was confused since he hadn’t seen Kwon Chasa contact him, but that wasn’t important right now. The biggest problem was that Baek Kitae had reappeared once again.

Contrary to his bold declaration that he would act as bait, he was nervous. He shuddered as he recalled that moment at the convenience store when he’d lost consciousness because of Baek Kitae.

Just then, Kwon Chasa walked right through the wall and back into the room. Yu Chasa rushed over to him and asked,

“Kwon Chasa-nim, what about Baek Kitae?”

Kwon Chasa shook his head. Disappointed, Yu Chasa slumped his shoulders. Baek Kitae had either gone into hiding again or fled far away. Kwon Chasa looked worried as well.

Jion wanted to help him in any way he could. Only if Baek Kitae quickly departed for the underworld would Kwon Chasa, and he, be able to find even a little peace of mind.

Baek Kitae was already in no state to sort out his own feelings, so Jion’s own methods of persuasion wouldn’t work. Kwon Chasa’s threats would work either.

So, would they resort to force? Jion had never seen them do that before, but since the buwols they carried weren’t mere decorations, they must possess some power he didn’t know about.

No matter how hard he racked his brain, only one solution came to mind.

“Chasa-nim, can’t you just use me?”

The two reapers’ gazes turned towards Jion. Jion continued speaking as he stared at Kwon Chasa.

“Baek Kitae is after me. You said he won’t show up if I’m not here. I’ll lure him out, so when he appears, you can just capture him then.”

“Well… that is the best option for now…”

Yu Chasa bit his lip, he couldn’t rebuke him. Kwon Chasa closed his eyes and sighed.

“Do you happen to know what Baek Kitae wants to do once he possesses your body?”

Jion nodded slightly at his question. He had a feeling that once he heard the answer, Kwon Chasa would get angry and say it was absolutely out of the question, but he thought it would be best to lay everything out on the table.

“…He wants to take revenge.”

“What kind of revenge?”

“Baek Kitae… said he died after being hit by a taxi. So… he’s determined to kill the taxi driver who killed him……”

“And yet you want to act as bait?”

Jion lost his words and bowed his head. If things went wrong, Baek Kitae might commit a murder with his body. Jion bit his lip, he voiced his thoughts in a voice slightly more subdued than before.

“But there’s no other way… since talking to him won’t work anymore…”

But Jion couldn’t even finish speaking. The air in the room had turned icy in an instant.

He stopped speaking and turned his head toward the source of the aura. Baek Kitae had suddenly poked his face through the window with a sinister grin. The fact that his body remained outside the window made the sight even more scary.

Baek Kitae, whom he hadn’t seen in a long time, looked very different on the outside. The whites of his eyes had turned blood-red, and half of his skin was charred black. It was so bizarre that just looking at him felt draining. Baek Kitae stared at Jion and licked his upper lip.

No sooner had Jion hesitated and taken a step back than Kwon Chasa stepped in front of him and tightened his grip on his buwol.

“Yu Chasa.”

“Yes! Understood!”

Yu Chasa quickly reacted and hit the ground to summon a gate. He immediately reached out to grab Jion’s hand, but it didn’t go as planned. Yu Chasa was pushed by the wind created by Baek Kitae and slammed into the wall.

No sooner had a startled Jion turned around than a spine-chilling voice settled into his ears.

“Jion, you have to play with hyung. Where are you trying to go? We made a promise.”

The black mist swirling around Baek Kitae reached out toward Jion like a demonic hand. However, it was blocked by the blade of the buwol wielded by Kwon Chasa and dispersed. In the brief moment this bought them, Yu Chasa quickly regained his composure and summoned the gate again.

“Jion, hurry up and go.”

This time Yu Chasa grabbed Jion’s hand and pulled him toward the gate. But Jion couldn’t bring himself to leave. He was worried that if he went through this door to the reapers’ house, Baek Kitae might escape again. Baek Kitae crossed his arms. He watched the situation unfold as if he found it all amusing.

“Kwon Chasa… ”

“Hurry up.”

Kwon Chasa’s voice was firm as he issued the order to leave. He never took his eyes off Baek Kitae. Unlike usual, he was holding the buwol, now glowing with a white light, right up to Baek Kitae’s face. It looked as though the slightest movement would result in his neck being sliced by the blade, yet Baek Kitae chuckled. There was not a trace of fear on his face.

Jion had no choice but to follow Yu Chasa through the door. Yu Chasa threw himself through first, and just as Jion’s feet were about to be sucked in after him, a black mist emerged from somewhere and wrapped itself around Jion.

Yu Chasa vanished through the gate, while Jion, unable to cross the threshold, floated into the air. A flick of Baek Kitae’s finger caused Jion’s body to stick to his hand like a magnet.

“You’re mine… You can’t go anywhere…”

He muttered in a sinister voice as he pulled Jion toward him. Kwon Chasa swung his buwol and severed the black mist. He caught Jion as he was about to fall to the ground. Jion tightly clutched Kwon Chasa’s sleeve, and managed to stand on his feet. The fabric he held felt as cold as ice, sending shivers down his spine.

Baek Kitae watched Jion and Kwon Chasa with a smirk. He carried himself with a relaxed air, as if he were already certain of his victory.

“Go ahead and do whatever you want. Wouldn’t it be easier to just get rid of me? Why aren’t you doing anything?”

Baek Kitae sneered with a hint of sarcasm and laughed out loud. Jion barely managed to calm down. He looked at Kwon Chasa, who didn’t say a word. Just as Baek Kitae had said, there was no way to know why Kwon Chasa was doing nothing but keeping silent.

At that moment, Baek Kitae tried to lunge at Jion again. But Kwon Chasa hurriedly pulled Jion behind him and swung his hand through the air. Struck by an intangible force, Baek Kitae was pushed all the way to the window. He clutched his stomach, and began coughing. Blood even trickled from the corners of his mouth.

“Fuck… you dare touch me?”

“You’d better come with me quietly now. Before things get even worse for you.”

“Why should I? There are plenty of people I need to kill with my own hands, why should I!”

Baek Kitae suddenly let out a sickening laugh. He wiped the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand and smiled. unauthorized copy He struggled desperately to possess Jion’s body, but each time he was blocked by Kwon Chasa.

Enraged, Baek Kitae began screaming. If Kwon Chasa’s intention was to rile Baek Kitae, he had succeeded. But to Jion, his actions were passive.

Just as he was about to ask, Yu Chasa, who had disappeared behind the gate, reappeared.

“Jion, hurry!”

Jion immediately turned around. No sooner had Jion reached out toward Yu Chasa than Baek Kitae muttered in a relieved voice, it seemed he had made a decision.

“This won’t do, Jion. There are too many things getting in my way. I’ll just find someone else.”

“……”

“But first, I have to kill you. Since you deceived me and even dragged grim reapers into this, you’ll have to pay the price.”

Overwhelmed by Baek Kitae’s aura, Jion froze in place. Yu Chasa tried to pull him back, but Baek Kitae was faster. He mustered all his remaining strength and closed in on Jion. Baek Kitae placed his palm over his heart. Jion tried to step back, but his body wouldn’t move.

With an expression more terrifying than ever before, Kwon Chasa pulled a jeokpaeji from his suit and pressed [Read on]his thumb against the blade of his buwol.

“Ah, no, Kwon Chasa!”

Yu Chasa, who had been trying to pry Baek Kitae away from Jion by his own strength, realized what Kwon Chasa was about to do and cried out in panic. But Kwon Chasa paid no heed. Without hesitation, he moved his hand to cut into his own flesh, then let a drop of blood fall onto the jeokpaeji.

“Baek Kitae.”

Though the amount of blood flowing was not great, the jeokpaeji grew damp by the second.

“Baek Kitae.”

“Kwon Chasa, please calm down…!”

As Kwon Chasa called out the name once more, the blood-soaked jeokpaeji floated in the air. Baek Kitae clenched his teeth and pushed his palm. His pitch black hand began to slowly burrow into Jion’s body.