GRR 44

“Do I really have to explain things to you like I’m teaching a child every single time?”

“……”

“Well, you are a child.”

He murmured with a blank expression, then suddenly grabbed Jion’s hand.  Kwon Chasa’s hand was so big that it completely enveloped Jion’s. It was warm, so Jion could tell that he was currently in a human form. He tensed as he felt Kwon Chasa hold his hand a little tighter.

Just as he was getting fed up with himself for constantly trying to read too much into this warmth and touch…

“If you don’t want to hear that you’re bad at studying, then remember it.”

His remark instantly cooled the heat rising within Jion. He had wondered what he meant, but it turned out he was scolding him for not taking his hand immediately every time he summoned the gate.

“I’m good at studying.”

“Oh, really?”

“You don’t believe me.”

“Hmm… Well, let’s just say that’s the case. You’re a good student.”

Kwon Chasa clearly didn’t believe a word he said. The enigmatic smile playing on his face was proof enough. The more Jion frowned, the higher the corners of his mouth rose, and he desperately wanted to pinch them.

No matter how he looked at it, it was unfair. Why did he have to go through these ridiculous emotions because of that guy? Just as Jion was grumbling to himself, Kwon Chasa pulled him toward him and threw himself through the gate.

When he opened his eyes, he found himself in an emergency exit that looked much the same as the one before. But the smell of disinfectant told Jion that he was in a different place. If his guess was correct, this was probably a hospital.

“What are you doing? Come on.”

Before he knew it, Kwon Chasa had moved away from Jion and climbed a few steps. Jion clenched the hand he’d been holding and followed him up the stairs. Not long after, instead of stairs leading upward, a steel door appeared. It was the top floor of the building.

When Kwon Chasa opened the door, a garden-like space with lush green grass and plenty of trees came into view. Just as Jion had suspected, the people sitting on the benches were all wearing hospital gowns.

“There he is.”

Following the direction of his nod, Jion turned his gaze and saw a ghost lying in an area with a butterfly sculpture. It was Choi Heechan. There was blood on his left side.

Jion suddenly felt a chill from his side and turned his head [visit our site]to find the surrounding air had grown cold and still; he could no longer sense any warmth coming from Kwon Chasa. He had transformed back into a grim reaper. Kwon Chasa walked toward Choi Heechan.

Since he had brought him here, he could have let him handle it at least once, but it seemed he just had to take the lead himself to feel satisfied. Jion sighed and decided, as a open-minded person, to let it go. He hurriedly followed him and approached Choi Heechan.

“Oh? A different ahjussi came today.”

Before Kwon Chasa could even say a word, Choi Heechan muttered cheerfully, then sat up after spotting Jion following behind him. He looked at Kwon Chasa and Jion with his big, curious eyes, then fixed his gaze on Kwon Chasa.

“Are you a grim reaper?”

“That’s right.”

“Hmm, I knew it….”

Jion was actually taken aback by the calm voice. Choi Heechan was neither afraid nor surprised. He turned his gaze toward Jion this time.

“Ah! Are you the hyung who can see ghosts?”

“Huh…?”

Have I become a celebrity among ghosts now? Jion was surprised that Choi Heechan, a complete stranger, knew who he was.

“The grim reaper who came a few days ago told me. He said a hyung who can see ghosts would come later, and that he’d grant my wish and help me go to the underworld.”

“Yu Chasa must have said something unnecessary.”

Kwon Chasa clicked his tongue. Yu Chasa must have brought that up to try to appease Choi Heechan. Thanks to that, he was spared the trouble of explaining everything in detail. Jion glanced at Kwon Chasa, who had stepped forward before him to close the distance between him and Choi Heechan. He leaned against the butterfly sculpture with his arms crossed.

“So, what do you want?”

Choi Heechan didn’t flinch at the icy tone of his voice; he just kept grinning. His cheerful face was full of mischief, and when his gaze met Jion’s, his eyes widened even more.

Why is he smiling like that before making a request…? Just as Jion was starting to feel a little restless, Choi Heechan spoke.

“Hyung, play with me.”

Jion’s eyes widened at the unexpected request, and Kwon Chasa frowned. It was the kind of remark that inevitably drew a negative reaction from Kwon, who couldn’t stand laziness and hated wasting time. Jion was taken aback as well. After all, this was the first time a ghost had ever asked him to play.

“Play… with you?”

“Yes!”

He suddenly remembered that Choi Heechan had an older brother seven years his senior. That playful smile clearly showed that he was the youngest sibling who had been raised with love.

“He can’t do that.”

Before Jion could even respond, Kwon Chasa said with a cold expression. Before anyone realized it, he was holding a menacing buwol in his hand. Choi Heechan did not even blink upon seeing the terrifying blade that made one flinch just by looking at it. Jion was flustered by the battle of wills between Kwon Chasa and Choi Heechan.

What was surprising was that Choi Heechan wasn’t even afraid. Jion had thought of him as someone who always smiled cheerfully, but it seemed he wasn’t a pushover.

“If you have time to loiter in the living world, you’d better hurry up and go to the afterlife.”

“It is already late anyway, so what difference does it make if it is a little later? It is not like I will suddenly fall into hell, right?”

Since he was human, the grim reaper could’t do anything to him, but Choi Heechan might actually end up in hell for being so insolent. Jion noticed the way Kwon Chasa adjusted his grip on the buwol, ready to strike at any moment, and hurriedly stepped in front of Kwon Chasa to block him. Just as the blade was about to touch Jion, Kwon Chasa quickly pulled the buwol back.

“Ah, okay. I’ll play with you.”

Perhaps because his memories of Kang Seoyoon were so vivid, he felt that if Choi Heechan set his mind to it, he could fly away at any moment. He had to stop that from happening before it was too late.

“Hurry up, promise me. Once we’re done playing, you’ll go with him. Okay?”

As Jion held out his finger with a pleading look, Choi Heechan stuck out his tongue at Kwon Chasa, then grinned and hooked his finger through his.

Thus, a deal was struck between Jion and Choi Heechan. Even if it did leave a furrow between Kwon Chasa’s brows.

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“Haa…”

As soon as Jion sat down on the sofa, he slumped over like a limp-limbed creature. Between stopping by the flower shop near the columbarium first thing in the morning, making a trip to Jongno, and meeting Choi Heechan, he was completely drained. Kwon Chasa frowned disapprovingly as he watched Jion, who was so exhausted he could barely keep his eyes open.

It was only natural. He had impulsively made a promise to a ghost and had no choice but to grant Choi Heechan’s request. Since it looked like he was going to waste his time again, he couldn’t possibly be happy about it.

“Are you really going to play along with this?”

“I promised, so I have to keep my word…”

Jion straightened his posture and stretched his arms as he answered the slightly cold question. Just as Kwon Chasa sighed with an impassive expression, Jion recalled what Choi Heechan had said.

‘I’d already bought tickets to go to the amusement park with my friends on my birthday, but I couldn’t go. Please go with me, hyung.’

A ghost who wants to go to an amusement park. I guess I should be relieved he’s so cheerful despite everything… Jion chuckled as he recalled Choi Heechan, who called him “Hyung” with such familiarity.

Since he could move around, going to an amusement park shouldn’t have been a difficult task, but when Jion asked why he wanted him to go with him, Choi Heechan replied:

‘What’s the fun in going alone?’

‘I guess you’re right…’

Jion couldn’t say a word to Choi Heechan, who was excitedly rattling off the names of rides one after another. He had a taste for rides that made your hair stand on end just hearing their names, not content with the Gyro Drop, or Viking, he even mentioned the Twist and the Hurricane. He didn’t seem to notice Jion’s face growing paler by the minute.

After listening to Choi Heechan talk for quite a while, by the time they arrived at Kwon Chasa and Yu Chasa’s house, Jion felt as if he’d been thoroughly beaten up by the rides. All he could think about was how he wished he could just pass out and fall asleep right then and there.

Jion quietly glanced over at the silent Kwon Chasa. His displeasure was written all over his face. After all, Choi Heechan had asked them to go to an amusement park with him, it was only natural that he wouldn’t be thrilled.

“…We’ve decided to go tomorrow, so it’s not that late.”

This was Jion’s plan: since the topic had come up, he would go to the amusement park with Choi Heechan tomorrow. If he dragged it out until next weekend, it was obvious the impatient Kwon Chasa would start nagging him.