“Hey… are you okay?”
Early in the morning, Jieon asked upon encountering Shin Mua in the living room. Genuine concern was evident in his voice. Not because his feelings toward Shin Mua had improved. It was just that Shin Mua’s condition was bad enough that such a voice came out unconsciously.
“What would be wrong with me?”
Not knowing what state he was in, Shin Mua blinked his large eyes and retorted.
“You really look like a dead person walking around right now.”
“You’re consistently rude.”
“No, rude or not, just look at yourself, will you?”
He was serious. If their relationship had been even slightly better than now, he would have already raised his hand to feel his forehead. He looked that unwell.
Suchan’s voice asking if Shin Mua hadn’t lost a worrying amount of weight came to mind again. Sure enough, though he was clearly wearing clothes he’d worn before the accident, looking at him now, both top and bottom had room as if he’d borrowed someone else’s clothes.
His face was pale and at some point the area under his eyes had become haggard, making it suspicious whether he was becoming a Grim Reaper while still alive.
No way, he’s not really becoming a Grim Reaper, is he?
At the terrible imagination flashing through his mind, the back of his neck went cold. Not knowing what others were thinking, Shin Mua scoffed.
“I’m perfectly fine, so there’s nothing to worry about.”
And Shin Mua passed by Jieon with a face that looked far from fine. Right then, Jieon grabbed Mua’s wrist.
“Hey, you by any chance…”
The suspicion he’d had for several days filled his mind again. He wanted to confirm he wasn’t still just eating plain rice. But before he could even ask the question, he had to let go of the hand that had grabbed him.
The body temperature of Shin Mua touching his palm was excessively cold. Cold enough to wonder if a human’s skin could be this cold.
“You, why, why are you like this?”
Startled, Jieon stuttered like a fool. If it weren’t for Shin Mua’s nonsense, he might have just passed it off thinking his body temperature was unusually low, but after hearing talk of Grim Reapers and possession, even that didn’t feel ordinary.
“Why are you picking a fight again from the morning? My head is already ringing, so don’t bother me.”
He said he was fine earlier, but now his head is ringing. While Jieon hesitated at words he didn’t know which rhythm to follow, Mua raised his hand to hold his forehead and continued in a voice full of fatigue.
“A human body is truly troublesome beyond measure. Why is it so dizzy and… nauseous… Ji…”
“Hey… hey, Shin Mua. Are you okay?”
Mua’s words gradually slowed and his voice grew quieter. No matter how you looked at it, it wasn’t a normal state. When the flustered Jieon took a step toward him.
“It’s annoying, so dizzy…”
Shin Mua’s staggering body crumpled to the floor.
***
“This is really unbelievable…”
Jieon, who had been quietly staring at Shin Mua lying in the hospital bed, let out a hollow laugh and muttered in disbelief.
“Malnutrition, does that make sense?”
The reason he collapsed was actually malnutrition. They said almost no proper nutrients had been supplied. At the doctor’s opinion that he seemed to not even have drunk water properly, Jieon was speechless.
A person from a third-generation chaebol family having malnutrition. Even if fake news about mistreatment in a chaebol family was generated right now, there would be nothing to say.
It wasn’t just malnutrition. They said he lacked sleep too. No, does sleep deprivation make sense for someone who didn’t work and only rested at home every day?
“……”
Suddenly, the image of Shin Mua suffering from sleep paralysis in front of the black shadow came to mind. It was natural to think that maybe he was actually being tormented, though he’d called it his colleague. Maybe he couldn’t sleep because he was afraid of sleep paralysis.
Judging from Shin Mua’s words and actions so far, he had some pretense. He acted tough and acted like he was great all by himself, so maybe he couldn’t say he couldn’t sleep because he was afraid of the black shadow.
“At this rate, I’m going to become the crazy one first, seriously.”
With a deep sigh, Jieon raised his hand and started hitting his head. He was annoyed at himself for constantly seriously assuming his nonsense was true at some point.
At the same time, it was also true that he hadn’t found evidence that his words were complete lies so far, so his mind was too confused.
“Mmm…”
Then, Mua, who had been asleep without regaining consciousness for several hours, woke up with a small groan. Jieon quickly bent down and approached the bed closely to check on Mua, as if he’d never been annoyed.
“Are you conscious?”
Even after barely opening his eyes, Mua couldn’t easily open his mouth and slowly looked around. He seemed unfamiliar with this space.
“It’s the hospital. You just collapsed at home earlier. Do you remember?”
Even at Jieon’s explanation, Mua still had a dazed face as if his soul was gone. At that moment, Jieon felt a huge anxiety wash over him.
What if, no way. Shin Mua’s memory didn’t return, did it? The Shin Mua from before the accident didn’t come back, and all the memories of when he insisted he was a Grim Reaper weren’t completely erased, were they?
His palms instantly became drenched with cold sweat. It felt like his throat was being choked and he couldn’t breathe. While hoping Shin Mua would say something, he simultaneously hoped he wouldn’t say anything.
An eternity-like silence passed, and finally Mua opened his mouth.
“My younger sibling…?”
“Younger sibling?”
That was completely unexpected. Younger sibling? Shin Mua was someone who had no siblings, let alone any relatives.
“My younger sibling… my younger sibling will be waiting alone at home, I have to go to my sibling now. I need to go home, I…”
Mua flailed his arms struggling to get up from the bed. Because of that, the IV line inserted in his arm shook and blood began to flow backward. The flustered Jieon pressed down on his body tightly and shouted.
“Hey, hey, what’s wrong with you!”
“My younger sibling is alone at home, I’m sorry. I’m really sorry…”
The moment he heard those words, Jieon froze like someone struck by lightning. This wasn’t Shin Mua’s speech pattern. Not the Shin Mua from before the accident, nor the Shin Mua from after the accident.
Another speech pattern and atmosphere he’d never heard before. Could it be not memory loss but multiple personalities? His mind was becoming a mess, and in the midst of it all, the voice of Shin Mua repeatedly saying he was sorry was pitiful, making him feel really strange.
“Why are you really like this! Won’t you snap out of it?”
Because he hated that pitifulness, because it somehow poked and hurt a corner of his heart for no reason, Jieon unnecessarily shouted loudly and squeezed his shoulder painfully tight.
“You don’t have a younger sibling! Are you really crazy?”
“Ah…?”
Mua slowly looked at Jieon with a dazed face. Tears fully gathered in his gentle, large eyes dropped down one by one along his pale cheeks.
“What younger sibling would a Grim Reaper have! Did you dream it?”
“A dream? Ah, a dream…”
Mua blinked like someone truly waking from a dream and looked around again. Jieon desperately added.
“You earlier this morning, huh? You said you were dizzy and collapsed at home, so now we’re at the hospital. You’re Shin Mua, but you’re actually not Shin Mua and you’re a Grim Reaper who suddenly possessed a human body. I’m right, aren’t I?”
Jieon himself didn’t know why he was so desperate. Was it because he was afraid he’d return to the Shin Mua from before the accident, who did his utmost to ruin his life? Or was it because the face that sobbed about having a younger sibling and being sorry was pitiful and heartbreaking—he didn’t want to think about it now.
Only, ridiculously, very desperately, Jieon simply desperately hoped he would return to the Shin Mua who spouted nonsense about the Afterlife and such.
Mua, who had been carefully mulling over Cheon Jieon’s words, soon let out a very deep sigh. Then he removed Jieon’s hand gripping his shoulder and opened his mouth.
“Impudent fellow. How dare you lay hands on my body?”
“Ha…!”
Only then did Jieon step back with a hollow laugh. Relief washed over him and all the strength drained from his body, making his vision spin.
“So… this is a hospital.”
“Yeah, it’s the hospital.”
Mua also seemed drained after regaining consciousness and lay back down on the bed. Jieon rubbed his palms, damp with cold sweat, on his thighs and deliberately continued speaking as if nothing had happened.
“By the way, do you know why you collapsed?”
“How would I know that?”
“They said malnutrition, you crazy bastard. Does that make sense?”
“……”
“Don’t tell me you’re still just eating a few spoonfuls of plain rice even now?”
At Jieon’s question with narrowed eyes, Mua rolled his eyes around before answering in a voice that had shrunk considerably.
“Didn’t I already say? I hate eating.”
“Ha, I’m really going crazy.”
Jieon sighed while running his hand through his hair. He’d hoped it wasn’t true, but it was real. Now he understood why he’d rapidly lost weight and finally collapsed from malnutrition.
He needed to eat better than usual to recover his body, but instead he’d drastically reduced his eating, so his body couldn’t possibly endure.
“Even when possessed, where did such a crazy idiot come from?”
Jieon muttered as if for him to hear. Honestly, even Shin Mua couldn’t say this was wrong. In this world, does it make sense for someone who came into a human body saying they’d solve a case to get malnutrition because they don’t eat?
If such a scatterbrain was common, the Afterlife couldn’t possibly function properly.
An awkward silence came to the hospital room where a commotion had occurred. Even the shameless Shin Mua seemed to have nothing to say.
