Even those who believe in the existence of gods would call the police first if some human appeared before them claiming to actually be a grim reaper, yet Cheon Jieon was still helping him quite obediently.
He was probably being cautious because of his relationship with Shin Mua, and in his own way he was moving while calculating the benefits to himself, but even so, it was clear that he was fundamentally soft-hearted and compassionate.
Just look at today. No matter how much Mua had coaxed him, saying that solving the case quickly would be good for him too, he had acted as a driver and played along with things he couldn’t even believe.
Even though his words were harsh every day, Mua could clearly feel his heart wanting to finish things with Shin Mua as amicably as possible, in a way where no one got hurt.
“You… rather than disliking all this talk about the Afterlife and whatnot, you’re afraid that I might suddenly return to the old me, the Shin Mua you knew, and ruin your life again, aren’t you?”
Jieon’s pupils shook violently. It was an expression that nakedly revealed he’d been hit right on the mark for anyone to see. Mua couldn’t help but let out a small laugh. Well, if he wasn’t even thirty yet, he was still underdeveloped.
“Unfortunately, I have no further assurance I can give you right now. To begin with, you said you don’t even believe in superstitions, so no matter what the shaman we met today says, it’ll be hard for you to accept it at face value.”
“……”
“Just wait a little. When I fully resonate with this body, and thus regain even the slightest bit of my abilities, then I’ll be able to show you the evidence you want.”
As he said this, Mua mocked his own situation where he too couldn’t be completely at ease. He was anxious because he didn’t know how much more ridiculous he would become the more he resonated with this human body.
However, he couldn’t childishly show his anxiety in front of a human who was trembling like a frightened child.
Mua straightened his shoulders as confidently as possible and continued speaking.
“Don’t worry too much. The moment you fear most will never come. I promise you.”
Jieon was silent for a moment. No, it was more accurate to say he was in a state where he couldn’t speak.
Shin Mua at times like this truly exuded a tremendous presence. It was the feeling of facing an existence he dared not defy. This overwhelming sensation was something he had never once felt from Shin Mua before the accident.
At the same time, Jieon felt within himself a desperation to believe his words just like this. He wanted to stop thinking complicated thoughts, stop these headache-inducing doubts, and just believe in Shin Mua.
Because if his words were true, his long and arduous misfortune would finally come to an end.
“Hey.”
“Speak.”
But the more he wanted to believe Shin Mua’s words, the more a newly growing thorn appeared in Jieon’s heart.
“If what you’re saying is true… the real Shin Mua… is he really dead?”
“Yes.”
Without any reward for asking with difficulty, he answered firmly. The sight of him giving such an answer with a face identical to ‘Shin Mua’ gave him a strange feeling.
“Did he die because you entered that body?”
“That’s not it.”
“Really?”
“Shin Mua died in that accident that day. I went to collect Shin Mua’s soul and got caught up in it, entering the body after the soul had left.”
“Ah…”
“Regardless of you, me, or anyone else, Shin Mua was already destined to die that day, so you have nothing more to worry about.”
“I see.”
“And you don’t need to feel guilty about welcoming his death.”
At Mua’s following words, Jieon’s eyes widened as he looked at Mua. He was looking at him with eyes as if he knew exactly what he was thinking.
In fact, Mua had noticed Jieon’s inner feelings of guilt. That’s why he thought Cheon Jieon was a guy with a surprisingly soft heart.
Normally he wouldn’t have the slightest desire to become a counselor for some human trash, but since it was true that he was currently receiving Cheon Jieon’s help, Mua decided to become a slightly kind grim reaper just for today.
“What Shin Mua did to you… was truly terrible.”
Mua recalled the scenes from the past he had glimpsed slightly in ‘Shin Mua’s’ memories. Though he had evaluated Cheon Jieon as someone who was born into a chaebol family and raised preciously, his truly remarkable point actually started from that very origin.
Honestly, if Cheon Jieon had properly made up his mind, removing someone like Shin Mua from his life would have been no trouble at all. He had plenty of money and power. There was no way he didn’t know how to deal with Shin Mua, who was poor and had no relatives, without any repercussions.
And yet Cheon Jieon didn’t do that. He himself had tried not to do that. The reason Shin Mua could use self-harm as a means of attack was all possible because Cheon Jieon had a personality that couldn’t stand to watch others suffer.
“How could rejoicing that a victim has escaped from their abuser’s violence be called cold-hearted?”
“……”
“So instead of wasting time on useless guilt, you should worry about living the rest of your life well.”
It was truly strange. It was clearly just the nonsense of a madman, but the moment he heard Shin Mua’s words, Jieon felt as if a huge boulder blocking his solar plexus had disappeared. It was as if his words had saved him.
“Acting like you know things when you said you don’t even remember.”
Because that sensation was strange. Because it kept tickling his heart. Because if he stayed like this, he felt like he might even say the embarrassing words of thanks to Shin Mua.
Jieon stood up abruptly from his seat and spoke gruffly.
“Whatever, just hurry up and go to bed. Tomorrow you better take responsibility and persuade that shaman well. I don’t want to waste any more time here.”
After rattling off his words like a machine gun, Jieon quickly turned and entered his room.
“Ah, why is it so hot in here?”
His cheeks and the nape of his neck were burning—it seemed the hotel heating was running excessively. Anyway, it was all the heating’s fault.
***
“I know you’re there, so there’s no use pretending you’re not.”
The next day, Mua visited the shaman again and sat cross-legged in front of her as he spoke. The shaman just blinked her eyes a few times like yesterday, then carefully opened her mouth.
“Um… Grandma isn’t here right now…”
“Do you want to be completely erased from the Living World?”
But Mua paid no attention and warned again. It wasn’t a bluff. Though he was wearing a human body, Mua was officially investigating a case under Lord Yeomra’s orders. And yet some insignificant lesser deity dared to refuse the orders of the Afterlife’s master? She should expect to no longer be able to play god in the Living World.
“No! No! How could, how could that be? I found Grandma. I found her!”
Mua’s threat made not only the deity but also the shaman tremble. Since the shaman’s immediate livelihood depended on this as well, her survival was also at stake.
The shaman, Seoran, closed her eyes for a moment and trembled, then hunched her shoulders and continued speaking politely.
“But, um… my Grandma says her liver is trembling and she’s too scared to talk directly. If it’s alright with you, how about we conduct the conversation through me?”
“As long as your deity answers promptly, I don’t care who I talk to.”
“Thank you, Reaper-nim! But, um… what brings you all the way to this humble place…?”
Watching this from the side, Jieon barely held back the laughter that kept trying to burst out. It was because the shaman’s attitude toward Shin Mua was indescribably reverent. The scene he was seeing for the first time in his life was so interesting that he almost forgot how complicated his feelings had been last night.
The shaman also looked quite young for a shaman, but Shin Mua sitting before her had an even younger face. Honestly, it was a bit funny to see guys like that using formal and informal speech with each other.
“As you can see, I’m in this situation right now.”
“Oh my, indeed. How did you end up in such, such a state…?”
“It seems someone has touched a taboo…”
“No, what kind of heaven-cursed bastard would do that! Does that bastard not fear the heavens?”
“Don’t make a racket, it’s giving me a headache.”
“Ah, yes.”
The shaman, who had been fuming as if about to flip the table, sat down demurely again and bowed her head.
Is this really okay to believe…? Doubt slowly rose within Jieon, but Mua calmly continued the conversation.
“Anyway, since this body and I haven’t truly resonated yet, there are limits to investigating the case. The biggest problem is that it’s difficult to communicate freely with my colleagues in the Afterlife.”
“Su-surely not…”
“So I was hoping you could help me communicate… what do you think?”
The shaman’s face turned pale.
***
“Will that shaman really come to help you?”
In the car on the way home, Jieon asked. Mua opened his mouth without taking his eyes off the view outside the car window.
“Unless that little thing’s liver has jumped out of its belly, it won’t dare to refuse.”
“You’re no different from a complete thug.”
“Hmph.”
Having no particular rebuttal to Jieon’s attack, Mua just snorted, pretending not to be affected. Honestly, it was a bit thug-like, but actually the Afterlife was always like this, so there was nothing particularly special about it.
“What if she just disappears completely?”
“Unless she’s going to give up being a shaman entirely, she’ll eventually get caught anyway, so it’s impossible.”
“That’s no joke.”
“Humans need to know to fear the Afterlife.”
“Hey, did you know to fear the Afterlife when you were human?”
That was clearly a joke. In Jieon’s own way, he had said it without much thought, wanting to lighten the mood somehow. But regardless of his intention, at that moment, the atmosphere in the car froze cold.
