Yeon-woo shoved the business card deep into her jacket pocket and returned to her hospital room. The first person she saw when she opened the door was her one and only friend, Yu-bin, who had come to visit after finishing work.
“Yu-bin.”
“What the—where did you go? You weren't here, and I was starting to worry.”
The moment Yeon-woo saw Yu-bin's face, she felt tears welling up. She had come back from the brink of death only to spend the entire day surrounded by one unbelievable thing after another. From Han-gyeol, who had appeared claiming to be a reaper, to Seowon, whom she'd met because she was bound by a strange deal, everything had been unfamiliar. Meeting someone familiar for the first time made all the tension drain from her body. But the comfort lasted only a moment. When she spotted Han-gyeol floating in midair, Yeon-woo jumped in shock, went over to Yu-bin, and covered her eyes without a word.
“Yeon-woo, what's wrong?”
Yu-bin was understandably confused. Feeling embarrassed by her friend's bewilderment, Yeon-woo realized she'd covered Yu-bin's eyes because she'd heard it was bad for a living person to see a reaper. But now that she thought about it, Han-gyeol was only visible to her.
“Oh, no, it's nothing. I was just so happy to see you. Haha.”
“You're really okay, right?”
“Huh? Oh, yeah! Of course I'm okay. See for yourself!”
Yu-bin tilted her head at Yeon-woo's awkward smile, but she let it go and began gathering the empty banana milk containers lined up on the windowsill.
“Just leave them. I'll clean them up.”
“With your arm still messed up? Don't be ridiculous. But seriously, how did you drink all of these in half a day?”
“Oh, I know. Haha.”
“It's not like anyone could mistake you for the banana-milk ghost—”
'No kidding. Someone's been guzzling them down.'
Yeon-woo shot Han-gyeol a sidelong glare, slipped off her slippers, and climbed onto the bed. After finishing the cleanup, Yu-bin sat on the folding chair beside the bed and looked at Yeon-woo. She felt relieved. Yeon-woo was her one and only friend, too, and she was grateful that her friend had returned safely from such a serious accident. The two had met as children in an orphanage. Abandoned by their parents, they had grown up relying on each other. Even surrounded by countless other children, they had become close enough to share everything with one another and no one else.
“Is your arm the only thing that got hurt?”
“Yeah. I think I got a small cut on my forehead, but I'm fine.”
“Thank goodness.”
“I just got lucky. But you must be exhausted after work. Why did you come all the way here? Go home and get some rest.”
“If I don't come, who will? I can deal with being tired anytime, but if something had happened to you, my whole world would've gone dark.”
Yeon-woo was touched by Yu-bin's words, but she also felt sorry. She felt as though she'd made her friend worry for nothing. They exchanged messages almost every day and talked on the phone at least once a week, but since they were both busy with work, it had been a long time since they'd seen each other in person. As she talked with Yu-bin, Yeon-woo felt a little more at ease. Unlike Yeon-woo, who was clumsy and impulsive, Yu-bin had a calm personality. Whenever they were together, Yeon-woo often found herself becoming calmer, too.
“But seriously, the heavens were looking out for you. Right?”
“Huh? Oh, yeah. I guess so.”
“It wasn't the heavens. I was the one who saved her.” Han-gyeol shook his head with his arms crossed, clearly displeased by Yu-bin's comment. Yeon-woo thought he looked so funny that she nearly burst out laughing.
“How long do they say you'll have to stay?”
“About a month?”
“That long?”
“Tell me about it. I'm already going crazy being cooped up here, and damn this afterlife…”
“The afterlife?”
“Huh? Oh, no. I just misspoke. Haha.”
Yeon-woo had almost told Yu-bin about Han-gyeol. They had no secrets from each other, so the words had nearly slipped out naturally. Luckily, the sharp stare she felt beside her stopped her in time. Even Yu-bin would never believe that Yeon-woo had met a reaper and made a deal with him. Yeon-woo was still stunned despite having experienced it herself. To a third party, it would sound like the ramblings of someone who'd been badly injured in an accident and hit her head.
“Go before it gets dark.”
“Okay, I got it. I'll come again tomorrow.”
“No, really, you don't have to. Your office is far from here.”
“Then do you need anything? You probably need all sorts of things after getting hurt so suddenly. I'll leave them here on my way to work tomorrow.”
“Need anything? Uh… Oh! My laptop! I have work to do, but it's at home.”
“Got it. I'll bring your laptop. If anything happens, call me right away. And I'm serious, I'm fine, so don't feel bad—just call me. Got it?”
“Yeah, thanks. Get home safe. Sorry I can't walk you out.”
“A patient shouldn't waste her breath saying things like that. Get some rest. I'm heading out.”
After Yu-bin left, Yeon-woo was alone—or, more precisely, alone with Han-gyeol—and fell deep into thought.
“Why does our human look like she's about to attend a funeral again?”
“Don't even ask. I'm so upset I'm practically at death's door.”
“You didn't get his contact information?”
“No, I got it. His business card.”
“Then what's the problem?”
Han-gyeol looked genuinely unable to understand. Yeon-woo pulled the business card from her pocket. The moment she looked at it, she let out a sigh. Even though the eleven-digit phone number was clearly printed on the card, actually contacting him was no easy matter.
“Reaper, I think I'll just die. Just take me with you.”
“What are you talking about all of a sudden?”
“I think it'd be better if I just died. No matter how I look at it, this is impossible.”
“Did you forget? You can't break the contract midway.”
“Can't I just take whatever penalty or whatever comes with that?”
“Are you sure you can handle it?”
“That might be better.”
“If that's truly what you want, should I call your name?”
Yeon-woo nodded with an expression of total resignation. Han-gyeol shrugged, set down the banana milk in his hand for a moment, and planted both feet on the floor. Then he cleared his throat a couple of times, preparing his voice. Before calling her name in earnest, he glanced at Yeon-woo. She had her eyes squeezed shut, and the sight amused him.
“I'm really going to do it.”
“Yeah. Go ahead.”
“Seo Yeon-woo, Seo Yeon-woo, Seo Yeon—”
“Wait!”
“Whoa! You scared me! What?”
“Ugh—now that I think about it, I don't think I can go just yet. I haven't even said goodbye to Yu-bin.”
“Humans are so fickle.”
As if he'd expected this from her, Han-gyeol casually picked up his banana milk again. Yeon-woo had done everything she could all day to stay alive, but the moment she actually considered dying, the unfairness of it all got to her again, and she began tearing at her hair.
“About that person. I heard he's receiving trauma treatment. Would it be easier to get closer to him if I found out what kind of trauma it is?”
“Who knows? How are you going to find that out?”
“Exactly. That's what I don't know. Should I pretend I'm crazy and ask the doctor?”
“I suppose I'll need to reserve one more passenger for the boat to the afterlife a month from now.”
Ugh, that reaper was so infuriating. Yeon-woo was furious with Han-gyeol. Her irritation rose to a fever pitch, but she couldn't show it and could only fume inwardly. For now, she decided to set aside the fact that Seowon had a girlfriend. Even if she put that aside, there was still a problem. First, she had to become friends with him. To become friends, she had to meet him, and to meet him, she had to contact him. But she had no excuse to reach out. He was obviously a patient; she couldn't exactly text him saying she suddenly wanted to grab a beer. She couldn't find a single reasonable excuse and was about to explode.
“Would he think it was weird if I contacted him out of nowhere? Should I try anyway? But what would I say? This is driving me insane.”
Yeon-woo muttered to herself as she repeatedly picked up and put down her phone. After watching this for several dozen minutes, Han-gyeol finally couldn't stand it anymore. He walked over to Yeon-woo and snatched the phone from her.
“What are you doing? Give it back.”
“Are you planning to stay up all night like this?”
“Then what am I supposed to do?”
“What do you mean, what are you supposed to do? You just take the plunge. If you sit around doing nothing, nothing will ever come to you.”
“I know that. But what am I supposed to do if I can't?”
“You've got nothing to lose, right? Put bluntly, you're someone who's already been given her date of death. What could you possibly be afraid to do?”
Han-gyeol was right. If she did nothing, nothing would happen. Right. All she had to do was contact him. It wasn't a big deal. Thanks to Han-gyeol, she somehow felt braver. Encouraged by his words, Yeon-woo decided to contact Seowon. She looked again at the business card in her hand—and then realized it was gone. She searched around, thinking she might have dropped it, but the card was in Han-gyeol's hand. Holding the card, Han-gyeol was busily tapping away at Yeon-woo's phone screen.
“What are you doing…?”
She had a bad feeling. That feeling became reality the moment Han-gyeol handed her phone back. Han-gyeol wore a strangely satisfied expression, while Yeon-woo stared back and forth between him and the phone, looking utterly horrified.
“You seriously sent it like this?”
“Yeah. Why?”
“You insane reaper!”
Yeon-woo nearly threw her phone down before grabbing a pillow and hurling it at Han-gyeol. The pillow flew toward him, but with a flick of his hand, it dropped straight to the floor just inches from his face. Driven completely up the wall, Yeon-woo began throwing whatever she could get her hands on. A tissue box, medicine packets, and a blanket flew through the air, but Han-gyeol dodged every one without exerting the slightest effort. He had used Yeon-woo's phone to text Seowon, and the message was absolutely outrageous. The unbelievable contents left Yeon-woo utterly aghast.
“I help you, and this is how you repay me?”
Han-gyeol clicked his tongue as if he couldn't understand her reaction. Yeon-woo, exhausted from wasting all her energy, panted and pulled a miserable face.
After Seowon's hospital appointment, he enjoyed a light date outdoors with Hye-jin before going back to her place together. Seowon sat down on the couch as though he were used to it, while Hye-jin walked over to the bar in the corner of the living room and took out two wineglasses.
“Babe, want some wine?”
“Wine for a brewmaster? Isn't that a little questionable?”
“Want a beer?”
“I'm kidding. Pour me a glass.”
Hye-jin took one of the bottles displayed on the shelf. She removed the cork with practiced ease and poured the wine into the glasses. She handed one to Seowon, kept the other for herself, and sat beside him. Seowon smiled as he accepted the glass, and soon the two wineglasses clinked together.
“I keep telling you, your lipstick's too dark.”
Seowon said this after the toast, when he noticed the red lipstick mark on Hye-jin's glass.
“Who are you trying to look pretty for?”
“You say that, but I look pretty even when I wear less.”
“Liar.”
“Hey—I'm not lying.”
“Be honest with me, babe. Am I not attractive as a woman?”
“What are you talking about? Who could possibly be more attractive than you?”
“But when you look at me, you don't think, ‘I really want to hold her’?”
A faint sigh escaped Seowon's lips. The smile he'd worn all along vanished in an instant, replaced by an apologetic expression. Watching Seowon fidget with his glass in silence, Hye-jin gave him a bitter smile.
“Aw, so you do feel bad? I'm going to end up cheating on you at this rate.”
“I'm sorry, Hye-jin.”
“Whatever.”
She'd said it like a joke, but Seowon knew she meant it.
“That gloomy look is kind of cute, but I still like your smile better. What did the professor say at your appointment today?”
“Nothing much. I'm working on it.”
“You're not working on it for some other woman, are you? Because I sure can't feel any effort.”
“I'll try harder.”
“I'll let you fool me again this time.”
“Thanks.”
Ding. The moment their conversation ended, Seowon's phone rang. He picked up the phone from the table and checked the message.
“Hello! I'm Yeon-woo. I'm in Room 107 at Taeyang University Hospital. I miss you, Seowon, so I really, really hope you'll come see me tomorrow! Good night~♥”
Seowon had to read the bewildering message once, then again. At first, he wondered if it had been sent to the wrong person, but when he saw the name Yeon-woo, he realized it was the woman he'd met at the hospital that afternoon. Her blunt demand that he come see her was absurd, yet somehow entertaining, too. She had acted so awkwardly when they'd spoken face-to-face, but the message she'd sent with a heart at the end was more than enough to pique Seowon's curiosity. A smile spread across his face as he read it, and Hye-jin's brow furrowed slightly while she watched him.
“Who is it at this hour?”
“Huh? Oh, just someone I know a little.”
“‘Someone I know a little’ sounds pretty dangerous.”
“No, it's nothing. She's really just someone I barely know.”
“I like seeing you smile, but watching you smile at someone else's text while you're with me isn't exactly great.”
“Oh, sorry, sorry.”
Feeling Hye-jin's eyes on him, Seowon flipped the phone facedown and set it back on the table without replying. Then their wineglasses clinked together once more. As he took a sip of wine, Seowon barely managed to suppress a laugh when Yeon-woo's message came back to mind. It was absurd when he thought about it, but it was intriguing, too. It was the first time in a very long while that he'd felt such excitement.