“Yeah, tragic, isn’t it?”
Lay rubbed his eyes over and over. He even slapped both cheeks alternately and pinched his arm until it hurt, hoping this was all a dream. How could someone who had died appear alive again when the corpse was still right beside him?
“No, no. I’m sure you’re just a demon pretending to be my friend. Go away. Don’t talk to me.”
“What’s wrong with you? I’m Junho! Tell me what I can do to make you believe this is really me.”
Lay stared blankly at the figure, still convinced it was impossible. “No, go away. I’m not afraid of ghosts, but I won’t accept you appearing in my friend’s form. Go away, go away!” Lay kept trying to drive the spirit away, ignoring him.
“I know you like Disney characters. You’ve watched every one of their movies without missing a single one, and you don’t like superhero characters.” It was one fact after another in an attempt to convince Lay.
“You don’t have a girlfriend because you always get nervous whenever you meet a woman. You even like sleeping with your shoes on after changing into your boxers and undershirt. You don’t even care if you sleep from morning to morning after you ‘crash’ following a night shift—”
“That’s enough, enough! How do you know all my embarrassing secrets?”
“I told you, I’m Junho,” he insisted. Lay raised one hand and tried to touch the figure, but he couldn’t. It really was supernatural.
But a few seconds later, Lay finally became convinced. His knees went numb as he realized he was truly seeing Junho alive again.
“Junho, why—why did this happen?” he sobbed, leaving Junho even more confused. He didn’t have much time.
“Lay, Lay, wake up. Don’t be like this. It won’t solve anything—”
“How could you leave Mom Maya, the kids, and me, bro? How could you be so heartless?”
Junho couldn’t do anything. The man he had thought was so gallant turned out to be such a loser.
“Lay! Listen to me!”
Lay fell silent, still frozen in place with his knees drawn up. “Lay, my family’s situation isn’t good. Someone deliberately ordered that truck to crash into my car. And I’m sure my wife and child aren’t safe right now.” Junho explained something he was certain Lay didn’t understand at all.
“What can I do, bro?”
Lay looked at Junho seriously. “Lay, marry my wife. Please protect her. Go to my family’s lawyer and ask Anton to check the car’s dashcam, as well as the CCTV footage from the campus parking lot and the roads I traveled.” Junho explained each step, but Lay still looked confused.
“Bro, I can help you with this, but not by marrying Dr. Maya. This is crazy!”
“This is the best way, Lay. Think about it, please!” And the apparition vanished in an instant.
Maya entered the room and was deeply moved when she saw Lay sitting with his knees drawn up. “Dr. Lay, what are you doing sitting like that? I know you were very close to my husband. I’m truly grateful,” Maya said humbly.
“N-no, Doctor. I love Junho like family. He’s like a member of my own family.”
“All right, you can go home, Dr. Lay. Junho’s funeral is this afternoon. If you’d like to come, please do.” Maya gave Lay a faint smile.
After saying goodbye, Lay retrieved his car from the basement. He had never imagined he would be able to see a ghost. He was even puzzled about where this ability had come from.
Lay went home to his apartment. It was only five in the morning, so he still had time to rest. After cleaning himself up and drinking some milk, he was about to lie down on the couch when another voice startled him once again.
“Lay!”
“Oh my God!! H-huff, huff! Y-you?!”
“You can still sleep? Did you forget what I told you earlier?” Junho scolded him.
“Junho, Dr. Maya told me to rest before going to your funeral later. Why do you have to bother me?” Lay was a little annoyed. After crying and grieving for several hours, he was exhausted.
“W-what did she say?”
“What? Oh—Dr. Maya thanked me for grieving so much. She said I was a good friend.”
Hearing Lay’s words, Junho broke into a small smile. There might have been some regret in it. “Maya has never been wrong about people,” he said calmly.
“So, will you marry Maya?”
“WHAT?!” Lay’s questioning tone rose sharply. “Bro! Please, don’t go off the rails when you’re asking me for help. Marriage isn’t something to play around with!” Lay was starting to stand by his principles, even though he had never talked about marriage commitments before.
Junho seemed disappointed to hear those words from Lay. “But you’re the only one I trust, Lay!”
Lay felt frustrated. He ran his fingers through his perfectly non-itchy hair, then grabbed his pillow and pressed it over his face.
“Bro!” Lay pulled the pillow away. “Do you have any idea? I was already devastated about losing you, but then you show up like this and ask me to marry your wife. Does that sound reasonable to you?!”