Translator: Wan ED/PR: Personal Ghost
⟨Chapter 19⟩
He expected the gate to be closed, but unexpectedly, the door was slightly ajar. But it should have been locked when the pair of owners came out.
While thinking it was strange, Yu Dan entered inside.
A well-tended garden.
In the corner was a dog-house. He glanced there without thinking and was surprised. Tied on a chain a white puppy was laying limp. He thought it was dead, but it sensed a presence and weakly wagged its tail.
In front of it stood completely empty food and water bowls. Even though a fountain and dog food sack were just on the side, it seemed like no one fed or gave it water.
He hated such people the most.
When he roughly filled the bowls with food and water and turned around, something white stuck to the edge of the gate caught his eyes.
It seemed to be a paper.
Was it what the child was talking about?
He didn’t feel any wicked energy. Yu Dan plucked out the paper. Looking at it closely, there was a drawing on it. In addition, it was familiar.
“What!? It’s not a ghost! It’s just…”
His yell stopped on its own.
Because he recalled the meaning of that drawing.
Yu Dan blankly stared down at the drawing.
The things the child said flashed in his mind one after one.
— Grandpa ghost stands at the entrance, protecting it and yelling at me. Things like ‘You can’t enter this house!’
— They now act like they can’t see me at all. Even so, in the past they at least greeted me.
At last, he realized.
Why didn’t he notice it before?
It was the very thing the fox yokai talked about. Really, he was misled by what his eyes saw and didn’t see the truth.
Yu Dan placed the painting in its original place and looked back. At some point the puppy completely emptied the food bowl and was wagging its tail towards Yu Dan.
“That’s right, huh? You…”
He looked at it for a while and then released the chain, making up his mind. When he stepped outside of the gate holding the white puppy, the child ran towards them with great joy.
“Is that the dongsaeng you talked about?”
“Sorry. I thought that if I said it’s a dog, You wouldn’t come with me. But it’s really my dongsaeng.”
Looking at the puppy so skinny his ribs were sticking out, his joy turned into sorriness.
“I guess they really didn’t feed it. That’s too much.”
The child stretched out his hand to stoke it. But Yu Dan unknowingly stepped back.
“Why? Why can’t I touch it?”
The child looked at him with confused eyes and asked.
“When was the last time you saw this dog?”
“I don’t know. A week ago…?”
“Didn’t you say that you couldn’t enter your house all this time? Then where did you sleep? Where did you eat?”
The child’s face was filled with confusion.
“I don’t remember a thing. How could it be?”
“What is the last thing you remember?”
“The day when I went to school… I studied… and then the school ended… I wanted to go home quickly and ran through the crosswalk and…”
With an ‘ah’ the child’s words stopped.
He slowly raised his small hand and touched his face as if trying to feel it. Tears streamed down.
“Then I- I…”
“It’s okay.”
Yu Dan spoke:
“The thing stuck on the gate is a Bodhidharma painting. It’s a painting that chases away ghosts. The old man that shouted at you that you can’t enter when you tried to enter the house was the very Master Bodhidharma. To protect people Bodhidharma stops the souls from entering the house. However, in your eyes he looks like a scary ghost. Because you think you’re a living person. From that moment everything got twisted, right?”
The child said that clearly. The stepmother said he should disappear forever and put a painting on the door. She probably felt something. A shadow peeking around the door. The faint footsteps heard around the doghouse in the middle of the night. So she put a Bodhidharma painting just to be sure….
And then a certain bad-tempered male student yelled at her that the dead ex-wife’s son can’t enter the house and is wandering because of that?
Of course she would be frightened.
Yu Dan looked down at the kid.
It was difficult.
Wouldn’t it be better to tell him that everything was made up by a stepmother who was a wicked shaman? Because he could at least attempt to somehow solve it. However, how the hell was he supposed to do that, he had no idea. His head hurt.
“Anyhow, you’re a part of supernatural, so… you aren’t someone who met with the strange things wandering around this world.”
He mumbled as if trying to explain to himself rather to a child.
“You’re that very supernatural thing. Even though you went to the afterlife, you couldn’t forget about this dog and came back. Is that right?”
“… Yes.”
The child nodded meekly with tears dripping down.
“This punk is the only one who played with me when I was lonely. The only punk who listened to my stories. So I kept worrying. If I’m not there, no one will take care of it. So I walked and walked again a long way to return.”
“However you can’t keep coming back like this, you know? The moment you leave for the first time, you can’t keep coming back and forth again and again. It’s not good for you.”
“Then what should I do?”
“I don’t know. Probably… find a new owner?”
“I’m the owner.”
The child cried out.
“However, you’re dead. You aren’t able to look after it any longer.”
Perhaps it was thankful for a meal. The puppy was calm. Hugging it, he aimlessly walked into the darkness of a sleeping neighborhood. The child, who was sniffing as he followed him, at some point took a lead and looked around.
“It has to be a very good home. The family has to love all dogs, feed them well and don’t tie them up on things like chains. Where such house… Ah, there!”
He stopped in front of a house with green gates. As if he was reading something, he kept blinking.
“This house. They moved a few days ago, but they want to buy a new jindo[1] puppy. They perfectly meet the conditions. The uncle and aunt like dogs very much and there are also kind noonas there. What is it called? Ah, right, it’s karma[2]! That’s it!”
“Good, then.”
There was a small gap under the gates. He tried to push it through it, but the puppy moaned and tried to not be left behind. It held its ground with all its four and looked up towards the child.
“I heard that white dogs can see ghosts.”
The child crouched down in front of the gates.
“Whitey-ah, this is your home from now on. Hyung-ah has to go, so you have to listen to the new owners-nim words well and live well.”
He stretched out his hand, but took it back and only said his goodbyes with his mouth.
Did it understand?
The puppy let out a small ‘kung’ sound and its tail dropped as if in resignation. Walking slowly, it curled up in front of the stairs and laid down.
“It’s very kind.”
The child’s eyes couldn’t leave the puppy.
“So it can live very well, right? Even without me.”
“That’s right.”
“Then I’m done.”
As if a heavy baggage was lifted, he let out a deep sigh.
“It seems I can go now. For real. Thanks to You hyung, my mind is at peace now.”
After bowing his head in expression of thanks, he turned around straight away.
In the darkness, the silhouette of a child wearing a backpack became distant. His footsteps were weary and tired, but on the other hand, he seemed lighthearted.
One guest was sent off.
Yu Dan stood for a while, thinking about this and that, while the night wind blew.
Then he hurriedly returned to the Pagoda Tree Street to put those thoughts aside.
All other shops closed their doors and on the dark street only Banwoldang was emitting a delicate light. Perhaps because of it, something was fluttering around the entrance. At first, he thought it was a moth, but when he looked closely, it was a butterfly. Yu Dan waved his hand to go chase it away as it suddenly looked like it wanted to approach.
“Go away.”
He opened the door and entered.
Silver Plum Blossom abruptly stood up hugging menus, but seeing who was it, she sat down again.
That girl wasn’t alone.
“I had no idea where it all went wrong.”
The fox yokai unpacked and put things on the table. Books, paper, a thick brush, another different thick brush, brush holder…
“Ah, an inkstone.”
He clicked his tongue and was about to climb up when he at last discovered Yu Dan.
“Aren’t there two inkstones here?”
“Besides those inkstones.”
“Hell, how many do you plan to bring down here?”
“It’s late so I thought You would just go home. Right, did you receive and sent away the guest well?”
He asked playfully, while changing the topic, but then his smirk disappeared.
“Why did You bring another afterlife guest?”
“What?”
Yu Dan looked back.
Just before the door closed, a gap formed for a second, and the butterfly from a moment ago entered like a shooting arrow, and then immediately flew towards the white-haired girl yokai, who was sulking in the corner.
Silver Plum Blossom abruptly stood up. The menu in her arms fell down with a clatter. The butterfly hovered around the girl, whose eyes turned round as if she couldn’t believe it, as if it was happy. The wings danced without care.
I wanted to see you.
It seemed to be saying with its whole body.
The cheeks of the small tree yokai blushed. For the first time, her two eyes lit up with the brilliance of starlight. With such dazzling face, she earnestly stretched her hand out towards the butterfly.
「Me too…」
Beak Ran stood up to block it.
However, it was too late.
Silver plum blossom petals swirled like a storm. The body of the girl yokai turned into petals and scattered in all directions. It was done in the instant. As he came back to his senses, only twinkling flower petals were all around.
Yu Dan asked blankly.
“Where did she go?”
“She left.”
Somewhere from the petal storm the fox yokai’s reply.
“She used up all her vitality. She ended up vanishing.”
“Why…? Ah, right. You told her not to bloom flowers.”
Even so, trading the last of her remaining energy, she managed to bloom in the end. Into such a flower storm.
Although he met her for the first time tonight and didn’t even have a one proper conversation with her, it felt as if someone hit him on the head.
“What a fool. If you’re told not to do it, don’t do it. I had no idea. I thought it was just an ordinary butterfly. I shouldn’t have let it in.”
“It’s done.”
The flower petals sunk down and piled up into a neat pile. Beak Ran brushed off the silver plum blossom petals that piled up on his head.
“I guess it was fate. If they earnestly wanted to meet each other, nothing would stop them. He missed her so much, so he flapped his tired wings without rest and flew the long way from the afterlife.”
“Afterlife, afterlife guest…”
Yu Dan mumbled.
“So it was an afterlife guest? A guest that comes from the afterlife?”
“That’s right. They’re also called Ghost World Visitors[3]. Do You understand why I didn’t tell You their name? Because the name says it all.”
Baek Ran walked up to the table.
Among several books laying a top of it, there was also the 『Annals of Past and Present Bizarre Occurrences』, which recorded all supernatural matters known up till now. The petals left by Silver Plum Blossom covered the book, but Baek Ran gathered all of the silver petals on one side and unfolded the book.
“Now I’ll explain. When the life and death separates, there is no turning back. From that moment on each one embarks on a different path.”
“Okay. Because living people are living people and dead people are dead people.”
“That’s right. However, the missing heart remains forever. Not only in the world of the living. Even for the people who departed to the afterlife, the people they left behind would be deeply engraved in their hearts.”
As he said that, he handed him a book.
“There is such a story among the legends.”
Yu Dan received the book and sat down. There was a painting in which two young brothers sat together affectionately and read something.
“There were certain brothers who loved each other deeply. But when a boat capsized, only the younger brother survived. Although the hyung died, he couldn’t forget about the younger brother, who he left alone in the world of the living and came to visit him every night. The people couldn’t tolerate it and finally sprinkled chicken blood and hung a golden rope to chase hyung far away. They did all of it because they were worried that the hyung may take the younger brother with him, but…”
“In the end the dongsaeng died too, right?”
“That’s right. As much as the joy of meeting again was great, the sadness of being separated twice was too difficult for a young child to bear. Even so, because the brother might have been able to reunite in the afterlife again, no matter what happened to separate them, the two would be happy.”
Baek Ran stretched his hand out and swept the soft petals. As his eyes narrowed, even if it was just for a moment, he seemed to be smiling.
Not matter what separated them, the two would be happy…
Would they? Would they also be?
“Therefore, the people, who return from the afterlife because someone or something was deeply engraved in their hearts, which they left behind in the living world are called Afterlife Guests. They walk a long way to meet with what they miss.”
“That’s it?”
“That’s it.”
“However, aren’t they part of the supernatural?”
“Don’t You know? Not every supernatural thing is harmful. Rather, it’s more dangerous to think like that. Because the people in the story also thought this way, they chased away the supernatural and ended up killing the younger brother too. The afterlife guests aren’t evil. They just come back because they miss someone or something. At most their harm is that even though they are already dead, they don’t recognize it. When they’re like this, they look exactly like living humans.”
“Right. That brat really looked exactly like a living person. If he was even a bit strange, I would recognize it straight away.”
“Not at all.”
The fox yokai smirked.
“He was strange from the beginning. Even so, You didn’t notice.”
“From the beginning?”
“What did that child do the moment he first entered?”
Yu Dan traced back his memories.
“The moment he entered, he was frightened, he screamed and made a fuss, right? He said there is also a ghost here… Ah, that’s right, eh! That child saw a yokai! A normal person shouldn’t see her!”
“That’s correct. As you know, in ordinary people’s eyes the yokai aren’t quite visible. As the one possessed a clear mind and didn’t reveal her appearance, he should just see a small tree that seemed to be a bonsai, not the plum blossom tree yokai girl. Even so, the moment that child entered, he saw Silver Plum Blossom and was startled. That point should have felt strange straight away. Because when one sees other souls, yokai or monsters, that means they already aren’t in an ordinary state.”
“However he could have had an ability to see ghosts from the beginning. Like me.”
“If that was the case, there is no way that he would make a fuss after seeing a yokai, right? Because he should have been familiar with something he sees so often.”
He had nothing to say. Yu Dan fell into thoughts.
“That’s right, huh? That’s the loophole I missed, huh? In fact, there were other strange things. He said that he had walked for so long his legs hurt, but the house was very close. But I didn’t know what that meant at the time.”
“Looking at it now, You missed all of the clues, eh? Even so, it’s great that You finally realized. How did it happen?”
“Because I saw that painting. I looked at the Bodhidharma painting that brat said he was so scared of and realized late.”
“Ah…”
Baek Ran was amazed.
“What? Why are you surprised?”
“So You figured it out pretty quickly, eh? You even know the fact that Bodhidharma painting is for chasing away ghosts? Where did You obtain such knowledge?”
“That…”
The replay he was about to give without thinking got stuck in his throat.
Because the memory of that time was so vivid.
“Your mother told You, eh?”
“How did you know?”
“It’s written on Your face.”
The fox smirked again.
What was so funny?
He turned his gaze to the book, but couldn’t concentrate. Something weighed on his chest without letting go. Finally, he turned his head again.
“There is something I’m curious about—.”
No. He wasn’t curious, right? Anyhow, there was something he wanted to ask. Yu Dan glanced at Baek Ran, and continued to speak.
“Anyhow, it seems I just had a logical thought.”
“Must be an illusion.”
“Can you not decide immediately and listen first? It’s really logical. I’m talking about those afterlife guests. You said they come because they want to see someone or something. Then, if they don’t come, it means that they don’t want to see, right?”
“Ah…”
How awkward! The fox yokai nodded with such an expression.
“Isn’t it natural? When You don’t have even one thing hanging on Your heart, what would You come back to such a long way? That’s a good guess, eh?”
“I was recognized. But somehow I don’t feel even a bit happy.”
Baek Ran held a fan used to dry the letters without a word. Looking at that expression, Yu Dan squinted his eyes.
“Are you trying to suppress laughter?”
“If it was up to me, I would wish to just end this conversation on that, but…”
While saying that, Baek Ran shrugged.
“To be fair, I have no choice but to add something, eh? In fact, even if one wanted to come back, there are many more cases when they can’t. Because this world isn’t such a kind place. Even if they wish to come to visit with all their heart, they often are unable to come. Because they would need a miracle to meet several conditions. The people like afterlife guests, the people, who could come back to see the face they wanted to see again, are seriously lucky cases.”
“Is that so?”
Yu Dan’s gaze turned to the book again.
“How complicated.”
“Did I satisfy Your curiosity?”
“Roughly?”
Baek Ran picked up a brush. He wrote a few letters and then abruptly asked.
“Did You hope for Your deceased mother to come back for You at least once?”
*~*~*
[1] jindo — a breed native to Korea.
[2] karma — it refers to a border concept of 因緣, the cause and effect relationship between all things, but for simplicity’s sake this translator decided to use karma here, though it would be only a part of this concept.
[3] Ghost World Visitors — 황천객 (Hwang-cheon-gaek 黃泉客), it’s literally a translation of ‘Afterlife Guest’ into Chinese.
Translator’s note: I have nothing funny to say because of that ending. Damn it.
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