Yubin was understandably confused. Seeing her friend so flustered made Yeon-woo feel awkward. She had covered Yubin's eyes because she'd heard it was bad for the living to see a reaper, but now that she thought about it, Han-gyeol was a being only she could see.
“Oh, no, it's nothing. I was just happy to see you. Haha—”
“You're really okay, right?”
“Huh? Oh, yeah! Of course I'm okay. See?”
Yubin tilted her head at Yeon-woo's awkward smile but let it go, deciding it was nothing important. She began gathering the empty banana milk cartons lined up on the windowsill.
“Just leave them—I’ll clean them up.”
“With your arm still messed up? Don't be ridiculous. But how did you drink all of this in half a day?”
“Yeah, I know. Haha.”
“People are going to start calling you the banana milk ghost—”
'No kidding. It's because someone here has been drinking them nonstop.'
Yeon-woo shot Han-gyeol a sidelong glare, then took off her slippers and climbed onto the bed. After finishing the cleanup, Yubin sat in the folding chair beside the bed and looked at Yeon-woo. Yubin felt relieved. Yeon-woo was her only friend, but Yubin was Yeon-woo's only friend too, and she was grateful that her friend had returned safely from such a serious accident. The two of them had met at an orphanage as children. Abandoned by their parents, they had grown up relying on each other. Though there had been countless other children, they had been so close that they could confide everything only in each other.
“Are you hurt anywhere besides your arm?”
“No. I think I have a small cut on my forehead, but I'm fine.”
“It's a miracle you're okay.”
“I was just lucky. But you must be exhausted after work. Why did you come all the way here? Go home and get some rest.”
“Who else would come if I didn't? I can deal with being tired anytime, but if something had happened to you, I wouldn't have known what to do.”
Yubin's words touched Yeon-woo, but they also made her feel guilty. She felt as if she'd caused Yubin unnecessary worry. They exchanged messages almost every day and spoke on the phone at least once a week, but because they were both busy with work, it had been a very long time since they'd seen each other in person. Talking with Yubin made Yeon-woo feel a little more at ease. Unlike Yeon-woo, who was clumsy and headstrong, Yubin had a calm personality. Whenever they were together, Yeon-woo often felt 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 saved you.” Han-gyeol clearly didn't like what Yubin had said. He folded his arms and shook his head. The sight was somehow so funny that Yeon-woo nearly burst out laughing.
“How long do you have to stay in the hospital?”
“About a month?”
“That’s pretty long.”
“Tell me about it. I'm already going stir-crazy, and damn the afterlife…”
“The afterlife?”
“Huh? Oh, no. I just misspoke. Haha.”
Yeon-woo had nearly told Yubin about Han-gyeol. They had no secrets between them, so the words had almost come out naturally, but the sharp stare she felt from beside her barely stopped her. Even if it was Yubin, she would never believe that Yeon-woo had met a reaper and made a deal with him. Yeon-woo herself was still stunned after experiencing it firsthand; to a third party, it would only sound like the ravings of someone who had suffered a head injury in an accident.
“Go before it gets dark—”
“Okay, I get it. Then I'll come again tomorrow.”
“No, really, you don't have to. Your company is far from here.”
“Do you need anything, then? Since the accident happened so suddenly, I figured there might be a bunch of things you need. 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 drop off your laptop, then. Call me right away if anything happens. I'm really okay, so don't feel bad—just call me. Got it?”
“Yeah, thanks. Be careful going home. Sorry I can't walk you out—”
“Listen to this patient say something so useless. Get some rest. I'm leaving.”
After Yubin left, Yeon-woo was alone—or, more precisely, alone with Han-gyeol—and fell into deep thought.
“Why does our human look so miserable again?”
“Don't ask. I'm so distraught I feel like I'm about to die.”
“You didn't get his contact information?”
“I did. 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 just want to die. Just take me with you.”
“What are you talking about all of a sudden?”
“I think it would be better if I just died. No matter how much I think about it, this is impossible.”
“Did you forget? You can't cancel the contract halfway through.”
“Can't I just take whatever that penalty is?”
“Are you sure you can handle the consequences?”
“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 stood with both feet planted on the floor. He cleared his throat twice, then composed himself. 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. Do it.”
“Seo Yeon-woo, Seo Yeon-woo, Seo Yeon—”
“Wait!!”
“Whoa! What is it?”
“Ha… Now that I think about it, I don't think I can go just yet. I haven't even said goodbye to Yubin.”
“Humans are so fickle.”
As if he'd expected this from her, Han-gyeol casually picked up his banana milk again. Yeon-woo had tried everything all day to stay alive, but now that she was actually considering dying, she felt wronged all over again. She grabbed at her innocent hair in frustration.
“About that guy. I heard he's receiving trauma therapy. Would it be easier to get closer to him if I found out what happened?”
“Who knows? How are you going to find that out?”
“Exactly. That's what I don't know. Should I pretend to be crazy and ask his doctor?”
“I guess I'll need to reserve one more seat on the ship to the afterlife for a passenger departing in a month.”
Ugh, I ought to just smack him. Yeon-woo found Han-gyeol insufferable. Her irritation rose sharply, but she couldn't show it and could only seethe inwardly. For now, she decided to set aside the fact that Seowon had a girlfriend. Even putting that aside, there was still a problem. First, she had to become close to him. To get close, she had to meet him, and to meet him, she had to contact him. But she had no excuse to reach out. He was clearly a patient; she couldn't exactly call him out of the blue and say she wanted to grab a beer. She couldn't come up with any excuse at all, and she was about to explode.
“He'll think it's weird if I contact him out of nowhere, right? Should I try anyway? But what do I say? This is driving me crazy.”
Muttering to herself, Yeon-woo repeatedly picked up her phone and set it back down. After she had been doing this for dozens of minutes, Han-gyeol finally couldn't stand watching anymore. He walked over to Yeon-woo and snatched the phone from her hands.
“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. But what am I supposed to do if I can't?”
“You've got nothing to lose, do you? And frankly, you're someone who's already been given a date to die. What is there that someone like you can't do?”
Han-gyeol was right. If she did nothing, nothing would happen. Right. She was only going to contact him. What was the worst that could happen? Thanks to Han-gyeol, she somehow felt a little braver. Encouraged by his words, Yeon-woo decided to contact Seowon. She looked again at the business card in her hand, only to realize—it was gone. She searched around, thinking she must have dropped it, but the card was in Han-gyeol's hand. Holding the business card, Han-gyeol was busily tapping away at Yeon-woo's phone screen.
“What are you doing…?”