“And so I said, ‘Samshin Grandma, you need to stop with such flattering words or I’ll get the wrong ideas’ and she said-“

“You don’t have to keep lying about having met her,” muttered a bored Grim reaper before taking a big gulp of beer.

Solar tried to stop her smile as she saw Wheein practically bare her teeth at the other man like a mad puppy. 

“One day I’m going to introduce her to you and you’re gonna feel so stupid when I’m right and you’re wrong!”

Solar reached forward and placed a hand on Wheein’s shoulder, stopping the tipsy girl from starting a fight. 

“Unnie, why did you make me come here?”

“Because it’s our monthly mandatory Grim reaper drinking party.”

“But the more senior grim reapers always get us too drunk and then make all of us underlings pay!”

Wheein emphatically gestured at the end of the long table at the senior grim reapers who had little by little started to leave, putting their invisible caps on and disappearing into the night.

“Well I guess we just have to not be the last ones to leave then.”

“But I want to drink more, Unnie!”

Solar rolled her eyes.  The work they all did was tough and she knew that most of her colleagues would be considered alcoholics if they weren’t all technically dead…But still!  Couldn’t Wheein control her love for alcohol just a bit better?

“Fine, I’ll pour you a shot of soju.”  Solar reached for the shot glass and green bottle when the other girl’s hand clamped on her wrist.  She gulped and glanced at Wheein’s wandering eyes and too wide grin. 

“Unnie, it makes me look bad if I drink alone! Drink with me please… or I’ll shot gun the entire bottle!”

“Well it wouldn’t kill you if you did that.”

“Unnie!”

“Also there’s a ton of people here.  Can’t you drink with them?”

Wheein batted her eyes like the question was some sort of insult.  Then she sniffled and began to sadly pour her own shot, grabbing the soju bottle with a swift hand.

“Unnie doesn’t love me so she’s making me drink alone…”

“Wheein-ah…”

“Unnie…”

Solar let out a big sigh and glanced down at her empty bowl of tofu soup.  She may have done some horrible sin in her past life but she certainly still had a soft heart. 

“Alright, alright. Just one shot.”

Solar should have known better when she watched on as Wheein giddily took a shot of soju and plopped it into a nearly full glass of beer. She definitely wasn’t going to have just one shot.

———————————

Solar woke up with her cheek hot against the cool wood of the table and a stern hand shaking her awake.

“Hey, your friends left! Aren’t you going to pay for all of this?”

“Huh? What?”

Solar’s eyes fluttered open and she could still feel the effects of the alcohol when she jerked up too quickly.  Glancing quickly to her left and right, she realized that none of her fellow grim reapers were there except for her.  Even Wheein was gone. And there was no way that Solar had enough money to cover the pile of bottles, fried chicken, and beer pitchers. 

If she sold her soul to a loan shark, it wouldn’t be too bad since she was technically dead, right?

“I can pay for her.”

Solar squinted as she saw someone a little blurry come into her line of vision, grey coat on and dark pants.  Silver hair? That must mean…

“Oh god anyone but her!” groaned Solar loudly as she burrowed her face in her hands.  If she couldn’t see Moonbyul then maybe she’d disappear. How did this girl even find her?

“Solar-ssi,You should have called instead of having Wheein contact me on your behalf. I thought we’d be on better terms than this. We even had an amicable coffee date last week.”

Solar just let out an obnoxious sigh.  She settled for burying her face in her arms, pointedly ignoring the sound of Moonbyul sliding her credit card and signing for the obscene amount of purchases. 

“We’re closing soon so you should tell your friend to get out of here.”

“Alright. Thank you.”

Solar pretended she was one of the pitchers on the table.  Maybe if she was one of those, no one would notice she was there.  Like when she was wearing her invisibility hat.

“Solar-ssi?”  A warm hand gently squeezed her shoulder.

“You can’t see me,” Solar muttered through grit teeth.

“Well I don’t see how that’s possible.  You’re so pretty that I couldn’t not see you.”

“Would you stop saying stuff like that?!” Solar lurched up, eyes blazing as she glared up at Moonbyul.  Even though things were still a little hazy, Moonbyul was close enough that she could see the bits of amber and almost gold in her eyes as she tilted her head a bit in amusement like Solar was the funniest thing in the world.

The warm hand on her shoulder gave a gentle squeeze.

“I’ll stop saying things like that if you let me take you back to your apartment.”

Solar squinted at Moonbyul, sizing up how on earth she could trust a goblin.

Moonbyul rolled her eyes.

“I can hear you, you know.”

Goblins were mind readers?

“No you’re just drunk and saying everything you’re thinking. No filter.”  Moonbyul’s fond smile came back and Solar couldn’t help but sit up and reach for the other girl’s face.  Thoughtlessly she messed up those stupidly perfect bangs. 

“I don’t know why you’re so persistent about falling me around like some sort of puppy,” she muttered as she sat back and looked at Moonbyul’s messed up hair with a grin. 

The other girl just sighed and with a few shakes the hairs fell back into place. Of course.

“I can’t make myself stay away.”

“Oh god if you say another greasy thing again I’m going to throw up.”

“Well if you let me take you back to your apartment, then I’ll stop bothering you.”

Solar sighed and rested her head on her arms like a pillow, squinting at the strangely reasonable Moonbyul.

“I don’t want you to stop bothering me forever though. Just no more greasy comments.”

Moonbyul’s mouth twitched at that and she reached forward, just grazing the top of Solar’s head with tentative fingertips.

“You don’t want me to leave you, hm?”

Solar yawned.  Things were getting blurry again and she just wanted to sleep.

“Sometimes.  When you’re not… being annoying.”

“Well that’s… good to know.  But Solar-ssi, do I have your permission to get you out of this restaurant as comfortably as possible?”

“… sure.”

And suddenly Solar was pulled from the edges of sleep by surprisingly strong arms supporting her back and legs.  Her eyes snapped open and she wrapped her arms around Moonbyul’s neck as she squealed.

She tried to pointedly ignore how she instinctually burrowed her face into Moonbyul’s neck as she felt the other girl stride right out of the restaurant as if she was as light as a feather. 

“What are you doing? What if someone see us?”

Solar glared at the side of Moonbyul’s face but she was just smiling as she looked up at the night sky. 

“I haven’t carried a woman like this in a very long time.”

She blinked as she felt an unfamiliar burning urge to make Moonbyul simultaneously talk more about this woman and also shut up about it.  Solar settled for yawning and resting her face against the warmth of Moonbyul’s neck, letting the rhythmic steps of the other girl begin to lull her back to sleep.  But she couldn’t help the curiosity that despite her closed eyelids. 

She’d blame the alcohol.

“How long?”

“Hm?”

“H-how long since you’ve carried a woman like this?”

Even though her eyes weren’t open, she could hear the practically smug smile in Moonbyul’s voice.

“I’m not used to you prying about my past.”

“I’m not prying! Just… making conversation. Since we’re becoming friends and all.”

“Friends?” Solar could hear the undeniable teasing tone in Moonbyul’s voice.  She chanced to open an eye and saw the other girl looking down at her with a lopsided grin.  The proximity and the warmth made Solar a little dizzy so she turned her face back into Moonbyul’s neck. 

“Almost nine hundred years.”

“O-oh.” Solar hated how she felt unmistakable relief flood her.

“I think you’re heavier than she was though.”

She slapped at Moonbyul’s shoulder, causing the other girl to stagger off a bit to the right and run into a wall.  Solar tried to ignore how she had turned to make sure her back hit the building instead of Solar’s legs. 

“Ouch, if you treat me like that I’ll just have to drop you,” Moonbyul growled.  But there was some part of Solar that knew it was all in jest.  Instead Moonbyul just leaned her back against the building wall, holding Solar tightly bridal style, with the strangest look in her eyes.  She swallowed at the intensity of the gaze and without thinking she blurted out the first question that came to mind.

“What happened to that girl?  The one you carried?”

Moonbyul’s jaw clenched and Solar instantly regretted the question.  Those light eyes grew dark and the warm grip holding her tightened.  Her gaze was unbearably intense but Solar couldn’t stand to look away.  So she stubbornly bit her lip and looked right back.

“How do people get turned into goblins?” Moonbyul asked levelly, not betraying a flicker of emotion.

Solar swallowed.  Even though she definitely wasn’t sober she felt that her response to this question was very important.  Attempting to compose herself, she raised her chin a bit in almost defiance. 

“They anger heaven so much so that they can no longer be unnoticed.”

“I was such a monster that it was impossible for heaven to not look at me. Covered in sin, I can hardly imagine how heaven let me go on for so long. Murdering as much as I did.”

There was a trace of bitterness, shattering Solar’s perception of the goblin as an easy-going, almost careless god.  The brittle tone aged Moonbyul’s voice in such a way that she almost felt guilty for saying anything. 

“So it was expected for someone such as myself to become the thing I am now.  Forbidden from death and forced to walk the earth for all eternity.”

Moonbyul suddenly pushed off from the wall and began walking again, the measured and deliberate footsteps causing Solar to rest her head against the crook of Moonbyul’s neck. 

“That girl.  Who was the last girl I held for centuries… she committed a terrible crime that heaven deemed even worse than mine.”

Even though Moonbyul was no longer looking at Solar, the burning gaze she was giving their surroundings made her tongue feel heavy and reluctant to ask more questions.

But some part of her was insatiably curious.

“What crime did she commit?”

Moonbyul sighed, her warm breath cracking around them in the cool air of winter.

“Her great sin was that she loved a monster,” her voice dropped at the words, like they hurt her to say.  “She reached out and held onto that monster until death was the only thing that could pull them both apart.”

So she was dead, Solar thought.  The realization for some reason made her feel strangely guilty. 

“At least,” she found herself saying, “she is in paradise now.”

Moonbyul glanced down at her, slowing her walk.  Maybe it was the dim lighting of only the skyline and poor street lights, but it almost looked like there were tears in her eyes.

“No, heaven torments her still.  I think the gods cannot stand for the world to be imbalanced.  For good to love evil and for evil to love good.”

“M-moonbyul-ssi, I-“

“We’re at your building.”

Solar blinked in surprise because they definitely should not have been there that quickly by foot.

“I messed with time a little bit just so that we could get to your place quickly.  And not deal with people.”

She nodded slowly.  Gently Moonbyul placed her on the ground, steadying her with a hand on Solar’s shoulder.

“I should get going.  Drink plenty of water and get some rest, Solar-ssi.”

“I will. A-and Moonbyul…”

The other girl tilted her head curiously as her voice trailed off nervously.

“Thank you for… answering my questions.  You didn’t have to.  And if I had my memories about my past, I would have shared them with you as well.  I feel bad that I couldn’t do you that service.”

Moonbyul’s mouth twisted into a sardonic smile and she squeezed Solar’s shoulder one last time before taking a step back.

“I think I have enough memories for the both of us, Solar-ssi.  It’s no trouble.”

Solar thought about the terribly lonely smile Moonbyul had given her long after she had left into the night.

———————————

The day was so cold that Solar ached as she sat down at the bus stop.  She fidgeted with the envelope in her hand, examining its contents with a sigh.  It was a rather typical death.  Old lady dying of old age at an old bus stop.  How quaint.  Albeit morbid. 

Solar glanced at the old lady in question, smiling serenely as she seemed to be waiting for someone.  She wondered idly if beneath the kind exterior the woman had done any dreadful things that made her deserving of being a grim reaper.  Sin was something that no one could see but the heavens. 

“It’s not polite to stare.”

Solar blinked in surprise and looked up at a woman with a short dark bob and bright red lipstick.  Even though the weather was more than chilly, her legs were bare except for a thick fur coat that brushed just above mid-thigh.  The other woman caught her looking her up and down with an arched eyebrow and Solar turned to look straight ahead.

“I wasn’t staring,” she muttered, ignoring the rising blush warming her cheeks.

“Then you were thinking.”

“Yes.”

“That’s a dangerous thing to do.”

Solar glanced at the woman who had moved closer, smiling as she leaned against the side of the bus stop with her shoulder.  Solar started to scoot over to let her have room to sit, but she just shook her head.

“I’m not getting on this bus,” the woman replied, still grinning.  Solar wasn’t used to getting smiled at.  It still made her skin crawl that Wheein as a grim reaper would grin all the time like some sort of fool.  Having this weird lady doing the same thing was even worse.

“Oh, I see.”

“Do you resent your job?”

Solar snapped her head toward the woman at the question.

“What?”

“I said, ‘Do you resent your job?’  You seem unhappy and by the looks of it, it isn’t because of a bad relationship.”

“It may be a little bit of both,” Solar replied without much thought.  “B-but I think I deserve the job I have.  I must.”

The woman crossed her arms over her chest and she leaned closer, making her scoot back.

“I like that about you.  You don’t make excuses for the predicament you’re in.  There always are reasons for the will of heaven.”

And Solar just stared at the weird woman, her skin crawling with the strange feeling she had as those warm brown eyes looked at her with unfamiliar understanding.  She didn’t realize her eyes were wet until the woman pulled a handkerchief from her pocket and gently placed it in Solar’s lap.

“Good luck on your work today.  Also fix your hat, it’s a little crooked.”

Solar thanked the woman as she walked off, tilting her black hat little but then she realized.  Humans shouldn’t be able to see her if she was wearing her hat.  But then…

She turned to see the woman but she was gone.  As if she never had been there. 

“Weird,” she muttered with a shiver.  Her mind flashed to Wheein’s description of what Samshin Grandmother supposedly looked like and she shook her head vigorously in denial. There was no way she had just met a goddess.  No way at all!

She nervously glanced at her watch and was relieve that it was finally time to pick up her soul.  Time couldn’t have been more at her side.  Solar picked up the card and turned to finish her job.

———————————

Solar wasn’t even surprised when she walked out of the convenience store and saw Moonbyul leaning against a lampost, hands deep in her pockets and a cheeky grin twisting her lips.

“You can just contact me like a civilized person instead of stalking me,” sniffed Solar, hiding her smile by pretending to look down and check the groceries in her bag.

“I wasn’t stalkin’ ya.”

She frowned at the words.  Solar realized as she stepped closer that the other girl’s eyes were glossy and her cheeks were a bit red.

“Wait, are you drunk? Did you find me so that I could take care of you?”

Moobyul just shrugged with a laugh, ducking her silver head in embarrassment.

“I just wanted to see you.  Didn’t get to see ya the past few days.”

Solar didn’t try to hide her smile as she reached forward and with her free hand and grabbed Moonbyul’s wrist.

“You’re a silly goblin,” she muttered, brushing her thumb over her warm pulse point.

Moonbyul looked up then and with a careless pull Solar was so close that their foreheads were almost brushing. 

“I am a fool. I do the same stupid thing over and over again.  For too many lifetimes.”

“And yet you’re still charming.”

“As long as I charm you, I’m satisfied.”

Solar smiled then, ducking her head and looking down as Moonbyul carefully pulled her wrist from Solar’s hand.  Before she could register the loss of contact, the other girl was tightly gripping her hand, threading their fingers together like it was the most natural thing in the world.  Solar would let her do this.  She could blame the alcohol for Moonbyul’s rashness.  But what could she blame for herself as she squeezed Moonbyul’s hand and took half a step forward, leaning into the other woman’s warmth. 

It left Solar a little breathless.  She had always felt a slight pull to Moonbyul for the years that she had known her.  But she had never let herself get close like this.  Never had she given into what she had felt.  But was it so wrong to finally give in, she thought, as Moonbyul looked down at her with eyes filled with warmth and not a shred of loneliness.  Some part of Solar felt relief that she was the one who had that effect on her. 

They had created a small romantic scene, Solar realized.  Although they weren’t quite embracing under the dirty street lamplight, they still shared each other’s warmth, connected by their held hands.   It was intimate in a strangely vulnerable way.  Something Solar was definitely not used to.

Suddenly she felt something fall into her hair. She glanced up and saw little flecks of white drift down from the sky.

“Is it snow?” she asked the night quietly, very aware that while she looked up, Moonbyul stared at her.

“No,” the goblin replied with a slight slur.  “They’re flower petals.”

Solar’s eyes widened as Moonbyul pointed up and she saw a nearby tree in spring bloom, lush pinkish petals turned silvery white by the dark night sky.

“But that’s impossible.  It’s winter.”

“I thought you would like these flowers.  So I waited out here to show them to you.  But it seems they wanted you to notice them before I could tell you.  Must be because you’re so pretty.”

“You’re making my head bigger with all these compliments.  Silly goblin.”

Moonbyul laughed and tugged at Solar again but she stood still, pulling her hand free and cupping a few petals in her palm. 

“I love this type of flowers.”

“I know.”

“How would you know? Have you really been stalking me?”

“I’m… I…”  Moonbyul seemed helplessly tongue-tied and Solar couldn’t quite decide if she felt amused or slightly smug.

“Yes?”

Solar smiled at her again and even though they weren’t standing in each other’s space like earlier, there was something special about this moment.  It made her grateful that time was slowed.  It was a world for just her and Moonbyul.

“You’re pretty.  You’re so pretty.”

Solar didn’t have the heart to tease or pretend to act annoyed.  Because the way Moonbyul choked out the words, hands now tightly gripping the lampost she was leaning against, made Solar think of a helpless declaration of love.

“Moonbyul-ssi…”

The goblin ducked her head, laughing again almost saldy.  Like she was in pain.

“Can I ask you something, Solar-ssi?”

“Yes.”

“If I asked you to go on a date with me, would you?”

Solar blinked slowly. 

“A grim reaper. And a goblin? Going on a date?”

Moonbyul nodded sincerely, seeming to try to maintain eye contact despite how drunk she was.

“Today… today is the anniversary of the death of that girl I told you about.  So I got drunk as I always do.  And I thought that I would be alone all day.  But I couldn’t get you out of my mind.  No matter how hard I tried I couldn’t stay away from you.  I realized that you’re in my heart now, Solar-ssi.”

Moonbyul swallowed hard as she dropped her gaze, her tongue wetting her lower lip.

“Even though I loved that girl from the past… I want to get to know you.  The girl for my future.”

“Moonbyul-ssi, but we-“

“I’m tired of heaven making things harder for me.  Just because we have been forced to live the lives we do now, why can’t we have a shred of happiness? What punishment can heaven give us again for trying to be happy together?”

Solar tried to process everything that was happening at once.  Moonbyul, a goblin who had apparently murdered so many people that heaven could no longer turn a blind eye to her crimes, was asking her, a grim reaper who had sinned so greatly that her memory was erased and she was forced to collect the souls of the dead, were going to go on a date. 

Hadn’t they already been punished before? What more could be done to them?

“You’ll still have to woo me.”

Moonbyul jerked up in surprise as Solar took a step forward with a determined set to her jaw.

“I’ll go out on a date with you but you can’t be too greasy.  And you have to impress me. Take me out on a nice date with… steak… and pull open the door for me and all that stuff.”

“Proper courtship?” Moonbyul asked with a little giggle. 

Solar resolutely nodded as she grabbed at the lapel of the other girl’s peacoat, rubbing the stiff wool between her fingers.

“You’ll have to bring me flowers.  And you can’t make a short cut and just make the flowers come from some tree.”

“You’re pretty demanding for a first date.”

“Just feel lucky I said yes.”

And Moonbyul placed her hand over Solar’s, a grin twisting as they gazed at each other.

“I’m the luckiest girl in the world.”

———————————

Wheein watched the scene unfold in front of her like some sort of Korean drama.  Standing under the light of a street lamp with flower petals in their hair and hands touching.  Faces red with matching blushes.  Smiles wide and hopeful.

“It’s sad,” she muttered.

“I know.”

“It’s crazy how they find each other and make the same mistakes over again and again. Must be frustrating to have to watch this.”

“It’s the most frustrating job in the world.”

Wheein smiled and glanced over at the young looking goddess whose red lips were pursed in concentration. 

“Do you want to get a drink or something? Maybe it’d get rid of some of your stress?”

“It’s funny how you always try to take care of me when I should be taking care of you.”

“More the reason for me to mother you every once in awhile.”

Wheein reached over and gently linked arms with Samshin Grandmother.

“Let’s let these doomed lovers be not so doomed for a little while longer.”