Solar leaned against her fist as she idly sat at a coffee shop table, eyes roaming over the variety of people milling about.  It was a chilly winter day and the welcome warmth of the heater and the free wifi had everyone crammed into the cozy place. 

She glanced at her watch with a sigh as the minute hand inched to 11:57.  It was always such a shame to ruin pleasant moods.  She took a long sip of her coffee, letting the bitterness pull her mind into pointed focus as the clock finally clicked to 11:57.  Standing, she the brim of her large black hat, making sure it was secure on her head.  And then she reached forward just as a young man ran past her table, hair askew and shirt rumpled.

He paused as she grabbed at his wrist and she was sure he was assessing the fact that she appeared to be a small college aged girl with dark brown hair and a ridiculous black hat. 

“Excuse me?” he asked confusedly as he tried to tug from her grip.  But she merely pursed her lips together and held on tighter.

“Park Jung-ho?” she asked quietly as she pulled a slip of thick white stock paper from her pocket.  She double checked the name with a quick glance.

“Y-yes?”

“You died at 11:57 AM in a car accident.  A careless driver was texting and driving and hit you as you were crossing the street.  The collision caused mortal injury that…” Solar trailed off as she squinted at the red print on the card.  The Chinese characters which described the cause of death were not her strong suit even though she had been doing this for nearly three centuries.

Luckily the man’s hysterics allowed her to not have to get into graphic detail.

“What are you saying? Let go of me!”

“Sir, please, I’m trying to make this transition as painless for you as possible.  I would appreciate your cooperation during this time.”

“This isn’t real!” he shrieked, blatantly ignoring her measured voice.  He tried to pull away but Solar’s grip was vice-like.  After all no one could escape death.  Well more accurately one of death’s many servants, a grim reaper.

“Sir, purgatory is a necessary part of our transition from life to the afterlife and something that you shouldn't be afraid-“

Suddenly she felt her hat get knocked off with a quick hand and she was no longer invisible to human eyes.  The shock from being exposed caused her to loosen her grip just enough for Park Jung-ho to run off in a panic and Solar was helpless to only watch him leave.  She carefully scanned her surroundings, noticing with relief that everyone was so absorbed in their electronic devices or their own conversations that her sudden pop into existence was relatively unnoticed.  That made it so much easier than wiping or altering the memories of everyone in the coffee shop. 

Letting out an annoyed sigh, she bent down and picked up her felt invisibility cap, pointedly ignoring the pair of distinctive white sneakers just out of the corner of her eye.

“Did you really have to do that?” Solar muttered in annoyance, brushing at the dust caught on her hat as she sensed the figure beside her shifting.

“Sometimes things like that are the only ways I can get your attention, Ms. Grim Reaper.”

Solar rolled her eyes and glared at the person who had purposefully knocked off her hat and made her waste valuable time. 

“Goblin,” she growled as stared at the other slightly taller woman.  The goblin in question was barely a few centimeters taller than Solar, with silverfish hair and sharp brown eyes that seemed always warm with amusement.

“I told you that we’re on more friendly terms than that.  You can call me Moonbyul if you’d like.”

“I’d rather get thrown into the underworld and burn in the pits of eternal flames.”

“You grim reapers are always so cheery.  Must be why you always wear black.”

“Don’t criticize my fashion choices!” snapped Solar with a grimace, finger prodding the other girl’s shoulder.  Moonbyul sighed and held up her hands in defense.

“Alright alright, I’m sorry.  I forgot how sensitive you people are.”

Solar sighed and lowered her pointed finger, dropping her hand to her side.

“Now I have to work overtime because of you.  Stupid goblin!”

“Aren’t you happy to see me at all? I’m back after twenty years of gallivanting in the south of France and this is your way of greeting me?”

“Only twenty years? If I promise to have a better reaction the next time you return, can you leave for another one-hundred?”

Moonbyul rolled her eyes at Solar’s rude remarks and just stuffed her hands into the pockets of her grey coat, rocking on her heels.

“I missed you, Miss Grim Reaper.  It’s been so long since I’ve had such a lively conversation.  If I bought you a coffee would you be interested in entertaining me for a little while longer?”

Solar wrinkled her nose at the offer and scoffed.

“Well maybe I would have considered it if you hadn’t chased off the soul I had to collect for today.  Now thanks to you I’ll have to work overtime for sure.”

Moonbyul had the sense to look a little chastened at the words, avoiding her eye contact like a guilty puppy.

“I’m going to leave, goblin.  Don’t follow me or you’ll definitely regret it.”

“Aw, Little Reaper, don’t be so mad.  I promise I’ll try to see you soon and make all this up to you.”

Solar glared at Moonbyul one last time before tugging the hat snuggly on her head and turning away from her.  As she determinedly dashed off in search of the missing soul she couldn’t help but remember the way Moonbyul’s eyes had softened for a brief moment as Solar had left her.  They seemed lonelier than usual as they had stared hard at her face, following her as she rushed out the door and down the street.

———————————

Solar yawned as she leaned back in the hard wooden chair.  After finally catching the escaped soul and sharing the last tea with them, she stuck around the familiar tea shop which served as a purgatory for the dead.  She glanced forlornly at the thick wooden door where the last soul had walked through.  Even though she wasn’t allowed to go inside, she had gotten a glimpse of blinding light and a long winding staircase up into plush looking clouds. 

It was ironic that all grim reapers were closest to the door to the afterlife but the only beings in existence that were forbidden from passing on.  Solar sighed and reached forward and plucked the empty tea cup her latest soul had drank from.  Standing, she held it carefully in a palm as she wandered to the shelves which held each porcelain cup, individualized for every soul that had finally returned to cross through the doors of hell or heaven. 

“You finish for the day, Unnie?”

Solar smiled and waved a hand without looking up from her work.  She could hear Wheein slide into her seat, the wood of the chair squeaking against the floor.

“Just finished.”

“Isn’t it later than usual for you? When I checked earlier you weren’t here…”

Solar’s face flushed in annoyance as she walked back to the table and was greeted with the sight of Wheein’s dimpled grin, wide-brimmed hat still sitting slightly askew on the top of her head.  With a fond flourish, she plucked the felt hat from off the other girl’s head and twirled it in her hands.

“That stupid goblin came back from her trip to France.”

Wheein’s eyes widened and she gasped in delight.  The worst possible reaction to Solar’s news.

“Moonbyul-unnie returned?”

“Heavens, would you please stop calling her that? She isn’t your friend, Wheein-ah.”

Wheein was ignoring Solar’s complaint, instead pulling her cellphone from her pocket and furiously typing a text message.

“I can’t believe her! I told her the moment she got back to Korea to contact me and this is the response I get!”

“I don’t understand how you befriended that goblin.  She’s so annoying. Always messing around with our work. ”

“At least she can keep up with me when we drink,” muttered Wheein with a pointed glare.  Solar blushed as she remembered the last get together with the other Seoul-oriented grim reapers.  It involved her drinking two shots and promptly passing out for the three hour occasion.  Wheein had to drag her to her apartment, nearly collapsing under Solar’s weight.

“W-what does that even mean? You drink with her too?”

“I drink with anyone who wants to. Humans, goblins, Samshin Grandmother…”

Solar rolled her eyes.  Samshin Grandmother was the goddess of birth and fate who would alternate between looking like a wizened granny and a y twenty-two year old with curves, a sultry bob, and red lipstick.  Wheein liked to brag that Samshin Grandmother would approach her and have drinks when the goddess was bored. All lies obviously.

“Sure you have drinks with Samshin Grandmother, Wheein-ah.  That’s as likely as me having drinks with Moonb- I mean the goblin.”

“She’d love that, you know.  Before she left twenty years ago she told me that the reason she’d even started trying to get to know me was to get your number.  But then when I told her that you don’t even have a landline she just gave up and realized she enjoyed my irresistible company.”

“That goblin wanted my number?”

Wheein rolled her eyes and put down her phone.

“Why do you think she keeps trying to run into you and tease you so much, Unnie? Goblins like her don’t normally interact with grim reapers like us.  We’re cursed after all.  To walk the earth for all time not knowing our crimes that cursed us into this life of eternal servitude-”

Solar chucked the hat back at Wheein’s face, causing her to squeal and fall out of her chair with a crash.  Not even batting an eye in concern, she collected her coat from the back of her chair as she walked to the exit.

“Clean up after yourself, Wheein-ah, I’m going to head home now.”

“Unnie!”

———————————

Even though she technically wasn’t human, Solar still got cold like one.  With hands stuffed deep in her pockets and scarf wrapped snuggly around her neck, she braved the frigid weather as she attempted to get to the corner convenience store near her apartment.  She smiled at the old man who greeted her behind the corner as she walked over to the back row of juices.  Like most grim reapers, she was a vegetarian which unfortunately limited her options for Korean convenience store foods she could eat.  She settled on a peach drink and a bag of corn chips.  It might not be terribly tasty but at least it was cost effective.

She’d had to work overtime a lot more lately and strangely the pay for guiding souls to the after life didn’t really afford luxury.

As she walked outside, bracing for the sting of the cold someone grabbed her wrist.

“Holy !” she screamed, flailing in terror and falling to the ground.  Solar held her bag of food in front of her face as she waited for the end. 

Instead, when she opened her eyes she saw Moonbyul squatting in front of her. She was dressed in her signature grey coat and black scarf with an amused expression twisting into a smile.

“Did I just scare a grim reaper? I should add that to one of my many lifetime achievements in my 900 years of living.”

Solar huffed as she tried to stop the blush rising in her cheeks at the stupidly attractive way Moonbyul was smiling at her.  What an obnoxiously conceited immortal goblin!

“It’s rude to scare people like that,” Solar mumbled as she shakily rose to her feet.  She tried to casually brush off her knees and not make it appear like she had been cowering in terror minutes before.

“I don’t think death is really allowed to say that sort of thing.  But I am sorry that I scared you.  I didn’t expect you to react quite like-“

“W-well you shouldn’t just jump out and grab someone! What if you’d been a robber?”

“A robber scaring a grim reaper?” Moonbyul asked with her head cocked, obviously trying not to smile.  The look was so infuriating that Solar raised a hand and shoved at the other girl.  Instead of taking the hit, Moonbyul grabbed her wrist and tugged a little, pulling Solar in.  With a huff she was suddenly pressed against Moonbyul’s front, the only thing wedged between them being Solar’s arm held loosely by the wrist. 

Solar swallowed at the sudden close proximity as Moonbyul look down at her with an unreadable gaze. 

“I heard,” Moonbyul whispered into the small space between them with breath that steamed from the cold air, “that if a grim reaper holds the hand of a living being, they can see that person’s former life.  Is that true?”

Solar flushed at the way the other girl’s eyes seemed to glow with an intensity that she couldn’t quite name.  It was like looking at the bottom of a lake during a storm, getting glimpses of what was below but never quite the whole picture.  Sadness… desperation… worry?

“I-I… You’re just trying to get an excuse to flirt with me again!”

Moonbyul’s strange intensity faded at the comment and curled into a crooked smile as she took a step back, still loosely holding onto Solar’s wrist. 

“Is it so wrong to want to hold such a pretty girl’s hand?”

“Why are you always so greasy?”

“It gets a reaction from you, doesn’t it?”

Solar huffed and Moonbyul finally let go of her wrist.  She started walking without any explanation and annoyingly enough the other girl followed her, keeping stride easily.

“Where are you going now?”

“Home.”

“Oh.  Don’t you want to have a drink with me?”

“Why on earth would I want to have a drink with you?”

Moonbyul chuckled at that, easily slinging an arm over Solar’s shoulder without warning.

“Because I’ll pay and I won’t skimp on buying the good stuff.  Comes with amassing a fortune for 900 years.”

Solar rolled her eyes and shoved off the arm.

“Even if I wanted to drink with you-which I don’t- you should know that I’m a light-weight.”

“I can’t drink very well either.  Two to three bottles and I’m an embarrassing mess.”

“No… I can only have… well less than that amount and I fall asleep.”

“How much? One bottle?”

“… two shots.”

Moonbyul’s laughter was so obnoxiously loud that it made Solar’s face feel oppressively hot.

“I-I’m leaving and I don’t want you to follow me! Stupid goblin!”

Solar stormed off and wasn’t quite sure if she was completely thankful that Moonbyul kept her distance, her laugh still filling her ears the whole walk home.

———————————

Solar slowly poured the tea into one porcelain cup and gently placed it in front of the little girl sitting quietly across from her.  The recently departed soul was wearing her elementary school uniform although the ribbon was loosened and untied. 

It wasn’t rare for children to die.  Honestly it was more common than the passing of adults.  But this death was particularly gruesome.  Solar had a thick card with constantly changing dates on the death of a little girl who was being held in some man’s basement.  Because she was required to be there at the time of death she had to stake-out the location, patiently waiting in the corner as the child whimpered pathetically for her parents for days, eventually succumbing to strangulation and not the original torture method that had been on the card at first. 

Solar was thankful that for once this work was slightly merciful to her psyche. 

“Who are you?” the girl asked.

Solar smiled as she glanced down into the liquid of her own tea cup.

“Do you not know?”

“I-I think I do.  Did that man kill me? Am I dead?”

Solar glanced up and saw tears well in the girl’s eyes.  She managed a half smile and gently reached across the table and put her hand on top of the girl’s smaller one.

“Drink your tea before it gets cold, Jinhee-ah.  It’ll make you feel a little better.”

The traditional sharing of tea with the grim reaper and the departed soul was a means of giving the world wearied individual a rest before the ultimate journey to the afterlife.  But it also served the purpose of erasing the memory of the human’s old life in order to remove the pain of the past for the fresh start of the future.  Solar imagined that this girl would be reincarnated and given a new life to make up for this one’s horrible end.

If the gods were merciful.

She watched with a smile as Jinhee nodded through her sniffles and sipped slowly at her tea, cheeks coloring with the warmth of the brew. 

“You were very brave, Jinhee-ah.” 

“I was really scared.”

Solar felt something dark and angry tug at her chest and she resisted the urge to do something about the negative emotions. 

“He can’t hurt you anymore.  I promise.”

Jinhee finally finished her tea and nodded slowly, carefully placing the porcelain cup back on the saucer. 

“Will I see my mommy and daddy again?”

Solar decided to settle for a half truth. 

“Maybe.  But first you have to go through the door and go all the way up the stairs.  You’ve been such a good girl.  Can you do that last thing for me?”

Jinhee nodded and hopped off her chair, following Solar’s finger to the thick wooden door.

“Thank you for all your help, Unnie.  I’ll see you later.”

Solar got up and helped open the heavy door for Jinhee, carefully turning her head from the unbearably bright light of heaven as the little girl slipped away into paradise.  Sharply exhaling, she let the door slam shut and sunk to the floor.  She snatched the black felt hat off her head with a half snarl and practically screamed into her hands.

She knew she wasn’t quite like all the other grim reapers.  Maybe her sins that she couldn’t remember from her past life had been so great that not only was she stuck doing work for eternity but she also was stuck with enough empathy to feel pain and suffering for each lost life she had to witness.  Some of them were easier to bear like car crashes or grannies that died peacefully in their sleep.  But others like this. Senseless killings and the death of innocence.  It made it too much to bear at times.

“Ms. Grim Reaper?”

Solar noisily wiped at her tears with a few sniffles as she failed at trying to compose herself.  That stupid goblin was standing in the doorway from earth, the light catching from the sun and making her hair an almost bluish grey. 

“Why are you here? This place is sacred for the deceased.”

Moonbyul just gave her a half smile as she took a few steps forward, letting the door swing shut behind her so that they were the only ones in purgatory. 

“Were you crying?” she asked, her voice uncharacteristically soft.  It tugged at something in Solar’s chest and she didn’t like how weak it made her feel.

She just shrugged at the question as she stood, rubbing at her eyes one last time for good measure.

“It doesn’t matter.  Just another dead person with a sob story.”

“Seems like it wasn’t just any sob story.”

“Why does it matter to you? You’ve been gallivanting around the world for 900 years like some kind of god.  Things like that shouldn’t even bother you anymore.”

Solar glared down at the table as she started to clear the tea cups.  When she looked up at Moonbyul, she was surprised to see the girl’s eyes sharp as if Solar had insulted her.

“You think my life has been a gift?”

“You get to live forever with indescribable riches and success at your fingertips.  You’re like a god, giving people blessings and curses as you choose.  How can I not view that as a gift from heaven?”

“Every year,” Moonbyul murmured almost wearily as she plopped down into the wooden seat saved for the dead, “I visit the graveyard of those who served me.  Do you know how many bodies are in that graveyard over the span of 900 years?  Do you know how many people I have loved and lost in that span of time? How much suffering I’ve witnessed?  How much pain I’ve felt?”

Solar grit her teeth at how the display of anguish affected her.  She hated how she identified with the pain in Moonbyul’s voice and felt a connection to her own thoughts. 

“So your transformation into a goblin is a curse?”

“Imagine living for eternity with the memories of all the sins you committed.  At least you don’t remember what you did to become a grim reaper.  But I remember with stupidly clear detail exactly what I did to end up as a goblin.”

Solar tilted her head a little and Moonbyul’s brown eyes seemed to burn into hers with their intensity.  She didn’t quite know why she was so persistent with engaging the goblin and nosing around her business.  Maybe it was the rawness of the departed soul encounter that left her feeling so vulnerable that Moonbyul’s intrusion made her want to receive Solar’s pain.  Maybe it finally made her try to engage with the goblin as more than the usual sharp barbs and flirty remarks.  Whatever the reason she felt the darkness inside her swell and she couldn’t stop her next question.

“Do you regret your sins?”

Moonbyul scoffed, glancing down at her hands with a quiet sigh.  The silence seemed to fill the room with a tension, and Solar felt herself on edge for the answer as if some part of her had a stake in the reply. 

And then Moonbyul looked up at her with that infuriating half smile.

“It’s ironic that you of all people are asking me that question.  But honestly… I damned my soul for love.  And no matter how cruel this existence has been, I know in my heart that I wouldn’t have been able to do anything else.”

Solar didn’t realize she was crying until she her lips and tasted salt.  Moonbyul just watched impassively as she discreetly turned and wiped at her eyes.

“Did my words move you?” she inquired quietly in a strange voice almost breathy with expectation. 

“I don’t quite know why.  I guess I’ve never heard someone talk about their past like that before.”

“Are you a romantic, Ms. Grim Reaper?”

“Solar.”

“Hm?”

She her lips and stared determinedly at Moonbyul’s shoulder in order to not see that stupid goblin’s huge grin.

“You can call me Solar.  It’s obviously not my true name but it makes it easier for communication if you didn’t call me Ms. Grim Reaper all the time.”

“A grim reaper who named herself after the sun.  How original.”

“This is why I didn’t bother telling you my name in the first place,” Solar practically whined with an eye roll.  Moonbyul just smiled back at her, leaning into her hand.  The look she was giving her made Solar feel almost special, like those eyes could only look at her like that. 

“Well since you’re letting me call you by your name, I suppose I should also extend the favor.”

“I already know your name though.  Moonbyul.  How should I say it? Moonbyul-ssi?”

Moonbyul made a strange noise and she looked hungrily at Solar.

“Could… could you call me Byul-ah? Just once, please.”

Normally Solar would have rejected the request but there was something about the desperation in Moonbyul's eyes that made her feel almost guilty in contemplating refusing the favor.

“Byul-ah.”

Moonbyul’s grin was almost pathetically embarrassing, making her nose crinkle and her eyes shrink to half moon crescents.  The reaction almost made Solar smile. Almost. 

“Who knew that a name could make someone so happy.”

“It’s because it’s you who’s saying it.”

“And why does me saying it matter?”

For a moment Moonbyul seemed conflicted about saying something, her tongue caught between her teeth as a means of stopping a potential flow of words.  She pensively dragged a fingertip along the smooth surface of the table before looking up at Solar.

“Because you’re pretty.”

Solar shivered because even after Moonbyul had bid her goodbyes with an excuse of some business in Seoul and she was left alone… those words warmed her ears even more than the sweetest confession of love.