49th Day

***

Chapter 1: 

Black. 

Everyone was wearing black. People sat in a quiet room looking at the picture of a man who has lived a great life and left a beautiful family behind. 

Cries. 

Silent sobs were heard from his parents. Raising a child just to die during his prime age was no longer an unfamiliar event for his family but still brings an ugly familiar pain. 

Thud. 

A sound was heard when the child's toy slipped into her hand. 

"Seo-Woo, this is not a place to play ball." the soft voice of the widowed wife said to her child.

Seo-Woo pointed towards the deceased's picture and looked at her mom as if her eyes were asking why is it there, her mom looked at the picture and was about to speak until something caught her attention. 

Crimson roses. 

Symbols of grief, sorrow, regrets… Not for the dead, but for the people who were left behind. 

"Irene, I am truly sorry for your loss." a family friend said.

For Irene, in times like this, there are no words left to say but silence. 

"He lived a happy life. He was just so happy about his trip to England last week." another family friend said.

"Who knows his travels would be the cause of his early demise. Seo-Woo barely saw him. He should just stay with his family instead of travelling. In that way, he didn't have to ride that airplane and…" another one commented.

Irene knew that her late husband loved to travel. It made him happy so she was happy for him too. She never questioned the little time it caused for him and her to meet. She loves Seo-Woo. He did too. 

"I'm sure if my husband would live a thousand times, he would still love to travel." Irene finally said and the silence was heard for a moment as a form of tension and then heightened with another. 

A scream.

It was heard all over the chapel room that came from the deceased's mother. 

"Bring me back my baby…!" the old woman grieved in agony as her husband tried to comfort her. 

"Honey, it's going to be okay…" her husband said, but his red swollen eyes said otherwise. 

"It's never going to be okay! First, we lost Seulgi and now him?! It's even Seo-Woo's birthday in a few days. Why life is extremely unfair to us! What sin did we commit in the past life for us to be punished like this?!" she wept over her son's picture. 

Seulgi. 

A name that embedded on Irene's ears. A name that belongs to a face that she only saw on a picture. A name that belongs to her late husband's deceased wife. 

Seo-Woo's biological mother. 

Irene heard a giggle of a child. It was Seo-Woo holding a flower while looking at a trance. 

Irene sat beside Seo-Woo, giving the tightest hug to her daughter, "My dearest Seo-Woo, how do we celebrate your birthday now?" she said in melancholy and looked at Seo-Woo's flower. 

May Lilies. 

Means, the return of happiness. 

Irene looked at that flower and then at her daughter again as she wondered, “What kind of happiness that You will return to us now?”

(Seulgi’s POV)

I used to feel insecure about being invisible. It scared me when no one noticed my existence. I always get the attention of people when I was alive. Years after my death, I got used to it. 

Being invisible, impalpable, unseen and unheard. 

The only form of communication I have is through talking with other misguided ghosts that still wander on Earth without any particular place they belong to… 

Like me. 

Looking at my daughter, Seo-Woo always makes me happy. I wish I could say that I am happy about that time when she looked like she's offering me a flower. 

As if she could see me as if she acknowledged my presence. 

They said children can see the unseen. As they grow up, they lose that ability as they live a mundane life of adulthood. 

I always wonder, 'Can Seo-Woo see me?' if so, 'Is it a good thing or a bad thing?' 

I looked at the picture that the old woman was holding. Just when I thought I could finally leave this world in peace, that jerk, I mean my beloved husband, Jo Gang Hwa has to die, even in a more tragic way than I did. I mean he did love to travel, but he was always scared of heights. And I can't imagine how scared he must have felt when that happened! 

When one dies, grim reapers would ask you two questions: One, if you are happy with the life you lived. Two, if you make other people happy with the life you lived. 

I wish I could talk to him before he left with those grim reapers, at least to say my final goodbye, but they were faster than me. Saying that Jo Gang Hwa chose to ascend to heavens as the man lived his life with no regrets. Something that I have a lot. 

Words like, what if's, could've been if only, I should've done that… My regrets are big. I still think that life is unfair for taking it away from me at such an early age. I didn't even get a chance to hold my newborn daughter when I died five years ago while giving birth, that's why my soul still lingers a long time after my demise. I failed on the first question. 

Seeing another woman embracing my child tightly on her arms, I couldn't help but feel jealous. In Seo-Woo's eyes, she's her mother. 

Irene. 

Her place, the place I should be if I didn't die. But somehow, through the years of my observing and checking the well being of my family, I couldn't help but be grateful for the efforts she has done for the family I left behind. 

A stepmom is always perceived as someone evil. Maybe that’s why many people out there often talk about bad things about her. She might pretend to be nonchalant and unaffected. But I know it’s hurting her too. How I wish I could just slap them one by one on their faces because they were wrong.

Irene is a good person. 

Seeing her tears b on her eyes and noticing how lost she felt at that moment, I couldn't help but worry about Seo-Woo's future - Hers too.

'Can Irene raise Seo-Woo as a single parent?' 'What happens now?' questions that made my soul feel more restless. 

"Irene needs someone beside her to raise Seo-Woo!" I exclaimed as if a light bulb just appeared above my head. 

And so I called to the lord heavens instead. Begging with both knees on the solid ground, asking for some mercy. To again, give me a second chance in life even just for a little time before I leave this world permanently. 

"For Seo-Woo…" I said

It was a long lamentation. I lost my temper several times. I cursed. I rant about how life treats me unfairly. I blamed the deity for everything. Until I lost my consciousness. 

When I woke up on the pavement, I saw the price of what I am asking for at the deity on my wrist. 

49.

The digits imprinted on my wrist. 

I felt hunger, I felt cold, I felt the pain again… I felt tired. 

I heard the voice of a woman that called my attention. She was looking at me as if she could see me. 

As if I am visible again. 

"You…" she said. 

She was glaring at me. 

'She can see me?' I thought to myself.

"You are not of this world," she stated.

"W-Who are you?" I asked.

"Kim Yeri," she said.

"You can see me?" I asked.

"I am a shaman. I sensed your presence quickly. You are not a human being but a misguided ghost. If you are up to no good, might as well say goodbye to Earth and… " the woman was ready to attack me using her magic bells and I knew I had to do something. 

"Wait! What's happening to me? What's this on my wrist?"

49.

"You mean, you have no idea what's happening?" Yeri asked in curiosity. 

I nodded.

Yeri looked at my wrist and came up with a conclusion, "49 means the number of judgement days before the spirit ascends to heavens. You are facing your final judgement on Earth, how could this be that you look like a human being again? What did you do?" Yeri asked as she smacked my forehead to confirm my existence. 

"Ouch!" I groaned in pain, "I-I may have cursed the deity last night and wished for something…" I stammered. To think about it again, how could I curse to the deity-like that?!

"You’re lucky the deity didn’t send you to hell right there for cursing at the heavens like that. What did you wish for anyway?" Yeri folded her arms as her eyes were filled with interest. 

"For Irene to have someone to raise my child Seo-Woo together." Yeri looked at me confusedly and I told her about my life story as we calmed down and sat on a bench when she finally understood everything she came up with another conclusion. 

"So you were saying that my final task is that I have to find a suitable person for Irene-ssi, my husband’s new wife, who can take care of the family well, especially my little Seo-Woo?" I reconfirmed.

"Correct." 

"In 49 days?" 

"Correct." 

"What if I failed?" 

"Then, you will have to pay for the price," Yeri said as she looked into my eyes, "With zero imprinted on your wrist, your soul will wander on Earth forever." 

And there's no punishment worse than that. 

(Author’s POV)

49.

Seulgi had been walking back and forth in front of a house for almost an hour. Her legs started to sore.

She knows that to help Irene to find someone, she needs to stay close beside Irene. Well, not that she has not. She has always been staying beside the older woman for 5 years. But now, she’s no longer a ghost. Irene can perfectly see her. She must come up with a new plan. 

Blame her impatient personality for coming unprepared.

Seulgi was still thinking hard, crouching down at the side of the road when she heard a loud thud coming from somewhere near her. Instinctively she looked up, searching for the source of the sound. Her eyes locked with another familiar pair of eyes that only widened in disbelief the moment they met Seulgi’s.

Seulgi gulped as she looks at the familiar face in front of her,

“S-Seulgi unnie?!” 

“J-Joy?”

"H-How…" 

Joy felt fear at first, like who wouldn't. But the longing prevailed, so she wasted no time to run towards Seulgi, pulling the latter up with such force that Seulgi couldn't resist but to follow. 

Joy cried harder when her hands touched Seulgi’s flesh. It means she’s not hallucinating. 

'Seulgi unnie came back to life!' her rapid thoughts and her mind flashed back to the pain she had gone through while sending her friend Seulgi on her final place. Her body was static but her mind was falling into places of dynamic thoughts. 'How on Earth is this possible?' 

“Unnie? Is this y-you?” tears streamed down Joy’s pretty face as she looked at her unnie closely as if trying to make sure the woman in front of her that she was holding truly existed. Her Seulgi unnie, a best friend she lost five years ago. 

“Yes.” Seulgi too couldn't help but stifle her breaths due to the longing she felt. She tried her best to not cry, but she failed miserably. She missed Joy too. So much.

She's finally able to touch a loved one again. 

“UNNIEEEE~” Joy embraced the older woman, hugging her tight as she wailed louder.

“JOY-AAAH~ HUAAAAA~” Seulgi too bawled in tears. 

Passerbys started to look at them, some in wonder, some in utter confusion. But these two couldn’t care less.

They kept on hugging each other for God knows how long, before the younger started to speak again.

“Unnie, I missed you.” Joy said between her hiccups. 

“I missed you too, my dongsaeng.” Seulgi was glad she got her best friend back and she appreciated how Joy didn’t batter her with questions. Because seeing your dead friend coming back alive is surely not a usual thing.

“You look tired, unnie. C’mon, let’s go to