Chapter 7

12.

The usual day at the columbarium, Taeyeon finally decided to go out of her urn. Apparently, she saw Tiffany went out of a car of some guy so she decided to shut the world out as if the world didn’t shut her off first by camping inside her urn.

“Ugh, sunlight… Why is everything so bright today?” she yawned and stretched her soul body, then she heard the bells and she sighed exasperatedly. ‘Not again.’ she thought and glared at the Shaman.

“Maybe it’s a good day to ascend today, no?” Yeri wittily suggested.

Taeyeon was so ready in her defensive position, “But I thought we had a truce! We’ll all try to get over our regrets at the expense of you not forcing us to ascend!” 

“You have my word, I was just merely suggesting...You seem to be alone today.” Yeri looked around, “Where is Chou Tzuyu?”

“Usually, she’s at the ice cream store looking at that pale tofu…” Taeyeon was about to continue until Yeri glared at her and continued her sentence for her, “...which happens to be my sister!”

“Aww, lovely! Right… Which happens to be your sister!” Then she laughed awkwardly and Yeri just sighed and fixed her bells.

“Are you okay, shaman?” Taeyeon observed.

“Why would I not be okay?”

“You usually go into havoc when Tzuyu visits your sister at the ice cream store.”

“Let’s say I put some sense on Tzuyu’s head and it’s up to her if she’ll listen to it or not,” Yeri said.

“You know, Tzuyu isn’t a bad ghost.” 

“Yeah, she just likes my sister a lot.”

“I wonder what those kinetic energies are for though.”

“Well, what’s the use of love if you cannot be seen, heard nor touched by the person you love?” 

“You described hundreds of my unspoken feelings in one sentence.” 

“It’s a good day to come outside, go spend the remaining of your ghost life seeing the bright side of the world.”

Taeyeon decided to stroll around until she stopped at a certain Ice cream store. She saw how Tzuyu chased the customers away and protected the sleeping ‘Kim Dahyun’ aka her dubu as per Chou Tzuyu’s words.

Dahyun was slouching at the cashier and Tzuyu was staring at her adoring her at proximity however, still couldn’t be felt and seen by the latter.

“Hey, bootiful ghoul friend, what ya doing?” Taeyeon greeted Tzuyu who looked dumb as ever drooling over her crush. 

“Isn’t she lovely?” Tzuyu was about to pinch Dahyun’s cheeks but her hands passed through and she sighed in defeat.

“You didn’t get energy today?” Taeyeon asked, Tzuyu shook her head and told her, “I’m tired.”

“Of what?”

“Wandering around the Earth, scaring people just to be seen, heard and touched things.”

“I thought you like wandering?”

“All was fun until I liked her.”

“So, you want to be reincarnated?? For her?” Taeyeon gasped.

“Shaman talked to me,” Tzuyu looked at the ice cream melting at the machine. “The longer I stay as a ghost, the older Dahyun gets. Our timelines may not meet. The earlier I ascend, the bigger chance to meet her and be with her. As a human, she can finally see me. I just want to be close to her, that’s all.”

“But you’ll forget about her.”

“Never in my million lives.”

“If you are going to ascend, then you must have overcome your regrets.”

“I did, I overcame my regrets of not being able to care about someone when I was alive. I was selfish when I acted on impulse and killed myself. I didn’t think about people who cared about me. I didn’t pay attention to them because I wasn’t aware how love feels but now I know.” she stood up and passed through the walls to go outside and Taeyeon followed her.

“Is this the same Chou Tzuyu who scares kids at the daycare? Wow, you grew up! But hey! If you ascend then what will happen to me?”

“I have a friend named Yoo Jeongyeon, maybe you could hang out with her…” They saw the grim reaper and the ghost Yoo Jeongyeon walking hand in hand, “or not.”

“Oh, Chou Tzuyu my friend!” Jeongyeon saw Tzuyu and happily greeted her. 

“Is this real? These two aren't killing each other today?”

“It’s a miracle!”

“I figured out that maybe joining the grim reaper to ascend isn’t bad.”

“You’ll get reincarnated?”

“No, I’ll ascend to train as a grim reaper too so I could be with Nayeon-unnie,” Jeongyeon said as she’s eyeing Nayeon with a lovestruck smile on her face. Nayeon sweetly smiled back at her and squeeze Jeongyeon’s hand that still in her hold before she looked at her front again. 

“How about you two?” The grim reaper asked.

Tzuyu looked back at the ice cream store, one last time before she looked at the grim reaper. “Nayeon-unnie, I have already overcome my regret.”

“Have you lived a happy life, ghost life counted?”

“Yes.”

“Have you made others happy? Ghost life counted.” Tzuyu doubted for a second until she saw both Jeongyeon and Taeyeon nodded their heads in approval, giving her their big smiles.

“Yes.”

“So, you want to be a grim reaper too?”

“No, I want to be reincarnated.”

“How about you Taeyeon unnie?”

“I’ll get over it soon, don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine.”

"Here are my kinetic energies… This is enough to touch someone even just for a few seconds. I reserved this for you." Tzuyu held Taeyeon's hand to pass her the energies remaining. 

"Thank you, I'll miss you bud." Taeyeon and Tzuyu hugged each other for one last time. 

Then, Taeyeon saw Yoo Jeongyeon, Nayeon the grim reaper and Chou Tzuyu walked hand in hand as they followed the light.

"Take care, everyone! " she waved her last goodbye with her slightly teary eyes. 

A shaman approached Taeyeon and said, "So, they did it." 

"I wish I could too but all I bring is sadness instead of happiness towards other people." 

"Your time will come, maybe the deity still has plans for you." 

___

Fast forward...

After a few years, little Tzuyu was standing in front of the daycare until she saw a kid who's older than her, giving her a jar of candies and a drawing. 

The kid said, "Hi, I'm Sana. And I like gore." 

When Tzuyu looked at the drawing. It was her standing in front of the school gate with two grim reapers on her side. 

Tzuyu smiled at Sana as she took the piece of candy and said, "I know." 

"Want to grab some ice cream?" Sana asked and Tzuyu's face lit up. 

"Sure, I know a place. Let’s go, Sana unnie.”

___

Seulgi was helping Joy tend with her customers at the pub until she spotted a ghost sitting alone on the table, looking rather gloomy. 

Kim Taeyeon.

“I’m sorry but we don’t serve spirits.”

“Racist.”

“I wish I could offer you a drink.”

“It’s okay. A while ago, I was able to touch Tiffany’s hand for 2 seconds. That made me happy but I am sad too.”

“Did you follow Tzuyu’s ways?!”

“No, Tzuyu gave me her remaining energy.”

“She did that? Why are you here alone, Taeyeon-unnie?”

“Chou Tzuyu and Yoo Jeongyeon ascended today,” Taeyeon said as she looked at the window. “And you will ascend too after your 49th day. Fany seemed to have moved on with a guy. He seems nice, but it hurts still. And now I feel lonely and scared to be forgotten. What if I never overcome my regrets and wander on Earth forever?”

“If I fail my mission, I’ll wander around with you.” Seulgi said, trying to cheer her friend up even just slightly. Taeyeon looked up at her and gave her a grateful smile. 

"Seulgi, can you do me a favour?" 

"Anything for my unnie." 

***

11.

“Seul, can you please drive me somewhere?”

“Oh, sure. How about Seo-Woo? Should we bring her too?” Seulgi asked as she looked over at the kid who’s happily playing fake cooking right now.

“No, let’s just drop her at Joy’s. And we’ll pick her up once we’re done.” Irene said. For some reasons, she looks kind of distracted today.

“O-kay. By the way, you’re okay, unnie?” Seulgi walks approaching Irene, wanting to have a closer look at her. Irene is acting a bit weird today. And Seulgi wants to know why. If there’s something that bothers the older, or troubles her, Seulgi won’t hesitate to jump in to help her.

“I’m fine. Just tired I guess.” Irene shrugged.

And Seulgi knows Irene is not telling her the truth. She knows Irene and her behaviour too well to tell if something is not right. Like now. But Seulgi doesn’t want to force Irene to do what she’s not ready to do yet. Seulgi will wait and look after her until she’s ready to share it with her.

“Okay, c’mon. You can have a nap later in the car.” Seulgi gets Irene’s bag and helps Irene to sling it on her shoulder. She then called for Seo-Woo.

“Seo-Woo-yah~~ Let’s visit auntie Joy!” Seulgi excitedly said. Seo-Woo nodded her head vigorously because she likes Joy a lot too.

Seulgi easily sweeps the kid up and carries her with her right hand. And then she walks back toward Irene.

“Let’s go?” Seulgi naturally reached for Irene’s hand with her free hand and intertwined their fingers as she guided the older out of the house.

Whoever sees them surely will