It took both me and Daesung three hours until we felt fresh. 

I let the kid use the bathroom before me. I also told him to stay as much as he wanted. Mud was hard to wash after it hardened. It also gave me enough time to run back in the stormy evening. Shops were closing, so I had to hurry. I didn’t care I looked like a swamp monster. I entered the first shop in my way, ignored the shopkeepers’ protests and grabbed as many clothing items as I could. I paid more than their value, stuffed them inside a plastic bag and held it to my chest so rain won’t get inside and wet them. Before I turned the corner to return home, I had one last thing to do. 

After that was over, I checked my watch and hoped Daesung wouldn’t notice my absence.

When I got inside the apartment, the water was still working in the bathroom. I carefully pulled the clothes out of the bag and placed them on the kitchen’s table. I picked a few and pushed them in front of the bathroom’s door, then folded the rest and I left them on Daesung’s couch.

Satisfied, I waited for a reaction.

“Grandmaaa! Where are the towels?!”

Oh, I forgot about them.

“Up, they’re up!” well, somewhere around there anyway. I wasn’t sure if I unpacked them.

“I can’t find them!” he yelled back. I made my way to the bathroom’s door and knocked.

“You sure?” I asked and waited for another reply.

“Yeaaaaah!” and there it was.

I could swear they were there. Okay, maybe I really forgot to unpack them.

“Wait there!”

I mentally slapped myself. Of course he’ll wait there, where else could he go? I rummaged through the boxes in the living room. Ugh, so many useless things, antique vases and other stuff I don’t need.

Where are those towels?

“Hey grandma, what’s this?”

I turned around to see a and wet Daesung holding the clothes I purchased him.

“SWEET HOLY MOTHER, PUT SOMETHING ON!!!”

I screamed as I threw a towel from the box towards him. Daesung caught it and for a second, he didn’t see my problem. At least, that’s what I could read from his confused expression.

“IDIOT! GET AWAY, YOU’RE , DAMNIT!”

It finally clicked when Daesung became tomato red and hurried back to the bathroom.

I’ll never get the image of his out of my head.

---

We had a modest and silent dinner, mostly because of Daesung’s attics. He mumbled with his mouth full of rice that he forgot I’m a girl. So I wasn’t a grandma anymore? I was a girl? Well, same thing. It’s good to know that Daesung sees no problem in showing me his... thing... around me. It means I really am that old to be considered a mother figure, one that could scrub his back and dress him up without a problem.

98.

I glared at my reflection.

99.

But really, I should teach him some manners. We’re in a different century, which means people have different expectations.

100.

I put the hair brush away and sighed. Finally I was clean, my hair smelled wonderful and I could get some sleep. The storm outside turned into a soft rain. Any creature would feel relaxed from its song.

From the corner of my eyes I could see a large bird standing in front of my window.

Sigh.

I went there, opened the window and let the golden eagle hop inside. I absentmindedly went back to pick my brush and start counting again the number of on my hair.

“Sooyoung,” Jung Min’s voice came from behind me. I could see him in the mirror.

“I really hate you,” I put the brush back and turned around in my chair “You and your kind.”

He looked the same as ever. His smoky eyes, his black hair, his black clothes and the brownish feathers stuck to his body in the form of a fluffy jacket.

Black, black, black! Reapers would make horrible interior decorators.

He said nothing.

“Alright, since you are going to stay silent,” I spoke as I searched for my matches. His stench already filled the room, despite the large window and fresh air outside. “There’s something I don’t get,” I lit a candle and let its perfume invade my nostrils “What’s the deal with that place? Why did you make me go there?”

“Why are you back?” I wasn’t in the mood for his riddles.

“You answer me first.”

“I... we... need your help.”

“My help?” huh! “You guys can deal with whatever it is alone.”

“One of the reapers went rogue.”

“Tell me something new,” I mumbled. It wasn’t the first time one of the reapers got bored of their job and messed it for everybody else. But those cases were handled fast.

“He remembers. He remembers his old life.”

Now that I wasn’t expecting. Unlike ghosts, reapers have absolutely no memory of their previous lives. I always believed it was a mechanics to protect them. I’d freak out and cause chaos too if I knew what that demon did to me.

“But that’s impossible.”

“We know, so we started investigating. He’s not the only one.”

That really wasn’t good news. If you are going to create an ultimate weapon, you’d better make sure it had a safety switch, or else it might backfire.

“How?”

“I... we... don’t know yet. That’s why I...” he really should stop correcting himself “we need your help, to investigate further. Maybe there’s something you know that we don’t.”

I laughed.

“Seriously?” and laughed some more “C’mon, maybe it’s nothing. Aren’t you happy to finally know your real name?”

“I’d rather be your Jung Min,” he smiled.

I rolled my eyes.

“Whatever. I’ll try. But you still haven’t answered me.”

“Neither have you.”

I got up from the chair and went closer to him, my arms wrapped tightly over my chest.

“I was curious how my hometown looked after all these years.”

“And?”

I shrugged.

“Nothing new, I just don’t know anymore where things were.”

“Hey grandma!”

Jung Min nodded in my direction. It was time for him to go.

“Hey! Answer me before you do!”

He climbed up the window and smiled “That house...” he winked “was where you almost died.”

He morphed into the same majestic eagle as he flew to the horizon. I still wonder how in the world he can do that with the rain.

“Grandma!!!”

Oh yeah, the kid. I unlocked my bedroom door and stared. Daesung was holding the broom from a day go, topless and with his pajama pants on.

“Are you okay?” he pushed me aside and got in. He swung the broom in an attempt to attack whatever thing hid in the shadows. “Who were you talking to?!”

“Myself,” I shrugged again. It was useless to act normal by now. “Oh, Daesung...”

The blond blinked. Yeah, I was so winning the crazy award this year. I went through my purse and pulled out a key. I handed it to Daesung and gave him a tender smile.

“Here, now you can come and go as you please.”

“Grandma...” he looked worried before he hugged me. It was becoming a habit. “Thank you so much!!! I swear I’ll be nice, I swear! I swear that no matter what, I’ll protect grandma the way grandma protects me!!!”

Awww.

Okay, Sooyoung, snap out of it.

“Yeah, yeah, just let me sleep.”

“Yes ma’am!” he cheerfully said as he bid me goodnight, took his broom and closed the door behind him.

Man, that kid really is fun.

I haven’t gone to bed as happy as then in a long... long... long time.

---

My mother passed away. She’d already been buried near my father.

I wasn’t there to say my goodbye.

All I had left was her house that was near collapsing. Nobody dared buy it, nobody dared bring it down and build something on top of it. I was inside it, knees to my chest and tears running down my cheeks.

I had so much to tell her, so many stories to share. Most importantly, I wanted to say how much I loved her, despite what she had done to me. No matter what, I cared for her deeply.

Thirty days passed since Jung Min’s last visit. I heard wings flap outside. From the sun’s weak rays, I knew who it was.

“Hey,” his voice was dull as he came inside “Why are you here? It’s dangerous.”

“You knew,” I whispered as I blankly stared. He’s a reaper, he takes care of souls. He knows when somebody dies because he’s the one that guides the spirits to wherever they’re supposed to go. That is, if they have a place to go to.

I that time, I thought that maybe, everything we had done, was in vain since there was nothing beyond the life we knew.

“I’m sorry...”

“You knew, yet you didn’t tell me. You knew, two years ago... you knew.”

“Yuri already found out from her reaper and I thought...”

“You thought what?!” I shouted with despair. My tears wouldn’t stop. “That you’ll protect me? That it’s better that I don’t know? That I’m a weak, fragile human that doesn’t deserve to find out when her mother’s going to die?! That I would have stopped you?!”

“Please, I only---”

“Shut up!” I boiled with anger “Guess what Jung Min, I don’t need protection! I don’t need you!”

“But,”

“I don’t need anybody! I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself!”

“Stop, Sooyoung...”

“I DON’T WANT TO EVER SEE YOU AGAIN, YOU HEAR ME?!”

That’s when I felt a slight tremble under my feet. I watched as a faint red glow surrounded my hands.

“Calm... down,” Jung Min breathed in my head.

His words came flooding back. Since when did Mistress Yuri have a reaper at her side?

End of case 2! ^o^/ Thank you guys for reading up until this point.

I feel like explaining some things.

First, the world of reapers (Heaven/Hell) and humans (Earth) are separated and each has their own rules. Ghosts are considered to be stuck in a place that’s between those two worlds, kind of like a Catholic Purgatory, so they cannot willingly move to either side.

Secondly, the colors I’ve chosen for the priestesses. Black, in some cultures, is considered to represent the soil, fertile soil to be exact, thus the earth. I wanted the Black Priestesses to be bound to the world they lived in, so their abilities aren’t as strong because they do not have a stronger link with the reaper’s world. White on the other hand is considered to be the color of death. A White Priestess draws her powers from the reaper’s world, thus they can see both worlds in perfect harmony, but because they transcended the laws of the human world, their power is endless. With red, I was thinking of red brides that are still present these days in Hindu weddings (correct me if I’m wrong). When I think of marriage, I think of a union of two people that become one. The idea of a Red Priestess is the idea of a human that connects both worlds through training her body and soul (meditation, experience over years) in order to create a bridge between the human and the reaper world, allowing ghosts to cross over.

Again, thank you for reading! ^__^ you guys are awesome <3 more will the revealed in next chapters.