Episode 124: Beyond the door you opened.
The ghost was busy organizing the study.
I took out the books one by one, dusted them off, put them here and there, and spent a lot of energy arranging them so that no one would care.
After organizing the books, I placed the incense sticks around the study and boiled water for tea when Im Hyang arrived there.
“Prince Seo.”
“Im Soje. Welcome. “It’s a mess because I didn’t clean it up.”
Anyone could see that it had just been cleaned and was shiny, but Imhyang smiled and pretended not to notice.
“There are so many books.”
“There used to be more, but we cleaned up a lot.”
“There are so many books here. “I didn’t know you were a person who reads so many books.”
The ghost felt so good.
“This book here was written by the author himself. I received it directly in this room. And this book here is the one I went to the store to get. “If you want to know about ghosts, you can read this book. Can I lend it to you?”
“iced coffee. yes.”
The ghost took out a book and handed it to me.
“It will be a lot of fun. Ah, if this is interesting, read this too.”
“That’s okay.”
“This book here…”
The ghost explained the books. Im Hyang was too excited to stop him and just listened. But when the explanation became too long, she said:
“Shall we have tea?”
“Oh, I will ride.”
The ghost was full of heat like boiling water.
He couldn’t forget the day he first saw her.
The ghost who attended a banquet held somewhere for later leaders was wandering around that day as well.
Even if they weren’t deliberately ostracizing me, I felt like they were subtly ignoring me. Preconceptions about ghosts are also prejudices, but most importantly, ghosts do not have a personality that gets along well with people. Why is everyone having so much to say? What do you want to brag about so much?
When I went out in frustration, Imhyang was there. I thought she was a very pretty and atmospheric woman, but then she spoke to me first.
“Not so good, huh?”
The ghost was embarrassed. She was the first woman I spoke to at the banquet today.
“I mean the banquet. Today’s musicians and the taste of alcohol are also like that. The same goes for the people gathered.”
This is something a ghost cannot even imagine. To talk so freely to someone you meet for the first time.
“I am Lim Hyang of the Lim family of swordsmen.”
“I am a servant of the noble family.”
“ah!”
For a moment, the ghost felt regret. Don’t reveal the secret. Even if I do reveal it, I will reveal it after we talk more.
But her reaction was unexpected. Rather, it showed interest.
“I’ve heard a lot about ear gates.”
“What did you hear?”
“It’s a very mysterious sect.”
I wanted to talk more, but someone inside called Im Hyang.
“I’m calling. See you later then.”
Imhyang went inside first.
After a while, the ghost also went inside.
In the distance, I could see Im Hyang talking, surrounded by several warriors. She was popular.
Lim Hyang recognized her and waved her hand. Because of this, the eyes of those around her gathered, but she smiled regardless.
Even after the ghost returned that day, he continued to think of her for a while. I diligently attended banquets for a while.
The ghost said with a smile as he carefully brought the tea.
“Please borrow any books you want to read.”
* * *
Ian said to me as he looked at the night sky at the window.
“young master? Do you know what the most common wish people make when a meteor falls?”
“What?”
“oh! Oh! shit! “This is the deal.”
I said with a smile at her words.
“I have quick eyes and mouth, so I never miss anything.”
“Is that really true?”
“Just wait and see.”
The two of us looked up at the night sky with the intention of making a wish without fail. Then Ian blurted out.
“That was the first time I mentioned my parents.”
When talking with Lim Hyang in the guesthouse, she brought up the story of her parents.
“I wanted to tell you at least once, and I said it because I thought it went well.”
“I thought so.”
“Now then, please comfort me.”
“What about comfort? Actually, I don’t know much about the relationship between parents and children. You know that? My mother passed away when I was young, and my father had a very blunt personality. So I don’t know what to say to you.”
“Actually, I am like that too. In the past, I wanted to comfort you when you were having a hard time because of your religious leader. But what do you need to know to comfort them? Rather, I learned everything I should have learned from my parents from you.”
“We grew up snoring together, so what are you learning from me?”
“But you cleaned my nose. “I learned a lot from you and relied on you.”
I tried to say something to comfort her, but stopped. We just stood together and looked up at the night sky.
“How is the operation going?”
“I’m thinking about it.”
“I need some stimulation!”
“What stimulus?”
“Why don’t we kidnap Lin Xiaoje and then have Seo Confucius save him?”
“If you do something clumsy, you end up in an accident.”
“There has to be something exciting between a man and a woman!”
“Ian, think about the most exciting moment in your life. Were there kidnappings, rescues, etc.?”
“…there wasn’t any.”
“There won’t be anyone else either.”
The thrill of my life came from everyday life. Most of that was because of something someone said to me.
What my father said, what Ian said, what Seo Dae-ryong said, what Jang Ho said, what the Magons said, what Pungcheon Church leader and Gowol said, and what I said…. Those countless
words are piling up and accumulating, changing my life. People like me don’t change easily, but my life was changing.
“That’s why I keep telling you. “To that person.”
At that moment, a meteor streaked across the night sky.
oh! Please… eh! shit!
* * *
A few days later, I rented a charming manor and invited the ghost and Seojin. I invited them in return for inviting me to the last banquet.
The ghost’s favorability towards me had previously increased, and Seojin was also feeling favorably towards Ian. So the two willingly accepted the invitation.
It was a small banquet with only the four of us and delicious food cooked by a skilled host, but the ghost preferred this atmosphere.
While Ian and Seojin were talking, I was talking with the ghost.
“Thank you for inviting me.”
“you’re welcome.”
While we were chatting about various things, I started talking about marriage.
“Are your wedding preparations going well?”
“Thanks to your concern, things are going well.”
“Sometimes I envy married couples.”
“What are you jealous of?”
“You know each other very well, right? Just by looking at their eyes, you can tell what that person is thinking. Ah, in a situation like this, that person would judge and act like this. “I think it would be great to have at least one person like that in this world.”
The ghost must be brought down to the ground. Now he is floating and flying in the sky. You need to have him place both feet on the floor and look calmly at the woman in front of him.
“When you look at Soje Lim, can you get a sense of what he is thinking?”
The ghost seemed to think for a moment and then shook his head.
“Honestly, I’m not sure yet.”
I didn’t say anything. Let him think about this for a moment.
I was in no hurry.
We stopped talking about marriage and gained his favor by talking about magic. Since I had a deep understanding of this secret art while learning space-time magic, the conversation about demonic arts went well. With the addition of the flattery technique, the ghost became engrossed in the conversation with me.
After that day, I still tried to meet him somehow.
The ghost was busy, but there was no need to spend a long time meeting him. Just enough time to have a cup of tea.
Some days, I would wait for him in the guest room of his house, chanting the Heavenly Demon Defense Technique.
When we met a ghost, we talked about various things, and then we also talked about marriage and women.
As I kept visiting him, the ghost at first asked, ‘Why are you doing this to me just because I ate once? ‘What are you aiming for?’ Although these doubts were evident, as time passed, he secretly liked talking to me. Because he didn’t have any friends in his life.
It started out intentionally, but I gradually found myself enjoying talking to him. Abusingong became less and less necessary.
“My sister-in-law says you shouldn’t be too nice to women.”
“Why is that?”
“I guess that’s because it’s human nature to be upset if you do something well 10 times and then fail to do it once.”
“Why don’t you do it well all ten times?”
“Don’t people’s hearts change as time passes?”
“I won’t change.”
“Confucius is also a human being, and he will change.”
“I am different! “It never changes!”
Whenever he’s stubborn like this, I want to rush in and yell at him like this.
It has changed! You really change! Ugh, let’s not stop. Let’s just rip it open.
“Don’t be too nice to me. “If you go to that street, bad guys are popular.”
“ah! I felt that too. “There were many times when I wondered why I liked that guy when I saw him at the banquet.”
“So don’t be too nice to me. Wouldn’t it be touching if you do something well once in a while after not being good at it? “No one can do well every time.”
“That makes sense.”
The ghost from my old days really wanted to talk to me. At that time, I only drank one drink and left to look for ingredients.
Let’s talk to the fullest about the stories we couldn’t talk about back then.
Time continued to pass, but I met him and talked to him like a rat in a pool room.
“Are you saying that the date you went to get the important ingredients needed for demonic arts training coincided with Im Sojeo’s birthday?”
“That’s right. So which one will you choose?”
“Of course, we have to celebrate Lim Sojeo’s birthday.”
“Even though it’s an important ingredient? “If I miss it this time, I have to wait three years?”
“Still, it’s not worth comparing.”
Someday, if something similar happens, I’ll be a ghost. Remember what you said today! There is definitely a difference between words that have never been said and words that have been said even once.
I tried.
I pretended not to know, tried to persuade him, and encouraged him. It gave me courage, hints, and information.
Even though he was a ghost who betrayed me, who had collected Dafa materials all his life, and tried to go to the past, he was still thankful that he had come this far and worked hard until the end.
I finally met him for the last time, a day before the wedding.
“I never thought I would meet you until today.”
The ghost who cried out like that revealed his honest feelings.
“Honestly, I still don’t understand. “Why are you so nice to me?”
It was a question I had endured and it was proof that we had become close friends.
“Didn’t you say you liked Lim Sojeo from the first time you saw him? So did I. When I saw Confucius, I felt like he was like an older brother or a friend, and I felt good about him. I have no other intentions. “The reason I see you so often is because I plan to leave again after the wedding tomorrow, so I don’t know when I will see you again.”
The ghost still had a suspicious look in his eyes.
I raised my hand towards the sky.
“I swear to heaven. If what I say is false, I will be taken away by the Heavenly Demon!”
The ghost waved his hand.
“Stop it! There is no need to make such a terrible oath! I believe it. “If it’s an oath like this, you have to believe it.”
He held out his hand.
“Thank you.”
“Congratulations on your wedding.”
We held hands. Now that I think about it, it was the first time I held his hand before and after my return.
The wedding was held the next day.
Ian was excited, saying it was his first time seeing a wedding. As expected from a prestigious wedding, it was extravagant and had a lot to see, but Ian paid close attention to every detail and even asked the people in charge of the ceremony if he didn’t know anything.
Of course, I couldn’t be the star of the day, so I wore a bamboo hat with a cotton thread and clothes that didn’t reveal my body.
I spoke to Ian at the end of the wedding.
“Now let’s go back to school.”
“Yes, master.”
“Did you enjoy this trip?”
“I will never forget this in my life.”
I could tell how much she liked it because she even left records in the book.
Ian and Seojin said their sad goodbyes. The two seemed to have become quite close. When I Met a Ghost, Ian spent a lot of time with Seojin. I had left Seojin’s fate up to Ian.
I made eye contact with a ghost who was greeting the guests in the distance. I waved my hand. He also smiled and waved his hand.
I don’t know if this will be the end of my relationship with him or if we will meet again. I don’t know what kind of life he will lead.
I just hope that the conversations we had will bring about changes in his life and that those changes will come together to change the outcome.
I don’t know what’s beyond the door you opened today. Will there be only the regrets that everyone talks about, or will there be companions who can get to know each other just by looking into each other’s eyes? I just want to ask you one thing. No matter how hard things get, don’t give up. Just like you waited for me all your life, don’t give up until the end of your life. Beyond the door you opened for me, I too am moving forward without giving up, so I hope you will too. Please be happy, ghost.
I left the gate with Ian.
“Now, let’s go back, Ian!”