That library. The place where I first met Jisoo, what seemed years away now after everything that had happened. I couldn't help but feel a sense of deja vu as I followed behind Lalisa, through the forest of bookshelves over to the empty space in the centre.
"Jisoo." Lalisa's voice cut through the muffled silence.
Jisoo stood with her back towards us as she looked out the small window in the wall. The only indication that she'd heard us come in at first was the slow lift of her head.
"Were there any issues?"
"They were lured in and ambushed by another Rasetsu, it seems."
The older Mogwai took a deep, contemplative breath, letting her hands fall to her sides. "Thank you. You may go. I wish to speak with the human alone."
"Sure." Lalisa nodded, though Jisoo couldn't see it. She turned to me and mouthed a "Good luck" before turning to leave.
I gulped, taking care not to do so audibly, before pacing towards Jisoo. From what I could sense, she didn't seem to hold any malice, either towards me or anyone else; there was none of that suffocating presence I normally felt when any of the Mogwai did. As such, it was hard for me to predict what was on her mind.
It wasn't until I was within an arm's length from her that she finally turned to face me. Her gaze was trained downwards before she slowly looked up to meet my eyes. I couldn't decipher what she was feeling from her perfect poker face.
"If you're gonna tell me off, let me just s–"
She raised a finger to my lips, silencing me.
"Come with me, Jang Y/N."
With her other hand, she gestured for mine, and I knew what she meant. I reached out to take her hand, and in an instant, the world went black.
When everything came back into focus, we were standing outside on the pavement. I took a moment to take in my surroundings, and that's when I saw it for the first time. At least, the first time since the rebranding.
In front of us stood a building that seemed to shimmer in and out of reality. Although I had seen it do this once before, that didn't make the sight any less breathtaking. Like before, one moment the place was a seemingly rundown, red-brick building, not more than three storeys high. And one moment it was this huge, extravagant, royal-esque hotel. Only this time, there was something different about it. While the basic design was the same, looking like a castle from old myths and legends, it now sported a bluish hue, similar to the tinge taken on by most ghosts, only deeper and more saturated. The large sign on the front of the hotel that used to read "Hotel Del Luna" now read "Hotel Blue Moon", and instead of the old symbol I vaguely remembered, a circle with a line streaking across it, there was now a glowing blue circle, which I guessed was meant to represent the titular Blue Moon.
With a clear of her throat, Jisoo's voice brought me back to reality. "When you enter, ask for Room 77."
"Wha– am I dead? Did that thing kill me? Is that why you've brought me here?"
She breathed calmly. "All will be answered. Now go."
Though my mind was filled with a plethora of questions, I obliged, walking up the small flight of stairs which led to the entrance. As I pushed through the doors, a cheerful yet curt voice greeted me.
"Hello, how long has it been since you d– oh, you're alive." A man, slightly taller than me, dressed in a bellboy's outfit leaned against the reception desk of the lobby I'd just entered. He didn't have that bluish tinge I expected, but I chalked it up to the place and its mystical qualities. "Would you like a room, sir?"
I looked around the small lobby for a moment. It looked almost identical to the one in the old iteration of the hotel, where I'd met its previous owner. "Er, I was told to look for... Room 77?"
A look of realisation washed over the bellboy's face. "You must be Jang Y/N, correct?" I nodded, a little taken aback. "Excellent. Come this way, sir."
The bellboy came around from behind the desk and gestured towards the single elevator. I followed his lead and stepped into the elevator compartment of the hotel for the dead for the first time. Once we were both inside, the metal grill slid shut on its own accord and we started to descend.
"So, er, who's the new owner of the hotel?" I asked, not wanting to be stuck in an awkward silence, and seizing the chance to get more information.
The bellboy winced. "Boss is super secretive about revealing himself. I heard he was a Korean immigrant in Japan and became a Yakuza boss... and I wasn't supposed to tell you that."
"Someone like that, and he still managed to become the owner of this hotel?" I raised an eyebrow at him. In return, he gave me a look like I was a child who knew little of the world.
"Mago handpicked him herself. Apparently he's committed crimes as heinous as Jang Manwol before him, if not more." His face then shifted as he realised he'd slipped again. "I need to stop talking. I've only been dead for a couple of months, so I'm still new to this job. I can't lose it."
I barely paid the last part any mind, still stuck on what he'd said before. "What do you mean by Manwol's crimes? What did she do?"
My questions were met with silence, which thankfully didn't last too long. No sooner had I asked when the elevator slowed to a stop. The metal grille slid open, and the bellboy gestured for me to step out. And as I did, I felt my jaw physically drop.
The tiny lobby from earlier seemed to be just a front, because stepping into the hotel's actual lobby was like entering a palace ballroom. The ceiling stretched further than I could see, chandeliers hanging from seemingly nothing, bathing the expansive room in a mixture of yellowish-white and pale blues. The floor tiles were glossy and looked as though laminated with crystal.
People who I assumed were guests went about their business, filling the air with a low ambience of chatter and clinks and scuffs. Though they were most definitely ghosts, I couldn't see a bluish tinge, nor could I feel a drop in temperature. It looked just like any other hotel, albeit a super high end one. I watched as one guest, a woman with hair that went down to her knees, spoke animatedly to another, a woman with bobbed hair, as they sat on two of the many lavish looking couches which were placed along the length of the lobby. Three people dressed in black and white, who looked to be hotel staff, walked in unison, carrying metal trays with several empty glasses and plates.
"It's the same for everyone, their first time here," the bellboy said, still standing next to me.
"It's... literally incredible. I don't think I've ever seen a place like this in my life."
"And you will in your death." He clapped his hands together once. "Now, if you'll follow me, Mr. Jang."
As I followed behind the bellboy, I couldn't help but notice a few odd glances from a couple of the guests. I supposed it was pretty obvious that I wasn't like them. I was alive. I averted my gaze, though part of me knew it wouldn't make a difference like it did back out there. There was a certain warmth to the living that could never be hidden, especially from the unnatural cold of the dead.
"You know, it's interesting that you can see us just like that," the bellboy started. "Most people are only able to see ghosts in the dark, and only sometimes. The true nature of the hotel only shows itself to the living during eclipses, in fact."
"Why would it be interesting?" I quickened my pace slightly to keep up with him.
"Well, from what I hear, no one really gave you your sight, your eyes just... do that." He shrugged as we walked side by side.
"So it's not like, say..." I tried to recall the term Ildo had used. "The human manager?"
"Exactly. And the manager only has that sight because Boss gave it to her."
In my head, I drew comparisons to the story Jang Manwol told me when I'd met her so long ago. About how she gave her human manager the ability to see ghosts, and how they'd fallen for each other, and he'd helped her resolve her grudges.
From the lobby, we turned into a corridor, with blue patterned carpeting and teal wallpaper. We walked by doors which displayed their room numbers—67, 68, 69, 70.
"Why am I wanted in Room 77?" Since I failed to get anything out of Jisoo, I decided to try my luck with the bellboy.
To my dismay, he replied, "I'm just following orders," shaking his head.
I didn't have to wait long, however, as we soon arrived in front of the door with the number 77 on it. The bellboy produced a ring of keys from his vest, and rapped on the door twice before pushing one of the keys into the lock and twisting. As he turned the door knob, he turned to me and smiled.
"She's waiting for you."
"She?"
A bright white light poured out of the door as he pushed it open, quickly consuming my vision until I could see nothing but white.
I tried to blink, but to no avail, only producing a strobe of black and white as my eyelids shuttered close and open again. Eventually, though, shapes began to form in the empty void, at first faint enough that I could only just make them out if I squinted. Like fog blown away by the wind, the white blanket slowly faded, and I found myself in a completely new environment. Only it wasn't new to me; I knew it perfectly well.
My shoes met dirt, worn from being treaded, with a little grass poking through. In front of me was a playground, simplistic by nature, and having seen better days, but nevertheless functional. Behind the playground stood a large building. The old school building.
In the rightmost corner of the playground's bounds stood a swing set with two swings placed side by side. And sitting on one of the swings, smiling at me, was...
"Wendy..."
My voice was barely above a whisper, but that didn't seem to matter in this place. This was a dream, right? That was it. I was just having another nightmare. Or maybe it's another illusion, just like Jungkook's apartment. Some entity was trying to mess with me, lure me into another trap to try and kill me for whatever reason.
"What, you're just gonna stand there? Aren't you happy to see me?" She got up from the swing and started walking in my direction.
The moment I heard her voice, for the first time in nearly a month, I decided I didn't care. Whether or not this was real, I would worry about it when the time came. A few tears already rolling down my face, I strode towards her, not waiting for her to close the distance herself. It didn't take long, and I rushed into a hug, not thinking about anything else.
Hugging Wendy was like standing right in front of an active air conditioner on full power, and I inhaled sharply the moment I made contact. That didn't matter to me. She was here, weeks after I lost her, weeks of hoping and losing hope that I'd find her again. She said nothing as I started to shake, sobbing as tears came full force. I felt her cold touch as she patted my back.
"I'm sorry, Wendy. I'm so sorry. It shouldn't have been you. It wanted me. Only me. You didn't– didn't deserve..."
"Hey, hey, it's okay. It wasn't your fault." She pulled away, and I felt some of the warmth return to my body. She held me by the shoulders and gave a sweet smile that extended to her eyes. "If I could go back, I still would've done it."
"That's... not fair."
She tilted her head, sighing softly. "No, it isn't. But you're safe now. That's enough to make me happy."
I tried to blink away the tears blurring my vision but to no avail. If I never saw her again, this was how I wanted to remember her. Not a bloodied, disfigured corpse on the floor under a raging Rasetsu. Not a lifeless portrait on a funeral display shelf. But this. How she was supposed to look, full of life. Or as much so as she could be right now.
"I don't deserve someone like you. Never did"
"And yet, you have me. Funny how that works out." Smiling again, she lifted a hand to my cheek, and only when I felt the chill did I realise how flushed my face felt from the breakdown. She gestured towards the swingset. "Come on, sit with me."
She made her way back to the swings, and I followed, shambling behind. The soles of my shoes scuffed against the synthetic ground of the playground.
"How did you... are we actually here?"
Taking a look around the place, she giggled. "Crazy, right? It looks just like how it did back then." She let out a sigh, both in wonder and melancholy. "I heard they tore it down a few years back, though. Wanted to expand the school building, didn't have enough land. So that sucks."
"So this is..."
"Magic hotel." She shrugged as she sat on the swing she'd been on earlier, kicking her legs off the ground. "I hear every room is different, caters to the guests' needs. It's really neat."
I held onto the chain of the swing next to her. It felt so real. I could feel the coldness of every rung, down to every rough spot of rust. I sat down, the metal jangling slightly with the newly added weight.
"Just like old times, right?" She chuckled.
I wiped the drying stream of tears from my face, a smile finally creeping onto my face. "Right. I can almost hear Cash swearing at me if I concentrate."
We laughed together, swinging idly next to each other. It felt good. The sort of laughter that lifted the weight from off your shoulders. The kind that made you forget about everything else outside of that moment.
But of course, reality always had to set in eventually.
"What happened after... you know... the incident?" I hated to bring it up, but this could've been my only chance to find out.
Wendy's expression turned solemn as she stared at the ground, her swing only swaying gently. "I just... remember a searing pain in my head when the thing hit me. After that it was blank, nothing. The next thing I remember was standing over my body after the doctors covered me up."
I began to fidget with the chain of the swing as the events of that day came back to me, after I'd tried so hard to push them out of my head. But I didn't stop her.
"I felt this weird force, compelling me, trying to lead me somewhere. So I followed it here. The owner was very clear when he briefed me; I wouldn't be allowed to interact with you or any of the others. I was to only watch from afar."
"You met the new owner of the hotel? He sounds harsh."
She shrugged. "I can tell he's been through a lot, so I don't really blame him. Besides, he did accept when I made the request to see you one last time."
"One... last time?" The words sent a pang through my chest, although I'd expected it to be so.
Smiling sadly, she nodded. "I'm due to move on tonight."
The air around the playground grew silent. As it was only a replica of a place in memory there was no ambience to fill the gap. No wind blowing against the trees surrounding us. No birds flying overhead. No vehicles or people in the distance. It was just us, as we were forced to take in the gravity of her words.
Wendy changed the subject, probably not wanting to waste any time. "I saw everything. The thing with Yerim, the way Sooyoung took care of you, Joohyun's mother."
"And I assume you're gonna make fun of at least two of those things."
A smirk arose on her face, squinting at me. "Don't tempt me."
"How come I never saw or sensed you if you were watching, then?"
"That was the tricky part. Your sight. I had to do my best to stay away from you, at least far enough that my presence could be ignored. It isn't as hard as you'd think, though. Unless a presence is super strong or an entity wants you to see it, you usually don't seem to pick up on it unless you focus. At least, that's what I've learned since, you know, becoming one of them."
"I guess all your nagging me about whether I saw or felt anything during our investigations wasn't for nothing, then."
"See, I can be resourceful when I need to." She flipped her short hair in a comical display of vanity. "But seriously, though, I'm really glad you had Sooyoung around to be there for you. She's been nothing but patient with you, and she genuinely cares."
I nodded, bowing my head. "I'd probably have a hard time admitting it, but I am, too. I don't know what state I'd be in if I had to face it alone, and I honestly feel bad for her after what she's had to deal with because of me."
She smiled, and it had a bittersweet sense to it. "You know, I might've even told you that you should give her a second chance, that you guys could start over."
"I'm sensing a "but" with Jisoo's name on it."
Her grin extended from ear to ear. "My, my, Y/N, I knew you were inexperienced, but we need to have a talk about your choice of love interest."
I couldn't help but chuckle. "How did you meet her, exactly?"
"Looong story." She kicked herself off the ground, pushing her swing backwards as she held onto the chains. "So during my, uh, funeral, I saw this lady standing behind you when..." She shook her head as if to stop the memory from distracting her, clearing her throat. "Anyway, I couldn't help but notice two things. One was that no one else was able to see her. Another was that you couldn't see me. In fact, you walked right through me while you were leaving. I mean, I was surprised that you even came, given your ability, but that really caught me off guard."
"That would be Jennie." I figured since she'd met Jisoo already, it wasn't off the table to tell her about the Mogwai. "She can alter people's perception of reality. She offered to sort of "remove" my ability for a while so I could go."
"I was suspicious, obviously, so I followed Jennie at a distance after you guys left. Imagine my surprise when she led me straight to that hoax of a mansion."
"I don't know if it's a little late to tell you, but it wasn't a hoax."
She rolled her eyes playfully. "Gee, thanks, genius. I hadn't gathered."
"Just doing my best to help," I scoffed.
"So I went into the mansion, and that's when I met Jisoo."
"That must've been a rough first impression." I laughed, shaking my head. "I mean, I thought she was gonna kill me when we first met."
"And again, I question your taste in women." She squinted at me mockingly. "Anyway, she softened up real quick when I told her who I was. We talked a bit, and she actually seemed nicer than I first thought."
"Lucky." I crossed my arms. "It took me over a month to get there."
She gave me a mocking grin, shrugging. "What can I say, infinite rizz."
"And yet you fell for a Webtoon character–"
She cleared her throat loudly, cutting me off. "As I was saying, Jisoo and I talked. And that's when a bunch of the pieces clicked together. Why you disappeared during the Mansion case, you constantly disappearing after investigations, all the times you said you were hanging out with coworkers, and most importantly, the times you mentioned her name. Dude, you are smitten, let me tell you that."
"Well, you try having weird dreams about the past of someone you just met, and see how you feel."
The new information took her aback. "Huh. That's interesting. How much were you hiding from me?"
My heart dropped into my stomach for a moment, before I remembered that I didn't have to hide anything from her. Not anymore. "Uh, in my defence, the deal that I made with her entailed that I couldn't speak a word about them to anyone, including you."
"Seems like the deal's off, then."
I poked my tongue into my cheek, struggling to find the words. "Let's just say it's complicated."
"Don't worry, she told me."
"She what? What did she say?"
"Ask her yourself." She reached over to shove me lightly on the shoulder.
"Seriously, is there anyone who's not gonna tell me to ask Jisoo about her feelings directly today?"
Wendy let out a sigh, but this time it was a more relaxed one. "She may seem prickly–"
"That's putting it lightly."
"–but I can tell you that she cares a lot about you. More than she might be willing to admit."
"Is that why she brought me here?"
She waved her hand in the air in a gesture to say "kinda". "See, the owner of this place, he said he'd let me talk to you one last time, but on condition that you had to come here yourself, and I couldn't tell you to come myself."
"So you worked around it with Jisoo."
She clicked her tongue, pointing finger guns at me. "Bingo."
Up until that point, the only sounds in the area had been from us. Just then, however, a knocking could be heard, like knuckles on wood. It appeared to come from every direction at once, and it caught me off guard.
"Oh, shoot, we don't have much time left." Wendy shot up from the swing, and I followed suit, feeling uncertain. She grabbed me by the shoulders once more, looking me right in the eye with a more intense gaze than the past few minutes. "I need to tell you something, Y/N. You need to listen to me."
"I'm listening." I looked back at her, eyes wide from fresh surprise.
"I wasn't able to learn much, but I know more than I did before I died. The Rasetsu... it's just a pawn. They're lesser demons, summoned by more powerful beings to do their bidding."
"What are you trying to say?"
"It's not just the Rasetsu. Think, Y/N. All the entities you said had blood-red eyes. They're all connected. They're working for someone. Or for something."
"Who? And what do they want?"
She shook her head. The not-knowing clearly distressed her. "Whatever it is that's been sending these things, they're after you. But I couldn't figure out what, or who, they are. Only that they're old. Really old. Probably around a thousand years, at least. Maybe more. That's what the demonologist in Room 147 told me. In his words, power, unless bestowed upon oneself by a higher power, is proportional to the age of one's soul."
"A thousand years?" I had one guess. "Royal, maybe? From the Goryeo era?"
"I don't–"
The knocking came again, once more sounding like it came from every direction. Wendy closed her eyes and took a deep breath, letting herself down from the intensity of the exchange.
"Right. It's time."
"What's gonna happen to you when you pass over?" I couldn't hide the nervousness in my voice.
She let out a sigh, shaking her head. "They won't tell me for sure. It could be anything, or nothing." She reached out and cupped my face with both of her hands, sending a slight shiver across my body. "But I promise I'll be okay. You need to let me go."
I lifted a hand and placed it over hers, feeling my heart racing. "I'm scared."
She smiled, and this time I could see her eyes welling up, a couple of tears already rolling down her cheek. "So am I. I'm terrified."
Once again, I pulled her into a hug, this time prepared for the initial cold shock. It was her turn to cry, and cry she did, her face buried in my chest as her arms wrapped around me. That wasn't to say I wasn't crying. There we stood in each other's arms for the last time, shedding the last tears we'd ever see from each other.
"If we're lucky," she managed through sobs, her voice shaky, "maybe we'll see each other again. Who knows, right? Maybe the afterlife won't be so bad."
"I'll come find you, no matter what happens."
She slapped my back feebly. "Don't you dare do anything stupid."
I saw the opportunity to make the reference and I took it. "How can I, you're taking all the stupid with you."
Through the tears and the sobs, we both laughed, a moment of childish joy in the bittersweet finality of what was about to happen.
Another foreign sound drew my attention. I watched as a door appeared out of thin air on the ground. As it opened, I saw the bellboy from earlier, standing in the same corridor he'd led me through. It made my head hurt, trying to comprehend the nature of the room, having been so absorbed in the environment it created for Wendy.
"That's me." Wendy's voice was bold, yet fragile. She pulled away from the embrace and wiped off the strands of hair sticking to her face. "Wish me luck."
"Luck." I smiled like an idiot through the tears.
She returned my smile before starting towards the door. I held on to her arm loosely until the last second, until my arm fell limp by my side as she turned her back to me, leaving me standing just in front of the swingset. At the door, she nodded in acknowledgement at the bellboy, who returned the gesture. She stepped out into the corridor, turning a corner, disappearing from view. At that moment, I knew she was gone. Truly gone. But despite that, despite the tears that still flowed from my eyes, I felt a new feeling, one that I thought I would never achieve, let alone so soon.
Acceptance.
~~~
"Are... you alright?"
Jisoo's question shook me out of my trance. I stared out at the night view from the mansion's balcony, the cityline illuminated by artificial lights of various colours and brightness. Despite the bustle that I could see, the atmosphere itself felt serene.
"Why didn't you tell me she came to you?" I turned away from the edge of the balcony, resting one hand on the railing as I faced the Mogwai standing next to me.
Her eyes darted away from mine as she heard my question. "I must admit... I was afraid to talk to you. I worried that I might strike a nerve by saying the wrong thing, or, heaven forbid, hurt you. And..." Her gaze finally met mine again. "I had assumed you would resent me."
"I'm sorry," I sighed. "For all the times I lashed out at you. I was just... too overwhelmed by everything, and I wasn't thinking of the people around me. I wasn't thinking of... you. It felt like she was my only tether I had to my humanity, and it'd been cut loose."
She said nothing, but bit the inside of her cheek. Like she was contemplating something. I didn't need to guess what it was for long.
Without warning, she closed the small distance between us. I felt her arms around me as she pulled me into a hug. Taken aback at first, I slowly returned the hug, wrapping unsure arms around her waist. It didn't feel cold like when I was hugging Wendy. The few times I'd made physical contact with Jisoo should've hinted towards it; she felt like air, but almost solid. Like how a child imagines a cloud to feel, only firmer, and in the shape of a person. At least, that was how she felt when she wasn't actively keeping herself tangible.
My heart threatened to burst out of its cage as I felt the ghost wrap her arms around the back of my neck, sinking her small frame into me. I could almost feel the moment the tension left her body, like the muscles of a living person relaxing.
"I... ah, forgive you."
If she'd had blood pumping through her veins, I definitely would've felt her face warm up against the nook of my neck as she awkwardly spoke those words. A hundred different responses rushed through my head, ranging from serious to teasing and everything in between. But my throat failed to form the words I needed.
As if reading my mind, Jisoo's body shifted as she chuckled. "Are you about to have a heart attack, Y/N? I imagine the entire country could hear your heart beating the way it is."
"Er, sorry..."
"If it is a kiss you are expecting, you would be better off approaching your other friend."
"Is there anyone who doesn't know about that at this point?"
She pulled away from the hug, still laughing. My racing heart skipped a beat as she looked up at me, her lips forming a heart shape as she smiled. A rare sight, and definitely one to behold. But then it started to fade. She kept her gaze on me, her eyes locked on mine, but as her laughter died down, a new expression replaced it. Her already flushed face grew a deeper shade of pink, and she held her mouth open slightly. This was the most vulnerable I had ever seen her look, like her walls were completely down.
Though I couldn't say how my own face looked, as I struggled to keep my breathing steady. The nerves I felt were unlike any other time I'd been with her. Maybe I'd felt this feeling here and there, but never this strongly. In that moment, despite all that had happened that day, I anticipated what Jisoo would do next, what she'd say next. My mind told me I was right where I was supposed to be, and yet, being this close to her, seeing her so vulnerable, filled me with equal parts excitement and dread.
"I do not care anymore..."
"Sorry?" Her first choice of words was... an interesting one.
"Whether or not you are the reincarnation of that heaven-forsaken prince. It matters not. The fact is, whatever you were in your past life, it won't affect what I feel for you. How I care for you. How I worry for your safety every second you are out of my sight. I..."
Her words died in her throat. She lowered her head, breaking our eye contact. "It is foolish of me, and yet I cannot seem to stop myself. Centuries on this plane of existence, and I fall in love with a simple human. What a joke. Here I am, with all my experience and power, and I throw myself at a mortal who doesn't share my feelings."
At this point, I was starting to think that what she'd said about the whole country hearing my heart pumping could be true. My fingertips were cold, not because of any presence this time, but from the adrenaline upon hearing her... confession? Holy shit. That's what this was, wasn't it? She was confessing her feelings for me.
I lifted a shaky hand towards her chin, praying she couldn't tell how nervous I was, and lifted her face back up to face me.
"I– well–" I cursed myself internally at the slip up. Jisoo was unfazed, thankfully, looking at me with expectant eyes. I took a breath and tried again. "You're just making assumptions. This simple human, this mortal, does share your feelings."
Her eyes widened, her mouth agape as she tried to process what I was saying. "What... what are you getting at?"
"I love you, too, Jisoo."
-End of Act II-
===
Act III - Into the Jaws of Death kicks off this Thursday, the 28th. Be prepared for more twists, more conflicts (both physical and not), and most importantly, more pain :)