Could we go somewhere? After we take him to the hotel." Aera asked as she finally managed to regain her voice. "I need...I want you to go with me. Please."
The young ghost was miserable. He couldn't stop crying. Since the Grimm Reaper had told him he was dead he kept bawling his eyes out like a baby.
"I don't have another soul to take tonight. So, I guess we can go. Mr. Nam," he addressed the ghost, "you don't have to worry about the hotel. The staff will take good care of you."
"Well, Chang-sung is kind of a jerk."
"Aera." The Grimm Reaper cried.
"But don't tell him I said so. He probably is like this with me only."
"It sounds scary." The young ghost forced a laugh as he looked at the beautiful woman in front of him. "I'm Jong Min."
"I am Aera."
"I heard. Nice to meet you, Aera. Are you some sort of Grimm Reaper?"
"Oh no. I just work at the hotel. Help the ghosts and all. And make dresses. sometimes. I haven't been in the mood for it lately. He's the Grimm Reaper."
"So, I'll be seeing you there? At the hotel?"
The Grimm Reaper rolled his eyes but decided not to comment.
"What? He's stopped crying." Aera pointed out. "Isn't it great?"
"I guess it's not going to be that bad." The ghost tried to encourage himself.
"Once you get accustomed to how miserable your parents are. They will find out soon. Someone has to announce them." The smile on his face vanished like foam. "Sorry. I supposed you needed to know. "
"Can I go to see them?" Jong Min asked struggling to keep his tear in check. "I know the way. I can go on foot. It's not far from you. You can go with her...You know to the place she wants you to go with her." He suggested.
"No way. We're not going to leave you alone. We're coming with you." Aera uttered fiercely.
"We're going to take him to the hotel. He isn't allowed to go somewhere else. Moreover, what good will it do? They won't be able to see him." The Grimm Reaper stated the cruel facts. Cruel, indeed, but that was reality.
"Look at him. He deserves to..." Aera made an attempt to convince him.
"Mum is waiting for me. She always does that whenever I go out. And I, as an idiot, always scold her for being paranoid. She was driving me nuts with her neverending scenarios. And now I'm dead and she...is she still waiting for me?"
"You are right. You were an idiot, but you can't change it. Life is like that. There's no second chance. Not in this life. Unfortunately, the consequences are usually paid by these left behind."
They stopped in front of a big house. The garden was full of flowers. Roses mostly. The morning sun made the garden look like a fairytale place, turning the dewdrops into thousands of diamonds.
"I used to love this house," Aera revealed as they walked along the garden. "but, as I grew up, the place started to seem so cold. It reminds me of so many things I wished to forget. Bad memories. Negative feelings. Weakness. Fury. Frustration. Every time I came here I felt like walking on eggshells. I started to hate it. It's hard to explain how someone could hate something that they had loved so much once. To hate the house you grew up in. But I can't remember anything good about this place. It's like those moments never existed."
"Do you want to go in?"
"A part of me wants to be here, craves for it, but I won't deny that I'm afraid. Do you understand it? Am I crazy?"
"You are not crazy. You just let the past affect you too much. You should let it go. You can't change the past so don't ruin the future by focusing on what you should have done. Maybe, in time, you'll remember the good things if you allow yourself to let go of all the fury and frustration. Come back as you used to when you were a kid. Do you remember it?"
"I remember. I used to believe this was the most beautiful place. When I left, the first year, I used to wait for the weekend to return home. I used to feel bad for being such a crybaby who couldn't stay away from their parents for too long. But this was where I used to recharge myself. Gather all the energy for another week of frustration and hard work. High school made me feel so alone and stupid. I was some sort of drama queen. It took me time to learn that's okay not to be liked by anyone and that words hurt only if you allow them to. Now, as I look back, I can't figure out what was so horrible about it. My classmates weren't that bad. I supposed they were having a bit of fun. After all, I was a little country girl who knew nothing about city life. I must have looked like a freak to them."
"You were young and you wanted to be accepted."
"Thank you, but I can't believe I needed so many years to realize what a stupid narcissist I was. Obviously, it was easy to blame them for my mystery instead of admitting they were better. But of course, this was the perfect justification for my being way below them. Instead of admitting that I wasn't as hard-working and intelligent as I considered myself to be, I kept lying to myself, blaming the lack of money, the education system, and the fact I couldn't afford private lessons. Instead of admitting that I was bad at socializing with people and trying to change that, I kept complaining about how big bitches they were or how lucky they were to be rich and beautiful. Like being rich and beautiful will guarantee you absolute success. Now I see they were more than beautiful and rich, but, then I refused to see the good in them. It seems I was the bitch not them."
"It couldn't be easy to admit it."
"No. It took me years and this is the first time I said it aloud."
"Well, I suppose it's easy to blame something out of your control for your misfortune than take responsibility for your actions."
"Yes, it is. And I've done the same thing with my parents. Make everything about myself. Blame them for my misfortunes. Yes, they sucked as a couple and it wasn't easy to deal with, but they weren't responsible for every of my failure or for my inability to deal with rejections and failures."
"Human nature."
"Despite everything they loved me and I, as a selfish brat, I only thought about myself, wanted to be over for me. Never thought about the way they will feel. How much this would ruin them."