KRISTAL
“God Only Knows” is playing softly in the background as Jae-Hyun and Hayato wait for my answer.
A mixture of guilt and shock ripples through me.
Jae-Hyun…he’s not the man I thought he was. He’s not a man at all actually. He basically hijacked another man’s body for who knows how long?
And I’m not sure how to feel about any of this. Outraged for the human he possessed? Sad for the samurai who died too early and was fated to wander the grounds of Hayato’s ancestral home for centuries until he figured out how to take possession of a human body for a few decades?
How much of my mentor was the ghost, and how much was the human he stole?
So many questions burn through my mind, but three answers burn even brighter inside my gut.
The Jae-Hyun I’ve known and loved all these years is Hayato’s father. And he really did love me like a daughter. And even if he isn’t the blameless old man I assumed he was, I still want to give him the best death possible.
Not because I’m an elf, but because just as I was the only “daughter” he was ever able to communicate with and teach, he was the only “father” I was ever able to learn from. Out of consideration for the parents we’d lost, Santa insisted on being called Grandpa, never Father—at least not by elves (Hugh and many of his fellow human Brits still referred to him as Father Christmas).
Also, there were so many of us elves. Of course, we always knew Grandpa Claus was watching over us, but one-on-one attention? That wasn’t a thing even Santa could provide. I hadn’t realized how much I needed that until Jae-Hyun invited me to become his mentee.
Thank you, I tell him silently. Thank you for teaching me how to draw, for taking me under your wing, and for calling me daughter.
Then out loud, I tell Jae-Hyun, “Okay, I’ll marry your youngest son. If he’ll have me, I will marry him.”
Jae-Hyun smiles at me, his eyes bright. As if I’ve made all of his dreams come true. Then his body slumps dramatically against Hayato.
And this time…
And this time, he doesn’t appear to be breathing.
My own breath stops. I already know, but I have to ask, “Is he gone?”
Hayato nods and gently picks the now lifeless and spiritless body up to lay it across the table. Much like my mom, Jae-Hyun had only held on until he had to. Or in this case, until the spirit left his cancer-ridden body.