Chương 10: HARBINGER OF DEATH
YUJIN'S hunch was correct most of the time.
So, she hated the thought that crossed her mind at the moment.
[What if Geun-wook's doppelganger suddenly learned how to speak coherently because he's starting to take over Geun-wook's life…?]
That thought gave her goosebumps.
[No, I can't be right this time!]
She immediately turned to Geun-wook to check on his condition.
And, just like that, all her hopes crumbled.
Mr. Nightmare, the Grim Reaper assigned to fetch Geun-wook's soul, had already started doing his job.
[Geun…]
Mr. Nightmare put a tool similar to a nebulizer mask over Geun-wook's face.
Then she saw small balls of blue light come out of Geun-wook's mouth as if the nebulizer was sucking it in. The small balls of blue light then traveled down the tube attached to the nebulizer mask. And that tube was attached to a compressor machine that looked like a digital clock.
But instead of the time, the "digital clock" acted like a gauging machine.
<7%>
<8%>
<9%>
Ah!
She noticed that the more pieces of blue lights dropped to the compressor, the higher the percentage count increased. So, she could only end up with one conclusion.
[Those blue lights are pieces of Geun-wook's soul!]
And once the compressor reached 100%, then it must mean that Mr. Nightmare had successfully fetched Geun-wook's soul. She didn't remember the process of fetching souls to be that complicated since she barely remembered what happened to her when she was a child, but that must be the case.
She was distracted when the numbers on the compressor changed again.
<13%>
She turned to Geun-wook's doppelganger again, determined to kill it in order to save her childhood friend.
However, when she met the doppelganger's eyes, she felt her resolve weaken.
"Ah, I can talk properly now," the doppelganger said excitedly, his face beaming. "Can you finally understand me, Yujinie?"
"Don't call me like how Geun-wook does," Yujin said sternly. "You're not him."
The doppelganger just looked at her as if he didn't understand her.
Yujin, on the other hand, was horrified when she realized that she just referred to the doppelganger as a person and stopped calling him 'it.'
[No, this can't be…]
"You're being cold, Yujin Moon," Mr. Nightmare teased her. "Doppelgangers have feelings, too."
She turned around and glared at the Grim Reaper who was now standing while his fingers were busy tapping on his Tablet. "Are you just going to watch this happen, Mr. Nightmare? A doppelganger is stealing a living person's life!"
"It's not in my job description to protect humans from their doppelgangers," Mr. Nightmare said casually, then he looked up at her with an annoying smirk on his face. "Unfortunately, that job belongs to another department. However, since you're not a stranger to me, I will help you file a complaint against the Human-Doppelganger Department for their negligence."
What an eloquent way for the Grim Reaper to say that it was none of his business.
[I can't just watch Geun-wook die in front of me.]
She turned to the doppelganger again, then she closed her eyes and swung her baseball bat into his face as hard as she could. This time, she could tell that she hit the ghost. After all, she heard him groan in pain.
[Ah, I referred to him as if he's a living person again.]
She just swallowed her guilt, then she continued hitting the doppelganger again and again. Although her eyes were closed, she could tell when the ghost fell down. Only then did she stop smashing his head with the bat.
And when she opened her eyes…
Blood.
The color drained from her face when she saw the doppelganger's head bleeding like crazy. He was on his knees while clutching his bleeding head. Obviously, the ghost could feel pain now as if he was a real person.
She felt her stomach in knots when the realization hit her.
[I hurt a person…]
No, the doppelganger wasn't a person!
However, she couldn't help but think of the ghost as a living person after seeing it bleed profusely. Now, her body trembled both from fear and guilt. She knew that she shouldn't feel that way, but now it was hard for her to treat the doppelganger as a mere ghost.
She kept telling herself that she must save Geun-wook, but her body couldn't move anymore.
[What to do now…]
Should she break the device that was currently absorbing Geun-wook's soul?
Of course, the probability of her breaking a device used by Mr. Nightmare was low. However, it was better to try things rather than wait idly.
[Yep, let's do that.]
However, she got distracted when Geun-wook's doppelganger suddenly looked up at her– his face covered with blood.
"Yujinie!" the doppelganger yelled while standing up in a hurry. "Run!"
The ghost's warning came a little too late, though.
Before Yujin could even move, she felt it– the cold, sharp blade piercing through her stomach.
It was followed by a chilling giggle behind her.
Even without turning around, she could already tell that her doppelganger stabbed her from the back with a knife.
Hence, she was shocked.
[My doppelganger has never used weapons before…]
To be honest, her doppelganger was never smart or strong to begin with.
[Argh…]
She dropped her bat and covered her mouth with her hands when she coughed up blood.
[Why did my doppelganger suddenly learn how to use a weapon…?]
Her thoughts got interrupted when she coughed up blood again after the doppelganger pulled out the knife from her body.
It hurt so much that she almost fainted on the spot.
Thankfully, Geun-wook's doppelganger caught her before she fell to the floor face down.
It wasn't really a good thing, though.
After all, when the doppelganger caught her in his arms, she felt how warm his skin was when he was supposed to be as cold as a block of ice.
[No…]
"Get away from me," Yujin said weakly while putting a hand over the hole in her stomach, then she pushed the doppelganger away from her. It was just a light push, so she was certain that he stepped away from her willingly. "You can't be Geun-wook…"
She didn't know if it was just her imagination, or did pain really cross the doppelganger's eyes.
[But he's just a ghost…]
She didn't want to waste her time on the doppelganger. When she turned around, she was reminded that her doppelganger was still there. Worse, her evil twin hadn't let go of the knife yet.
[My bat…]
She knew it would be too late for her to pick up her bat, so she was planning to just run despite the poor state of her physical body. However, she didn't have to.
Geun-wook's doppelganger tackled her doppelganger.
Then the two ghosts literally brawled on the floor.
She gasped softly when she saw Geun-wook's doppelganger grab the blade of the knife held by her evil twin. Geun-wook's doppelganger's hands bled while as a result. However, it seemed like he didn't care about it.
"Run," Geun-wook's doppelganger said. Even without looking at her, she knew that the ghost was talking to her. "Go somewhere safe."
She didn't know why Geun-wook's doppelganger was trying to save her.
However, the safest place for her right now was her house. But she refused to go home without saving Geun-wook first, so she picked up her wooden baseball bat again even though it was hard for her to move at the moment.
Yep, she hadn't given up yet.
Hence, despite the doppelganger's attempt to save her, she still didn't run away. Instead of going home, she walked towards Geun-wook who was still unconscious on the floor. The compressor machine already read 39% at the moment.
[Geun's soul hasn't been absorbed properly yet.]
Breathing started to get hurt, and she was literally dragging her heavy body now.
"Don't push yourself too hard, Yujin Moon," Mr. Nightmare, who was leaning against the wall with her arms crossed over his chest, said playfully. "Your mother didn't die in your stead just for you to sacrifice yourself for your puppy love."
She just kept quiet because she had nothing nice to say.
Then she lifted her shaking hands, her knees buckling as well, and tried to swing her bat to destroy the device.
But her body collapsed.
Before she knew it, she was already on the ground– lying on her back next to Geun-wook. She turned to him, her hand reaching weakly for his face. But the space between them only allowed her to touch the tips of Geun-wook's fingers.
Then she broke down in tears.
[Geun's fingers are so cold…]
And it looked like Geun-wook wasn't breathing anymore.
[No…]
"Yujin Moon, I told you to stop worrying about other people," Mr. Nightmare, who hovered over her, said. Then he got down on one knee while holding a nebulizer mask in his hands. "I should thank your doppelgangers for helping me fetch two VIP souls tonight."
[What…?]
At this point, she didn't have the strength to open his mouth.
Hence, she could only watch the Grim Reaper put the nebulizer mask over her face– just like what he did to Geun-wook earlier.
[No…]
"Stray Soul #93," Mr. Nightmare said, smiling creepily until his eyes turned into little crescent moons. "I'd like to thank you in advance for offering me your delicious soul."
Was that something a Grim Reaper would normally say?
To be honest, she didn't know because she was already too consumed by fear to even think straight. For the first time in her life, she feared death again.
Yujin had already lost hope when, suddenly, Mr. Nightmare was sent flying.
And the person who kicked the Grim Reaper in the face was her childhood friend who was unconscious next to her just a few moments ago.
"Don't touch Moon Yujin," Geun-wook, the real one, warned Mr. Nightmare who hit the wall pretty hard. "I'll fucking kill you, shithead."
Yujin was too stunned to speak.
[Uhm, can a normal person kick a Grim Reaper that easily?]
***
Please add SPOOKY SOULMATE to your library~
SUY NGHĨ CỦA NGƯỜI SÁNG TẠO 
sola_cola
sola_cola Can a normal person kick a Grim Reaper? (2). Same question, Yujinie, same. ;>
***
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