by Graci Kim
Taeyo slaps his hands on the table. “We would love your help—thank you so much for offering. The more the merrier.”
Emmett and I share a look. David is a decent guy, but do we really want another person to join our mission? Three’s already a crowd….
David beams like a neon light at Taeyo’s invitation, though, so I keep my mouth shut. Hattie would probably say that more heads are better than one.
Emmett shrugs, too. And so, the next thing I know, we are leaving the deliciousness of Seoulful Tacos behind and heading to the house of my least-favorite person in the world, with a half-Gom, a Horangi, and a Tokki, to reunite my sworn enemy with her hungry ghost halmeoni.
I guess this is just my life now.
JENNIE’S HOUSE IS A HUGE MANSION with one of those fancy electronic gates in front, and I’m not surprised in the slightest. Witches in the Samjogo clan are often wealthy because of their ability to divine money luck from their visions. Merely by touching draft contracts or shaking hands with potential business partners they can get premonitions about the future success of a deal. In fact, one of Appa’s seer friends got mega rich because he put his hands on the New York Stock Exchange building and guessed which stocks would go gangbusters that day.
“We’re here.” David pushes the bell on the gate and I shift nervously from foot to foot. I try to keep my face angled away from the little security camera.
The bell stops ringing. “Ugh, what are you doing here?” my least favorite whiny voice says through the intercom.
Taeyo takes the lead. “Hey, Jennie. You don’t know me, but I am here to deliver a message from your halmeoni.”
I can almost hear her making a face on the other end.
“Are you pulling a prank on me, Riley? Because it’s not funny, and I will tell on you if you are.”
I am horribly offended by this accusation. Why would she jump to the conclusion I would do such a thing? She’s the one who’s always mean to me!
“It’s not a prank, Jennie,” David assures her. “They’re telling the truth.”
There’s a long pause, and for a second I worry she’s written us off and walked away. But then the electronic gate starts to open with a humming buzz.
The front door opens and a fat fawn-colored pug comes running out. He tries to bark, but to be honest, it sounds more like an old man’s snore. Emmett squeals with delight and picks him up immediately. Boris is still tucked under his other arm, and the dragon-on-wheels’ tail wags, too. I guess he also likes dogs.
Jennie appears in the threshold with a distinctly suspicious look on her face. “What are you dawdling out there for? Come in or leave.”
We take off our shoes and follow Jennie through the main foyer, which is huge, with double-storied high ceilings and a fancy chandelier. It also has one of those majestic staircases that princesses walk down in the movies, only for her guests (who are there for a fancy ball, of course) to go silent and watch in awe.
“Thanks for letting them in, door-sin,” Jennie says.
“Your floors are so shiny, door-sin,” David says.
“Your chandelier is amazeballs, door-sin,” Emmett coos.
Taeyo and I also give the door spirit a compliment each. I’d hate to be hit in the butt by such a heavy door.
Jennie leads us into a side parlor room with lavish gilded couches. It looks like something out of a K-drama where the parents are the rich, stuck-up owners of an international company. Not that I’m stereotyping or anything…
Jennie takes a seat on one of the couches but doesn’t invite us to sit down. Instead, she bites her nails nervously. “So what do you mean, a message from my halmeoni? I don’t have all day.”
“This might sound a little odd,” Taeyo starts, “but she wants to say something to you so she can finally find peace and move into the next realm. You can reserve judgment until afterward, if that makes you feel better. Let me deliver her message to you first.”
I notice he doesn’t introduce himself as Horangi, and a part of me feels bad for him. It sucks feeling like you have to hide who you really are. Especially when what happened thirteen years ago wasn’t his fault.
Jennie doesn’t seem to notice, though. “How do I know you’re not jerking me around?” She scowls at me even though it’s Taeyo who’s talking to her. She pulls her legs up onto the couch, huddling into a ball.
“I think you should give them a chance,” David says, sitting next to her. “I heard them talking about it at the restaurant, and I don’t think they’re kidding around.”
Good thing he came with us.
Jennie scowls some more but doesn’t say anything, and Taeyo takes that as agreement. We perch ourselves on the plush couch opposite her and David, and Taeyo opens Ghostr.
“First I’ll tell your halmeoni that we found you.” He starts typing into his phone. When he finishes, it buzzes with an alert. “Oh, she says she’s already here!”
I glance around the room, but there are no foggy outlines of an old woman that I can see. Jennie looks around nervously, too, and curls herself into an even tighter ball on the couch.
Taeyo’s eyes scan from left to right as he reads the message appearing on his app. “Your halmeoni says, ‘Don’t be angry at your parents. They work hard to provide for you. I know you wish they were home more often. It’s no fun eating dinner alone, and it can get lonely in this big house always by yourself. But you mustn’t forget how much they love you. You must always remember that.’” Taeyo speaks in chunks, reading as fast as the words come through.
Jennie shrinks. It’s like she has turned into a child and is going to start sucking her thumb at any moment. David calmly pats her back.
“Halmeoni?” she whispers, her throat closing up. “Are you really here?”
Then, just as quickly as she softened, she hardens again. She looks at me and glowers. “I bet you’re enjoying this, aren’t you? Seeing me like this. Is that why you’re here? To watch me squirm? Because I’ve got news for you. I won’t break so easy.”
Her outburst takes me by surprise. Sure, I can’t say I’ve ever liked her. I mean, would I ever choose to hang out with her? Heck no! Has she made my life miserable every weekend at Saturday School, and would I like her to stop being such a bully? Heck yes! But that doesn’t mean I want to see her suffer—especially over something so serious. That’s not how I roll.
I hear the bearded man’s words in my head. There are always two sides to every story.
The thing is, I’ve only ever seen the nasty side of Jennie, and I’d assumed she just hated me for some reason. But then I saw her being nice to David at the temple. And now this. Maybe there is more to her than meets the eye.
I keep my mouth shut and signal for Taeyo to keep interpreting for the gwisin halmeoni.
“There’s more: ‘I’m sorry for leaving you without saying a proper good-bye. I had a good life, a long life, and it was my time to go. I felt no pain at the end. But my biggest regret is not having told you how much I love you. I wish I’d told you every morning and every night.’”
He pauses as a new paragraph loads. “‘One of my favorite memories was when I taught you how to make a kite. You were only five, but you picked it up so fast and you were so proud of your creation. You cried when the one I made you—Mr. Magpie—got caught in the tree and ripped. I know you fly a kite for me every year on the date of my passing, and it makes me so happy to see it soaring in the sky.’”
Taeyo takes a breath. “‘I want you to know that all the meals I cooked, all the times I picked you up from ballet lessons, all the times we watched K-dramas in bed together, and even all the times I scolded you—those were all expressions of my love.’” He smiles. “‘I wish I had said the words more often, though, which is why I am saying this to you now.’”
Tears start falling down Jennie’s cheeks, and the pug jumps from Emmett’s lap to hers to lick her face. “Halmeoni, you were the only person I ever felt loved by,” she whispers hoarsely. “Everyone else thinks I’m this hard
, confident person, but you knew better. You knew the real me. And sometimes I miss you so much I can’t breathe. Some days it hurts so much, I can’t get out of bed. Why did you have to leave me? It just makes me so angry. So, so angry.”
I didn’t ever think I’d cry for Jennie Byun—not in a million years. But soon, my leaky-bladder eyeballs make a grand appearance. One of their best shows yet. I steal glances at the others, and David and Emmett and Taeyo look teary-eyed, too.
Taeyo isn’t writing Jennie’s responses back into Ghostr, but Gwisin Halmeoni must be hearing them, because soon there’s another response from her.
“She says to let go of your anger,” Taeyo continues, so focused on the screen that his eyes look glazed. “‘Anger will only make it hurt more. Know that you are loved, more than anything in the entire three realms, and I will be watching over you from the Spiritrealm and beyond. True love knows no boundaries.’”
“Please tell her I love her, too,” Jennie says between sobs. “Halmeoni, even if the skies fall and the world ends, I will love you forever. Don’t forget that when you get reborn, okay?”
Taeyo stands up from the couch. “She says it’s time.”
We all stand, because that’s what it feels like the moment requires.
Then, before our eyes, a translucent figure materializes. At first, her form reminds me of an egg white before it’s cooked. Then, slowly but surely, her body becomes clearer and more defined. Solid, even. Soon, I recognize the face we saw earlier in the Ghostr app. Except she doesn’t seem sad anymore. Halmeoni’s eyes are warm and brown like honey. She looks like she’s at peace.
“Halmeoni!” Jennie runs to hug her, and we all watch between blurry tears as they hold each other tight.
And in that moment, I learn two things:
(1) There is no excuse for Jennie to be the mean bully that she is. But I can see now that her anger never had anything to do with me. It had only to do with herself, and she chose to direct it at me for some reason. And while that is not cool, I kind of get it. Sometimes it’s easier to blame others than blame yourself.
(2) Everything I’ve ever been told about the Horangi is wrong. I might never get to the bottom of what happened with the sunstone ax and the attack, but I know in my gut that Taeyo is a good person. He just helped a gwisin find peace, and by the look of things, he helped Jennie find solace, too. And all that was to help me save my sister and to stop the prophecy from coming true. If the other scholars are anything like Taeyo, then I have no reason to be ashamed of my heritage.
And with that realization, something blooms inside me.
Gwisin Halmeoni turns to Taeyo and smiles warmly. “Thank you, my son. For your help, I would like to offer you a favor in return. Is there anything I can do for you before I cross over?”
“Actually, there is something….” Taeyo looks at me and nods.
I open my mouth to ask her to locate the last fallen star for us. But something stops me. Instead, I look over at Emmett, who is desperately pretending that he’s not crying. (Spoiler alert: He’s defo crying.)
“I understand you can travel the Earth at the speed of thought,” I say gently. “Does that mean you can find anything—or anyone—that may be stuck here as well?”
Halmeoni considers this. “Yes, I believe I can.”
Taeyo and Emmett look at me with confusion on their faces, but I nod defiantly. “In that case, we would be grateful if you could find Sookhee Harrison, a Gom, and mother of Emmett Harrison. Her son would like to talk to her. This is the favor we ask of you.”
Emmett gasps and covers his mouth, but I reach out and squeeze his hand. I know he could still be disappointed, but I also know how much courage it took for him to decide to find his mom. He put himself out there, realizing he could get hurt, because seeing her again was so important to him. After everything he’s done for me and I’ve done to him, it’s the least I can do. He deserves this.
Gwisin Halmeoni nods and closes her eyes for what feels like only a passing moment. But when she opens them again, her eyes are tired, as if she has traveled a long distance. “I am so sorry, children, to be the bearer of bad news. I indeed managed to locate Sookhee Harrison. She is stuck here on Earth, unable to pass through to the next realm. But she is no longer the woman she once was. She has become a vengeful ghost, too overwhelmed by the wrongs done to her in life. And she is not willing to talk to you.”
Emmett falls to his knees, and I hold him in my arms. Oh no. I’ve made everything worse. “I’m so sorry, Em,” I whisper into his hair. “I’m so, so sorry.”
“However…” Halmeoni looks conflicted. “When I was with her, Sookhee had one small moment of clarity. I can tell you what she said, if that will be of use to you?”
We all look to Emmett, and he nods once.
The ghost closes her eyes again, and her voice changes. It becomes younger but shrill, like someone who’s desperate. Like someone who’s lost her way. “I didn’t want the artifact. I didn’t want to hurt anyone. I was possessed. I just wanted magic for my son, and that was used against me. I didn’t kill those Horangi scholars. I was betrayed by someone I trusted. It was their fault all those people died. I was wronged!”
Emmett covers his face and shakes his head. This is too much for him to handle. “Mom,” he whispers under his breath, “I’m gonna get to the bottom of this.” Then he slowly rises to his feet, looking determined. “I will find out who did this to you, I promise.”
I grip Hattie’s vial and hold it close to my own heart. Before, I thought it surely couldn’t be Auntie Okja. But now, I can’t ignore my suspicions. She was Sookhee’s best friend. She could’ve been the one working with the council, the one who coveted Sookhee’s position as elder, so she could get her hands on the artifact. Plus, it was Auntie Okja who told me all those horrible stories about the Horangi. And now I know she was wrong.
My head spins as I swallow the bitter pill. My auntie and the council really did falsely accuse the Horangi. They framed the scholars so the other clans wouldn’t find out that the council had tried to steal the artifact. Then Auntie Okja stole me from my birth clan.
My whole life has been a lie.
Gwisin Halmeoni opens her eyes, and they look apologetic. “I’m sorry again for delivering such news.”
Then her human body shimmers and changes, shrinking into the form of a magpie. Her black-and-purple feathers are glossy, and she utters a soft, chattering call that makes me feel warm and gooey inside.
Jennie gasps, and Taeyo explains, “When we pass into the Spiritrealm, we can choose to shed our human bodies and take on our soul-animal forms. Our bodies will change with each new life, but our soul animals will always remain the same. This is your halmeoni’s true soul form.”
As we all watch, Jennie’s halmeoni opens her wings and flaps them, slowly at first, but then stronger and faster, until soon, the parlor room is full of wind. We cover our eyes as a warm light blooms inside the four walls, and suddenly, with a great burst of energy, Jennie’s halmeoni disappears.
“She’s gone,” Jennie murmurs. “She’s really gone.” But she doesn’t look sad. Nor does she look like her normal, mean self. She somehow seems softer around the edges. Fluffier. Nicer.
David takes two vials from his pocket and gives one to Jennie and one to Emmett. “These are calming tonics. I figure you guys might need one right about now.” When Emmett frowns, David quickly adds, “They’re totally natural and nonaddictive. I help my mom make them for the Gom clinics around town.”
When I corroborate David’s claim, Emmett accepts the vial and swigs it in one go. “How are we gonna find the fallen star now?” he asks quietly. “We wasted the favor on me, and we don’t have the time to match with another gwisin.”
I put my hand on his shoulder. “We didn’t waste anything. It was worth asking, wasn’t it? For the chance that we could help her?”
Emmett nods imperceptibly. “Thank you,” he whispers to me. “For trying. I know how much you sacrif
iced to give me that opportunity.”
He looks at his feet, and I feel another lump forming in my throat. “You would have done the same for me.”
It’s not exactly forgiveness, but it feels like a start. I’ll take it.
“Besides,” I say, “I have a plan.”
“You do?” Taeyo asks.
I breathe in deeply. “I’m going back to the campus to do the initiation. I’m gonna pledge my allegiance to the Horangi.”
The whole room gasps, and even the pug seems to look surprised (although that could just be her buggy walleyes).
“This is a circle of trust, right?” I ask Jennie. “We helped you, so you’ll help us? Because I’d rather you kept this information to yourself.” I hold up both palms. “I promise I’m not planning a takeover or anything. I just want to save my sister.”
“The Horangi aren’t what they’ve been made out to be,” says Emmett, putting his hand on Taeyo’s shoulder. “This guy is one, and he brought your halmeoni.”
“You can count on us,” says David. “Right, Jennie?”
Jennie doesn’t nod or agree, but she doesn’t give me the snide comeback she normally would, either. Something in my gut tells me she’ll keep my secret. I mean, stranger things have happened of late.
“What made you change your mind?” Taeyo asks me.
“Yeah,” Emmett echoes. “I thought you said you’d never do that in a million years.”
“I did say that.” I think of Taeyo and his altruistic app. I think of Hattie and her quest for choice. I think of what it means to be Gom. “But I feel different about things now.”
“How?” Emmett asks.
I take a big breath. “You’ll see, Em. You’ll see.”
DAVID, BEING THE TOP-NOTCH GUY he is, decides to stay with Jennie to make sure she’s okay. She seems grateful, and I finally understand why the two of them are friends. It’s just like in Adeline’s monologue, when Mago Halmi said to the goddesses: There is light within us all, as there is darkness within us all. These two absolutes make us whole. Jennie may have some dark bits, but there’s light inside her, too. Just as there is in the Horangi.