The night without the moon

Speaking with her

"She's still there," Chan-sung announced as he returned from the hotel. It had been three years since he worked at the hotel, but much as he tried he couldn't feel like he belonged there. He got a good salary and he was respected for his manners and knowledge, but there was a hole in his soul and nothing could fill it. He hadn't moved to another house even if he could afford it, now. Man-wol had left him a fortune. Enough to buy a house for himself and leave a comfortable life, but he liked Sanchez's company and Sanchez liked his. With ghosts and everything.

                                                                                          *

Sanchez knew for a while that a ghost used to linger in his garden. He had been scared at first, but eventually, he started to see her as a person. Sometimes, he would ask Chang-sung what she looked like or what she was doing. Especially when it rained or was cold outside. A part of him wanted for her to go away, another part started to pity her and Sanchez became more and more convinced it wasn't right to keep ignoring her. Once he even prepared a hot tea for her. He found it the next morning where he'd left it the night before.

                                                                                                      *****

"Why did you refuse to take the antidote? " Sanchez reminded him. "Do not start with she needed it more than me because I know you wouldn't have taken it even if Yoo-na hadn't accepted the bottle. Admit it. You want to return there."

"Yoon-na is doing well in the USA. She sent me some pictures from there. I promised to visit her soon. So, I don't regret giving her the bottle.

He missed Yoo-na. He had used to see her almost daily before she left for the USA. He'd helped her improve her English and she had offered him paintings of Hotel del Luna and the Moon Tree full of blooms. Paintings with him and Man-wol. With Hyun-joong . Mrs. Choi and Kim Seon-bi

"I'm just afraid..." Chan-sung continued. "that woman...I want to help her, but I'm afraid I might pay a high price if I get involved. And yet, ignoring her makes me feel guilty. I can't pretend she's not there."

"I should advise you to stay out of it. Scold you for ruining your life, but...I recall that night...the night you took me to the hotel. You gave me the chance to say goodbye. What you did for us...what you did for all those ghosts... I can't help thinking that Veronica might have been in her situation and... I'm still afraid of ghosts, but I also pity them."

"You want to find her story, don't you? Sanchez, you've grown so much lately."

"It has been a long time."

"I was too focused on my pain to notice. I'm sorry, my friend. Do you want to come with me and ask her?"

"Do you think she would like a tea? It's kind of cold outside. You better invite her inside...she.."

"Do you think she hasn't been inside before?"

"What?"

"She can't drink tea..or anything. The drink and food at the hotel aren't from this world. "

"You will take her to the hotel, won't you?"

"I can't take her there as I don't know where it is, but..."

"But you want to find out," Sanchez added.

"I'm curious about the owner. I've tried to run away, lately, but...I miss that world."

"You've spoken so much about that world that I decided when I'll die I will apply for a position to that hotel. I will make pizza for the ghosts. I hope I'll still be handsome then."

Chung-sung laughed.

"I, on the other hand" Chung-song admitted "I want to cross the bridge as soon as I die so I can return in time to meet her. This time I won't let her go."

"I can't serve you with tea or anything alike." Chun-sung addressed her for the first time, "but I know a place where you can drink and eat whatever you want. You should look for the hotel. Why haven't you looked for it all this time?" She watched him in the eye. She was surprised he finally decided to speak with her.

"I don't know where it is." She said gently like a freeze of wind. Her voice was smooth and musical like the tones of a piano melody.

"Neither do I, but you can find it, following the moon." He showed her the full mon above their heads. "It's so long since she looked so beautiful." He added with tears in his eye.

"Will you come with me? I... I got used to being around you and...I don't want to leave."

"You can stay at the hotel as long as you like. Although, I advise you to set your unfinished business in order and take the limousine."

"The limousine?"

"Yes, the one which takes lost souls to the bridge...the bridge over the great river. It takes you around 49 days to cross it. "

"What is going to happen after you have crossed it?"

"I don't know. I guess you got ready to reincarnate or something like that. "

"Am I going to live again?"

"It depends on what you did during your life. You don't look like a vengeful ghost. I can help you achieve what you want and then accompany you to the limousine. I'm sorry I haven't done it before, but... it's too painful for me to see spirits off. It makes me happy to know they've found their peace and are going in a better place, but it makes me feel lonely. So, I ignored you, hoping you would leave one day. That you would find the hotel by yourself. "

"I have nowhere to go. You were the only one who could see me and I kind of..like you."

"Thanks." She smiled shyly. Her eyes stopped on his face. She was the one who should have thanked him, but she didn't dare to tell him everything she felt. Instead, she asked:

"Is there no way I can stay in this world?"

"Only if you work at the hotel, but...."

"Could ghosts work at a hotel?" her voice got stronger and he could feel a tingle of excitement there.

"Yes, I've worked at such a hotel. I was the only person alive there. But it was amazing. I kind of miss it."

"Why didn't you return to the hotel then?"

"Even if a similar hotel exists somewhere the CCO and the staff are strangers to me. They all crossed the bridge three years ago. I miss them, but I'm happy they passed on and found peace. I am afraid to return because I'm afraid that..."

"The new staff will leave too and you're going to miss them, isn't it?"

"Yeah. I guess. But not only the staff. The guests. They all have to go."

"But I won't go. I promise."

"But I want you to find peace."

"I want to stay...if they were to allow me, it will be amazing."

Sanchez waited at the threshold. He could only hear Chan-sung's questions and replays and he was curious to hear the story.