THE RELUCTANT TOUCH [tomorrow]

man-child

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐄𝐄:

"pull yourself together, it's not like it's the end of the world or something"

Kim Chae-Yeong was running errands for the Director for days now. The woman didn't know if that was because of the new guy who fell on their heads unexpectedly or what, but the atmosphere in Jumadeong had changed.

And that meant that the workload for Kim Chae-Yeong had doubled. Lucky her.

She was racing through the hallways once more, delivering reports to the Director whenever she had the chance. She was so focused on the work at hand that she was completely unaware that a pair of dark-colored eyes were constantly following her figure whenever she was in their eyesight.

Kim Chae-Yeong was the biggest mystery to Park Joong-Gil. As long as he could recall, the woman's name had been circulating around Jumadeong. And Joong-Gil has been a Grim Reaper for a long time. Come to think of it, he couldn't even recall escorting her soul, which made him suppose that she was there long before he died and became a reaper.

Chae-Yeong appeared suddenly. One day, the Director summoned all of the team managers to a meeting and announced that it would be an important one. Now, the Director hardly ever called them all at once, but when she did, the issues were indeed serious and urgent.

Park Joong Gil still recalls that day as though it were only yesterday. The day he finally had the opportunity to meet the well-known woman, whose name was being whispered with the same degree of secrecy as the Director's. Everyone in the room felt the air change as soon as Kim Chae-Yeong entered. The way how the woman held herself made even Joon-Gil himself straighten in the chair. There was just something about her.

While the Director were introducing the woman, Joong-Gil inspected her. The way she stood by the Director's side like a bodyguard, her ever watchful eyes catching even the slightest movement in the room. She had an impassive expression on her face, void of any emotion, but Joong-Gil couldn't help but think that it didn't suit her. He knew it was strange for him to think like that, but he reasoned that a smile would suit her better.

Then he focused on her clothing. It resembled the attire worn by practically all Grim Reapers in Jumadeong. A perfectly fitted suit, white shirt, black tie. Joong-Gil's attention then was drawn to the leather gloves she was wearing. He initially didn't think anything of it because, after all, he was also wearing leather gloves a lot. But as time went on and he spent more time working with Chae-Yeong, he came to the realization that she never really took them off.

And that day, when he and the rest of the team managers were being introduced to the woman, Park Joong-Gil caught another thing about her. A thing that would slip past him if he wouldn't be paying such close attention to her.

Following the conclusion of the meeting, a few of the members went to present themselves to the new Director's assistant (or Jade Emperors' Right Hand, as some of the reapers in Jumadeong liked to call the woman behind her back). When Bang Guk-Heon made his introduction and offered his hand for the woman to shake, Park Joong-Gil saw how Chae-Yeong's eyes drifted to the extended hand but made no attempt to move her hands from where they were clasped behind her back.