Kristal’s mouth drops open. She seems more shocked by this invitation than anything that had come before it, including the announcement that her mentor was a ghost in possession of a human body.
“What? No! That’s not how these things work in the current day. You can’t just make him—”
“I will do it. I will marry her,” I say before she can finish her protest.
There’s a new feeling coursing through me now that I’ve solved the mystery of my father and revealed my true nature to my brother. For the first time, I feel free. Free to do whatever I want. Free to have whoever I want
And I want Kristal. As confusing as this situation is, that one thing is clear.
Kristal looks up at me, stunned, speechless.
Jae-Hyun takes her by the hand. “Please, daughter. My affairs here have all been settled. Now that I know that my beloved has crossed over, I can feel the tug of the next realm for the first time since I died childless and unmarried. This is my last wish. My only wish. Please send me into the eternal knowing that your true love with Hayato will not end as mine did with his mother.”
Kristal jerks at his announcement. “You’re leaving? Right now? But I have so many questions. I feel like I’m finally meeting the real you.”
“I’m afraid I have no choice in the matter, daughter,” he answers, his eyes once again glittering with amusement. “And I don’t have much time left. Please make my last moments in your realm the happiest of my entire lifetime. Say you will marry my son.”
Kristal looks from him to me, her eyes brimming with tears.
And we both wait, the dead and the living, to hear her answer.
43
God Only Knows
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.
44
Waiting for the Day
The eleventh day of Christmas
Luckily, Jae-Hyun had lived his life in a way that made the story of his ultimate demise easy to believe. It only takes a few hours to report him dead to the proper authorities. And upon seeing the apartment filled to the brim with boxes of comics, no one blinks an eye at our story about finding him here crumpled on the floor.
At least no one blinks an eye at Hayato’s and Norio’s story. I stay mum as Hayato and his brother apologize for moving the body from the floor. But I guess nobody thinks two billionaires would bother to harm an obviously sick comic book artist. The police simply jot down their story and go along their merry way.
It feels so crazy. There will be obituaries about Jae-Hyun’s death, because of his work on Nobles and Samurais. But no one will ever know how truly epic a life he lived both before and after he died the first time.
After his host body is taken away and there’s no one left in the apartment but Hayato, Norio, and me, I’m not sure what to do next.
It’s after midnight, I notice. The eleventh day of Christmas. It’s officially been a year. A year since I met my true love in a sushi restaurant.
But instead of saying that, I abruptly ask Hayato, “You were just telling him what he wanted to hear, right? You didn’t mean all that stuff about wanting to get married.”
Hayato stills. “Would you like me to have not meant it?”
I want to say yes. It would make things so much easier if I could just say yes.
But elves can’t lie.
So I tell him another truth. “I have to get back to the workshop.”
Hayato clamps his lips. But then he turns to his brother and says, “I’ll need the car to take her home. Can we drop you off on the way?”
About twenty minutes later, we drop Norio off at the same hotel where Hayato and I spent our first night. The same hotel where we struck our crazy bargain to spend ten days together. Ten days. It was just for ten days. It shouldn’t have changed anything for either of us.
But I feel like an entirely different person as I bid Norio good night.
“Will we see you next New Year?” Norio asks me. “Lilli tells me you’re an excellent singer.”
I laugh, but it sounds weak. Just like the word that follows it: “Maybe.”
Norio glances at Hayato. “I hope so.”
After Norio’s departure, the backseat of the town car fills with my silence. Silence Hayato mistakes for indecision.
“We don’t have to get married,” he says quietly. “Just come with me to Japan.”
My heart twists at his words. “Hayato…”
“We can have a normal relationship, see how it develops,” he says before I can finish. “And then we can make a marriage decision without a ghost breathing down our necks.”
I shake my head. It feels like I’m drowning in regret and sorrow, and I can’t breathe.
“Hayato, I can’t return to Japan with you. There’s not enough time.” Then I gently remind him. “Tomorrow is the last day of Christmas.”