first encounter
”Ah Jing ah~ I’m here to hand over my shift!”
“What are you doing? Coming so late… It’s already half past eleven!”
‘… I’m sorry… I went to Og’s place to take a break.
“… Never mind… I’ll take your tardiness as a credit against my meal!”
‘Ee… don’t… I’m just slowing down… No…’
“Slow down? The 10:00 shift said to come in slow? You need a beating, man!”
‘Okay… how about this Sunday? I don’t have any shifts that day, and you do too, don’t you?”
“Whatever… I’ll go home then… and… I’ll put the drinks and snacks on your tab!”
”Damn it… if you hadn’t helped me carry off my tardiness every time… otherwise…”
“What? What did you just say?” I gently clenched my fists in a gesture of readiness to throw a punch.
‘No… no! By the way, I’ll bring Og to the next dinner, and you can bring Ma-chan too!”
As soon as I heard that, my veins immediately exposed.
‘What’s wrong? Did your face suddenly look so bad?’
“You… how many times do I have to say… I… No. I’m not a woman. Friend. Friends.”
”Don’t be so fake~ You’re not bad looking, how could you not have a girlfriend?”
“I’m going back!” After I said that, I walked out the front door without looking back.
”Ah… did I say something wrong?”
I was walking alone on the cold sidewalk, not even the sound of a cat calling… The atmosphere was extraordinarily eerie.
I’ve been working at a convenience store for about a month now.
‘No way! You… want to work part-time, do you have a bad head?’
“Nonsense… anyway, I… wanted to gain more social experience! Besides, it’s just a convenience store outside the neighborhood, so it’s close by, so that’s why I wanted to work there!”
”You’re right… it’s just that you…”
“Ouch! Mom, I’m on summer vacation! It doesn’t matter, just agree!”
‘Well… you have nothing to do at home anyway, so go ahead!’
In fact, this was just an excuse… My real purpose was to train my guts because whenever I was near a girl, no matter how beautiful or ugly, tall or short, fat or thin, my heart would beat wildly, I would get goose bumps, and my face would turn redder than Master Kwan.
That’s why I haven’t been able to get a girlfriend in my 17 years of life. I’ve been told that I’m the standard man who’s “afraid of love”, but that’s true… but my life has been so miserable that I can’t think of any other women in my life, except for my mom…
“Ugh… how long will these days last?”
Just as I was sighing and walking home step by step… there was a sudden gust of wind, which blew out my goosebumps and the sound of a cat…
“What… what’s going on? Why did the wind suddenly pick up?”
I paid attention to my surroundings, because the wind was really blowing me all over the place… Suddenly… a rather strong gust of wind came from behind me, and I closed my eyes in a hurry.
‘Excuse me…’
A girl’s voice came from behind me and I turned to meet her gaze.
Phantom Girl
When I met her eyes, she spoke a second time: ‘That… I’m sorry to bother you at this late hour.’
“No… no… no… no… but… you…”
It’s a bad habit of mine. Whenever I talk to girls, I stutter… especially cute ones… “Why… why… call me?”
”It’s… perhaps a bit abrupt, could you please be my boyfriend?”
“What… what… what!?” I wondered if I had misheard, or if I was dreaming. I can’t believe… that a girl would say such a thing to me, and a very cute girl at that… Just as I was lost in this unimaginable ecstasy… the mournful sound of a cat’s cry suddenly woke me up.
Something’s wrong, isn’t it? It’s… after twelve, and there’s something wrong with a girl who wants to be your friend on the road… So I started to look at her.
Her whole body looked like a girl… nonsense! Except… under the dim streetlight… she had no shadow… no shadow! Does that mean…
“…” I looked at her with a surprised look, and the wildcat’s purr became even more mournful!
“No… no way… you…”
”Ugh… Is it still discovered? I thought I’d have a chance here…”
“ah… ah… i…”
‘I’m sorry to have disturbed your home time, bye…’
As soon as I finished speaking, another gust of wind blew over and she just disappeared in front of my eyes… “Ghosts… ！！！！！”
This ultra-high decibel shriek caused all the lights in the neighborhood to go on, and I immediately ran furiously home and immediately ran to the Buddha table and picked up my rosary beads and furiously chanted the Buddha’s name, when suddenly there was a hand on my shoulder.
“Namu Amitabha ~ Goddess of Mercy Pusa ~ I’ll burn paper money for you, please don’t follow me!
Please please please!”
”Oh, my God! What do you take your mom for?’
“Uh… this…” I was still in a daze…
‘What are you whispering loudly there! You’re waking up the neighbors! Did you see a ghost?
“Yes… yes! I’ve seen a ghost!”
‘What the hell? Speak what little! What ghost did you see?’ My mom hit me on the head with her hand.
‘Selling fake fairies! You’re just thinking of girls.’ My mom knocked me on the head again.
“I’m telling the truth! I’m telling the truth!” I rushed to my defense.
”Don’t play dumb there! I’m going to bed, don’t make any more noise!’
“Geez! Why don’t even your own old man believe what your son says!”
‘Go to sleep now! Or I’ll throw you out later.’
“Ee… I know…” As soon as I heard that she was going to shut me out, the scene from earlier came back to me.
Of course, I couldn’t sleep all night, and I didn’t dare turn my head for fear that tomorrow’s headlines would read “17-year-old dies in mysterious manner, cause of death unknown!”
The wind… blew in through the window again, and I was so frightened that I pulled up the sheet again and continued to chant with my beads.
Maybe I probably won’t be able to sleep this night.
Who are you?
The next morning, I gently opened the door and sprinted the 100 meters to the 7-11, with my mom’s voice behind me scolding me, joking that if I didn’t run faster, who knows if “she” would show up in the daytime.
‘What did you say? Seeing ghosts, do you have any drugs?’ Ah Hong put down the box he was holding.
“Why would I lie to you! And it’s a very pretty female ghost too!”
‘… O… Ah Jing, can you…’
“Can what?” I saw his sudden silence and thought something else had happened.
”Take me to see it at night, I’ve seen so many beautiful women, I just haven’t seen a beautiful ghost.”
“Who… who… who is going to take you! I’m taking the late shift today, so hire someone else!”
What a joke! I’m scared to death and I’m taking people to see it. I’d be in over my head if I said yes.
‘Ouch, don’t be like that! We’re friends!
“Friend? Before you say that word return the two thousand dollars you borrowed!”
‘Uh… two thousand dollars? Okay, I can pay you back, but you have to take me to see her.’
“You ~say~ what! I told you to pay back the money and you’re still negotiating with me!”
”Boss~ Think about it, people are that, but they’re still female at least, right?”
“So what if it’s a woman?”
‘Have you forgotten why you came to work part-time? To overcome phobias… Since you can’t do it with the living ones… you might be able to do it with this kind!
“What the fuck are you talking about! Work!” I ignored him and turned around to go back to ordering.
”Hey… are you sure there’s…”
“Nonsense… nonsense! Do you… do you think I’m the kind of person who would lie?”
‘It’s very similar.’
“I’m going back.”
‘Okay… okay!’
Unable to stand his pestering attack all morning, I finally brought him in.
Although there were two of them, the atmosphere was still as eerie as yesterday, only without the catcalls, it was even more creepy, like the calm before the storm…
“Meow~~” Suddenly! The mournful cat’s cry resounded again, and Hong and I were startled at the same time!
“It’s… it’s now… she’ll be out in a minute…” I turned back to him, only to find him standing motionless, still blushing. “Hey! Hong…” I patted him lightly, only to see him fall back with white eyes, and I knew something was wrong.
The cold crooked wind blew from behind me, and the coolness immediately rose from the soles of my feet to my head, and my whole body tingled so much that I couldn’t even make a sound, let alone escape on my feet.
“What’s done is done, whatever!” I’m going to use my milk strength to escape from here, although I’m very sorry to Ah Hong, but when great difficulties come, birds fly, not to mention that I don’t have any relationship with him at all, so it won’t be too hard on my conscience to escape like this.
“Ooohhhhhh!” I immediately turned and fled. For a split second, I collided with her body and passed through it. But strangely enough… a warm sensation permeated my entire body.
“What… what’s going on? I was so surprised that I stopped dead in my tracks, and when I looked back, I met her eyes. Immediately, a vivid scene came to my mind… a girl in a high school uniform, a hospital… a ward… a bed surrounded by many people. Some people looked sad, some people looked chagrined… but the one that made a deep impression on me… was the girl who was lying on the hospital bed, the girl who appeared in front of my eyes now.
“Did you… did you show me?”
”Hmm… do you feel it?”
“Why? Aren’t… ghosts always cold…”
‘Hee… do you really think ghosts are all eerie and scary?’ She flashed a smile.
“Uh, no… I just…” I couldn’t help but blush at the sight of her smile. Because I was under the impression that a girl’s smile was charming, especially a cute one.
Although she is a “ghost”, but it does not make me feel scared, is it really like what Ah Hong said: the living can not be replaced by this kind of, maybe it will work?
stipulated (time, amount, quality etc)
I looked at her, and she looked at me… but the only difference was… the blush I felt wasn’t as pronounced. Was it because of the wind? Or…
“¿… why did you pick me?” After a long time, I decided to break the frontier.
”Because… you’re the first person to see that I won’t run away… so…”
“You won’t run away? I ran away so badly the first time…”
”Oh… if you were really afraid of me, you wouldn’t have come to me again.”
“… that’s true… but I was dragged here by this guy, and I have to find a way to send him back later… the thought of it is annoying… damn it!” I kicked Hong, who had fallen to the ground.
‘Hahaha~ You’re such a funny guy…’ She laughed again, this time a cheerful smile, another different feeling from the one I had just seen.
“… So you’re trying to fulfill your unfinished business…”
”Well… because I was so obsessed with this longing, I was unable to ascend to heaven, and had to linger on earth all the time… just as you see it now…”
“Oh… So what is your unfulfilled wish?”
‘I…’ she blushed and lowered her head… ‘because… I haven’t even had a boyfriend… that’s why… I wanted to talk… about looking around…’ By the time she got to this point… her voice was so small that she couldn’t be heard.
“No way! No wonder you came to me, we’re all in the same boat!” I said with a smile.
‘Really… but you…’ She looked at me in surprise.
“You’re trying to say it doesn’t look like it, right, and the idiot lying on the floor said the same thing.”
‘That’s great… then I… ask you one more time… can you be my boyfriend?’
“…” After she asked me that question, I began to hesitate again.
The girl in front of me… is a ghost. That’s what people call them… demons and ghosts… and since this kind of thing is supposed to happen in comic books, but now it’s happening to me, I can only describe it as unbelievable…
However… after hearing what happened to her, I felt very uncomfortable. If I didn’t say yes to her, would she just wander around the world… as what people call a lonely ghost… wouldn’t that be pathetic?
The thought of it… I was afraid of it… I didn’t know what to do…
”… If I’m going to cause you distress this way, then I don’t need to bother you.”
“If I don’t say yes, are you just going to stay on earth?”
”I… I don’t know…” She had another lost look on her face, ”Maybe… all the time…”
“¿… then what time do you plan to make an appointment?”
‘Huh? …’ She raised her head and looked at me with a surprised expression.
“What a time to meet! Could you not show yourself in the daytime?”
‘Really… really? You… you promise me?’
“If it’s not steamed is it boiled? Decide quickly.”
‘Thank you!’ She suddenly hugged me, but it went through me and flopped.
‘Ah… I’m sorry! I forgot…’ She stuck her tongue out playfully.
“No… it’s okay… you have to decide the time quickly.” I blushed a little.
‘Then… how about… ten minutes after you get off work?’
“Ten minutes? Isn’t that too short?…”
‘Uh… twenty minutes then!’
“Twenty minutes? That’s still short.” I said again in disbelief.
‘No… because there are still people coming and going during that time. If I were to be seen… it would be very bad for you, and it wouldn’t be good to find you out too late… so I thought it would be better to meet you when you were off work, and it wouldn’t be inconvenient…”
I was dumbfounded. How could there be such a ghost! It’s really breaking my stereotype of ghosts as being eerie and scary… I really hate to see them… I’ve never seen them before.
“Okay… then that’s the deal.”
‘… I’m sorry for disturbing you so much.’ I looked at my watch, it was almost two o’clock… Was it really like what Hong said… that… living was not okay, but this kind of screwing was okay?
“Then… I’ll see you tomorrow night~!”
‘Um… good night…’ I called out to her as she was about to disappear again.
“That… I don’t know your name…”
‘Feng… my name is Feng.’
“Kaede, good night…” I returned the gesture.
‘Good night.’ With a gust of wind, she disappeared in front of me again, leaving me with Hong lying on the ground… and… a little starlight…
I was so excited that I couldn’t help but shout: I did it!
Seventeen years of living as a bachelor are finally over, and although the object of the relationship is not a human being… at least it is a real relationship, a real boyfriend and girlfriend!
I kicked Hiro again in excitement, which in turn woke him up.
‘What are you doing! Why did you kick me!’ He climbed to his feet and pressed his hand against the spot where I had kicked him.
“I did it! I finally got over my phobia!”
‘Overcoming phobias? What are you talking about?’
“That’s the one, her name is Kaede, isn’t she cute!”
‘Xiao Feng…? Could what I just saw… really be?’
“Right! So you can go all night.” After I said that, he fell down again… “No way? He just fainted again…” I looked at Hong, who had collapsed again, and thought back to what had just happened… Is this what love is all about?
I could submit this story, maybe even use it as a script for a movie… Next…
‘Hey! Jing, tell me honestly…’ The next day at work, Hong suddenly asked me a question: ‘Was what I saw yesterday real or fake?’
“I’ve already taken you to see the people, whether you believe them or not is your problem, isn’t it!”
‘But… I still feel strange…’
“Ugh~ Just don’t think about it so much, just pretend it didn’t happen!”
‘It’s still weird…’ I didn’t bother to pay attention to him and went to the warehouse to order some goods.
“Hmm… it’s about time…” I looked at the clock, it was time for the shift to end. “I’ll go back first, thanks for your hard work!” After saying that, I rushed to the place where I had agreed with Feng.
“Hasn’t anyone arrived yet?” I looked around, but there was no sign of anyone… ‘I’ve been here for a long time…’ She appeared in front of me in a gust of wind.
“Is… is it… I’m really sorry, so… what are we going to do?”
‘Uh… I haven’t thought about it…’
“┅┅”
‘… there!’
“What’s there?” I looked at her questioningly…
‘I know a place that’s beautiful, come with me!’
She “floated” me in the direction of the riverbank and then followed it to a high platform.
“Is there anything here?” I looked around, there was really nothing interesting at night… ‘Look at the sky.’ She smiled and pointed upwards, and I looked up, almost shocked.
The sky was full of stars… no… not just stars, but even the Milky Way. It was just like in the books, almost the whole sky…
“AWESOME…” I stared blankly at the night sky, for I had never expected to say I could see such a view, and to have it right next to me, I was beginning to doubt my own eyesight.
”It’s great, isn’t it! This is what I found out earlier, it’s the only place you can see it oooo!’
“Before? Why didn’t I even notice?”
”Well… maybe it’s because there’s less light here… I was shocked when I saw it for the first time, too…”
I looked around, and indeed… It’s close to the river, and there aren’t many homes nearby, so the light damage isn’t as bad, and it’s relatively high. It’s really a good place for stargazing.
“Thanks to you, I won’t have to go all the way to the mountains if I want to see a shooting star or something from now on!”
‘Ah… no. Anyway, you’re mine… it’s fine…’ She blushed a little, looking like she wanted to say those three words out loud, I guess, and even I felt a little embarrassed.
“So what other great places do you know?”
‘I know many more places, it’s just that… it’s almost time.’
“So… are you leaving?” I looked at my watch, it had been almost twenty minutes.
‘Well, then tomorrow…’
“Let’s just meet here tomorrow! It’s less crowded and safer here.”
‘Okay! I’ll see you tomorrow then! Good night…’ She disappeared in a puff of wind… I walked along the embankment, thinking, ‘I’m probably the first person to have chosen a date on a deserted embankment, where it felt safe.
For the next week, I just ran to the riverbank every night after work to meet up with Xiao Feng. Following her around to other places, sometimes taking a walk on the road outside the riverbank, sometimes playing hide-and-seek in the residential area, people who didn’t know thought I was nuts. Running around by myself.
And this went on… until one day… I realized that she was getting weaker and weaker, and her face was getting paler and paler…
vanishing (illusions, hopes, aspirations etc)
“Feng, you look terrible…” I looked at her worriedly.
”Is there… a ghost’s face wouldn’t have looked much better in the first place.”
“Yeah?” I still looked skeptical, because really it was a lot different than when we first met.
”Ah Jing… can you come over later this week on Saturday?”
“Saturday is tomorrow… it’s fine! Why come later?”
‘There’s one more place I haven’t taken you to, and it won’t be pretty until later.’
“Great! I’ll be there at twelve o’clock then!”
”Uh…”
The next morning, I prepared a gift for Feng at home. Let’s just say it’s to celebrate the two weeks anniversary of knowing each other.
”Hey~ Why do you seem to be glowing red lately? Is something good?” Hong asked me.
“Have you? I’ve always looked like this!” I said.
‘It’s not right… it was all dead two weeks ago.’
“Speak that shit!” I said angrily.
Before I met Feng, I had no luck with female customers, and every time I had to ask Hong to help me settle the bill. Now I can handle whoever they are, so I really have to thank Feng for that.
“By the way… can you take care of my big night shift tonight?”
‘Why? I won’t do a job with no benefits!’ He said firmly.
“Ouch! Don’t be like that… Then the lunch you owed me before is forgiven!”
‘Big night shift yay~ It’s tiring yay~~’ The asshole tried to take advantage of the situation to knock him off.
“Then… I’ll just cover your shift for a day from now on, and the money will be on you.”
‘… Okay! Let’s help out as friends to the end!
As the day went on, it was soon 11:30 p.m. I thought it was about time and prepared to go to the riverbank to wait for Feng.
“I’ll go first then! Please!” I went out with my gift and informed Hiro.
‘No problem!’
I look at my watch, eleven forty, seems a little early to be here.
‘You’re here so early…’ It was Kaede.
“For you.” I pulled out the gift and held it in both hands. “Celebrating two weeks of knowing each other.”
‘Thanks! I’m so happy!’ She held out her hand ready to take it, but then flopped.
“Ah, I’m sorry! I forgot that you…” I cursed my stupidity for forgetting that she was a ghost.
”It’s okay… I’m glad you have this intention, can you open it for me?”
I opened the package and there was a maple leaf-shaped wind chime that I’d picked out specially, swaying in the night sky with the wind…
“It’s nice! I ran around a lot before I found it oooh!” I looked at Kaede, only to realize that her face had gotten worse again.
‘I’m so happy… if I hadn’t been able to touch things.’ She reached out and grabbed the wind chime again, but it still didn’t move at all, just kept making a sound.
“Feng…”
‘I’ll take you there! We had a deal.’
I followed her, heading further inside the riverbank. She stopped suddenly and pointed down the riverbank to the grass. ‘Let’s go over there!’
As we descended the embankment and reached the edge of the grass, we saw dots of fluorescent light suddenly emerge and surround us.
“Fireflies… fireflies!” As soon as I said that, countless fireflies flew out of the grass, stretching as far as the river, just like the Milky Way that I saw… that day.
‘Beautiful, aren’t they! I call them galaxies on earth, and this is my gift to you.’
“I’ve never seen so many fireflies, it’s really beautiful!”
”Well… their… lives are like fireworks, beautiful and short…”
“Wh… what do you mean?” Kaede’s words made me feel very wrong.
‘I too… am… at the end…’ As soon as she said this, her body collapsed backward.
“Feng!!!”
see you again later
“Little Feng… Little Feng! You can’t die!” I wrapped her in my arms and cried out desperately.
‘No… it won’t… I’m so happy…’ She gave a small smile and said, ‘I finally touched you… it feels… so warm.’ She gently touched my face.
“You won’t die! You’re… you’re a ghost… how can you die?”
‘Just because I’m a ghost… that’s all the more reason why I can’t stay in this world… I’m sorry…’
“You can’t die! Because… didn’t you want to be my girlfriend!” I watched her in my arms, fading away as if she were fading…
‘These days… thank you… for taking care of me… for accepting me… this ghost…’
“No… our first encounter… I’ve taken you for a normal girl, you’re definitely not a ghost! Absolutely not!”
‘Thank you… I’m really… happy…’ Her voice was getting smaller and she was feeling weaker.
“Fon… Fon…” I could no longer control my tears, and my hands kept trembling.
‘You… don’t cry… I’ll still… always stay by your side… so…’ After she spoke these words, the lower half of her body had slowly transformed into a point of light and flew off into the night sky… ‘I should go… for these two short weeks, I’m really… very grateful to you…’ ‘ I watched as her familiar face gradually blurred along with the points of light… accompanied by the glowing light, and rose up into the sky with it.
‘Goodbye… Jing…’ The last word of goodbye was blown away by the wind… leaving me standing blankly where I was, and… the shooting star that descended with the point of light…
“Kaede~!!!” I cried out to the sky, and although I wished for her to appear in front of me again, it was no longer possible. Everything will go back to the way it was… everything…
“Thank you for taking care of me these past two months.”
‘No, no, no… Here’s this month’s salary… Go for it after school starts! Ah Jing.’
“Yes, I will… Thank you, Mr. Store Manager, I’m off!” I stepped out of the store and met a woman in front of the store…
‘Are you Mr. Ching?’
“I am… May I ask you…?”
”I’m Little Feng’s mom, and I’ve come to take something for you today.” I froze on the spot.
“Yes… Kaede…” I looked at the photo in my hand. Although she was wearing a nightgown and had drips in her hands and other places… that smile made me sure it was her… that cheerful smile… the one that didn’t worry about anything but looked forward…
‘My daughter passed away last week, and before that, she had been asking me to bring the photo to you…’
“Last week? Did… Until then, Kaede was fine?”
‘Yes… it’s just that because of the long term medication, her body could no longer bear the burden and her condition deteriorated… and she passed away last Saturday… on her birthday…’
By this point… Xiao Feng’s mother was in tears… So… that Saturday night… was the last time I saw Xiao Feng…
“Auntie… Xiao Feng… where is she… now?”
I took the map given to me by Xiao Feng’s mother and went to Dongshan Cemetery to find Xiao Feng’s… homecoming… “Is that… is that how you want me to spend your last birthday with you…” I put down the flowers in my hand and paid my respects at her grave.
“We… are still boyfriend and girlfriend, right? Feng…”
I gently closed my eyes, recalling everything that had happened in the past two weeks… from the shock of our first encounter… the starry sky on the riverbank… the fireflies on the shore… to the sadness of parting… all of it… had left the most special memories of my high school summer vacation.
My girlfriend is a ghost…
“Will you please be my boyfriend?” If… one day in the middle of the night… a girl made such a request of you, how would you answer her?
～The End