Her head kept drooping.
At so point, her head had gotten heavy.
Her eyelids slowly lowered.
They were undeniable signs that Ha-eun was drunk.
It was a relief that familiar people like Kang Sun-woo were seated nearby to take care of her.
“Wouldn’t it be better to get so air outside?”
“She looks like she can’t even walk properly. Better than her falling and getting hurt...”
“Let’s just have her lean back until her manager gets here. Anyone got a jacket? Let’s cover her with sothing.”
Even as the familiar faces around her discussed what to do, Ha-eun just sat there, blank.
The only thing she managed to do of her own will was chew on the side dishes that looked good for her health.
But even that didn’t last long. Thud.
Her consciousness reached its limit, and even the tiny bit of strength needed to hold chopsticks was gone.
With a soft clatter, the tal chopsticks slipped from her hands and fell to the floor.
“...Ah...”
Staring blankly at the chopsticks on the ground, Ha-eun slowly bent down.
She was trying to pick them up, nothing more.
But being so drunk, she couldn’t judge the distance properly.
Her head kept dipping lower—not toward the floor, but toward the edge of the table.
Her depth perception was a ss.
Just as her forehead was about to crash into the sharp corner of the table—thwack.
Kang Sun-woo, who had realized the danger a split second too late, caught her forehead with his palm.
“Jeez... that could’ve been really bad.”
“My hand... won’t... reach... Why does it keep getting further away...”
Ha-eun, held up by Kang Sun-woo, flailed her arm weakly through the air.
She mumbled that no matter how far she reached, she couldn’t grab the chopsticks.
“Misterrr... the chopsticks keep running away...”
“Maybe they’re scared of you.”
Kang Sun-woo replied lightly to her slurred muttering, then gently lifted her forehead.
Her vision slowly lifted with it.
Then, once he helped Ha-eun sit upright again, he covered her with a thick padded ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) coat, telling her to lie down sideways instead of forward.
To that, Ha-eun responded with a warning that lying down after eating was bad for digestion.
“Esophagitis... it causes esophagitis... You need at least three hours after eating...”
After that, Ha-eun clung to the last scraps of her consciousness and tried to sit upright.
But the drowsiness kept making her blink.
Eventually, without realizing, her eyes slowly closed.
–Sway.
–Thump.
“...Huh...”
When she ca to, she was lying down on a long leather bench, just like Kang Sun-woo had said.
And from sowhere far off, she could hear her own voice—maybe it was just her imagination.
“Where... did you go... Misterrr...”
Ha-eun, who had even forgotten this was the God and the Goblin wrap party, pricked her ears.
But soon, the voices faded.
Her mind still foggy, she couldn’t understand a single word coming from the TV.
A few seconds later, her eyelids dropped again.
And Ha-eun slipped into another deep sleep.
She still had no idea what she was using as a pillow.
–Soft breathing.
–Soft breathing.
“Sunbae Kang, aren’t your legs numb? Maybe using the coat as a pillow would be better.”
“If I move, she might wake up. It’s fine. Let her sleep.”
Right now, Ha-eun was using Kang Sun-woo’s lap as a pillow.
Saying his legs weren’t numb would be a lie, but since her manager would be there soon, he decided to let her rest like this until then.
“...She’s still just a kid.”
Maybe it was because she looked so different from her usual calm and composed self.
Kang Sun-woo looked down at the sleeping Ha-eun, a soft smile playing on his lips.
Her faintly flushed face.
The pink hue spreading to her cheeks.
The breaths slipping out from her slightly parted lips.
Even the strand of hair stuck at the corner of her mouth.
–Slide.
“...Mmm...”
“Hair’s not for eating.”
From the very first ti they t, Ha-eun had always seed so mature.
This was the first ti she’d looked like a child.
If he said it out loud, she’d probably pout and remind him she was a full-fledged adult now.
He gently pulled the strand of hair out of her mouth.
And only when she settled back down again, did he finally lift his head to start watching the final episode of God and the Goblin.
***
God and the Goblin—a drama that rewrote the history of Korean TV.
A star writer’s script, deeply imrsive acting, and an emotional OST gained it a massive fanbase.
Nael was one of them. She had bawled her eyes out at the God and the Goblin premiere.
“...Did everyone turn on the TV?”
– Yup
– Didn’t you say you weren’t gonna watch it lol
– Your Baek Jin is already in the US~ He’s never coming back~ (User has been banned.)
– Nael’s about to get tricked again
– You have to watch the final episode, 100%
Nael had claid she couldn’t watch anymore after Baek Jin and Baeksulhwa separated in episode 14—too heartbreaking.
But she ended up watching episode 15 yesterday and now the final episode today.
That was because she held onto a tiny sliver of hope that maybe the two leads would reunite in the finale.
But since Baek Jin had been confird trapped in the past several hundred years ago in episode 15... there was this sinking feeling it would end in a sad ending after all.
“...If they betray us again, I swear... haaa...”
Even so, she had to see how Baek Jin and Baeksulhwa’s story would end.
She’d followed this story from the beginning.
“Why was I... growing this again...?”
The final episode opened with Baeksulhwa’s monologue.
Living in Baek Jin’s apartnt without rembering him, she finally felt sothing off when she saw a potted plant.
It was the zinnia she’d received from Park Chasa—a gift to commorate becoming lovers with Baek Jin, a flower that ant “destiny.”
But now, all her mories of Baek Jin were erased.
She had no recollection of receiving the flower.
So Baeksulhwa just tilted her head, staring at the red bloom in front of her.
That strange feeling prompted her to reach out toward the zinnia’s petals.
–Tap.
“...Mmm...”
Caressing the soft petals, she tried to rember why this flower was in her room.
But all she felt was a dull, foggy pressure in her head, like a mist clouding her thoughts.
Eventually, she let go of the flower, having rembered nothing, and turned around to leave the room.
It was dinnerti, so she thought she’d go make dinner.
But—
–Drip.
“...Huh?”
Before she even left the room, a single tear rolled down her cheek for no reason.
A tight, painful pressure in her chest.
Her eyes wavered wildly at the sound of her own heart pounding in her ears.
It was suffocating—she couldn’t even breathe properly.
On top of that, she felt overwhelming anxiety.
The dizzying sensation of having forgotten sothing important.
“Haah, haah... ugh...!”
In the midst of the sudden whirlwind of emotions, Baeksulhwa turned back to the flowerpot.
No—toward the windowsill where it was placed.
–Step.
–Step.
She thought she’d open the window and get so air.
If she didn’t, she felt like she might suffocate.
She threw the window open.
And just then, a cool breeze rushed in as she gasped for breath.
–Rustle—
One of the zinnia’s red petals flew in on the wind and brushed her cheek.
Then, it began to turn yellow.
“Did you know, Miss Seolhwa? Zinnias have different anings depending on their color.”
Why was it now, of all tis, that she could hear the florist’s voice from long ago echoing in her ears?
Her eyes trembled violently at the fragile feeling like the ground might collapse beneath her.
“Red zinnias an ‘destiny.’ But yellow zinnias an... ‘I won’t forget the one I love.’”
–Flinch.
“Please rember. Stories only continue to exist because soone rembers them.”
“At the very least, the one who started the story should know... shouldn’t they...?”
She hadn’t understood those words at the ti, so she let them slip by.
But now that her mories of Baek Jin were returning like a miracle, they were unbearably painful.
“...Ah...”
All the mories Baek Jin had erased began to flood back like a panorama.
Playing together at the amusent park.
Him giving her a bouquet as she walked alone after her exams.
Her sobbing at his voice telling her to live.
“...White ‘baek’ and advance ‘jin’...”
“...That’s... my na.”
“Call it out loud. So I can hear. So I can co to you. Anyti.”
“I won’t leave you—this Seolhwa—alone in sorrow and tragedy. I swear it.”
She fully rembered now.
Her lip, clenched tight from all the rushing emotions, trembled.
“Oh, no. She rembered...”
– 😭😭😭😭😭
– What’s the point of rembering? He’s already dead (User has been banned.)
– My chest feels heavy...
– Lee Ha-eun’s acting is insane
– Crap, Nael’s crying again
– Don’t call it forced emotion, seriously (User has been banned.)
– There’s still 30 minutes left. Don’t go yet.
From there, it was one heartbreaking scene after another.
Right after rembering Baek Jin, Baeksulhwa collapsed on the spot, staring blankly into space.
Then she barely stood up and ran through the streets, shouting his na.
But all that ca back to her were the confused stares of passersby.
In the end, Baeksulhwa sank in the middle of the street and cried hopelessly.
“Where... did you go... Mister...”
“Ah... sob... this is too sad...”
– First ti hearing Lee Ha-eun’s voice break like that
– Was her voice actually hoarse?
– Nael got fooled again
– 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭
– Don’t call it forced crying. That’s not fair (User has been banned.)
– Still 30 minutes left, don’t log off
And so, ti kept passing.
She entered college in the spring. Worked in a uniform under the blazing sumr sun.
Walked through fallen leaves in autumn, recalling mories of Baek Jin.
And in winter, she stood under snowy skies, eyes red, feeling his absence.
“...I miss you...”
No matter how much ti passed, her feelings for Baek Jin never faded.
Nael wiped her tears again at Baeksulhwa’s soft murmuring as she curled under a thick blanket.
As the ti in the show moved forward, Baeksulhwa slowly grew into an adult.
And eventually, the tiline reached the point where she had graduated and entered the working world.
“Miss Baek, do you have a mont?”
“Ah... Yes, I do.”
Now an adult, Baeksulhwa worked as a teacher at an elentary school.
Though her longing for Baek Jin hadn’t changed, she stayed alive in the present for the sake of his only wish.
That’s why she chose to beco a teacher.
She couldn’t ignore the words that were essentially Baek Jin’s dying wish.
She had to keep living, no matter what.
So, she smiled kindly in front of her students.
Greeted parents politely.
And offered her own kind of warmth to her fellow teachers.
“Ah, Miss Baek. Heading ho?”
“Yes. See you tomorrow.”
One ordinary day, like any other.
After finishing up all her work, Baeksulhwa left the teacher’s office and headed to the nearest bus stop.
The sky was already dark.
Because it was rush hour, the roads were packed with cars.
It was only after that that Baeksulhwa’s eyes drifted across the street toward the academy building.
『...I bet the kids are still studying...』
Even though it was late, the lights in the academy were still brightly on.
Staring up at the building, Baeksulhwa naturally thought of her students.
She found herself picturing their young faces.
When so of the kids behind the window noticed her, she gave them a light wave.
And then, just as she was about to board the arriving bus—
–Fwoosh.
『...Huh?』
At that mont, sothing red flared up from inside the academy.
–BOOM!!
All the building’s windows shattered at once, and a wall of flas surged upward.
The stares of all the pedestrians turned simultaneously.
So people called 911.
Others recorded the fire with their phones.
So stepped back in fear, unsure of what might happen next.
Baeksulhwa’s eyes took it all in.
But more than anything—
Inside that burning building were several students Baeksulhwa personally knew.
–Dash!
Her body moved before her mind.
Having lost her parents in a fire long ago, she couldn’t think at all in that mont.
Waiting for the firefighters would’ve been the wise thing to do, but Baeksulhwa’s sprint didn’t stop.
Even saving just one student would be enough.
“W-wait, no...!”
– She’s seriously trying to die
– Those are Baeksulhwa’s students in there
– Reuniting with Baek Jin in 1 minute;
– She’s gonna die saving those kids
This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.
As panic and dread filled the viewers like Nael, Baeksulhwa entered the burning building and stumbled through thick smoke to evacuate the children.
But unfortunately—
『Hyunseong’s... still inside?』
『Y-yes... he didn’t make it out earlier...』
She was told that one of the students who had waved at her through the window was still trapped inside.
Her body moved again before she could think.
『Hyunseong! Hyunseong!』
『T-teacher...』
『!!』
At last, Baeksulhwa found the missing child and lifted him onto her back.
Covered in dust, she ran for the ergency exit—
–CRASH.
–FWOOSH—
『Ugh!』
But the ergency exit collapsed in flas, leaving her and the student trapped inside.
Concrete rubble fell everywhere.
Thanks to Baeksulhwa shielding the child with her body, he was unhard.
But the debris pinned her down, leaving her unable to move.
『T-teacher... Teacher!』
『You have to go, Hyunseong. I’m fine... Just go! Hurry!』
The fire lood ever closer.
The child hesitated, frozen in front of Baeksulhwa, who lay pinned under rubble.
She scolded him again and again, pushing him to escape sohow.
But Baeksulhwa herself... was slowly dying.
In that final, final mont—just as the child she saved t the rescue team—
『...Baek... Jin...』
The na that had kept her alive all this ti left her lips in a whisper.
And in that sa instant, a figure in black robes approached.
『The deceased shall answer the call of the reaper.』
A different grim reaper than Park Chasa, wearing similar attire, called for Baeksulhwa.
He had co to guide the soon-to-be-deceased Baeksulhwa to the afterlife.
But before he could finish his task—swish.
A man’s silhouette appeared in midair, blocking the reaper’s path.
The reaper’s expression twisted in confusion.
And then, in an instant, both the man and Baeksulhwa disappeared.
All that remained in their place was a burning registry scroll.
***
『I won’t fall for it again... This is just a dream... You’re... not real...』
『...I am. Right here. In front of you.』
–Drip.
『Lies...』
『I’ve never lied to you. Not once.』
–Slide.
『I missed you. Baeksulhwa.』
–Drop.
『...I missed you too...』
–Plip. Plop.
–Drip...
『I missed you, missed you... so much...』
“Hngh... hnnn... ahh...”
– Why am I crying during a happy ending
– You’re supposed to cry 😭😭😭😭😭
– That acting is insane
– Finally found the tiline where Baeksulhwa lives
– They said viewership hit 44%, holy crap lol
***
It was around the ti the final episode of God and the Goblin ended.
“Ha-eun, Ha-eun. Your manager’s here.”
Having received word that Ju Jung-yoon had arrived, Kang Sun-woo gently woke her up.
Ha-eun blinked her eyes open, still dazed.
“Mister...? Why are you... on my bed...?”
“We’re still at the barbecue place. This isn’t your room.”
“...Huh...?”
Still caught in deep sleepiness, Ha-eun looked up at him with half-lidded eyes.
But then Ju Jung-yoon appeared before her, yelping in shock and shaking her awake.
“How much did you even drink?!”
In the end, Ha-eun had to be dragged out in a daze by Ju Jung-yoon.
She never found out that she’d been using Kang Sun-woo’s lap as a pillow the whole ti.
Almost carried out of the barbecue place, Ha-eun left just as the God and the Goblin epilogue began.
『...Sir. Do you know ?』
『I did. Once, I even loved you. In the end... I couldn’t forget you, and so I ca.』
『Oh, I see. Well, wait right there. I think I should call the police.』
When a scene from the first script reading of God and the Goblin aired in the form of a making film, everyone remaining at the restaurant turned to watch.
Kang Sun-woo and Ha Yun-seong included.
『Hello? I’ve got so dude here with a full-blown chuunibyou ruining my work—』
『Wait, no, hold on!』
“We should’ve watched the making film with Ha-eun too. What a sha.”
“Yeah, well. Nothing we can do now.”
The staff and actors who remained at the restaurant raised their glasses again, celebrating the full conclusion of God and the Goblin.
The sa was true on social dia and online communities.
– The afterglow tonight is unreal
ㄴ For real
– I can’t stop crying
– This drama’s on another level
ㄴ Eh, is it that good?
ㄴ (No feeding emoji)
– God and the Goblin broke 44% in peak ratings, insane
– So when’s God and the Goblin 2 happening
– Props to the cast
ㄴ Looking at it now, that cast lineup was stacked, lol
God and the Goblin remained incredibly popular right to the end.
Online, discussion about the drama wouldn’t stop.
Communities were flooded with reactions and reviews.
『What kind of scenes are you filming these days?』
『The past tiline, I think? It’s been a while since I wore hanbok, so it feels a bit awkward. Haha.』
『Wait—you’re not the scary unnie, are you?☆ Don’t cry with such a pretty face~』
『Ah, sorry, my niece started crying. Just a sec.』
Even the epilogue that followed the finale drew massive attention.
Behind-the-scenes clips from the script readings, poster shoots, and production sets helped prolong the emotional high of the drama.
And then, just as the talk of God and the Goblin continued to circulate everywhere...a new post appeared on a completely unrelated community forum.
───────────
Title > What is this?
ㅇㅇ | 11:53
(Fan channel upload: God and the Goblin epilogue Shorts)
(Zood-in screenshot from poster shoot)
You can hear Diah’s voice right when Lee Ha-eun briefly appears behind Kang Sun-woo on the left.
I kept replaying it thinking I misheard, but it’s definitely Diah.
───────────
ㄴ ?????
ㄴ Uh
ㄴ WTF what is this
ㄴ That’s so fast editing
ㄴ It’s not edited
ㄴ I was watching the broadcast too and went WTF, this is 100% Diah
ㄴ No but seriously, that really sounds like Diah
Diah’s voice, not from YouTube, but from TV.
Just when all the noise surrounding Ha-eun had finally started to die down, soone poured gasoline on it.
– No, like, that’s just Diah
– WHO TF IS THIS "Goryeo Rice Cooker" dude??
– You better bring a protractor, this is a real celebrity
ㄴ Stop with the angle cope
ㄴ The evidence is literally right there
– That’s not an edit?? It’s really her voice???
And so it exploded.
Louder, hotter, and bigger than ever.
– Official: Diah’s red pill
: Lee Ha-eun
– Illusionary Realm red pill hierarchy OVER
: Diah >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> everyone else
– How did we not notice???
ㄴ How would we? Her voice is totally different
ㄴ Honestly, I still can’t believe it LOL
ㄴ My brain just exploded, bro
ㄴ Who even are you
– So Diah was a celebrity this whole ti?
: A million-ticket actress, amazing singer, straight-A student, athletic, perfect figure, S-tier donation magnet high school girl
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