Chapter 16
Grace wasn’t sure what to expect the next day as she got ready for school. Her bedroom windows faced the front yard. So she couldn’t even spy on the pool house from up here.
She’d ignored the dozens of notifications from the webcomic app. Comments from confused readers.
As well as an all-caps text from Zoe.
What would Grace even say?
She had to face the reality that she was probably going to end the comic. How could she keep writing it when she knew it had such real consequences?
Even though she always figured she’d have to quit Sun God eventually, now that the moment was here, she felt a strange sense of loss. She didn’t realize it would make her so sad to give it up. But the hollow feeling in her stomach was so similar to how she felt right after losing Halmeoni.
Downstairs, she found a note on the fridge: Grace, I’ll probably be at the hospital overnight. —Dad
A few twenties were tucked under a magnet below the note, even though Grace had her own credit card. Everything else seemed normal and in order.
She took this as a sign that her father hadn’t run into their new houseguest.
Last night, she’d asked Hae to stay in her halmeoni’s old apartment. Somewhere she knew he’d be safe and out of the way. At least until she figured out what to do with him.
Outside, the sky was still gray. Grace glanced at the ominous clouds and wondered when this horrible rain would finally end.
The living room of the pool house was empty, and when Grace called out, there was no answer. Her steps quickened as she pushed into the bedroom. The sheets were mussed, obviously slept in. The comforter was balled on the floor. But no Hae in sight.
Grace pressed her hand to the sheets, half expecting them to be warm, as if he’d just blipped away moments earlier. But they were cool to the touch.
What if the comic actually worked and he’s gone?
The anticlimactic ending of it all didn’t sit right with Grace.
She checked the bathroom for good measure. She yanked back the curtain, only to reveal an empty tub. Her heart fell just a bit. She told herself it was just the drop of adrenaline, but she knew that was a lie.
He’s really gone, Grace thought, turning back toward the bedroom. And that’s a good thing. Now I can get back to my life.
Her normal life. Average. Boring.
She started to make the bed. The pillow still had a small indent in it. As she fluffed it, she caught traces of his scent. Grace pressed her nose into the cover, wanting to get a better sense of it. She couldn’t seem to identify the unique mix that somehow reminded her of summer.
“What are you doing?”
Grace spun around with a scream and dropped the pillow.
Hae was staring at her from the doorway as Haechi barked happily and jumped forward to plant his paws on her thighs. Embarrassed, Grace used petting Haechi as an excuse to avoid Hae’s stare. “Hey, boy, what were you doing?”
“We went for a walk,” Hae replied.
“You left the house?” Grace’s voice grew with anxiety as she looked out the window. Like there would be a crowd to gawk at the reincarnated god and his statue-come-to-life dog.
Don’t let your imagination run away with you. He just looks like a teenage boy with his giant dog.
“Is there a problem?” Hae asked.
“No, I just, well, I actually thought…” She thought he’d gone back home. Without saying goodbye. And it had made her a little sad, Grace realized. “Never mind.”
“What?” The right corner of Hae’s lips tilted up, like he knew exactly what she was thinking. “You thought I left?”
She frowned, wondering why that sounded like a gotcha. But she finally admitted it. “Yeah.”
“Still here.” Hae shook his head, and his bangs flopped into his eyes.
He needs a haircut, Grace thought. Then told herself that wasn’t for her to worry about.
“I’m sorry it didn’t work.”
“It was worth a try.” Hae shrugged.
She thought he’d be angry or disappointed. But he wasn’t. And Grace was surprised at her level of relief.
“Hey, who’s Sunnygirl55?”
“What?” Grace was surprised at the random question. “I don’t know.”
“What about user738x8590?”
“Where are you seeing these names?”
“Here.” Hae plucked Grace’s tablet from the desk and turned it to show her the comments section of Sun God.
Grace gaped at it. “Why are you reading that? How’d you even get my tablet?”
“You left it in the kitchen last night. I wanted to read more of the stories you wrote about me.”
“Why?” She fought the urge to snatch the tablet away. It was too late for that. He’d read the comic all night.
“You said last night that research was important.”
“I meant from, like, historical texts!” Grace practically wailed. Now he chose to listen to her?
“Who are these people? They all seem to adore me.” Hae grinned with satisfaction at the screen.
Grace rolled her eyes. “They’re just fans.”
“Of me?”
Grace wasn’t sure how to answer that. “Well,” she said slowly. “Of the webtoon. And, yeah, of you too, I guess.”
Hae nodded. “So, they’re my followers.”
“Followers?” Grace had a strange image of Hae making a social media account and dancing to trending songs, but she was pretty sure that’s not what he meant.
“Yeah, they believe in my godly abilities.”
Grace laughed. “They stan a webtoon character.”
“But here they say that they love me. They want to be besties with Yuhwa and date me.” He shoved the tablet toward her, practically smushing it into her nose.
“Yeah, I guess they believe in a version of you.”
“So, this is how you brought me back.” Hae nodded at the tablet.
Grace shook her head, confused. “I thought you didn’t believe that theory.”
“I’m not saying you created me,” Hae said, exasperated. “I’m saying you made people believe in me.”
“I did what?”
“You made them love me again.”
Grace had a flash of her halmeoni’s voice saying, Love and belief, they are intertwined.
She stared at the tablet. There were so many comments claiming Hae as their webtoon boyfriend or hoping for him to get his full powers back. Even some wishing he were a real person.
And suddenly Hae’s wild logic started to make a weird kind of sense. “Oh, my gods, I think I made people believe in you.”
Hae gave her an approving smile, like a teacher encouraging a student learning a difficult formula. “And it brought me back.”
“This is wild.” A part of her still thought it all had to be some freaky coincidence. But now she couldn’t deny it. She’d helped bring a god to life. It made her feel…powerful.
“And there’s more,” Hae said. He plucked the tablet from her hands and scrolled through the episodes before clicking on one. “I think I found my way home.”
“Huh?” Grace blinked, still trying to process everything.
He practically shoved the tablet into her hands.
It now showed a panel of Hae and Yuhwa in school. They were walking through dark, empty hallways. Grace recognized the episode. One where Hae and Yuhwa identify a possible portal to the realm of the gods located in their high school.
“You didn’t tell me there was a door to the realm of the gods.”
Grace shook her head. “They never make it to the portal in the webtoon.”
“Yeah, but it exists in the webtoon. Somewhere.”
“Why does that matter? The comic can’t send you home. We tried that already.”
“No, but if a belief in the webtoon Haemosu brought me back in this form, maybe belief in the webtoon brought other things to life.”
“But that place isn’t real. I made it up,” Grace pointed out.
“Really?” Hae scrolled up. “This looks just like the entrance to your school.”
He was right. Grace did base a lot of the buildings on her high school.
“But it’s a completely different name and location,” Grace said. Except, if she were comparing the webtoon school to Winter Lake High, then Grace knew exactly where the potential portal would be. On the roof of the library, the tallest building on campus.
“You don’t think it will work?” Hae said, his face falling.
“No.”
His brow creased stubbornly. “You won’t even try?”
“No, I mean, no, I do think it might work,” Grace clarified, still working over the logistics in her head. Hae was right. If the webtoon had influence in bringing Hae back to life, maybe it could have brought other things to life, like this portal. “But how would we get to the roof?”
“Can we not walk up there?”
“Yeah, I mean, there are stairs, but they’re off-limits.
We can’t just go up there with no one noticing.
Even if we do get up there, the emergency exit has an alarm that will sound unless you have the key to turn it off.
And only Mrs. Jepson and Mrs. Krol have copies.
” But Grace knew exactly where Mrs. Jepson kept hers.
And she still had the admin keys to the school from helping with the deliveries for the carnival.
“Oh, crap,” Grace groaned.
“Are you saying that because you can’t do it?”
“No,” Grace sighed. “I’m saying that because I think I know how.”