Chapter 154 - Epilogue 3.1: Purgatory

"Certainly." Kyuri gets a shiver down her spine. "I don't think that I could ever forget that thing."

"To think that Hana was carrying it in her mind…" Si An shudders. "The keeper told us that the thing was disposed of."

"Where did they dispose of it?" Kyuri wonders. "No, I don't think that I ever want to know."

That's true. Of all the evil spirits and anomalies that they dealt with, Hong Yi Hwan had given them a nightmare. Si An gazes at Kyuri. "Say, will we meet the keeper again?"

"Who knows?" Kyuri puckers her lips. After working with the keeper for such a long time, she admits the keeper isn't bad. "I won't mind meeting him again."

"Neither do I." Si An wrinkles his nose slightly. "He did have feelings for you. So I don't like him."

"I am alive because he had feelings for me." Kyuri peers at him. "He saved my life many times."

"Also, he killed you once." Si An sighs. "Fine, I won't hold it against him. He turned out to be a decent guy later."

The mist shifts away. They reach the end of the bridge. As soon as they climb down the steps, they find themselves in a long white hall with countless souls.

"Who would have thought that they deal with things like this?" Kyuri points at the tiny board hanging by the ceiling. "Purgatory, the waiting hall."

"..." Si An purses his lips. This is not how he imagined the afterlife to be.

The hall is filled with countless chairs. Most souls are seated, waiting. There's a reaper with dark hair going to each of them and explaining them the procedure. The woman, dressed in a similar black suit that the other reapers wore, notices them. She heads toward them.

"There, she comes," Kyuri mumbles.

"How can I help you?" The woman gives them a polite smile. 

"Well, I am Kwon Kyuri." That's all Kwon Kyuri says to the woman. It's rather awkward to talk to the reapers who are supposed to be scary creatures.

"Kang Si An." Si An introduces himself. "My wife is supposed to get VVVIP treatment in hell. I am supposed to take a trip to heaven for helping the higher entities."

"Oh." The woman widens her eyes. "You are… I know both of you. Here."

She hands them red tickets. "You would need this."

Kang Si An's ticket turns white when he takes it while Kyuri's ticket is completely black.

"Please take the doors." The woman points toward the doors on their left. "The white one leads to heaven. The black one leads to hell. The grey door isn't for you. Please go ahead. Someone will approach you after you arrive at your respective destinations."

After that, the woman rushes away.

"They seem busy." Kyuri looks at her ticket. There's a VVVIP label in golden letters. "Timekeepers kept their end of the deal. I wasn't scammed."

"Why can't I go to hell with you?" Si An lets out a tired sigh. "Heaven doesn't seem fun without you, Honey."

"You need to go there." She drags him to the white door. "Talk to the higher-ups. Didn't you want to ask why you became a vessel? The keeper never answered your questions."

"I don't know why but…" Si An scowls at the white door. "I am sure that they will give me some crap."

Kyuri nods. "That is likely so. You should find a way to not become the Keeper's vessel in your next lifetime."

"Right." He turns toward Kyuri. "I will make them send me to the world where you will be born."

"Take birth before me." Kyuri stands on her toes and kisses him on his lips. "Wait for me, okay?"

"I will." He cups her face and kisses her deeper. Even after a long life, the passion remains the same. He still doesn't want to go. Releasing her, he scrutinizes her face to engrave it in the deepest pit of his memories. Even reincarnations shouldn't make him forget that he belongs to this woman. Only this woman. "I, Kang Si An, Li Jun, and every other name that I will take in the future, make an oath that I will never ever love anyone else other than you, Kwon Kyuri. I will always find you first and I will make you fall for me."

She laughs. "I look forward to it."

Kang Si An kisses her forehead. "Don't hang out in hell for too long, okay?"

"I will leave as soon as I can." She gives him a tight hug, rubbing her face on his ċhėst. "Si An, I love you, okay? I love you a lot."

"I love you too, my time-traveller." He holds the back of her head gently and rests his chin on her head. "I wish I could love you more. Even a lifetime isn't enough to give you the love that you deserve, Kyuri." 

After more than a thousand years, they only had one lifetime where they could be together. 

They don't say goodbye to each other because they know that they will meet again.

Kwon Kyuri walks to the black door and turns the knob.

"What?" She turns the knob again. "Why isn't this opening?"

Then, she finds the notice on the door. 

[HELL IS IN CONSTRUCTION]

"What?" The corner of her lips twitch. "What does that mean?"

How could hell be under construction? 

A woman dressed in a black formal suit is going to each ghost and giving them a ticket. The woman has long blonde hair with rainbow highlights. As usual, her skin is chalky white and her eyes are stormy grey. The rainbow-haired woman points somewhere as she explains things to the ghosts. 

"If your tickets turn black, take the grey door." The rainbow-headed woman tells the ghosts, "If your tickets turn white, take the white door. If your ticket is grey take the grey door."

"Where do these doors go?" One of the ghosts asks with a frown on his face. "

"The white one goes to heaven." The woman seems exhausted. "For each ghost, heaven will be different. After you have enjoyed the fruits of your good deeds, you can choose to reincarnate whenever you wish."

The ghosts with white tickets smile.

"If you have black tickets, it means that you are supposed to go to hell." The woman continues, "Currently, hell is in construction. Because of that, the black door won't open. However, the grey one will take you to your next reincarnation. At the moment, we can't offer you to pay for your sins in hell. Please accept our apologies."

"Aish!" Kwon Kyuri, who has been observing the reaper and the ghost with a scowl on her face, exclaims loudly. 

The reaper notices her. She comes to Kwon Kyuri and asks, "How can I help you, Ma'am?" 

"What's your name?" Kyuri narrows her eyes on her, feeling displeased. "I need to know who I am talking to."

"You can call me Martha." Martha gives her a polite smile. "May I know your name?"

"Kwon Kyuri." Kyuri smirks at her, "Say, have you never heard of me?"