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Sae-byeok began to hear the sound of waves shortly after dying. And she followed the sound through the maze of corridors until she found her way out. Until she had a view of the sea in front of her eyes.
It was still dark and there were other people on the beach, most were wearing green uniforms and most were alone.
She recognized some of the faces, but others could belong to complete strangers. It made sense, more than four hundred lives had been lost, it was an absurdly large number of people for her to be able to recognize them all even though she'd been in the same place with each of them at least once.
"Looking for me?" Ji-yeong said beside her.
"Actually, yes I was."
"I can't believe you were killed by a boomer."
"I think technically he was part of the generation x, not a boomer."
"Yeah, but I'm sure there must be a lot of boomers running the games. It feels like something a boomer would come up with."
"Can't argue with that."
Ji-yeong laughed in response. And it felt so good for Sae-byeok to see her laugh. Or just to see her in general.
"So did you suspected we were on an island?" Ji-yeong asked.
"No, I thought it was probably just some underground place under the city. And you?"
"Frankly I didn't even think about it. I have something kind of disappointing to tell you about this place."
"And what would that be?"
"According to some of the idiots I talked to while I was waiting to see if you were going to show up, technically this island is in Jeju province."
"Oh."
"I know, super disappointing right?"
"I'm not sure, a place is not to blame for the bad things that happen in it."
"Odd that death made you someone who sees things on the bright side."
"I wouldn’t go that far"
"So I was planning to go up the hill a bit, the sunrise view is much prettier from the top, and it must be almost time. Would you like to join me?"
"Yes."
"Cool, let's go then." Ji-yeong said and took Sae-byeok's hand to lead her up the path.
And she didn't stop holding it the entire way, only when they sat on the rock that Ji-yeong said had the best view.
As they climbed up Ji-yeong kept talking, but now she was just quiet looking at Sae-byeok.
"Why are you staring at me?"
"Because I like looking at you. Duh. In case you haven't noticed, there weren't many beautiful people among the players."
Sae-byeok wondered if ghosts still blush when embarrassed, she really hoped not.
"I'm sorry you died, but I'd be lying if I said I'm not happy to see you again." Ji-yeong said.
"Me either."
"About dying or seeing me?"
"Both."
"Good."
She said and then leaned in and kissed Sae-byeok softly on the lips.
Sae-byeok had known her for such a short time, but in some ways it felt as if she had been waiting for that kiss her entire life.
Sae-byeok kept her eyes closed while Ji-yeong’s lips were on her, and when she opened her eyes it wasn’t so dark around them anymore. And she could see the sun starting to peek far over the horizon. This time she was the one who held Ji-yeong's hand first, intertwining her fingers with the other girl's.
"You were right. The view is beautiful from here."
"Told you."
Sae-byeok realized that she couldn't feel the heat of the sun's rays on her skin, and that maybe she would never feel it again, but she could still feel Ji-yeong's hand, and it felt warm.
And it felt like it was enough.