Chapter 7 [Part 2]

"Ji-Hye?"

My mom's name. The last time I heard that was four years ago when she disappeared. It was my grandpa who suffered the most when she left since he blamed himself for it.

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"Ji-Hye, can't you just let this go? It's been months since you've, I don't know," my grandpa ran his fingers through his grey hair, "become obsessed with this."

"No, I can't just let it go. These people are hurting others, and nobody seems to want to risk anything to stop them," my mom said frustratingly.

I sat in the living room watching television and happened to overhear my mom and grandpa in the kitchen.

"I became a police officer because you were one too dad. And usually I am okay with knowing how far I can push myself." Pause. "But you didn't see the bodies like I did. You don't know what they are capable of doing."

My grandpa sighed and walked out of the kitchen, leaving my mom by standing by herself..

That would be the last conversation he would have with my mom.

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"Ji-Hye, is that you?"

Nobody moved. Everyone was staring at me.

"Ji-Hye, it's your father," the outlier pleaded. As he was speaking to me, I saw that he was a young guy. Probably went to the same university as the cashier.

"Ji-Hye, please recognize me! I'm begging you, I'm sorry for what I said that day," his voice began to quiver. He crawled on the floor nearer to me.

"I'm begging you, let this case go. You don't know The Moirae… what-what-what they are capable of. Remember that Dae-Mi is still waiting for you at home."

As soon as the outlier said my name, I realized what was going on. The outlier, the soul of the person who died with heavy regrets that now influenced this living person, was my grandfather. From what he kept saying, his biggest regret was not stopping my mom.

"Ji-Hye, please, listen to me. Don't go through with it. Forget it and live a happy life. The Moirae will come after you and won't stop."

I glanced at Ji-Hyun and saw her noticeably flinch when the outlier—or is it my grandpa—said The Moirae.

Right after the outlier finished talking, his whole demeanor changed. He swiftly turned around and charged at Min-Joon, yelling "I have to kill—I have to—have to kill! There's no other way to come back to life and stop Ji-Hye."

In the outlier's voice, a tremendous amount of regret could be felt. Although his voice shook and his breathing was ragged, the determination and sheer force that was behind his declaration was undeniable. While he was alive, my grandfather was never an emotional man and rarely showed any. I remember his monotone speaking voice. To hear all the sorrow that was now present, I felt a twinge in my heart.

The outlier swung at Min-Joon—his fist made of raw emotion instead of force—and almost hit. Min-Joon retreated right before. With his fist, Min-Joon delivered the final blow to the outlier's head. With that critical hit, the outlier lost consciousness.

I stood there fazed at what had happened. The outlier was indeed my grandfather, warning and begging my mother not to do something. His biggest regret was not preventing her disappearance, that I knew from when he was alive. But to die with this amount of regret and turn into an outlier; I didn't know my grandfather blamed himself to this extent.

"The Moirae". When he said it, Ji-Hyun looked noticeably uncomfortable. Was "The Moirae" what my mom was searching for? Was it what led to her disappearance?

"He's unconscious, let's extract him right now," Ji-Hyun ordered.

Jae-Hyun stood up from the corner, wincing from the pain of his arm. He stood near the body of the outlier and placed his palm onto the nape and closed his eyes. I watched, waiting for something extravagant to happen, but nothing did. Jae-Hyun's hand simply stayed on the outlier's nape.

I took a deep breath. The atmosphere surrounding the area of the outlier suddenly felt lighter. No longer was my grandfather's sorrow or regret here, it was gone. For a second, the outlier's breath quickened, but suddenly it returned to normal. Jae-Hyun opened his eyes and stood up.

"The excess soul energy has been extracted."

"Good. Now get everyone out of here. I am going to finish up the job."

Ji-Hyun stayed behind as Ju-In ushered us back to the car.

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The car ride back was silent. I didn't know if they were always silent after extracting an outlier or if it was just today.

Jae-Hyun sat in the back asleep after getting his wound treated. Everyone else sat quietly with solemn expressions. I replayed the events that happened. How the outlier was my grandpa, and more shocking was what he had said about my mother. The Moirae coming after her? I wondered who that could be.

As we approached the yoga studio, Ji-Hyun, who was driving, suddenly spoke.

"Dae-Mi," she began. "If what the outlier—your grandpa—said about your mother is true, then you and your whole family might still be in danger," she said in an ominous tone. "Soo-In can tell you more, but the Moirae, well, they are rumored to be a group of outliers who have successfully taken over human beings."