Banished Divinity: Learning to be Human

# Chapter: The Confession, The Hug, and The Ghost Who Wouldn't Shut Up

Now, standing in the moonlight, watching his best friend hold the girl he used to love, Jaehyun felt... okay.

Not great. Not happy. But okay.

Because Minjae had waited. Minjae had been in love with the celestial Sera since he was twelve years old. Years of hoping. Years of wondering if she would ever remember him. Some stories had started long before he arrived.

And Jaehyun understood.

Also, somewhere out there—floating around, invisible to him, following him like a translucent shadow—was his Sera. The original Sera. The one with the real giggles and the real smiles and the heart that had belonged to him first.

And maybe, just maybe, he would see her one day.

He looked at the sky. The moon was bright. The stars were out. The air smelled like campfire and pine and the faint memory of noodles that had been burned beyond recognition.

"Sera," he whispered to the air, his voice soft and earnest. "If you are here... please know that I know. About you. About the other Sera. About how you became a ghost."

He paused, his throat tightening.

"Minjae told me everything."

Another pause. His hands clenched at his sides.

"I hope I can see you too. But even if I can't... know that I really like you. I really wish we could be together. I really miss us hanging out and..."

His voice cracked. His eyes burned.

"I really miss your smile. And your giggles. You are very beautiful."

He snorted, shaking his head at himself.

"What the hell am I doing?" he muttered, a sad smile tugging at his lips. "Talking to air."

He shook his head again, snorted, and walked off toward the tent.

But little did he know.

Human Sera had been floating directly in front of him the entire time. Directly in front of his face. Inches away. Listening to every word.

Her translucent hands were pressed against her translucent cheeks. Her mouth was open. Her eyes were wide. Tears—which should not have been possible because she was dead and dead things don't cry—were streaming down her face.

Not real tears. Ghost tears. The kind that existed purely for dramatic effect.

And she was making a sound.

It was not a human sound. It was not a ghost sound. It was somewhere in between—a wailing, moaning, honking noise that sounded like a cow that had swallowed a harmonica and was trying to play it while crying.

In mortal terms? She was ugly crying.

"SERAAAAAAA!!" she wailed, floating toward Sera at top speed, her ghostly arms flailing. "HE LOVES ME! HE SAID HE MISSES MY GIGGLES! AND MY SMILE! AND HE THINKS I'M BEAUTIFUL! DID YOU HEAR THAT?! BEAUTIFUL! B-E-A-UTIFUL!"

Sera was still in Minjae's arms. Minjae was still holding her. Human Sera was now circling them like a very emotional, very loud satellite.

"DID YOU HEAR HIM, GATE-RAMMER?!" she shrieked, her voice cracking with joy. "He said he wants to be with me! He said—"

"I heard him," Minjae said, not letting go of Sera, his voice flat. "I was standing right there. A metre away. My ears work."

"THIS IS THE BEST DAY OF MY AFTERLIFE!" Human Sera spun in a circle, her ghostly form leaving trails of light.

"You said that almost every day." Minjae rolled his eyes, but there was a hint of amusement in his voice.

"EVERY DAY IS THE BEST DAY OF MY AFTERLIFE NOW!" Human Sera shrieked, zooming past them.

She spun in circles, leaving trails of ghostly light in the air. She was crying and laughing and making that horrible cow-honk sound all at the same time. It was the most chaotic thing Sera had ever witnessed.

And she had witnessed a lot of chaos.

"She's going to do this all night, isn't she?" Minjae asked, his voice resigned.

"Probably," Sera said, her eyes fixed on the spinning ghost.

"Should we stop her?"

"We can't. She's a ghost. She has no off switch."

"Ah." Minjae nodded, his expression unreadable.

Human Sera zoomed past them again, still wailing, still crying, still making that horrible sound.

"HE LOVES ME! HE REALLY LOVES ME! I'M GOING TO HAUNT HIM SO HARD! IN A LOVING WAY! IN A ROMANTIC WAY! IN A 'I'M NOT CREEPY I'M JUST DEAD' WAY!"

"Human Sera," Sera called out, her voice weary.

"WHAT?!" Human Sera stopped mid-zoom, hovering upside down.

"Breathe."

"I DON'T HAVE LUNGS!" Human Sera threw her hands up in exasperation.

"Then... exist less loudly."

"I CAN'T! I'M IN LOVE!" Human Sera clutched her chest dramatically.

Minjae looked down at Sera. His eyes were soft. His arms were still around her. His stupid perfect face was very close to her stupid blushing face.

"Your family is insane," he said, a small smile playing at his lips.

"I know." Sera sighed, but she was smiling too.

"Your ghost is insane."

"I know."

He laughed—a warm, genuine sound that made Sera's heart do something stupid.

And somewhere behind them, Jiyoung finally managed to put out the stove fire.

"I SAVED IT!" she screamed, triumphantly holding up the now-extinguished pot.

"THE NOODLES ARE BURNT!" Haejin screamed back, her voice filled with despair.

"BURNT NOODLES ARE STILL NOODLES!"

"THAT IS NOT HOW COOKING WORKS!"

"THAT IS HOW SURVIVAL WORKS!"

Sera sighed.

It was a good sigh. The kind of sigh that said, *"This is chaos. This is madness. This is exactly where I am supposed to be."*

Minjae squeezed her shoulder gently.

Human Sera floated past again, still crying, still honking.

"HE LOVES ME!" she wailed.

"We know, Human Sera." Minjae sighed, his voice flat.

"HE LOVES ME!" Human Sera zoomed past again, her voice rising.

"WE KNOW!!" Both of them said at the same time, their voices perfectly synchronized.

"I'M GOING TO TELL HIM TOMORROW! I'M GOING TO—" Human Sera was practically vibrating with excitement.

"Sera," Sera spoke, her voice firm.

"WHAT?!" Human Sera stopped mid-sentence, hovering in front of Sera's face.

"Tomorrow. Not tonight. Tonight, we rest." Sera rolled her eyes.

Human Sera opened her mouth to argue. Then she closed it. Then she opened it again. Then she closed it again.

"...Fine," she said, crossing her arms in a huff. "But I'm going to practice what I'm going to say. All night. In my head. Where you can't hear me."

"I can still hear you." Sera's voice was flat.

"DANG IT." Human Sera pouted, then floated away, muttering to herself, still crying, still honking, still glowing like a very happy, very annoying firefly.

Minjae and Sera looked at each other.

"Tomorrow," he said, his voice warm, "is going to be interesting."

"Tomorrow," she agreed, her voice soft, "is going to be a disaster."

"The best kind of disaster?"

"The only kind I know."

He smiled. She smiled. Human Sera honked in the distance.

Somewhere on a camping trip, Sera was fighting ancient hags, singing to the moon, and being hugged by a boy who had been in love with her since he was twelve.

And somewhere else—in a very different kind of wilderness—Mina was fighting for her life.

The battlefield? A company dinner.

The enemy? Small talk.

The weapons? Booze, bad music, and coworkers who asked questions that should have been illegal in seventeen dimensions.