We grab a booth by the window, and David Kim scurries over to give us menus. “Hey, Riley, nice to see you,” he says.

His cheeks are a little ruddy, as per usual, and when he smiles, his eyes disappear into his plump face. He’s wearing his Gi around his wrist, so his initiation ceremony must have been successful. I’m genuinely happy for him. He deserves it.

“Can I get some gimchi guac and corn chips to start, please?” I don’t even need to look at the menu.

“And a bulgogi taco for me, thanks, with extra gochujang hot sauce,” Emmett says. He looks over at Taeyo, who’s going cross-eyed at the size of the menu. “Actually, make that two.”

Taeyo looks up, grateful for the intervention, and Emmett takes his menu from him. “Trust me. You won’t be disappointed.”

David hurries off into the kitchen, and Emmett turns to Taeyo.

“So how do we do this, Bow Tie? We just open the app and put out a message?” He glances around our booth and shivers. “Are the gwisin all around us right now? I’m not, like, sitting on one, am I?”

Taeyo takes out his phone and opens an app called Ghostr. “First, you need to create a profile.”

He hands the phone to Emmett, who starts typing.

“Name? Emmett Harrison. What I’m looking for? My mom, Sookhee Harrison, who was killed by the Horangi thirteen years ag—”

“Allegedly,” Taeyo points out.

Emmett shrugs but adds the word to the profile. “Allegedly killed by the Horangi thirteen years ago. Relation to gwisin? Son. Favorite food? Bulgogi taco with extra gochujang sauce.” He pauses and looks over what he’s written. “That should do it.”

Taeyo takes the phone from him and saves the details. “Great. Your profile should now be out in the ether for all gwisin to see. You always get a bunch of random ghosts hoping for a match. But if we start swiping, hopefully we’ll get a match with your mom. If she’s nearby, she’ll respond.”

“This might seem like a silly question,” I say, “but where do the gwisin get their photos taken? And how do they load them into the app?”

“Oh, those are great questions,” Taeyo responds. “You know how there’s always a photo on the funeral altar?”

I nod. At gifted funerals, a large photo of the deceased is placed on an altar and surrounded by flowers, lit candles, and their favorite foods. That way loved ones can gaze at the person’s face and taste food on their behalf. Mourners can even write a letter and then burn it in the candle flames, which delivers the message to the other side.

“Well, I programmed the app to upload the funeral picture into the app’s back end,” says Taeyo. “When a gwisin decides to create a profile, it automatically syncs with that photo.”

“Impressive,” I say. “You’re really smart.”