CH 6

The first time Mu-ryeong saw him was on the day of the high school entrance ceremony. The weather was unusually warm for March, with clear skies and not a single cloud. He felt unfamiliar with his new school uniform. His newly bought shoes felt awkward, and he remembers the brick wall feeling unusually high.

On that good day, Mu-ryeong overslept, so he ran to school, resenting Seung-ju, who had already left early. The problem was that he couldn’t sleep the night before due to some unexplainable excitement. Just as they had told him that once he became a high school student, he should wake up by himself, Mu-ryeong’s family didn’t wake him up until the final alarm rang and went silent.

Fortunately, the school was within a 10-minute running distance at full speed. It would be impossible for ordinary people, but for him, who had tremendous athletic ability, it was a piece of cake.

Mu-ryeong barely arrived at school, checked the time, and decided to cross the backyard instead of the main entrance to get to the classroom as quickly as possible. So he looked around for directions and jumped on the wall.

And then he bumped into Ki Hwan-young. Or rather, he found him.

‘…….’

Hwan-young was standing behind the building, staring at the sky absentmindedly. He was wearing the same uniform as Mu-Ryeong, but his physique was much bigger, and he also had a handsome face that made people turn back to look at him. Above all, the atmosphere surrounding him was indescribably calm.

Mu-Ryeong had never seen anyone who felt so much like a soul before. It wasn’t only due to him standing there silently or not even blinking. It was because there was no sign of life in his eyes, which should have been glistening and reflecting the blue sky.

Since birth, Mu-Ryeong has often confused people with ghosts due to his sensitivity to the supernatural. When he couldn’t distinguish between yin and yang, he tried to gauge the life and death of others based solely on their appearance. Of course, by the time he developed the ability to tell the difference between the two, he rarely made mistakes.

‘A person…?’

Anyway, even to Mu-ryeong, Hwan-young did not look like a living person. His nose was high, and his lips were red, but his skin was pale, which was even more noticeable with the faint wind. Moreover, even a faint aura could be felt in this area, and it seemed like his soul was very pure.

‘…….’

Should I ask him what he’s doing?

Thinking and acting didn’t go through many processes. Quoting Seung-ju’s words, Mu-ryeong, “someone who could make friends with a thief who enters his house,” didn’t find it particularly difficult to speak to others. He would just ask them what they’re doing and, if they’re first-year students, ask to be friends. It was at that moment that he jumped off the wall with that light thought.

‘Uh.’

An evil spirit, or rather an earthbound spirit, a conglomeration of several spirits, crawled out of the long, stretched tree shadow. It was something that was usually invisible during the day and rarely bothered ordinary people. Yet such a being was now clearly leaping towards Hwan-young with arms outstretched.

‘Don’t…!’

Naturally, Mu-ryeong was so startled that he failed to land properly. He was taken aback to the point where he twisted his right ankle, yet he was so confused that he didn’t even feel any pain.

Amid his urgency to do something about it, an unbelievable event happened right before his eyes. The spirit that touched Hwan-young bounced off as if it had hit a thin film.

It did not touch his soul, nor did it leave a scratch on the swaying aura. It just hit and rebounded as if it had hit a wall, then disappeared back into the shadow with a swishing sound.

One could call it a kind of spell. It was a manifestation of the spiritual power that surrounded his whole body. Although Mu-ryeong did not even lift a finger, the energy that enveloped Hwan-young easily repelled the earthbound spirit.

‘…….’

It was a sensation that Mu-ryeong, who was always praised as the best, had never felt before. It was an overwhelming difference in power or a sense of threat that made his knees weak, and even the delicate control of energy that only a highly skilled exorcist could achieve.

‘As much as possible, it’s better for exorcists not to get involved with each other.’

Suddenly, his father’s words came to mind. Mu-ryeong retreated slowly, suppressing any sign of his presence. He planned to continue retreating until he was out of sight.

If Hwan-young hadn’t looked up and noticed him, he would have left this place quickly and quietly.

‘…….’

‘…….’

Their eyes met. Mu-ryeong stood frozen in place, unable to move. His eyes were fixed on Mu-ryeong without any hint of wavering.

To be clear, his appearance was not frightening. He was so beautiful that it was almost impossible to look at him directly, and he had a youthful charm that matched his age. There was nothing about him that would make one feel ‘fear.’

Nevertheless, Mu-ryeong felt a fear so intense that he couldn’t even breathe. He felt that those eyes, as dark as the abyss, might swallow him whole. It was an instinctual premonition for Mu-ryeong, whose senses were almost animalistic.

But soon enough, Hwan-young turned his gaze away, as if uninterested. His eyes closed, then opened again, now looking at something other than Mu-ryeong. The way his pupils moved was so static. That moment was stuck in Mu-ryeong’s head like an unravelled cassette.

That day, Mu-ryeong learned that his name was “Ki Hwan-young”. It was a name that suited him well, but at the same time, it heightened a sense of unease. The Hwan-young he briefly met that day was exactly like seeing an illusion1hwan-young in Korean, with no sense of reality.

Anyway, after that day, Mu-ryeong minimised his encounters with Hwan-young. That was why he couldn’t even exchange greetings with him, despite becoming friends with all the other students. In fact, Hwan-young didn’t seem to have much interaction with anyone else, not just Mu-ryeong.

“…….”

Little did he know that he would have a strange encounter with Ki Hwan-young himself.

Thump. Thump.

Mu-ryeong sat behind Hwan-young, and Hwan-young turned around to face him. More than ten minutes have passed since this awkward situation began. During that time, Hwan-young talked about his concerns, while Mu-ryeong carefully observed his reactions.

‘My shoulders have been feeling heavy lately.’

That’s how the conversation started, but it soon led to Hwan-young admitting that he hadn’t been feeling well recently. His pale face looked fragile, and suddenly Mu-ryeong was fully immersed in the conversation. It wasn’t surprising that Hwan-young’s shoulders felt heavy with something this big hanging over him.

‘I keep having trouble sleeping…’

Thump. Thump.

‘And when I wake up, I don’t feel refreshed at all.’

Thump. Thump.

‘It’s been getting worse lately.’

As Hwan-young continued speaking, the noise piercing through Mu-ryeong’s ears was so vividly eerie.

Thump. Thump…. Thump.

The sound was so intense that it made Mu-ryeong want to dig into his ears, but Hwan-young didn’t even blink an eye. Even when his hair brushed against his hand or a drop of blood fell onto his sleeve, he remained unscathed.

Despite knowing that it didn’t make any sense, he put forth a hypothesis: maybe Hwan-young, who possessed such a powerful energy that could astonish him, might not have opened his spiritual eyes yet.

Assuming that’s the case, everything became clear in a surprisingly understandable way. Why Hwan-young had asked him for help and why the spirit behind him was clinging to him so fiercely, even to the point of drawing blood.

‘He probably isn’t an exorcist.

Just because someone had spiritual energy doesn’t mean they all became exorcists. If they hadn’t opened their spiritual eyes, they might not even know they have spiritual energy. There were a lot of questionable aspects, but for now, that’s how it was.

“Is that all you’re worried about?”

Mu-ryeong calmly locked eyes with Hwan-young while he pondered over what to do.

The fact that ghosts existed was something that most people already knew. Judging by the popularity of horror movies and ghost stories, interest in spiritual beings was nothing out of the ordinary.

However, believing that “ghosts exist” was different from knowing that “a ghost has attached itself to you.” Since all fear originated from knowing, it was necessary to pretend not to know at first. As an exorcist and someone who had to protect both souls and humans, Mu-ryeong was not someone who could go around admitting to being able to see these things.

“I take on all requests, but that doesn’t mean I can also be a doctor.”

Thump. Thump. The sound of fingernails digging rang eerily in Mu-ryeong’s ears. Right now, it was so engrossed that even if Mu-ryeong tried something, it wouldn’t immediately run away. Mu-ryeong slowly reached out towards Hwan-young’s shoulder, gulping.

“Well, let me give you a massage first.”

Thump.

Suddenly, a wrist was grabbed. It wasn’t the ghost’s wrist, but Mu-ryeong’s reaching out to Hwan-young. The familiar aura transferred through his skin, and the stillness settled as the ghost lifted its head to look at Mu-ryeong.

“…….”

“…….”

It’s over. That’s what he thought. In the blink of an eye, “it” disappeared into the long, stretched shadow. Although Mu-ryeong quickly jerked his hips, there was nothing in front of him.

“Um.”

Ah, this is not good.

“Can you…”

Mu-ryeong awkwardly lifted the corners of his mouth; his eyes furrowed. The hand that wrapped around his wrist was so large that he couldn’t move. The cool temperature that stuck to him slowly faded away, unlike when it approached.

“What’s going on all of a sudden?”

The gruff voice was filled with suspicion. With a sense of discomfort rising, Mu-ryeong glanced down at the finger marks on his wrist. He also felt a slight disappointment when Hwan-young let go of his hand.

“Oh, sorry. I acted too suddenly.”

Mu-ryeong forced a smile and looked at the shadow on the ground. There was no trace of it now as if it had never been there. It would be nice if it had disappeared forever, but there was a high chance that it would return to haunt him.

“Well, it’s just…”

“Everyone who comes into contact with me seems to get hurt.”

“…….”

It was a sudden remark. That it was his responsibility to take care of and solve the problem. That he would listen to him more. He had to swallow those words. Hwan-young spoke in a polite but earnest voice.

“People who come into contact with me keep getting hurt. Even those who accidentally touch my arm, or I accidentally touch theirs, or people I bump into on the street—all sorts of accidents keep happening. At first, I thought it was a coincidence, but since it keeps happening, it’s starting to feel strange.”

“…….”

“Your friend got hurt because of me too.”

The last words were shamelessly confident. Hwan-young had a blank expression, but Mu-ryeong could read the other emotions lying beneath the surface. Mu-ryeong, who had momentarily flinched, cautiously pursed his lips.

“What about you?”

The black pupils met Mu-ryeong’s gaze. The slowly blinking eyes revealed an expressionless face. Mu-ryeong frowned slightly and asked with a serious tone.

“Are you okay?”