“Am I okay?”
“Yeah, except for your face.”
“Oh, damn.”
“Is it really Jae-eon eating and breathing and peeing in the dorm with us?”
“Crazy bastard.”
“It’s Seongsu.”
“Seongsu, what the hell.”
“Pretending not to be nervous, but you’re shaking.”
“Huff—my pants are already wet.”
The kids who had finished their day’s schedule gathered noisily at the dorm entrance. How could they not be excited? ‘Gi Jae-eon’ was going to live with them starting today! In their minds, they were already shoulder-to-shoulder with him, having a big drink.
Building a personal relationship with Gi Jae-eon? That was insanely cool.
“Today, I’m putting everything on the line to call him hyung and dongsaeng.”
“Today, I’m making family ties.”
“Huh? You’re an only child.”
“Sorry, Brother Jae-eon, I’m getting married.”
“What about your doctor, Brother Jae-eon…?”
“Let’s try polygamy!”
Each filled with big dreams, they threw open the door.
Exactly one week later, their hopes were brutally crushed.
[Has anyone seen Jae-eon? lol]
A message posted in the Bonryeong dorm group chat.
[Is there even such a person in our dorm??]
[Just a ton of rumors.]
[Haven’t seen his face once in a week;;]
[Whoa, is he a ghost?]
[For real.]
[@@@@Urgently looking for someone for lunch at 1 today@@@@@]
[Maybe we’re all possessed as a group?]
[(emoji)]
[Hmm… haven’t seen him eating, but sometimes laundry comes out.]
[How do you know that? Creepy af; did you sniff?]
[Crazy bastard, which one of us owns a 2,000-won T-shirt?]
[Smell acknowledged lolololol] (♥)15
[Me lol, bought some at Jagi Market yesterday lol]
[No one eating lunch?]
[Kyunghak, 20 million won here ^^]
[Lol no way lol]
[(link)] (♥)8
[What…? Why is he real;;;]
[Even I think I saw him lol, maybe next time hmm hmm]
[Kruu, as expected of Brother Jae-eon ㅠㅠbbbb]
[So what? He doesn’t show up at all.]
[Are we still uncomfortable?]
[Yeah, that’s possible.]
[Seriously not eating lunch?? Please answer, damn it.]
[Phew, Jae-eon-chanㅠ if it’s too uncomfortable just take care of me in my room;]
[This bastard’s trying to kick him out?]
That’s right. No one had even seen a single hair on Jae-eon’s head, let alone called him hyung or dongsaeng.
At best, they could confirm his existence by the occasional laundry.
Gi Jae-eon soon became famous as the ghost of the dorm.
And after another week passed.
[Lol isn’t this a protest?] (♥)23
Enough time had passed for negative comments to explode.
Naturally, no matter what story Gi Jae-eon had, the kids who didn’t know would only see outright rejection. And a very unpleasant rejection at that. Especially in communal living, greetings, meals, and conversations mattered most. But with nothing proper, participation was abysmal… some might say it was deserved.
They say the greater the expectation, the greater the disappointment.
Since their favor toward Gi Jae-eon was high, the kids fell into deep despair.
At first, they understood he was just unfamiliar and shy. But as once became twice, twice became thrice, they finally realized, ‘Is this bastard doing this on purpose?’
Soon suspicion became certainty.
Bathing and eating happened sneakily while the kids were away, knocking on his door to talk only met with silence, and calls were always missed.
At this point, it felt like he was telling them to just back off. Even the most clueless would get it — he was blatantly avoiding them.
It was thorough and complete ignoring.
Eventually, the kids turned sour.
Their thoughts shifted from ‘Why’s he like that?’ to ‘Is he on a different level than us?’ and finally concluded they were being ignored.
[Lucky bastard lol]
[He must be ignoring us just because he’s Bonryeong. No expectations.] (♥)5
Many expressed intense anger.
In short, Gi Jae-eon’s image was ruined.
‘This bastard is screwed.’
Scrolling quickly, Kim Joo-won stopped at the last message. Realizing what was happening in the group chat, he clicked his tongue.
After days overwhelmed with exorcism requests, he’d barely caught a breath… yet something was clearly disturbing his peace.
Kim Joo-won recalled his dark, clouded face with no trace of social skills.
“I knew it would be like this.”
He muttered and typed with a careless attitude. The silver ring on his index finger sparkled sharply.
[Hey stop talking nonsense and get up]
[Why does he always twitch his fingers?]
[Get up, wow open church, closed door]
[God didn’t give everything... like Kyunghak’s face...]
[? Quiet ?]
[Hey Juwon hi]
[Is it over now?]
[Brother Kim Joo-won^^ get up X wipe up O]
Those bastards?
Look how quiet they got immediately.
“More vicious than evil spirits…”
Kim Joo-won vowed to exorcise even those someday as he opened the dorm door.
“Ah, so damn tired.”
Not joking, he was close to passing out standing up.
‘I am competent, but this is too much.’
Wasn’t this considered youth abuse, dumping all the work on one guy? While pondering ‘abuse,’ someone came to mind.
Slightly wavy black hair, dark circles under eyes, pale complexion.
The public enemy of the dorm already.
His gaze naturally turned to the third floor.
Should he give advice? Kim Joo-won hesitated, then shook his head.
“Forget it. What... he’s not a kid.”
He’d already apologized and shown the dorm around. What else could he do?
‘He’ll figure it out.’
Shrugging, Kim Joo-won smacked his lips and headed to the bathhouse instead of his room. He planned just to shower, but changed his mind — he needed to soak in the hot water first.
The quiet corridor led him to an empty bathhouse as expected.
It was pretty late. Stripping off his sweat-soaked clothes, he opened the door with a scrape. As soon as he stepped in, the familiar warm scent greeted him — a comforting smell that relaxed body and mind.
Hmm — closing his eyes gently, Kim Joo-won cracked his neck a couple times, washed off his grimy body, and headed straight to the bath. The thermometer read 39℃ with gentle bubbling sounds.
Splashing in, he clenched his teeth and submerged himself at once.
The heat, which initially made his cold body tingle, soon soothed his fatigue, causing a sigh of contentment. Kim Joo-won scooped water in his palms and splashed it on his face, then tilted his head back. His muscles relaxed completely — heaven on earth. Chuckling to himself, he opened his eyes.
“...Ah.”
Blink.
“Waaaaah!”
Splash! Slap! Splash!
Screaming, flailing, he suddenly fell gloriously into the boiling bath. Kim Joo-won shook his head and flicked the water off, then looked embarrassedly at the figure standing before him — a ghost? No, it was Gi Jae-eon.
“Y-You crazy bastard! N-No, you scared me!”
His thin, trembling voice was pathetic.
Kim Joo-won ran his thick, muscular hand roughly through his wet bangs. His heart was pounding so hard it sounded like a rhythm game. Damn it! Muttering curses, he slowly got up.
Gi Jae-eon avoided eye contact and twitched his lips.
“...Ah, you’re an exorcist...?”
“?”
Did this bastard just call an exorcist scared of ghosts a coward?
Did he think mumbling would make him unheard?
Kim Joo-won smiled grimly and snorted, “Huh.”
That bastard, with his sorry-ass looks, calls me a coward? Does he have any conscience?
But regardless of Kim Joo-won’s scorn, Gi Jae-eon hunched over and slowly entered the bath, splashing water. Judging by his expression, he looked like someone going to die soon, but his hands carefully wet his shoulders and collarbones.
Isn’t he a real lunatic?!
Kim Joo-won frowned as he watched. Maybe noticing the stare, Gi Jae-eon quietly moved toward a corner.
Bubble bubble.
Suddenly disturbed during his solo rest time, Kim Joo-won glared resentfully at Gi Jae-eon sitting far away in the bath.
Why the hell is he washing himself so frantically now?
‘...Ah, no way.’
He recalled the group chat messages he’d read earlier.
No one had seen Jae-eon, but the steady laundry.
He wasn’t an urban legend; he was just avoiding the others when washing?
‘Wow, this bastard’s really twisted.’
If that was true, he deserved respect for that effort.
‘But is there really a reason to avoid others that much?’
Splashing water on his face, Kim Joo-won thought hard.
‘Does he hate showing his bare body? Why? Because the others would be uncomfortable?’
Then Kim Young’s words came to mind.
-“That kid seems to be in a very dangerous state.”
Kim Joo-won’s eyes quietly shifted toward Gi Jae-eon’s body. No other intention—just speculation based on Kim Young’s claim that if he were abused, there should be visible traces.