***
Yeong-hyeon held paper and a pen.
He had been told that ghosts needed power to touch objects.
Ashin had explained that whether it was merit or grudge, only the nature was different, and in the end, it became power that let them reach the realm of the living, but he had no idea what she meant.
It still felt like some mysterious domain.
~I can do that. Give it here, older brother. What do you want to touch?
Since that was difficult for a newly made ghost, Noel had made it so he could touch objects.
Scratch, scratch.
Yeong-hyeon, who had been writing something down on the paper, put the pen down for a moment and quietly opened the door.
He did not know why it was so quiet.
Until just a little while ago, Noel’s voice had been ringing out almost like a scream.
When he slipped out, Ashin was wiping her sword in the passageway leading to the living room.
-Guardian spirit. Where is Noel?
-He is sleeping.
-Is he sleeping on the sofa again?
Yeong-hyeon narrowed his brow.
-He is.
When Ashin laughed lightly, Yeong-hyeon turned his head.
The character on the screen seemed to have revived after dying and was standing there blankly.
-He left the TV on, didn’t turn off the game console either. Good grief, I can’t live like this. And who plays a game with one hand?
-He kept shouting that he was dying. In any case, should I simply turn it off?
-Yes. Please turn it off.
When Ashin slightly raised her hand, everything turned off.
-I shall take Noel. But why does he sleep in a narrow place when he has a spacious bed?
-I don’t know that either.
-Is that so?
-Yes. Anyway, he seems happy after buying the game console.
-Indeed. He kept making a fuss, going “Oh,” and “Oooh.” It was pleasant to hear.
At Ashin’s words, Yeong-hyeon gave a small laugh.
True, he had acted like a fool.
As if he were someone playing a game for the first time.
-You.
-Yes?
Even after Yeong-hyeon answered, Ashin looked at him while holding Noel in both arms.
-Do you not intend to remain by Noel’s side?
-······.
The smile remaining on Yeong-hyeon’s mouth quickly vanished.
Struck speechless, Yeong-hyeon stood frozen in place.
Ashin passed by him and headed to the room.
Even when she returned after laying Noel down, Yeong-hyeon could not answer.
-It is all right. I merely wish to know. I respect your thoughts.
-Noel is a good kid.
-I know.
-It would be fun to stay beside him. It’s fun even now.
Thanks to Noel, he could feel no anxiety even after dying.
If he had not met Noel, would he not have wandered around without even knowing whom he should resent?
-But guardian spirit. I have to go.
-Is there someone waiting for you?
-Yes. I’m sure they’re waiting for me. Noel promised me that. Even now, and probably from now on too, I’ll always be grateful to Noel.
He meant it.
Even if he went back to that time again, he would make the same choice, and he would be grateful to Noel again.
-Then do so. I shall sincerely pray for your wish.
Ashin looked at Yeong-hyeon and smiled gently, and Yeong-hyeon smiled as well.
-Then shall we begin now?
-You mean beer?
When Ashin swallowed her saliva, Yeong-hyeon grinned broadly.
-That’s right! I asked Noel to order fried chicken earlier.
Noel knew how to do things like this, too.
To think ghosts could eat.
Just hearing it was enough to feel ecstatic, and how impressive Noel was.
-Keep tomorrow’s scolding brief.
At Ashin’s words, Yeong-hyeon curled his thumb and index finger.
-Of course.
***
Noel came to his senses at a throbbing pain.
Only after feeling around the spot that had been pierced with one hand did he open his eyes blankly.
Then he hurriedly raised his upper body.
‘My character···?’
All he remembered was doing various things to organize his inventory before fighting the boss.
Yawn.
He let out a yawn.
It seemed he had fallen asleep just like that, and Ashin had moved him.
‘Older brother Yeong-hyeon is going to nag me, isn’t he?’
Noel was about to get up, then saw the cell phone he had placed on the bedside table.
He saw that a message had arrived.
[Uncle: Today is the day you go to the hospital······]
‘Ah.’
Noel grabbed the cell phone.
It was a message telling him that since they were going to the hospital, he should be ready.
‘I can go alone. He worries a lot.’
Another message had arrived as well, including those annoying things called spam.
[010-xxxx-xxxx: Good morning, sir. This is Shin Jang-yul. Did you get home safely yesterday? I prayed the entire time that you would enjoy your shopping, but I do not know whether my prayer reached you. Was the employee I assigned yesterday satisfactory? If there was anything that displeased you, I hope you will feel comfortable telling me. I······.]
It was long.
Noel had no idea why anyone would send a message like that.
He skipped everything in the middle.
[010-xxxx-xxxx: Please choose any date convenient for you from January 10 to 17. I will see you then.]
‘That starts tomorrow, doesn’t it?’
Noel thought for a moment, then checked another message first.
[Seo Si-hoon: Yeong-hyeon.]
[Seo Si-hoon: Could you contact me when you have time?]
He was Yeong-hyeon’s friend, the one with a cross over his head.
It was not an evil spirit, but a nasty ghost was attached to him.
Noel had asked him to contact him if anything strange happened, and it seemed something had.
‘There’s still no contact from the guardian spirit’s side. It is a difficult issue to think over. For now, I’ll think about it after going to the hospital.’
Noel put down the cell phone and went outside.
-Did you sleep well?
Ashin greeted him first, and Noel glanced at Yeong-hyeon.
He was staring from the living room.
Just as Noel was about to open his mouth, Yeong-hyeon narrowed his eyes.
-You were incredibly excited yesterday, weren’t you?
“I was. It was only yesterday, though.”
-Right?
“Of course. Obviously, older brother.”
When Noel smiled brightly, Yeong-hyeon let out a long breath.
-Uncle said he was coming, right?
“How did you know···?”
-How would I not know the day you go to the hospital? Hurry up, wash, and let’s eat. We bought that yesterday, remember?
“Of course. I bought it to eat today. You said I only had to heat it in the microwave, right?”
He had bought golden-brown tteokgalbi patties.
How delicious would they be with the kimchi, stir-fried seaweed, and various other side dishes they had received from Sumi’s Side Dish Shop?
Noel hurriedly ran to the bathroom.
Eating these days was truly enjoyable.
“Ah, did you enjoy the chicken and beer yesterday?”
When Noel asked, the two looked at each other briefly, then smiled brightly.
“Was it that delicious?”
When Noel smacked his lips, the two shook their heads as if they had promised beforehand.
-No.
-It was not.
“······What is that?”
Whether Noel frowned or not, the two reacted with boundless seriousness.
***
Shin-hyeon smiled brightly and opened the car door for him.
“Are you that happy?”
“Of course I’m happy when they say you’re recovering well!”
“They didn’t say there was any particular problem last time either.”
“Still, you never know. And they said your arm is fine as long as you don’t overdo it too much.”
As Shin-hyeon spoke, he kept glancing at Noel’s expression.
They had said it would be fine after rehabilitation as long as he did not overdo it.
When he asked whether baking and pastry-making would be all right, the doctor had thought briefly, then said they would have to check after rehabilitation. That part alone did not sit well with him.
“As long as there’s no problem with daily life, that’s enough. I have a respectable job now, don’t I?”
Noel laughed lightly, then looked briefly at Yeong-hyeon.
He looked unaffected.
“That’s true. You’re doing a very admirable job that not just anyone can do, aren’t you?”
Shin-hyeon had thought ghosts were simply frightening, but on the day they had visited the home of the dead Park Ye-jin, his thoughts had changed completely.
Rather than frightening, it had been sorrowful.
Because he knew how great the pain of being unable to meet someone one wished to see was, he had barely managed to swallow the tears that stabbed his eyes.
“Still, if you want to do something else, tell Uncle. I have the ability to send my nephew to university.”
“I know your ability, Uncle. Can you renegotiate with the building owner?”
“Of course. It’s all thanks to you, so hurry and get in.”
Shin-hyeon smiled happily.
It seemed it was really true.
When Noel got into the car, Shin-hyeon closed the door for him and then got in.
“That hot-air balloon.”
At Shin-hyeon’s words, Yeong-hyeon’s eyes widened slightly.
“Uncle looked into it here and there, you see?”
“Oh, your connections are good.”
“Of course. From now on, if you meet someone and get curious about them, tell Uncle. I know a good errand agency.”
“It’s legal, right?”
At Noel’s casual question, Shin-hyeon laughed loudly.
He thought Noel had made quite the amusing joke.
“Uncle is a lawyer. Would I do it illegally?”
“Of course I was joking.”
“In any case, about the hot-air balloon. We should be able to ride one within a few days. I’ll take vacation to match that day too.”
“Will you have time? Is it all right for the company president to do that?”
“Even if it isn’t, I’ll make time. Give me the seat belt.”
When Shin-hyeon held out his hand, Noel handed him the seat belt.
“And about the contract.”
Click.
When the sound of the seat belt fastening rang out, Noel raised his head.
Shin-hyeon had an absurd expression.
“No matter how I look at it, the other side is losing too much.”
“Is there a problem?”
“No. I looked over it several times, and the problem is that procedurally, there’s too little wrong with it. The rent is 10,000 won? What is this, municipal support? Yeong-hyeon, you didn’t, I don’t know, threaten him or anything, right?”
“It was entirely voluntary.”
“You’re sure? It wasn’t as if the other party was out of his mind or anything like that, right?”
At those words, Noel thought for a moment.
-Did he not seem somewhat abnormal?
When Ashin threw in those words, Noel’s brow twitched.
‘Did he not walk with all his limbs intact?’
-He did seem a bit out of it, didn’t he?
When even Yeong-hyeon joined in, Noel looked at Shin-hyeon with a slight frown.
Shin-hyeon wore a forced smile with an expression that looked somewhat uneasy.
“He did seem a little out of it.”
“Out··· of it?”
“He was being tormented by an evil spirit. So he even stumbled while walking.”
“And?”
“He begged me to save him.”
“Did he seem like he was on drugs?”
“How would I know that? I received it as proper compensation. They said they would simply hand over the building, but I refused that and received this instead.”
Shin-hyeon started the car and gripped the steering wheel.
It was suspicious no matter what.
It was simply far too suspicious.
To give a building to someone he had met for the first time.
“You said you were going to meet that person?”
“Yes. There’s something I have to do.”
“Tell me when you go. I have something to give you.”
Shin-hyeon faced the matter with a solemn attitude.
He thought Noel might get scammed if things went wrong.
‘Absolutely not.’
With one hand, he solemnly swept back the hair he had neatly raised.
‘Indeed.’
***
Jingle.
Noel entered the cafe.
He turned his head left and right, then immediately recognized where Si-hoon was.
‘Hm···?’
-Is that the nasty ghost you mentioned?
Ashin also followed Noel’s gaze.
Was it not a bit different from what he had described?
-It feels a little different from last time too.
At Yeong-hyeon’s words, Noel had no choice but to nod.
Back then, it had clearly been neither an evil spirit nor exactly the same as ordinary ghosts, but something perfectly ambiguous.
Even if it annoyed someone, he had thought it would only be at the level of getting one’s little toe stubbed in a doorway, so he had left it alone.
‘That was definitely the case, so why has the erosion suddenly drained away?’
So to speak, it was in a state of having accumulated virtue.
At the entirely incomprehensible situation, Noel’s footsteps quickened.
“Over here.”
Si-hoon called out and waved.
In the time since Noel had last seen him, the cross seemed to have grown a little larger.
Had his faith deepened?
-···What, you’re the one he called?
At the ghost’s words, Noel stared at it.
‘What? Got a problem?’
The moment it met Noel’s eyes, it slightly looked away.
The fear was still there, and it was still unpleasant, but it was definitely different.
‘Did it pray with Si-hoon?’
Noel thought for a moment, then swallowed a laugh.
There were ghosts like that.
Usually, ghosts who had committed almost no sins while alive would feel warmth in a place where a god existed, like Ashin.
“You look like you lost a little weight.”
This was Noel’s second time meeting Si-hoon, and he definitely had lost weight.
He looked exactly like someone who had been tormented by something.
“Well, something did happen at home. What about your body? Are you okay?”
“I just came back from the hospital, and I’m fine. So what happened?”
Noel stared at him quietly.
He no longer thought that the ghost had tormented him.
He did not know why it was still staying beside Si-hoon, but there must be a reason.
“···Just like you said, something strange happened.”
“Really?”
Noel raised his gaze and looked at the ghost.
-Is that so?
When Ashin approached the ghost, the ghost froze as if its breath had been caught, then slowly lowered itself.
It was because of the power flowing around Ashin.
-It does not appear so. Did I see wrongly?
At Ashin’s slow pressure, the ghost’s pupils shook.
“But it didn’t happen to me.”
Unexpected words flowed from Si-hoon’s mouth.
“Not to you?”
At Noel’s words, Ashin looked back and forth between Si-hoon and the ghost.
“It happened to my··· parents.”
Si-hoon’s voice grew somewhat heavy.
Was it something serious?
“Do they have nightmares?”
“No.”
If it was not tormenting them through dreams, was it still only testing the waters?
“Then did wounds appear on their bodies?”
“Yes! It’s close to that!”
Si-hoon’s voice rose a little, and Noel, Ashin, and Yeong-hyeon all looked at the ghost at the same time.
-Why are you looking at me like that? It’s not that! Don’t look at me like that!
“My parents have been suffering lately because they keep stubbing their little toes against doors or tables.”
“······.”
“···A ghost did this, right?”
Si-hoon lowered his voice and was infinitely serious.