It was a special day.
Special enough that I didn't even care about the ghosts wandering around nearby.
At least, not until they started affecting my daughter, Song-i.
"...Ghk."
Song-i's sixth birthday.
THUD—
As she was blowing out the candles, Song-i's eyes rolled back and she fell flat on her back.
THUMP!
The heavy strawberry cake piled high with strawberries fell to the floor along with her.
"Song-i!"
Covered in whipped cream, Song-i writhed as ragged gasps tore from her throat.
I shouted at my wife, whose hands were trembling as she stood there at a loss.
"Snap out of it and call 119 right now!"
"Ah.... Ah, okay."
Even as I said it, I instinctively knew that going to the hospital wouldn't solve this.
Pale, hazy things were moving in and out of Song-i's body.
Things I had ignored all this time because I didn't want to know about them.
Ghosts.
Lesser spirits.
Souls.
...Things that had died but couldn't leave.
I had no idea how to deal with them.
As if tormenting me wasn't enough, now Song-i too...?
'Please, not Song-i....'
Then a thought suddenly flashed through my mind.
A small pouch my mother had pressed into my hand when I was young and suffering because of them.
Until I underwent the Suppression Rite, I'd carried it around like a lifeline.
'Right, if I have that...!'
I hurriedly ran over and frantically overturned the boxes piled with odds and ends.
CRASH! THUD!
"Woo-jin! What are you doing right now?!"
My wife looked at me as if I were insane, but I didn't care.
Then I saw it.
A blue silk pouch embroidered with a goblin in golden thread.
"Found it!"
I grabbed the pouch, ran back, and pressed it tightly into Song-i's hand.
Then I prayed silently.
'Please, please, please, please...!'
Did it work?
Soon, Song-i's eyes returned to normal.
"Dad...? Mom?"
"Yes, Song-i! Look at Mom. Where does it hurt? Hmm?"
My wife wiped the whipped cream off Song-i's body and checked to see if she was hurt anywhere.
I sank to the floor.
The ghosts moving in and out of Song-i's body were gone.
So she's okay now.
'As long as we have that pouch....'
We'll be okay now.
Just as I was letting myself feel relieved.
CRUMBLE.
As if warning me that I'd need to find another solution soon, the edge of the pouch crumbled slightly.
Over the next few days.
I combed through every notebook and photo album my late parents had left behind.
Things my parents, who had passed away before I even reached adulthood, had left behind.
Among them, I found a record my father had written.
Woo-jin is being possessed more often.
I went straight to Aunt and got a Goblin Pouch containing a secret method.
Aunt said she would look for another way as well.
'Possession.... Secret ward.... This is it.'
But there was a problem.
"My great-aunt...."
I closed my eyes and slowly searched through my memories, but I couldn't remember anyone like that.
I didn't know where she was, or even whether she was still alive.
Even so,
"I have to find her."
***
Several weeks passed.
I couldn't find any trace of my great-aunt, and Song-i's symptoms grew more and more pronounced.
My wife's hands trembled.
"She was staring into empty space and talking to herself again today. Do something...!"
"I'm looking for a way."
"Looking for a way? It's already been weeks!"
My wife shouted sharply.
"You think I don't know? You can see them too! I've seen you standing there staring blankly into empty space sometimes!"
"......!"
She knew.
My hands and feet seemed to turn cold.
"Song-i's like this because of you, isn't she? Right?"
I tried to calm my wife in a trembling voice.
"I'll fix it soon. Just wait a little longer."
"You think this can be fixed? The kindergarten called too. They said she keeps saying strange things."
"I'm looking for someone who can help, so soon—"
My wife covered her face and cried.
"I... I'm so scared. I'm scared to even turn off the lights at night, and every time Song-i stares into empty space and talks, I get chills."
"Just wait a little longer. I'll fix it soon."
'She gets chills looking at our daughter....'
"She'll get better soon."
When I stepped toward her to comfort her, my wife took a step back, her face pale.
Then she lowered her head and cried.
"No. I'm too scared. I can't take it anymore."
"...What do you mean?"
"I'm sorry. Let me leave this house."
"You mean you're abandoning me and Song-i?"
"I'm so scared I feel like I'm going to die!! I can't do this anymore!"
"......"
"...I can't bear it."
My wife's voice pierced me like a dagger.
My chest went cold.
***
It was a dark night.
I turned on every light in the house so there wouldn't be a single shadowy corner.
I knew it was useless, but it was the only thing I could do.
"Song-i, it's too bright, so let's sleep with an eye mask on."
I put the eye mask on Song-i as she gave a small nod.
Pat, pat—
I gently patted Song-i's chest.
When I heard her tiny, rumbling snores, the strength drained from the hand that had been patting her.
-You. You made eye contact with me earlier, didn't you?
-Let me use your body.
-It'll only be for a little while.
-Which one of you will lend yours to me?
-I said it'll only be for a little while?
-Lenditlendlendlendlendlend.
-Should we just take one?
-Let's take it. We can just take it.
-Yeahyeahyeahyeahyeah.
Whispering voices filled my ears.
My eyes flew open.
Song-i was still asleep.
'Just how many of these bastards came?'
I felt a chill in the air that made my hair stand on end.
"Haa—"
White breath spilled from my lips with the faint sigh.
-You're awake?
-You'll lend it to us, right?
Its skin had a bluish cast.
I met its pure-white eyes, which had no pupils.
I spoke to the ghost.
"No. Get lost."
-Are you growling?
-You look like a frightened puppy. Heeheehee.
-Really? Are you scared?
An ice-cold chill wrapped around my wrist.
My arm wouldn't move.
Song-i is right beside me.
I have to protect her.
Not my daughter.
I moved my fingers, gradually forcing my rigid body to move.
-Lullabylullabylullaby.
-The little one is still sleeping soundly?
'Get away from my daughter!'
"I said get the hell out, now!"
I forced strength into my arm.
When I swung it with all my might, the ghosts were flung away.
-Huh? He broke free?
-How did he break free?
-Let's come again tomorrow. Heeheeheehee. Think he can break free tomorrow too?
The Goblin Pouch I'd tucked into Song-i's pocket had almost completely crumbled away, leaving only the goblin's face.
'There's really not much time left now.'
***
After asking around, I finally found a shaman said to be highly skilled.
I opened the creaking door and stepped into the shrine.
The sharp smell of incense hit my nose at once.
The acrid scent made my head throb.
The shaman spoke before I had even sat down.
"Tsk! No. You are too late."
I hurried over to her and dropped to my knees.
"Too late...! You haven't even heard me out—"
"What is there to hear? You came because you want me to perform a Suppression Rite, did you not?"
The shaman grabbed a handful of rice and scattered it across the table.
RUSTLE—
The grains rolled over the tabletop.
The shaman touched a few grains with her fingertip, then spoke.
"Your daughter's Spirit Sight opened too?"
"Yes. I'm fine. But my daughter, please... Is there really no way?"
That's right. I'm an adult now, so even if I can see ghosts, I can pretend not to and go on living.
But Song-i is only six years old.
The shaman opened her fan.
Each time it moved, a breeze rose and sent a chill down my spine.
SNAP!
The shaman folded the fan and pointed its tip at my eyes.
"Whoever did it knew what they were doing. They suppressed it quite deeply."
She muttered,
"But it still cracked. It is too late. Because two members of the same bloodline with Spirit Sight are close to each other, the influence caused the suppression to crack."
The shaman swept the scattered rice aside with her hand and tossed a few old coins.
"A Suppression Rite will not work on the child's Spirit Sight. What your ancestors kept suppressed has burst out this time. It cannot be stopped."
I clasped my hands and begged.
"Please, isn't there anything you can do? I'll bear all of it. Just please, spare my child...!"
The shaman opened and closed her mouth several times as if she wanted to say something, then stopped.
I took a thick envelope from my bag and held it out to her.
"Here. I've prepared a generous fee. Please... find a way."
The shaman glanced at the envelope before speaking.
"Can you do anything I tell you?"
"Yes, anything. Whatever it takes!"
The shaman thought for a moment at my answer, then added,
"Then move onto Goblin Land."
For an instant.
The golden face of the goblin embroidered on the blue pouch flashed through my mind.
"What is Goblin Land?"
"Land where a goblin has settled. Lesser spirits cannot even come near it. Even with your Spirit Sight open, you should be able to live there."
Land with no lesser spirits.
It was exactly what people like us, with Spirit Sight, needed.
"Where is this Goblin Land?"
The shaman counted on her fingers, then said,
"You will soon have a reason to enter Goblin Land. Pack your things in advance."
It sounded as vague as trying to grasp at clouds, but hearing that there was at least some kind of solution still felt like finding a straw I could clutch at.
"Thank you. Thank you."
As I bowed and turned to leave, the shaman added,
"You will be contacted within three days. Do not refuse. Accept it. That is the only way you and your daughter can survive."
***
The kindergarten refused to let Song-i attend.
A child who could see ghosts.
Of course the teachers wouldn't be happy about that.
I took parental leave and stayed with Song-i, but....
I had no idea how we were supposed to live from now on.
"Dad, isn't Mom coming back anymore?"
"No, she'll come back. Mom's just really busy with work—"
Just then, Song-i suddenly stretched out a finger and pointed at the crosswalk.
On the crosswalk.
There was a child limping across it, blood streaming down one leg.
When the light turned green, the child crossed the road, then crossed back the other way at the next signal.
All day long, the child repeated the same crossing.
"Mom's too scared to come back because I can see things like that, right?"
"......!"
Song-i's words caught my breath in my throat.
'...She knew.'
"Dad, can I see those things because I'm a bad girl?"
"No. Song-i, you haven't done anything wrong."
'It's all because of me.'
Because I'm someone who can see ghosts.
That's why my daughter became like this too.
I'm sorry, Song-i.
Daddy's sorry.
I pulled the teary-eyed Song-i's head against my chest.
"...Song-i. Aren't you scared of those things?"
"That kid isn't scary. But sometimes I see scary-looking men too...."
She was pretending to be brave, but Song-i's back trembled faintly.
"Daddy will protect you, Song-i. Don't worry."
As I held her and patted her back, the trembling gradually subsided.
At that moment.
BUZZZZ—
I felt my phone vibrate.
The call was from an unfamiliar number.
"Hello?"
「 Is this Mr. Kim Woo-jin? 」
"Yes, it is."
「 Ah, I'm Choi Eun-seok, an attorney with Chilseong Law Firm. 」
An attorney?
I'd stamped the divorce papers just as my wife wanted.
We had agreed there would be no division of property in exchange for me having custody.
Had she changed her mind now?
While all kinds of thoughts drifted through my head, the man on the other end explained further.
「 I'm calling because there is a property that has been left to you as an inheritance, Mr. Kim Woo-jin. 」
"An inheritance?"
「 It is property left behind by your great-aunt, Ms. Kim Mal-sook. 」
'Ah.... She'd already passed away.'
"Are you sure she left it to me?"
She must have had family....
Why me?
「 I'll explain the details when we meet in person. 」
Today was the third day the shaman had mentioned.