The masses that densely filled the mirror were too blurred to make out their exact form. They were nothing more than thick, murky wastewater gurgling and dripping down — and strangely, the more he stared at them, the more the temperature around him seemed to drop. The fine hairs on his arms stood on end.
Suddenly, something surfaced in Sim Seowoo’s mind.
‘Originally, the world of the dead and the world of the living are strictly divided, but the grudges of evil spirits sometimes cross that line. The envy they feel toward living, breathing bodies spills out as malevolent energy and harms the body. It’s also commonly referred to as a ‘creepy feeling.”
It was something Jin Gwangmin from Heun had told him before. He’d explained that even an ordinary person who couldn’t see ghosts would instinctively want to avoid malevolent energy — that if one came into contact with a wicked evil spirit, the body would rot, so even unconsciously, people would try to distance themselves……
So then, was this boy an evil spirit?
Sim Seowoo took a slow step back, and the boy standing in front of the sink let his lips curl upward.
[The best part is when a dullard like you is gripped with fear.]
The boy’s grin deepened, as though giddy at the thought of repaying all the humiliation he’d suffered from being ignored. And just as the boy pointed at Sim Seowoo with his index finger —
Thud.
“Hey, Sim Seowoo! Why aren’t you coming back? I thought you’d collapsed in the restroom…….”
Park Dongju, who had just been about to enter the restroom, bumped into him. He’d come to check on Sim Seowoo, who had left during the movie saying he was going to the restroom with a tired face and hadn’t come back — but he couldn’t finish his sentence, his body going completely rigid.
“Huh? Maeng, you were just coming out? We were worried too, so we came together! It’s definitely not because the movie was scary and we ran away…….”
“What? Why did you both suddenly break down…….”
So Dahyeon also came out alongside him, leaning in from the entrance to greet them — but she too froze in place, and then Yang Gayeong stopped in her tracks as well.
The three of them, frozen like a relay of pause buttons being pressed, simultaneously let out screams.
“AAAAGH! W-what is that thing showing in the mirror?!”
Everyone was pointing frantically at the mirror in shock, and Sim Seowoo was taken aback.
Could they see ghosts too? But thinking back to Park Dongju’s past reactions, it seemed like he couldn’t see them — could it be that they could perceive them through a mirror as a medium? Or perhaps it was the fault of the malevolent energy that the evil spirit was emanating. Maybe ghosts that were too dangerous could be seen even by ordinary people.
Furthermore, by now they seemed to have grasped the form of the boy standing in front of the sink as well.
[Being witnessed is the beginning of everything.]
The boy grinned broadly, clearly finding this situation thoroughly entertaining. The grin that had been there since the very first moment they met — the one that stretched all the way to his cheeks, pushed along by the evil spirit — landed perfectly with his friends. The three of them clung to each other and shrieked in a triple-note harmony.
Soon after, the boy cried out in a loud, resounding voice.
[Grab all of them! It’s time to feast!]
“Eek, eek — AAAGH! Ghosts are coming out of the screening room!”
“Run!”
With a violent gust of freezing wind, ghosts began pouring out of the screening room all at once. They moved as though following the evil spirit’s command, and his friends, who had been watching the movie in that very space just moments before, fled in a panic.
[Hehe, let’s play together. Let’s play tag!]
[The fear of humans, ahhh!]
The ghosts cackled as they chased after the people fleeing in terror. They reveled in it as though human fear and dread were a delicious treat.
Sim Seowoo followed the three of them in a daze, glancing back. In truth, all he’d been trying to do was get out of the restroom — the information that touching an evil spirit would rot his skin had surfaced in his mind. But his friends had suddenly gotten tangled up in it, and now he was playing tag with ghosts.
It would have ended the same way even if he’d been alone, he supposed, but it was absurd all the same. Looking at the situation now, it seemed like he and his friends were the ones running and the ghosts were it — but their side had far too many. Almost ten times as many. Anyone could see this was an unfair game.
He wondered if he could lodge a formal complaint about the unfairness and have the whole thing called off — still thinking along those lines as he ran, his friends were shrieking.
“Eek-AAAGH, we were watching a movie and now they’re giving us the full 4D experience as a bonus?!”
“Huff, huff, they’re getting closer! Does anyone have salt?!”
“Who the hell carries around salt…… oh, the popcorn! Should we throw the popcorn?!”
“Oh, mine isn’t the regular kind, it’s cheese flavored……!”
“That’s salty too, just throw it!”
The moment So Dahyeon hurled her popcorn, Yang Gayeong and Park Dongju followed suit. Sim Seowoo couldn’t help but think it was unfair that they always teased him for being slow on the uptake. They were thinking just as strangely as he was.
Naturally, the popcorn had no effect whatsoever — and worse, it only managed to anger the ghosts.
[You dare throw something like this at us? You must think we’re a joke!]
The ghosts’ demeanor turned ominous. They undulated like waves, swaying back and forth — and then charged. Suddenly and with frightening speed, the three of them screamed and flinched back.
“OOAAAAAGH!”
Sim Seowoo stepped in front of them. He had no idea how to fight back, but his body moved on its own. He was just about to have the absurd thought that he hoped they’d take into consideration that he, at least, hadn’t thrown any popcorn —
Crackling, crackling —!
A burst of blue sparks erupted from Sim Seowoo. The ghosts that were flung back by the force tumbled across the floor as though they’d been electrocuted.
[AAAGH! O-ouch, it hurts, it huurrrts——!]
[My arm, my arm……!]
Yang Gayeong stared at Sim Seowoo in shock at the sight of the ghosts writhing in pain.
“Wh-what? Seowoo, what did you just do?”
“I don’t know either…….”
Sim Seowoo examined himself in a daze before quickly identifying the source of the light that had burst out. A faint residual current was still flowing through it — and it was none other than the puppy keychain hanging from his bag.
The doll the landlord grandpa had given him that morning.
Sim Seowoo’s eyes widened in confusion as he noticed the little black puppy hugging an oversized four-leaf clover. What on earth had Grandpa given him? Had the four-leaf clover brought good luck in the most literal sense and driven the ghosts away? One question chained into the next.
“First, let’s run! Those guys have stopped!”
Park Dongju shouted. They didn’t know what was going on, but they needed to take advantage of the ghosts being down and put distance between them. Everyone nodded and followed his lead.
Just then, something they had all been desperately hoping for came into view in the distance.
“The elevator!”
A surge of hope rose — if they could just get off this floor, everything would be resolved. Firmly believing that simply getting away from this absurd place where they were playing tag with ghosts would fix everything, they all picked up their pace.
Ding-ding-ding——
At that moment, Sim Seowoo’s phone rang. He’d definitely set it to silent before entering the screening room — but the ringtone rang out clearly and distinctly, and he pulled out his phone with a puzzled expression.
[HN Do Seonhwa]
It was a call from someone he’d never expected. He hadn’t contacted her even once since their previous meeting — could it be that Heun had somehow found out his exams had ended and reached out first?
Sim Seowoo stared down at the screen in bewilderment before noticing that there were over ten missed call records left on it.
— Precious guest! Precious guest! Is it okay to talk right now?!
The moment he answered, a loud cry rang out. The sound reached him before he’d even brought the phone to his ear.
“Huh? What’s wrong?”
— I was going to wait patiently until you reached out to me first, but suddenly my feeling became really strange. So I called to check on you……
A quiet murmur of “fool” came through from the other end. It was Jin Gwangmin’s voice — and right after, the sound of him letting out an “Ack!” as though his ear had been grabbed could be heard, so Sim Seowoo could reasonably deduce what had happened.
Do Seonhwa let out an awkward laugh and apologized.
— Haha, sorry about that suddenly. Since you’re picking up the phone, I’m guessing you’re okay — nothing’s happened, right?
“Yeah. There are ghosts chasing me from behind right now, but I think I’ll be able to shake them off soon. I’m fine.”
— Ah, so that…… wait, that’s not okay? That’s not an okay situation at all?!
Do Seonhwa, who had been swept along by Sim Seowoo’s matter-of-fact tone, shrieked belatedly. With a “Eek!” she began firing off questions one after another.
— Why are ghosts chasing you? Where are you right now? Are you alone, by any chance? How did this happen……!
“Oh, I came to watch a movie with my friends, and a ghost I met in the restroom said they wanted to play tag, so I’m running from them. The ghosts that were chasing me just suddenly collapsed, so there’s a bit of a gap now…….”
Answering faithfully, Sim Seowoo checked behind him. The ghosts that had been hit by the puppy doll’s million volts were hesitant to get any closer, making it considerably easier to run.
— Ghosts, plural? So it’s not just one — are multiple ghosts moving in an organized manner?
“Yeah. There were a lot of them so it was disadvantageous, but it’s okay now…….”
“Sim Seowoo, what are you even doing?! Hurry up and come!”
While glancing back again and again, Sim Seowoo’s pace had become noticeably slower compared to the others. His friends, who had already reached the elevator, called out to him urgently.
Conveniently, the elevator doors were flung wide open, as though welcoming them.
The three of them rushed into the elevator first and waved him over. They needed to get to a different floor — or better yet, out of the building entirely. Park Dongju anxiously pressed the button for the 1st floor while hurrying Sim Seowoo along, and just as he was about to reach them —
Do Seonhwa’s cry pierced through like a needle to the ear.
— Precious guest! If there’s an elevator there, you absolutely cannot get on it!
RIP