His current behavior of talking to himself on the tree-lined street also served as evidence reinforcing his reasoning. Coming out for a walk because it’s stuffy during exam period and muttering to himself alone—this is… well, like an ordinary college student. He’ll withdraw that last piece of evidence.
Just as Sim Seowoo was seriously preparing for trial in his head, he saw something in the distance. Recognizing it was a pedestrian walking this way, he moved aside to the side path. Since the other person was coming straight down the center, he wanted to clear the way.
However, that person’s gait was somewhat strange. Should he say they were walking limply, or that they were moving while dragging their legs? He could barely hear the sound of footsteps either.
They must be another ordinary college student exhausted from studying for exams.
Thinking this, Sim Seowoo walked even closer to the edge when suddenly that person stopped abruptly. Then slowly turned their head to the side and asked,
[Excuse me. Am I wearing my clothes properly?]
His voice fell eerily on the quiet tree-lined street. The heavily cracked voice echoed as if thoroughly soaked, and Sim Seowoo quietly looked at the man.
The person he encountered late at night in June was wearing a dark reddish fur coat. The thick coat that seemed to have blood caked and hardened all over it had its collar turned to the back—that is, it was inside out. Also, even considering that early summer nights were cool, it could be seen as clothing unsuited to the season.
However, Sim Seowoo looking at him was only composed, and just tilted his head as if he didn’t know why he was asking this.
“Well, clothes are a matter of personal taste.”
Sim Seowoo also knew the other person was wearing their clothes backwards. But since the other person asked directly, he thought it must be their own fashion, and in fact, he wouldn’t have pointed it out even if it wasn’t.
‘Are they filming to upload to SNS?’
Maybe filming a video where they deliberately wear clothes backwards and observe people’s reactions. Sim Seowoo looked around for cameras, then thinking he’d just give a rough reaction and go, raised both hands.
Snap.
Sim Seowoo stuck out both thumbs and said,
“That’s cool. Good luck.”
Making someone do a fashion show late at night like this—exam period really is harmful to everyone.
Having seen strange people all day, and a few hours ago Park Dongju also tearing at his hair and shouting to give college students the end of semester, it wasn’t incomprehensible. Sim Seowoo accepted it calmly and left.
He thought he faintly heard a mutter of “What the…?” from behind.
Walking the tree-lined street again, Sim Seowoo’s mind didn’t hold any thoughts about the man in the fur coat at all. He just belatedly realized the streetlights were out, and guessed that might be why the forest path felt even cooler.
He walked for about twenty minutes, completing one round of the tree-lined street.
Having adequately dispelled the stuffy feeling, Sim Seowoo planned to look over the summary for tomorrow’s exam just one more time before going home. He walked toward the library lights that stood out prominently in the dark path.
But then he heard sounds from the side of the tree-lined street, from the densely formed forest.
“Why is that guy acting so rushed today? He should have left with us, why’d he go first!”
“He said he didn’t want to stay here long—could he hate universities?”
“Is there anywhere he does like?”
The conversation between a man and woman echoed particularly loudly in the quiet night street. The woman’s voice was high and clear, while the man’s tone was tinged with sulkiness.
“By the way, Gwangmin-ah. I saw a white light in my dream today. It was an incredibly bright and brilliant light, and I have a feeling I’ll meet it soon.”
“It’s completely dark right now though. The streetlights here are broken so it’s pitch black, and we’re even lost so our future is dark too. It’s just a nonsense dream.”
“What? You’re ignoring my dream when you know who I am?!”
“The shaman’s granddaughter, Heun’s youngest director, and a brilliant parachute hire.”
“This bastard?!”
“Ah, no. The director’s dream seems right? In the sense that dreams are opposite to realityyyyyy!”
The man’s voice rose sharply. He realized the cause of the scream that grew loud enough to echo through the forest was because he’d grabbed the other person’s ear, witnessing it directly.
Sim Seowoo happened to come face to face with them precisely.
“…!”
“Eek! A-are you a person?!”
The two who had just emerged from the forest path seemed startled to encounter a person on the dark street, and Sim Seowoo also looked at them bewilderedly. He was just trying to understand that these were more people struggling with exam period exploring even forest paths late at night, but the other party didn’t look like students.
The woman was tall with a bright red dress-like hanbok, her reddish-brown wavy hair reaching down to her waist done in a half-updo and fastened with a splendid hairpin studded full of pearls.
The petite man beside her wore loose ochre-colored top and bottom like a martial arts uniform, very short dark brown hair, and a bag almost as big as his body strapped on like a turtle shell.
The man with a youthful face who appeared to be just about twenty glanced at Sim Seowoo’s shadow and visibly relaxed.
The woman in the hanbok asked with a bright smile,
“Excuse me, you’re a student here, right?”
“…Yes.”
“Do you happen to know where the old library is?”
At the sudden topic, Sim Seowoo was puzzled.
Old library? Well, the central library was right in front, but since it had ‘old’ attached, it wouldn’t be that place. However, he’d never heard of a place called that, so just as he was pondering, the man beside her added,
“The, uh, science library they said?”
“Ah, the building next to the pond…”
A vague image of an old building floated up in his mind. Since the university was so large, he generally didn’t know places outside his department’s area well, but in the past during a festival, Park Dongju had burned with determination to see all the booths and forcibly dragged him around.
Though it was already long ago and hazy, a science college student they met at a pub had pointed to a building surrounded by vines next to the pond and said,
‘That’s the library. The old science library.’
When he answered by recalling that memory, both their faces brightened. When he also conveyed the information that if they crossed straight through this tree-lined street, they’d reach the pond, the man bowed deeply at the waist and the woman waved both hands lightly while exclaiming,
“Thank you, benefactor! You’ll be blessed!”
Benefactor…
It was the first time hearing that word directly, so while he was mulling it over unfamiliarly, the two quickly moved away. Though he didn’t know what their whispered worry of “If we’re too late, we might get bitten” meant as they chattered between themselves, he just shrugged his shoulders at their gradually shrinking figures.
It seems like he’s encountering quite a variety of people on his walk today.
Afterwards, Sim Seowoo returned to the library intending to finish studying as planned. He opened his book as if the strange incident just before hadn’t happened at all.
However, his hand turning the pages gradually slowed.
“Huu…”
His eyes started hurting again.
It had seemed better for a moment while walking, but his vision became stuffy again and now he even felt a tingling sensation. Unable to concentrate on the book at all, Sim Seowoo eventually cleaned up his spot.
The dream’s aftereffects are particularly severe today—isn’t there a way to take it up with that boy? Like reaching an agreement not to appear in dreams at least during exam period.
…No, that’s not very appealing. In fact, Sim Seowoo didn’t feel particularly bad about dreams where he saw that boy. Still, if it’s going to hurt this much, at least show me your face.
Six years have already passed—how has the boy who suddenly assaulted a high school student grown now? Does he still have quick hands?
Having pointless thoughts inwardly, Sim Seowoo’s steps heading outside the library slowly stopped.
Swoooosh…
It was pouring rain.
Until just a few minutes ago not a drop of rain had fallen—was it a shower? Sim Seowoo rummaged through his bag to find an umbrella. He opened the white 3-tier umbrella he’d prepared as the rainy season approached, and simultaneously as the ribs spread wide above his head, something came to mind.
‘That’s the library. The old science library.’
Why the demonstrative ‘that’ was attached when mentioning the building called the old library, the science library.
There was a ghost story associated with the library used by science college students. It was one of the stories poured out by students who gathered around Sim Seowoo at a festival pub a few years ago, trying to capture his interest.
They said ghosts appeared in the library on rainy days.
A book would drop from the bookshelf in the empty library, and when you picked it up and put it back, another book would fall out before long. No matter how many times you reorganized them, they’d repeatedly fall, and if you checked that gap, you’d come face to face with a ghost’s bright red eyes.
‘So if you hear the sound of books dropping in the library on a rainy day, you have to come out without even looking back!’
At the chilling warning, Park Dongju had screamed, but Sim Seowoo had doubts.
What if it was a librarian who got angry because someone kept putting back books that didn’t match the call numbers? He’d even pictured the background in his head: they quietly came in to organize books, but since someone kept putting back wrong books, they stuck their face in to check who exactly it was.
Even if it really was a ghost, thinking that they might have been a librarian in their past life, he just felt sorry for them. To be trapped in the job of organizing books even after death. Could it have been death from overwork…
On the other hand, he thinks he also had the impression that it was fascinating how science college students seriously talked about unscientific occurrences at the science library. As expected, the world has such diverse aspects, and he’d even made philosophical contemplations that one couldn’t judge by just one side.
So the reason Sim Seowoo hesitated now was because of news he’d heard recently rather than the ghost story.
“That library is under construction now, they said…”
It was a library students didn’t visit often originally because it was an old building. Even more so after the central library was newly built, and as it became less frequented, the building grew increasingly dilapidated, so he’d heard they were conducting a major remodeling this time.
Students seemed to have said, ‘The school is finally carrying out physical exorcism.’
this guy is so funny??