“Yes, it’s already been about 5 years. Since I lived here as soon as I became an adult……”
It was the first house he found after coming to Seoul alone after being accepted to university. He hadn’t inherited any assets from his late parents, but inwardly, he was more amazed that there was no debt, so he didn’t have even a trace of complaint.
Also, as a victim of the cult group fire incident and the sole survivor, he received some support funds. He received support for hospitalization costs and psychological counseling, and at the point when he turned twenty, money came in like independence support funds, so he admired the nation’s welfare and found a house.
It was slightly far from the university and was an old building that was decades old, but just having a space to stay alone was more than enough.
But surprisingly, not long after Sim Seowoo moved in, a major remodeling was carried out. The landlord grandfather changed everything—wallpaper, flooring, window frames—all new, and even completely replaced the appliances and furniture with new ones.
Though Sim Seowoo had a habit of being wary of others’ goodwill, there was no way to refuse when the landlord was repairing his own building. He said it was originally planned to be renovated the year he moved in, so it could be considered just good fortune, but what bothered him was that the landlord grandfather didn’t raise the rent at all.
When he tried to pay even a little more in rent, the grandfather firmly declined.
‘Oh my, what would I do with more money in my old age? My pleasure and happiness is creating a comfortable space for our tenants to live. Student Seowoo staying here well is the greatest reward.’
‘Still……’
‘No, no! And since Student Seowoo came here, my work has also been going amazingly well! It’s like I received a huge gift, hehe!’
They were truly warm words, but actually at that time, Sim Seowoo became quite uncomfortable. Because coincidentally, the grandfather’s last words were exactly what his parents used to say constantly in the past. They repeatedly dragged him out to gatherings, saying luck followed when they were with him.
Moreover, at that time, the landlord grandfather gave gifts to the tenant every week, making it even more burdensome. To think that was just how he was originally seemed wrong when he happened to overhear other tenants gathering and whispering, “Did the landlord win the lottery?” and learned that such things hadn’t happened before.
So it was a very spoiled complaint, but Sim Seowoo had even considered moving elsewhere. Avoiding mental fatigue was more important to him.
But around the time he was about to look at real estate agencies, the grandfather’s gift offensive subsided. Instead, it changed to a form of taking care of health foods in midsummer and midwinter, as if finding an appropriate line……
As Sim Seowoo was recalling old events after a long time, Cheon Yijae leisurely crossed his legs and said.
“Looking at how you’ve stayed all along, this place must not have been bad.”
“It’s fine. There’s no other room with these options in this area.”
Sometimes when he heard stories from peers who lived alone in this area, he could tell that he was staying in a very good house and had met an unusually kind landlord. Actually, even without finding a comparison group, it was naturally assumed.
At Sim Seowoo’s unhesitating answer, Cheon Yijae’s eyes narrowed slightly. Having already finished his tea at some point, he gazed intently while resting his chin, then smoothly scanned the space. The refrigerator, air conditioner, bed, desk, wardrobe, and finally even the shoe rack. After staring intently at each one, he brought up another topic.
“You said you’d never seen ghosts at home. Are you sure about that?”
“Mmm, memories of someone forcibly invading my home…… haven’t happened until now. Yes.”
Though from today onward the answer would change……
As Sim Seowoo answered while subtly glancing at Cheon Yijae with his eyes, perhaps inferring the hidden meaning from that action, one of his eyebrows raised. He seemed to be considering whether to point out being treated as an invader, or react to the attitude that would have regarded him only as an illegal residential intruder even when seeing ghosts, but soon he only made his question more specific.
“Then when do you think you started seeing ghosts outside? Since you would have recognized them precisely as ghosts recently, just think of them as things that committed bizarre acts.”
“There are quite a few people committing strange acts at the university right now……”
“……Narrow it down to things with somewhat bluish-pale skin.”
It was difficult to answer because strange people could be encountered in all sorts of places like the streets and subway. Perhaps because it was Seoul, cultural content overflowed.
Sim Seowoo carefully traced back his memories. There were a few times when he thought someone whose face was strangely bluish as they approached him might be someone who felt the cold a lot. Moreover, he’d been unusually dazed from this year and couldn’t even do part-time work……
“Mm, probably March? No, from January? I’m not certain, but from early this year……”
Could the reason he was dazed have been because of ghosts? As Sim Seowoo reasoned and answered, the corners of Cheon Yijae’s mouth rose crookedly.
He tapped the end of his eye corner with the tip of his index finger supporting his chin and said.
“Right. Don’t you think it’s too strange that a human who’s lived normally in a house like this until now and never properly encountered ghosts would suddenly come to live in an organization that hunts evil spirits?”
“……”
“You have no idea what fighting evil spirits is like. The ‘sites’ where Heun goes out to are places where all sorts of absurd and terrible accidents happen that would make the commotion you experienced at the movie theater last time laughable. It’s not an organization for someone like you to enter.”
This topic came up again.
Somehow, when Cheon Yijae seemed to be talking about other subjects, it seemed it was ultimately a preparatory process to return to this. Sim Seowoo was impressed by his persistent return.
“You seem to take joining Heun lightly too, but Heun’s members basically have to live in dormitories. It’s the same as being confined under the purpose of refining energy. The only times you can go out are expeditions to sites or after sunset, and you’ll encounter more of the dead than the living outside.”
Words poured out in succession as if he’d been waiting, to the point of suspecting the reason he accompanied him to this house was to have this conversation.
Sim Seowoo quietly looked at Cheon Yijae. Still, at first he tried to drive him out by denying his purification skills, but now he’d changed his strategy.
He’d heard that a decision passed unanimously at the Elders’ council couldn’t be overturned even by Sojunim. So it seemed like he, who didn’t want to receive purification, was trying to persuade him to leave……
“My employer is a different person, so no matter what Sojunim says, I have no intention of resigning.”
Sim Seowoo answered with just a little regret.
As soon as he decided to join five days ago, he’d completed an employment contract. Since the Vice-Leader was currently leading Heun as acting leader, he heard that the Vice-Leader also approved the documents regarding Sim Seowoo’s employment. Strictly speaking, he joined ‘Heun,’ but Sim Seowoo received employment documents from ‘HN Construction.’
He wanted to check if the employment connection Do Seonhwa had mentioned in the past was really possible, and incidentally, he was also curious what the best conditions this side would provide were.
And with the contract he received like that, Sim Seowoo thought the compensation was as unrealistic as the organization’s unreality. Although he had little greed for wealth since he was sick of seeing his parents obsess over money in the past, he stared at the numbers for a while.
Also, the contract was filled with content that was extremely considerate of him. It was in the form of paying the contract deposit immediately upon signing, and giving tremendous compensation each time he went on an expedition and purified Sojunim.
Even working three part-time jobs in parallel during vacation, he couldn’t earn this much. It seemed rude to even use part-time jobs as a comparison group, and coincidentally it was very welcome news for Sim Seowoo, who had little money saved up from traveling every vacation.
Honestly, it was also because of that very contract deposit that he didn’t give up and kept brushing even though he couldn’t purify at all for the past five days.
“Huh? What kind of absurd nonsense is this again? Is some scrap of contract like that important right now?”
Cheon Yijae turned completely sharp. Though he’d warned seriously, his eyes became fierce as if he was heated up by Sim Seowoo’s action of mentioning the employment contract.
‘Of course it’s important. I even stamped my seal on it.’
The atmosphere instantly flipped to something menacing, but Sim Seowoo answered inwardly and silently packed his things. Actually, now even Cheon Yijae’s behavior only came across as a reason for why the contract deposit amount was high.
In other words, they gave that much money because he had to handle Sojunim’s personality.
Thinking that way, it didn’t seem like something he couldn’t endure. Being able to earn big money in the process of becoming free from strange things like Hyungsin and Hyeong Akgui—for Sim Seowoo, there was absolutely no reason to refuse this job.
Bang!
Finally, Cheon Yijae kicked back his chair and stood up. As if dumbfounded by Sim Seowoo’s action of peacefully organizing the wardrobe with his back to him, anger tinged his voice.
“Why would you try to enter such a strange organization when you barely survived after suffering terribly while caught by a cult? Do you have a hobby of seeking hardship?”
Strictly speaking, it’s completely different since it’s hardship done while receiving money. Just slightly modifying the premise changes the meaning this much.
“Six years. A whole six years. When you’ve finally escaped from strange parents and lived normally, why are you so anxious to take on dangerous work?”
“……”
“Can’t you imagine? That your life could go wrong.”
His voice gradually grew more agitated. At the end, it cracked as if scraping his throat, so Sim Seowoo briefly turned his head to check, but since his face that looked back remained emotionless as before, Cheon Yijae bit his lips. It seemed like a curse was heard for a moment.
Cheon Yijae irritably swept back his hair. After messing up his hair roughly, soon he buried his face in his hands and said like a sigh.
“Live outside.”
Sim Seowoo’s every movement stopped with a start.
Just before, he’d glanced at Cheon Yijae but since there was nothing particular to say in response, he was turning his head to pack his things again. But as soon as he heard that short phrase, he froze stiffly, only blinking his eyes before slowly getting up from his spot.
Though it wasn’t particularly special words, coincidentally recalling how Cheon Yijae had covered his eyes in front of the house, a strange sense of déjà vu suddenly arose.
Those surprisingly warm hands.
“……By any chance, have we met before?”
