Ch.121121 – Cheonggyecheon Urban Legend 2

# 121 – Cheonggyecheon Urban Legend #2

The train ride was my first time.

While Jeongseok, Yu Dahui, and I were fumbling around on our first train experience, Bong Jiyeon waved at us from a distance.

“Hey! That’s the wrong direction! Come over here to board!”

Bong Jiyeon had mentioned she’d traveled by train many times since childhood when participating in various competitions. In other words, she was our only train expert.

“It feels like we’re going on a vacation!”

Puhehe-

Yu Dahui laughed, sitting in the seat in front of us.

It wasn’t exactly a common experience for four high school students to take a train during summer vacation.

Of course, we weren’t just going out for fun and games.

As the captain of the pirate crew, I decided to instill a sense of vigilance in everyone.

“There are many stories about strange animals seen in Cheonggyecheon. Jeongseok’s friend saw them directly, so we’ll focus on exploring those areas. We need to stay alert since we don’t know what might happen.”

I was originally from Seoul.

The Cheonggyecheon pet street had long been the source of all kinds of urban legends.

It was said that it wouldn’t be strange if ghosts or monsters actually appeared there.

Monster.

I recalled fighting the six-fingered monster at the mansion not long ago.

Throwing ourselves into a situation where we might encounter such creatures again seemed crazy even to me. But the more points we could earn, the better.

“Do they really sell dolphins too?”

Yu Dahui asked us while eating bread and milk.

“They say the Cheonggyecheon pet street sells literally every animal. Someone asked a shop owner if they could get a dolphin, and the owner supposedly asked if they’d be okay waiting about a week.”

As Dahui just mentioned, there were rumors that you could buy the most extraordinary things at the Cheonggyecheon animal street. Of course, they were just rumors. Jeongseok added:

“No matter what, that must be a lie. But we’re experiencing real encounters from such lies. This case might be similar.”

Stories about dinosaur sightings in Cheonggyecheon were quietly spreading online.

Dinosaur.

Just seeing that word made me feel like I could hear their mighty roars in my ears.

My back was already tingling with excitement.

However, Bong Jiyeon still showed a skeptical attitude.

“Come on, how could there be dinosaurs? That’s nonsense. Boys are still so childish even as they grow up. Believing such internet rumors without any evidence.”

Bong Jiyeon had a point.

There was a chance this could all be false rumors.

If so, our plan was just to have a little sightseeing in Seoul and then return home.

But Jeongseok, who first suggested and arranged this trip, seemed to have some conviction.

“I got a tip from a reliable person. When we arrive in Seoul, we’ll meet Seo-yeon at the station. She’ll explain to us again what she saw with her own eyes.”

Jin Seoyeon was one of Jeongseok’s longtime friends.

Didn’t they go on a date at the “Jeongsim Bakery” last time?

When I subtly probed about their relationship, he said they were nothing special, but it seemed they had been keeping in touch.

I found myself glancing at Bong Jiyeon sitting in front of us.

Of course, Bong Jiyeon was busy joking around with Yu Dahui, pretending not to care.

“Dahui, look at this. I bought a new bracelet recently. It’s a rosary made of white magnolia wood that’s supposed to protect you from evil spirits.”

“It looks so antique.”

# # #

“So you’re Seok’s friends. We’re the same age, so is it okay if I speak casually?”

Jin Seoyeon was a tall, slightly skinny woman.

She was wearing a t-shirt with hot pants that revealed her legs, looking cool in the hot weather.

Her skin was slightly tanned, though it seemed like she had gotten a nice tan from the sun rather than having naturally darker skin.

She was like a female athlete similar to Bong Jiyeon.

The difference was that Bong Jiyeon was short while this one was tall.

If Bong Jiyeon was a cute, pretty high school girl with a slightly petite feel, this one had bold features. She could be described as handsome, though she was undeniably beautiful.

“I heard you like strange stories, so I wanted to tell you what I saw the other day. Should we go to a café to talk?”

Her personality seemed as straightforward as her tall stature.

We went to a café, ordered drinks, and sat down.

“I always run near Cheonggyecheon in the morning. Now that it’s vacation, I also go around there before dinner. Just looking at the animals and stuff.”

She said it happened about a week ago.

It was when we were fighting the monkey-handed monster at the mansion.

“That evening, there weren’t many people around, so it felt eerie. The air was cool too. I was feeling uneasy and thought I should head home early when I saw a chicken wandering around.”

“A chicken?”

I actually knew the basic story from Jeongseok, but hearing it directly from her was the first time, so I decided to carefully note each keyword in my mind.

Seoyeon answered my question.

“At Cheonggyecheon, sometimes parrots or canaries escape from their cages and perch on nearby trees. I thought it was something like that. But when I got closer, it was different.”

Seoyeon paused for a moment.

Just then, the vibrating bell we were carrying rang.

Bong Jiyeon, who had been silent since we met Seoyeon, nudged Jeongseok’s side.

“Hey, go get it.”

Swoosh-

As Jeongseok was about to get up, Seoyeon stood up first.

“I’ll go with you. There are two trays, so it’ll be hard to carry alone.”

When Jeongseok and Seoyeon disappeared to the first floor, Bong Jiyeon, who had been squinting slightly, asked:

“What do you think?”

“About what?”

“Do you think she’s trustworthy? She seems suspicious to me. Woman’s intuition.”

Woman’s intuition.

I thought Bong Jiyeon was starting to sound like Kwon Sua.

Soon, Yu Dahui chimed in:

“I think she seems fine. She has a cool personality.”

“No. I find her extremely suspicious.”

Bong Jiyeon showed wariness toward Seoyeon.

Could it be jealousy toward a girl who might be flirting with Jeongseok? Does Bong Jiyeon secretly like Jeongseok too? No way.

Bong Jiyeon closed her mouth again as Jeongseok and Seoyeon returned with trays containing drinks and cake. I drank my peach iced tea. It was very sweet, cool, and delicious.

“So where did I leave off?”

“You said you saw a chicken.”

“Right, I saw a chicken. But when I shined my phone flashlight on it, I thought my heart would drop. The chicken had no head. It was a headless chicken.”

Could a creature without a head survive?

“How can a headless animal move?”

Bong Jiyeon shot out a comment.

Soon, Seoyeon added an explanation.

“I couldn’t believe it either. But it moved and slipped into some store, you know? I got a bit curious and went into that store, but I lost track of it.”

Following a headless chicken into a store.

If it were me, I would never have done something so reckless.

I thought she was quite a fearless girl.

“Since that day, I’ve been having nightmares. It’s like I can hear the cries of headless animals echoing in my head. Looking back now, I’m not sure if it was a dream or real, but anyway, that’s what happened.”

We planned to visit that “store.”

The time was noon.

The blazing sun made us sweat profusely even while standing still.

Following the street where water trickled, we saw shops with squirrels and parrots in cages. The smell of animals was quite strong.

“The street isn’t as big as I expected. Not many shops either. Seeing these animals outside in this heat makes me feel a bit sorry for them.”

Yu Dahui looked around.

Though called an animal street, its scale wasn’t as large as rumors suggested.

Soon Jeongseok said:

“I heard it used to be bigger, but various regulations and such have reduced its size. Seoyeon, is the store you mentioned somewhere around here?”

“No. We need to go deeper into the alley.”

We entered an alley that felt slightly cool.

We had left the pet street behind.

After walking for a while, we came across what looked like a house with five-colored flags hanging. Was it a shaman’s place? Next to a sign that said “No Parking,” there was another sign that read “Animals for Sale.”

We went inside.

The smell of animals and incense was intensely mixed, and there was something like a Buddhist altar and many dolls.

In the yard, chickens and parrots were twisting their bodies in cages.

“Who is it?”

A middle-aged man wearing slippers came out from inside the shop.

He was partially bald and looked to be in his 50s.

Jeongseok asked:

“Is this a place that sells animals?”

“We do sell them, but…”

Slowly-

The owner blatantly looked us up and down.

I asked him:

“Do you sell dinosaurs too?”

“…”

The man frowned.

Did he think I was making fun of him? I was asking seriously. Judging by his reaction, it seemed they didn’t sell things like dinosaurs after all. Was it just baseless rumors on social media?

“Students. We’re not a place that sells pets.”

“But it says ‘Animals for Sale’ in front. What’s that about?”

Dahui asked politely.

The owner, who had been wary of me and Jeongseok, seemed to soften his expression when the high school girl Dahui asked, becoming more friendly.

“This is a fortune-telling house. We specialize in animals used for shamanic rituals. We also sell pig heads used for ceremonial offerings. We extract animal blood and such.”

“Wow, there’s a place like this?”

I was amazed at the various ways people make money.

The man, either thirsty for conversation or proud of his work, started telling us things we hadn’t even asked about.

“Yes. Recently, Oseong Group held their biannual ceremony, slaughtering pigs and chickens. Where do you think those animals came from? I provided them all. I’m the best in Korea for breeding ceremonial animals.”

Tchak-

The man raised his thumb proudly.

I thought it wasn’t a coincidence that Oseong’s name came up.

The chairman of Oseong, our country’s big tech conglomerate, was actually a shaman who used Japanese sorcery.

Then Seoyeon asked:

“Sir, do you know about a headless chicken? I saw one passing by here the other day. It came into this store.”

“…”

The man’s expression, which had been warm like a friendly neighbor until just now, turned cold. We were all taken aback by the sudden change in temperature, and the man asked very coldly and solemnly:

“When?”

“About a week ago, I think.”

“Did you follow that chicken?”

“Yes. A headless chicken. It’s fascinating, isn’t it?”

“Why didn’t you come right away! Oh no, this is terrible! A headless chicken. Miss! Go to the address I’m writing down now. Quickly! I think it’s already too late, but there might be a way! You need to go now! Otherwise, you’ll die!”

Scribble, scribble-

The chicken shop owner tore off a nearby flyer and wrote an address on the back.

Then he sprinkled coarse salt all over us.

“Get out! Get out!”

We had no choice but to leave the shop, feeling like salted mackerel.

It was awkward in many ways.

“Ugh, ptui.”

Some of the salt even went into my mouth.

Wondering what was going on, Jeongseok, who had entered the address written on the back of the flyer into his phone, showed me the screen.

“Hey, this address…”

I couldn’t help but be surprised.

On Jeongseok’s map app, it said “Gwanak Jeil Presbyterian Church.”

That was the place where my father was the senior pastor.