episode_0004

“……Huh? Are you listening?”

“………huh?”

Eunha, who had been distracted for a moment, was startled to come back to her senses by Eunbangul’s voice coming from across the room.

… … Was it because I was tired that I dozed off for a while?

It’s strange, just like yesterday.

As I look around in a half-asleep state, a peaceful cafe scene comes into view.

The lights didn’t flicker, and the surroundings weren’t dark. The windows are also clean.

Across the table, a cute little girl was looking at Eunha with a worried face.

“Oh… sorry. I guess I was thinking about something else for a moment.”

“You look tired today. Do you want to lie down for a moment?”

“no it’s okay.”

I had an uncharacteristic chat with Eunbangul and touched the cold nape of her neck.

I’m covered in cold sweat, as if I had a nightmare.

Feeling distraught, I tried to drink coffee, but I found my hands shaking like aspen trees and quietly squeezed them.

Eunbangul, who was watching this, looked at Eunha’s complexion.

“……It’s really okay, right? What did someone say at the promotion test site? You’re a bastard with good skills and good stamina, but he takes over 30 seconds to run the 100m and can’t even do a single sit-up or push-up, so he always fails to get promoted?”

“You really…”

Perhaps it was because I was hit with a fact full of worry, but my hands stopped shaking.

I drank coffee thinking that this kind of shock therapy was quite effective.

… However, because she couldn’t shake off even a little bit of anxiety, Eunha glanced at the cafe entrance from time to time, anxious to see if anyone would come in.

After that, it’s just a featureless story.

I heard that a [crack field] collapsed in a foreign country and a monster came into the city center, that an idol so-and-so was dating an A-level hunter, etc… I turned on the TV installed in the cafe and had fun losing track of time.

By the time I realized it, the clock was already pointing at 6 PM.

We talked for almost an hour.

By this time, much of the unknown anxiety I had just felt had disappeared.

‘Now that I’m feeling refreshed, should I go home? I’ll have to buy Bell something delicious later.’

After cleaning up the remaining caramel macchiato, Eunha stood up.

I wash the finished coffee cup with water and put it in the dishwasher, and as a habit, I look around the cafe to see if there is a place to clean up.

I didn’t have any extra luggage, so I was ready to go home in no time.

Eunbangul, who had cleaned up the table, took the handbag she had left in the kitchen and approached Eunha.

Eunha smiled languidly at the girl who approached her cheerfully.

It’s a promotion test and all, it’s already happened so what does it matter?

I decided to quickly forget about the nightmare whose meaning I couldn’t understand.

The most important thing to Eunha right now is the fact that Eunbangul is cute, and worrying about what to make for dinner tonight.

I should eat a moderate amount of fried eggs mixed with soy sauce and rice.

“Let’s go now~ Huh? That’s a book you haven’t seen before?”

“huh?”

It was then.

Just as I was about to turn off the lights and leave the cafe, Eunbangul, with her white rabbit ears pricked up, pointed to a certain place with her finger.

Feeling an inexplicable sense of anxiety, I turned my gaze to where the girl’s finger was pointing.

Then, at the table where the two people were sitting just a moment ago… I saw a [black book] lying there.

… … This is something that didn’t exist until just now.

And I clearly saw Baeul-ri clearing the table.

(『You finally reached it, kid.』)

A chill ran up my spine.

Eunha’s body froze as she remembered the pain from yesterday’s car accident and the nightmare of the [Black Person] she had just seen.

I hoped it was just a dream.

Things that were tried to be dismissed as déjà vu or dreams gradually become an unavoidable reality and begin to plague Eunha.

“Hmm… did you even read the book? You just do exercise every day that you don’t even get to do. That’s surprising.”

“Bul, wait a minute.”

While Eunha was hesitating, the girl walked to the table without caution and picked up the [Black Book].

Does he know what that is and just touches it?

Seeing that, Eunha was scared and ran towards the girl.

“Huh? Why?”

“It’s not my book. What if I touch it by mistake and something big happens?”

“Really?… Could this be something a customer left behind?”

Eunha took the ‘black book’ from the girl and looked at it.

A thick book with a black cover and no title.

It is larger and thicker than most major books.

The weight is so heavy that it is difficult for Eunha’s strength to hold it.

When I put it down on the table and carefully open the book, the inside pages are all black.

I flipped through the Paralock pages, but there was nothing written.

It’s just black.

That makes me even more reluctant.

‘what? It’s too big to be a notebook… Are you printing black text on black paper?’

Eunbangul, who was watching from the side, must have realized that the [Black Book] was not an ordinary item. I press the bread hat on my head and get lost in thought.

The girl’s body shakes gently, and the white rabbit ears pressed against her hat twitch.

“Hmm… Then I’ll put it in the lost and found box. The owner will find it later.”

“……Can you do that? Thank you, Bell.”

“Thank you~.”

No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t come up with a clear answer, so I decided to put the black book in the lost and found box.

As the girl said, wouldn’t the owner find it on his own?

So, turning my head away from the discomfort I felt in [The Black Book],

I left the cafe with Eunbangul and went home.

… … .

“……whamma.”

And when we returned home,

The [Black Book] that I saw at the cafe welcomed Eunha on the living room table.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Ha… I’m sure you saw what Bangpoul put in the lost and found box. But why are you here?”

Eunha collapsed on the living room sofa and looked down at the [Black Book] on the table and touched her forehead.

To have a headache.

How can I say this?

… … .

A few minutes ago.

After putting the [Black Book] that suddenly appeared in the lost and found box, I got into Eunbangul’s car and returned to the apartment. It was all good.

Although it was a five-minute walk from the cafe to the apartment, I enjoyed spending time with Eunbangul, so I gladly accepted the girl’s favor.

After arriving at the apartment, he gave Eunbangul a ‘dunga-dung-ga’ of thanks until she was satisfied, and then sent her off with a goodbye and said he would see her tomorrow.

Eunha waved until the girl’s car disappeared from sight and entered the apartment, thinking that she was good at driving with those short limbs.

I’m so tired… Just like yesterday, I feel like I had a terrible nightmare.

Eunha sighed heavily and looked up at the apartment.

The name of the apartment is [Saetbyeol Apartment].

In Euncheon-gu, Seoul, which is famous for its expensive housing prices, this is a 9th floor apartment with a relatively low monthly rent.

It is a hallway-style apartment with several rooms on one floor, and there is only one [Saetbyeol Apartment], as the building owner did not have the ability to create an apartment complex.

Still, there is a parking area and security room for the apartment, and there is a convenience store and bus stop right in front of the apartment.

Meanwhile, a few blocks away was a commercial area with a park and a monorail terminal.

I think they did a good job of putting an apartment in this shabby land.

Since it is not even an apartment complex and there is only one building standing there, I feel a pity that the building owner must have put his soul into purchasing the land.

But why the monthly rent is so cheap… Eunha doesn’t know that.

Is it a purchase or sale?

The monthly rent is enough for an ordinary cafe employee who fails the promotion exam every month to live comfortably.

At first, Eunha doubted whether this was true, but since she was introduced to the house directly by a regular customer, Ban Harin, without going through a real estate agent, she is now living with that in mind.

… Anyway, that’s not what’s important.

When Eunha arrived at Block 9 by taking the apartment elevator as usual, she opened the front door of room 904, her home, and entered the house.

I found the [Black Book] lying neatly on the living room table.

“ha…”

After a brief reminiscence, Eunha sighed as she left the living room.

It may seem obvious, but I have never bought a book like this, nor have I put it on my living room table.

This is the book I saw at the cafe in the first place.

Why is an item that should have been put in the lost and found box in my house?

There’s no way our Bangul was playing around… I guess he got caught up in the book and followed it to Eunha’s house.

Goosebumps rose up my back.

It’s scary to touch.

My body is shaking to the point where I wonder if I was this scared.

Eunha consoled her pounding heart and tapped the table anxiously.

‘I’m going to turn. It’s not something that’s possessed by ghosts in today’s world. Is this an [artifact] that hunters use?… Let’s eat first.’

After much thought, I decided to pretend not to know.

Let’s wake up tomorrow and think about it.

Throw it in the trash on the way to work at the cafe, or if that doesn’t work, burn it to get rid of it.

Let’s think positively.

Since this book is in my house, at least Eunbul will be safe.

Eunha turned away from the [Black Book] on the table and headed to the kitchen.