episode_0011

A promise to find his dead father.

Sarah didn’t just say it, she actually kept her promise.

From that day on, Sarah started taking me around the neighborhood.

Guessing where my father might be.

“Ghosts wander around near the place of death unless something special happens. You said your father died in the apartment parking lot, right? Then there is a high probability that it is wandering around in our neighborhood.”

“Thank you for helping me, but I’m a little sorry. It seems like I’m putting you through trouble for no reason.”

“You promised to find it! I don’t make promises carelessly.”

Originally, Sarah did not go out of the house often. When school was over, I was a child who refused and went home even when the kids in my class asked me to play.

But for my sake, Sarah went out on rare occasions.

Because Sarah had eyes that could see ghosts.

“Let’s start by looking around the apartment.”

The first place we walked around was near the apartment where I live. I started at the parking lot, looked around the rooftop, and then went directly to my house to look for my father. However, there was nothing special to see in Sarah’s eyes.

“First of all, I don’t see any ghosts that look like your father here.”

“It’s been a while since you passed away. Maybe he went far outside the apartment. My father usually wanders around here and there.”

“Really?”

We didn’t give up our search after wandering around the apartment. When I had time, I visited most of the places in my neighborhood that elementary school students could go. A house where spooky rumors are heard, a coffee shop where business is particularly slow, or a place near a subway station.

“How about it? Can you see my father?”

“I can’t see it.”

“Can you see over there?”

“It’s not there either.”

Walking around the neighborhood with Sarah like this made me feel like I was exploring. Should I say it was more fun than when I wandered around the psychic spots by myself? Of course, no matter how much I walked around the neighborhood, I couldn’t see a hair on my father’s face.

“Where have you really gone? Your father.”

“I don’t know. Maybe even if he becomes a ghost, he’s still out there trying to save people.”

Eventually, time passed, summer vacation passed, and the second semester began. It is no exaggeration to say that during our vacation, we visited most of the places we could possibly go in the neighborhood. But in the end, no trace of my father could be found.

Still, it wasn’t bad.

It was quite fun walking around the neighborhood with Sarah.

The second semester began and September came.

It was the beginning of fall, but the weather was still muggy. When I got to school and assembly time was over, there was a girl coming towards me and Sarah.

“Sera! Jinwoo! Good morning!”

The girl who spoke with a lively voice was the president of our class.

“Hello, Ayoung.”

Ayoung is a very friendly girl who deserves to be the class president. In our class, most of the boys and girls were close to Ayoung. However, there was only one girl that Ayoung could not make as a friend.

“Hello.”

“Sera, how did you spend your vacation?”

“Nothing happened.”

“Do you also read webtoons? There are a lot of fun things these days… .”

“I don’t read webtoons, so don’t worry.”

“E… .”

It was Sarah.

Sarah was someone Ayoung couldn’t become friends with even though she tried hard to become friends with her since the first semester. In fact, not only Ayoung but most of the children were like that. There were many kids, both men and women, who talked to Sarah because they wanted to become friends with her, but very few of them actually became friends with Sarah.

“Oh, you’re not watching? I can’t help it if I don’t see it.”

Sarah had a strange habit of keeping her distance from the children around her. I don’t chat with girls, I just sit quietly and read books. Nevertheless, children often gathered around Sarah, and as they talked to each other, they became friends.

I was the only person who could be said to be close to Sarah.

Strangely enough, Sarah talked to me often.

We hung out together a lot.

“… … .”

The conversation did not continue.

I thought I would back off at this point.

Ayoung looked at Sarah and me and continued talking.

“Actually, that’s true. Tomorrow is my birthday.”

“Was it your birthday?”

“Yes! So, why don’t you guys come over to my house tomorrow after school? I’m going to tell everyone in my class to come.”

The next day was Ayoung’s birthday.

As expected of a sociable class president, he seemed to be planning to invite all the children in his class to the birthday party.

“What do you want to do? Sarah.”

“I’m sorry. I’m not going.”

As expected, Sarah declined Ayoung’s invitation.

I didn’t even think about it and just turned it down.

“Okay… . Jinwoo, who are you?”

What am I going to do?

“Of course I have to go.”

“Thank goodness!”

Well, I decided to willingly attend Ayoung’s birthday party. Because Ayoung’s family happened to live in the same apartment as me. Because we were on different floors, we didn’t see each other often.

“Then, let’s go together with the kids in our class tomorrow after school!”

That’s how I ended up attending Ayoung’s birthday party. I said I would go, but Sarah had no intention of changing her decision not to attend. In fact, until then, I thought of Sarah as a child who liked solitude.

Aren’t some people tired when they’re around strangers?

Introverted people get discouraged and get tired when talking to people they are not close to.

Sera probably has an incredibly introverted personality.

The next day was when school ended.

There were as many as 16 children attending Ayoung’s birthday party. Since there were 24 children in the class, most of them attended except for those who had special circumstances. Ayoung escaped from the school building with 16 children.

“Wait a minute! I’ll contact my mom and tell her I’m taking my friends with me.”

For a moment, Ayoung was talking on the phone with her parents.

Suddenly I felt eyes on me and looked behind me.

When I looked back, I saw Sarah staring at us.

“… … .”

The gaze was so blatant that it was impossible not to notice.

Could it be that Sarah also wants to come to the birthday party?

I quietly approached Sarah and spoke to her.

“Why are you just standing there? Do you want to play with the kids?”

“No… ? I’m just standing still and looking at the scenery.”

“No, that’s not it. They were looking at us.”

“… … Because it’s not.”

Although she said no, Sarah’s tone showed regret.

Sarah was still looking at the children talking noisily in front of the school building.

“Don’t do that, let’s go together. Ayoung also wants to become friends with you.”

“I’m not going. Even if I want to go, I never go.”

“Why?”

“Because I can’t hang out with other kids.”

Sarah still refused to go to the birthday party. Are you saying I can’t hang out with other kids? Where in the world is there such a law? It was something I couldn’t understand, but I didn’t have time to ask for a detailed explanation.

“Have a good time with your friends. Jinwoo.”

Sarah waved at me and left the school.

*

In the end, I couldn’t catch Sarah.

It’s unfortunate, but you can’t force someone to take you if they refuse.

‘Future Apartment’

It was the apartment where Ayoung and I lived.

The children, including me, followed Ayoung to the apartment. The apartment was a hallway-style building, and Ayoung’s house was on the third floor.

“A lot of people came! Are they all Ayoung’s friends?”

“Yes!”

When we entered the house, Ayoung’s mother greeted us with a birthday table prepared for us.

The house was quite crowded thanks to as many as 16 elementary school students entering the house.

Soon the birthday party began in the living room.

“Happy birthday! Happy birthday!”

We celebrated her birthday, gave Ayoung a gift, and then had a delicious meal. After eating, we all played together at first, but as there were a lot of people, we gradually started playing among ourselves.

Then, a boy discovered something strange at Ayoung’s house.

“Guys! Look at this!”

It was in the main room of the house where the computer was. There, the boys were playing with the computer and discovered something. I was playing in the living room and went into the master bedroom.

“Is there a strange jar here? I think it would be very expensive.”

The place the boy pointed with his finger was on the dresser in the master bedroom.

There was a shining white jar on the dresser. It was a jar whose entrance was covered with Korean paper and tied with silk thread. It was a luxurious white porcelain that could be displayed in a museum, so it was bound to attract people’s attention.

“Wow, it looks like Ayoung is doing really well with the house.”

“What kind of jar is that?”

It was a time when the boys were curious about the identity of the jar.

I taught the kids what the jar was.

Because I knew things about the mystery.

“It’s Shinju Complex.”

“Sinju Complex? What is that?”

“It is a jar that enshrines ancestral spirits. It is said that if you worship Shinju Danji, good things will happen to your home. Simply put, it is a jar that brings good luck.”

“Ah… .”

Shinju Complex.

It was literally a jar that looked like a house where a god lived. This was the first time I knew that Ayoung’s family was worshiping Shinju Danji. Actually, this was my first time visiting Ayoung’s house.

“A jar that brings good luck? But why don’t we have a jar like that in our house?”

“That’s because even adults don’t pay attention to Shinju Danji these days. There must be a lot of people who entrust their new liquor jars to the temple for disposal.”

It was fascinating.

I heard that there are very few people who worship Shinjudanji these days. It was said that everyone was disposing of it because the effect of bringing good luck was minimal and management was cumbersome. Ayeong’s family, who kept a sacred liquor jar in their home, was rather unusual.

“If you touch that carelessly, you’ll be in big trouble. You better be careful.”

“What happens if you touch it carelessly?”

“Well… .”

What happens if I touch it carelessly?

That’s it, I don’t know.

It was a time when I was thinking for a moment about what to answer.

━━Drur!

The liquor jar on top of the closet suddenly moved.

“Huh?”

I quickly looked around.

However, none of the children touched the closet in the master bedroom.

“Well, didn’t that thing just move?”

“Who touched it?”

While the children were talking in surprise, the Shinju Complex started moving again.

The liquor jar hanging at the end of the closet slowly tilted downward.

━━Poof!