episode_0017

Sarah and I went back to Hyehwadang and met Ayoung. When we arrived at Hyehwadang, Ayoung, who was staying at the shrine, was not asleep even though it was early morning. It seemed like he was waiting for us to return.

“Ayeong-ah! You can come outside now.”

When we opened the door to the shrine, Ayoung suddenly raised her head when she saw us.

“You guys are back! Are you hurt?”

“We are fine. Did anything special happen while you were at the shrine?”

“Yes! I just kept turning off the lights and staying still.”

“Good job. We exorcised the ghost in the apartment. It’s all over now.”

It was only after hearing that the exorcism was over that Ayoung’s expression finally brightened.

“Really? Has something terrible disappeared from my house? That floating human head… .”

“Gone forever. Because I burned the hair that contained my soul. Although it left scorch marks on the floor of your house.”

Ayoung bowed her head to Sarah and me and expressed her gratitude. Of course, even though the exorcism was over, Ayoung’s family was not completely fine. Ayoung’s parents were in a car accident and were hospitalized.

“But didn’t you contact your parents? You are currently injured and in the hospital.”

“I got a call from the hospital when you were away. They say he hasn’t regained consciousness yet. Still, my parents weren’t injured so seriously that their lives were in danger.”

“Thank goodness. I hope you both get better quickly.”

That night, Sarah and I took Ayoung to sleep at Hyehwadang.

When the sun came up, Ayoung left for the hospital where her parents were.

A few days have passed since then.

We were able to hear news from Ayoung’s parents when she came to school. It was hopeful news that my parents had regained consciousness and their physical condition was slowly recovering. Still, they said that both of them were seriously injured and it would take quite some time to recover.

“Ayoung, did you tell your parents that you exorcised a ghost?”

“Of course I said it. My parents were really surprised when I told them that you guys solved it. He said he really wants to give an example later. Money or anything.”

“Ohh.”

Are you saying you are going to give me a reward? I didn’t ask for anything when I performed the exorcism, but I couldn’t refuse the offer of money.

In any case, since Ayoung’s parents are also recovering, the incident was concluded neatly.

*

Time passed, the third year ended, and winter vacation came. Even during vacation, Sarah and I often walked outside the neighborhood. It was because my deceased father might appear in our neighborhood.

“Where would you like to go today? Jinwoo.”

“Let’s take a look around the city. Did you really like donuts when your father was alive? Maybe you can see it if you go to the donut shop.”

“Did you like donuts because you were a detective? It suits you.”

The place we decided to go today was the downtown market. Among them, I decided to look around the donut shop that my father often visited when he was alive.

Because it was the beginning of winter, the weather was chilly. After putting on our thick coats and leaving the house, we soon arrived at a market where there was a donut shop.

“Do you see a ghost?”

“You can hardly see it here. To begin with, the downtown areas have a lot of energy because there are a lot of people walking around. Still, there is one ghost I can see.”

Sarah pointed her finger at the roof near the donut shop.

“It’s on the roof over there.”

There’s a spirit on the roof? I raised my head and looked in the direction Sarah was pointing.

As I was clearly concentrating, I saw a whitish figure hovering above the roof.

“I see something pure white.”

“I’m an old grandfather. I’m sitting on the roof and looking at the sky.”

“Why are you looking at the sky?”

“I don’t know that because I haven’t talked to him. I don’t think your father is here.”

It was my grandfather’s spiritual song. Then that means he is not my father. Still, there was no income at all. Since I saw the ghost with my own eyes, it was as if my inspiration had developed. When I meet my father later, I will be able to reunite with him in a more vivid way.

“Jinwoo. Let’s eat donuts.”

We went into the store and bought donuts. As I sat at the table outside the store eating donuts, people passing by on the street would glance at Sarah. If a silver-haired girl who looks like a doll is around, everyone can’t help but stare.

As far as I know, Sarah was used to people’s gaze. Even when passers-by looked at him, he just coolly ignored them and did what he was doing. Even now, Sarah was concentrating on chewing the donut she was holding in her hand.

I was about to get up after finishing my donut.

Suddenly, a girl of the same age as us appeared from the other side of the street.

Mixing in with the crowd of people, the girl looked in our direction.

Is Sarah looking at her in fascination?

“Ah.”

Sarah looked in the same direction as me and found a girl.

At that moment, Sarah quickly got up from the table to see what was happening.

━━Drur!

Sarah stood up dragging a chair and said to me.

“… … I’ll hide for a moment. Even if anyone looks for me, tell them I’m not there. Please.”

“What? Why are you doing this all of a sudden?”

“Tell me I’m not there!”

Sarah hid from the streets in the blink of an eye.

There was no time to properly ask what was going on.

‘what?’

It was surprising that Sarah was hiding from someone. He was a relaxed kid even when he encountered ghosts with terrible appearances.

‘Could it be that that girl is a very strong evil spirit?’

I was so nervous that my hands became tense. Could it be that the girl who was looking at us was an evil spirit? The girl actually broke through the crowd and came towards the table where I was. But when I looked closer, I saw that the girl was not a ghost but a living person.

“Hey… .”

The girl with short hair spoke to me cautiously.

“Wasn’t there a girl here who looked like a foreigner just now? I think there was someone sitting next to you.”

“There was.”

“Do you know where he went? Sera strong.”

Surprisingly, the girl even knew Sarah’s name. After hearing the girl’s question, I was troubled for a moment. I knew where Sarah was hiding, but I couldn’t give her an easy answer.

“Who are you?”

“I was Sarah’s friend when I went to kindergarten.”

Also, are you friends from kindergarten?

I didn’t know Sarah had friends other than me.

Because at school, I was always a habit of keeping my distance from other kids.

“I don’t know either. It suddenly disappeared.”

“I see.”

In the end, I did as I was asked and pretended that Sarah wasn’t there. After hearing the answer, the girl sighed and left near the table. After the girl completely left the street, Sarah, who had been hiding, quietly returned to my side.

“Hu… . I’m glad I wasn’t caught hiding.”

I saw Sarah sighing in relief.

I asked Sarah about the girl’s identity.

“So who is he? Is this really your friend?”

“That’s right. This is a girl named Yoon So-mi. We were friends when we were in kindergarten.”

“I didn’t know you had friends other than me.”

“Did you have a friend? Just like you were best friends with Joo-hyuk, I was also best friends with Somi. Not now though.”

Are you saying you are not friends with Somi now? It is quite possible to slowly become distant from a child you were close with in kindergarten. However, it was strange that he got so far away that he had to hide and avoid it.

“Did you fight with him?”

“I’ve never had a fight. I’m just avoiding it because there’s something I can’t do.”

“What on earth does it mean that something cannot be helped? Let’s hear it.”

Sarah told me why she was avoiding her friend.

“My family is of shamanic descent, so I have a strange feeling about it.”

Divine energy.

I heard that it is a mysterious and mysterious energy that shamans have.

It was natural that Sarah had a miraculous spirit.

“If you become close to someone who has magical powers, that person will see ghosts.”

“Why are you excited?”

“People with divine energy can act like antennas that transmit the images of ghosts. In particular, I send the scenes I saw to someone with whom I have a deep emotional connection. This happens unconsciously, so I can’t control it myself.”

If you become friends with someone who has spiritual powers, you will see ghosts.

I too had heard a similar story.

This is a story about people who have friends who have magical powers, or who have shamans among their acquaintances.

‘I was playing with a friend who had magical powers, and I saw ghosts around me.’

‘I saw people I didn’t know around me, but it turned out they were ghosts.’

I had heard such stories, but this was the first time I learned the exact operating principle.

I never would have guessed that having an emotional connection with someone with divine energy was a condition.

After meeting Sarah, it was natural that I began to see ghosts in my eyes.

“When I was in kindergarten, I didn’t know much about my role. So I became friendly with the kids around me. Then the kids I became close to started seeing ghosts.”

Sarah told me about something she experienced in kindergarten.

“It was especially worse for Somi. Because he was the closest to me. One day, he suddenly started seeing terrible things in his eyes. Moreover, ghosts are obsessed with people who can see them. The desire to be seen by living people is so strong that they try to follow people who can see them.”

“Hmm… But he doesn’t follow me.”

“That’s because you’re so strong that you’re special.”

Unlike me, who was energetic, the children who were close to Sarah in kindergarten seemed normal. Thanks to this, an accident occurred in the kindergarten where Sarah attended, where a group of children were harassed by a spirit.

“… … It wasn’t too much of a fuss. You don’t know how much trouble I suffered because of the young children who flocked to the kindergarten at that time. My mom told me the solution, and I managed to resolve it well by chasing away the spirits.”

“Is that why you became distant from your friends?”

“To be exact, I ended up avoiding my friends. If you don’t have emotional connection, those kids won’t see ghosts.”

Now I understand.

The reason Sarah had a habit of keeping her distance from other people was because of Shingi. For some reason, he didn’t become friends with other kids other than me until the end of his third year, and maybe that was the reason.

“Sera… .”

After hearing the situation, I felt sorry for Sarah. If so, it meant that I couldn’t make proper friends for the rest of my life because of Shinki. I couldn’t imagine what he was like before meeting me. It’s a life where you have to build a wall for yourself and push away people who approach you.

“It must be very difficult.”

“No! It’s not that hard.”

I sympathized with her, but for some reason, Sarah responded that it was nothing.

Sarah looked at me with a smile.

“Now there is someone who is always by my side.”

“Who?”

“You, you.”

Me and Sarah’s eyes met.

Mysterious blue eyes were looking at me.

At that moment, the bustling noise from the street moved away from us.

Sarah’s voice rang clearly in my ears.

“I’m glad to meet you, Jinwoo.”

Sarah smiled brightly.

He was smiling happily when he saw me.

“Yeah, yeah.”

I felt a little embarrassed.

I also have something I want to say to Sarah.

I held back my shame and opened my mouth.

“… I’m happy too.”

“Are you really happy?”

“That’s right.”

“You’re not suddenly scared of me and running away like a coward, are you? Hehehe.”

“There is absolutely no need to run away.”

That’s how our day went by.

It was a memory from my childhood.