episode_0050

A deathly scream came from Jewoong’s severed head.

━━Kihihihi

Jeung’s head and torso, separated by the martial arts sword, floundered in their respective places for a long time. The sight of the straw doll moving while dismembered was extremely bizarre, but it was not dangerous. Soon, the screaming coming from Jewoong’s head stopped, as if he had run out of breath.

“I became a commander. I can feel the unclean energy disappearing.”

Sera, who had developed a spiritual spirit, informed me that the soul residing in Jewoong had disappeared. But I couldn’t rest assured. I took the EMF meter out of my coat and tried it out.

About one light came on on the EMF meter.

At this level, it meant that there were no ghosts nearby. Lee Eun-sook’s soul, which had been residing in the temple, clearly disappeared. I finally felt relieved. Everything must be thoroughly checked. Because the moment you thought it was over was the most dangerous.

“Let’s clean up properly and then go back. I have to let Da-jeong know that work is finished.”

“I’m glad I know the law. If I didn’t know, I would have had a lot of trouble.”

“Your notebook is a treasure.”

If we didn’t have a notebook recording my father’s story, we would have had a hard time figuring out the method of worship on our own. It’s surprising, but I thought it was a good idea to make notes in advance when I was young. If I hadn’t had the notebook, I would have forgotten most of those countless stories.

We cleaned out the inside of the haunted house. I picked up Jewoong and Tonpa and erased our footprints and fingerprints by wiping them with a handkerchief. Other than that, there was no need to touch anything else. The house was a mess anyway, so even if we threw some things, it didn’t change much. A full-length mirror was simply broken in an abandoned house.

“Let’s go out.”

“It’s already Sunday.”

We climbed over the window frame and went out of the haunted house.

After that, I went out to the side of the road far away, caught a taxi, and went back to Hyehwadang. When we arrived at Hyehwadang, the morning sun was already rising.

We opened the door of the shrine, went in, and called Dajeong.

“Dajeong, it’s all over.”

“Okay, it’s over… ? What?”

I saw Da-jeong curled up covered in a blanket. The dark circles around Da-jeong’s eyes had become even darker, as if she had not been able to sleep all night inside the shrine. I told Da-jeong what happened early in the morning.

“The mirror ghost who tried to harm your brother. I came back after exorcising that.”

“How on earth did you do the exorcism?”

“I broke the mirror that had a ghost in it. I threw the doll at the ghost that came out. After that, I cut off the doll’s neck and it was over.”

I showed Dajeong the Jewoong she brought out of the haunted house. Jeung’s separated head and body were severely swollen. If the head had not been cut off right away, the spirit would have exploded and the ghost would have come out again.

“This is actually a straw doll used during exorcism.”

“Well, I see… . Did you curse a ghost with a straw doll?”

“It’s not a curse, but it can be said to be a trustworthy ordinance.”

Dajeong nodded. Since they were also members of the mystery site, they showed me a straw doll with its head cut off, which made them feel at ease.

“So you can rest assured now.”

Da-jeong’s face was in tears as her brother was taken to the hospital and she was tormented by a ghost.

Dajeong finally looked relieved.

Tears flowed down her cheeks.

“Huh… . Thank you so much. If it weren’t for you guys, both my brother and I would have died.”

Dajeong got up from the floor and bowed her head towards us.

It was a greeting filled with sincere gratitude.

“Ho, do you guys need money or something?”

“No? I don’t receive or receive anything.”

“Wow… Still, please give me your phone number. I want to repay you.”

We didn’t particularly ask for compensation from the people we rescued. Sarah and I were both satisfied with the task of exorcising evil things. Of course, that didn’t mean I refused to give it to him.

“Repayment?”

“Yes.”

“Okay. I’ll give you my number.”

We gave Dajeong our cell phone number. I don’t know how he was going to repay me, but since I was a high school student, I didn’t think it would be anything special. Da-jeong said thank you, bowed her head, and left Hyehwadang.

*

Dajeong’s reward came right back that day.

It was around lunchtime on Sunday.

While we were eating at Hyehwadang, our cell phones rang at the same time.

━━Wow!

“Is it sweet?”

“I think so.”

Sarah and I turned on our phones.

A gift from Da-jeong arrived on our phones via KakaoTalk.

It was a department store gift certificate. Da-jeong sent us gift certificates one by one via KakaoTalk. There was a message written on KakaoTalk asking people to accept it as it was a small gift.

[This is a gift certificate given to me by my mother who works at a department store. It’s a small gift, but please accept it. If you need more gift certificates, I can send you more. There are a lot of them in our house.]

Two gift certificates worth 300,000 won were sent. I had no idea that a high school student would send this much money as a gift. Dajeong’s family seemed like a pretty well-to-do family. Sarah and I got unexpected pocket money.

“Sera. Dajeong sent you a gift certificate? It’s worth 300,000 won.”

“I got it too. Let’s go shopping today. The weather is getting warmer, so I want to buy some new clothes.”

“Shopping… ?”

“Yes, shopping. Let’s buy clothes quickly and come back.”

shopping.

The moment I heard those words, I got a little nervous. Women’s shopping had a very different meaning from men’s. Unlike men who only buy what to buy, women shopped for a long time as if they were at a museum. The same was true for Sarah.

“You only buy real clothes and come back, right? Surely you don’t plan on looking back and staying at the department store until evening?”

“It’s real. Don’t you trust me?”

“Last time I went to the department store with you, we walked around all day… .”

“It was because it was sale period at the time. Today is different.”

For now, I decided to trust Sarah.

Sarah and I left for the department store after lunch.

Mirae Department Store.

It was a department store in Seungcheon-gu. Here I was able to use the gift certificate I received from Dajeong. When we arrived at Mirae Department Store, we exchanged the mobile exchange voucher we received via KakaoTalk for a real gift certificate.

“Let’s go over there.”

“Isn’t that a place that sells clothes?”

“Let’s just go. I suddenly wanted to buy cosmetics.”

As expected, Sarah didn’t just buy clothes and go home. As soon as I arrived at the department store, I took out my card and walked around as if this was my home. Starting with the cosmetics section, I went all the way to the shoe store and even the clothing store.

“Jinwoo. Isn’t that blouse okay?”

“Well.”

Of course, Sarah would look pretty no matter what she wore. However, I didn’t necessarily go out of my way to pick out clothes. To begin with, I had a really bad sense of choosing clothes, so it was a bit difficult for me to confidently recommend clothes to Sarah.

Anyway, Sarah chose her clothes well without me telling her. I walked around with Sarah and bought clothes for myself. Sarah put not only clothes but also other products she liked into her shopping bag.

“You can’t buy all that with 300,000 won, right?”

“Of course I have to spend my own money. Did you really think my shopping would end with 300,000 won? Absolutely not.”

“It wasn’t.”

“Jinwoo. I’ll buy you clothes too. If you need more money, tell me.”

“It’s okay.”

As expected from a rich family, she had no hesitation in spending money.

It was after shopping.

Sarah had several shopping bags in her hands. All items that could be delivered were items left over after delivery.

“Hu… I bought everything.”

Sarah held up shopping bags and looked relieved.

On our way out of the department store, we passed by the accessories store near the entrance.

It was then. A butterfly-shaped hairpin in the store caught my eye. It was a butterfly hairpin with a pretty blue color. I thought Sarah would look pretty if she wore that hairpin. I secretly tried to talk to Sarah.

“Isn’t that hairpin pretty?”

“What is it?”

“It has a butterfly shape. That one.”

“Hmm.”

I could confidently recommend hairpins.

However, Sarah’s reaction was calm.

There was no particular change in expression.

“Not so good? I think it would suit you.”

“No… It’s pretty, but it’s too flashy. There are a lot of hairpins in my house anyway.”

I made a recommendation, but Sarah didn’t seem to be particularly interested. We just passed the store and went out of the department store. After that, we went back to Hyehwadang and had dinner. Suddenly, Sera opened her mouth with a nonchalant expression.

“Jinwoo. I’m going to take a short walk.”

“Shall we go together?”

“No. I’m just going there to digest it by myself.”

Around evening, Sarah left Hyehwadang again.

It seemed like he was going for a walk.

I let Sarah go without much thought.

*

8 o’clock that evening.

Mirae Department Store 1st floor store.

━━Tadadadadak!

Sarah quickly ran back to the department store. I told Jinwoo that I was going for a walk, but that wasn’t true. He had gone out to buy something again at the department store.

“… Hello.”

“Welcome, customer.”

It was late, but the accessory store on the first floor was still open. The store owner welcomed Sarah with a puzzled expression. This was because Sarah, who had run so quickly, was out of breath.

“Hey, customer. Aren’t you here with a male student during the day?”

“That’s right. I came here to buy a hairpin.”

After Sarah calmed down, she looked at the stall. The blue butterfly hairpin I saw during the day was still on the stand. Sarah said to the store owner, pointing at the butterfly hairpin with her finger.

“Please give me this.”

“Yes… ? Wasn’t this item too flashy so you didn’t buy it?”

“I just flicked it once. If she just buys a boy because he chooses her, she seems like an easy girl.”

“Wow.”

The store owner was quick to notice.

He nodded as if he understood what I was saying and gave me a butterfly hairpin.

“Here, sir.”

“Please give me all similar products. I will buy all kinds of butterfly hairpins in this store.”

“Wow.”

The store owner brought out all the different types of butterfly hairpins in the store.

Sarah swiped her card and paid for the lump sum. The shopping bag was filled with butterfly hairpins. Sarah took out the blue butterfly hairpin that Jinwoo had chosen and looked at it.

“Hehe, hehe… .”

Laughter naturally flowed from Sarah’s mouth. I pretended to be cool when Jinwoo was next to me, but there was no need to do that anymore. In fact, Sarah’s inner feelings were not cool at all. When I was at Hyehwadang, I was worried that the butterfly hairpins had already been sold.

‘I said this suits you, right?’

Sarah later secretly planned to wear the butterfly hairpin that Jinwoo had chosen for her. Jin-Woo could have said these words to himself, who appeared arrogantly wearing a hairpin, pretending to be indifferent.

━Wow, Sarah. You look prettier when you wear a hairpin.

━Heh.

The moment she imagined the passionate reaction, Sarah’s cheeks turned red.

It became a shameful expression that I couldn’t show to Jinwoo.

“Ugh.”

Sarah walked out of the department store with a red face and a smile on her face.

A department store employee greeted me from behind with an uneasy expression.

“Hello, guest.”

“Yes.”

The cool breeze outside cooled Sarah’s cheeks.

Sarah thought while holding a shopping bag.

I’m afraid to confess to someone I like.

But if you’re afraid of confessing, shouldn’t you just make the other person confess to you?

I fell in love with Sarah so much that once a confession came out of my childhood friend’s mouth, it was all over.