EP.2 Descending Dusk (2)

Mu-ryeong was the youngest child born into a promising exorcist family. He had kind and loving parents, mischievous older siblings, and a dog. Growing up, he received the love of his entire family and was seen as a prodigy, the kind that only appears once every hundred years.

From the moment of his birth, Mu-ryeong’s spiritual energy already surpassed that of adults, and he knew how to control that energy freely without any special training. Furthermore, his ability to sense souls was so exceptional that he was no longer considered a mere mortal. 

In fact, there was a saying that went around, “To beat Kim Mu-ryeong, you have a chance if you are born on a leap year day (February 29th).” Of course, even Mu-ryeong himself was born in a leap year, so it wouldn’t be of much use anyway.

Anyway, with such a promising future ahead of him, Mu-ryeong was smoothly walking the royal road as an exorcist. During the day, he went to high school like an ordinary student, and at night, he trained to control his spiritual energy at home. Occasionally…

“Ghosts.”

He caught ghosts.

“What did you say?”

“I couldn’t sleep because of the ghosts.”

May, after the midterm exams were over. Before it was time to go to school, Mu-ryeong was sobbing loudly and collapsed on his desk. The way he kept closing and opening his eyes clearly showed that he was very sleepy.

“Ah, It’s a ghost.”

Seung-ju, who was sitting next to him, nodded as if he understood. As someone who had known Mu-ryeong since childhood, he could roughly guess the situation just by hearing the word “ghost.” Maybe someone had requested Mu-ryeong’s help, or it was just his typical stubbornness.

“A request?”

“…….”

Unfortunately, his first guess was wrong. Mu-ryeong silently answered by avoiding Seung-ju’s gaze. Seung-ju chuckled and said, “Looks like we have a volunteer here.”

“So, what was it?”

“…….”

Mu-ryeong’s face crumpled up. His round eyes twisted without restraint. It was an expression of great discomfort, but Seung-ju knew that he would soon speak.

“You know that thing about the senior students fainting in the new building?”

As expected, Mu-ryeong told the truth with a frown. It was a story that Seung-ju was already familiar with.

“The English teacher’s flower bed?”

At Hae Yeon High School’s new building, there was a flower bed managed by a veteran English teacher. It was a place where spring flowers were planted in the spring and fall flowers in the fall, but recently it had become a place where strange incidents continued to occur. Every morning, different 3rd-year students would faint there, with no way to explain it.

“No one was hurt, but just in case, I waited there yesterday.”

To investigate the cause of this phenomenon, Mu-ryeong stayed up all night guarding the new building with eyes wide open. He hid in a classroom where the garden was visible and waited endlessly until morning. Although he felt drowsy at times, staying up all night was not a big deal for him.

“Hear this; one of the 3rd year students was possessed, trying to jump through the window.”

“Wait… Through the window?”

“Yes, the one right in front of the flower bed.”

“So, what happened? Did you stop them from jumping?”

“Of course, I stopped them. I caught that senior but ended up bruising my elbow after the collision.”

Mu-ryeong suddenly stood up and held out his right arm, wincing in pain. It was the spot where he had collided with the student just a few hours ago. When he checked in the bathroom, his elbow down to his wrist was bruised.

“Well done. If he had fallen… No, wait, how many floors was it?”

“…….”

At the sound of Seung-ju’s words, Mu-ryeong stopped his movements for a moment. Seung-ju furrowed his brows slightly as if something was off. Even if it was Kim Mu-ryeong who caught them this time, it was strange that none of the students discovered at that place had been hurt so far.

As expected, Mu-ryeong answered briefly after a long silence.

“The first floor.”

Only after grabbing the student did he realise that the location where they were waiting was none other than the first floor.

“I was just startled because they tried to jump down.”

Well, he didn’t mention that he had been even more surprised because he was a little sleepy. He didn’t want to be asked if he was going to continue doing it without sleeping like that. As expected, Seung-ju spoke in a cold voice.

“Are you going to keep doing that if someone jumps out of a window on the first floor and gets hurt again?”

“…….”

Moreover, he didn’t say things like “Thank goodness it was only the first floor” or “It would have been a disaster if it was higher.” Even the simple-minded Mu-ryeong had enough sense to know that. Seung-ju sighed and took out the ointment from his bag.

“So, why did that crazy ghost make a suicide commotion on the first floor?”

“Hey, it wasn’t anything like suicide.”

Mu-ryeong extended his right arm to Seung-ju without saying a word. He decided to take his shirt off, as it looked awkward just rolling his sleeves up. Since he was wearing a T-shirt underneath, it wasn’t embarrassing to unbutton it. Seung-ju applied the ointment with a rough touch and asked without much care.

“What is it, then?”

“It’s just a teacher with an overflowing sense of responsibility.”

Mu-ryeong’s eyes drooped with sadness. Whenever he made this expression, Seung-ju’s heart would weaken without him even realising it. At the same time, he couldn’t help but wonder what kind of story this guy had heard to act like this.

“Originally, there was an abandoned building in place of the new school building. There was a teacher who used to work there a long time ago.”

Recently, there was construction to convert an abandoned building in a corner of the school into a new building. The construction had been planned since before Mu-ryeong entered the school, but it didn’t start until they became second-year students. The students complained about why it had taken so long, but Mu-ryeong thought they shouldn’t have touched that place.

“Right after becoming the homeroom teacher, it kind of just happened… He knows he is dead and that this is wrong, but his regret keeps lingering on, so he just goes into the body of any student he sees.”

“Then why does he jump out of the window instead of going to the classroom?”

“According to an old map, this was the location of the classroom for 3rd grade Class 1.” 

With the new building, the classroom locations couldn’t be the same. There was no way a confused ghost could find its way to the newly constructed classroom. They would just endlessly wander or constantly head towards the place they originally knew.

“As soon as I arrived at the classroom and stood at the teacher’s desk, it was able to rest in peace.”

Although the ghost had introduced himself and taken attendance, Mu-ryeong didn’t mention this. He knew that if they talked more deeply, Seo Seung-ju’s nagging would start immediately. Mu-ryeong knew all too well how painful Seung-ju’s application of the ointment could be.

“Alright, they should not cry about the English teacher’s flowers getting ruined anymore.”

After meticulously applying the ointment, Seung-ju wiped off his fingers on Mu-ryeong’s T-shirt. Although there was tissue paper on top of the locker, he just acted in a brazen manner. Of course, Mu-ryeong just pursed his lips without saying anything.

After that, Mu-ryeong just slept until lunchtime. He slept during the morning study period and the first period; he was even dozing off when they moved to the music room.

It couldn’t be helped. He explained it briefly to Seung-ju, but the truth was that Mu-ryeong had stayed up all night for three days now. No matter how exceptional his psychic abilities were, staying up all night would make anyone sleepy.

“Mu-ryeong, wake up. Let’s go eat.”

“Hm…”

“’Hm…’ won’t do it; get up.”

At the sound of the lunch bell, Seung-ju shook Mu-ryeong awake without hesitation. Mu-ryeong, still half asleep, lazily waved his hand as if to say he was too lazy to get up. It was meant for him to go and eat alone, but Seung-ju didn’t give up easily.

“Hey, eat and then sleep.”

Seung-ju never let Mu-ryeong skip lunchtime, even if he let him skip class time. Skipping lunch was unfathomable for Seo Seung-ju. Besides, since Mu-ryeong used psychic abilities, he needed to manage his energy so that it wouldn’t drain quickly.

Finally, Seung-ju dragged Mu-ryeong along towards the cafeteria. Every student they passed couldn’t help but stifle their laughter at the sight of Mu-ryeong getting half carried by Seung-ju.

Mu-ryeong came to his senses halfway there, but he was too lazy to walk, so he just clung to Seung-ju’s back.

“They’re doing that again.”

“Is Mu-ryeong still sleeping?”

“Seo Seung-ju is so nice. If it were me, I would have left Mu-ryeong behind.”

“A father shouldn’t abandon his child.”

“Who called me a father?”

The last words came out of Seung-ju’s mouth. Unlike Seung-ju, who was quite dissatisfied, Mu-ryeong smiled brightly and swung his legs back and forth. He openly enjoyed it and even went one step further.

“Dad, I want some food.”

“You crazy son of a bitch.”

Without hesitation, Seo Seung-ju threw his precious son. Kim Mu-ryeong landed gracefully on both feet and stretched out. Thanks to sleeping deeply all morning, his body felt light.

“What are you doing every night that you sleep all the time? Are you hunting ghosts or something?”

A guy made a playful remark on their way to the cafeteria. It was obviously a joke, and even Mu-ryeong answered nonchalantly, “How did you know?” Only Seung-ju seemed unimpressed and let out a sigh, not saying anything.

“There are no ghosts in this world.”

“Well, I believe in ghosts.”

“Me too. I didn’t believe in them before, but when I see Mu-ryeong, it feels like they really exist.”

The conversation topic quickly turned into a series of ghost stories that were uploaded to the internet. Stories like something coming out of the wardrobe, someone knocking on the door only to find nobody outside, or even dreaming of the grim reaper—for Mu-ryeong, who spent the whole night being tormented by ghosts, it was not a particularly pleasant subject.

“Mu-ryeong, since we’re talking about it, let me make a request.”

A friend who was suddenly next to him grabbed Mu-ryeong’s arm and spoke. It was a student who claimed not to believe in ghosts. Instead of pointing out that fact, Mu-ryeong lightly cleared his throat.

“Hmm…”

After entering high school, Mu-ryeong started doing simple exorcism work. Things like strange noises coming from the music room, the elevator in an apartment building acting up, or small things about having nightmares every night.

At first, he only received requests for spiritual phenomena, but gradually, he became a problem solver and started doing things like getting rid of stalkers or acting as a pretend boyfriend. Although he was closer to being a problem solver than an exorcist, Mu-ryeong didn’t hesitate to help others. Moreover, he was receiving a considerable fee.

What was strange was that the payment was not in money but in goods.

“Minji, I don’t have anything to receive from you…”

“Can’t I pay with money?”

“I already have a lot of money.”

Instead of money, Mu-ryeong always asked his clients for small, old items, things like a pencil they used as a child, a worn-out eraser, or a friendship ring they got as a joke. The smaller and older the item, the better it was for him.

“Got any old stuff? Something that’s over 10 years old.”

“How about the couple ring I got with my ex-boyfriend?”

“I said 10 years old.”

Mu-ryeong chuckled lightly. His friend also seemed to realise it wouldn’t work and smirked.

He was at a point where he was about to ask if she had any hair ties she used to wear when she was young.