LFG 103

“Ugh.”

When he woke up in the morning, his stomach was a mess. It felt like there was a roller coaster inside his body.

‘I feel like I’m going to die.’

Ki Jae-eon sighed, his head spinning.

“Ugh……”

He touched his temples. The throbbing wasn’t a good sign. He knew that he wasn’t a strong drinker, but he didn’t know it would be this bad. Ugh! His upper body involuntarily bent over because of the churning stomach.

‘But I’m glad I made it back.’

He didn’t remember, but he was glad he was able to return to the accommodation.

‘Should I thank him for not abandoning me… or should I resent him for making me drink?’

“Oh? You’re awake.”

Just as he was groaning alone, Kim Ju-won opened the old door and came in. The familiar scent seemed to clear his dizzy head a little. Ki Jae-eon sluggishly raised his head. Go, good mor— Ugh! He covered his mouth.

“How’s your stomach?”

“……Ugh.”

That was enough of an answer.

“Look at your face, you look like you’re dying.”

Kim Ju-won shook his head and handed him a cup of honey water.

“Drink this. It’ll make you feel better.”

Seeing the ice floating in it, he felt an insane thirst.

Ki Jae-eon took the cup without a word. He gulped down the cold, sweet honey water, which quickly passed down his esophagus. As he emptied the cup, the churning in his stomach gradually subsided.

“Haa, th, thank you……”

“Do you know how surprised I was yesterday? Suddenly, the two of you went out, and the little Teacher came back being carried on someone’s back.”

I was carried on someone’s back. Ki Jae-eon quietly avoided his gaze, feeling his face flush.

“The kids were worried too. You smelled so strongly of alcohol.”

Ah, I showed such a disgraceful sight in front of the kids… He felt like biting his tongue.

“But what made you drink so much? Did something happen?”

Kim Ju-won asked as he took back the empty cup. It seemed that he was quite concerned that Ki Jae-eon, of all people, had returned drunk, and his face looked quite serious as he asked.

“Is it something upsetting enough to make you drink?”

“Ah……”

“I’m just asking in case, but did Seo-myeong say something that bothered you?”

“Seo, Seo-myeong?”

Seeing his expression that seemed to ask why Ahn Seo-myeong was suddenly being brought up, Kim Ju-won scratched the back of his neck and gave an awkward smile. He had a look on his face that seemed to know something but was hiding it.

“Well, never mind. It’s nothing… That guy sometimes says things that make people’s stomachs churn, so I was just wondering.”

“Th, that’s not it. N, nothing happened with Seo-myeong.”

He couldn’t bring himself to say that he had been forced to drink, and he just awkwardly pursed his lips. Kim Ju-won seemed to sense that he didn’t want to be asked any further and gave a sign that he wouldn’t pry.

“Oh, okay. I understand. You don’t have to tell me if you’re uncomfortable, little Teacher. More honey water?”

“……Ah, no.”

“Okay, then I’ll just check your temperature.”

A rough palm parted his hair and touched his cool forehead. Just a moment. Kim Ju-won’s face, seen up close, looked quite serious. But the hand that was checking his temperature was very careful and affectionate.

“Hmm, it’s okay. It seems like a simple hangover.”

With a clean diagnosis, his hand moved away.

“The kids went to explore the place that Teacher Shin told them about. The place where the Jiangshi are suspected to appear.”

“Ah, uh-huh.”

“Eun-ha and Gyeong-hak, I separately… Why?”

“Huh?”

“Why are you staring so intently? Is there something you’re curious about?”

“Ah, th, that’s…”

That’s? Kim Ju-won waited for Ki Jae-eon’s next words with a gentle attitude. The rough appearance of the past was nowhere to be seen, and he was completely tamed. It was as if a fierce dog had suddenly tucked its tail between its legs and taken a submissive posture.

‘Especially after the Ferris wheel…’

His eyes, tone, and actions had become excessively affectionate.

As much as he had declared that he would ‘take responsibility,’ Kim Ju-won was doing his best to treat Ki Jae-eon with the utmost care. In other words, it was blatant favoritism, and more.

“Ah, it’s nothing. Continue talking.”

“Little Teacher is strange today.”

“N, not really…”

Ki Jae-eon dropped his gaze downward. Seeing his attitude of avoiding eye contact, Kim Ju-won narrowed his eyes and scanned him. What’s wrong with him? He clearly had something to hide. But seeing his gesture that he didn’t want to talk about it, he reluctantly nodded. Instead, he continued what he was saying.

“This place, I keep feeling uneasy about it.”

“You feel une, uneasy?”

Kim Ju-won glanced slightly towards the door and then moved closer to Ki Jae-eon’s ear.

“Doesn’t it feel a little unnatural?”

Even though there isn’t much deep interaction between the main office (Seoul) and the Sea God (Busan), it doesn’t make sense that they wouldn’t have heard any news until the building reached this state, and above all, the fact that I can’t feel the presence of other Exorcists is also bothering me—Kim Ju-won explained.

“The building is corroded in many places… It shows signs of being ruined a long time ago.”

In other words, this state has been maintained for quite a long time.

“No matter how I think about it, there are more than one or two awkward things.”

“……”

“Well, it wouldn’t matter if it’s just my paranoia.”

Kim Ju-won scratched his head and muttered, “I have a strange feeling.”

‘He certainly has a better sense than the other kids.’

No, should I say he’s more experienced? Ki Jae-eon showered Kim Ju-won’s sharpness with generous praise inwardly. In fact, he had felt that the state of the Sea God was unsettling from the moment he crossed the threshold. So, while Shin Yoon was assigning tasks to the children, he secretly looked around the building. However, he didn’t detect any particularly evil energy, and he didn’t find any special things that needed attention, so he had turned his attention away.

Of course, he wasn’t trying to ignore it completely.

From the absence of the Exorcists to the reason for the building’s collapse, it was clear that these were things that needed to be addressed. However, there was no need to focus on the suspicion right away and create unnecessary trouble. It’s not too late to finish the commissioned work and return to the main office to report to the higher-ups.

Above all, there were many children to protect here.

Even if he were to catch a really strange movement, he would have to take a step back.

‘If I were alone, it would be different, but there are kids.’

That’s because, even in detective novels, there’s nothing more foolish than showing that ‘I know something’ in a situation where you don’t know who the culprit is. That’s like saying, ‘Hey! I’m ready to dig into everything you do from now on and interfere, so you’ll be in big trouble if you don’t kill me right now!’ So, the smartest thing to do is to remain silent and then notify the police. Of course, here, the target to replace the police organization would be the adults of the main office.

There’s no reason to deliberately step on and detonate a minefield that looks dangerous at a glance.

“Anyway, that’s why I sent Gyeong-hak and Eun-ha to look around the neighborhood separately.”

‘Yeah, patrolling is okay. It will be a good experience.’

But only up to there.

I’m going to stop them if they do anything dangerous.

Ki Jae-eon said he understood and asked them to contact him as soon as the children returned.

“Ju-won hyung.”

“Huh?”

“Acting alone is a, not allowed. You know.”

He’s speaking indirectly, but he means to report and move on anything.

Kim Ju-won, who would have been prickly and said, ‘Who are you to tell me what to do?’ in the past, now answers, “Isn’t that obvious?”

“Don’t worry. I warned the kids in advance not to move rashly. Of course, I will too.”

Kim Ju-won smiled lightly.

“I told you. I’ll prioritize the little Teacher. I won’t give you any more heartache, so trust me.”

*

And that evening, when everyone had finished their work and gathered again.

All the children except Lee Gyeong-hak and Jo Eun-ha stated that they had found and exorcised the beings called ‘Jiangshi’ as Shin Yoon had said. Pale and blue-veined skin, stiff limbs like corpses, white traditional clothes. It was exactly as they had heard. They were even hard to kill, and it was difficult to make them disappear. Spirituality doesn’t work well on them?

“Two or three people had to stick to one.”

“They were quite strong.”

“Yeah. What about you, Eun-ha? Did you find out anything?”

“That’s… well.”

Jo Eun-ha exchanged glances with Lee Gyeong-hak and then shook her head with a look of dismay.

“Nothing.”

“Nothing?”

“Yeah, the townspeople don’t know anything either. No one remembers why this building is in this state. I asked around, but all they said was, ‘Oh, that place? Wasn’t it originally an abandoned house?’ It’s strange, isn’t it?”

As soon as she finished speaking, silence fell. The children exchanged glances and held their breath. That’s because everyone sensed ‘strangeness’.

“Should we dig deeper?”

Everyone probably has a few hypotheses in their heads.

For example, the strange behavior of the villagers who don’t remember the collapse of the building.

It’s unsettling, but manipulating memories is surprisingly easy.

Especially if a skilled Exorcist is staying there.

In other words, it is possible to suggest some possibilities.

However, the problem was that Shin Yoon’s image as an Exorcist of the Sea God was quite good to simply conclude that ‘something is happening in this village’. Although he made the children do chores like cleaning the building, he didn’t seem like an ‘evil person’ with dirty intentions. Rather, he seemed like a virtuous person who was subduing Jiangshi for the sake of the village.

Above all, even if he was plotting a vicious plan.

Would he deliberately bring in Ki Jae-eon, who would be a hindrance, like this? He’s not stupid.

“W, well-.”

Ki Jae-eon cleared the atmosphere that was about to become serious.

“Let’s j, just focus on the work we’ve been assigned. It would be b, better to go back and report the rest to the elders. Don’t say anything unnecessary to Shin Teacher… Everyone, act naturally.”

“Yeah, let’s do as the little Teacher says. Let’s just focus on exorcism for now.”

“I agree. I think it’s right for the elders to sort it out.”

“Hmm, I think it’s right for the adults to solve it.”

“And what we need to worry about now isn’t the Sea God… We need to finish quickly and go back to training!”

The children nodded.