Heredity (2)

“Do you want to have a dessert? The cakes here are delicious.”

Pastor Cheon Aesu ordered a drink at the cafe.
I was in the middle of a group meeting and already had a drink, so I didn’t need to order anything new.
I didn’t really feel like eating anything either.

What I was curious about was the fact that Pastor Cheon Aesu, whom I thought had no relation to us, knew my mother.
Come to think of it, I think my mother did mention that her hometown was Gaeryong City.
So she didn’t just come down to her hometown to get a job?

*Glance*

I furtively observed the man sitting across from me in the corner of the cafe.

He was a broad-shouldered, sturdy man.
Roughly in his early 50s.
He had the image of a retired firefighter, police officer, or soldier.

If he weren’t wearing a shirt and a Roman collar, no one would have thought he was a pastor. Look at those thick trapezius muscles. Even with ten of me, I wouldn’t be able to beat him.

Pastor Cheon Aesu spoke.

“You’ve grown a lot. The last time I saw you, you were a baby as small as a fist. Time really flies, doesn’t it? How is Chaeyeon doing? I heard she’s been on and off?”

An acquaintance of my mother.
Someone who knows me from my childhood…

Having been fighting ghosts and dealing with all sorts of nonsense these past few days, I couldn’t help but feel suspicious.
I hope he’s not trying to deceive me.
I gave a vague answer.

“My mother is doing well.”

“Is that so.”

*Swish*

Pastor Cheon Aesu took out his cell phone.
It was the latest model that I had seen in an advertisement when I went to get my mother’s phone fixed.

“Look at this. Back then, your mother and father were just like you are now. Did they tell you that your parents met in our church’s youth group?”

“The 1st Church of Glory Youth Group Gaeryong Mountain Retreat”

In the photo, several people were brightly smiling while holding up a placard with their hands.
They seemed to be around my age, but the traces of time could be felt.

“Look. Here’s your mother, and over there is your father.”

“……”

“You still don’t like talking about your father?”

I glanced around at the people nearby.
*Chatter, chatter*

Inside the bustling cafe.
It’s a bit early to turn on the air conditioning in this not-quite-spring weather, but it’s very hot.
My glass, which I had been nervously sipping from, was now left with only ice and no liquid.

“Youngwon. I’m sorry about what happened with your father. Chaeyeon also had a hard time after that day. But I hope you can pull yourself together and live a new life. Everyone has a chance to live a new life.”

Everyone has a chance to live a new life…
Those words suddenly reminded me of what the “facility deacon” had said.

According to Jeong Seok, there was a criminal in this Church of Glory who slit a high school girl’s throat and hadn’t paid for his crime?
The moment I remembered that I came to my senses.
If I kept getting swept up in Pastor Cheon Aesu’s pace like this, I’d end up only showing my own cards.

Calm down.

*Phew*

I took a deep breath, but only in my mind.
Was it because of the effect of the newly acquired “Strong Heart”?
I was able to calm down faster than I thought.

“Pastor, I have a question. How long have you been at this Church of Glory?”

“I am the founding pastor of this church.”

“I heard… before this church was built, there was something like a shrine tree here. Is that true? I’m writing a report on the history of Gaeryong City, you see.”

The report part was a lie, but I didn’t feel particularly guilty about it.
I have to survive first, don’t I?!
I need to gather a lot of information!

“There was a large tree. It was hideous. We had to start construction, but no one would cut down the tree. They said they would be punished by heaven. So I took an axe and chainsaw and cut it down myself.”

“Oh.”

“The chair and desk in my office now are made from that shrine tree.”

…If it were me, I’d be too scared of being cursed to do something like that.
He was a very fearless person.

“Then what happened to the head shaman of that shrine? There must have been a head shaman tending to the shrine tree, right? What happened to that shaman?”

“Shaman?”

Pastor Cheon Aesu frowned.
The pastor asked back.

“Why are you asking about a shaman? They’re not the kind of people you should get close to. Most of them are fakes and people who follow a very misguided spirit, so don’t be curious about them.”

Right. A pastor wouldn’t like talking about shamans.
It was a natural reaction.
I had anticipated this kind of reaction, so I had prepared something to say.

“I heard that my friend Juhui’s maternal family has been shamans for generations. I was wondering if Juhui might have become a shaman too if she hadn’t gone to church…Of course, things like shamans are all trickery and lies.”

“Lies, you say. It’s not entirely lies. The Bible also tells stories of ghosts, demons, and Satan entering people’s bodies to deceive and delude them.”

“Hmm.”

“Do you know what the most vicious ghost is? It’s the spirit of suicide. These spirits make people despair and drive them to suicide. The head shaman of the shrine committed suicide. Hanged herself at the school.”

A shaman who hanged herself at school!
Just as I thought, the shaman from Gaeryong who appeared as the bell ghost at school was the head shaman of the shrine!

“Could it be that she committed suicide from the shock of the shrine tree being cut down?”

“No. The church was built after the shaman committed suicide. I bought the land that went on sale and built the church there. It was about 16… 17 years ago now. She was very young. Twenty, I think.”

Twenty?
The math seems a bit off. Yeongji High School was built 40 years ago.
Then the head shaman of the shrine who had a shaman battle with Juhui’s grandmother should be quite old, no?

“Was the shaman who fought with Juhui’s grandmother during Yeongji High School’s construction a different shaman? It’s mentioned here in the former mayor’s autobiography. Here.”

I took out the autobiography I received from Jeong Seok and showed it to Pastor Cheon Aesu.
Pastor Cheon Aesu looked at the part I pointed to and chuckled.

“Well now. Have you even read the former mayor’s autobiography? You’re taking this assignment very seriously. Good. Let me tell you then. The person who fought with Juhui’s grandmother was probably the mother of the shaman who committed suicide. There was a bit of an age gap.”

“Ah.”

“There were very strong opposing opinions when the school was being built. I remember that time too. The Japanese shaman and the original head shaman lady were at each other’s throats. The school construction was about to fall through.”

“Is that so? It says here that a new shaman came and performed a Nureumgut ritual, and the construction ended safely.”

“Yes. The head shaman lady who had been opposing the school construction suddenly passed away. No one knew the reason or cause. She just suddenly died. I remember. That lady had a very young daughter. That child also ended up becoming a shaman like her mother… and hanged herself. Why do shamans’ daughters always try to become shamans too? Tsk.”

So that’s how it was.
Then let me ask one last thing.

“Then what was the reason the shaman committed suicide? Was she looking for something, perhaps?”

“Well. I don’t know much about that either. When the shaman hanged herself, I was ministering in Seoul. At the Gwanak First Presbyterian Church. It’s a grand church, like the walls of Jericho.”

*Rub, rub*

Pastor Cheon Aesu was stroking his chin.

I could instinctively tell that Pastor Cheon Aesu had glossed over and lied in response to my last question.
It meant Pastor Cheon Aesu was also someone who lied, which meant he was an ordinary adult.
Because all adults lie.

“What were you and the pastor talking about for so long?”

On the way home after church time ended.
Yang Juhui seemed curious about my long conversation with Pastor Cheon Aesu.
I told her honestly.

“About my mother. Apparently, she used to be part of the youth group here.”

“Really? So your mom had you while attending the church youth group?”

……
So that’s how it was.
Feeling embarrassed, I made up an excuse.

“Hey. Yang Juhui. Why are you being inappropriate?”

“…How is this inappropriate?!”

“Anyway. I also talked a bit about the shrine shaman. The shaman who fought with your grandmother suddenly died of unknown causes? And that shaman’s daughter also became a shaman but hanged herself at Yeongji High School.”

“Wow. There was a story like that? How terrible.”

Yang Juhui frowned, looking displeased.

Come to think of it… did the family of indigenous shamans lose in a power struggle against the Japanese shaman, Yang Juhui’s grandmother, who came from outside, and got completely wiped out?

Yang Juhui’s maternal family took over the position of the indigenous shaman and thrived with the Cheon family’s support.
However… her cousin Yang Dohee went missing somewhere in the old school building, and because of that, the family fell apart. And when it came to Yang Juhui… she was a delinquent who stole her friend’s box cutter.
Suddenly I became curious.

“Hey. What happened to your grandmother?”

“She suffered from dementia and passed away a few years ago. She got dementia at a relatively young age, so it was hard on my mother. She lived with us and passed away shortly after my sister disappeared.”

I see.
It was a fruitful Sunday, having acquired more information than expected.

The Cheon family, who owned the large mansion.
The fight between the shamans.
The high school girls who go missing at Yeongji High School.
The Nightmare Corridor.
I had a feeling that everything was connected.

Then what about me, Ha Youngwon?

Am I a complete outsider to this case?
I don’t know why someone like me, who has nothing to do with it, obtained a bizarre status window and is doing ghost defense.

I guess I have no choice but to further explore the “Nightmare Corridor.”
On the way home, I told Yang Juhui about the “Nightmare Corridor.”

“I don’t know what you’re saying. So it’s like that game we played before?”

“Yeah. It’s just that feeling. Tons of ghosts appear. So you better be prepared. You might piss your pants for real. But you’ll still come with me, right? We might find your sister.”

I was full of motivation right now.
Youngwon, Jeong Seok, and Yang Juhui, the Corridor Exploration Team, let’s go!

There was still one spot left…
But I couldn’t include people like Jeong Sojin or Kim Geonho.

*Swish*

I checked the message I had sent to Yoo Dahee.

“Are you okay? How are you?”

The “1” indicating the message was sent yesterday was still there.
I thought about calling her, but stopped myself, thinking it might seem too obsessive.

“Hey. Juhui. Then let’s meet in our dreams later.”

“Ugh. So cheesy.”

After walking Yang Juhui home, I returned to my own home.
Today, I really have to enter the “Nightmare Corridor” for the second time!

With that thought, I was about to go up the stairs… but there was something black crouching in front of our dark 4th-floor apartment!

“Oh shit, fuck! You scared me!”

I was really startled.
It felt like I jumped 2 meters into the air.
Seriously, no joke, if I didn’t have a “Strong Heart,” I might have died of a heart attack.

Was it another ghost?
As I was shocked, the light on the 4th floor turned on with a *click*, revealing a familiar face.

“Oh. It’s you. Dahee.”

“……”

The mysterious figure crouching in front of our house was Yoo Dahee.
Yoo Dahee spoke.

“…Youngwon. Can I sleep over at your place?”

“…Sleep over?”

Looking closely, I saw that Yoo Dahee wasn’t even wearing shoes.
She was standing on the floor with stockinged feet.
For some reason, she was wearing her school uniform.

“Dahee. What on earth happened?”

“I ran away from home.”

Oh, shit.
She ran away.

“Since when have you been doing this? You should have at least contacted me.”

“Since this morning. My phone… was confiscated as soon as I got home yesterday. So I just snuck out.”

I felt dizzy.
She had been waiting for me from this morning until evening. It seemed we had missed each other because I went to church.

Then suddenly, suspicion arose.
The richest, prettiest girl in the province ran away from home and waited for me in front of my house like a wet puppy.
This is impossible unless it’s a dream or a delusion.

“…You’re not a ghost or something, are you?”

Because I had used up both bottles of “Subtle Perfume,” the effect of hiding from ghosts was still ongoing.
But there’s always a possibility, isn’t there?

*Click*

The light on the 4th-floor stairs, which had turned on when it sensed movement, went off.
In that darkness, Yoo Dahee spoke.

“…You found out?”

“Oh my god!”

“Pfft! I’m just kidding. Youngwon, you’re really funny.”

*Flicker*

The light came back on.
I somehow felt like I had been bewitched by a fox, but Yoo Dahee was laughing hard.

“Someone told me. Ghosts are dead souls, so their hearts don’t beat. Youngwon. If I’m that scary, why don’t you touch my heart and see if it’s beating or not.”

*Swish*

Yoo Dahee hid her hands behind her butt and stuck out her perky chest under her school uniform vest.
I suddenly felt dizzy!
A situation where a high school girl tells me to touch her chest to confirm if she’s a ghost or not! Does this make sense?
Isn’t this development too convenient for Ha Youngwon?
Am I dreaming right now?

Right! What if this is also an elaborate trap?
I have no choice but to check.

“Then… should I really check?”

*Swish*

I slowly… reached out my hand!