Haunted House Experience
Detective Oh Su-hyeok let out a heavy sigh that seemed to drop from his lips with a thud. The wave of exhaustion crashing over him was immense. He was writing up the report, at least in a formal sense, but as expected, putting it together wasn’t easy. Under normal circumstances, he would have finished and submitted it long ago. Yet it kept getting delayed, and now here he was, still wrestling with it. Staring at the monitor in a way that didn’t suit him at all had only made the fatigue worse. On top of that, he had no idea how to even explain this case, which made things even more awkward. There were still so many unknowns, so many questions he wanted answered.
The unidentified group of people in suits was one thing, but tracking down that strange priest was proving just as difficult. Speaking of that young priest, the more Oh Su-hyeok thought about it, the stronger the feeling grew that he had seen the man somewhere before. It wasn’t as if they were acquainted. Still, something about the face felt familiar, so he had gone back and reviewed past cases one by one just in case. Nothing had come up. Yet the face remained strangely recognizable.
Detective Oh Su-hyeok, who had been working on the report, fell into another bout of deep thought and came to a complete stop. As if by habit, he exhaled another sigh and absently stroked the scruffy beard that had begun to grow thick along his chin. After sitting there like that for a while, the restlessness finally got the better of him. He gave up on the report altogether and rose from his chair.
He had probably smoked more cigarettes in the past week than in his entire life combined. But when his mind was this tangled, there was no way he could resist the urge. Since smoking was banned inside the station, he stepped out into the cold. February was already drawing to a close, yet spring still showed no sign of arriving. How was time passing so quickly…?
Shivering from the chill that pierced straight through him, he put a cigarette between his lips and lit it. Puff after puff, the hazy smoke billowed out between his moving lips along with yet another sigh. Even while smoking, the frustration inside his chest felt as if it were lodged there, refusing to budge.
That was when someone approached and stopped beside him. A quick glance revealed it was Team Leader Kim Hyeong-taek.
The way he spoke, as if Oh Su-hyeok were personally hoarding his stash, struck the detective as incredibly shameless. He pursed his lips and muttered something about not having any spares, but Kim Hyeong-taek simply waved a hand with a sharp click of his tongue.
In the end, Oh Su-hyeok pulled out a cigarette and even lit it for him. Between the two men, thick clouds of smoke rose and swirled. A brief silence settled over them. The sky above was gradually darkening, as though it might begin to spit something down at any moment.
Then Oh Su-hyeok asked in a low voice, “What are we going to do about this case?”
“But…”
Team Leader Kim Hyeong-taek was one of the people Oh Su-hyeok had told the truth. Of course, at first the older man had wondered if the detective had simply lost his mind. But when the victim Hye-jeong said the exact same things, Kim Hyeong-taek had apparently spent quite some time in confusion himself. That was why the missing individuals had been officially listed as such, yet he too seemed at a loss for how to wrap this situation up, clearly just as frustrated.
The cigarette smoke shot out in an irritated burst. Oh Su-hyeok was exhaling his own smoke with the same stifled feeling when Kim Hyeong-taek suddenly rummaged through his pocket and handed over a small slip of paper with a phone number written on it. As Oh Su-hyeok accepted it with a puzzled look, the team leader spoke.
“Ah… but why give it to me? You could just call him yourself, sir…”
At that, Kim Hyeong-taek shook his head as if the very idea gave him the chills.
“Is it really okay for me to do that?”
“Why are you suddenly saying something like that?”
Kim Hyeong-taek let out a short bark of laughter, tapped the ash from his cigarette onto the ground, and added, “Because if you poke your nose where it doesn’t belong out of sheer curiosity, you might end up well and truly fucked. So… it might actually be better for you to just let this one slide quietly. These recent incidents, including this one, feel… ominous, don’t they?”
“Then why give me the number at all?” Oh Su-hyeok waved the slip of paper in his hand. Kim Hyeong-taek’s expression stiffened slightly. He paused for a moment. The cigarette pinched between his index and middle fingers burned down uselessly.
“Ah… so you’re telling me to choose.”
Kim Hyeong-taek gave another small chuckle and blew out a long stream of smoke. He ground the butt beneath his shoe, then headed back inside the building. Left alone, Oh Su-hyeok stared down at the phone number his superior had given him and exhaled another sharp puff of smoke. Just then, snowflakes began to drift down from the sky. Snow in February… This year had definitely seen far more snow than the last. It was getting downright tiresome.
The next day, Detective Oh Su-hyeok visited the hospital. With a fruit basket in one hand, he made his way to the familiar ward. It was a standard room on the second floor. When he stepped inside, he saw several patients lying in bed watching television or fiddling with their phones. They all looked remarkably at ease.
In the bed farthest back lay Hye-jeong.
Thankfully, Hye-jeong’s expression was remarkably bright. As Oh Su-hyeok smiled and approached, he noticed her friends were there as well. A slightly flustered look crossed his face as he greeted them. It seemed her friends had been about to leave anyway; they stood up at once.
Oh Su-hyeok waited quietly until her friends had left the room. Only after they had gone did he hand Hye-jeong the fruit basket he had brought.
Hye-jeong spoke in a playful tone. Just as she said, she looked perfectly all right. Even after going through something like that. Most people who experienced such an event would suffer not only physically but mentally as well. Yet Hye-jeong seemed remarkably resilient. She was only in her early to mid-twenties, but she possessed a strong core and surprising toughness. Oh Su-hyeok nodded, relieved.
Then Hye-jeong asked, “By the way, did you find him?”
“Him?”
At Oh Su-hyeok’s words, Hye-jeong showed clear disappointment. After a brief pause, she added in a teasing voice, “He was pretty handsome, though.”
Oh Su-hyeok looked at her with an expression of pure disbelief, and she burst into playful giggles.
Come to think of it, he wasn’t sure. Could priests or pastors date women and get married? It seemed like they could… As Oh Su-hyeok muttered to himself, Hye-jeong let out a loud laugh. Even the detective couldn’t help but chuckle at the absurd topic.
Was that her true feeling? Oh Su-hyeok felt the same way. Thanks to that man, they had prevented any further victims. If possible, he wanted to convey his gratitude. Looking back, there had been a chance at the time, but he had let it slip. He regretted that. He also wished he could have spoken with him a little longer.