The Building That Devours People
The building that devoured people was not a dream she had experienced only once. It was a nightmare she suffered almost every single night. Perhaps that was why she was constantly exhausted, and why, even while awake, she sometimes thought she could hear the voices of her friends calling out, searching for a way to escape. That was also why she had returned to this place once more.
Sumin took a sip of her instant coffee, which had already gone cold, as if to moisten her dry throat.
"But now that I'm actually here, I don't know what I should do or how to do it. The truth is... I'm really scared. I somehow managed to come back, but now I have no idea what to do next. What can I possibly do for them? Why on earth did I come here so recklessly? If I go back inside that place, I feel like I'll never be able to come out again..."
"You're right. It's good that you didn't go in."
"Pardon?"
Hwan broke the silence. Sumin felt a strange sense of pressure from the solemn gaze he turned toward her.
"That place is a building that devours people. It doesn't seem like it was built with that purpose from the beginning... but over time, or because of something else, it became that way."
"D-devours people..."
"That's not all. It also traps souls inside. Like a prison. That's why the spirits that should have left this world are trapped there, wandering lost. Perhaps that's why you've been having those nightmares."
"What do you..."
"So it's good that you didn't go in. You might have ended up caught by that gwoeyi as well."
"W-wait a moment. What do you mean by... gwoeyi? Is it something like a ghost?"
Hwan nodded and added, "You can think of it that way if you like. Gwoeyi is a term that encompasses ghosts, yokai, demons—everything of that nature. In any case... you did well. Do not go inside. You might have felt it a little yourself, but when you stood in front of it, the building reacted. That means the building still remembers you. It might be regretting that it let you slip away that day."
"It regrets letting me go?"
"Yes. That thing seems incredibly greedy. And it's obsessive, so it probably recognized you at a glance. In other words, it's hoping you'll come back. The reason you keep having those continuous nightmares... it might be that thing's doing. Using the souls of your friends trapped inside."
Sumin's face turned deathly pale once again. Of course, it still seemed difficult for her to fully accept everything Hwan was saying. But whether she accepted the story or not didn't matter to him. He simply told her the plain truth, solemnly and without embellishment.
"If that thing gets another chance, it will never let you go. That massively swollen obsession will definitely seize you and refuse to release you. So it's better not to go inside."
"What are you..."
It felt as if she were listening to something utterly absurd. Watching Hwan speak so casually about something that belonged in movies or novels, Sumin's expression grew increasingly confused. Her doubt began to outweigh her questions, and she even seemed to wonder if he might be a priest from some strange cult.
Hwan took another sip of his coffee and shrugged. He didn't seem inclined to offer her any more truth or explanation than that. Whether she believed him or not, he would leave it to her own freedom. Still, his warning carried genuine sincerity.
"You don't have to believe what I say."
"Ah... well, that is..."
"But remember this one thing. You must never go inside."
The warning was so gravely delivered that Sumin couldn't help but feel somehow overwhelmed by him. It was as if some intangible, irresistible power was pressing down on her. She blinked in confusion. For now, she simply hesitated, unsure what to say.
As she hesitated, the man spoke again, his voice carrying even more weight and authority.
"There have already been many more victims besides you. There may have been sacrifices that never became known to the outside world. It might have devoured far more people than you think."
"More victims... Excuse me, but how do you know all this?"
What exactly did he know? And what was his true identity? Her questions about the strange priest before her only grew larger. Come to think of it, it was odd. Why had this man come here? Why had he been staring at that building?
Sumin thought there must be some truth that only this person knew. But he offered no further teaching.
"Please, tell me! What do you know? Why did you come here?"
When Sumin raised her voice a little more in her plea, Hwan shook his head.
"There's no need for you to know what I do."
"It's frustrating. I keep having nightmares. I can't do anything about it. You must know something, right? Then do you know what I should do? Please, can you help me?"
"You don't need to do anything. Of course, if there's something I can do, I will help you. But there's nothing in particular for you to do, Miss Sumin."
Sumin still wore an expression that said she found it hard to understand. He shrugged once more and said, "Just remember one thing. Never go to that place," as he took something from his pocket and handed it to her.
Taken aback, she accepted it. It was a silver crucifix.
"This is..."
"It's nothing special. Not expensive, either. But it might help you. That building is still targeting you, after all."
"W-wait, I still..."
There were so many things she didn't know. So many things she couldn't understand. She wanted to know more in detail, but the man seemed to have nothing left to say. He turned and left the pension where Sumin would spend the night, returning to the building next door.
Watching the strange priest's retreating figure, Sumin lifted the silver crucifix he had given her. Her expression remained full of questions.
She lay in a room with the warm boiler turned on. Then she lifted the crucifix. Had she handled it with care? It showed signs of use, yet it was still clean. After staring at it for a long time, she recalled the young priest named Lee Hwan from earlier. He looked to be around the same age as her. Yet his eyes held a depth that suggested he knew far more than she could imagine.
Of course... it still wasn't easy to believe everything he had told her. But when she thought about everything she had experienced so far, it was equally difficult to say she didn't believe him. After all, she had already gone through it once herself.
"Gwoeyi..."
She quietly recalled the word the man had used. What exactly was a gwoeyi? She even looked it up on her smartphone. It seemed to mean 'something abnormal, bizarre, strange, and grotesque.' So was it right to call them ghosts, or yokai, or demons?
Ah... it was the kind of story that only appeared in movies. And it still wasn't easy to fully accept it. After all, she had never seen a ghost or a yokai in her entire life. In fact, she had never been interested in such things at all.
If Jinsoo hadn't suggested they try exploring a haunted house back then, if she hadn't followed her friends, these were things she would never have experienced in her lifetime. Yet here she was, having encountered them unexpectedly. Did that mean ghosts, yokai, or demons really existed...?
Aaah... her body shivered involuntarily. She let out a sigh and roughly scratched at her head. She had no idea what she should do. And how much did that man actually know? Why had he come here, and for what purpose...? The fact that he hadn't told her only made her more curious.
She clutched the crucifix she had been staring at so intently and let out another sigh. Then she recalled their conversation bit by bit.
'He definitely knows something. He must have come here because of that building too...'
That man surely knew something. She sat up abruptly. Looking at the crucifix once more, Sumin hung it around her neck and stepped out of the room.
The pension was far too large for one person, so the living room felt extremely empty. Sumin gazed outside through the large glass window in the living room. The twilight had already grown long. Between the stretched shadows, the outside air seemed even colder than before.
Meanwhile, that man named Lee Hwan was probably staying in the building next door... She hesitated for a moment, but she wanted to speak with him a little more. Having made up her mind, she headed for the neighboring building.
When she reached the door, she knocked carefully.
"Excuse me! Are you inside?"
But there was no answer. Was he not there? Or had he fallen asleep? She knocked again and called out to him, but still no reply came. Wondering if something was wrong, Sumin grabbed the doorknob and turned it with force. The door opened easily with a click. Sumin was the one who became more flustered.
"Um... hello?"
Knowing it was rude, but desperate to ask the questions burning inside her, she called out to him cautiously. Still, no answer came. Moreover, not a single light was on inside. It seemed the man wasn't in the room right now. The atmosphere felt eerily unsettling...
That was when it happened.
"That person went out, you know?"
The sudden voice from behind made her jump in fright. She spun around in surprise to find the pension's elderly owner standing there with her usual knowing expression. In one hand she held some boiled sweet potatoes and regular potatoes.
"That man said he wanted to look around the area a bit, so he went out."