The Penlight Flickering by the Old Lady's House
She couldn't leave. How could there be not even a single speck of light?
Still, the tiniest glow seeped out from the owner's grandmother's house beside the pension. But that meager light did nothing to push back the darkness of the moment.
Yet seeing that faint light coming from the owner's grandmother's home brought a flicker of relief. At least in this darkness, she wasn't completely alone.
Sumin unfolded the umbrella lying on the pension and approached the door of the young priest's pension.
Even though the exterior looked identical, the inside must be the same.
On the first floor there was a large living room, one bedroom, a kitchen, and a bathroom. Upstairs there were two bedrooms.
The living room was curtained off, hiding whatever lay beyond. Moreover, no lights were on, which made her uneasy.
She wondered if perhaps the person hadn't even come back yet.
Feeling anxiety and worry, Sumin cautiously knocked on the door.
"Um... Father?"
Finally, she called out to him.
Sumin's voice seemed swallowed by the rushing rain.
Inside the pension, there was utter silence.
She knocked again, calling the priest.
But no matter how long she waited for a response, there was no sign of life.
Was he really not there at all?
Where had that person gone?
Sumin bit her lip as frustration gnawed at her.
The rain grew heavier. She stomped her feet in the downpour, staring at the black, flooded world.
With rain like this falling, where had he gone...?
She had been about to turn back, but couldn't.
Sumin stared at the firmly shut door of the pension, then, out of sheer impulse, placed her hand on the doorknob and turned it slightly.
Clank!
The door opened easily, accompanied by a pleasant sound.
It hadn't been locked.
Even though she had opened it herself, Sumin was startled.
Creak...
The door swung open. A chilly, dimly lit interior came into view.
No lights were on.
Was no one there after all?
"Um... hello? Father..."
She called out in a trembling voice.
No reply came.
Sumin stepped inside cautiously and called again, but the same silence greeted her.
Apparently, the person had left the door open and gone out.
The question lingered in her mind.
Sumin's gaze drifted to the outside, where rain poured down in sheets.
With weather like this, where was that person?
No... rather, what reason had brought him to this desolate village?
Yet she knew she shouldn't do this, but the questions of the moment refused to fade.
She had spoken with him only briefly, but thinking of where they first met, in front of that building, she felt certain he knew something.
Of course, it was just her intuition...
Still, she couldn't leave without finding out.
She entered the empty pension anyway.
Perhaps there was something more to learn about the priest.
She looked around.
The living room, heavy with chill, was completely empty.
In the kitchen, unfamiliar appliances stood ready.
Electric pot, dripper, server... something like that.
Thanks to that, a pleasant coffee scent still lingered in the kitchen.
But it felt strange.
It didn't seem to be just one person.
Two cups.
Perhaps someone else had been there to drink coffee with him?
But why would he use two cups?
Sumin walked past the kitchen, heading toward the open door on the first floor.
She gently opened the door, but the room inside was empty.
It was clean.
This room hadn't been used.
She climbed the wooden stairs to the second floor and opened the door on the left.
Same again.
Everything was neatly arranged, but no signs of use.
Curiosity fading, she stepped back outside.
This felt like she was stealing.
If the person came back while she was in this situation...
She would probably face quite a misunderstanding.
Still, she didn't leave.
One last room remained.
She approached the final door.
What if nothing was inside either?
A strange emptiness crept in.
She almost turned back.
But deciding it was too late to stop, she gripped the doorknob and turned it.
Click.
The door opened without resistance.
And...
The room was spread out before her.
"Ah..."
Was this fortunate?
This time, items that seemed to belong to him were placed here.
Of course, the owner himself wasn't there.
More than that, something lay on the bed.
A feeling of greater unease gripped her.
Her heart pounded so hard...
Was this how thieves felt?
It was hard to shake off the sense of guilt.
Still, she tiptoed inside.
Because she was a priest, perhaps?
The first thing she saw was a cross.
A rather large cross stood on the shelf.
Below it, a heavy-looking luggage bag.
On the bed, a file of documents lay draped.
Curiosity flared.
Though a voice in her mind whispered that she shouldn't, the strange curiosity wouldn't let her go.
She examined the file lying on the bed.
Perhaps this would tell her why he had come to this remote place.
When she lifted the file, something dropped with a plop!
Startled, she quickly picked it up.
But then she froze.
It was a single photograph.
Yet it felt strangely familiar.
A young woman's face.
She was short, perhaps.
She wore a patient's gown, which she also found oddly familiar.
She stared at the photo.
The image looked quite old.
She placed it back on the bed and went back to the open file.
Inside were personal details about someone.
- On xx.xx.xxxx, after leaving home to visit an abandoned sanitarium with two friends for a haunted house experience, contact was lost after three days. The first missing person report was filed.
Name: Choi Jung-man, age 20, appearance: as in photo, still missing after 5 years, last seen at the abandoned sanitarium.
- On xx.xx.xxxx, Choi Jung-man's hometown, Sunjiho. Following Choi Jung-man, the abandoned sanitarium was found. Age same, appearance: as in photo, fellow students below.
She found another photo.
This one also seemed old.
This time, two people were in it.
It must be the person mentioned in the file.
The more she looked, the deeper her doubts grew.
Why did he have documents with personal information?
Especially the word 'sanitarium' that kept nagging at her.
She looked at the next document.
Similar content, but more recent people.
They, too, seemed to have come here for a haunted house experience at the sanitarium.
But they were missing.
All noted that the last contact was after visiting the abandoned sanitarium.
Sumin's heart began to race violently.
Continuing to read, she realized many people had gone missing from that sanitarium.
And she couldn't help but think this sanitarium might be the one where her friends had vanished.
What had happened? Why so many missing cases...?
That's when she found the familiar name.
"Ah..."
She found a document with familiar personal details.
"Kim Jin-su..."
Her friend's name.
Seeing the details written in the file, she was certain.
Not only that.
Yongha's as well, and Yeon-ji's.
And...
"Kim Sumin..."
Aha! Hers too.
At that moment, chills ran down her spine.
The back of her neck tingled, and her doubts about that person grew even stronger.
Even her own details were written in detail.
Where she lived, her age, and even which university she planned to attend in the future.
How did this person know all that?
And in the photo inserted between them, chills ran down her spine again.
She didn't know where it came from, but it was their photo.
Too shocked, she dropped the file.
The documents scattered across the floor.
Far more personal information than she expected, and all of them people who had gone missing from that sanitarium.
It was as if the sanitarium had swallowed them all.
Then how did that person know all this information?
What was his true identity?
Was he really the priest?
Sumin's gaze immediately went to the luggage bag that seemed to belong to him.
Thud-thud... Her heart beat faster than ever.
Her inner voice seemed to urge her to check that right away.