Chapter 19
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 19
Chapter Title: Housewarming
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......Haa.
I let out a deep sigh as I unlocked the door lock on the front entrance.
With a cheerful beep, the heavy door swung open, revealing Do Jae-hyeok standing there with convenience store plastic bags in both hands, flashing his usual affable grin.
"Whoa, our 100-billion-won newbie! Hard to even catch a glimpse of our neighbor's face."
He crunched down on his lollipop stick, swallowed it casually, then patted my shoulder like it was nothing before striding right into the entryway.
At his utterly natural and brazen intrusion (?), I stared at his back in bewilderment and called out.
"Excuse me, Team Leader of Team 1. I clearly told you during contract negotiations to respect my privacy. Knocking on someone else's door at 10 p.m. like this is a bit..."
I'd sharpened my words as best I could to put up a defense, but Do Jae-hyeok just turned around with a hearty laugh. There wasn't a gram of malice or old-school bossiness in his smile.
It was the pure, innocent face of a neighborhood big bro dropping by his little bro's place.
"Aw, come on, Agent Kang. What privacy invasion? This is just neighbors having a housewarming! Tradition says Koreans shouldn't sleep alone on moving day or ghosts'll stick to you—better to make a racket and have a drink. We're ghost hunters; can't have stray spirits infesting a new place, right?"
Who else but an exorcist to spin logic like that? And with that bright, unflappable smile holding zero ill intent, it was hard to even get mad outright.
"Come on, don't stand in the doorway—let's head in. I even brought something fancy, nice and thoughtful-like."
At his cheeky grin while shaking an expensive bottle of whiskey, I had no choice but to relax my furrowed brow.
He was pushy as hell, but damn if he wasn't likable.
If anything, this magnetic friendliness showed exactly why he was Ghost Gate's ace and the leader who rallied everyone.
"Haa... Should I order the chicken, then?"
"Now that's the spirit. Half soy sauce, half fried."
In the end, I threw up my hands and led him to the living room.
Do Jae-hyeok scanned the grandeur of the 100-pyeong penthouse and let out an impressed whistle.
"Whoa, Branch Director must've cried blood over this one. The view's a masterpiece. Huh? Hey, are these the shikigami you mentioned?"
Do Jae-hyeok's gaze locked onto Pepper, growling warily from under the sofa, and Fry, peeking out from atop the laptop keyboard.
"Fur's got such a shine. That pup looks sharp as hell. What's its name? Here, pup-pup-pup, come here."
Do Jae-hyeok reached out curiously to pet Pepper's head.
In that instant, my heart dropped.
Even if I'd passed them off as my shikigami, someone of his caliber might see right through Pepper if he touched her.
I reflexively smacked his wrist away and pulled Pepper behind my leg.
"Sorry, but please don't touch my shikigami. They're sensitive and hate strangers' hands. It's one of my contract conditions."
The living room air froze solid in an instant.
The new hire had just smacked away the hand of his partying senior from moments ago, stone-faced.
'Ah, did I overreact?'
I inwardly cringed, scrambling for an excuse, when—
"Whoops, my bad, my bad! I wasn't thinking."
Do Jae-hyeok showed no offense, just an awkward chuckle as he raised both hands high.
"Ah, got it! Sorry, sorry! My bad. Makes sense—fancy shikigami serving a 100-billion-won master wouldn't like randos touching 'em. Okay, no touching! Eyes only, eyes only. Uncle's sorry, little black bean! Chirpy, you too, sorry!"
He even gave Pepper a light apologetic bow, like he meant it.
His smooth, cool handling melted away my tension instead.
What can I say? He really felt like the fun, outgoing, considerate neighborhood bro.
True ace poise, taking a rookie's overstep in stride.
"But seriously, Team Leader. We're really just drinking the two of us? Kinda awkward."
"Who said two? Wait and see. I invited one more neighborhood local."
"Pardon?"
Ding-dong!
No sooner had Do Jae-hyeok finished than the doorbell rang.
I opened the door in confusion to find Seo Hwa-rin there in her work suit straight from the office, holding a bag with two chickens from a famous franchise in one hand.
"Deputy Team Leader? You haven't clocked out yet?"
"......That's what I'd like to ask. Why the hell is Team 1 Leader hosting a housewarming for my team member on his own whim?"
Seo Hwa-rin irritably adjusted her glasses and shot a glare at Do Jae-hyeok in the living room.
"Aw, Deputy Team Leader! Agent Kang and I are next-door neighbors—better to get buddy-buddy. And imagine how awkward it'd be for the Team 7 newbie drinking alone with me. Direct superior's gotta liven things up! You nailed the chicken order, spot-on!"
"If it weren't for the Branch Director, I'd have staged a mutiny by now..."
Seo Hwa-rin sighed deeply and joined us at the table.
And just like that, on my first night in the penthouse, I ended up hosting an impromptu company booze-up with two bosses.
But contrary to expectations, the mood was pretty lively.
Do Jae-hyeok ignored any Ghost Gate hierarchy bullshit, clinking glasses with me nonstop and tossing out dumb jokes.
Seo Hwa-rin nagged from the side, "Team Leader, please have some dignity," but downed every beer offered, quietly venting her pent-up stress.
"Hey, Kang Han-gyeol. Don't let the Branch Director's hype get to you just 'cause you got that 100 billion."
Do Jae-hyeok, three beer cans deep, fixed me with a slightly serious gaze.
"That old coot probably blew smoke up your ass about being 'Korea's hope' or whatever. Don't let that fluffy sense of duty crush you. You think we're world-saving heroes? Nah. We're just janitors with a bit more muscle, cleaning up monster shit."
He grinned, chewing on a dried squid leg instead of his lollipop.
"So don't try carrying it all solo. Any big shit you can't handle, me or Team 1's got it. Just do your salary's worth safely. Got it?"
That casual toss-off washed away the heavy pressure I'd felt in the Branch Director's office earlier, like snow melting in the sun.
'This guy's the real deal.'
I'd thought he was an uninvited pest at first, but he'd dragged Seo Hwa-rin along just to check on my mental state with this booze session.
Even Fry, gaming on the laptop in the corner, overheard and nodded like, 'Hmph, not bad for a lowly human—knows his place.'
"But Agent Kang, your shikigami plays games too?"
"Ah, well... probably picked it up from me. Haha."
And so, the night in the Cheongdam-dong penthouse deepened with a warmer, more human glow than I'd imagined.
Drizzle fell unpleasantly. Sea fog blanketed the black basalt stone walls of Jeju's paths, dulling even the streetlights into hazy glows on this night.
Twenty-something Ji-yeon, hurrying home from work, gripped her umbrella tightly.
Splash, splash.
"Of all days for the car to break down..."
No taxis in sight, she trudged a narrow alley between quiet tangerine groves.
A path that'd seem romantic any other time felt eerily chilling tonight.
Shadows of tangerine trees beyond the walls rippled like human shapes, and distant waves sounded like low weeping.
Splash, splash.
That's when it came.
"......Ji-yeon."
A voice called her name from behind, amid footsteps on the wet dirt path.
"Huh?"
Startled, Ji-yeon stopped and turned.
But the fog-shrouded empty road held no one.
Only cold night wind whistled through the stone walls.
"What? Must've misheard..."
As she tried to shake it off and keep walking—
"Ji-yeon... help me out..."
This time from beyond the wall, deep in the pitch-black tangerine grove.
Goosebumps exploded across Ji-yeon's skin.
That voice was too familiar—her closest hometown friend, dead three years from a car crash.
"W-who's there? Quit messing around!"
Ji-yeon backed away, hands shaking on her umbrella.
She fumbled for her phone, but the signal bars at the top read 'Out of Service' in red.
Swish—swish.
Tangerine branches rustled grotesquely.
And from the thick fog, something's outline slowly emerged.
"Eek...!"
Ji-yeon nearly collapsed on the spot.
Not human-shaped.
A massive black shadow draped in what looked like an enormous, rotten straw raincoat.
Where a face should be gaped only a black void, spilling her dead friend's voice endlessly.
"Ji-yeon, why pretend you don't know... so cold... so cold..."
The voice warped grotesquely, overlapping with others: a man's wail, a child's laugh, bizarre bursts.
[...lonely... come with me...]
Without touching ground, it floated like air, gliding silently over Ji-yeon's head.
"A-aaah! Help, please help!"
Ji-yeon screamed, hurling her umbrella and turning to flee.
But her feet were already glued fast by sticky black shadow like mud.
Drip, drip.
The horrific black shadow, reeking of rotten straw, swooped down over her like vast wings.
"No, please...! Mmph, mmph!!"
The moment the shadow fully enveloped her, her scream cut off like a knife slice.
The massive raincoat-shaped shadow circling the air writhed once, snake-like after swallowing prey, then melted seamlessly into the fog, vanishing without trace.
"......"
Left behind: only a broken umbrella rolling on the ground.
Jeju's deserted night streets returned to cold silence and wave sounds, as if nothing had happened.