Ah, Voodoo—I Know It Better Than Anyone
"Ah, Voodoo Cult. I know it."
Better than anyone.
"Yeah? Some kids still don't know about it sometimes."
"How could you not? Voodoo Cult... But hey, what's your little sister's name?"
"Jeong Yun-ah. A year younger than me."
"How long's it been since she was kidnapped?"
"Eight months? Nine? I don't know. I just hope she's still alive at this point."
Jeong In-ah's voice grew thick and choked, as if even saying her sister's name was too much to bear.
"I've heard rumors that the recent kidnappings are Voodoo Cult's doing too. You better watch out."
"Uh... yeah. Guess I should."
After that, Jeong In-ah kept ranting about Voodoo Cult or sharing her thoughts on the string of disappearances lately. I nodded along appropriately as we walked, and before I knew it, we were at her place.
"See you tomorrow."
She waved. I flashed a small smile and waved back before heading inside.
My limbs felt heavy. I flopped onto the bed and pulled the blanket up to my chin.
I figured I'd catch a nap, but sleep wouldn't come.
[......]
Legba was unusually quiet today.
*
"Name's Jeong Yun-ah, age sixteen. Right?"
"Yeah."
"Nothing. I searched everywhere."
After a simple dinner in my studio apartment, I headed straight to the underground chapel. I asked Uncle Lee Jin-seong if there was a follower named Jeong Yun-ah.
He shook his head.
"I think it's just a baseless rumor. Even if we're treated like a cult, we don't pull off kidnappings or that kind of bullshit, right?"
"True, but..."
"Don't sweat it. Probably Satan Cult or some other knockoff cult using our name."
Uncle said it like it was no big deal.
Voodoo Cult's doctrines have a lot in common with Romanica. We aim for respect and love, pursuing goodness—just like Romanica's teachings. Naturally, we don't commit crimes like kidnapping.
Whoever kidnapped Jeong In-ah's sister was some other cult masquerading as us.
Probably.
No—it had to be.
Even forcing myself to think that way, a nagging guilt and unease lingered in the corner of my mind.
"Why wouldn't it be? I'm the cult leader."
Legba's flippant response made me hang my head.
If Jeong In-ah's sister had been kidnapped by someone in our cult, then as leader, the blame fell squarely on me too. That truth weighed on my shoulders and squeezed my heart.
"Oh, Seon-woo. You free this Saturday?"
Uncle Lee Jin-seong pulled me from my thoughts.
"Saturday? Yeah, I'm free. Why?"
"Got a commission. Take it?"
"Commission? From who?"
He checked his phone.
"The chairman of 'dPB'."
"dPB?"
dPB. A massive corporation handling holy artifact sales and production. It's safe to say eighty percent of the holy artifacts used in Korea come from them. Market cap around ten trillion won, something like that.
"Why would their chairman come to us?"
"His wife's got some incurable disease."
"Then just go to a priest."
"Priests can't cure it either. He's tried fortune-tellers and shamans too—no dice. Desperate times, clutching at straws, y'know?"
"Hm."
Fortune-telling and shamanism are straight-up illegal. For a big-shot chairman to stoop to that meant things were dire, his desperation at a peak.
Voodoo Cult has few followers, so donations alone can't keep us afloat. We fill the gaps with commissions like this.
Finances have been tight lately, so logically, yes—but...
"You think we should?"
"Why not?"
"Lost the altar, and it's been so long since the last commission. Might be rusty."
"What're you worrying for? Give it a shot, apologize if it flops, and bail."
Uncle grinned like it was nothing.
"Don't know where everyone vanished to—followers dwindling, donations drying up. Finances are a mess. Gotta take gigs like this."
"Hm."
"So, you in or out?"
No real choice. Without gigs like this, Voodoo Cult would collapse any day now.
"I'll do it. This Saturday?"
"Cool. Scheduling it."
Uncle fired off a text with busy fingers.
*
The next day, I got to school a bit early.
Florence Academy starts at 8:15 a.m., but most arrive by 7:30 for forty-five minutes of self-study or blessing and healing practice.
I woke up early today too, so I rolled in around 7:30.
The classroom was half full. Some kids studied, others gossiped with friends.
I had no one to chat with anyway, so I planned to sit, crack a book, and study quietly.
But someone was already in my seat.
Thought I had the wrong spot at first—nope. It was definitely my seat, occupied by some stranger I didn't know.
"That's my seat."
"Oh? Sorry."
Didn't seem malicious; he got up without fuss.
I sat, pulled out my books from my bag. Bible and Romanica history textbook.
Physical test scores sucked, so I'd ace the written stuff.
As I opened the book to study, I felt eyes on me.
"What?"
"Huh? Why?"
The guy from my seat earlier was now in the desk ahead, staring right through me.
Couldn't not feel creeped out.
Ignore him, he'll leave. Back to studying.
But minutes passed, and he stayed planted.
"You're the guy who fell during yesterday's physical test, right?"
Not only staying, but now asking questions.
What the hell?
Irritated, I scanned his face. Nothing memorable—kinda blurry overall.
Name tag on his chest: Gu Jun-hyeok.
Gu Jun-hyeok.
Oh. Second place in yesterday's physical test.
"Yeah."
I kept my eyes on the book, answering half-heartedly.
"Why'd you go for it yesterday? That special condition thing?"
"Just did."
"You planning to fail? Or did you really think you'd pull it off?"
"Dunno."
Dumb questions not worth real answers, so vague it was.
Should've bored him off by now, but Gu Jun-hyeok kept firing away.
I let them go in one ear and out the other, mumbling replies.
Still no dice. He wouldn't budge.
Disrupting my study.
"I need to study. Mind leaving?"
I said it as politely as I could muster.
"Oh, sorry. Just wanted to get to know you. You're kinda famous. I'll go now."
But that last bit was hard to brush off.
"I'm famous? Why?"
"Huh? You didn't know?"
He sat back down.
"You dozed off at the entrance ceremony, right?"
"Yeah."
"Challenged the special condition in the physical test and bombed."
"Uh, yeah."
"How could you not be famous after that? Might not know your name, but everyone's seen your face."
Come to think of it, I'd racked up plenty of attention in just three days.
Being known helps if I wanna climb to high cleric, and sure, I want that—but not this kind of notoriety.
"Whatever. Anyway—"
"Hey, you there."
Gu Jun-hyeok's words cut off as Bae Seong-hyeon called from the back, where he'd been yapping with friends.
"Keep it down. Some people are studying."
"Ah~ Yes, class prez! So sorry~"
"Tch."
Gu Jun-hyeok played it off with cheeky flair. Bae Seong-hyeon clicked his tongue, annoyed.
Hypocrite much? He was chatting too.
What's the saying for this? Perfect idiom comes to mind.
"The pot calling the kettle black—that guy's totally nuts."
Gu Jun-hyeok beat me to it, whispering low so Bae Seong-hyeon wouldn't hear.
"Seems like Bae Seong-hyeon hates your guts. Watch out. He's famous too."
"Bound to be, with the Charity Holy Mark."
"Nah, not that. Y'know... I'll tell you later."
Bae Seong-hyeon was glaring daggers our way. Gu Jun-hyeok noticed, wrapped it up quick, and returned to his seat.
I finished studying—or tried to.
But his words nagged at me. Hard to focus.
Letters swam into my eyes then scattered into nothing.
That's not a good thing.
Couldn't say it aloud, so I just studied in silence.
(To be continued next time)