The Voice That Should Not Be Heard
The wet, rasping sensation kept sweeping across her face.
At the strange feeling, Yeo-won opened her eyes only to find the entire world dyed in orange.
She could see nothing, yet she simply closed her eyes again, as if annoyed.
Soft, fluffy fur tickled her face. Finally, Yeo-won parted her lips in a low murmur.
“……I’m awake now, so stop it, Cheong-sil.”
[Oh, you’re awake now-seumnidayo?]
“Ugh, you smell like saliva……”
Yeo-won sat up and rubbed her sticky face. It was so damp it felt as if she had washed it. She was about to stand and clean herself when a sudden sense of unease struck her.
“Home?”
After confirming the familiar wallpaper and bedding, Yeo-won looked around once more, as if to double-check.
She had definitely fallen asleep in Shin-wol’s room, yet she was suddenly back at her own house.
Yeo-won hurriedly tried to recall what had happened right before she drifted off.
They had eaten, played baduk with Shin-wol, and she must have dozed off from exhaustion…… Right as she was falling asleep, she thought she had heard a gentle voice somewhere.
‘It definitely said, “My puppy……”’
She hadn’t heard it in over ten years, but it was unmistakably her grandfather’s voice.
No matter how long it had been, there was no way she would mistake her grandfather’s voice.
Because it had been so long, the voice felt all the more welcome and painfully longed-for. Beyond it, she was certain she had also heard a hearty laugh.
Could it have been nothing more than a dream? Yet it had been so vivid that even now she could still hear her grandfather’s voice clearly.
Yeo-won pressed a hand to her churning chest and closed her eyes. Afraid she might cry, she steadied her emotions before turning her head toward where Cheong-sil was.
“Cheong-sil, where is Shin-wol?”
Cheong-sil, who had been sprawled on the blanket and rolling around, blinked at her.
[Lord Shin-wol said he had something to take care of and left-seumnidayo.]
“What does he have to take care of?”
[He said he was going to Manyeobgung-seumnidayo.]
“Manyeobgung……?”
Where on earth was that? Yeo-won looked down at Cheong-sil with displeased eyes.
“When is he coming back?”
[I don’t know-seumnidayo.]
Oblivious to Yeo-won’s frustration, Cheong-sil sat leisurely by the sunlit window and groomed his tail.
For a moment she considered pressing him for answers, but then she remembered how he had tricked her and left before, so she decided against it. Fortunately, Cheong-sil didn’t seem inclined to bring up that day either.
More importantly, there were so many things she needed to ask Shin-wol.
‘In the end, we only played baduk.’
Of course, it hadn’t only been baduk, but she decided to erase what came after from her memory. Dwelling on it would only leave her heart in turmoil.
Just recalling it for a second made her face burn. Since her face was still sticky, she thought she might as well wash it and started to get up when her phone rang.
Yeo-won fumbled across the bed for her phone and froze.
The name shone clearly on the screen. It was Yoo Jae-young.
Staring at the loudly ringing phone, Yeo-won hesitated. Should she answer?
‘But…… where did you get that?’
The suppressed voice, as if holding something back, resurfaced. The large hand that had gripped her shoulder. The face painted so black that nothing could be seen.
It was clearly different from ordinary spirits. Yeo-won rubbed her shoulders, which had broken out in goosebumps.
Was that really just an ordinary ghost?
[Aren’t you going to comfort him-seumnidayo?]
“Huh?”
Cheong-sil’s voice, which had approached her at some point, broke her out of her thoughts. He tilted his head and poked the phone with his front paw.
[Whenever this thing made noise, didn’t you always pick it up and comfort it-seumnidayo?]
Cheong-sil asked with innocent, sparkling eyes. Yeo-won blinked along with him before letting out a small laugh.
To Cheong-sil, who didn’t understand what a phone was, it must have looked like she was comforting someone. It was both adorable and silly, but thanks to him, the tension in her chest eased a little.
Yeo-won stroked his back and pressed the call button.
“Hello.”
― …….
When there was no answer, Yeo-won checked to make sure the call had connected before speaking again.
“Hello? Jae-young?”
― …….
“……Is this Jae-young?”
― ……Hic, hiccup.
A sobbing sound came through the receiver. Her heart sank instantly, and her grip on the phone tightened.
“Jae-young? Are you crying right now?”
― Se-Senior…… hic, huuuuuh.
“What’s wrong? Did something happen?”
Yeo-won asked worriedly, but all that came back was more crying instead of an answer.
What was she supposed to do in a situation like this? Should she comfort him?
But she hesitated to offer comfort when she didn’t even know why he was crying.
Still, she opened her mouth to say something, anything, when Jae-young’s trembling voice came from the other side.
― Pl-Please save me.
“……Save you? What are you talking about?”
― Hic, hic. Help me, please help me, Senior…….
“Calm down first—no, give me your address. I’ll come to you.”
Yeo-won shot up from her seat, grabbed her wallet, and headed for the shoe rack. It sounded urgent, so she needed to get there right away. As she shoved her feet into her shoes, instead of sobs she heard ragged, gasping breaths.
― Haaah, haaah, hah.
“Jae-young? Jae-young, what’s wrong?”
She called out urgently, but only the sound of labored breathing returned.
He seemed to be struggling for air, inhaling harshly, then came the sound of violent coughing mixed with the thudding of fists against the floor.
Beyond the urgent noises, she could hear what sounded like an old iron door repeatedly opening and closing.
Yeo-won’s face turned deathly pale.
This sounded exactly like someone was strangling him.
― Sa-Save…… Mom…… Now…… Kill…….
“Jae-young, your address! Give me your address! Hurry!”
Yeo-won unintentionally shouted. At the loud noise, Cheong-sil jumped in surprise and blinked rapidly.
“Yoo Jae-young! Hurry!”
Click―
“……….”
The call ended. Yeo-won stared blankly at the darkened screen. Cheong-sil was saying something below her, but it didn’t reach her ears.
Only his desperate voice echoed in her mind like a hallucination.
It had been faint, like a candle flickering out, but she had clearly heard his final words.
‘Please just kill me now.’
In the end, she never got his address. Should she call the police? Her hand trembled violently as she pulled up the keypad and pressed 1-1-2. She needed to hit the call button, but her fingers kept slipping.
‘I have to stay calm…… I have to pull myself together……’
Yeo-won knew. It wasn’t that she couldn’t press it—she was unconsciously avoiding it. Even if she called the police, it wouldn’t solve anything.
The spirit that had been clinging to his back. The first time she saw it, its appearance had been so horrifying it was almost sinister. She remembered.
The grotesque figure with every bone twisted in a different direction, hanging from his shoulder, and the way Jae-young had laughed it off as if it were nothing.
She should have told him. Even if he thought she was crazy, she should have explained the situation. The guilt of turning away and pretending it had nothing to do with her felt like it was burning her mind black.
Her breathing grew rough without her realizing it, and she clutched at her suffocating chest. Just as she was about to fall into a panic, Cheong-sil suddenly bit the back of her hand. He bit hard enough to draw beads of blood, but Yeo-won reacted a beat too slow.
[What are you doing, human! Pull yourself together-seumnidayo!]
Yeo-won, who had been staring at the back of her hand, looked at Cheong-sil. He fidgeted restlessly, spinning in place, then suddenly began smacking the phone that had fallen to the floor with his front paw.
[This bastard is tormenting a human-seumnidayo! This bastard! This bastard! Any creature that troubles our master must be punished-seumnidayo!]
As he continued to smack the phone with his cotton-like paws, it began ringing loudly again. Startled, Cheong-sil yelped and scrambled backward.
The name on the screen was none other than Team Leader Kim Young-ju. Yeo-won’s eyes gradually widened as she stared at it, then she hurriedly pressed the call button.
― Ah, Designer-nim. I’m sorry for calling so suddenly. Do you have a moment? It seems you haven’t checked your email…….
“Team Leader!”
― Whoa!
Apparently startled by Yeo-won’s loud voice, the sound of a cup shattering came through the phone, followed by an awkward sigh.
“I need your help right now!”
― Yes? What do you need?
“Aigo, this alley is too narrow for a car. Maybe if we go around the other way……”
“No, I’ll get off here. Please calculate the fare.”
When she stepped out of the taxi, a steep, narrow alleyway came into view. Yeo-won checked the map app and began climbing the hill.
‘What? Design Team 2’s Yoo Jae-young? Now that you mention it, I haven’t seen him for the past two days…… Hold on. Hana, has Yoo Jae-young from Design Team 2 come in today?’
She could hear the employee on the other end saying he hadn’t shown up for work.
‘Yoo Jae-young’s home address? That’s personal information, so I can’t just give it out.’
Yeo-won quickly explained the situation.
When she told Kim Young-ju that they had been senior and junior at their previous company, that he had called her, and that it seemed like an emergency, Kim Young-ju’s voice was clearly flustered as she hesitated.
Every second counted, so Yeo-won said she would take full responsibility and urged her. In the end, Kim Young-ju reluctantly gave her the address.
‘I’m worried, so please let me know what happens afterward.’
After repeatedly asking her to follow up, Kim Young-ju hung up. Thanks to her, Yeo-won was able to catch a taxi right away.
To Cheong-sil, who insisted on following, Yeo-won had practically begged him to stay at the house.
The place she arrived at was an old villa located in a quiet, sparsely populated alley.
Even in broad daylight, the red-brick building gave off a somewhat eerie feeling.
She felt a little intimidated, but having come this far, she couldn’t just turn back.
Yeo-won checked the text Kim Young-ju had sent once more.
“Unit 103……”
It was listed as first floor, but it was actually in the basement.
Yeo-won descended below the villa, passed units 101 and 102, and stopped in front of 103.
After taking a short, deep breath, she pressed the doorbell.
The old doorbell echoed through the basement, but there was no answer. Just in case, she pressed it again, but the result was the same.
Yeo-won carefully knocked on the door.
“Jae-young, it’s me, Han Yeo-won. Are you inside?”
She crouched down and pressed her ear to the door, but it was completely silent. Had he gone out in the meantime? Anxious, she bit her lip. She was debating whether she should really call the police when she noticed the doorknob.
Staring at it quietly, Yeo-won thought it couldn’t be, but carefully placed her hand on it and turned.
With a creak, the round knob turned, and at the same time, the door opened.
Even when she tried to look inside through the slight gap, it was too dark to see anything properly.
Because it was a basement, light was completely blocked out.
She opened the door a little wider to see better, and something moved quickly in the light that spilled in. But it was so fast she couldn’t make it out clearly.
She wondered what had just passed by when she spotted a person’s foot at the far end of the living room.
Startled, Yeo-won flung the door wide open and saw Jae-young collapsed on the floor.
She kicked off her shoes and rushed inside. His face was ashen.
Seeing him completely drained of color, Yeo-won turned pale and immediately called 119. Exactly ten minutes later, the sound of sirens began to wail.