The Shadow That Devours Fear
While pushing through the dense undergrowth and making their way downward, Cheong-sil suddenly stopped, his ears perking up sharply. He whipped his head around to look behind them and muttered in a small voice.
The magic pouch has been destroyed-seumnidayo.
Magic pouch. The words Cheong-sil had spoken earlier came back to her. He had said it would keep them from coming until it was found, so there was no doubt it had been meant to distract Yoo Jae-young. The fact that it had been destroyed meant…
He will be here soon-seumnidayo.
Cheong-sil’s eyes gleamed with a dark, ominous light. Every hair on his body stood on end. Yeo-won bit her lip hard in anxiety and forced herself to keep moving. The mountain path was dark, the branches tangled so thickly that even moonlight could not pierce through.
The only light they could rely on was the single candleholder Yeo-won carried. Even that seemed likely to go out if she ran too fast, so she could not pick up her pace.
Where on earth are we?
All around them were nothing but trees, rocks, and grass. Despite walking for quite some time, there was not a single person, nor even any similar traces of human presence.
Yeo-won continued downward without direction. If she could just descend toward the entrance, she would eventually see a road or a house—anything.
Her breath gradually grew labored. The ground was damp, perhaps from wet soil, and if she let her guard down even slightly, she feared she would slip and fall.
In the nearly silent mountain, only Yeo-won’s ragged breathing echoed harshly. In the quiet of the mountain, even her own breath felt grating. She pressed her lips tightly together and tried to breathe only through her nose.
As they descended, Cheong-sil suddenly halted in place. Yeo-won, who had been walking ahead, turned her head toward him while catching her breath.
“Cheong-sil, we have to hurry down—”
“Shh.”
At his low whisper, Yeo-won fell silent. Slowly, she lifted her head and stared in the direction Cheong-sil was looking. From that place filled only with darkness, a sound emerged.
Squelch. Squelch.
The sound of footsteps treading on wet, muddy ground. The irregular rhythm drew steadily closer. A fierce wind blew, and the candle flame that had barely been holding on was abruptly snuffed out. In the mountain now swallowed by complete darkness, a low humming began to echo.
“There you are.”
All color drained from Yeo-won’s face, and at the same time, the footsteps quickened.
Squelch, squelch, squelch!
The footsteps accelerated in an instant. As Yeo-won stood trembling in place, Cheong-sil leaped up and shoved her hard in the back.
“…!”
Yeo-won lost her balance and tumbled into the bushes beside the path. A grotesque set of footsteps rushed past behind her. Swallowing a groan as she pushed herself up, Cheong-sil grabbed her sleeve with his teeth and whispered urgently.
This way-seumnidayo.
Following where Cheong-sil led, they came upon a massive tree standing tall. Beneath it was a small hollow.
The space was barely large enough for one person. As Yeo-won hesitated, Cheong-sil pushed against her back, urging her forward.
With no choice, she bent at the waist and squeezed her body into the cave. The interior was quite small, but fortunately a little wider inside than the entrance, allowing just enough room for one person to fit.
She sat with her knees drawn up, and Cheong-sil slipped in after her. When Yeo-won spread her arms, he burrowed into her embrace as if he had been waiting for it.
Holding Cheong-sil tightly to her chest and holding her breath, she soon heard footsteps approaching again from nearby.
Squelch. Squelch.
The sound of wet earth being kicked up was unbearably chilling.
“Hmmm, it should be somewhere around here…”
The voice drifting in from outside was unnervingly thin and high-pitched.
“Are we playing hide-and-seek? Am I it? Hmm? Hide well, or I’ll see your hair~”
Her heart pounded wildly. The sound was so loud she feared the ghost might actually hear it, and her mind began to drift.
“Senior, just come out already. This is a waste of time, you know? Yeah?”
The sticky voice that had been caressing her ear suddenly shifted into Yoo Jae-young’s tone. Regardless, right in front of her, the sound of leaves being crushed reached her ears. He was right there.
“I like you, Senior. That’s why I don’t want to kill you, okay? Even now, Mom keeps telling me to kill you and rip out your heart, but I’m barely holding her back.”
He coaxed her in a soft, gentle voice, but then suddenly muttered a curse under his breath and raised his voice sharply.
“Fuck, I’m saying all this and you still won’t come out?!”
His voice swelled with excitement as he continued.
“You can live without one eye, can’t you? It’d be better for you too, Senior. You wouldn’t have to be tormented by ghosts anymore.”
The voice that had been quietly coaxing her turned hysterical.
“Hey, how long are you going to keep playing with her?! What if the sun comes up?!”
“Just wait a little longer! There’s no need to kill her yet!”
“You come out. Mom will take care of the rest.”
The voice flipped back and forth as if two people were speaking. The bizarre act made Yeo-won cover her ears. Her head throbbed and her stomach churned at their conversation, so she clamped her hands over her ears.
I’m scared. I’m so scared I think I might die.
When her trembling body curled inward, Cheong-sil slipped out of her arms.
In this desperate moment, the person who suddenly came to mind was not her mother or father, not her grandfather or grandmother—it was Shin-wol.
Why, in this urgent instant, would she think of the baduk stones she had left with him? His face, calm beneath the moonlight, and his gentle voice praising her, saying the first move hadn’t been bad at all.
Her trembling lips curved upward.
Was this a life flashing before her eyes?
I wanted to play one more game.
Absurdly, that moment had been the happiest she had felt in a long time, and so tears fell from Yeo-won’s eyes, one after another.
From outside came the sound of bones twisting, followed by heavy, wet footsteps rushing straight toward the cave. The leaves in front of the entrance were crushed beneath black dress shoes.
“So how long were you planning to hide and eavesdrop?”
Yoo Jae-young thrust his face into the cave. His bloodshot eyes and mouth grotesquely split at both corners made the scream she had been holding back rise in her throat—right before Cheong-sil puffed up his fur and burst out.
“Kyaaaak!”
“Kyaaaaaah! Aaaah!!”
Cheong-sil extended his claws and raked them fiercely across Yoo Jae-young’s face. The man staggered backward. Yeo-won, frozen in terror, snapped back to her senses and scrambled out of the cave.
Cheong-sil was clinging to Yoo Jae-young’s face, biting down with all his strength, while the man flailed wildly in the air trying to shake him off.
“Let go! Fuck! Aaaaaah!!”
Human, run-seumnidayo! This mountain is the Eodukseoni’s domain-seumnidayo! Find an area with light-seumnidayo!
Cheong-sil glared at Yeo-won and shouted quickly. When she hesitated, sobbing, he roared at her.
Hurry!
With that final shout, Cheong-sil puffed out all his fur once more and bit down hard on Yoo Jae-young’s face again. Every time the man screamed and thrashed, red droplets of blood splattered onto the ground. Yeo-won swallowed her tears and turned to run, but a scream rang out behind her.
“Kyaeng!”
Yoo Jae-young had grabbed Cheong-sil by the scruff and hurled him to the ground.
“Haa… You damn mutt.”
When she turned to look, Cheong-sil was rolling across the dirt, and in front of him stood Yoo Jae-young, covering half his face with one hand while glaring at her.
“Cheong… Cheong-sil…”
Calling his name in a trembling voice, she moved toward him, only for Yoo Jae-young to kick Cheong-sil hard in the stomach. The small body flew through the air, slammed into a tree, and dropped limply to the ground. Cheong-sil’s body went completely slack. Yoo Jae-young walked over to him again and lifted his foot.
“Don’t! Don’t hit him!”
“Oh? Don’t move. If you move again, I’ll really step on him and crush him.”
“I-I won’t move, so please… please don’t. Hic…”
Yoo Jae-young wiped the flowing blood from his face with his sleeve and let out a deep sigh.
“Ah, fuck. Fuck. Fuck!!”
While he raged, Yeo-won’s gaze remained fixed solely on Cheong-sil. It was too dark to tell how badly he was hurt. She roughly wiped away the tears that kept falling and lowered herself closer to the ground.
After shouting for a long time, Yoo Jae-young’s gaze finally turned toward Cheong-sil on the ground. The murderous look in his eyes made her body react first. His foot moved, and she threw herself forward.
Thud!
“Ugh!”
“Ah, I told you not to move.”
Yoo Jae-young clicked his tongue as if disappointed. Beneath his foot was not the fox, but Yeo-won.
She had run over in a single stride, wrapped Cheong-sil in her arms, and taken the blow in his place.
A dull, aching pain spread through her back where he had stepped on her. Even so, Yeo-won first checked on Cheong-sil in her arms.
Though faint, his belly was rising and falling. There were no visible external wounds, but since he had been kicked in the stomach, his ribs must have been broken.
“Cheong-sil… Cheong-sil…”
Murmuring his name blankly, she pulled him close as if to protect him. Yoo Jae-young laughed mockingly.
“Anyone watching would think you were real family.”
He crouched down to meet her eyes. When Yeo-won glared at him, teeth clenched, he bared his own teeth in a grin.
“How does it feel now that your only hope is shattered? Are you scared? Do you want to die?”
“…”
Yeo-won did not answer. Quiet fury burned in the eyes that stared at him, but Yoo Jae-young did not miss the faint spark of hope shining behind it.
“Did you know? What people fear most are very primal things. Time, age, darkness—things like that.”
“…”
“But not you, right, Senior?”
Yoo Jae-young’s hand suddenly seized a fistful of her hair. The tremendous grip jerked her head around, but Yeo-won did not let out a single scream. If what he wanted was her fear, she vowed never to show it. She would grit her teeth and face him directly.
“Even in this situation, you’re staying so calm.”
With those low words, her vision blurred and something inside her seemed to snap. The twisting sight made her bite her tongue to endure, but the murmuring voice from above no longer reached her ears.
“That won’t do. You need to fall even deeper into despair. You need to suffer even more.”
Somewhere, the metallic scent of blood filled her nose. It was the same smell as that day, as if she were standing in a pool made of blood.
Unable to withstand the overwhelming dizziness, Yeo-won finally lost consciousness, her body going limp.
“There we go. Off you go—into the darkest part of your inner self, the one you fear most.”
Over Yeo-won’s pale face, the Eodukseoni’s saliva dripped steadily.