Chapter 1
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 1
Chapter Title: Head in the Box (1)
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There was clearly no one in the room.
The man had already checked multiple times. Aside from himself, there was no one else in the room.
- Keep your promise!
But if that was the case, where the hell was this voice coming from?
"Again…."
- Keep your promise!
The man climbed onto the bed and pulled the covers over his head. He'd been hearing this eerie voice for days now, but it never got any less familiar no matter how many times it played.
He'd tried plugging his ears, blasting music, focusing on something else.
- You have to keep your promise.
But it was no use. The voice kept coming.
"Stop…."
He didn't want to hear it anymore. Jeonghan knew it was pointless, but he still clamped his hands over his ears.
All he could do was hope the voice wouldn't come tomorrow, pretending to sleep in silence.
- You must keep it.
* * *
Ding-a-ling.
The small bell on the door jingled.
A young man spotted the customer entering and greeted him warmly.
"Hello, what brings you here?"
The customer glanced around, wondering if he'd come to the right place. But it didn't seem like it, so he tilted his head.
He'd followed a flyer that said to enter this unmarked building, but no matter how he looked at it, this place seemed like a café.
The only people inside were a young man who looked like the café owner and a young woman sitting in the corner sipping tea.
"Uh, I think I came to the wrong place."
The man had expected a somewhat somber scene, and now he panicked, thinking he'd walked into the wrong spot.
But the man who seemed like the owner smiled and said,
"Don't worry. You've come to the right place."
Even though the customer hadn't said anything, his attitude was natural, as if he knew everything.
"Have a seat here."
The customer cautiously sat at the bar table near the man, allowing the two to face each other naturally.
The man had slightly brownish hair and wore a casual coat.
His appearance gave off a soft impression, but for some reason, there was a sharpness mixed in.
Noticing the customer sizing him up, Taeju smiled and asked,
"I'm Taeju. May I have your name?"
Jeonghan, who had been momentarily lost in the strange vibe Taeju gave off, snapped back to attention at the question.
"…My name is Jeonghan. Kim Jeonghan."
Jeonghan answered hesitantly. He looked quite tense.
"But is this the place from that flyer? The office…?"
It was a question asked with considerable courage. The story he was about to tell was so absurd that if he said it in the wrong place, he'd surely be called crazy.
"I wouldn't know about the flyer, but yes, this is the office."
Taeju nodded with a friendly smile. Jeonghan seemed a bit relieved.
"Does it have any other name?"
"Pardon?"
Taeju asked as if puzzled.
"Uh, I mean, like a name for the office or something…"
"Well, we don't have a specific name set."
Taeju thought for a moment.
"If I had to put it, it's an office that helps people dealing with monster tale-related incidents. Not much of a name, though."
Taeju chuckled as if names didn't matter, then continued.
"Places like this aren't about the name anyway. We're not selling based on a brand. So, what brings you here?"
It was the same question from the start. He couldn't hesitate forever. Jeonghan steeled himself.
"I'm not sure if it's okay to say this here, but, uh… Lately, at night, I hear hallucinations."
Jeonghan spoke cautiously, like he was confessing in a confessional.
"Hallucinations?"
Taeju responded without much reaction.
"What kind of hallucinations?"
"Ones telling me to keep my promise… Something like that."
"A promise?"
This wasn't something to take lightly.
When the customer first mentioned the hallucinations, Taeju hadn't thought much of it. Sudden thuds or rustling sounds were common horror tropes, and most weren't serious issues.
But if the hallucination was meaningful words, that changed things.
Taeju's expression grew serious.
"That's definitely unusual. Telling you to keep a promise, right?"
As Taeju's face changed, Jeonghan grew serious too.
"No other sounds?"
"No. Just that phrase repeating. The tone changes a bit, but the content stays the same."
"Same content."
Then it wasn't just a mishearing. Taeju thought it might be more serious than expected.
"Does the voice always appear? Like right now?"
"No, it's fine now. It keeps going when I'm alone at night."
Taeju frowned. Not a good sign. Night, alone, a voice… Every ominous element was there.
Seeing Taeju take it seriously, Jeonghan vented like he was complaining.
"I even thought about going to a psychiatrist at first! But aside from the hallucinations, nothing's wrong, so I don't think I'm actually crazy."
He kept wiping his face as he spoke. His trembling voice showed he was still very tense.
Taeju asked Jeonghan in a calm voice.
"It's hard to draw conclusions from this alone. Could you tell me exactly what happened?"
"But… I don't know where to start…."
"If I had to say, from the beginning."
"The beginning?"
Jeonghan said, sounding flustered. Taeju nodded.
"If the voice started suddenly one day, there must have been a trigger. Start from there."
Seeing Jeonghan hesitate, Taeju added,
"It doesn't matter if it sounds ridiculous—just tell it as it is. Don't edit it to make it sound 'plausible.'"
At Taeju's urging, Jeonghan nodded, lost in thought as if organizing his mind.
Fortunately, he seemed calmer. Taeju grinned and said,
"Shall we have something to drink while you talk? What would you like?"
It wasn't operating as a café, but it wasn't just for show either. They could make simple drinks.
"Ah, thank you. Warm Americano for me, please."
While preparing the coffee for Jeonghan, Taeju asked permission and turned on his phone to start recording.
Jeonghan asked curiously,
"What's the recording for?"
"Oh, just to make sure I don't miss anything. Don't worry about it."
It wasn't anything troublesome even if recorded. Just a bit strange story.
"Here's your coffee. So, take your time and tell me."
At Taeju's words, Jeonghan nodded and began.
"It was a week ago."
* * *
1 a.m.
Three men wandered the mountain with shovels in hand.
It was chilly, but sweat drenched their foreheads.
"How many years ago did we bury it?"
"Don't know. Definitely over ten. Wasn't it our first year of high school? But not quite eleven yet."
At Jeonghan's question, his friend Daeyeop answered curtly.
"Jeonghan, the timing isn't important now. It's where. You really don't remember?"
"Well, this place has changed so much…."
Jeonghan looked around in response. Nothing felt familiar.
Even the local back mountain changes this much in ten years.
He felt a bit careless.
"Didn't expect it to be this hard to find."
"No kidding? You thought digging this up at dawn would be easy?"
Jeonghan could only give a wry smile at Daeyeop's scolding.
"No, I knew it'd be hard, but it's harder than I thought."
"It has to be around here, right?"
At Daeyeop's suspicious tone, Jeonghan nodded.
"Yeah."
"Ah, it would've been easier with more people. Three out of ten? That's a low hit rate. Not baseball here."
Daeyeop stabbed his shovel into the ground and plopped down. Jeonghan sighed softly at the sight, then sat beside him.
"Yeah, wish a few more had come."
"What can you do? Everyone's busy living now. Digging up a time capsule isn't easy for them. Three is a miracle, right?"
Daeyeop was right. Jeonghan nodded slightly. But the regret lingered.
"No time to worry about no-shows. We're gonna die out here. I'm done moving."
Daeyeop panted from his seat and continued.
"Haven't exercised much, and my body's already wrecked."
Daeyeop let out a long sigh.
"Ten years is a long time. Even this place changed."
What was once just a wild hill was now landscaped like a park.
Daeyeop grumbled, clearly displeased, as he sat.
"And if they're gonna develop it, do it right. What is this?"
"Why? Back mountains are like that."
Jeonghan tried to soothe him, but Daeyeop's complaints didn't stop.
"No, it's not even nicely done or good for walks. Might as well left it alone? Easier to find stuff, all good?"
"You're grumpy 'cause you're tired."
Jeonghan chuckled a bit at his friend, who'd gained a lot of weight since school days.
"Hey, laughing? Let's find it instead of joking."
As Daeyeop complained, a loud call came from afar.
"Hey, come here!"
It was Dongwon, their friend who'd gone ahead way faster than the laggards.
"Why! I'm too tired to walk!"
Jeonghan shouted back.
"Quit bullshitting and come! I think I found it!"
The two exchanged glances, then jumped up and hurried to Dongwon.
Of course, already exhausted, they couldn't run. Just walked faster.
Dongwon looked at the huffing Jeonghan and Daeyeop pitifully and said,
"Told you to hit the gym…. Anyway, isn't this the mark we made back then?"
Dongwon pointed to a scar on a tree.
Jeonghan examined it closely and grinned. The tree had grown, distorting it a bit, but definite.
"Wow, looks like it. Nice find, seriously."
Jeonghan hadn't shown it, but he'd been about to give up too.
And now they'd found it. He felt a thrill.
Daeyeop poked around the tree base with his shovel and said,
"What a weekend chore. Lucky we found it."
Dongwon and Jeonghan seemed to feel the same; their faces weren't much different.
"Hey, let's dig quick. Faster we dig, faster we go home."
Daeyeop, who'd been complaining, suddenly shouted energetically.
Jeonghan teased,
"Look at you, half-dead and now full of life. Curious about inside, huh?"
"Of course it'd be a lie to say I'm not excited after coming this far? Oh, by the way, can't dig. But I'll buy food, so one of you do it."
At Daeyeop's shamelessness, Jeonghan made a dumbfounded face.
"Trying to buy me with money?"
"Up to 100,000 won per person, order whatever. Deal?"
"Ugh, that's plenty to buy me out."
In the end, Jeonghan was chosen to dig among the remaining two. Couldn't argue Dongwon's claim of finding the spot.
It was past 2 a.m. then.
Clang!!
The shovel hit metal.
Finding it took just over five hours, but digging ended in ten minutes.
"Nice digging."
Jeonghan tossed the shovel and reached into the hole. But that was his limit.
"Hey, I'm done too. You guys open it."
After barely pulling out the box, Jeonghan threw it to Daeyeop and collapsed, leaning against a nearby tree.
"Oh, still intact?"
Daeyeop gripped the lid to open it lightly.
"Hey, why won't this open?"
But the box didn't open easily.
Metal, slightly rusted.
"Hey, was it always this sturdy? You break it digging?"
"You dig and say that. Don't talk. No energy."
Dongwon snatched it from Daeyeop, scolding him.
"Hngh! Hngh!! Ugh, seriously, why won't it open?"
Maybe pissed it looked easy but wasn't, they struggled, flipping it over.
Jeonghan watched amused as they pried using leverage principles or whatever.
As the two grunted with effort,
Pop!
The lid suddenly flew off. Couldn't withstand the pressure with body weight.
"Huh?"
Not opening normally, contents scattered from the shock.
Toys spilled out, paper scraps fluttered like snow.
But none of that caught Jeonghan's eye.
Amid the junk pouring like snow, one thing stood out.
A human head.
One intact human head rolled out from inside.
And it rolled right to Jeonghan's feet.