Chapter 19
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 19
Chapter Title: Head in the Box
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Jeonghan froze at the sudden shocking sight. But Taeju spoke without a care for his reaction.
“Alright, the Dokkaebi is down.”
Taeju said. Jeonghan was still pale as a ghost.
“Then, can you head out now?”
“Y-Yes...?”
Jeonghan stammered. The scene had been far too shocking for him.
“Well, the incident is over. Time to go home.”
“W-Wait a minute.”
Jeonghan asked in confusion.
“Is the Dokkaebi dead?”
“Who knows. As you saw.”
Taeju offered no further explanation.
“You have nothing left to do here. Please leave.”
Taeju took every item from the box that Jeonghan had been holding.
“Here, give these to the people around.”
“Am I really leaving...?”
The abrupt change in attitude left Jeonghan struggling to adjust. But Taeju's demeanor was so resolute that no further words could be had.
“Yes. We're wrapping up work too. You need to go now.”
Jeonghan wanted more explanation but was all but shoved outside.
Really? Is this it? The end? Without showing the Dokkaebi anything? Was it okay to slice its head off like that?
Countless questions raced through his mind. But soon enough, Jeonghan hung his head.
Just as Taeju had said, no amount of time would have let him fulfill the promise. In the end, that might have been the only way.
A bittersweet feeling settled over him, and Jeonghan let out a sigh. His startled heart had yet to calm.
“Anyway, what to do with these.”
He needed to tackle the practical problem first.
Jeonghan pondered what to do with the items filling both hands.
They were a genuine burden. Items he couldn't just toss. Nine people's worth, making them seriously heavy.
Subway was done for the night. Buses too, obviously. Taxi maybe, but the cost was a concern.
Unable to go forward or back, Jeonghan simply stood blankly on the empty street.
“Jeonghan!”
Then a voice suddenly called his name.
At first, he thought he'd misheard. It was that unlikely a friend to be here.
“H-Huh?”
A friend he'd never even imagined being here.
“What happened?!”
“W-What...?”
It was Daeyeop. Panting hard, whether from running or a long walk, he looked baffled at Jeonghan's dazed response.
“You, I'm talking to you! What are you saying?”
“Me?”
The encounter was so sudden that Jeonghan was utterly flustered.
“You suddenly texted me to come here. So I did.”
“I did? I never sent anything.”
Jeonghan couldn't make sense of it. But as he listened to Daeyeop, he started to piece together what had happened.
“You barely contact us for personal stuff, then suddenly text 'help me'—you have no idea how shocked I was.”
“I didn't send it...”
“Hey, then who did? You get hacked or something?”
Daeyeop gruffly pulled out his phone to show him.
“Look, from your number.”
Even Jeonghan could see it was his number on the screen.
“Yeah, it is.”
“You've finally lost it. Work wearing you down?”
Daeyeop had thought it might be a prank text but felt an ominous vibe and came anyway.
“If you weren't here, I'd have written it off as a prank, but I actually ran into you—who the hell sent this then?”
“...Me?”
Jeonghan couldn't think of anyone else who would.
“You really have lost it. You got a fever or something?”
Daeyeop placed a hand on Jeonghan's forehead.
“No fever.”
With a sigh, Daeyeop added,
“We're not at dementia age yet, Jeonghan.”
“Right?”
Daeyeop looked exasperated at the questioning reply to the end.
“Anyway, the others are on their way too. You look rough—something did happen, huh? What is it?”
“Uh, um...”
No way anyone would believe what he'd been through. As Jeonghan hemmed and hawed, Daeyeop went on.
“You look so pale, get a checkup or something. Hope it's not some big illness. Should've looked into it when you fainted seeing that ghost last time.”
“No, really, it's nothing.”
Still seeming suspicious, Daeyeop eyed him closely. From his perspective, this was like causing a midnight ruckus, so it was understandable.
“By the way, what's in your hands? Carrying that stuff in the dead of night?”
Jeonghan suddenly felt his hands lighten.
Daeyeop had snatched the items away.
“This the stuff?”
Daeyeop examined the contents carefully before saying,
“From that capsule?”
“Yeah.”
“You actually found it. What about the box?”
“The box... I left it behind.”
The box was probably still at the office.
“Well, the box isn't the point. It's the contents that matter. You call us for this?”
“Seemed... like it?”
That was the result, after all, so Jeonghan ended questioningly.
“What's with 'seemed'? Anyway, better than nothing. Glad it's no big deal.”
Seeing his friend say that after thinking something bad had happened stirred an inexplicable emotion in Jeonghan's chest.
“...Sorry.”
“Huh? What's that sudden?”
“For making you come out at this hour.”
It was just Daeyeop now, but more were coming.
In any case, they were gathering here because of him.
Tomorrow was a weekday, and surely some had to go to work, yet they were coming anyway.
“You're not working tomorrow?”
“Dunno. Half-day off or whatever. If it's rough, just take the full day.”
Daeyeop scratched his head.
“And it's not tomorrow—it's today.”
“Ah.”
Come to think of it, it was a bit past midnight.
“You can swing a day off too, right?”
Daeyeop glanced at Jeonghan.
“Huh?”
“All these people coming here right now? They're worried about you and ready to take tomorrow off. Might as well make it worth it. I'm not sleeping tonight anyway? Dutch pay?”
In the end, it was a suggestion to grab drinks since they were all here.
“Others are coming too?”
“That's on your cryptic text. Next time, pick your words. No more sudden 'come here' or 'help me' crap.”
From Jeonghan's view, it was a bit unfair, but at this point, he couldn't deny it.
So he asked something else.
“Wasn't it hard getting here?”
“Hard as hell. But it's you.”
Daeyeop smirked.
“Who among us isn't grateful to you? You were the first at my dad's funeral.”
Doesn't even count as taking credit—Daeyeop tapped Jeonghan's shoulder.
“You're suffering and we whine instead of coming? That ain't human. Anyway, call us when it's tough. You always look after the rest—why suffer alone like that?”
“Even if I call every night like this?”
Jeonghan said it like a joke. But Daeyeop nodded seriously.
“Yeah... not too often. Once a year? No more this year.”
Jeonghan was surprised at the joking-yet-serious response.
“Hey! Over here!”
While Jeonghan was momentarily flustered, someone shouted from across the street. Four people. They'd apparently met up midway and arrived in one car.
“How are you all... at this hour.”
Gathering like this today was objectively impossible.
Yet including himself, six had shown up.
He'd never imagined it possible, but here they were in numbers.
“More idiot talk from you.”
Daeyeop said from beside him.
“They came because you called.”
Strictly speaking, Jeonghan hadn't, but as far as the friends knew, he had.
It was something he himself would never do. But this incident made one thing clear.
This might be the scene Jeonghwan had promised to show ten years later.
Not everyone had come.
But definitely some had.
The two from before, plus the three who'd said midnight was impossible—they were here.
People who'd come running without a word. It wasn't meaningless just because not all made it.
What if three? What if six?
What Jeonghan should have done wasn't despair over the few who couldn't come.
It was gratitude for those who did.
That's why he couldn't have shown it. Because he hadn't thought that way, he couldn't show the Dokkaebi something of value.
Suddenly, Jeonghan wanted to say it.
“I saw a Dokkaebi.”
No one looked like they believed him.
But he wasn't treated like a lunatic either.
“Yeah? No ghosts though?”
“Hey, you really seem like you went through something weird.”
The friends who came were just a bit worried.
“No, it's nothing.”
Jeonghan could only say that in the end.
“Just had a bit of a weird experience.”
“Save it for drinks. Only pojangmacha open now, right?”
“Yeah. Let's go.”
The four newcomers started eagerly searching their phones for nearby open bars.
From the back, Jeonghan could watch them.
Streetlight glow, but bright enough.
No trace of complaint on his friends' faces—just thinking about having fun right now.
*So, you saw well.*
Jeonghan suddenly felt like a voice came from behind.
He whipped around. But there was nothing there.
*Misheard?*
But he couldn't have misheard that voice.
“What's up?”
Daeyeop asked from right in front.
“Oh, nothing.”
Jeonghan said.
Perhaps the Dokkaebi had seen this. That thought crossed his mind.
He hoped so.
* * *
In the end, Jeonghan took a full day off that day and heard the doorbell at lunchtime, searching for him.
Actually, “heard” wasn't quite right—it was more accurate to say he used the noise as an alarm to wake up.
Roused by the racket, Jeonghan stumbled over and hit the intercom button. His head felt a bit fuzzy.
“Uh, who is it?”
Jeonghan asked into the intercom.
“Came to drop off that thing you left behind.”
He'd thought delivery, but apparently not. Well, he hadn't ordered anything.
Hearing the casual tone, Jeonghan figured it must be someone he knew and opened the door.
But standing there was a man he'd never seen before.
“Hello.”
“...Who are you?”
The man in pitch-black clothes exuded a strange intimidation.
Seemed young, but also old. Looked East Asian, but somehow not.
The only certainties were that he was male and tall.
More Dokkaebi-like than the Dokkaebi itself, Jeonghan thought. Especially the utter mysteriousness.
“Who am I?”
The man opened his mouth.
“The one here for the fee.”
The man grinned as he said it. Only then did Jeonghan realize this was the Director that Taeju had mentioned before.
“Ah, ahh. Yes. Hello.”
Clutching his slightly aching head, Jeonghan barely managed a greeting.
“But did I leave something behind?”
“This.”
The Director thrust forward the item in his hand. Not big. A very small wooden box-like thing.
One thing was sure: he'd never seen it before.
No way he'd left something like this—Jeonghan tilted his head.
“What is it?”
“The last item from inside the box. The one Jeonghwan put in.”
Jeonghan felt his eyes, which had been drooping, snap wide open.
“Where was it?”
His voice came out sharper than intended, and the man chuckled.
“You could've figured it if you'd looked closely. There's a small hidden mechanism at the bottom of that box.”
The inside and outside heights were different—that's what he meant, something you could've spotted easily if you'd noticed.
“Metal box, so it has weight—people don't notice. For most, it's the contents that matter, not the box itself, so they don't look closely.”
The box really had had a secret.
“Yeah, our little employee was right. No way he'd skip something that fun for himself, huh?”
The man himself would do the most fun thing. Human nature.
“But the issue is, only he knew about that secret.”
If there'd been time to leisurely handle the box, he might have discovered it eventually.
But back then, that hadn't been possible. Obsessed with what wasn't there, no chance to find what was.
If he'd been alive, maybe he'd have dropped a hint to lead them to it.
He'd loved pranks, after all.
But with him gone, no one to give hints—and it nearly went unnoticed by all.
If this man hadn't brought it, Jeonghan never would've known what Jeonghwan left behind.
“Thank you for bringing it.”
Jeonghan bowed his head. But the man smiled and said,
“No need to thank me. I'm here to collect what I'm owed.”
“Ah!”
Right. Taeju had said the Director would settle the fee at the end.
He had no aversion to paying, but the uncertainty of the amount made him swallow once before asking.
“How much do I owe?”
Seeing Jeonghan mentally calculate his available funds, the Director snickered.
“No money needed. Didn't Taeju tell you?”
But he had nothing special to give besides money.
The Director laughed as if money truly wasn't needed.
“That box you left behind—I'm taking it.”
“The box?”
“Yeah. The box. But the contents inside? Useless to me.”
The Director looked into Jeonghan's eyes as he said,
“So I brought this.”
“You can have the box. Especially since you gave me this.”
Jeonghan nodded. If the box was the fee, he could part with it, regrettable as it was.
After all, what mattered to him wasn't the box but the contents.
“But about the Dokkaebi. Is it dead?”
It had been shocking at the time, but thinking it over all night, something felt off.
The Dokkaebi had been just a head from the start. Seemed unlikely a mere head flying off would kill it.
Come to think of it, Taeju never said it died.
Plus, hadn't he heard that voice at the very end?
“Of course not.”
The Director stated flatly.
“Good.”
Jeonghan smiled a little.
“Because it didn't die.”
But the words that followed left no room for smiling.
“It's still stuck to your back right now?”
“What?”
