Believe Me
Pop!
"Hello, everyone. This is Yoon-sang."
Yoon-sang, his stream now live, was carrying himself with far less energy than usual.
Oppa, what's wrong? T_T
You look really down today. 😢
Possessed by a ghost? LMAO
Manager, ban this jerk already ;;
⚠ TrashTalkerTrainee has been banned.
"Haaah..."
Letting out a heavy sigh, Yoon-sang glanced toward the camera with a faint smile.
It was an odd smile — like one meant to hide how hard things had been, and at the same time like the smile of a man holding a trump card.
"Everyone, let me start with the big news."
Ooh, what is it?
A collab?!
Nah nah, he said he'd give a month's notice before any collab.
Well, a collab would be big news...
When's he collabbing with that office worker shaman?
Doesn't seem decided yet.
Kang Hyeong-seok's name was surfacing in the chat. Few knew his real name by now, but the nickname "office worker shaman" had spread far and wide, and it came up often enough.
"Everyone, you know what a Chang-gwi is, right? A Chang-gwi."
I know the song. lol
Isn't that the ghost of someone eaten by a tiger?
Yep.
You SAW a Chang-gwi?
"Yes."
Gasp.
For real?
Is this serious?
You actually saw a ghost? A Chang-gwi?
Staaaaged~~~
"Everyone, would I really come on here with nothing to back it up?"
The chat had begun crying "staged," but Yoon-sang remained perfectly composed.
Such was the ease of a man holding the goods. Unlike with the Dokkaebi, he had a fair amount of footage this time — and above all, he had pulled off something truly substantial.
"Alright, footage first."
Click, click.
Yoon-sang started with the clip he had filmed at the mountain-god shrine near the temple.
...Um. What is that.
Holy shit.
No seriously, THIS is what you stream live. Why didn't you!
Did Yoon-sang actually film this?
It was the video with the black hand jutting out of the shrine. Darkness pressed in all around and rain was falling, so the eeriness came off the screen in waves.
And though Yoon-sang hadn't known it at the time, a faint silhouette had been caught behind the shrine as well.
Drrrk.
The moment he zoomed in on that silhouette, the chat erupted, white-hot.
Oh my god.
????
Is this real?
What the fuck is that.
whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa
"That's the Chang-gwi. That's it. That's all I can really show you, but I came face to face with the thing myself, too."
whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa
For real? Actual real?
You SAW a ghost?
Yo, I already tipped a TV network off about this.
Even then it's Yoon-sang's place to do that. Why would you? Attention seeker?
So what, we're just supposed to swallow it as fact with zero verification? Think before you type.
Wow, such polite words. ffs
Can't you tell just by looking? It's staged, obviously.
When have you EVER seen Yoon-sang fake anything? And anyone with eyes can see it's real. You couldn't stage this even if you tried.
Fuck, I shouldn't have said anything.
The chat split cleanly down the middle, and the messages came flooding in at a frightening pace.
For a streamer, that kind of firepower was a gift. Word had apparently gotten around, too, because while Yoon-sang himself stayed calm, his viewer count was exploding.
"Everyone, please, settle down. I'm going to have this footage verified by a professional institute to prove I didn't fake it, and then I'll show you, live, as I take it to a proper shaman for confirmation."
Kya, look at him lining up the next episode lmaoooo
Content king Yoon-sang!
Last stream too — his energy's really back lately.
Wait, is this connected to the office worker shaman too?
Huh?
Yoon-sang gave a big, deliberate nod. In the same instant, the viewer count surged once more.
That was how enormous Kang Hyeong-seok's pull had become.
Tell us more. In detail.
What happened this time?
A Chang-gwi right after the Dokkaebi? whoa whoa whoa whoa
This is insane. Actually insane.
"Don't I tell you everything I go through? Everyone, I can't trust you. Really."
Just ban everyone who was screaming 'staged' earlier.
The fuck? Who?
We'll believe you. Just tell us. T_T
Every stream's got its vibe-killing assholes.
"Thank you for believing in me! But honestly, you'd all find it hard to believe. Even I'm still dazed. So I'll share just as much as you can actually buy, and upload the full edited version later."
Aww...
Then just a little, like a trailer. Please. T_T
This teasing is killing me.
Yoon-sang snickered and straightened up in his seat.
"Really — oh, right. Let me just say this one thing. Someday, I am going to go live with that man as my guest. And when that happens, it is going to be absolutely enormous."
You're already on the trending page. whoa
Every time the office worker shaman shows up, the stream blows up.
When's he showing up?
So unfair that you're the only one who gets to meet him.
Hurry up and collab already!
Did Kang Hyeong-seok know? That this many people wanted him?
It was Yoon-sang's stream, and yet Hyeong-seok drew more attention than he did — and strangely, that didn't feel bad at all. Perhaps it was because they had come through something enormous together that he felt that quiet sense of kinship.
"Alright then, let me unwind a little of the story. But there is not one single lie in it, so you have to believe me, okay?"
We said we got it!
Tell us now. Now. Please. T_T
Yoon-sang stream special: the second the office worker shaman shows up, it's pure gold.
"This time I've even got a news article. Here — here. It's a place where so many people died back in the day that they even put up an elephant statue."
Yoon-sang even brought up a photo he had taken separately of the shattered elephant statue. The viewer reaction was enormous, just as he'd expected, and he steered the stream along with a calm, practiced hand.
By the time every last story was told, Yoon-sang had hit a viewer count he had never once seen before.
Creak.
And so he leaned back into his chair, the very picture of satisfaction.
"Alright, that's it for today's stream. On my next regular broadcast, I'll be taking the footage you saw today and paying a visit to a shaman — verification content, coming right up."
Ending already? T_T
Then just chat with us, anything.
Why did so many people insist on holding him back today, of all days?
Yoon-sang let out a puh-huh of laughter, waved, and fired off his sign-off.
"See you next time! Love you always, my dear Sarang-gwi!"
Pop!
"The bastard ended his stream."
Shin Jeong-ah, who had been watching Yoon-sang's broadcast on her phone, hurled her askew glare at the man across the table.
It was a beer hall. Lee Ha-yoon, her closest friend, sat beside her, while across the table Kang Hyeong-seok nursed a beer. It was seven in the evening, in a spot not far from Ha-yoon's office.
"Hey, mind your language. What's this 'bastard' business?"
"You mind yours, you rascal."
"Some pair you two are."
This was why a single drink was such a dangerous thing. Lee Ha-yoon, prim and proper in front of Kang Hyeong-seok, was now chatting away at ease with Jeong-ah, and Jeong-ah, for her part, had come to regard Hyeong-seok with much the same easy familiarity she showed Ha-yoon.
"Section Chief Kang, is everything on his stream real?"
When Jeong-ah asked, brandishing her phone, Hyeong-seok nodded without a word, only the corners of his mouth lifting.
"Ah..."
Ha-yoon groaned at that, her face going gray with dismay. Back at the very start of the whole affair, she had gone down to help Hyeong-seok. After they had parted ways, she had assumed that was the end of it — she had never dreamed he would get tangled up in something like this.
"Yoon-sang had a rough time of it. He was a great help, too."
It was after Hyeong-seok said this, taking another sip of his beer, that—
"Then what about me?"
Without warning, Jeong-ah tossed out a voice in which sorrow and hurt feelings were tangled together.
"Hey, I ate pig intestines, you know. So what about me?"
"Huh? Wh-what?"
Ha-yoon's eyes went bright with a that happened? look — closer to fascination than to concern.
"That was... I owe you an apology."
"All you ever said was 'possession.' Nobody said anything about me scarfing down intestines."
"I'm sorry."
Clearly stung, Jeong-ah drained her pint glass in one go and breathed out air that fairly vibrated with the smell of beer. Then she moved a chicken drumstick from the platter in the middle of the table onto her own plate — and never laid a hand on it again.
"Ever since then I can't eat pork rice soup, can't eat blood-sausage soup... Aaagh!"
"I'm sorry. Truly."
"Aaaghhhhh!"
"Hey, why are you crying?"
Ha-yoon teased her with gleaming eyes. Head lowered, Jeong-ah flapped an arm at her to go away, and Hyeong-seok felt a stab of guilt.
"I'm sorry, Deputy General Manager."
"It's not about being sorry!"
Ha-yoon shot her an oh? look at the sight of a swear-free Jeong-ah, while Hyeong-seok let out something like a heavy, weighted sigh.
"Back then, there was truly no other choice. I'm sorry."
"Hic. Sniff."
"Oh my, she really is crying."
"I told you to get lost!"
Jeong-ah snapped at Ha-yoon, then leveled a gaze brimming with tears at Hyeong-seok.
"You know what shocked me the most?"
"The... the intestines you ate?"
"No!"
Jeong-ah snatched up Ha-yoon's glass as though stealing it, gulped it down in great swallows, and opened her mouth.
"Why did you keep it a secret? If you had just apologized right away, I wouldn't feel this let down, you punk."
"I thought that would be for the best. It was rash of me."
Jeong-ah squeezed her eyes shut. Watching from the side, Ha-yoon figured this was finally where her friend's temper would come out — but the expected blowup never came.
"Hoooooo."
Letting out a long, deep sigh to smother the anger, Jeong-ah pressed a tissue against the corners of her eyes.
"I'll let it slide, seeing as you're Section Chief Kang."
"Well, I never... our Jeong-ah has grown so mature."
"Oh, c'mon! Seriously — you wanna die?"
"Hahahahahaha!"
Ha-yoon clutched her belly, laughing, while Hyeong-seok gave Jeong-ah an apologetic smile. The anger didn't look entirely gone, but she was clearly far better off than before.
"I'm truly sorry, Deputy General Manager."
"Shiiit..."
"Nothing like that will happen again."
"Of course it had better not! Huh?"
Something about it felt off, and Jeong-ah wrinkled her brow — but the alcohol kept her head from turning fast enough.
"Next time, I'll ask for your understanding first. And I'll explain everything."
"Uh, yeah..."
"And if something like that ever happens again, I won't hide it. I'll tell you right away."
"Huh? Yeah."
"Then we're good, right?"
Face flushed scarlet with drink, Jeong-ah pondered it over carefully before nodding, while Ha-yoon beside her looked ready to die laughing.
"Anyway — Attorney Ha-yoon, thank you for your help as well."
"Huh? Oh — no, no, it was nothing."
Ha-yoon said it with the laughter not yet fully gone from her face, while Jeong-ah sat with her arms crossed, still grumbling to herself. At last, unable to pin down what still bothered her, she asked the first thing that came to mind.
"I heard from him that the professor was there too?"
"Yes."
"Is he doing all right?"
Hyeong-seok pressed his lips together for a moment, then managed an awkward smile.
"He will be. He says he'll come back once his friend's funeral is over."
"I see. But then why aren't you going?"
"I have to work."
"Oh. Right."
Quite drunk, apparently, was Shin Jeong-ah.
"So this whole thing wrapped up nicely, then."
At Ha-yoon's words, Hyeong-seok thought for a brief moment and nodded.
"Yes. For now, it seems that way. The shaman who had been guarding Professor Kim Jae-sik also returned home safely."
"'For now'? Is there more?"
There were, in truth, things still left unresolved.
The man in the rain cape, locked in a standoff with the beomgwi he had seen in his vision. And the cause of the elephant statue's destruction. He had no proof, but the two seemed powerfully entwined — and yet, strangely, he did not feel greatly worried.
His Momjusin had told him once: save yourself.
By laying the beomgwi to rest, he had saved himself — from the Chang-gwi, and from the beomgwi alike.
"There's no need to worry. With my Momjusin watching over me, what could possibly happen?"
As much as his Momjusin trusted him, Hyeong-seok trusted his Momjusin in return. Whatever came, the deity would shield him — and the unanswered questions, too, would one day come to light.
"Cheers!"
Ha-yoon raised the toast as if to lift the mood. Hyeong-seok and Jeong-ah lifted their glasses — and the instant Ha-yoon realized that one of them was hers, she hollered, "Hey!"