Until the Sun Rises
Creeeak.
Kang Hyeong-seok had come to work earlier than usual, and the one to greet him was Kwak Young-ho, just stepping out of the break room.
"Oh! Manager Kang! Have a good holiday?"
Kang Hyeong-seok gave a wry smile, and even that seemed to pass for an answer.
"Doesn't look like it. What's wrong with your face? You look worn out."
"No, sir. I rested well."
"Rested well, my foot... Hold on a second."
Even as he headed for his office, Kwak Young-ho glanced back at Kang Hyeong-seok and clicked his tongue. Then he held out a small plastic capsule containing a gongjindan, a pricey traditional herbal tonic.
"This stuff is good for you. It costs a pretty penny, but consider it special treatment for Manager Kang."
Right at that moment—
Creeeak.
"Good morrning~"
Namgoong Min-ah walked in with a long, drawn-out greeting and immediately zeroed in on the gongjindan in Kwak Young-ho's hand.
"Huh? Sir, what's that?"
"Ah—nothing. It's chocolate. Chocolate."
"Oh, come on! What kind of chocolate looks like that?"
Flustered, Kwak Young-ho simply shoved the gongjindan into Kang Hyeong-seok's pocket, and Namgoong Min-ah settled into her seat with a cheeky grin.
"I only asked because I was curious. My dad takes those same things, you know."
"I-is that right?"
"Yep. That's why it feels so familiar."
There wasn't a shred of malice in her face.
Still, being told he brought her father to mind left a faintly mournful look on Kwak Young-ho's.
Creeeak.
"Hello."
"Morning!"
Just then, Shin Jeong-ah and Lee Jin-pyeong walked in side by side.
"Oh? How come you two came in together?"
"We ran into each other out front."
"But Manager Shin, what's all this?"
Lee Jin-pyeong was exactly the same as ever.
Shin Jeong-ah, on the other hand, stood out instantly—from the enormous suitcase she was hauling to skin so deeply tanned she practically radiated good health.
"Ah, that's... haha."
She laughed awkwardly and slid the suitcase behind her.
"The flight schedule was a little, well, you know, so I came straight to work from the airport."
"Wait—you can do that?"
"That was the plan, anyway. I meant to come in early, but it turned out like this. I'm sorry."
"You've got nothing to apologize for. So where did you go?"
"Bali."
Kwak Young-ho stared at her with an expression that plainly read impressive.
Kang Hyeong-seok felt much the same. Namgoong Min-ah looked on with naked envy, while Lee Jin-pyeong's eyes seemed to be asking, Now where was Bali again?
"Oh, right—I bought presents. Everyone take one."
Shin Jeong-ah fished out a small bag that hooked onto the suitcase's handle, then began dealing out her souvenir-shop haul one piece at a time.
"Wow! Thank you, Manager Shin!"
"Oooh..."
Namgoong Min-ah took an aromatherapy set and bounced on her toes with delight, while Lee Jin-pyeong looked mildly stunned by the Yaba granola he'd been handed.
"Take this one home to your wife, sir."
"...Well, I'll be. Never even crossed my mind."
Kwak Young-ho was marveling over a hair oil that looked like a jar of vitamins when—
"And this one's yours, Manager Kang."
By now not only Kwak Young-ho but even Lee Jin-pyeong had perked up with interest, and Shin Jeong-ah answered with a smile.
"You love coffee, don't you, Manager Kang? So I picked one out for you."
"I think this might be the priciest one here?"
"They're all pricey!"
Kwak Young-ho laughed as if it had all been a joke, and Kang Hyeong-seok looked at her over the coffee printed with a little cat.
"Thank you."
"That one wasn't cheap. Enjoy it."
Gifts all distributed, Shin Jeong-ah headed for her desk, still half-hiding behind her own body as though the huge suitcase embarrassed her.
Honestly, her sun-baked skin drew more attention than the suitcase ever could.
"Alright, now that everyone's here, let's start with the meeting, shall we?"
Kwak Young-ho dragged a chair over, the gifted hair oil clutched tight in his hand.
A meeting that opened this way usually ran on easy air.
"Anything you'd like to bring up?"
"Nothing major. As you all know, the typhoon veered away from us, right? Thank goodness for that."
Kang Hyeong-seok, directly entangled in that particular matter, thought of Lee Nak-yul.
"To be honest, it had me on edge the entire holiday."
"Does the typhoon have something to do with us, sir?"
Namgoong Min-ah asked the way a student questions a teacher, and Kwak Young-ho gave a grand nod without leaving his chair.
"Big time! You know some of our clients farm for a living. And there were factories that could've flooded, too."
"Oh! Right."
Fortunately, this round of heavy rain had hammered only the southern provinces.
Had the typhoon pushed north across the peninsula, it could have brought not just ruin to their clients but loss of life as well—especially with the holiday stretching on.
"Anyway! The right call is to assume there'll be no disruption to our work."
Kwak Young-ho let a deep sigh out through his nose, then turned his gaze on Kang Hyeong-seok and Shin Jeong-ah.
"For the time being, I'm thinking we go around and pay courtesy visits to our existing clients. What do you two managers think?"
"Works for me."
"Same here."
"Okay. Opening new ground is brutal no matter how you slice it, so we'll push that off as long as we can. For now, the plan is to focus on maintaining existing clients and working referrals."
"Yes, sir."
"Understood."
"Got it."
The team answered in grave, measured voices, like soldiers receiving a briefing.
"I'll also draw up a separate list of prospects with real contract potential. I'll share it later, so anyone worried about their numbers should make good use of it. And if you need anything, say the word—I'll go along with you."
"Yes, sir!"
It was only after Namgoong Min-ah—the lone loud reply—went red to the ears with embarrassment.
"Alright then, everybody, hang in there! Meeting adjourned!"
Clap!
Worried the girl might only grow more mortified, Kwak Young-ho had raised his voice, and now he clapped his hands to pull every gaze in the room onto himself.
Fwoooooh. On the rooftop of the Daejeong Mulsan building, Shin Jeong-ah exhaled a long, thin ribbon of cigarette smoke.
"Sounds like the boss is starting to think about next quarter already."
"Can't be helped. It's that time, isn't it?"
Beside her, Kang Hyeong-seok replied between sips of coffee, and her gaze drifted down to the tumbler in his hand.
"Is that the coffee I gave you?"
"No. I poured this in the break room."
"Why? Drink the one I bought you."
"It was expensive, so I'm saving it."
Coffee she'd carried back from overseas.
"Well, I do owe you a great deal, Manager Kang."
"And I owe you plenty too, don't I?"
Perhaps the memory of everything to do with her possession surfaced, because Shin Jeong-ah shook her head with a small frown.
"Anyway—Manager Kang, would you help me out one more time?"
"Sorry?"
Kang Hyeong-seok, halfway to another sip, arched one eyebrow, then nodded as the meaning landed.
First he checked that no one was nearby.
Next, having confirmed the rooftop door was firmly shut, he looked at Shin Jeong-ah and let out a thin, faint whistle.
Fweet—
Holding the note, he swept his gaze from behind her head, across her shoulders, down to her feet; then Kang Hyeong-seok released his lips and shook his head.
"Nothing's latched onto you."
"Hahh."
"Did something happen in Bali?"
"Nothing did. But you never really know, do you?"
Shin Jeong-ah was constitutionally easy prey for such things.
She'd worried that some foreign ghost she couldn't so much as speak with might have followed her home. Thankfully, Kang Hyeong-seok had told her otherwise.
"There's no need to worry so much. You have a talisman on you now, after all."
"I took it off for a bit while I was playing in the sea. Didn't want it getting soaked."
"Ah. Right, of course."
"It's a wonderful place. I'll send you the location later—go see it for yourself sometime, Manager Kang."
With eyes gone faintly sorrowful, Kang Hyeong-seok brought the coffee to his mouth.
"Nothing happened on your end, though, right?"
"Well. You know. Yeah."
He had seen an imugi—a serpent fated to become a dragon—and he had watched it ascend into the sky and become one. There was no easy way to explain any of that.
So he'd made do with something suitably vague, but Shin Jeong-ah seemed to have already read him.
"...Hang in there."
"...Yes. Though all things considered, it wasn't bad."
"Tell me the whole story sometime."
"I will."
"Hahh. Still, I honestly don't know how to play this quarter."
"You always manage just fine."
"That's the problem. I want to do better."
Shin Jeong-ah was probably dwelling on her promotion, too.
She was the one brought in to replace Noh Soo-chul after his resignation.
Unlike her predecessor, who had been a Deputy General Manager, Shin Jeong-ah was a mere Manager, so she was bound to feel the awkwardness of her rank every time she called on an old client.
"All you need is one good opportunity, and the promotion will follow."
Shin Jeong-ah shot him a look that demanded he explain, and Kang Hyeong-seok took a slow sip of coffee before going on.
"I know how much is weighing on you. But when the time comes, everything you want will come to you. So don't worry about it now—just focus on staying in top form."
It was nothing more than the encouragement one colleague could offer another.
Even so, coming from Kang Hyeong-seok—a shaman—the words brought her a deep, abiding comfort and strength.
"Thank you, Manager Kang."
"Any time you need my help, just say the word."
"Next time there's somewhere difficult I have to go, you come with me then."
Kang Hyeong-seok promised he would, smiling.
It happened that very night.
Somewhere far removed from Daejeong Mulsan, in a motel rented by the month, a young man lay sleeping, drenched in cold sweat.
His name was Lee Jang-woo, and he worked in construction.
"Alright, let's take another look from right here. Oh dear! That light was red..."
"Ahh! Why didn't he slow down? Ah."
In the dark motel room, every light off, the only sound to be heard was the one coming from Lee Jang-woo's phone, still plugged into its charger.
Then—
Kzzt.
Static burst from the phone's speaker.
At the static tearing through the audio, Lee Jang-woo sucked in a breath and his eyes flew open.
The only part of him he could move was his eyes.
"Uhhhh... ahhh... uhhh..."
As if his tongue had gone numb, his voice wouldn't form properly, and not a single finger would move.
Sleep paralysis.
"Aaaaah... aaaaah..."
Terrified beyond all reason, Lee Jang-woo rolled his bull-sized eyes in their sockets.
It had happened to him many times before.
Which meant he knew exactly what was coming next.
That was the terrifying part.
"Aaaaahhh..."
Lee Jang-woo struggled desperately to move, like a man clawing his way out of hell, but his body still refused to budge an inch.
And then—something long, cold, and damp touched Lee Jang-woo's cheek.
It felt exactly as if a dead earthworm had been pressed against his skin.
"Ahh... ahhhh..."
Lee Jang-woo squeezed his eyes shut.
Darkness drowned his vision, but the presence drawing closer was more vivid than anything his eyes could have shown him.
It was right above his face.
—Hsss. Hsss.
The reek of a rotting corpse stings his nose.
Then the fingers gripping his cheek crawled up along his temple and settled on his eyelids.
"Uuuh... ugh... uuuuh..."
Lee Jang-woo wept as he gasped for breath, and moments later the fingers pried his eyelids open.
A woman, her face grotesquely crushed.
Her lips split, her flesh laced with wounds—yet those two eyes gleamed as vividly as if she were alive.
And those eyes were smiling, bright and clear, straight at Lee Jang-woo.
"Uuuuh! Uuuuuuh!"
Seizing, convulsing, Lee Jang-woo tried to tear himself away from her.
But his body still lay bound fast, and he could do nothing but watch the ghost that had closed the distance to his very face.
All through the night.
Until the sun came up.
Relentlessly.