A Demon at the Retreat
A whole week of peace had passed.
"Yes, sir. Then I'll be seeing you next time."
"Come by anytime. Anytime at all."
"Haha, yes, sir."
After shaking hands with the client's owner, Kang Hyeong-seok climbed into his car and turned the engine over, then pulled out of the factory complex — where the warm-hearted old man stayed rooted in place, waving, until the car swung out of sight.
Whew—! Gripping the wheel with both hands, Kang Hyeong-seok kept his sigh strictly internal.
The time had come to get serious about building up his numbers.
Thanks to Shin Yo-sep, he'd gotten off to a strong start, and Kwak Young-ho's shoulders had squared with pride yet again. He did catch the occasional envious glance now and then, but the real problem remained how he was going to fill out this quarter.
Referrals alone aren't going to cut it.
Getting introduced to people was always difficult. Especially when money was on the line.
Buzz, buzz, buzz, buzz.
Driving back to the office on the navigation's guidance, Kang Hyeong-seok absently shifted his gaze to his phone. The screen had changed.
Ding-di-ding-ding!
Perhaps because his car's Bluetooth was an older model, the ringtone rang a beat late.
Click.
"Oh. What's up?"
(It's me. Can you talk right now?)
The caller was Shin Yo-sep. And the fact that he'd opened that way meant he wanted to hold a conversation only the two of them could understand.
"I'm in the car. Alone."
(Good timing.)
"Lucky for me? Or for you?"
(For me.)
This punk? Feeling exactly that way, Kang Hyeong-seok gave the phone screen bearing Shin Yo-sep's name a brief look, and Shin Yo-sep's voice flowed out of the speaker.
(There's somewhere I'd like you to come with me, sometime.)
"We only just saw each other, didn't we?"
(You know why I approached you, right?)
The voice turned serious without warning, and the furrow between Kang Hyeong-seok's brows deepened.
He knew Shin Yo-sep's past all too well. Even if the man had never spoken his secret aloud, Hyeong-seok had seen enough of him over time — and glimpsed that past as if in passing — to know what had happened.
The death of his mentor. That was not something anyone could say lightly, even as an empty pleasantry.
"What is it."
Kang Hyeong-seok asked back in a voice every bit as heavy as Shin Yo-sep's, and through the speaker came the sound of a sigh, followed by the words.
(There's somewhere I want you to come with me.)
Like a voice crawling out of a damp cave, Shin Yo-sep's words were dark and sticky.
"Did you find something?"
(No — not exactly, no.)
"Tell me everything as it is. That's the only way I can prepare."
Shin Yo-sep's short 'Heh!' of a laugh filled the car for an instant before the engine noise swallowed it up.
(You know what a retreat is?)
"That came out of nowhere."
(There's a church I know. They're heading off on a retreat.)
"Hold on a second."
Scarcely had the car come to a stop at a red light before Kang Hyeong-seok cranked up his phone's volume.
"Aren't you Catholic?"
(Exactly.)
"But a church means Protestant."
(It is Protestant.)
Having said it in a strangely stiff tone, Shin Yo-sep carried on with his usual manner.
(We don't have any real friction with other faiths. You'd know that.)
Did they, though? Still, mulling it over, he could half see what Shin Yo-sep was getting at.
He had a vague memory of a video somewhere — a Buddhist monk and a Catholic priest sitting side by side, explaining what religion was and how a person ought to live.
(Anyway. There's a church I know, and the pastor changed recently.)
"Hm."
(And by the sound of it, he's a man of rather fervent faith. Says the retreat grounds are a place where something bad happened a long time ago.)
"...And how did you come to know that?"
(You remember that orphanage from before, right? The one with the nun and the children.)
The place where he had performed the exorcism rite alongside Shin Yo-sep — and where they'd shared pork barbecue afterward. Hard to forget. In a way, it was the very place where the two men's bond had truly begun, so that was only natural.
(A deaconess from the church knows that nun. That's how I heard.)
"So you have to go see it for yourself?"
(To be exact — the two of us.)
"What in the world happened at this place?"
Just then the light turned green. Kang Hyeong-seok moved his foot to the accelerator as he asked, and the car crept forward — and then Shin Yo-sep's answer made his heart drop clean out of his chest.
(Possession.)
"...What?"
(A Bumaja — a demonic possessee, to be exact. This is secondhand, so I can't vouch for the details, but it would have been ten, maybe fifteen years ago. They went on a church retreat, same as now, and a demon entered a young girl's body.)
"Ha."
If this was true, it was a horrific thing. A demon taking root in a child's body — at a church event, of all occasions. It was ironic enough to make a person wonder how such a thing could even happen, and before he knew it, Kang Hyeong-seok let out a long, deep sigh.
(You never know. That's why I want you to come with me.)
"A retreat runs several days, doesn't it?"
(Why? Don't think you can spare the time?)
"That's not it."
Urgent as the matter was, if it meant going off to meet Shin Yo-sep, Kwak Young-ho would throw both hands up in welcome. Winning new contracts mattered — but what mattered more was keeping the relationship with a major client like Shinjin Construction.
"I think I can work something out."
(Then your choice matters a great deal.)
Kang Hyeong-seok let out a short laugh despite himself.
"Get real, will you?"
Shin Yo-sep had delivered the request in the voice of a man who would be terribly wounded should Hyeong-seok fail to come.
"By when do I have to be there?"
(Just give me your address. We'll take my car.)
"Wouldn't that stick out a little too much?"
Going by everything Shin Yo-sep had said so far, this was less about joining the retreat than observing it from afar. He intended to operate like a proper stakeout — and Shin Yo-sep's car was far too conspicuous for that.
(No problem. We'll take a different one.)
"Oh... really?"
(Yeah. I have plenty.)
Kang Hyeong-seok gazed mournfully at his own car with its outdated Bluetooth. Then, as though telling it not to lose heart, he gave the dashboard a consoling stroke.
(A summons from Director Shin? Then of course you've got to go!)
Kwak Young-ho's reaction was exactly as predicted. Hyeong-seok was near the office, and the time was that thoroughly awkward hour of 5:30 in the evening.
"It might take a few days, actually."
(That's fine. It's key account management — no problem at all.)
"Will you really be all right with it?"
(If you said you weren't going, then it might not be.)
Truly something, Shin Yo-sep — basking in this much boundless affection from Kwak Young-ho. Having burst into laughter, Kang Hyeong-seok sipped his coffee and put on an embarrassed smile.
"To be honest, it startled me too. He suddenly asked me to come out."
(Could happen. So? Have you and Director Shin decided where you're off to — somewhere nice?)
They hadn't gotten their stories straight that far. So after a moment's hesitation, Kang Hyeong-seok spoke up with an awkward smile.
"Actually, I haven't heard even that much."
(Then I bet he just likes you, Manager Kang.)
"I don't think that's it."
(Oh, come on. How close do you have to be for a man to tell you to just drop everything and come along? Back in my college days I used to flit off like that all the time, on a whim. Ahh, I'm jealous.)
Kang Hyeong-seok rubbed his forehead and smiled bitterly, and Kwak Young-ho's excited voice came straight on.
(Anyway, Manager Kang — go with an easy mind. I'll square things away upstairs. Just think of this as your chance to build a rock-solid friendship with Director Shin.)
"Understood, sir."
(Well then... huh, what — how did it get this late?)
"I'm just about at the office. I'll come right up."
(No need. You said you're leaving tonight, didn't you? Just head straight out.)
"Ah, but, sir—"
(I'm telling you it's fine. Holding on to one big client like Shinjin Construction is worth more than winning one or two small contracts. And when it's you asking, surely the higher-ups can understand that.)
Kang Hyeong-seok nodded with a rueful smile on his face. Then it came—
(Then get there safe! If you need anything, me or Manager Shin will swing by!)
If — really, truly, if — a demon came calling, nothing on this earth would be more horrifying than a visit from Kwak Young-ho. Kang Hyeong-seok squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head.
"Yes, sir. If Director Shin happens to come by looking for me, I'll let him know."
(Got it. Get there safe. Great work out there, Manager Kang!)
"Yes, sir. I'll be on my way first, then."
Having hung up, Kang Hyeong-seok reset the navigation's destination to his home, then cruised the quiet streets toward his house — where, to his utter bewilderment, Shin Yo-sep was waiting right out front.
He was dressed so unremarkably that, had he not been waving, Hyeong-seok might not have known him for Shin Yo-sep at all.
Thunk.
No sooner had Kang Hyeong-seok stepped out of the car than Shin Yo-sep's voice latched onto him.
"You live in a place like this?"
"What's that supposed to mean."
"Hmm."
Shin Yo-sep tipped his head back to study the house Kang Hyeong-seok lived in, twisting his lips into something strange — the kind of look that made you want to throw a punch.
"So? Want to at least come inside for a cup of coffee? Or should we head straight out?"
"Anything I need to get ready? If nothing's urgent, let's just go."
"I'll just grab my toothbrush."
"No need. I bought everything already."
Shin Yo-sep jerked his thumb at one of the cars parked behind him: a silver domestic sedan, blending naturally into the ordinary residential street, the ordinary alley.
It was so modest that it bordered on impressive — Hyeong-seok could never have imagined it was Shin Yo-sep's.
Thunk, thunk.
Kang Hyeong-seok and Shin Yo-sep climbed in, and Shin Yo-sep started the engine right away.
Rrrrumble.
Right. Even Shin Yo-sep drove this kind of car. So what if his own Bluetooth was a version behind and his model a few years off the lot — there was nothing to be sheepish about.
"Good car, right? Picked it up on the way over. It was cheap."
"...You have a real talent for quietly getting under people's skin."
"My father beat me plenty over it when I was young, but it never got fixed."
"Should have hit you harder, then."
Shin Yo-sep sent him a disgruntled look, set the navigation, and pulled out. Meanwhile, Kang Hyeong-seok twisted in his seat to move the bag from his lap to the back.
"What?"
Kang Hyeong-seok stopped moving so abruptly that Shin Yo-sep's question practically flew at him. They'd been shooting the breeze like a pair of neighborhood friends, but one thing was certain: Shin Yo-sep's heart was anything but light.
Because the back seat was crowded full of priestly implements and vestments.
"No. It's nothing."
Kang Hyeong-seok set his bag down beside the vestments. It was the bag that carried his office supplies — along with the Mudang Bang-ul, his sacred cluster of shaman bells, and the Sinjangkal, the Divine General Blade.