Walking Into the Flames
In that moment, time itself seemed to stop.
Eyes flying wide, Shin Yo-sep heard the name pour from Oh Gyeong-ju's lips. It was the moment she had waited fifteen years for—a miracle in which past and present finally met.
Armed now with the demon's true name, Shin Yo-sep fixed Oh Ju-yeong with a gaze utterly transformed from before.
"Now I know your name."
He said it low, then lifted the crucifix higher still and pronounced the demon's name aloud.
The shout still hanging in the air, Shin Yo-sep advanced in long, unhesitating strides and pressed his palm flat over Oh Ju-yeong's forehead.
"I saw Satan fall from heaven like lightning!"
Grrrrrr!
The demon growled through Oh Ju-yeong's borrowed mouth, and every note of it was thick with rage and hatred—and with a grudge born of failure. It was the scream of the defeated.
"Behold! I have given you authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and to press down all the power of the enemy. Nothing shall harm you now!"
The most important thing in any exorcism rite was to learn the demon's name. There is power in a name. And an exorcist priest speaks in the name of his bishop—and the bishop is the shepherd of the Lord. Thus the words of Shin Yo-sep, an exorcist priest, could carry the strength to cast out a demon that prowled like a serpent snapping at the lambs' ankles.
"Come out of her! Ose!"
The power of the word pierced the demon clean through.
Grrrrrrr!
The leopard's cry rang out and shook the whole room.
Shin Yo-sep made the sign of the cross and stared the demon dead in the eye.
"Through the Immaculate Virgin Mary, by the name of Jesus Christ the Savior, I command you within the power of Almighty God."
Grrrrrrrr!
"Every unclean spirit that torments me—leave this place at once. Depart from me completely, bound in the chains of the Archangels Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, guardians of us all."
Grrrrr.
The demon's eyes bulged as it wailed again, but the fury behind the sound no longer held the force it once had.
Shin Yo-sep gripped Oh Ju-yeong's forehead all the harder and drove the prayer onward.
"Crushed beneath the heel of the Immaculate Virgin, most blessed and holy Mother of God."
Grrrr.
Only a small, small tremor of the throat remained. Feeling the demon's presence collapsing in on itself, Shin Yo-sep recited the final words of the rite.
It happened the instant the words left his mouth.
Oh Ju-yeong's contorted lips went slack. She slumped forward without an ounce of strength, and Shin Yo-sep caught her body in his arms. Her warmth seeped up along them—proof that she was alive.
Hah... hah... The faint sound of breathing reached his ears.
That alone was enough—relief came washing over Shin Yo-sep like a wave.
With a soft clink, he lowered the crucifix and drew the unconscious Oh Ju-yeong into his arms.
"...You've suffered so much. Truly... truly, so much."
If Leo had been here beside him, what would it have been like? What would he have said? Carrying those thoughts along with her, Shin Yo-sep held her close with all the strength he had.
Wee-ooo, wee-ooo, wee-ooo, wee-ooo.
The ambulance's siren tore through the dark as it came, red light and night sweeping in quick alternation across Shin Yo-sep's face where he sat in front of the retreat center building.
With a clang, the rear doors flew open, and paramedics leapt out to load Oh Ju-yeong onto a stretcher.
"Is sh-she all right? She is all right, isn't she!"
The pastor, who had been praying in front of the retreat center all this while, asked in a rush, and the paramedic's flat reply came back. "The transport comes first."
"Ah... aah."
The pastor's face was far too grim. Perhaps because of that, the paramedic ran a quick, light check over the girl on the stretcher before offering words meant to reassure. "Try not to worry too much."
There was not a single wound on her body. It had all been the demon's lie. An illusion.
"...Unh. Ungh."
Just before she was lifted into the vehicle, a groan slipped from Oh Ju-yeong's lips. She had not yet regained consciousness, but it was hope enough—a small comfort to the pastor's heart.
"Thank you. Thank You, Lord."
Watching the pastor pray on with his head still bowed, Shin Yo-sep set a cigarette between his lips, lit it with his lighter, watched a young man climb into the ambulance alongside Oh Ju-yeong—and drew on the filter.
"What's with the funeral face?"
As Kang Hyeong-seok dropped down beside him, Shin Yo-sep let out a short snort of laughter.
"And here I thought you'd only stepped out for a minute. What kept you?"
"I was busy."
"Figured as much."
Shin Yo-sep burned down another slow drag, face still sunken, then rested his wrists across his knees.
"I heard it."
"Heard what?"
To the question, Shin Yo-sep gave his answer with a gravity he had never once shown before. "The voice of a soul."
"Is that so......?"
"She told me. The demon's name."
He had known that, too—that Kang Hyeong-seok had been doing something somewhere beyond the reach of his sight. And that this was how Oh Gyeong-ju had been able to give him the demon's name.
"It's thanks to you. I mean that."
Under ordinary circumstances, Kang Hyeong-seok would have parried the words with something dry—but Shin Yo-sep's expression, his eyes, made it plain that this was no moment for it.
"I saw Father Leo."
"...What?"
Shin Yo-sep's gaze came around to him, and Kang Hyeong-seok opened his mouth while watching the ambulance pull away. "...Hah. After everything, all the winding back and forth—seems it finally came to an end here."
Shin Yo-sep pressed his lips shut. Then, with eyes weighed down by thought, he watched the ambulance push on, its lights carving through the darkness, and raised the cigarette to his mouth.
"There's something I heard from Father Leo once, a long time ago."
"What was it?"
"He told me he'd spent some time in prison, once."
Oh Gyeong-ju's death. That would have been the cause. The law does not recognize beings like Kang Hyeong-seok and Shin Yo-sep. Call it an exorcism rite or what you will—the moment a life is lost, a terrible punishment follows.
"He was asked once whether he had any regrets."
Almost as if talking to himself, Shin Yo-sep went on. "He said the only thing he regretted was his own insufficiency."
Kang Hyeong-seok had seen that emotion too. If I had been better—if I had only done more—Oh Gyeong-ju would not have died. In the heart of Father Leo, wailing as he clutched the body, there had been nothing but that thought.
"And a man like that died because of me."
Having spoken aloud a past he had never once laid bare, Shin Yo-sep let his gaze fall between his knees. "I've lived my whole life inside that guilt. But now I finally understand—what heart he carried, and how I am meant to live as well."
"Yo-sep."
"I suppose walking into the flames is what my life is to be."
It was the air of a martyr—one who chooses death to keep the faith they hold. And no one could call that wrong.
So this was what Teacher meant.Punishment lingers in the heart—and helping those who would flee it is my work as well. That was what Lee Geum-kyeong had told him once. Only now could he truly grasp what those words meant.
"Feeling a little lighter?"
Shin Yo-sep curled his lips upward in something like a smile and nodded. "Yeah."
Exhaustion clung to him. His eyes had not wholly left the past. Yet the voice and face that answered were nearer to peace than they had ever been.
"Good."
Kang Hyeong-seok brushed off his trousers and rose, then held out a hand to Shin Yo-sep. "Come on. We should head back."
They were people who lived ordinary lives—each had to return, in the end, to his own workplace.
"Want me to let you take tomorrow off?"
Shin Yo-sep said it as though he were a man who could simply grant such a thing, and Kang Hyeong-seok snorted. Then Shin Yo-sep laughed along, as if following his lead, took the offered hand, and pulled himself to his feet.
He looked, for all the world, like a man just woken from a long nightmare.
Creeeak.
A pork-belly grill house in a timeworn restaurant row. The sun had risen only a short while before, so the place had not yet opened for business—and yet the door swung open, and a man in clerical garb stepped inside.
"You gave me quite a start, contacting me ahead of time like that."
"Father."
Shin Yo-sep, seated at one of the round tables, rose from his seat. The man who had entered extended a thin, dry hand, and Shin Yo-sep gave it a brief shake.
"Has something happened?"
It was Father Hilario. He had known Father Leo in days past as well—and so he was able to notice what had changed since then.
"I performed an exorcism yesterday."
Hilario sat down and looked at him, face going rigid; Shin Yo-sep likewise took his seat and pressed his lips firmly together. Then he chose his words with care.
"It was a matter tied to Father Leo, from long ago."
"...Hmm."
"The exorcism succeeded."
Hilario's eyes narrowed. An exorcism must never be performed lightly. One had to confirm first that the afflicted was truly a Bumaja, a genuine possessee, and official sanction came down only after a rigorous process of review. Yet though the rite had plainly been carried out with every procedure cast aside, Hilario found he could not bring himself to reproach him.
"I trust you would not have undertaken such a thing rashly."
Shin Yo-sep was not a man given to reckless action.
"...Thank you."
"It must have been someone in need of help. You reached out your hand gladly, I imagine."
Shin Yo-sep conveyed his thanks to the understanding Hilario with his eyes alone. "If disciplinary action must follow, I will accept it willingly."
"Who is there to hold you to account?"
Shin Yo-sep smiled wryly, and Hilario's eyes crinkled into an easy smile.
"Ignatius—you said this Bumaja was connected to Father Leo?"
"Yes."
"Is that the reason? Your expression has grown so much lighter than before."
With a smile that lifted only the corners of his mouth, Shin Yo-sep nodded slowly. "Yes. It is."
"I am glad."
"...I find myself thinking a great deal, that's all."
Hilario asked with his eyes alone, and Shin Yo-sep held his silence a moment before opening his mouth. "If Father Leo had been at my side—what would he have said to me? That is what I kept wondering."
"What do you think he would have said?"
Shin Yo-sep's gaze drifted to the space beside Hilario. What that meant needed no explaining. Back when Leo had lived, the three of them had always sat in the same seats at this very restaurant. The place Shin Yo-sep was looking at now was Leo's seat.
"I believe he would have told me I had done well."
"I am certain he would have."
"Strange, isn't it. I still haven't found the thing that reduced him to that—and yet some small part of me feels lighter all the same."
Hilario smiled bleakly, and Shin Yo-sep's own smile came a shade easier in return. But the sorrow in his eyes lingered still.
"From here on, I mean to try living for more people."
"Ignatius."
"I am certain the Lord would say the same."
Someone, somewhere, is in need of God's protection—and there are so many of them. Those tormented by demons, those groaning under their agony. The world holds far too many souls that no human strength can save.
"I will carry Father Leo's share as well."
Quiet as the voice was, Shin Yo-sep spoke it like a declaration—and Hilario could find no words to answer.
"I should be getting up and going, I think."
"Of course."
Shin Yo-sep rose from his seat first. It was nearly time for him to return to the company; there was no helping it.
"Whenever you need someone to talk to, call me."
"Thank you, Father."
Shin Yo-sep bowed his head to him with formal courtesy and slipped out of the restaurant. Left alone, Hilario drew a breath so deep his chest swelled with it. Then, gazing at the seat Shin Yo-sep had vacated, he opened his mouth, quiet and unhurried.
It was a blessing—offered to Shin Yo-sep, who after long wandering and long suffering had at last set down some small measure of the weight upon his heart.