Chapter 90
Chapter 90
Demon (1)
Scene 2. Black Night Order Altar (Night, 28 years ago)
On the altar, Leo’s mother is giving birth, aided by cultists, as a priest chants an incantation. An ominous energy envelops the area around the altar.
The actress playing Kim Leo’s birth mother let out a pained scream, as if she were truly in labor, while the actor playing the priest trembled as he muttered the words.
They were theater actors invited from a single troupe, and their acting skills were quite high. The assistant director continued reading the stage directions.
Black smoke is absorbed into Leo’s mother’s body. As she musters her last bit of strength, the loud cry of a baby is heard, and the absorbed black smoke disperses into the air.
“Tsk, a failure again.”
The priest, who had been full of anticipation, shook his head in disappointment. A cultist approached his side.
“Still, it’s hopeful that he didn’t die. Besides…”
He looked at the baby held in the arms of the cultist who had assisted with the birth.
“We have never attempted the ritual on a newborn before, have we?”
The priest stroked his chin with interest.
“He’s too much of a babe. Let’s watch him for a while before we proceed. We have another candidate anyway, don’t we?”
“Yes, I understand.”
The cultist took a disciplined step back and prayed to the statue of a demon in front of the altar.
“His descent is near.”
While the priest had his back turned, the black smoke was absorbed into the baby’s body. Leo’s mother watched the priest’s back with an anxious gaze.
All the actors participating in the reading turned a page of their scripts. The assistant director, after a sip of water, read the stage directions.
Scene 3. Room at the End of the Black Night Order Hallway (Night, 28 years ago)
In a small, single room, a young Raphael clings to his father’s leg, whining.
“Dad, this place is weird. Let’s go home.”
“This is our home.”
“There are real ghosts here!”
“My son, were you scared of something like a ghost? Dad is here.”
Raphael’s father tickled the child, speaking in a sweet, lisping voice. He stood up and opened the door at the sound of a knock.
“May the teachings of evil grace this world, Brother.”
Raphael’s father responded to the priest’s greeting with a prayer. Young Raphael peeked out from behind him.
“Brother, you have been selected as a candidate for an apostle.”
“M-Me?”
“Yes, it is a glorious occasion. Congratulations.”
Raphael’s father cheered.
“Then I will see you at the next ritual.”
The priest turned to leave without a second thought. Raphael watched his retreating figure with uneasy eyes. After closing the door, Raphael’s father hugged his son and cheered loudly.
“I did it! I did it!”
“Dad, do you really have to do it?”
“Son, this is an opportunity.”
Kneeling on one knee, Raphael’s father gripped the child’s shoulders. He spoke reassuringly, but the boy still trembled with anxiety.
“If this goes well, Dad will send you to school and buy you lots of toys.”
“Really?”
Yu Yeon-seo glanced at the actor playing Raphael’s biological father and scribbled in his script. They must have told him that if he entrusted himself to the order, they would help with the child’s birth registration and help him become a member of society. Raphael’s father probably didn’t know the price was his own body.
As the child actor delivered his line with a bright smile, the other actors looked at him with fond expressions.
The reading continued.
“This is insane.”
Leo’s mother, originally a devout follower, realizes the priest’s true intention to use even her child for demonic possession and prepares to escape.
“Dad! Daaad!”
After finishing her preparations, she finds Raphael, who has just witnessed his father lying on the altar as if dead, a sacrifice, and flees the compound with him.
“Let’s go. We have to go.”
“But, Dad is…”
“You’ll die if you stay there!”
If they were willing to use a newborn, why wouldn’t they use a seven-year-old? The mother, who hadn’t even properly recovered from childbirth, and the two children fled, avoiding the eyes of the pursuing cultists, and stopped in front of a cathedral.
“Here, stay here.”
“What about you, ma’am?”
“I’ll be right back. Please take care of my son.”
Leo’s mother ran in a different direction, luring the cultists who were chasing her. And as expected, Leo’s mother did not return.
Seven-year-old Raphael, tightly hugging the newborn in his arms, crouched down and scanned the alley with anxious eyes. Just then, the large doors of the cathedral opened.
“My goodness… Weren’t you cold?”
Young Raphael shook his head. Father Peter was taken aback by the sight of a child holding a baby, but he put on a gentle smile to reassure him.
“Let’s go inside for now.”
The scene ends with Father Peter, who would later become Kim Leo’s adoptive father, bringing the children into the cathedral.
“He’s a great actor!”
“You did well.”
The child actor covered his face with both hands as attention turned to him. A smile spread across the actors’ faces at the shy gesture.
“Let’s take a short break and then continue.”
“Okay.”
The actor playing young Raphael stood up with his guardian. Although he would be filming flashback scenes later, the reading session was long, so he was allowed to leave early.
“Um… could I possibly get a picture…?”
“Of course.”
After taking a picture with the child, Yu Yeon-seo sat back comfortably and closed his eyes. The main plot of the first two episodes was to show the Black Night Order, the demon-worshipping ritual, and the special connection between Father Peter and Kim Leo, so Yu Yeon-seo had very few lines. He listened to the other actors’ readings and imagined the drama.
‘Demon’ was about an experiment conducted by the demon-worshipping religion, the Black Night Order, to have a demon possess a human, and the victims of that experiment were Kim Leo’s mother and Raphael’s father.
The first scene showed that the two main characters had a connection since childhood, and then the story would shift from the past to the present.
The baby held by young Raphael had grown into Kim Leo, who became a priest following in Father Peter’s footsteps. The actor playing Kim Leo was Seo Ha-jun, a member of the five-year-old idol group ‘Envy’.
“That car, that’s your car, isn’t it, ma’am? Isn’t that a really expensive car?”
“Th-that? That’s not my car.”
“What do you mean it’s not! I saw you get out of it!”
A squabble breaks out between Father Peter, who runs a soup kitchen alongside the cathedral, and a person who came for a free meal.
Director Choi Sang-hoon’s eyes sparkled. He portrayed the irritable and rebellious Kim Leo perfectly. His pronunciation and vocalization were not bad either.
“You shouldn’t be coming here for a free meal while driving a car like this. Do you have any conscience?”
“Well, I never. If I have a car, I can’t even get something like this? The menu is full of terribly tasteless stuff anyway… Hey, over there! Father! Is this man really a priest?”
Kim Leo let out a disbelieving scoff as the woman brazenly retorted. As more people started to stare, Father Peter hurriedly approached and stopped Kim Leo.
“He’s still new to the priesthood, that’s why. Sister, please eat well before you go.”
“No, Father. That person shouldn’t be receiving this! Why would she come here driving an imported car that costs over 100 million won!”
“Kim Leo!”
Father Peter bellowed. Seo Ha-jun flinched. It wasn’t because he was immersed in his acting. His body moved on its own.
The vocalization and presence of actor Ryu Chang-hoon, who played Father Peter, were so overwhelming that they could intimidate the other actors.
‘I heard he was famous in the theater world, and it’s true…’
In the drama, Father Peter served as the spiritual guide for both Kim Leo and Raphael, so his role was quite significant in the beginning. Yu Yeon-seo watched Ryu Chang-hoon with an interested expression.
“Go and carry those things over there!”
“Geez, Father, you always pick on me.”
Seo Ha-jun, who had paused for a moment, quickly regained his composure and recited his next line. Based on their brief conversation before the reading began, it was clear Seo Ha-jun had been well-educated. Not in general studies, but in things like acting and etiquette when dealing with industry professionals.
They say idol groups these days receive thorough training from their trainee days, and it seemed to be true. The director and writer also smiled faintly while keeping their eyes fixed on the script.
Kim Leo grumbled as he backed away.
“The rice is too mushy. Father, please be more careful when you cook rice next time.”
“But that woman was…!”
“Oh my, Father Leo! Please calm down!”
The surrounding church members and nuns tried to restrain Kim Leo.
The actors turned the page of their scripts.
Scene 7. Inside the Cathedral (Day)
“You need to control that temper of yours. Still haven’t forgotten your thuggish habits from your school days?”
“Come on, Father, aren’t you angry? Remember that weird old man who came and threw a fit, demanding meat?”
“When you run a place like this, you get a truckload of people like that. Don’t get worked up over every single one. You’re a priest, why is your personality like that?”
Affection was mixed in with Father Peter’s scolding voice. Slightly placated by his tone, Kim Leo grumbled one last time.
“We’re running a baby box and an orphanage on top of the soup kitchen. If we accept everyone like that, what are we supposed to live on? The donations we get are a drop in the bucket, and we’re already in the red…”
“Be quiet for a second.”
Father Peter cut Kim Leo off and turned up the volume on the TV. A staff member took the place of the news anchor.
(The spontaneous combustion incident that occurred in Nowon-gu, Seoul last month has been concluded as a suicide.)
(As a similar incident occurred in the same area two days ago, the police are keeping open the possibility of a crime.)
“That’s really strange, isn’t it, Father?”
Kim Leo lightly tapped Father Peter’s shoulder.
“Father?”
“Huh? Oh, yes… It is.”
Father Peter, who had been staring blankly at the screen, snapped back to his senses. He wore a meaningful expression as he became lost in thought.
“Aaaah!”
Just as Kim Leo muttered to himself that the Father was acting differently than usual and turned his gaze back to the TV, someone’s scream was heard.
It was the voice of the middle-aged woman Kim Leo had been arguing with. The two priests rushed outside and gasped at the shocking scene.
“Wh-what is that.”
“You evacuate the people.”
“Y-Yes!”
A man was on fire. Yet, he did not collapse, standing perfectly straight.
“Ma’am! Get away!”
Kim Leo shouted as he helped the woman, who had collapsed with her legs giving out from the shocking sight.
“Fire extinguisher! Where’s the fire extinguisher!”
“Someone call an ambulance!”
The burning man staggered forward, one step at a time. Even when Father Peter and others joined forces to douse him with water and spray him with a fire extinguisher, the flames would not easily go out.
“Why won’t this go out!”
“Whoa, be careful, Father!”
The burning man drew closer to Kim Leo, who was now clutching an extinguisher that no longer sprayed powder.
“He is finally descending upon this land!”
“Leo!”
“Father!”
The supporting actors cried out for the priest, and Father Peter’s urgent shout heightened the tension.
“Hahahahaha!”
The man laughed loudly, as if he felt no pain. Everyone gulped at the sight of his madness. Finally, the burning man collapsed right in front of Kim Leo, who had been cornered and had fallen to the ground.
“Wh-what the…”
As Kim Leo’s breathless voice trailed off, the actors turned to the next page of the script.
Scene 9. Inside the Cathedral (Night)
“I must request assistance from the Vatican.”
“Do you think they’ll dispatch someone so easily?”
“I know someone.”
“You know someone?”
Father Peter answered in a heavy voice.
“I ran into him in Africa once.”
The actors, director, writer, and staff flipped to the next page of the script.
Scene 7. Vatican Interior (Night)
“They say he’s the best of the exorcist priests.”
Father Peter’s narration, and then a dissolve.
“Father, a call has come from Korea.”
Normally, they would use a foreign supporting actor, but since he wasn’t present for the reading, the assistant director delivered the line in Korean instead. Yu Yeon-seo, who had been maintaining a slouching posture, straightened up. It was instantaneous.
“Korea? Korea…”
How must Father Raphael have felt? To receive a request for help from the country that had abandoned him. Yu Yeon-seo made his voice as chilling as possible.
“How unusual. I’ll be there shortly.”
Yu Yeon-seo replied in fluent Latin. The language wasn’t in his head, but he had synchronized it through Beta the night before the reading. His head was still throbbing because of it.
‘Whoa, what the.’
Watching this, Director Choi Sang-hoon forced himself to remain seated when he had been about to jump up. For a moment, Yu Yeon-seo, dressed in a simple t-shirt and jeans, seemed to be wearing the formal robes of a priest.
‘Wow, crazy… I heard he’d changed, but…’
Hearing the rumors was different from seeing it in person. And it was beyond anything he had imagined.
Acting was difficult when delivering lines in a foreign language because of pronunciation issues. But to express so many different emotions in such a short line… Ryu Chang-hoon, who played Father Peter, also watched Yu Yeon-seo’s face, his eyes fixed on the script with an amused look.