The Sixth Sense (2)
“No, I’m not talking about my grandfather. I’m talking about the ghost sitting on the stomach of the person groaning over there on the bed.”
Choi Deok-bae floated around Yoon-gi with a look of utter surprise. If Yoon-gi hadn’t mentioned the bed and the person sleeping on it, he would have assumed Yoon-gi was just playing a prank, but since he was talking about confirming the distinct, bluish glow of a spirit, he couldn’t help but believe him.
‘Are you sure there’s a ghost?’
Hearing Choi Deok-bae’s words, Yoon-gi recalled the conversations he’d had with him in the past and realized one fact.
‘Wait, so there are other ghosts besides you, Grandfather?’
‘Then why haven’t I been able to see other ghosts until now?’
‘Hmm... honestly speaking, I don’t really want to see them.’
Yoon-gi almost blurted out, “You’re a ghost who doesn’t act his age,” but he barely managed to hold it in.
‘No.’
Watching Yoon-gi lie without even changing his expression, Choi Deok-bae looked a bit suspicious before shaking his head.
‘Why is an evil spirit clinging to that person?’
‘That’s pitiful.’
‘Right. Because I came here to check if I should hire him.’
Choi Deok-bae shook his head as if he didn’t like it.
‘Why?’
‘Then, what should we do?’
Choi Deok-bae passed straight through the wall of the log cabin and went inside, and at the same time, he began to fight with the ghost sitting on Fernandez’s stomach.
‘Where does an old man get the guts to... huh?’
Surprisingly, Choi Deok-bae was literally beating the 190-centimeter-tall white ghost, who was significantly larger than him. The white ghost didn’t intend to just take the beating and tried to resist, but before long, the “small rebellion” was suppressed, and in an instant, Choi Deok-bae had pinned the white ghost to the floor and was sitting on top of him.
Nodding inwardly at Choi Deok-bae’s words, Yoon-gi spoke to the sergeant next to him.
“I can’t see anything inside, but should we at least try knocking?”
They couldn’t just stand there forever. At Yoon-gi’s words, the sergeant nodded, and at the same time, the corporal pulled a pistol from his pocket and signaled Yoon-gi to step back.
Knock, knock, knock!
The sound of the knocking rang out as the sergeant tapped on the door, and after about 20 seconds, a faint light could be seen leaking from inside the cabin window.
“Who is it...?”
A voice filled with exhaustion. The sergeant answered cautiously.
“I apologize for the late hour. We were introduced by Leanna; could we talk for a moment?”
Perhaps because of the name Leanna, the door to the log cabin opened slowly, and Fernandez’s figure came into view.
‘He’s young?’
Was he even in his late 20s? Considering the career Leanna had mentioned, it was estimated that he had started working at Gensler as soon as he became an adult. However, this was only if one ignored the beard; Fernandez’s thick, unkempt beard made him look at least 10 years older.
“You were introduced by Leanna...? But that gun...”
Fernandez, sweating profusely all over his body, did not look like someone who belonged in this place just below the mountain.
“Ah, I apologize. The lights were off inside, and I wasn’t sure if something might be going on...”
The sergeant and the corporal tucked their pistols back into their pockets, and Fernandez, looking tired, let out a deep sigh and shook his head.
“No, you did well. As it happens, I didn’t have a gun on me today, but on any other day, the moment you knocked, I would have fired at the door.”
“Uh... well... in a way, that’s a relief.”
At the sergeant’s words, Fernandez nodded and opened the door a bit wider.
“For now... come on in.”
The lightbulb hanging from the center of the log cabin’s ceiling turned on, brightening the interior quite a bit.
“I take it you use a generator?”
At the corporal’s question, Fernandez nodded.
“I told them I didn’t need one, but my friends installed it for me. I couldn’t even thank them properly back then, but I didn’t know it would be used like this.”
“Can you really live in a place like this?”
“My nerves were so frayed for a while that back in the city, I almost killed someone passing by in the hallway while shooting my gun inside my house. So, I have no choice but to live here. As for food, my friends buy me canned goods...”
Yoon-gi, who had been listening to Fernandez, chimed in with a smirk.
“I thought you were living off hunting, but that’s unexpected. With that thick beard, you give off a total ‘manly man’ vibe.”
Seeing a child younger than them express such romanticized imagination, all three men had smiles on their faces.
“It would be nice if life were like that, but hunting isn’t that easy. Besides, I don’t even know how to butcher an animal.”
“So, you’re enduring the discomfort of living here just because your nerves are frayed?”
Fernandez sighed.
“That’s right. Still, today is the first time in a long while that my mind feels at ease. Maybe it’s because guests came... though I can’t really say that, because my friends have come before and I’ve never felt this way...”
Lost in thought, Fernandez suddenly realized something and stood up with an ‘oops’ expression.
“Guests have arrived and I haven’t offered anything... shall I pour you a glass of vodka? I’d like to brew some tea, but I don’t have any.”
The sergeant and the corporal looked at Yoon-gi, intending to shake their heads, but Yoon-gi nodded.
“You’ve worked hard all day, so a glass is fine, isn’t it?”
The sergeant and the corporal, who ended up receiving a glass of vodka in a large cup, clinked their glasses with Fernandez, using peanuts as a snack, and a pleasant atmosphere continued for a while.
The sergeant and the corporal were tired from driving for a long time, so the alcohol helped, and for Fernandez, it was because guests had visited when he was finally feeling mentally healthy for once. And after some time had passed, Yoon-gi spoke up naturally.
“If you don’t mind, could you wait outside for about 30 minutes?”
***
At Yoon-gi’s well-timed remark, the sergeant and the corporal looked a bit troubled.
“I’m afraid that’s a bit... we were given strict instructions.”
“You can take your guns and anything you deem dangerous outside with you. If you’re worried, you can just watch from the window and come back in if you need to, right?”
“Hmm...”
“I’m asking for your favor.”
Perhaps because of the condition that they could watch from the window, the sergeant and the corporal hesitated for a moment before nodding, taking their dangerous items, and heading outside. Judging by the fact that one of their footsteps stopped right in front of the door, it seemed they intended for one person to enter immediately if something happened.
“Why did you suddenly send the others out?”
Seeing the behavior of the two who seemed to be his bodyguards, Fernandez realized that the Asian boy in front of him was someone of high status.
“I wanted to talk about something that’s hard for others to believe. You’ve already had enough experiences of being treated like a fool for being honest, haven’t you?”
“Uh...?”
Fernandez looked at Yoon-gi’s mouth, wearing an expression of disbelief.
“You keep seeing things that aren’t there, objects in your house move, and you have nightmares all the time, right?”
“How did you...?”
For a moment, Fernandez burst into a smirk.
“Ah, you must have heard it from Leanna. I told you Leanna likes to play uselessly cruel pranks.”
However, Fernandez’s expression froze at Yoon-gi’s following words.
“Let’s see... exactly 87 days ago, the third plate from the top shelf you installed on the wall fell to the floor, and a few seconds later, the fifth plate from the bottom shelf fell to the floor, right?”
“H-how did you...?”
Fernandez couldn’t help but be flustered, as he had never told anyone else in such detail. Just in case, he brought his calendar to check the date 87 days ago, and the diary he had written in his notebook contained the exact same content.
‘Thank you, Grandfather.’
Currently, Choi Deok-bae was in a mount position against the white ghost, throwing punches.
‘Is it okay to hit him like that?’
‘Ah, then beat him to your heart’s content.’
While Yoon-gi and Choi Deok-bae were talking, Fernandez finished checking his notebook, and at the same time, he looked at Yoon-gi with eyes mixed with half-suspicion and half-anxiety.
“You... what is your identity...?”
“Hmm, I’m Choi Yoon-gi from Korea. People like Leanna call me Yoon.”
“Right, Yoon. Why did you come to me?”
“Because I want to hire you.”
Fernandez shook his head.
“I’m dying to work right now, too, but I’m in a state where I can’t work at all. You can see that, right?”
Inside the log cabin, there were piles of papers Fernandez had prepared for his designs. But seeing that most of the papers were blank, it was clear that his mind had been too preoccupied to make proper use of them.
“Besides, if I were to be able to work again, it would be right to go back to Gensler. There’s no reason for me to go to a country called Korea that I’ve never heard of, is there?”
“I think you’ll have no choice but to follow me?”
“What does that mean...?”
Fernandez’s brow furrowed, and at that moment, there was a faint tapping sound on the window. Yoon-gi gestured to the window with his palm to show it was okay, and at the same time, he spoke to Fernandez.
“You know the country called Japan, right?”
“Japan? Of course, I’ve heard of it.”
“You’ve heard that the Japanese have mysterious abilities, right?”
“Like ninjas or samurai? Of course.”
Yoon-gi, who knew how Japan promoted their country abroad, decided to use Japan to his advantage.
“The neighboring country, Korea, is the same. Among them, I have the ability to see and control ghosts. Well, this is a secret, though.”
For a moment, Fernandez burst into laughter.
“Puhahahat! This is a masterpiece! Shouldn’t you make your lies a bit more plausible?”
Yoon-gi shrugged his shoulders.
“If I were lying, how would I have known what happened 87 days ago? Should I tell you something else?”
Yoon-gi began to recite the things he had heard through Choi Deok-bae to Fernandez, and every time Fernandez listened, his expression grew serious as he checked his notebook.
“You... can you really see them?”
“I’m telling you, I really can. Don’t you see what are presumed to be ghosts in your dreams, too? As long as you’re with me, ghosts won’t be able to torment you. You’d have to be hired by me for that, though. Actually, don’t you feel very mentally at ease right now?”
While he looked like he was acknowledging that, Fernandez shook his head.
“No, no matter what, I can’t work in a country I’ve never even heard of.”
“Then, it’s decided. You’ll live in this log cabin for the rest of your life.”
Yoon-gi smiled brightly and stood up as if he had nothing more to say.