Suspicions (2)

A. What the hell is this.

I couldn't even lie comfortably on the bed. Instead I was sprawled on the floor with a blanket spread beneath me. I'd bought a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠queen-size bed specifically so I could roll around on it, so why was I torturing myself like this?

"...That's my bed."

"Still can't accept it? If you lost in the world of competition, you should accept defeat like a man."

"Calling it the 'world of competition' is a bit grand when all it was was a round of rock-paper-scissors...."

"So you won?"

"......No."

"Then that's that."

That's right. Baek Seol-hwa had completely taken over my bed. She was leaning back against the fluffy blanket and pillow with her fluffy tail stretched out comfortably beside her.

...Wasn't that going to get fur everywhere?

Why had this girl suddenly glued herself to my house? To explain that, I needed to rewind time a little.

After she'd witnessed the scene of me getting killed in the gallery with her own two eyes, and once the dryer had finished its cycle and the clothes seemed mostly dry, I'd tried to send Baek Seol-hwa home.

"Hey, your clothes are dry."

"Yaaawn......"

"What are you doing?"

Baek Seol-hwa rubbed her eyes while yawning.

"I'm sleepy."

"Then go home and sleep."

"Are you telling me to drive drowsy? Is the employee trying to get the boss in trouble on his very first day?"

This guy was already acting like the boss....

"...No, then what do you suggest?"

"I want to sleep here and leave later."

"What? Are you crazy?"

"Why?"

Baek Seol-hwa tilted her head. Why? What kind of obvious question was that? Why would she sleep over at someone else's house, and in a guy's room no less....

"You said you don't see me as a woman. That you have no interest in a yokai brat."

...I had said that. But sleeping over was a completely separate issue.

"...So?"

"Then there's no problem. Can't you just think of it as one person sleeping over at the house?"

"Where exactly do you see yourself as a person?"

"I look similar to a person!"

"People don't have furry tails. And nine of them at that."

What kind of yokai pretends to be human? I had zero intention of sleeping under the same roof as a yokai. But Baek Seol-hwa made a pouty face and suddenly flopped down onto the bed.

"What are you doing right now? Why are you lying there?"

"I'm not leaving~."

Was this yokai brat picking a fight? Fine. I'd take her on. I had my own methods.

"Heh heh, is that so."

"...Why are you picking up your phone?"

"I have no choice but to report you for trespassing."

"Go ahead~ I'll just say I was almost assaulted. Yoo Se-hwan tried to touch me~!"

This damn guy was pulling out cheat keys....

"...Get out, you yokai brat!"

There was no helping it. If Baek Seol-hwa was going to shamelessly dig her heels in, I had no choice but to be just as stubborn. I grabbed her arm and forcibly hauled her up.

"Get up!"

"Ouch! No!!"

"Who said you could sleep in our house as you please? I absolutely won't allow it."

"Why can't you just let me! And it's still raining outside. How dangerous would it be to drive in the rain while drowsy!"

"Getting rid of one yokai sounds good to me?"

"This guy is for real! And a person could get hurt! You shouldn't drive in conditions like this!"

...I couldn't refute that. It wouldn't be right for an innocent person to get hurt because of one yokai brat's drowsy driving.

"Sigh."

"Just let me sleep a little and I'll go! I'll leave at dawn, okay? Dawn."

"...Ugh. Then sleep on the floor."

"Can't I sleep on the bed?"

This yokai brat didn't even know basic etiquette. She forces her way into sleeping over and now she's trying to steal the bed too?

"No. Get out."

"I can only sleep on a bed! My back hurts if I sleep on the floor."

What kind of nonsense was a gumiho spouting about only being able to sleep on a bed?

"Cut the crap. There were no beds a thousand years ago."

"...Won't you give preferential treatment to your employer?"

"Give preferential treatment to your employee."

"T-then let's play rock-paper-scissors!! The winner gets the bed!"

"Why should I..."

...No. Actually, settling it clearly like this might quiet things down faster. Luckily I was exceptionally good at rock-paper-scissors. Back in high school I'd once beaten six classmates in a row.

"Fine."

"Okay, no taking it back!"

"Got it. Let's start."

"Okay."

I think you can guess what happened after that without me explaining. I, who was exceptionally good at rock-paper-scissors, lost spectacularly in one go. How was that even possible....

At some point the room had grown quiet. The only sound was Baek Seol-hwa's soft, even breathing. She must have fallen asleep already.

...She was sleeping so peacefully.

"Whew."

A sigh escaped on its own. How had things come to this? The destiny I'd spent my whole life trying to ignore had come looking for me on its own, and now I'd even let a yokai into the house. If my parents found out, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠they'd be shocked in more ways than one. Both the fact that I'd started exorcism activities again and that I'd become acquainted with a yokai.

Was this the right thing? No matter how many times I asked myself lately, the conclusion was always the same. I didn't want to admit it, but this kid was someone I could trust more genuinely than any human. So there was no problem. It was also morally right for me to help her, and since it had become a pretty decent source of income, I couldn't give it up now. Twenty a day, forty for two days... weekends usually added eight to ten days a month, which already matched the monthly pay of a regular five-day, eight-hour part-time job.

"...Well, one day is fine."

One day should be okay. That aside, I wasn't very sleepy. It had nothing to do with Baek Seol-hwa sleeping beside me. The Ghost Gallery situation kept nagging at me. Might as well take a look.

When I opened the app and entered the Ghost Gallery, the posts were packed with suspicions about my IP. There were also plenty of theories and worries about Baek Seol-hwa, the fixed-nick "SnowFlower," who had stopped visiting the gallery after meeting me. Of course it was because she'd been killed off, but people seemed to find it strange that she hadn't shown up even when there'd been chances before that.

...Though wasn't that because these guys had been rolling weird bait in the first place?

"Huh?"

While scrolling through the posts, one nickname jumped out at me. A gallery user with a blue tag next to their name. A fixed-nick.

Just as the post said, no more suspicion threads about my IP had gone up after that. It seemed nothing had been clearly decided yet.

But the nickname GoldenPiggyBank...?

"...I think I know what this is."

There was a chance it was a spirit, but if this fixed-nick was a yokai, there was only one yokai who would use a name like that.

The Golden Pig. Just like the name suggested, a pig covered head to toe in golden fur. A man-eating yokai that lived on Wol-yeong Island in the sea off Masan. According to the legends, it kidnapped women and devoured them....

"...Masan is close too."

The Tiger Great Demon King lived in Busan, this fixed-nick lived in Masan... somehow everyone seemed to live nearby.

Anyway, the getting-killed incident looked like it would be settled tomorrow, so I was about to close the app when something occurred to me. I hit the search button.

I searched for posts by the author TigerDemonKing from my recent history.

The moment the results appeared, I had to doubt my own eyes.

"...What the hell is this."

I thought I'd seen wrong for a second and checked again, but no. It was real.

#2

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

"Yaaawn."

Seol-hwa woke up with a stretch. It was still early dawn and the sky was dark, the sun not yet fully risen. At least the rain seemed to have stopped.

"Time to go...."

As promised, Seol-hwa started gathering the blanket to leave. And then....

"......Kyaaaak!?"

She saw Se-hwan sitting there with a zombie-like, hollow face. Se-hwan slowly turned his head toward the screaming Seol-hwa.

"You—what the?! Why do you look like that? Don't tell me you didn't sleep?"

"...I didn't sleep."

"What? Why?"

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

The puzzled Seol-hwa tilted her head. After thinking for a moment she asked, just in case.

"...Did I snore or something?"

"...You snore too?"

"Ah, no! It's not that... You said you didn't sleep, so I thought maybe the floor was too uncomfortable?"

People who usually sleep on beds sometimes can't sleep when they suddenly switch to the floor. Seol-hwa felt a pang of guilt thinking that might be the case.

But Se-hwan shook his head as if to say that wasn't it.

"Not that?"

"Yeah."

"Then why didn't you sleep?"

"Look at this."

Se-hwan held out his phone. Seol-hwa looked at the screen with a confused expression, and her face quickly froze over.

"Wow, what a crazy bastard!! Who does he think he is, saying he'll come find you!?"

What Se-hwan had shown her was the post written by TigerDemonKing. Watching Seol-hwa get worked up, Se-hwan spoke casually.

"Does common sense work on yokai? That's just how those guys are."

"I'm a yokai too, you know?"

"...That's because you're extremely special."

Se-hwan rubbed his eyes.

"Since the opponent is also a yokai, he might be able to track your yoki and find you. That's why I couldn't just lie down and sleep comfortably."

At Se-hwan's words, Seol-hwa's eyes widened.

"Because of me...?"

"Well, half of it is because of you. It's because you slept at our house."

"...I was trying to feel a little touched, but you just shattered it."

"Touched my ass."

Se-hwan yawned as he looked at her.

"Hey, don't go yet. Let me sleep a little. I need at least some rest so I won't be drowsy during my part-time shift this afternoon."

"It's okay if I stay?"

"Where would you go? Guard the house and wake me up in three hours."

"...I'm not a dog, you know?"

"Foxes are part of the canine family. So it's close enough."

With that, Se-hwan sluggishly climbed onto the bed. Seol-hwa quickly made room out of guilt, and he fell fast asleep the moment his head touched the pillow.

"Guh......"

"He's the one snoring."

Seol-hwa let out a small laugh and stood up. Though he'd spoken like it was nothing, the fact that Se-hwan had stayed up watching over her while she slept comfortably hadn't changed.

"...For an exorcist, he's really a strange guy."

Seol-hwa sat down on the floor and waited with her senses on high alert, just as Se-hwan had said, in case anyone came looking. One or two hours passed, but she didn't sense anything dangerous nearby.

With her tension eased, Seol-hwa felt a little relieved and turned on her phone. She logged into the Ghost Gallery and checked the overall atmosphere.

'Nothing about Yoo Se-hwan?'

Finding it strange, she looked at the posts and understood why things had quieted down. After seeing the same thing Se-hwan had seen, Seol-hwa switched back to the all-posts tab and scrolled through the newly refreshed threads for a while. Just as she was about to close the gallery, thinking there was nothing special, a striking nickname appeared at the very top.

"Huh?"

It was SteelKing. The Ghost Gallery's mod had posted.

Seol-hwa tilted her head. It seemed like everything had been resolved nicely, which was good, but there was one part of SteelKing's post that felt strange.

"No problem with the user?"

"So noisy......"

"Ah, sorry."

Seol-hwa jumped and looked behind her. But Se-hwan was still asleep. It must have been sleep-talking.

"...That scared me."

Seol-hwa, who had thought Se-hwan had woken up, breathed a sigh of relief and looked back at the gallery. Just then, a KakaoTalk message suddenly popped up on the screen.

"Huh?"

It was a message from an unknown sender. Seol-hwa tilted her head and tapped it.

"...Hello?"

It was a short greeting sent through an open chat. The name shown was just "Anon," like any other gallery user. Seol-hwa tilted her head, then, since it was from a stranger, she left the chat room and blocked the person.

She sharpened her senses toward her surroundings. Just in case. But she still didn't feel any particular yoki nearby.

"It couldn't be him... right?"

While Seol-hwa was blocking the open chat and focusing on her surroundings, outside the building where Se-hwan and Seol-hwa were staying, a woman stood quietly.

She had striking white hair and beautiful features, just like Seol-hwa. Every passerby couldn't help but glance at her beauty. Each time, unlike Seol-hwa, she would flash a bright, eye-crinkling smile.

"Hey, she just made eye contact with me!"

"Bullshit, she looked at me."

"Both of you shut the hell up."

Watching three young men bicker as they walked past, she laughed with amusement. But what they couldn't see was the tail swaying gently behind her. A white tail with black stripes. It looked exactly like a white tiger's.

"I guess I should head inside."

Her tail swished as she took a few steps. On the tenth step, her figure vanished without a trace.

"Where did that woman go?"

"Beats me?"

#3

"Hey, Yoo Se-hwan! Wake up!"

"Mmm...."

Had three hours already passed...? I groggily sat up and checked my phone. It was already eight o'clock. I had a ten o'clock class, so I needed to start getting ready.

"Nothing happened, right?"

"Yeah. If someone had actually come, you wouldn't be this fine."

She was proudly bragging about how weak I was.

"But you're pretty reckless yourself."

"I really don't want to hear that from you."

"You're not much different! How would that guy even know our location in the first place? Yet you stayed up all night. That's something only an idiot would do."

"I stayed up to watch over you and this is the thanks I get. Hey, get out. I'm going to wash up."

The reason I'd stayed up all night wasn't anything else... but Seol-hwa wasn't entirely wrong. No matter how well he could sense yoki, Busan was wider than it seemed. Even if he could detect her yoki, he'd still have to get close....

There was no way TigerDemonKing could know exactly where we were in this huge city. Still, some instinctive unease had kept me awake all night. It was good that nothing had happened.

I grabbed a towel and bathrobe and finished preparing to wash up, then pointed at the front door while speaking to Baek Seol-hwa.

"Hurry up and leave."

"I can't go out wearing this. I need to change, so you go in first."

"This is so annoying...."

"Should I just strip here then!?"

She wouldn't even be able to take her clothes off from embarrassment. I was about to head into the bathroom first when—

Knock knock.

Someone knocked on the door. Both Seol-hwa and I turned to look at the same time. I tilted my head.

"Who could it be this early in the morning?"

"Did you have a visitor scheduled?"

"No. Though one uninvited guest did show up."

"Hey!"

"Maybe the neighbors complained about the noise again because you were screaming so loudly."

"...I didn't scream that much."

You literally just did. I stared at the door for a moment, then took a step forward.

...I should at least check.

Suddenly, Baek Seol-hwa, who had approached without me noticing, grabbed my arm.

"Jesus, you scared me. What now?"

"Hey... don't go."

"What?"

"Something feels off. I can't sense any presence."

"...?"

"Don't get too close. Just talk from here."

I looked at her for a moment, then tapped my necklace to switch my vision. After confirming I could see her ears and tail, I turned my gaze back to the front door.

"Who is it?"

I asked from a distance. A reply came back.

"Student in room 202, I have something to talk about~!"

It was the landlady's voice. But I couldn't bring myself to open the door. Because of what I saw in my vision, I had to reach into my pocket for a talisman.

'What the hell is this......'

What I saw was long, pure-white fur slowly creeping in through the crack beneath the door.