Chapter 6
The story was in full swing on Sungjae’s rooftop.
“Do you have any other family?”
“I do, but…”
Junmo trailed off at Yuri’s question. He was reluctant to talk about any family other than his younger brother.
Seeing Junmo hesitate, as if he was having trouble speaking, Yuri quickly apologized.
“Oh, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked. You don’t have to talk about it if it’s difficult.”
“I’m sorry. I just don’t talk about my family much.”
Whenever family was mentioned, a corner of his heart grew desolate.
His mother had passed away five years ago, and he was on such bad terms with his father that they had lost contact.
Four years ago, when he was in a state of brain death, his older brother was also involved in an unexpected accident.
His older brother miraculously survived, but for some reason, he became a different person.
After that, he became estranged from his older brother as well.
Junmo only confided in his younger brother.
His family was wealthy, so he had never experienced financial difficulties after becoming independent.
Recently, a stock he hadn’t expected to do well had become a huge success.
It was just that Junmo wasn’t very interested in enjoying what he had and was only focused on catching criminals.
“The meat’s good.”
Seungri changed the subject this time. He was concerned that her face was unusually dark.
‘Family must be this man’s Achilles’ heel.’
It was the same for her.
It was different for Junmo, but Seungri’s heart always ached when she thought of her family, who had suffered so much because of her.
“You say it’s good, but you’re not eating much. Eat up.”
Junmo placed a piece of meat on top of her rice bowl. She felt awkward at the sudden kindness and grumbled.
“Don’t overdo it.”
“I’m sorry for almost getting you killed. Eat and get your strength back.”
“You really have no conscience, mister. You almost killed someone and you’re trying to make up for it with pork belly? And it’s not even your treat. Sis, eat this.”
Sungjae took the pork belly from Seungri’s rice bowl and plopped it into Junmo’s, then placed a new piece of pork belly on her rice.
“Butt out.”
Junmo, in a foul mood, picked up the pork belly from her rice and dumped it into Sungjae’s bowl.
Then he put his own pork belly back on her rice.
“Mister, why are you being so childish?”
“You’re the childish one.”
The sight of the childish thirty-something and the teenager bickering over pork belly was quite a spectacle.
Yuri’s expression was utterly dumbfounded as she watched the two troublemakers.
It was obvious to anyone that this was a battle of the sexes fighting over a woman.
“Freeze!”
It was Seungri who ended the two men’s war of nerves with a command that even four-star generals would admire.
She placed the two pieces of pork belly in her rice bowl back into their respective bowls and glared at them with a fierce look.
“If either of you puts pork belly in my rice bowl again, you’ll never see pork belly again.”
Only then did the two men obediently put the pork belly in front of them into their mouths.
As the meal was coming to an end, Seungri, who had been distracted by the virgin ghost secretly watching, muttered to herself.
‘Annoying.’
A virgin ghost who can’t even do her job properly after attaching herself to a man.
She had never seen such a dim-witted ghost in her life.
Knowing that she would be caught, she came all the way here on her own two feet, so she must be a complete idiot.
Or maybe she was just too confident that she wouldn’t be caught.
Because the virgin ghost clung to Junmo, there were no more calls from the client.
The client was a wife who wanted the ghost to be driven away from her cheating husband, but it was resolved naturally.
When she checked in the morning, the remaining payment had been deposited neatly without any haggling.
Now, all that was left was to finish things off for good.
“I’m going to go to the bathroom.”
Seungri walked towards the stairs. The virgin ghost, terrified as she approached, quickly disappeared.
“Follow me nicely.”
The virgin ghost, hiding in the darkness, shuddered as she watched Seungri go down the stairs.
She was caught by the scorpion exorcist, who was worse than the devil, so she wouldn’t even be able to recover her bones.
In this case, running away was the best option.
“Eek!”
Thump!
That woman must be the only human who uses psychokinesis on ghosts.
The virgin ghost, who had been hiding in the air, was knocked down the stairs by Seungri’s psychokinesis, twisting her limbs in shock.
“Oh, my back.”
“Stop faking it and get up.”
“Don’t think I don’t know your evil intentions? You’re trying to separate me from Detective Pee.”
“You’re just sucking the life out of men, and you have so much to say.”
“What’s wrong with that? I even got you to move here. Shouldn’t you be grateful to me?”
“Has Detective Pee even seen you?”
“You sly fox.”
The virgin ghost glared at Seungri with bloodshot eyes.
“I called dibs on that man first. He’s mine!”
“Don’t lay a finger on that man. That man and I are!”
‘The same fate.’
“What are you doing, all alone?”
Seungri squeezed her eyes shut and opened them again at the sound of Junmo’s voice from above the stairs. She was sure he would think she was crazy.
‘Ugh, damn it.’
In the meantime, the virgin ghost, hiding behind Junmo, complained bitterly.
“Oppa, that woman hit me. I almost broke my back. You’ve been fooled. She’s so vicious. Let’s move again. This is no place to live.”
“Shut up.”
Seungri threatened, and the virgin ghost shut her mouth tightly.
“I said shut up!”
“Don’t get so worked up. I was talking to the ghost.”
“Oh, that ghost.”
“People don’t know. How many ghosts are running rampant in this world. How many people are living as puppets of ghosts.”
Junmo strode over and placed his large palm on Seungri’s forehead.
Surprised, she flinched back.
“What are you doing?”
“Hold still. Let me take your temperature.”
Thwack!
Seungri kicked him hard in the shin and huffed.
“I warned you. Don’t touch me.”
Junmo couldn’t even scream in pain and spun around in place.
‘What a temper!’
“See? I told you I was right? I told you this woman was really vicious.”
“I guess I can’t reason with you.”
“Eek!”
Seungri grabbed the virgin ghost by the hair and dragged her away.
The virgin ghost struggled to resist, waving her hands towards Junmo.
“O, Oppa, save me. Save meeee-“
“What is she doing…”
He was dumbfounded to see Seungri going down the stairs in a strange posture.
She was really scary when she was serious with a straight face. On the other hand, he felt sorry for her being in that state.
She was pretty but scary, pitiful, and he kept wondering about her, so much so that he couldn’t get her out of his head…
In a word, his feelings were unpredictable.
Not only was he provoked by the jealousy of a teenager, but what was this supposed to be?
Was Pee Junmo’s life going to be ruined by falling for a crazy woman and going crazy with her?
“Should we pack our bags again?”
Knowing that it was already too late, Junmo desperately wanted to cancel the move.
Only after coming down the stairs, away from Junmo, did Seungri touch the cross pendant she was wearing around her neck.
Unlike before, the virgin ghost was startled and trembled.
“P, please spare me. I won’t do anything. I really won’t.”
“A blatant lie. That’s your specialty.”
When her lie was exposed, the virgin ghost rolled her eyes and began to struggle.
“Do you think you’ll survive this! My friends won’t leave you alone! I’m going to kill you!”
“This is the price you pay for seducing so many men and leading them into lewdness.”
“Aaaah! Aaaaaaah-“
The virgin ghost was sucked into the red gem of the cross pendant in an instant, as if smoke was being sucked in.
As long as she was trapped here, the virgin ghost would never appear in front of Junmo again.
The necklace, which had been emitting light while imprisoning the virgin ghost, became quiet.
‘What was that just now?’
Above the stairs, in the darkness, Junmo was secretly watching Seungri below.
It seemed like a flash of light shone on her back for a moment, but it disappeared like a lie.
‘Was it the light from her cell phone?’
But the text message notification he just received came from her pocket.
If it wasn’t the light from her cell phone, then what was that light?
She took her cell phone out of her pocket, checked the message, and went outside.
‘Where is she going all of a sudden?’
Her actions were suspicious, so Junmo secretly followed her.
A little later, she arrived at the park in front of the building.
‘Why here?’
She seemed familiar with the place as she went to the bench and sat down, looking up at the moon in the dark sky for a moment.
Her shadow was cast long by the streetlights.
Then, as if waiting for someone, she looked around.
Unbeknownst to her, Junmo was secretly hiding and watching.
It was then that an old man appeared before her. A faint smile appeared on Seungri’s lips when she saw him.
“Grandfather.”
“It’s a good night for moonlight.”
When the old man sat down next to her, Seungri took off the necklace from her neck and handed it to him.
“Thirteen so far today.”
It didn’t really matter how many ghosts there were. The days when the old man came weren’t fixed either.
When she received a text message from the old man like today, she would meet him and exchange the necklace.
The old man with a benevolent face took the necklace.
“Okay. I’ll take them safely. Thank you for your hard work. But why do you look like that? Are you sick?”
“I was just thinking about when I first met you, Grandpa. It was when I was really sick in body and mind. I was able to live thanks to you.”
“You’re not resenting me, are you?”
“Resentment… To be honest, there were times. I was so sick of exorcist work that I was completely worn out.”
“I’m sorry to hear that. It’s not something I can help you with, you see.”
“It’s not your fault, Grandpa. You said that if the knot in my heart is untied, I might naturally be able to quit the exorcist work, right?”
“It’s your life anyway. What can I do if you don’t untangle it yourself? I’m just a grim reaper who goes around collecting the ghosts you’ve caught.”
“You don’t know I went to Heaven again this time, do you?”
“I heard the news. Not only are you destined to die on the same day, but Pee Junmo is holding your lifeline, isn’t he?”
“Does Heaven know that I remember everything?”
“What are you worried about when no one believes you anyway?”
“Sigh- I guess so. That’s another burden I have to carry alone.”
“Cheer up. That slumped look doesn’t suit you. If you live hard, good days will come.”
Seungri smiled hollowly at the old man’s consolation.
“Good days when my lifeline is held by another man? While trembling with anxiety because I don’t know when that man will die?”
“If you seek death, you shall live, and if you seek to live, you shall die.”
“Even if I die, I have to catch that bastard before I do.”
“Haha. It seems people with similar convictions have met.”
“What do you mean?”
“Pee Junmo, I mean. That friend’s conviction is to catch one more criminal before he dies, I think?”
It was a conviction that suited him. In fact, he almost died chasing a suspect to the death.
Seungri smiled bitterly at the thought of Junmo.
Hiding behind a tree, Junmo’s expression, who was secretly watching her, gradually became strangely distorted.
He never thought the saying “what you don’t expect can get you” would feel so real.
Seungri sitting alone on a bench and talking to someone looked truly bizarre.
‘Is she talking to a ghost? Ha- there’s no way that’s possible. She’s completely lost it.’
That’s right. Junmo couldn’t see the grim reaper old man.
Since grim reapers look exactly like humans anyway, it wouldn’t matter if they were seen, but it was forbidden to contact humans except in special cases, so that was why.
But Junmo, who had completely misunderstood, was overwhelmed.
He had already moved, and he had become an inescapable neighbor with that woman.
“Oh dear. It seems an uninvited guest has arrived. I must be going now. Let’s see each other again soon.”
The old man took out an identical cross necklace from his pocket and placed it in her hand.
“Take good care not to lose it.”
“Yes. Don’t worry.”
After the old man disappeared, Seungri put the necklace around her neck.
However, she failed several times because the clasp didn’t fasten properly.
Junmo, who approached her step by step, snatched the necklace from her hand.
It seemed that the uninvited guest the old man spoke of was Junmo.
“I’ll do it.”
“I’ll put on the necklace neatly without touching a single hair. Don’t worry.”
He couldn’t understand why she took off the perfectly fine necklace and put it on again, but Junmo went behind the bench and awkwardly found the necklace clasp and fastened it.
As she said, being careful not to touch her skin.
After putting on the necklace, he sat next to her. Bright moonlight poured down on the bench where the two were sitting.
“Were you talking to that ghost just now?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
“You wouldn’t believe me even if I told you.”
“Smart.”
“You can call me crazy, it’s okay. I’m used to it.”
Junmo stared intently at her profile.
He wondered how much she had been hurt by people that she could say she was used to it so casually.
Seungri, who met his eyes, frowned slightly.
“I don’t like that look of pity.”
“It’s okay to call you crazy, but you don’t like being pitied? You’re really selfish.”
Although he grumbled, Junmo’s heart was actually filled with pity, just as she said.
The desire to protect her, the attraction he still felt, disturbed his mind.
‘Bastard.’
He understood her earnest wish, and he also desperately wanted to catch that bastard he had bumped into in the alleyway.
The hit-and-run driver was the same.
But even he, who was desperate to catch any criminal, thought that case seemed impossible.
The only clue was a pattern.
It was too insignificant to be conclusive evidence.
“How did that pattern come about? Did you get a tattoo on purpose because of that bastard?”
“It’s not a tattoo. It appeared that day.”
“It appeared that day?”
“Yeah. I came to my senses after three days, and it was there when I woke up. Yuri said it seemed to have appeared at the time of the incident. I don’t know why, though.”
In fact, she had asked the old man about it.
But she only heard that untangling life was up to the individual.
It was also forbidden for grim reapers to interfere in human affairs.
“You said you were going to the bathroom, where did you go?”
Sungjae, who was worried, complained to Seungri, who was coming into the house.
“I just went out for some air.”
“With that detective?”
They had both disappeared, so he vaguely assumed that was the case. Thanks to that, Sungjae’s mood was terrible.
He had been uneasy since she said she was moving here, and he regretted taking him as a tenant.
Look at him on the rooftop, too. He didn’t hide his possessiveness towards Seungri.
If he hesitated, it was only a matter of time before she was taken away.
Sungjae was instinctively feeling a crisis.
“I’ll protect you.”
“What?”
“I’ll be your black knight, Sis.”
For once, a bright smile spread across Seungri’s face.
“Thanks for the thought, even if it’s just words.”
“I couldn’t protect Mom, but I’ll protect you no matter what, so watch me.”
“Sungjae.”
“Anyone who bothers Sis is my enemy. That’s how I feel, Sis.”
If only Sis is on my side, I don’t care if the whole world becomes my enemy. Sis is my everything.
“Hey, of course, you should. We’re family.”
Sungjae said guardedly to Seungri, who laughed it off lightly.
“Be careful of that detective. The way he looks at you isn’t normal.”
He was the man who almost killed Seungri in a car accident. There was no guarantee that such a thing wouldn’t happen again.
To Sungjae, Junmo was a dangerous person, a bad relationship.
That’s why he hated him getting close to Seungri even more.
“He’s a detective. Who wouldn’t he look at strangely?”
While making excuses, Seungri stroked the back of her neck.
His touch on the back of her neck when he put on the necklace was strongly imprinted in her mind.
It was a completely different feeling from when he first touched her neck.
She had only felt unpleasant then, but now she felt strange.
“A man knows a man better.”
“You’re acting up. Go to bed quickly.”
He was a guy who was desperate to be treated like a man, but his words felt right to the bone.
He was originally a perceptive guy, so maybe he saw it right.
Because she was also conscious of Junmo at some point.
“Good morning.”
Yuri, who was cleaning, looked at Junmo, who had sleepy eyes, with a puzzled expression.
“You don’t seem to have slept well?”
“I’ve been having trouble sleeping lately. I couldn’t sleep even more last night because the place was different.”
In fact, he had been troubled and couldn’t even sleep after seeing what Seungri was doing last night.
A crazy woman living downstairs. He was even crazier for being drawn to that woman.
“Would you like some coffee?”
“Make it strong, please.”
Someone came and plopped down in front of him, who was sitting at the table in a daze.
“I’ll have a cup too, please.”
Junmo opened his eyes slightly and saw Seungri.
‘Do I have to see this woman every day? She’s determined to be pretty, and I go crazy every time I see her. Did she eat an innocent fruit this morning? Why is she so innocent?’
He collapsed onto the table with a gloomy feeling.
“Mister, if you’re sleepy, go home and sleep. Is this a motel?”
Sungjae, who was wearing a school uniform, scolded Junmo, who had come down at some point. He also retorted grumpily.
“Don’t pick a fight and go to school, you brat. I’m not in the mood to play with you.”
“Tsk. Whether I go to school or not is none of your business.”
“Go quickly. You’re late.”
It was Sungjae who left the cafe swaggering only after Seungri coaxed him.
“Coffee’s ready.”
Yuri said kindly and placed coffee cups in front of the two.
The savory aroma of coffee spread throughout the room.
A magical scent that makes people’s nerves drowsy. It even hid the scent coming from her…
Truly, coffee was the devil’s drink.
“Mmm, the coffee smells good.”
Junmo, who had forgotten his depression in no time, sipped the hot coffee.
He looked across at her, who was lost in thought while drinking coffee.
“What are you thinking about?”
“Thinking about you.”
“Really?”
“I was thinking about how to make you believe me.”
The clown who had ascended plummeted, and he muttered inwardly with a sullen expression.
‘How can I have less presence than a ghost? I’ve appealed so much as a man, there should be a reaction coming back. Are you even a woman? How can you be so insensitive even after seeing a man like me? She’s like a mysterious woman.’
He was buried in his chair, looking out the window with a sullen expression, then turned his gaze back to her.
“When you’re with me, can’t you just think about me? Don’t associate me with ghosts, just think about me purely.”
“Why?”
He was at a loss for words when she asked so plainly. It wasn’t because of antipathy, but she really didn’t seem to know the reason.
“It makes me feel bad. You keep associating me with ghosts that I don’t even believe in…”
“……”
Junmo continued as if complaining to her, who was staring at him intently.
“You said you’d call off the accident if the ghost didn’t appear, right? And buy a car with your money. How long is that valid for? Do I have to wait forever until a ghost appears? I need a car right now.”
“It’s natural that it doesn’t appear. I already caught the ghost that was attached to you.”
“What?”
“And what crazy ghost would come to a building where an exorcist lives? But the ghost that was attached to you was crazy, though.”
The topic of conversation between a young man and woman was ghosts every day.
Junmo was at a loss for words, but she was just serious.
“So I’m worried. How should I prove that there are ghosts? Should we go to a haunted house?”
“Please! Don’t talk about ghosts in front of me. I feel like I’m getting a headache just hearing the word ‘ghost’.”
“You can just admit it.”
“I want to admit it a thousand times, ten thousand times when I think about you. But honestly, I’m worried about you.”
Her heart fluttered slightly at the word “worried.”
“Is it that hard to admit?”
Seungri muttered awkwardly, then suddenly looked back on herself.
The year she had refused to believe even though she had seen a ghost with her own eyes.
How easy is it to believe in ghosts that you can’t even see?
Junmo’s heart was finally fully understood.
“Okay. I won’t force you anymore. Believe what you want to believe. Okay?”
“Why are you being so cool all of a sudden? I feel sorry.”
“I realized after dying twice. How short life is. If the destination of life is Heaven anyway, I want to live coolly and go. Of course, I have to catch that bastard, though.”
“……”
Junmo couldn’t say that he had seen that bastard that day.
Seungri already believed that their fates were intertwined, and if he told her that he was also related to the incident four years ago, she might pester him to catch the criminal.
It wasn’t that he was going to ignore it altogether. It wasn’t too late to tell her after he found out on his own first.
‘I’ll catch him no matter what. Just wait.’.
