* * *
Hyunsoo stared blankly at the boy crouched in the corner of the living room.
From what he could gather, Hwang Yoomin from the Yulmae class at Big Tree Kindergarten had died around 30 years ago.
The boy had asked him to find his mom, but with no information, he felt lost.
“So you’re saying there’s a ghost sitting in that corner?”
Yoon, who had come running out of his room when he heard a loud noise in the living room, was now clinging to Hyunsoo like a magnet.
“He’s not just a ghost; he’s Hwang Yoomin from the Yulmae class at Big Tree Kindergarten. He’s five years old.”
“…Ah, right. Yoomin.”
Hyunsoo corrected Yoon’s phrasing and then fell into deep thought.
‘What should I do about this?’
He crossed his arms and kept tapping his fingers. No matter how much he racked his brain, no solution came to mind.
The boy looked too young, and since he hadn’t caused any harm, it wasn’t like he could just sprinkle salt to drive him away.
“Do you know any shamans?”
Hyunsoo had met many shamans after being possessed, but he didn’t have the contact information for any of them.
All communication was handled through Lee Jaeyoon.
“It’s all handled by Lee Jaeyoon. Should I call him now?”
At the mention of Lee Jaeyoon, Yoon frowned deeply.
Ever since Hyunsoo had revealed that Jaeyoon had locked him in a room, the three of them had been more wary of him than ever before.
Although Hyunsoo, the one affected, had brushed it off, they couldn’t be sure when Jaeyoon might change his attitude again.
“Let’s think about it a bit more. If we can’t figure it out, then we’ll contact him. What’s Yoomin doing now?”
“Right now… he’s crying.”
Yoomin’s eyes were swollen. He seemed to be in shock from realizing that he was a person from 30 years ago. The sound of him sniffling hadn’t stopped.
“Hyung, am I dead? The other hyungs say they can’t see me?”
Yoomin, with his knees pulled up to his chest, sniffled and asked Hyunsoo.
Hyunsoo felt conflicted. It was hard to tell the truth to a child who was only five years old.
“Yoomin, do you remember how long you waited there for your mom?”
“I don’t know. I just remember waiting for a really, really long time.”
The boy could recall the name of his favorite cartoon, but he had no sense of how much time had passed.
Hyunsoo wondered if the boy had watched it on some cable channel as a rerun, but there weren’t any channels that would broadcast an old, low-quality cartoon from 30 years ago.
“How did you know to come here?”
“I felt something similar to me from you, hyung. So I followed that feeling and came here.”
‘This is just getting more bizarre…’
He thought his life was spectacular, but he never expected it to be this extreme.
He had just decided to stop playing caretaker for people who weren’t even related by blood a few hours ago, but now a random ghost had latched onto him.
“Hyung, what do I do now? What if Mom can’t see me anymore?”
Yoomin, who had been sitting in the corner of the living room, crawled over on his knees and placed his hand on Hyunsoo’s lap.
Seeing the tiny hand, Hyunsoo was overwhelmed with emotions.
The boy had waited for his mother in the same spot for nearly 30 years, not even realizing he was dead.
If Yoomin’s mother were still alive, she’d be at least in her fifties by now.
Even if they were lucky enough to find her, how could he explain that her son, who died 30 years ago, had been waiting for her all this time?
“This is driving me crazy, seriously.”
Looking at Yoomin’s round, chestnut-like hair, his chubby, pale cheeks, and his teary, wide eyes, Hyunsoo’s heart softened helplessly.
“Yoomin, what’s your mom’s name?”
“My mom’s name? Umm… umm…”
The boy opened and closed his mouth, blinking his large eyes.
Hyunsoo didn’t rush him and waited quietly.
“I knew it… I know both my mom and dad’s names…”
“It’s okay, you can take your time.”
“Can’t he remember?”
“Maybe he’s just flustered and can’t remember because you asked him out of the blue. He remembered the title of a cartoon, so he’ll probably recall their names soon.”
Unconsciously, Hyunsoo patted Yoomin’s head, who was resting his cheek on Hyunsoo’s knee.
His hand passed through without touching anything, leaving a cold sensation behind.
“What’s the kid wearing?”
Minchan, noticing Hyunsoo was patting around his knee, realized the boy must be nearby.
He couldn’t see Yoomin, but judging by Hyunsoo’s words, it seemed they were having a decent conversation.
“He’s wearing a yellow short-sleeve t-shirt and black shorts. Velcro sneakers too.”
“Oh, so the kid came into our house wearing shoes?”
“Gasp.”
Yoomin’s eyes widened at Minchan’s playful joke.
His nervous fidgeting was so cute that it made them laugh.
“That hyung was joking. You don’t have to take your shoes off.”
“But Dad said I have to take off my shoes in the house…”
“You can take them off if you want, but it seems like you can’t.”
Yoomin tilted his head at Hyunsoo’s words, then started struggling to remove his shoes.
“Huh? Why won’t these come off? Hyung!”
Yoomin called out desperately to Hyunsoo for help.
“I’m not sure why, but it seems like your clothes won’t come off either. I’ve seen clothes turn into burial garments before…”
“What’s a burial garment?”
“Um, it’s the white clothes people wear when they die.”
“Hmm…”
Yoomin nodded while holding onto his shoes, sitting on the floor.
Compared to the vengeful spirit that had tried to strangle him earlier, this kid was as harmless as they come.
“You still can’t remember your parents’ names?”
“Yeah… I must be stupid.”
“You might remember later.”
After comforting the sullen child for a while, Hyunsoo quietly got up. It was late, and he was getting tired.
“Hyung, where are you going?”
“I’m going to bed because I’m tired.”
“To bed? Are you going to sleep with Yoomin?”
Yoon sent a worried look. No matter how young the ghost was, it was still a ghost. After hearing about the evil spirit that had strangled Jaehee, Yoon was even more uneasy.
“Oh, did I not mention it?”
Hyunsoo scratched his cheek a couple of times before saying,
“Ghosts don’t sleep.”
Jiwon spent the night wide awake, unable to shake off the fact that there was another ghost in their dorm besides Park Hyunsoo.
“Wow, what happened to your face? You look terrible.”
Yoon picked a fight with Jiwon first thing in the morning when they crossed paths in the kitchen. Jiwon, used to this routine, didn’t even bother acknowledging Yoon and instead scanned the living room.
“Do you think the kid is watching that?”
In the corner of the living room, a tablet was plugged in and lying on its side.
The playlist was filled with cartoons for children.
Hyunsoo had set it up, thinking Yoomin might get bored while he slept, being the only one who could talk to the ghost.
“If he gets bored, he’ll probably stop watching and find something else to do.”
Jiwon responded indifferently, flopping onto the dining table.
As he buried his face into the cold tabletop, he fumbled with his phone and suddenly asked,
“By the way, what time are you picking up the cake today?”
“Ten o’clock.”
“Hurry up and get ready.”
“It takes like two seconds to get there. Why are you nagging me?”
“While you’re there, buy that limited-edition macaron set too.”
“Are you out of your mind?”
Yoon snapped, glaring at Jiwon with irritation.
The more he thought about it, the more convinced he was that Song Jiwon was completely crazy.
“Here, take this. Wish voucher.”
“Agh…”
Jiwon pulled out a wish voucher with Yoon’s name on it.
He used telekinesis to pull a pen over from the living room table and scribbled on it.
[Wish Voucher (Recipient: Kim Yoon / Issuer: Song Jiwon)]
[Wish: Buy the macaron set (Voucher void if not fulfilled)]
“You’re really annoying, you know that? Ugh!”
Glaring at the voucher, Yoon grumbled and disappeared into the bathroom.
If he wanted to snag those limited-edition macarons, he needed to get ready quickly.
“Why are you two fighting again this morning?”
Hyunsoo, lazily combing his hair with his fingers, asked Jiwon, who was still sprawled across the dining table.
“Did you sleep well?”
“Yeah.”
“Yoon’s mad because I used a wish voucher.”
Jiwon tattled eagerly.
“What did you write on it?”
“Buy the macarons.”
“Oh.”
Hyunsoo replied with little interest, then walked over to where the tablet was.
Yoomin was lying down with his face buried in the screen.
“Don’t sit so close to it. Have you been watching like that this whole time?”
When Hyunsoo spoke, Yoomin finally lifted his head and replied,
“The TV is too small. I can’t see it if I sit far away. Hyung, are you poor? Do you not have any money?”
‘This kid…’
Hyunsoo’s pride was strangely hurt.
* * *
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