The Youngest wants to be exorcised! chapter 4

“Wait a minute. Hyung, why a shaman all of a sudden?”

Jiwon raised his head.

“Huh? Didn’t I tell you? Oh, right, I couldn’t explain properly because you kept interrupting me, Jiwon. Why do you always interrupt when your hyung’s talking?”

When Hyunsoo raised his fist slightly, Jiwon pouted.

His habit of pouting when scolded remained unchanged. Hyunsoo chuckled and spoke slowly.

“Think about it. I’m dead, right?”

At Hyunsoo’s declaration, the faces of the D-Team espers turned pale.

“So, what does that make me? It means I’m a ghost. Does anyone know what it’s called when a ghost possesses someone?”

The three remained silent, unwilling to answer. Not expecting an answer, Hyunsoo continued.

“It’s called possession. And what do you do when someone is possessed? You exorcise them.”

“But……”

“Stop, Jiwon.”

At the reprimand, Jiwon quickly looked down.

“It’s not like I have a body to return to, and you all saw me cremated. It doesn’t make sense for a ghost to occupy someone else’s body.”

Hyunsoo looked slowly at Jaehee’s family. They were visibly tense.

“I need to return Jaehee to his family.”

The meeting room fell silent. Ignoring this, Hyunsoo continued to speak.

“And I want to rest peacefully now.”

“Hyung……”

Yoon looked at Hyunsoo with teary eyes.

“Before coming here, I promised them that if you all confirmed I’m Park Hyunsoo, they would help with the exorcism. As I said earlier, they thought Jaehee was suffering from mental halucination.”

“Hyung, don’t you want to stay with us?”

Hyunsoo chuckled at Minchan’s question.

“I do. But I can’t. I’m already dead. We have to accept that. You sent me off yourselves.”

Hyunsoo leaned back in his chair. An awkward silence filled the room, suffocating.

“So, you want to leave that body?”

Minchan asked, and Hyunsoo nodded slowly.

“Yes. I didn’t enter it by choice. As far as I know, once I leave, everything should return to normal.”

“……Alright.”

Minchan, though reluctant, decided to step back since it was what Hyunsoo wanted.

After a bit more conversation, Hyunsoo checked the time and stood up, followed by Jaehee’s family.

“It’s time to go.”

“Hyung……”

As they bid farewell, the faces of the D-Team espers were filled with regret. They couldn’t part ways so easily after reuniting. While they hesitated to say more, Hyunsoo uncomfortably rose from his seat.

Seeing their faces made him feel like he wouldn’t want the exorcism anymore. Having already been acknowledged as not Jaehee, he couldn’t cling to Jaehee’s body now.

Before leaving the conference room, Hyunsoo exchanged phone numbers with the espers.

“You can contact me before I leave. After that, delete my number. It’s Jaehee’s.”

“……Okay.”

“I was sad that I couldn’t say a proper goodbye, but at least we could talk like this. Isn’t that nice?”

Trying to dispel their lingering attachment, Minchan’s fingers sparked slightly. Noticing the tremor, Hyunsoo raised an eyebrow.

“Huh?”

“Oh, just a bit tired. I didn’t get much sleep.”

Minchan smiled slightly. Hyunsoo gently patted Minchan’s shoulder.

“Go home and sleep immediately. You know how messy your waves get without sleep.”

“Okay.”

Minchan almost grabbed the hand patting his shoulder but clenched his fist instead. He knew he wouldn’t let go if he did. Among the D-Team, Minchan had stayed closest to Hyunsoo, witnessing all his struggles.

‘And I want to rest peacefully now.’

So, he wanted to fulfill Hyunsoo’s wish. Though he desired to keep the newly embodied Hyunsoo close, he felt he should respect Hyunsoo’s wishes to rest, at least for now.

“Then contact me. I’ll go.”

Hyunsoo, in Jaehee’s body, gradually moved away with Jaehee’s family. The D-Team stood silently in the corridor for a long time.

* * *

Back at Jaehee’s house, Hyunsoo strongly expressed his wish to find a shaman quickly.

“I don’t want a fake who blabs about the case to others. I want a proper shaman. Since we’re doing it, let’s do it right.”

“……Alright.”

Since Hyunsoo was confirmed as Hyunsoo by the D-Team espers, Jaehee’s family no longer called him Jaehee.

“And until the exorcism, I’ll eat in Jaehee’s room. Now that you all know I’m a ghost, it must feel uncomfortable to eat with me. I’ll make sure not to strain Jaehee’s body.”

Jaehee’s family let him do as he wished, allowing him to rest properly. He replied to the constant messages from the D-Team while waiting patiently for a shaman.

Three days after meeting the D-Team, one afternoon, there was a knock on the door, which had been quiet except for meal times.

“May I come in?”

It was Jaehee’s second brother, Jaeyoon.

“Yes, come in.”

Hyunsoo, lying on the bed, sat up. Finally, it seemed there was news to share.

He looked at Lee Jaeyoon with eyes full of expectation.

“It’s nothing else, but my brother is scheduled to return to the country next month.”

“Oh, I see.”

It wasn’t the news about securing the long-awaited shaman. The sudden news of Lee Jaehee’s eldest brother’s return left Hyunsoo feeling deflated.

Currently, Lee Jaehee’s eldest brother, Lee Jaemin, was stationed at an overseas branch and wasn’t fully aware of the current situation.

He only knew that Jaehee, who had started his mandatory Guide training, had suffered memory loss due to a guiding shock.

When Hyunsoo made his explosive declaration at the restaurant to prove himself, all the assistants present were replaced.

They were paid off and retired under the condition of keeping the secret that SY Group’s youngest member, Lee Jaehee, had a mental breakdown.

Therefore, the fact that Park Hyunsoo had taken over Jaehee’s body was known only to Jaehee’s parents, Lee Jaeyoon, and three espers from Team D.

“So I looked for a shaman to conduct an exorcism before my brother’s arrival.”

“Did you find one?”

“Yes.”

“Oh.”

Only then did Hyunsoo smile brightly.

“He said he would need to see it in person to be sure. Is this Saturday okay?”

“Of course.”

After sharing the schedule with Lee Jaeyoon, Hyunsoo saw him off and lay back down on the bed. He just hoped this shaman wasn’t a quack.

* * *

On the long-awaited Saturday when the shaman was supposed to visit Jaehee’s house, Hyunsoo felt a bit excited since morning. His already uncomfortable cohabitation had become even more unbearable. Moreover…

‘The kids have been acting a bit strange.’

The three espers from Team D were in an odd state, repeatedly expressing in various ways that they wished Hyunsoo would stay with them. This was very troubling.

Although it pained him to leave the Team D members, Hyunsoo found it more uncomfortable to be in someone else’s body that had been perfectly fine before.

The kids were distant, but Jaehee’s family was close by, so it was natural to be more mindful of them. And most importantly, being involved with the Team D members meant no rest, as they were always causing trouble.

“This way, please.”

Hyunsoo felt a chill down his spine as he was led into the reception room by a neatly dressed servant.

‘Oh, the atmosphere is different.’

He felt this shaman might truly be extraordinary.

Unlike the previous quack shaman, who dressed flamboyantly and looked the part, this person was simply dressed, so much so that one wouldn’t recognize him as a shaman unless told.

As Hyunsoo brimmed with anticipation, the shaman narrowed his eyes upon seeing him enter the reception room.

“So, it’s you.”

“Hello.”

Hyunsoo greeted the shaman, who might be his savior, with a sociable smile. He needed to make a good impression to expedite his release.

The shaman awkwardly returned his greeting and then said,

“I’m really sorry, but this is beyond my capabilities.”

‘What?’

Hyunsoo’s eyes widened at the unexpected statement from the shaman.