As Giju Wishes Chapter 1.3

Outrageous bullshit. Choi Geon looked at the pond and the brazen face that surfaced above it and gave a twisted smile.

“How many times have I been hit by a water bomb lately?”

“You? …You have been hit a lot with bad luck. When it rained, and when the class president threw that water bottle… what else was there?”

“Uh, right now.”

At Song Jiseop’s words, Im Hyo-jun pointed at Choi Geon’s feet. When he looked down, Choi Geon saw water from a melted ice cup, which had fallen over at some point, soaking his pants. Belatedly, Jo Jaehyun, who was next to him, set the fallen ice cup upright, but it had already spilled everything and soaked Choi Geon’s pants. A chilly silence hung in the air.

Seeing this, Choi Geon gritted his teeth so hard they made a sound. Then, he suddenly shot up from his seat and came down from the pavilion.

“Hey, I’m going to go get that pepper.”

He walked confidently towards the pond in his bare feet. It was summer, so the days were long, and complete darkness had not yet fallen. The water quality was managed, so it was reasonably clear, and he could easily find the pepper.

Full of stubbornness, he entered the pond confidently. He was in a mood to see if it could still screw him over even in this situation where he was voluntarily entering the water. He deliberately kicked the water with his feet, searching for the pepper as he went deeper.

“Go on, try me. Do more, you fucking bastard.”

Cursing at some unknown entity, Choi Geon went next to the waterwheel and put both hands in the water, prowling around as if he was about to strangle the pepper. After about five minutes of this, he saw something green under the waterwheel.

“Found i-!”

At that moment, along with his triumphant voice, there was a clattering sound. When he looked up, the waterwheel, which had detached from the rock, was falling. Choi Geon, who was under the waterwheel, didn’t even have time to think and hastily dodged to the side.

Thud!

Swooooosh–

The waterwheel fell right next to him, drenching Choi Geon like that water bomb on the rainy day. The carp in the water bomb hitting him on the head was a bonus.

Drip. Drip.

At the incident that happened in an instant, Choi Geon stared at the water droplets falling onto the pond and then lifted his head. Everyone in the pavilion was standing up in an awkward posture, looking at the stunned and fallen Choi Geon.

Soon, the fishy smell tickled his nose, and a sense of reality rushed in. Choi Geon’s hands, which were supporting him on the ground, trembled.

“Fu-u-u-ck!!”

He had to meet that crazy son of a bitch right now.

🔖⛩️📿

Choi Geon had been waiting in this alley for a while, his eyes bloodshot, to meet that crazy son of a bitch, Shin Giju. He couldn’t even wait for school to end, so he just attended up to the 5th period and bolted straight here.

He kept looking around menacingly, as if he would snatch a falling leaf. Then he briefly considered checking the time and just going to the school. If he had his way, he wanted to go straight to the classroom and drag the guy out.

Choi Geon, leaning against the wall, stood with his legs crossed and fidgeted with one leg restlessly. If he doesn’t show up in five minutes, he’s really going to chase him. He’ll chase him down, strip him down to his underwear, and make him confess the truth.

Just as he was staring at his phone screen so hard it might break, at the moment four minutes had just passed, a cunning-looking head began to appear in the distance. That crazy guy was coming leisurely again, touching the weeds on the side of the road.

“Hey!!!”

A voice three times louder than before boomed through the alley, threatening Giju. Choi Geon strode over and stopped right in front of Giju, so close their noses almost touched.

“Oh, hi.”

Giju, who had been unknowingly concerned about Choi Geon, greeted him, feeling somewhat glad to see him.

“Hi? H-hi?? Ha, look at this.”

Choi Geon roughly swept his hair up and let out a hollow laugh. He really wasn’t an ordinary person. He should have known from his cold eyes.

“Fuck, what are you?”

Choi Geon pressed him as if Giju owed him money.

“Are you some kind of cultist? Protesting for me to give you money? What the hell have you done to me?”

There was no one in this neighborhood who didn’t know the wealthy Choi family. Choi Geon, who was highly wary due to the numerous people who had approached him for his money since he was young, began to think of Giju in that way. He didn’t know what he had done, but were modern-day scammers just any old scammers? It was a sharp analysis based on a comprehensive judgment of all the nonsense he had heard so far.

Giju stared intently at Choi Geon and then spoke firmly.

“But it’s true that you should be the one giving me money. I don’t usually say these things for free. My grandmother always got paid.”

That figures, Choi Geon thought, spitting out a thick curse onto the ground.

“But I still wanted to tell you because you have such bad luck. You’re my age, too….”

“Is this bastard messing with me now?”

As Giju looked straight at him and subtly chose only the most unlucky-sounding words to say, Choi Geon glared with his eyes looking like they would pop out.

“Were you careful with the water?”

At those words, Choi Geon shifted his weight to the other leg and rolled his eyes up flamboyantly. He scratched his head and repeatedly took short breaths in and out.

“Ha, right, fuck. I admit it. You’re very plausible. A very plausible bastard. If you’re going to approach someone for money, you should have at least this level of trickery, yeah.”

At those words, Giju tried to set the record straight and stated his position.

“I didn’t approach you for money–”

“So what do you want, huh? To do this kind of…!”

Choi Geon paused, as if at a loss for words. It was because he didn’t know exactly what he was suffering from, whether it was a curse, a trick, or something else. To call it a curse made him feel like he was becoming like that crazy guy, and it felt awful. It seemed like some new scam trend, but since he knew nothing about it, he couldn’t be sure.

“There must be a reason for your scheme.”

Having concluded that the reason for all his misfortunes was Giju’s cunning trick to get money, Choi Geon looked down on Giju, who was shorter than him, as if to say, go on, if you have a mouth, spit it out.

“Do you really want me to tell you?”

“Yeah. Right now.”

“Really…?”

“Yeah.”

“You might be surprised…?”

“YEAH!!!”

At the confident voice, Giju blinked a few times and then opened his mouth.

“You have a ghost on your shoulder.”

Hearing that, Choi Geon blinked a few times just like him.

“Well, I sometimes see dead spirits. Not completely, but I have a bit of a shamanistic constitution…. Actually, the reason I told you to be careful of water was because there’s an aekgwi on your shoulder, but I was afraid you’d get scared and run away, so I just told you to be careful of water indirectly. Oh, an aekgwi is a ghost.”

A strange silence fell after Giju finished speaking.

“Pfft, pfft-ha, bwahaha!!”

Choi Geon started clutching his stomach and laughing at Giju’s expression, which was more plausible than an actor’s. It was an exaggerated sneer mixed with disbelief and annoyance.

“Ha…. Is that all you have to say? For fuck’s sake, I’m the idiot for coming here.”

After searching for him like that, all he had to say was something about a ghost. Wasn’t that a scam tactic from the eighties? Disappointed that it was nothing special, Choi Geon’s expression turned cold. He was spouting the same nonsensical words as the last time he saw him. Now, even a sliver of anticipation was gone.

“If I come again, I’m a real fucking idiot.”

Choi Geon, who was about to turn and leave, suddenly started rummaging through his pockets roughly. Then he grabbed a few 50,000 won bills and threw them at Giju.

“Hey, hey, get lost.”

Spitting on the ground one last time, Choi Geon turned and walked away, muttering curses as if he had seen something unlucky.

“How dare that little shit try to control me… if I come again, I’m the biggest idiot among idiots, a beggar idiot, a dickless idiot–”

Vroooom–

At that moment, a truck turning the corner passed by Choi Geon. Simultaneously, the lid of the truck, which had a large water tank full of fish, opened, and seawater drenched Choi Geon.

Swooooosh–

The truck, having dumped water on Choi Geon, sped up and disappeared as if fleeing. Choi Geon, who had stopped in his tracks, stared blankly at a flopping fish at his feet, then turned around and approached Giju again.

“What did you say was on my shoulder?”

🔖⛩️📿

Sitting on a chair, Choi Geon bounced his leg as if it had a motor.

“Hey, sit still!”

His friends, annoyed by how distracting he was, each told him to be quiet, but Choi Geon ignored them and bounced his leg even more violently, making the desk shake. As he did, he bit his lip for the first time in his life. He was feeling anxiety for the first time ever. A very, very unpleasant and disagreeable anxiety.

‘You have a ghost on your shoulder.’

Choi Geon gave a menacing glance over his shoulder and then brushed it off with his hand. But even that wasn’t satisfying, so he gradually started brushing his shoulder with more force.

“Fuck, what, what is there.”

Song Jiseop, who was sitting next to him, looked at Choi Geon, who had suddenly stood up and was brushing his shoulder, as if he were a crazy person.

“Are you drunk?”

Choi Geon acknowledged Song Jiseop and turned his body. Then, as if he wanted it to transfer, he turned towards Song Jiseop and started waving his hand over his shoulder and brushing it off.

“Fuck, get away, get away, either it transfers or you get lost.”

“Ah, you crazy bastard, you get lost!”

After brushing his shoulder to his satisfaction, Choi Geon plopped down in his chair. Then he started shaking his leg restlessly again.

‘There’s an aekgwi on your shoulder, but actually, I don’t know much about it either, so I need to go find out more. I can only see them, I’m not a shaman…. Come back here in a week.’

That week later was today. Which meant he would be seeing that guy again today. Choi Geon was steeling himself for what the guy would say. If he spouted even a little bit of nonsense, he was going to beat him to a pulp.

“Haaah….”

He admitted it. Honestly, that day, he had believed the guy’s words a little, just a tiny bit, as if he were really possessed by a ghost. But it still seemed more plausible that the guy was a meticulously prepared cult lackey. A ghost, did that even make sense?

Suddenly, the thought that the guy might bring other believers today crossed his mind. It was a very serious, sharp, and plausible suspicion, and it arose because he still lacked faith.

“Hey, you guys come watch me today.”

At Choi Geon’s words, thrown out after much thought, his friends all looked up at the same time.

“I told you I met a crazy cultist before. I’m going to meet that bastard today.”

Everyone’s eyes sparkled. It was a big event that had occurred just when they were bored.

🔖⛩️📿

Giju stopped walking and stood still with his backpack on, looking up at the sky. A crow passed through his pupils. If a crow caws in the morning, it’s a sign that a child will die, and if a crow caws during the day, it’s a sign that a young person will die. And Giju had already seen one in the morning, and he was seeing one again now.

A peculiar expression stared at the sky where the crow had passed. Giju had never seen an aekgwi cling to someone like that in his life. He had seen them occasionally, but never this clearly and distinctly. The fact that it was so visible even to his eyes meant that the soul holding onto the body was weak, but that boy was strangely energetic and had strong energy. He was overflowing with life force.

Normally, it would be natural for one’s soul to be gone and their mind not to be sound, but strangely, his spirit was not broken. Also, the aekgwi wasn’t entering his body but just clinging to the space between. That was the question. It was very strange in many ways. His soul and body seemed fine, so why was an aekgwi clinging to him so strangely?

Giju was lost in deep thought while looking at the wild flowers. He had never seen anything like it, but he felt he had to get it off him for now. As his grandmother said, he had to accumulate good karma so that he could be reborn in paradise after he dies. With a slightly more determined face, Giju stood up, readjusted his heavier-than-usual backpack, and headed towards that alley.