ANTITOXIN Chapter 13

“If there are still problems that need to be resolved with that person, I think it would be best to take care of it as soon as possible.”

“Huh? What are you talking about all of a sudden?”

“…”

“Uh?”

“…”

Unable to bring himself to say that the ghost was right next to him, Seolwon gestured with his eyes toward President Kim’s shoulder.

“…!”

Belatedly realizing what Seolwon’s eye gesture meant, President Kim made a blank expression as if his brain had frozen. Then, suddenly bouncing his body like a person struck by lightning, he hurriedly began to look around his surroundings.

“What? What? Who? Where? Where!”

The ghost was looking at that President Kim. Emitting an energy full of lingering attachment and obsession with his entire body. It must mean that the lingering attachment and resentment preventing him from passing on were related to President Kim. Of course, the only one who could see that appearance and feel that energy was Seolwon.

“You don’t need to look for him unnecessarily. It’s normal that he isn’t visible to your eyes, President. Just… know that he is close.”

President Kim’s eyes were dyed with fear. His complexion turned pale as the blood drained out.

“C-c-c-c… close? B-by any chance… r-right next to… me?”

This time too, Seolwon responded only with a light gesture of his eyes.

President Kim now held his neck stiffly as if he had caught a cramp and only rolled his eyeballs around.

“N-no, but why, why… to me?”

“It seems like he wants something from you, President. Do you happen to have anything weighing on your conscience?”

Right now, since it hasn’t been long since he died, his energy is weak, but as time passes, that lingering attachment will eventually change into resentment. As the resentment deepens, the ghostly energy will also grow stronger. If that happens, it could eventually affect President Kim’s physical body as well.

At Seolwon’s question, President Kim blinked his lips like a goldfish and let out a reluctant voice.

“I, I, well? I looked after him well without ever delaying his salary, and bought him food often, and treated him well in my own way… Ah.”

The expression of President Kim, who had seemed unable to catch on at all, transformed at a certain moment. It was a look that finally recalled something weighing on his conscience. Seolwon calmly waited for the subsequent words. Honestly, he wasn’t curious about the story, but since he had opened his mouth, it was his duty to listen until the end and, if possible, even present a solution.

Pausing slightly, President Kim mumbled with a doubtful face.

“The thing is, actually, we haven’t been able to hold his funeral yet…”

Ah, he’s not just a wandering ghost, but a Gaekgwi [a ghost who died away from home], then.

Seolwon could now know clearly what the reason was that the ghost could not pass on.

A funeral is an important ritual that guides the deceased to the other world. If this ritual is not properly performed, the soul of the deceased is prone to losing its way. Then, in the end, it is bound to wander without being able to go to the place it needs to go. Such ghosts were precisely called Gaekgwi.

“Why?”

“No, there has to be a person to hold it for him, you know.”

It means he was an unclaimed deceased person. Even so, if President Kim had made up his mind, he would have been able to hold the funeral instead. He wasn’t a person without money, and since he was the employer, there would have been no problem in proving a acquaintance relationship either. Yet, he said he ignored it. The deceased could not help but harbor a grudge.

“By any chance, how long has it been since that person passed away?”

In cases where it hasn’t been long since death, one can pass on well just by holding the funeral properly. Conversely, if quite a bit of time has passed, it was difficult to resolve with just a funeral service.

“Let me see…”

President Kim cast his eyeballs upward and began to count the dates.

“Th-hat… I think it’s been almost two weeks.”

If it’s that much, there was a high probability that the corpse had already been cremated. If there is no corpse, a proper funeral is impossible. Then, there was only one remaining method. Borrowing the power of someone who can soothe the deceased.

“Then, it seems you will have to send that person away through a Cheondojae [a ritual for guiding the dead to paradise].”

“A Ch-cheondojae? You mean do a Gut [shamanic ritual]?”

“A Gut performance is unnecessary, and it is perfectly fine even if you go to a nearby temple and hold it in the form of a Buddhist service under the supervision of a monk.”

“Uh, yeah… a temple… But me? Do I absolutely have to do that Cheon-whatever?”

President Kim didn’t seem particularly willing to follow the suggestion. While fearing the existence of the ghost, he was also doubtful if it was real, and since temples and Cheondojae were altogether bothersome, he must be doing that.

Whether to believe it or not was entirely President Kim’s will and judgment. He had no desire to force him to do as he said either. Even so, Seolwon added advice that was like a warning. In order to relieve the weight of the 300,000 won he held.

“Yes, it is best to absolutely do it. Because if you just leave it alone, before long, your dreams will begin to turn fierce.”

Or, they might already be in a fierce state.

He wondered if that was the case, and President Kim, as if stabbed in the sore spot once more, inhaled sharply with a heok!. He seemed to be suffering from nightmares already.

“If you turn a blind eye to a grudge, it is bound to return as a calamity. I pray that even now, you will bestow virtue upon the deceased and avoid calamity.”

What returned to the advice accompanied by certainty was President Kim’s sharp look. Confusion and suspicion, anxiety and fear, a sense of disparity and awe, all of it intricately intertwined.

🌀

Knock, knock.

At the sudden sound of a knock, the shoulders of Seolwon, who was concentrating on his work, flinched. Looking back, just then, the door opened and Park Moonhyuk walked inside. In one hand, coffee was held.

“I’m here.”

Seolwon put down his brush, stood up from his seat, and greeted him.

“You’ve come, hyung.”

“Yeah. Here, take this. How is the work. Is it going well?”

Receiving the coffee handed over by Park Moonhyuk, Seolwon responded as he stepped aside from the canvas.

“So-so. I think I can complete it.”

It was a response where confidence was absent, but certainty existed. Park Moonhyuk nodded his head. Looking at the canvas where coloring had just begun, he added a critique.

“It seems you’ve caught the form well.”

“Thank you.”

“I told you before, but there’s a possibility of an auction, so you have to work carefully. You have to match it to the point where it can’t be distinguished with the naked eye at least.”

“Yes, I will try my best.”

“Yeah, I trust you. Since you, after all, have never disappointed me until now. By all means, who taught you.”

Park Moonhyuk patted Seolwon’s shoulder and encouraged him. Seolwon responded to his support with a faint smile. Park Moonhyuk, who was looking at such a Seolwon with a face brimming with laughter, suddenly extended his hand and caressed underneath his eyes.

“But what is with this state of your face.”

At the touch that came in with a swoop, Seolwon flinched. Even though he stayed close with Park Moonhyuk, this kind of one-sided skinship inflicted out of nowhere was always uncomfortable. Knowing that, far from withdrawing his hand, Park Moonhyuk rubbed the flesh under his eyes thickly as if on purpose.

Seolwon, unable to endure it further, pulled his head back. Park Moonhyuk withdrew his hand, which had floated clumsily, and formed an awkward smile.

“Do you even eat anything? Somehow it seems you’ve lost more weight. Why has the dark circles come down to your chin again?”

To the attitude of Park Moonhyuk, who asked while pretending as if nothing was wrong, Seolwon, who conversely felt sorry, responded while wiping the tip of his nose with his thumb.

“It seems it’s just because I couldn’t sleep well lately.”

“Why can’t you sleep. …Don’t tell me it’s that again?”

Even though the subject was omitted, Seolwon, who understood quickly, shook his head to deny it.

“I think it’s not that yet.”

There is a lukewarm headache, but this was closer to an aftereffect according to insomnia. The premonitory symptoms of the shamanic illness were painful to the extent that this could not even be compared.

“Then it’s a relief… Anyway, you punk, take care of your body. Isn’t this all a deed done to eat and live. Eat well, sleep well, and exercise too, huh?”

Ah, exercise…

Seolwon, who basically didn’t like moving very much, formed a disgusted expression without realizing it. Seeing this, Park Moonhyuk clicked his tongue.

“This won’t do. For dinner tonight, I…”

It was then. A sudden ringing sound cut off Park Moonhyuk’s words.

At the familiar sound, Seolwon asked for understanding, saying, “Just a moment,” and then looked around his surroundings to find his cell phone. Because throwing it anywhere was originally a habit, it was difficult to grasp where it was immediately.

The cell phone was on the sofa. Seolwon quickly approached, picked up the cell phone, and checked the caller displayed on the screen. It’s an unknown number. It started with 010, but seeing that it wasn’t saved, he wasn’t someone he knew. In the first place, there were few people themselves with whom he had exchanged contact information.

When he only stared at the screen without answering the call, Park Moonhyuk asked.

“Why aren’t you answering? Who is it to be like that?”

“An unknown number.”