The Night Of The Untraced Chapter 1

“Damn.”

As soon as Seungjoo opened his eyes, that was the first thing that came to his mind. Everything was unfamiliar – the strange ceiling, the unfamiliar room, the unfamiliar bedding, and even unfamiliar pain. Amidst the throbbing pain that felt like being beaten all over, a more unfamiliar scene came into view beyond the blurry vision.

The first thing he noticed was the broad back of the person sitting on the bed. The shoulders spread like a giant wall were neither too hunched nor looked weak. Well-defined muscles occasionally twitched along with scars on the back, creating a strong presence.

“…This is really messed up.”

Although the perfect view of the back could steal one’s gaze, Seungjoo thought he would lose his mind before that. It wasn’t because the person in front of him was a man, or because he was completely naked without a single piece of clothing, or even because of the nail marks mixed with the scars on his back.

It was simply because he already knew too well who the other person was.

“It’s Kim Muheun….”

Muheun. His friend since birth, the older brother of his best friend who passed away a long time ago. A long-time friend of his late sister. Ten years older than him, full of mischief, and always teasing him without mercy, especially during adolescence when he awkwardly distanced himself.

“….”

How did it end up like this? Seungjoo pondered the forgotten last night while swallowing dry saliva.

It was a welcome party for new students, including overly enthusiastic drinking sessions. He remembered participating as a member of the sociology department. He managed to avoid the drinks offered by seniors for a while, but towards the end, due to unavoidable circumstances, he ended up drinking several bombs. Following the natural course, the intoxication increased, and at some point, only brief scenes that could be called moments remained in his mind.

“But why is Kim Muheun here?”

If it were a street, he wouldn’t have been so shocked. No, even if it were the house of a fellow newcomer he had just become friends with yesterday, it would have been acceptable. If the person in front of him wasn’t Kim Muheun, he would have had the confidence not to be surprised even if he opened his eyes naked in front of a stranger.

“…Could this be a dream?”

Seungjoo tried to deny reality while staring at the tattoo that extended from Muheun’s neck to his shoulder, filled with piercings. Resembling a mandala or a flower, the ink covered the left side behind the ear, following the arm up to the wrist. Since Muheun usually wore long sleeves, this was the first time Seungjoo had seen it so clearly.

“Right, it must be a dream.”

Seo Seungjoo, just 20 years into life. It may not have been a particularly long time, but his life had been truly tumultuous. Seungjoo decided to think of the dream he hadn’t dreamed in a long time; otherwise, he couldn’t possibly come to terms with the current situation.

“Let’s go back to sleep. When I wake up again, surely…”

“Are you awake?”

“…”

However, just as he was about to close his eyes, an unavoidable question pierced his ears. Although the voice was not particularly loud, its soothing tone had more impact than anything else. While Seungjoo remained silent, Muheun continued without turning back.

“Myungryeong contacted me. He said he’s going back to the family tonight and suggested we have dinner together.”

Only then did Seungjoo notice an object in Muheun’s hand. The phone he had been peering at so intently was none other than Seungjoo’s own. Startled, Seungjoo, who had been staring at the familiar latest model, abruptly sat up.

“What the hell, you have someone else’s phone…”

A creaking sound echoed from his stiff body. At the same time, Seungjoo, frozen in an awkward position, felt not only a piercing pain along his spine but also an uncomfortable emptiness under the blanket.

In a haphazard posture, Seungjoo forced his eyes wide open and barely swallowed the scream rising up to his throat.

“Damn, my underwear…”

He thought it was Kim Muheun who was undressed, but in fact, it was himself. Unlike Muheun, who boldly wore bottoms, Seungjoo was wearing nothing below the waist. Even the T-shirt he had on was excessively oversized.

“Are you okay?”

Muheun casually asked Seungjoo, who seemed to be in a daze. As Seungjoo turned his head to look, Muheun observed him, even aligning his gaze as if studying him. A sense of pity, as if being sucked into the deep pupils, emerged.

“It must hurt in the lower back.”

“…”

Seungjoo’s eyes shook widely. Even Seungjoo, with his very limited imagination, could only think of one scenario in this situation. Waking up in a strange place, wearing someone else’s clothes on the bed without underwear, and if that someone happened to be the man he had secretly admired for a long time.

“…What on earth.”

“Do you not remember?”

Muheun let out a light laugh with a confident mumble. The upward-curled corners of his mouth drew a mischievous smile. The next words that came out were truly the kind Seungjoo didn’t want to hear.

“You cried a lot yesterday, Seungjoo.”

“…”

New curse words circulated in his mouth. Seungjoo, secretly gritting his teeth, stared at his tear-stained eyes that had twisted into a resentful glare.

Twenty years old for three months. Yes, it happened in just three months.

***

In a long-forgotten era, there was a woman famous for seeing empty things in a remote mountain village.

This woman with an unusually beautiful appearance made everyone gossip with her constant eccentricities. Whether running around the village in the middle of the night or crying loudly when the clouds gathered, her behavior was indeed considered insane.

Lonely and deserted, only one person volunteered to stay by the woman’s side. This friend brought chamomile flowers to the woman everyone deemed mad, replacing the worn-out jacket with a silk fabric resembling butterfly wings.

“I wonder if there are wildflowers in the mountains.”

Gradually regaining her vitality, the woman finally stopped crying even when the sky clouded over. Instead of wandering around the village at midnight, she roamed the mountain paths covered in flowers with her friend. It was a lively time, but such daily life was incredibly short-lived.

“The crops…”

It was a time when the continuous drought led to poor harvests. The accumulated anger of those who lost their way found its target, eventually pouring out towards the blameless woman. Voices claiming that the woman’s actions brought bad luck and that she should be sacrificed for a ritual echoed.

“Fire! Fire!”

At the moment when the man tried to strangle the woman’s neck and drag her up the mountain, a fierce fire swept through the forest. Amidst the people rushing to find water, the only friend of the woman was the one who helped her up. Wrapping the woman in a cloth soaked in water, the friend spoke with a voice mixed with tears.

“…I set fire to the mountain.”

Prepared for divine punishment, the arson unfortunately did not protect himself. The wrath of the forest, now turned into the vengeful spirits, targeted the friend covered in ashes. Since he dared to harm a life that was incomparable to human lifespan, he vowed to make him a lifelong prey, chasing the traces of his transgression.

So, the woman made a promise. When unseen entities target you, I willingly offer myself to protect you. I’m not insane; I just have eyes that can see. I will gain the power to save you from everything I see.

This seemingly extravagant pact continued until the two women lived out their lives. Even after they each met a partner and had descendants, the woman never forgot the kindness of her friend. To deceive the unseen things that came at night, they hid in houses built in the same shape.

As time passed, memories faded, leaving only a justification, but their inborn fate remained unchanged.

The friend who protected the woman, the descendants of Ms. Seo, as if inheriting a destiny of short-lived prosperity.

In order to protect those descendants, the descendants of Ms. Kim also exorcised the unseen things.

And the two families still lived as neighbors in the same neighborhood.

“…”

A row of single houses. A clean neighborhood with meticulously built walls and not a speck of trash. Even the sparsely standing trees were neat. This place was where Seungjoo had lived since he was born.

If there was something peculiar, it was the two identical gates. The left one led to Seungjoo’s house, and the right one belonged to his long-time childhood friend, Muryeong.

“No, now Kim Muryeong doesn’t live here anymore.”

Seungjoo lightly shook his head, correcting his thoughts. Muryeong, who had been with him from kindergarten to high school, had become independent after graduating from high school. Once you became an adult, you were supposed to live separately. That was the rule of the adjacent houses.

“Well then, I’ll go, Seungjoo.”

So, ten years ago, Kim Muheun also left the house here and entered into a life of independence.

“Take a rest, it might not be good for your health.”

In response to the genuine concern conveyed by a whisper, Seungjoo awkwardly averted his gaze. It wasn’t unusual for Muheun to act this way, but today his words sounded strangely nuanced. Understandably so, considering that just a couple of hours ago, they were sitting on the same bed.

“You cried a lot yesterday, Seungjoo.”

The space Seungjoo woke up in just now was none other than the studio where Muheun resided. Muheun, who had been wandering around the provinces for the past ten years, had settled into this place since last year. It hadn’t been a month since he moved in, and the bedroom only had a large bed as furniture.

“Well…”

Seungjoo didn’t ask why he was here. Why his back hurt, what happened last night, where his clothes went, and why he was wearing that shirt—all remained unasked.

“I’ll take my leave now.”

Ignorance is bliss; those words weren’t just empty. A 20-year friendship with Kim Muryeong. Associating with neighbors who exorcised unseen entities for almost 20 years. During all this time, Seungjoo learned a way to pretend not to know anything unless someone explicitly mentioned it. If someone didn’t say it out loud, there was a high chance it wasn’t something he wanted to hear.

“You should eat breakfast.”

However, instead of just letting Seungjoo leave, Muheun stopped him with just one sentence. He handed the phone he was holding to Seungjoo and spoke to him in a soothing tone, as if comforting a child.

“Just a moment, Hyung will buy something delicious for you.”

He didn’t need something delicious; he just wished he had pants to wear. It would be better to just go home rather than risk getting sick if he ate something now.

But there were two reasons he couldn’t say he didn’t need it.

“Have something to eat. I’ll give you a ride.”

Firstly, Muheun’s lips were slightly swollen, and secondly, there were unidentifiable hickeys on his neck.