The Night Of The Untraced Chapter 9

“After it’s over, I’ll contact you.”

Walking side by side towards home, Seungjoo spoke to Muheun as soon as they left the main gate. Despite telling him not to wait there, Muheun stubbornly waited for Seungjoo, attracting the attention of several people. Seungjoo couldn’t help but feel burdened by his friends’ stares, thinking it would be troublesome if he went to school tomorrow.

“You’re too conspicuous, hyung.”

Piercings from one to five on the left earlobe. A tattoo of a magnolia flower starting from behind the ear, hidden inside the collar of his clothes. Doing all sorts of conspicuous things, Muheun’s presence was unparalleled, whether he was laughing or expressionless, attracting too much attention.

“Just being nearby would be fine. Why does it have to be at the main gate?”

“Seungjoo.”

“Why?”

Seungjoo, who responded curtly, glanced up at him briefly. Muheun asked with a shocked expression, like a father who was hurt by his adolescent son.

“Are you embarrassed by me…?”

“Oh, come on.”

That sight was so audacious that he almost burst out laughing. He tried to force a frown, but he couldn’t stop the laughter from seeping through. Seungjoo needlessly annoyed Muheun with his successful smirk.

“Oh, they keep bothering me to introduce you.”

Even back in high school, it was such a hassle. Moreover, even the kind-hearted Kim Muryeong eventually didn’t hide the fact that he had an older brother and sister. At that time, there was the excuse of being a minor, but now even that was useless.

“Kids have curious eyes.”

Muheun responded lightly, closing his eyes halfway. Despite his cheerful expression, he didn’t seem particularly pleased. Perhaps Muheun also knew why Seungjoo had told him not to wait there.

“So, should I introduce you?”

“Are you crazy? They’re twenty years old.”

Seungjoo shivered as if he were facing an immense challenge. Regardless of what Muheun thought of him, wasn’t a ten-year age difference a bit too shameless? Thirty was practically like an old man to someone in their twenties.

“Well… twenty is still young.”

“…”

He should have responded cheerfully, but he couldn’t bring himself to. Seungjoo remained tight-lipped, while Muheun asked in a light voice.

“Was it good that you refused?”

“Yeah, well…”

“What did they say?”

“I just said you’re too old for them.”

He didn’t mention that they weren’t particularly close. Muheun was about to grumble about why they weren’t close, as expected. Muheun tilted his head for a moment, then muttered in confusion.

“They won’t give up on that.”

It was a smug confidence, but it was also true. Seungjoo maintained a calm expression, unable to say otherwise. Another excuse that Muheun would find absurd if he heard it was also included.

“I mentioned that your job is unusual. You mainly work at night, and it’s quite dangerous.”

“Why?”

“…Just.”

“Yeah, true.”

“I didn’t have anything to refute either.” Muheun quickly nodded his head. After walking a few steps, he let out a meaningless chuckle and swept his bangs with one hand. It seemed oddly satisfying to think that he was considered so conspicuous.

“Did you reject people like this before?”

“No, back then, I just said that meeting with us is a crime.”

As the lecture had ended late, the twilight began to fall as they entered the residential area. Seungjoo, who had been staring at the distant scenery, suddenly turned his gaze to Muheun. Muheun was walking on his right side, making the tattoo on his left neck clearly visible.

Since when did he have that magnolia tattoo? After becoming an adult and leaving home, it gradually expanded each time they met again. When Seungjoo wondered how far it extended, it seemed to be around his wrist.

“Doesn’t that hurt?”

Muheun lightly brushed his finger against his neck, from behind his ear to the extended line of his neck. The slow, deliberate movement seemed oddly intriguing. At the moment Seungjoo turned his gaze away, Muheun casually said in an indifferent tone.

“It hurts.”

Seungjoo thought it was strange that Muheun, who handled everything leisurely, would make such a weak remark. Muheun didn’t just dismiss it even if he got hurt. Even if he did, it wasn’t as if it was unbearable.

“It hurt because of this. The neck was especially painful.”

“Is that your taste, hyung?”

He asked with disgust, but the answer he received made him even more disgusted.

“My taste is too sophisticated to tell you, Seungjoo.”

“Oh, come on!”

His smirking face was annoying. Whether Seungjoo protested or not, Muheun just chuckled softly, turning his eyes like a crescent moon. Although he knew he shouldn’t react, Seungjoo couldn’t help feeling annoyed at Muheun’s strangely irritating words.

“Isn’t it that having no shame is my charm?”

Charm my foot, it was more like an irritating sound. However, he didn’t bother to refute it. As the conversation went on, Muheun seemed to enjoy it more and more. Of course, walking faster wasn’t the best solution either.

“You’ll trip if you run.”

“I’m not… No, I won’t trip.”

He wasn’t a toddler just starting to walk. Running a little wouldn’t make him fall over immediately. Moreover, he wasn’t even moving fast enough to fall over.

“Let’s go together.”

“Then walk faster.”

He responded irritably, but unfortunately, his annoyance didn’t last long. As they approached the walking path leading to the hill, a sense of unease began to creep up on him. It was the same kind of anxiety as yesterday, worried that there might be a strange smell again.

“I guess it’ll be okay today.”

Seungjoo slowed his pace and fiddled with the talisman in his pocket. Although he had been carrying it for almost two years now, there hadn’t been a time when he relied on it as desperately as now. This is why people turn to religion. That’s how he felt.

To cut to the chase, Seungjoo’s worries were not unfounded. As they got closer to the walking path, an indescribable scent began to waft through the air. A smell. No, more precisely, something denser and more intense.

“It was the same as yesterday.” The mild and fragrant scent made his head feel fuzzy with each breath he took. Try as he might to clear his mind, he couldn’t even muster the thought of needing to regain his senses.

“It can’t happen twice….” This time, there would be genuine concern. With that thought in mind, Seungjoo blinked blankly. His deep, reddish-brown eyes had lost focus long ago. His hazy gaze was fixed solely on one thing, the dirt path. His consciousness blurred like fog rolling in, and it happened in an instant.

One step, and then another.

He was not aware of moving his body. What started as a slow walk widened his stride, and before he knew it, he was briskly climbing up the mountain path. The sporadic interruptions in his consciousness left nothing but trees around him, and he didn’t even realize it.

“…!”

Stumbling, Seungjoo tripped over a rock. But just before falling, someone firmly grabbed his arm. The brief return of his senses vanished as the warmth that touched his arm disappeared, leaving him eerily distant.

Where was he going?

Why, how, where was he walking?

Instinct reacted before reason, and his actions were faster than his thoughts. As he walked, the scent grew stronger, eventually making his head heavy as if he had sunk deeply into relaxation. One wrong move and it felt like he might fall into a deep sleep in the blink of an eye.

Creak… Somewhere, the sound of an animal crying was heard. Perhaps it was due to his mood. Thinking so, Seungjoo walked blankly and suddenly lifted his head.

In the middle of a desolate forest path halfway up the mountain. And there, he encountered a pitch-black, massive creature.

“….”

So surprised that even his voice wouldn’t come out. Only when there was room to think about running away was it possible.

Creak….

It was a creature that looked like a wild boar or a shadow. Black liquid dripped with each movement, and only its pupils glowed bright red. As it opened its mouth, sharp fangs were revealed threateningly.

“…Crazy.”

Realizing late, but it was already too late. The numb gaze, the consciousness that had drifted far away, suddenly struck Seungjoo like a lightning bolt. In the moment of hesitation, accompanied by the rustling sound of grass, ‘it’ turned its head.

“….”

“….”

Their eyes met. No, he felt their eyes meet. The reddish gaze imprinted on his retina, and a distant sense of buoyancy enveloped his body. The crying that was resonating faintly now turned into a new breath.

‘What is this…’

It was like the time a few days ago when he was almost hit by a truck. The fear he felt then struck Seungjoo’s neck once again. The warning sent by instinct, and the sudden sense of danger. Those two things pointed to one fact.

‘You might die.’

Ironically, at that moment, Seungjoo sensed his end. The curse that had been brushing against him, slowly creeping up from his toes. The fear he had dismissed as not his own became a reality before his eyes.

And simultaneously,

“….Seungjoo.”

A large hand covered his eyes from behind. Instead of feeling choked, he felt a cozy sensation rising from his abdomen. The familiar smell of the wind, and a slightly cool body temperature. Finally, a gentle and mature voice.

“It’s okay. I’m here.”

“….”

It felt like his breath was released. As soon as he heard those words, the reality that had been so distant returned. The warmth felt from behind, the action of being pulled into an embrace, or the feeling of someone brushing against his hair. Like returning from the threshold of death, the increasingly rapid heartbeat resounded in his ears.

“Do you trust me?”

“….Hah.”

Among those who say such things, there are usually no trustworthy people. With that thought in mind, Seungjoo nodded his head first. In the empty forest, facing an unknown entity, the only person he could trust was Muheun, who was behind me.

“It’s okay….”

Through the gap in his fingers covering his eyes, Muheun’s left hand was visible. A talisman with red characters written between his index and middle fingers. Just as he did a while ago, Muheun whispered kindly, as if soothing a child.

“Close your eyes and count to 100.”

“….”

Why didn’t he close his eyes then? Was it because the blazing flames leaping up were mesmerizing, or because the wild boar rolling its forelegs was eerie? Or perhaps it was the roaring cry, the howl that somehow instilled fear in him.

Creak…

Like the burning flames, a bluish hue reflected in Seungjoo’s eyes. The towering flames slowly engulfed their surroundings.

The last thing Seungjoo saw was the ominous shadow rushing towards them.