After sleeping lazily all day, Soo-hyun only began to move after the sun had set. Though the electricity was cut off and there was no heating, the fortunate thing was that groundwater allowed him to use water. While on the run, it wasn’t common to find free lodging with running water.

As he stretched his stiff body, the water on the disposable burner began to boil vigorously. Next to it were two instant rice cake soup packets. Soo-hyun turned off the heat, poured the boiling water into the containers, and closed the lids. Then he took them and went out to the corridor, where a single candle illuminated the darkness.

Carrying the rice cake soup, Soo-hyun knocked on the neighboring room. Soon the door opened, and a haggard-faced man appeared—the same man who had startled him on the first day. Though they hadn’t conversed much, they had become acquaintances who exchanged greetings during his stay.

The man said he worked as a day laborer at a nearby stone quarry, typically leaving at dawn and returning late at night, exhausted. Yesterday, he seemed to have fallen ill, groaning all night, and now half his face looked swollen. Initially, Soo-hyun had thought him homeless, but aside from his long hair and bushy beard, though his appearance was shabby, he wasn’t dirty.

Soo-hyun held out one of the rice cake soups to the man.

“Eat this. It’s late, but today was New Year’s.”

Ah, the man smiled with his gaunt face.

“Thanks for thinking of me. What time is it, by the way?”

“Eight o’clock.”

“Oh my. I slept a lot. Come in.”

Soo-hyun entered the man’s space, still holding the soup. A camping lantern glowed in the darkness, and there were items he must have collected—an old chair, a small table, dented pots, and burners. Several books were stacked up, with titles that looked difficult even at a glance.

Finding a place to sit, Soo-hyun pulled out a pouch of soju from his pocket. When he offered it to the man, he waved his hand. He said he couldn’t drink alcohol. Contrary to Soo-hyun’s initial concerns, the man maintained an appropriate distance and never pried into his business. Though they rarely crossed paths, occasionally the man’s snoring could be heard all the way to Soo-hyun’s room.

The man lifted the lid and took a sip of the soup.

“Delicious. They make rice cake soup like this these days.”

Soo-hyun also took a spoonful. Growing a year older while on the run felt significant. He was now twenty-nine. Others might consider it an unlucky age requiring caution, but after all his tumultuous experiences, Soo-hyun wondered what more he needed to be careful about.

Then he thought of Yang Ho-beom. He’s twenty-five now. Still so young. It’s still hard to believe that face belongs to someone in his mid-twenties. Yang Ho-beom hadn’t easily found him. Maybe by now he’d given up and focused on other matters. That would be a relief.

Just then, a cell phone rang somewhere. Soo-hyun flinched and looked around. But the man pulled a phone from his back pocket. A strange sight—a homeless person with a cell phone? Well, strictly speaking, since he worked, perhaps he wasn’t homeless.

He quickly swallowed what he was eating, tidied his hair, and answered the phone. It seemed to be a video call, as the man fixed his gaze on the screen. Soon, an energetic child’s voice came through the speaker.

[Dad!]

The man smiled broadly. His face, chapped and cracked from the cold wind, looked ready to tear.

“Has Jiyun eaten?”

[Grandma made me rice cake soup. Where are you, Dad? Why is it so dark? Did you eat rice cake soup too?]

Soo-hyun inserted a straw into his pouch of soju instead of soup and glanced at the man. The child seemed unaware of where her father was staying or what he was doing. Is work very busy? Mom said you’d come in spring. Why did you grow a beard? You look older. The child was talkative and full of questions.

“Jiyun, where’s Mom?”

[Mom went to work and hasn’t come back yet.]

The man’s face darkened. He seemed to radiate guilt and sadness. Simultaneously, a shrill elderly voice could be heard. The phone bill will be high! Hang up. The child seemed to run somewhere, her breathing becoming rough and her voice quieter.

[Dad, when are you coming? I miss you.]

The man smiled tenderly at the screen.

“Later. I’ll come later. What should I bring you when I come?”

[A doll. A big one.]

“Okay, I’ll bring you a big doll. Your grandmother must be worried. It’s cold, so go back inside.”

[I’ll hang up then. Love you.]

I love you too. The man smiled as he said goodbye, but the call ended. His eyes moistened as he stared at the phone, but only briefly. He picked up his spoon again, acting as if nothing had happened. In the slightly awkward atmosphere, Soo-hyun sipped his soju and asked the man:

“Is that your daughter?”

“Yes…”

“Why do you live apart?”

The man hesitated before answering.

“I’ve done a lot of wrong things.”

“Gambling?”

The man shook his head. Soo-hyun had guessed as much. Though he couldn’t know everything, the man’s behavior didn’t seem like that of a wastrel.

“You must have cosigned a loan.”

Instead of denying this casual remark, the man smiled bitterly. Given that he was on the run, it clearly wasn’t a bank loan. Looking at him reminded Soo-hyun of Baek Gwang-mu. Did that man also have his own circumstances?

No, that’s not it. Having circumstances doesn’t justify scamming anyone. This man wasn’t entirely innocent either. Being foolishly taken advantage of was a sin in itself—just like when Soo-hyun had been deceived by Kim Do-han, giving him both his body and money.

Soo-hyun asked no further questions, and the man remained silent afterward. After finishing the rice cake soup, Soo-hyun returned to his room. Then he tucked a new pouch of soju into his pocket and shouldered his bag containing valuables. Even if the man seemed kind, people could change unpredictably.

Outside, the wind was cold. With his bag on his back and a pouch of soju in hand, he took a walk, sipping from the straw. The moon was remarkably bright. He stopped briefly, clasped his hands, and prayed. Moon, please let me escape safely.

As he walked, he spotted his parked car. He had covered it with a blue plastic tarp from the nursing home, but the wind had flipped one side. After carefully covering it completely, he walked along the path with his lantern, organizing his thoughts.

One week until the illegal border crossing. No contact yet from Kim Young-taek. He planned to stay here three more days before heading to Busan. The thought of soon leaving Korea made him feel both complicated and excited.

‘Where should I go? If I’d known this would happen, I should have learned a foreign language. Maybe I’ll stop by a bookstore on the way to Busan and buy a travel guide.’

Lost in thought, he heard a car in the distance. Soo-hyun stopped walking. Wondering if he’d misheard, the sound grew closer. His face contorted. What? There shouldn’t be any cars coming at this hour.

As lights appeared through the dark forest, Soo-hyun tossed aside his soju and rushed back toward the nursing home. Hurriedly climbing to the second floor, he extinguished all the candles and watched outside through the window. A car emerged from the darkness.

The uninvited guests arrived in a white SUV, but they didn’t seem like people sent by Yang Ho-beom. Just then, the man came out of his room. He approached, looked outside, and frowned, seemingly recognizing something.

“Ah… they’re back again.”

Soo-hyun asked with a puzzled expression.

“Who are those people?”

“Looks like kids doing a haunted house experience.”

Soo-hyun observed them closely. Four people got out of the car. Most were young, and one wore something resembling traditional Korean clothing. He could hear them bickering about how the hanbok was too small, how the person really looked like a shaman, jingling bells and laughing loudly.

“They came prepared.”

“Didn’t you say they only come in summer?”

“Sometimes they come regardless of the season.”

“Surely they won’t come up here?”

“They will. Last month I pretended to be a ghost to chase them away.”

Ah, Soo-hyun recalled how the man had startled him on the first day. In the darkness, the visitors shared cigarettes and drank beer. Soo-hyun looked at the man. Seeing his gaunt appearance, he couldn’t bring himself to push him to pretend to be a ghost again. Noticing his concern, the man smiled awkwardly.

“What should we do? I don’t have the energy today… Maybe I should go down and try to persuade them?”

From the looks of it, they wouldn’t listen to reason. And if his face got captured on video, that would be bad. After thinking carefully, Soo-hyun dimmed his lantern and walked to the end of the corridor. Opening a door there, he found several cabinets. He took out a patient gown. After removing his top and changing into the gown, the man looked at him curiously.

“What are you doing?”

Instead of answering, Soo-hyun went to his room and put on the wig he’d used during his escape. The man watching him startled.

“How do I look? Ghost-like?”

The man smiled uncomfortably.

“The, uh, waves are too… pretty?”

Damn it. Maybe expensive wigs really do look different. Soo-hyun messed up his hair to cover his face completely, leaving only his nose visible, then pushed the man toward his room.

“Stay inside. I’ll handle this.”

“Will you be okay?”

Soo-hyun smiled confidently.

“Acting happens to be my specialty.”

After closing the door, Soo-hyun brought a wheelchair from the end of the corridor, sat in it facing backward, and waited for them. About ten minutes later, commotion erupted downstairs, and voices drew closer.

[Hello, ghost-hunting viewers. I’m currently at a haunted house in Hongcheon. This used to be a nursing home, but after patients died mysteriously and the director hanged himself, no one lives here anymore.]

Soo-hyun smirked. This guy lies as well as I do.

[I’m f*cking scared, you know. Can you see? The equipment is reacting violently toward the second floor. I’ll go upstairs first. Hey, don’t push me.]

Thump, thump. Soo-hyun waited for them with his head hung low, his back to the stairs.

[The signal on the second floor is extremely strong. Wow, this is insane. It’s maxed out right now. You all see this, right? At this level, we’re dealing with an evil spirit, not just any ghost. Inchang, prepare the red beans, the red beans! I’m so f*cking scared. Let’s check the right side first. On the right, there’s—]

The voice stopped abruptly, and the atmosphere instantly became tense. What is that? What’s that? Light moved across the corridor floor where Soo-hyun sat. Is that a wheelchair? Hey, shine the light properly. 

s it a wheelchair? F*ck, it is a wheelchair. Don’t be scared. Don’t be scared. It’s just a wheelchair.

The moment they took another step, Soo-hyun whirled the wheelchair around. Light flooded his face, and screams like slaughtered pigs erupted. Ahhh! What the hell! What the f*ck is that! Soo-hyun, rolling his eyes back and making strange laughing sounds, charged toward them vigorously. Hehehehehehe!