Chapter 6: 6

Lost Soul (1)

The first time Muryeong saw him was on the day of his high school entrance ceremony. The weather was unusually warm for March and the sky was clear without a single cloud. He remembered the feeling of the uniform he wore for the first time was unfamiliar, the new shoes he bought were awkward, and the brick wall felt particularly high.

Muryeong had overslept on that fine day and ran to school, resenting Seungju, who had gone to school first. The problem was that he couldn’t sleep the night before, perhaps because of some unknown expectation. Since high school students were told to wake up on their own, his family did not wake up Muryeong until the last alarm went off.

Fortunately, the school was at a distance that could be reached in 10 minutes by running at full speed. It would be unreasonable for a normal person, but for him who was very athletic, it was a piece of cake.

Muryeong barely arrived at school and checked the time, he decided to cross the backyard instead of the front door to get to the classroom as quickly as possible. So he looked in the direction and climbed up the wall.

And there he met Ki Hwanyeong. No, it’s more like he stumbled upon him.

‘……’

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He was standing at the back of the building and staring blankly at the sky. He wore the same school uniform as Muryeong, but he was way taller, and he had a handsome face that made people who passed by look back for another glance. Above all, the air surrounding him was indescribably calm.

It was the first time he had seen a person who felt so much like a soul. It wasn’t just a matter of standing silently or not blinking his eyes. It was because he didn’t feel any vitality in his eyes that were supposed to be as blue as the sky.

Muryeong had been open minded since he was born and he often mistook people for ghosts. This was because during the days where he couldn’t distinguish between aura and yin energy, he tried to judge whether the other person was living or dead by simply looking at their appearance. Of course, by the time he was able to tell the difference to some extent, he no longer mistook as much.

‘A person……?’

Anyway, even for such Muryeong, Hwanyeong did not look like a living person. His nose was high, and his lips had a good complexion, but his skin seemed fragile enough to be blown away by the wind. In addition, even on this street, the faint feeling of yin energy didn’t seem clear enough to belong to a spirit.

‘……’

Should he ask what he was doing?

His thoughts and practices did not go through much process. Borrowing Seungju’s words, Muryeong, who was ‘someone who would become friends with a thief who enters the house’, was not particularly difficult to talk to. So if he asked what he was doing, and they ended up being freshmen, they could be friends. The moment he jumped off the wall with such a light thought.

‘……Uh.’

From the long shadow of the tree, an evil spirit crawled out. To be more precise, it was not an evil spirit, but rather an earthly spirit that combined several souls together. It was usually invisible during the day, so it was rare for it to touch the general public. Such a being was rushing towards Hwanyeong with its mouth wide open.

‘No……!’

Naturally, Muryeong was so embarrassed that he failed to land. He was even startled enough to sprain her right foot, and yet he was so confused that he didn’t even realise he was hurt.

Just as he was about to use his hands at the urgent situation, an unbelievable thing happened before his eyes. The spirit that tried touching Hwanyeong bounced off as if it was blocked by a thin film.

It didn’t touch his soul, nor did it scratch it’s swaying spirit. It just slammed into the wall and disappeared into the shadows again.

Should he call this a so-called barrier? It was the work of the spiritual power surrounding his body. The energy surrounding Hwanyeong’s body easily shook off the earthly spirit without him lifting a single finger.

‘……’

This was the first time Muryeong who was always praised for being a genius felt something like this. The overwhelming difference in strength, or a sense of threat to the extent that his legs were loosened. And even the delicate control of spiritual power that is impossible without a skilled exorcist.

‘If possible, it is better not to get involved with the same exorcists.’

Suddenly, his father’s words came to mind. Muryeong slowly retreated back, getting rid of his presence. He was planning on just turning away and leaving without anyone noticing.

That is, if Hwanyeong hadn’t raised his head and looked at his direction, he would have left this place quickly.

‘……’

‘……’

Their eyes met. As if his feet were nailed onto the ground, Muryeong stood still, unable to move. The dark eyes were fixed on Muryeong, and stayed there unwavering.

To be clear, Muryeong didn’t have a scary appearance. In fact, he had a rare beautiful face that wouldn’t be seen just anywhere, and it was even prettier considering his age. His subtly immature atmosphere never made him someone who felt ‘fearful’.

Even so, Muryeong felt a fear that made him unable to breathe. He thought that the eyes filled with deep darkness might devour him. For Muryeong whose five senses were like that of a beast, it was almost instinctive.

However, after a while, Hwanyeong turned his gaze away as if he was not interested. His eyes blinked, closed and opened were now looking at the other side, not Muryeong. The way his eyes rolled was so quiet. The moment that felt like forever still lingered in his mind.

That day, Muryeong found out that his name was ‘Ki Hwanyeong’. It was a name that suited him very well, but at the same time, it was a name that heightened the sense of incompatibility. When he met Hwanyeong for the first time, it really felt like he was seeing an illusion*, and there was no sense of reality.

(*T/N: Hwanyeong’s name can also mean illusion)

In any case, since that day, Muryeong made sure to reduce his encounters with Hwanyeong to a minimum. That was the reason why he even exaggerated a little and never said hello to him even though he was friends with pretty much everyone else. In fact, Hwanyeong seemed to talk a little with everyone but Muryeong.

“……”

Ki Hwanyeong and Lee Da-ji will have a strange meeting.

Kh. Kh.

Muryeong sat behind Hwanyeong, and Hwanyeong looked back at Muryeong’s face. It had already been over 10 minutes since they ended up in this awkward situation. In the meantime, Hwanyeong talked about his worries, and Muryeong was busy watching his reaction.

‘My shoulders are so heavy these days.’

The story started like that, and he continued on to mention how he hadn’t been feeling well recently. The pale face seemed somehow dangerous so Muryeong was immersed in it. It was not unreasonable to have heavy shoulders when such a large thing was hanging onto them.

‘I can’t sleep at all……’

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Kh. Kh.

‘When I wake up, I don’t feel refreshed at all.’

Kh. Kh.

‘It’s getting even more serious these days.’

The noise that pierced his ears the whole time while Hwanyeong continued speaking was bizarre. Kh. Kh…… Kh.

The sound that made him want to dig in my ears, but Hwanyeong didn’t even blink an eye. He was fine when the scattered hair touched his hand, and he was fine when blood dripped onto his sleeve.

So although he knew it didn’t make sense, Muryeong thought of a possibility in his mind. That perhaps, Hwanyeong’s surprisingly strong aura was in fact ‘an aura that had not opened yet’.

With that assumption, everything made a surprising amount of sense. Why Hwangyeon requested something from him. And why the ghost behind his back clinged to his hands until they bleed and coveted the spirit of Hwangyeon.

‘Because he is not an exorcist……’

Not everyone who had an aura could become an exorcist. If Muryeong hadn’t opened his spiritual eyes, he might not even know that he had an aura. There were many unpleasant parts, but that was the first one.

“……Is that all you are worried about?”

Muryeong calmly made eye contact with Hwanyeong. He thought hard about what he should do in his head.

Most people in the world already knew the fact that ghosts existed in the world. Just by looking at the horror movies and ghost stories that go viral every summer, his interest in spiritual beings was nothing special.

However, believing that ‘ghosts exist’ and knowing that ‘there is a ghost attached to me’ were two different things. All fears started with cognition, so it was necessary to pretend not to know at first. Muryeong was an exorcist, a person who had to protect souls and human beings, and someone who is not supposed to let others know that he can see what others can’t.

“I accept all kinds of requests, but that doesn’t mean I can play the role of a doctor.”

Kh. Kh. The sound of nails digging into Hwanyeong rang in his ears. Currently he was so absorbed in the blood that dropped from his fingertips that even if the spirit attacked, he might not manage to run away immediately. Gulp, he swallowed his saliva, Muryeong slowly reached out towards Hwanyeong’s shoulder.

“Maybe if I give you a massage……”

……Kh.

Tak, the wrist was caught. Not the spirit’s wrist, but Muryeong’s wrist that was stretched out to him. The familiar aura attached itself to his skin, and alongside it, the spirit raised its head and looked at Muryeong in silence.

“……”

“……”

He was doomed. Just as he thought that. In the blink of an eye, ‘it’ disappeared into the long shadows. Muryeong hurriedly moved his body, but he couldn’t see anything in front of him.

“……that.”

Oh, this can’t be.

“Something like this……”

Muryeong frowned and awkwardly raised the corners of his lips. The hands that were large enough to wrap around his wrists, were holding him tightly. The cool body temperature slowly drifted away, unlike when he first approached him.

“……What the hell, all of a sudden?”

There was a lot of vigilance in the harsh voice. Muryeong frowned at the feeling of discomfort that was rising as handprints covered the rest of his wrist. There was also the slight regret he felt the moment Hwanyeong let go of his hand.

“Oh sorry…… I did it too suddenly.”

The grinning muryeong looked at the shadows reflected on the floor. It had already left, so now he no longer felt any yin. It would be nice if it ran away forever, but there was a high possibility that it would come back to Hwanyeong again.

“Hey, this is……”

“People who touch me keep getting hurt.”

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“……”

It was a sudden remark. He would take responsibility for this and solve his problem. So first it was best to talk in more detail. The question he was about to ask went down his throat. Hwanyeong continued the story in a polite, low voice.

“Whenever people grab me, I grab them, or we bump into each other, both small and big accidents happen to them. At first, I thought it was an illusion, but then it kept on happening.”

“……”

“Your friend got hurt because of me too.”

The last words were shamelessly confident. Hwanyeong had an expressionless face, but Muryeong was able to read the other emotions underlying it. Muryeong, who flinched his hand for a moment, carefully asked.

“…… what about you?”

Black eyes stared at Muryeong. His face was reflected on the eyes that slowly blinked. Muryeong quietly narrowed his eyebrows, and asked in a serious voice.

“Are you okay?”

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