Chapter 5
“Couldn’t get a taxi, so I’m running! Please, just hold onto that man tight for me. Ah!”
As Seol-ah ran toward the man the shaman had supposedly arranged, one of her sneakers flew off.
But she didn’t even glance back—picking it up felt like too much of a waste of precious seconds.
“Hello? I’m almost across the bridge, so I’ll be right there… what? What did you say…?”
Her feet, still gaining speed, finally faltered and came to a powerless stop.
“Haa… haa…”
— Sorry! I thought it was perfect since I knew someone across the bridge who had a divine gift, but turns out he’s up in a valley in Gyeryongsan right now. It’ll take forever for him to get here… I messed up. I thought it was supposed to be tomorrow at noon. The kid has power, but he’s bad at understanding… I’m really sorry!
“What do you mean, how could—! Haah…”
The surge of emotions crashed over her like a tsunami, and Seol-ah felt like she might collapse.
Dragging her body as if it were a water-soaked quilt, she limped to the railing of the bridge and clung to it.
“They say there’s no such thing as a law that forces you to die… but what is this? What am I supposed to do now…?”
She crumpled there, clutching the railing, and sobbed.
“I’m so scared… scared to death. Hic. Someone, someone please save me…”
“Cinderella!”
Her phone slipped from her hand with a dull thud.
That man from earlier…?
“Haa—”
He was catching his breath as he approached, holding the sneaker she had dropped.
“That story about writing a novel—that was a lie, wasn’t it?”
Seol-ah bit her lip hard as her sorrow welled up.
Then, nodding vigorously, tears overflowed her wide eyes and rolled down her cheeks.
That desperate gaze she had cast up at him earlier flashed before him again.
Somehow, it felt like their fates had become entangled.
Above all, he understood all too well the desperation of wanting to cling to even a superstition.
He had his reasons for becoming an occult fanatic.
The aura he sensed from her wasn’t unfamiliar either—
—it was the air of someone who had already glimpsed their own end.
So when he saw her stumbling alone into the dark night, he couldn’t just ignore it.
He had no choice but to chase her, certain of where she’d end up.
“….”
Seol-ah lifted her tearful face, silent, as he stopped in front of her.
He knelt, slipped her sneaker back onto her foot, dusted off his knees, and asked:
“There are still 50 minutes until midnight. What do you want to do?”
Her wide eyes caught the light of the full moon and shimmered.
“‘Death by not sleeping with a man’—wouldn’t that be a really unfair cause of death?”
“Well, yes, but…”
“I’ll be the ghost-catching husband for you.”
“…Sorry?”
Even a one-night husband was still technically a husband. The thought of a bride not even knowing her groom’s face made the man tug off his mask like a formal introduction.
He pushed back the baseball cap pulled low over his brow, swept a hand through his hair, and said:
“My name is Han Soo-hyuk.”
His face was breathtakingly handsome—
—clean eyes, sharp nose, firm lips, and a sculpted jawline, each feature carrying its weight perfectly.
A face so beautiful it felt odd to describe as masculine.
His pale, unblemished skin caught the moonlight, making him look even more ghostly than a ghost, yet somehow warm at the same time.
It was his calm expression and steady aura.
Even the night wind tossing his hair couldn’t shake that air of effortless poise.
Glancing at his wristwatch, Soo-hyuk said:
“Forty-nine minutes. If we run now, we can still complete the mission. Decide in three seconds—die, or give it a try. Three, two…”
“I’ll do it! …Let’s do it.”
Was it the lingering alcohol in her system? The cool breeze brushing her cheeks? Or the brilliant moonlight pouring down like a spotlight?
Either way, Seol-ah felt as though Soo-hyuk himself was rising within her chest like a bright full moon.
“Wait! Are you really ready for this? I mean, have you truly made up your mind?”
Seol-ah had unlocked her apartment door only to shut it again nervously.
“Just open it. We only have thirty minutes left.”
Soo-hyuk raised an eyebrow, unimpressed, as if her worry was unnecessary.
But the moment she realized just how dazzling he looked, the run back to her home had left her trembling.
Running beside a stranger—all for the sake of something indecent.
Shame and tension crashed over her like a wave.
She was about to step into an intimate secret with a man who was too handsome for his own good.
At the same time, the fear of ghosts threatened to burst her head apart.
What if she ended up ruining this beautiful stranger’s life?
“Aren’t you scared?” she asked again.
“Of what?”
“Of… ghosts.”
He snorted faintly.
“Actually, I’m looking forward to it.”
His answer was firm.
Maybe it was because he didn’t yet grasp the true weight of what was happening.
“But still… doesn’t it bother you? Getting caught up in this kind of thing. You don’t know what might happen, or what dangers…”
Instead of answering, Soo-hyuk tilted his head toward the door, urging her silently to just open it.
And the moment they stepped inside—
—an icy chill wrapped around him.
Cold. Far too cold for this season.
He wondered if the damp atmosphere was causing her to hallucinate, to suffer some kind of stress-induced disorder.
It was hard to believe in things like “possessed by a ghost” or “dead at midnight.”
“It’s a mess, right? It’s always like this whenever I come back home.”
Flustered, Seol-ah rushed to pick up the scattered items on the floor and closed the windows.
“Even if I lock everything, it always ends up like this…”
When she finally turned on the lights, Soo-hyuk’s eyes went wide.
The sight of her apartment was shocking.
Everywhere were talismans, crosses, Buddha statues, Virgin Mary figurines, salt, red beans, straw dolls—every protective charm imaginable cluttered the place.
As he gawked at the eerie interior—
Beep-beep-beep!
His EMF detector shrieked loudly.
A grin spread across his lips as he scanned the space with excitement.
“Ugh.”
Suddenly, Seol-ah froze in place, halfway through tidying.
Her stiffened body shook like a trembling tree, her eyes darting wildly as though to avoid the gaze of some terrifying authority.
“Hey… are you okay?” Soo-hyuk cautiously stepped closer.
“Uh… nggh…”
Seol-ah could feel it—the icy black fingers of a ghost sliding across the back of her neck.
The chill gripping her nape made goosebumps erupt instantly across her skin.
She was being pinned down, standing but paralyzed.
“What is it?”
“Aaah!”
With a desperate scream, she broke free of the invisible grip and threw herself into Soo-hyuk’s arms, clutching his neck tightly.
“…!”
A moment ago, he had suspected it might all be an act—maybe even just a pretense to get physically close.
But now he felt her whole body trembling.
Could anyone fake this kind of trembling? Could anyone act out goosebumps like that?
Not even Al Pacino or Meryl Streep could.
Then it hit him—his own fingertips were growing cold.
A frigid chill seeped up his arms, racing all the way to the crown of his head.
He didn’t need to look to know every hair on his arms was standing straight up.
This chill wasn’t from the weather.
Something unseen really is here.
At last, he believed her fear was real.
She’s been living with this terror… every single day?
And her desperate grip on his neck, her dependence on him—it suddenly made perfect sense.
Her heartbeat, pounding violently against his chest, was all the proof he needed.
“Haa… haa…”
Her ragged breaths against his throat, her tears soaking his shoulder—it was pitiful.
“….”
Swallowing down the fear that wanted to overtake him, Soo-hyuk asked softly:
“Are you okay?”
Seol-ah blinked back into herself, flushed red, and quickly pulled away.
“I’m sorry! Oh no…”
His shirt was soaked with her tears, the fabric clinging transparently to his skin.
She fumbled with her sleeve, trying to wipe the wet patch.
“It’s fine—” he began, but stopped.
Her big black eyes, her plump red lips—
Now that he looked properly, her face was fresh, radiant.
Yes, she had begged a stranger to sleep with her. Yes, she had clung to him like her life depended on it. Yes, she had soaked his shirt with tears.
But she was… beautiful.
Maybe it was the way her situation awakened his protective instincts. Or maybe it was simply her purity—white and clean, black and clear, red and alluring.
“I really am so sorry…”
Her timid expression, her gaze like a drenched puppy—it was heartbreaking.
She didn’t just look scared. She looked exhausted.
A woman worn out by fear.
He had seen that same look before—in someone who had lost all hope.
Curiosity at first. Then pity. Now, a strange kinship.
All those tangled emotions drew him to one conclusion.
“You won’t regret sleeping with me?”
Seol-ah met his gaze, silent.
Then, weak but certain, she nodded.
“Then let’s do it.”
