EP.3 Descending Dusk (3)

“…….”

An inexplicable energy could be felt from somewhere. Mu-ryeong turned his head involuntarily due to the intense chill that made his spine shiver. At the same time, someone came out of the cafeteria and brushed past Mu-ryeong.

“What’s wrong?”

“It’s nothing…”

He was a student who was a head taller than the others. He had broad shoulders and walked neatly, unlike that of a typical high school student. As he gradually moved away, Mu-ryeong narrowed his eyes and shook his head.

“It’s nothing.”

“Be honest.”

Seung-ju naturally didn’t believe Mu-ryeong’s words. He just responded with a gruff tone and turned his head in the same direction. Looking off into the distance, he suddenly muttered a familiar name.

“Ki Hwan-young?”

Was it just his imagination? The person who had walked far away stopped briefly. Of course, it was unlikely that he could hear anything from this distance, so it was probably just a delusion.

“Ki Hwan-young? Where?”

“Wow, he looks taller every time I see him.”

“I envy tall people.”

“I don’t like people that are that tall.”

“Bullshit, that’s just because you’re short.”

The topic that had been about ghost stories quickly transitioned into a discussion about Hwan-young. Some would comment on how good-looking he was, but others would say that he was impolite. They also commented that people who were good at studying tended to be like that.

Just as the conversation was about to turn into gossip about a classmate, Seung-ju asked Mu-ryeong,

“What about him, though?”

Mu-ryeong silently put his hands in his pockets. His fingertips touched something hard and plastic. At that moment, he saw Hwan-young turning around the corner, and he looked away as if nothing had happened.

“It’s just that I envy his height.”

Upon hearing the nonchalant response, Seung-ju became suspicious. He gave him a sympathetic look and even patted his shoulder, saying that it was okay since he was still growing. It wasn’t a very sincere consolation, but Mu-ryeong decided to just let it go.

The conversation topic soon changed to “Why does Ki Hwan-young go around alone?” Some guessed that he had no friends, while others argued that he seemed to have no intention of making any friends. Mu-ryeong interrupted the conversation and asked his friend who asked for a request.

“So, what’s your request?”

* * *

The friend’s concern was that the library was a mess every morning. Even after cleaning everything up, the next day, the books would be on the floor or in the wrong spots.

At first, they just passed it off as some random occurrence, but after it happened two or three times, they began to suspect that something was amiss.

‘It seems like someone is playing a prank, but we have to catch the culprit.’

Without asking too many questions, Mu-ryeong accepted the request. He didn’t really have anything to gain from it, but somehow they agreed to discuss it again later.

The investigation period was one week, and if he set his mind to it, Mu-ryeong could resolve it in a single night.

‘Go home and get some sleep today.’

It seemed like Seung-ju had caught onto Mu-ryeong’s thoughts, and he repeatedly urged him to take a break while they were eating in the cafeteria. He emphasised that the request wasn’t urgent, so he should take a break for today at least.

Mu-ryeong replied with a tired smile, but he didn’t agree to it in the end.

“What can I do? It’s going to be more comfortable to catch it quickly.”

Late in the evening, after everyone had left school, Mu-ryeong stood in front of the school wall with a pensive look.

One of the flickering flames that was swirling around Mu-ryeong moved back and forth as if answering negatively, but Mu-ryeong smiled brightly without showing any sign of tiredness.

“It’s okay; I can handle it quickly today.”

The location was clear, and he knew exactly what to do. There were some things he could roughly guess, so it wouldn’t take too long. Unless his friend exaggerated, the same thing would happen at the library tonight.

As he lightly bounced in place, Mu-ryeong carefully measured the height of the school wall. At the top, there was an iron fence that was about his height, just out of reach even when he stretched his arms out. Although it was a height he couldn’t normally jump over, he didn’t hesitate and kicked down on the ground.

With a hop, Mu-ryeong expertly grabbed onto the top of the wall. He used the recoil of his foot as he stepped onto the flat wall to pull himself up in one breath. In a natural, fluid motion, he climbed onto the top of the wall and quickly threw his bag over the iron fence.

With a thud, the sound of the bag landing inside could be heard. Once again, Mu-ryeong lightly jumped and grabbed the top of the iron fence. Although the height was lower than the wall, the wobbling sound was definitely not reassuring.

“I hate getting over fences the most.”

It felt like being a criminal.

Mu-ryeong murmured and then lightly jumped up the iron fence. This time, there was no place to dodge, so he just fell straight to the ground. The sight of him landing on both feet was not natural at all.

The building that Mu-ryeong headed towards after getting over the wall was the annexe where the library was located. As expected of a school built by a wealthy director, there were many buildings. Main building 1, main building 2, new building, annexe, a gymnasium, and an auditorium, and the interior of each building was overly spacious.

At the entrance of the annexe, Mu-ryeong looked around like a thief a couple of times. Once the sun set, not only students but also security personnel were not allowed to enter, but there was no harm in being careful.

After confirming that no one was around, he gestured to the flame floating in the air.

“You can do it, right?”

The flame spun around as if telling him to leave it to it. Mu-ryeong just watched the flame while he held the chain attached to the doorknob.

The blue flame slowly circled around the lock, and before long, the sound of it being unlocked with a ‘click’.

“Well done.”

Mu-ryeong smiled and took out a ten-won coin from his pocket. He tossed it into the air, and the flame skillfully caught it. The blazing flame looked happy in a way that he couldn’t quite understand.

The inside of the library building was gloomier than he expected. The only light in the hallway came from the moonlight shining through the windows, and the silent scenery was so void that it was scary. Of course, Mu-ryeong, who had already become accustomed to it, walked confidently without hesitation.

As Mu-ryeong walked, the flames illuminated his surroundings. The shapes that appeared on either side seemed like streetlights at first glance. Mu-ryeong arrived in front of the library at the end of the first floor, throwing ten and winning every five steps.

As soon as he arrived at the door, one of the flames quickly dug into the gap. Mu-ryeong smiled and took out the key, reaching his hand up above the door.

“This time, I can open it myself.”

With a click, the lock opened. The flame sputtered and then disappeared. The way it dimly blinked made it look like it was asking what that thing was doing in his hand.

Instead of saying that he received it from the student who made the request, Mu-ryeong simply closed his eyes nonchalantly.

“Don’t worry.”

As he entered through the open door, he could feel a sense of yin energy rippling through him. Despite the sound of ants crawling being audible in the silence, Mu-ryeong could sense another presence within. He scanned the bookshelves one by one and stopped in front of the ‘sa’ shelf.

“Today, you’ll have a buffet.”

As soon as the words were said, the flames spun fiercely. Mu-ryeong checked the books on the ground and slowly raised his head. In front of him, he saw a student holding onto a book and crying uncontrollably.

* * *

“So?”

A bewildered voice asked Mu-ryeong, it was more of a “What kind of nonsense is that?” kind of tone. Mu-ryeong remained to lie face down on the desk, mumbling with his lips.

“I couldn’t sleep because I was sorting out the books all night.”

“…….”

Seung-ju’s face showed a bewildered expression. It seemed like there were many things he wanted to say, but Mu-ryeong held out his hand as if asking him to hold back.

“Please, not today. I’m going to sleep.”

“Ugh.”

As Seung-ju let out a deep sigh, he covered Mu-ryeong’s face with his gym uniform top. It was an action he took because he was annoyed, but it actually made it easier for Mu-ryeong to sleep as it blocked out the light. Watching Mu-ryeong quickly drift off, Seung-ju wiped his face with one hand.

‘It was a student who worked at the library.’

He was wondering what he had been talking about since the morning, and it turned out this was a request from Min-ji, a girl from the next class. He hadn’t even decided what he would get in return, and there were still six days left until the deadline. But this idiot didn’t wait and spent the whole night chatting with ghosts.

‘The teacher in charge was really scary, but it seems like the kids played a prank and switched all the book covers. The teacher was the person in charge, so they had to rearrange them all alone and couldn’t even go home.’

As usual, Mu-ryeong didn’t explain the reason for his death. Or, more precisely, Mu-ryeong himself didn’t know. Usually, lost ghosts couldn’t remember how they died.

‘He wasn’t an evil spirit… His power was very weak, so he wouldn’t be able to do anything when the sun came up.’

Although he didn’t explain in detail, Seung-ju could easily guess what he had done. He probably cleaned up all the books as the ghost wanted him to and then arranged them in the correct order so that Minji wouldn’t have to suffer.

“Ah, geez…”

A long sigh escaped him. As someone with a reasonably selfish nature, Seung-ju couldn’t understand why Mu-ryeong was so diligent. He didn’t hear it from Mu-ryeong, but perhaps the reason he had solved yesterday’s request was due to a passing remark by Minji.

‘I’m so stressed out about it that my stomach hurts.’

Kim Mu-ryeong was someone who couldn’t ignore others’ pain, even if he himself was in pain. Even if it was just a whining complaint that looked like a joke.

“You stupid bastard.”

Slipping his hand gently over the top of the gym clothes, Seung-ju gave Mu-ryeong a pat on the head. He was the type who, once he fell asleep, would not wake up easily with this kind of touch. Well, it didn’t really matter whether he woke up or not, to be honest.

“What’s going on?”

“Why is he coming to our class?”

At that moment, he heard murmuring voices in his ear. Without thinking, Seung-ju raised his head and looked towards where the students’ attention was focused. A student, dressed neatly in a school uniform, was standing at the wide-open back door of the classroom.

“…….”

It was Ki Hwan-young. Tall and handsome, Ki Hwan-young had been famous since the entrance ceremony. He gave off a somewhat scary vibe, and even worse, he was impolite. It was Ki Hwan-young whom Kim Mu-ryeong looked at warily whenever they passed him in the corridors.

Mu-ryeong may have thought he was hiding it well, but Seung-ju had noticed it long ago. At the same time, he realised that if Mu-ryeong was wary of him, then he couldn’t be the culprit.

After all, Kim Mu-ryeong was the kind of person who would shake his tail like a puppy whenever he saw a person (even a dead person).

‘Well, it’s none of my business.’

Seung-ju ignored Hwan-young. It wasn’t like this wasn’t anywhere he wasn’t allowed into, so he had no plan to murmur like the others.

That is until a familiar name came out of his mouth.

“Can you call Kim Mu-ryeong?”