Chapter 121
It was my first time riding a train.
While Jung-seok, Yoo Dahee, and I were fumbling around on our first train experience, Bong Ji-yeon waved at us from afar.
"Hey! That's the wrong direction! Come over here to board!"
Bong Ji-yeon said she had a lot of experience traveling by train since childhood for various competitions. In other words, she was our only train expert.
"It feels like we're going on a trip!"
Puhehe-
Yoo Dahee, sitting in front of us, laughed. It wasn't a common experience for four high school students to take a train during summer vacation.
Of course, we weren't just going for fun and games.
As the captain of the pirate crew, I decided to instill a sense of caution in everyone.
"There are many stories about seeing strange animals in Cheonggyecheon. Jung-seok's friend said he saw them himself, so we'll focus on those areas. We need to stay alert because we don't know what might happen."
I was originally from Seoul, and the Cheonggyecheon pet street had long been the source of all kinds of urban legends.
It wouldn't be strange if ghosts or monsters actually popped up.
Monster.
I remembered fighting the six-fingered monster at the mansion not long ago.
To think we're throwing ourselves into an event where we might meet such creatures again. I thought we weren't really normal either. But the more points, the better.
"Do they really sell dolphins too?"
Yoo Dahee, eating bread and milk, asked us.
"They say the Cheonggyecheon pet street sells all kinds of animals. Someone said they asked if they could get a dolphin, and the shop owner asked if it was okay to wait about a week."
As Dahee just said, there were rumors that you could buy all sorts of outlandish things in the Cheonggyecheon animal street. Of course, they were just rumors. Jung-seok chimed in.
"No matter what, that must be a lie. But we're experiencing meeting real things from such lies. Maybe this time could be like that too."
Posts about seeing dinosaurs in Cheonggyecheon were slowly spreading on the internet.
Dinosaur.
Just seeing that word made me feel like I could hear a thunderous roar in my ears. I was already feeling excited and tingly.
However, Bong Ji-yeon still showed a disbelieving attitude.
"Come on, how could there be dinosaurs no matter what? It's bull. Boys are still so childish even as they grow up. To actually believe such internet rumors. There's no evidence."
Bong Ji-yeon had a point. There was a chance all of this could be false boasting.
If so, our plan was just to take a short trip to Seoul and come back. But Jung-seok, who first suggested and arranged this trip, seemed to have some certainty.
"I got a tip from a reliable person. When we arrive in Seoul soon, we'll meet Seo-yeon at the station. Seo-yeon will explain to us again what she saw with her own eyes."
Jin Seo-yeon was one of Jung-seok's old friends.
Didn't she go on a date with Jung-seok at the "Jeongsim-dang" bakery before?
When I subtly probed about what kind of relationship they had, he said it was nothing special, but it seems they've been in contact since then.
I found myself glancing at Bong Ji-yeon sitting in front of us.
Of course, Bong Ji-yeon was joking around with Yoo Dahee as if she didn't care at all.
"Dahee, look at this. I bought a new bracelet recently. It's a rosary made of white magnolia wood, and it's supposed to protect you from evil spirits."
"It looks very antique."
***
"So you're Seok's friends. We're the same age, so it's okay to speak casually, right?"
Jin Seo-yeon was a tall, slightly skinny woman.
She was wearing hot pants that showed her legs and a T-shirt, which looked very cool, probably because of the hot weather.
Her skin was slightly tanned, but it didn't seem natural, more like she had been nicely tanned by the sun.
So she's an athletic girl like Bong Ji-yeon. The difference is that Bong Ji-yeon is short, while she's tall.
If Bong Ji-yeon was a cute, pretty high school girl, this one had bold features. You could say she was handsome, but she was undoubtedly beautiful.
"I heard you guys like strange stories, so I wanted to tell you about what I saw before. Shall we go to a cafe to talk?"
Her personality seemed as refreshing as her tall stature.
We went to a cafe, ordered drinks, and sat down.
"I always run around Cheonggyecheon in the morning. Now that it's vacation, I also go around there once before dinner just to look at the animals and stuff."
She said it happened about a week ago.
It was when we were fighting the monkey's paw monster at the mansion.
"That day, there weren't many people in the evening, so it felt eerie. The air was cool too. I felt uneasy for some reason and thought I should go home early, but I saw a chicken walking around."
"A chicken?"
I actually knew the basic story from Jung-seok, but hearing it directly from her for the first time, I decided to carefully note each keyword in my mind.
Jin Seo-yeon answered my question.
"In this Cheonggyecheon, sometimes parrots or canaries that escaped from their cages sit on nearby trees. I thought it was something like that. But when I got closer, it was different."
Jin Seo-yeon paused for a moment.
Just then, the vibrating bell we had started ringing. Bong Ji-yeon, who had been silent since we met Jin Seo-yeon, nudged Jung-seok's side.
"Hey, go get it."
Swish-
Jung-seok was about to get up, but Jin Seo-yeon stood up before him.
"Then, I'll go with you. There are two trays, so it'll be hard to carry alone."
When Jung-seok and Jin Seo-yeon disappeared to the first floor, Bong Ji-yeon, who had been squinting slightly, asked.
"What do you think?"
"About what?"
"Do you think she's trustworthy? She seems suspicious to me. It's a woman's intuition."
A woman's intuition. I thought Bong Ji-yeon was saying something like Kwon Sua would say.
Soon, Yoo Dahee chimed in.
"I think she seems okay. Her personality seems cool too."
"No. She looks very suspicious to me."
Bong Ji-yeon showed wariness towards Jin Seo-yeon.
Could it be jealousy towards a girl who might be flirting with Jung-seok? Is Bong Ji-yeon secretly interested in Jung-seok too? Surely not.
Bong Ji-yeon closed her mouth again as Jung-seok and Jin Seo-yeon returned with trays of drinks and cakes. I drank peach iced tea. It was very sweet, cool, and good.
"So where were we in the story?"
"You said you saw a chicken."
"Right, I saw a chicken. But when I shone my phone's flashlight on it, I thought my heart would stop. The chicken had no head. It was a headless chicken."
Could a creature without a head survive?
"How can a headless animal move?"
Bong Ji-yeon shot out. Soon, Jin Seo-yeon added an explanation.
"I couldn't believe it either. But it moved and slipped into some shop, you know? I got a bit curious and went into that shop, but I lost it."
Following a headless chicken into a shop.
If it were me, I would never have done such a reckless thing. I thought she was quite a fearless girl.
"I've been having nightmares since that day. It's like I can hear the cries of headless animals echoing in my head. Thinking about it now, I'm not sure if it was a dream or real, but anyway, that happened."
We were planning to go to that 'shop'.
The time was noon. It was so hot that sweat was pouring down even when standing still under the blazing sun.
As we walked along the street where water was trickling, we saw shops with animals like squirrels and parrots in cages. The smell of animals was quite strong.
"The street isn't as big as I thought? Not many shops either. Seeing the animals outside in this heat makes me feel a bit sorry for them."
Yoo Dahee looked around.
Although it's called the animal street, its scale wasn't as big as the rumors. Soon, Jung-seok said.
"I heard it used to be bigger, but various regulations and stuff have reduced its size. Seo-yeon, is the shop you mentioned somewhere around here?"
"No. We need to go deeper into the alley."
We entered an alley that felt slightly cool. We had left the pet street.
After walking for a while, we saw what looked like a house with five-colored flags hanging. Is it a shaman's place? Next to the sign that said 'No Parking', there was a sign that read "Animals for Sale".
We went inside.
There was a strong mix of animal smell and incense, and we could see something like a Buddhist altar and lots of dolls.
In the yard, chickens and parrots were twisting their bodies in cages.
"Who is it?"
A man wearing slippers came out from the back of the shop. He was a half-bald man who looked to be in his 50s.
Jung-seok asked.
"Is this where you sell animals?"
"We do sell, but..."
Swish-
The owner blatantly looked us up and down. I asked the man.
"Do you sell dinosaurs?"
"......"
The man frowned.
Did he think we were making fun of him? I asked seriously. Judging by his reaction, it seemed they didn't sell things like dinosaurs after all. Was it just baseless rumors on social media?
"Kids. We're not a place that sells pets."
"But the sign outside says you sell animals. What's that about?"
Dahee asked politely.
The man, who had been wary of me and Jung-seok, softened his expression and answered kindly to the high school girl Dahee's question.
"This is a fortune-telling house. We specialize in animals used for shamanic rituals. We also sell pig heads used for rituals. We extract animal blood and such."
"Wow, there are places like this?"
I was amazed at the various ways people make money.
The man, either thirsty for conversation or proud of his work, started explaining things we hadn't even asked about.
"Yeah. Recently, Osung Group held their biannual ritual, slaughtering pigs and chickens, right? Where do you think those animals came from? I provided them all. I'm the top in Korea for breeding ritual animals."
Click-
The man gave a thumbs up.
I thought it wasn't a coincidence that Osung's name came up. The chairman of Osung, our country's big tech conglomerate, was actually a shaman who used Japanese sorcery.
Then, Jin Seo-yeon asked.
"Mister, do you know about headless chickens? I saw a headless chicken passing by here before. It came into this shop?"
"......"
The man's expression, which had been warm like a friendly neighbor until now, turned cold. We were all taken aback by the sudden change in temperature, and the man asked very coldly and solemnly.
"When?"
"About a week ago, I think."
"Did you follow that chicken?"
"Yes. A headless chicken. It's fascinating, isn't it?"
"Why didn't you come right away! Oh no, this is bad! A headless chicken. Miss! Go to the address I'm about to write down. Quickly! I think it's already too late, but there might be a way! You need to go now! If not, you'll die!"
Scribble, scribble-
The chicken shop owner tore off a nearby flyer and wrote down an address on the back. Then, he threw coarse salt at us.
"Get out! Get out!"
We had no choice but to leave the shop, feeling like salted mackerel. It was awkward in many ways.
"Ugh, ptui."
Some of the salt even got into my mouth.
Wondering what on earth was going on, Jung-seok, who had entered the address written on the back of the flyer into his phone, showed me his phone screen.
"Hey, this address..."
I couldn't help but be surprised.
Jung-seok's map app showed "Gwanak First Presbyterian Church". That was the place where my dad was the senior pastor.