Chapter 95: Those Who Bow to Idols (2)

We went to the address Kwon Sua gave me. It was an officetel in a busy area.

Knock knock-

"Hello. It's Ha Young-won."

Someone came and opened the door when I knocked. It was a girl with her hair tied back, wearing leggings, a short-sleeved shirt, and arm warmers.

She looked about my age, but her face had a gentle puppy-like impression, and above all, her chest area caught and held my gaze.

"You came earlier than I expected?"

Wow. I heard she was the same age as me, but it was hard to believe. I'd heard girls mature earlier than boys their age, and it seemed that was true.

Is she really Korean? Is that genetically possible?

"......"

Idol Kwon Sua folded her arms. Is she trying to cover her chest?

I felt embarrassed, realizing I'd unconsciously stared so blatantly, but honestly, this was unavoidable.

Woof woof-!

Just then, I heard a dog barking. A Shiba Inu came running out of nowhere towards the door, and Kwon Sua shouted.

"Quick, stop it! Quickly! Don't let it out! We won't find it if it gets out! Hurry in and close the door!"

"Uh-oh-."

I was flustered. While Kwon Sua was blocking the Shiba Inu with her legs, Yang Juhee and I had no choice but to enter the officetel.

Ding-

The door closed completely. Soon, Kwon Sua, holding the Shiba Inu, said.

"This is Wangwang, the dog Suho oppa and I were raising together."

"Ah. Wangwang."

"Our uncle hates raising dogs, so Suho oppa was raising it secretly. I'm too busy to take care of it much, so oppa mainly raised it."

I had no idea Kwon Suho was secretly raising a dog.

I remembered that the reason Kwon Suho drowned Gu Hyena was because she saw the 'photo with the dog' in Kwon Suho's wallet. He didn't want others to find out he was raising a dog.

So that's what it was.

"But who's this?"

Idol Kwon Sua asked, looking at Yang Juhee with a slightly guarded expression. I quickly answered.

"She's my friend. She's trustworthy, so don't worry."

It felt strange using formal speech with a girl the same age as me. To me, all celebrities had the image of older sisters or brothers, and it still felt that way seeing her in person.

Being a celebrity really isn't for just anyone. She's literally sparkling.

Even to my eyes, which had become quite discerning from being around girls like Yang Juhee and Yoo Dahee, Kwon Sua was a pretty girl.

If we had gone to the same school, I surely would have ended up having a crush on her.

"So why did you call me?"

I asked. Why would an idol call me?

I was very curious. Soon, Kwon Sua said with glistening eyes.

"I heard you were with Suho oppa until the end? You were close with my oppa, right? Please help me! Oppa might die tonight!"

"...Tonight?"

"Our uncle is holding a big gut ritual tonight to open some water gate. If this goes wrong, many people might die. We have to stop it somehow!"

"No, what's this gut ritual, and what's a water gate…?"

"I know. It's natural not to believe when I suddenly say this. But ghosts are real. I've been seeing strange things since I was young...! Things like ghosts...!"

Tears soon fell from her clear eyes. Seeing a girl cry made my heart feel like it was tearing apart for no reason.

"Oppa said to contact Young-won if anything happened to him. He said you're trustworthy. Because you're similar to me..."

***

Kwon Sua was born into an ordinary middle-class family. It was a family so ordinary you could see them anywhere.

But Kwon Sua was far from ordinary.

Since childhood, Kwon Sua had seen things others couldn't see and heard things others couldn't hear. They were probably things that could be called ghosts.

"Kids, Sua should play together too."

"Teacher! Kwon Sua is too quiet, she's no fun!"

"She wet her pants last time too!"

Until elementary school, Kwon Sua was ostracized for her strange behavior and frequently wetting herself. She simply couldn't get along with kids her age.

At those times, her cousin brother Kwon Suho helped a lot.

"Hey, what are the names of the kids bullying you?"

After rumors spread that she had a cousin brother full of all sorts of bad rumors, Kwon Sua was no longer ostracized. And as Kwon Sua entered the upper grades of elementary school and then middle school, she became used to pretending not to see or hear.

It would be better to say she became desensitized. And it was very effective, as she no longer saw things like ghosts.

She even thought that maybe it was all just delusions created by her mentally unstable elementary school self.

"Sua, want to try being an idol? I've seen a lot of pretty girls, but with your visuals alone, you'd pass with flying colors."

Kwon Sua took idol auditions at her cousin brother's suggestion. It was to change her shy and timid self. That's how Kwon Sua, the idol of Dorangmul Girls, was born.

'I want to reclaim my life too. If I don't live as brightly and glamorously as the moments I've spent being afraid, I'll be at a loss.'

Idol life wasn't easy, but it was enjoyable.

The cheers of people and the heartbeat after practicing choreography until her underwear showed through her sweat-soaked clothes made her feel fully alive. But that was only until very recently.

After the big earthquake in Gaeryong City, Kwon Sua couldn't calm down easily.

She had nightmares every day, and the apparitions and ghosts she hadn't seen since middle school started appearing again. They were more hideous and terrifying.

Meanwhile, her cousin brother Kwon Suho, who had been a great emotional support, became strange. It had the same face as 'Kwon Suho', but it absolutely wasn't 'Kwon Suho'.

Kwon Sua could tell that fact better than anyone.

"Young-soo. On the new moon, we'll hold a big gut ritual to open the water gate and call back my son's spirit, so gather all the skilled performers you know. Not those random fakes."

"Chairman... if we're not careful... something uncontrollable might happen like 17 years ago. 52 people went missing then..."

"So you're saying we should just watch my son rot alive? Shut up and bring them! And bring Kwon Sua too. The water veins of this Gaeryong like virgin blood."

When Kwon Sua learned that Kwon Oh-sung, Kwon Suho's father, was preparing a big gut ritual, she could instinctively feel that something ominous would happen.

We have to stop it-

With that thought, she focused on the recent message Kwon Suho had sent her.

「Sua, there's a boy who says he sees ghosts just like you, want me to introduce you? This guy's not lying, he's real」

If it was someone who had seen the same scenery. Kwon Sua thought she wanted to believe anyone, and contacted Ha Young-won.

That was the very brief story of how it came to this point.

"My oppa told me. He said Young-won can really see ghosts too. Then you'd know how terrifying and cruel they are. How cruel and terrifying..."

I'm not sure, but if Kwon Oh-sung opens this water gate, ghosts might overflow into the world even more.

For people who could see things others couldn't, like Kwon Sua, such a situation would be like the world becoming hell, so she thought she had to stop it by any means necessary.

***

Kwon Sua cried her eyes out. A woman's tears.

In a way, a pretty woman's tears were more tormenting to a man's heart than the hideous appearances of terrifying ghosts.

I hadn't done anything wrong, but I felt like I had done something wrong and should apologize.

"So, according to Sua-nim, you can see ghosts too? What kind of things have you seen? It's just, it's my first time meeting someone like me..."

There was a high probability that Kwon Sua was an Observer or a Hero, my enemy. It meant I couldn't rule out the possibility that this was all a trap to deceive and backstab me.

Being the cousin sister of that rascal Kwon Suho doubled my suspicion. You might be able to fool others, but you can't fool me who's been through thick and thin.

With that thought, I asked guardedly, and Kwon Sua said.

"Ghosts... I used to see them often... Recently... I went to Jang Hee-bin's tomb to receive energy to charm men before releasing a new album, and I saw a ghost dancing on the tomb. It was so scary. Its eyes were bright red..."

"Ooh?"

I was surprised. Could such a coincidence exist in this world?

We had also met a dancing ghost at Jang Hee-bin's tomb not long ago. It seems there was someone who had met the ghost there before us!

"Also... sometimes a ghost pretends to be my friend and pushes me onto the road..."

"Me too! A ghost appeared with my friend's face and pushed me into a pond!"

I had recently been dunked by a water ghost that looked like Yoo Dahee. It was a frustrating story I couldn't complain about anywhere, but to think I'd form a connection with the youngest member of a top idol group who seemed completely unrelated to my life.

Kwon Sua's eyes, which had been sniffling until just now, sparkled brightly.

"Really? Do you sometimes turn on all the lights when you come home and deliberately leave the bathroom door open when you use it? I do that. In case the door suddenly locks or a ghost appears! I even wash my hair with my eyes open!"

"When I sleep under a blanket, I cover my feet too, even on hot days, because I'm afraid a ghost might suddenly grab them if they stick out."

"Me too! It's really true. I couldn't talk about this anywhere. You're the first person I've met who's suffering just like me!"

Swish-

Idol Kwon Sua showed me her palm. I awkwardly raised my hand and high-fived her.

It felt really thrilling. So this is why people buy albums and goods and go to idol fan signings.

Actually, I had never been interested in women like idols or celebrities before, but now I felt like I might start taking an interest.

On the contrary, Yang Juhee, who had liked the idol group Dorangmul Girls, spoke calmly and composedly despite seeing her favorite idol in person.

"Ha Young-won. This isn't the time for such talk. She asked for help, so you should ask how and in what way we can help."

"Ah. Right."

"This is my fault. It's my first time talking about this too..."

I understand. You can't complain about ghost stories anywhere, after all.

"Tonight... there will be a big gut ritual at the main building of Osung. We just need to interfere and stop that. I have clothes prepared, so let's all change into those!"

Kwon Sua's plan was this.

At the gut ritual tonight, many famous shamans and mediums, or rather con artists, will gather, and we should pretend to be one of them. We should sneak in like that and disrupt the gut ritual.

Disrupting a gut ritual...

I had an ominous feeling for no reason. But Kwon Sua emphasized again that if we don't stop it, a bigger danger will occur.

"From what I heard, the water gate was opened in this Gaeryong 17 years ago too. They say about 52 people went missing then... There's no guarantee it won't happen again this time!"

When the water gate opens, people go missing. 17 years ago. It was around the year I was born.

Is it a coincidence?

Thinking that, I thought it would be good to prevent people from being separated from their families due to disappearances and grieving, like my mom or Yang Juhee's sister.