145.
“School?”
After hearing information about the incident from Seo In-na, I asked.
The scene of the incident was a school.
It seemed that something had happened at a high school in Seosan, Chungcheongnam-do.
“okay. One of the students at the school reported it himself. There’s something at your school.”
“Is there something… ”
I opened the case file.
However, there was almost no information in the file except for the contents of the report.
One of the students who was conducting night self-learning at school fell unconscious in the middle of the night.
The damage ended with minor injuries, but the reporter who rescued the student stated that he saw something there.
“uh… Is that all?”
“Now it is. Still, it’s not something to be overlooked.”
“Is there a reason?”
“It wasn’t the common man who reported it. look at the name.”
At her words, I finally confirmed the identity of the person who reported it.
I thought it wouldn’t matter at all, so I didn’t look closely.
The name written there was somehow familiar.
“Yeon Ji-woo?”
“At the time of the last curse incident, there is a girl you and Grandpa Kwon Tae-soo met. You can’t remember, can you?”
To be honest, I completely forgot about it until I heard it.
But I casually shook my head.
“Of course I remembered. So you’re saying he reported it himself?”
“that’s right. So even if the report is somewhat inaccurate, it shouldn’t be taken lightly. Isn’t that child a successful person?”
It was as Seo In-na said.
Yeon Ji-woo was involved in the curse case, but was freed from the organization he was held in when the case was resolved.
He should have been going to high school without any major incidents now.
However, since her eyes were open at the time of the incident, she is able to see the existence of demons with her own eyes, unlike ordinary people.
So, if Yeon Ji-woo reports directly, there is something.
“In addition, since the site is a school, it is a case that needs to be dealt with as quickly as possible. There’s nothing good about wasting time.”
“How is school different?”
“Rather than being different… The problem is that many people gather regularly and they are all students. Fortunately, it ended with minor injuries this time, but wouldn’t it be a mess if there was even a fatal incident?”
It was.
There is a high probability that the media will react just because the victim is a student.
Due to the nature of the school, there are bound to be many witnesses.
“You have to find out the details on the spot. It’s just been reported, so there’s hardly any preliminary investigation. I’ll make a formal request to visit the school, so don’t worry about that.”
“All right.”
“And the number of people who will go with… ”
When Seo In-na said that, someone sneaked up next to me.
that… Of course, it was Kwon Tae-soo.
“Do you want to go like that?”
“… hum”
In response to Seo In-na’s question, he just cleared his throat and took the case file I was holding and opened it.
In response, Seo In-na smiled and nodded.
“Okay, then go with Grandpa Taesu.”
That’s how I moved to Seosan with Kwon Tae-soo after a long time.
That afternoon, at a cafe in downtown Seosan.
I was there waiting for Yeon Ji-woo with Kwon Tae-soo.
There weren’t many people in the cafe, but the police uniform I was wearing was strangely attracting attention.
“… Do you come here often?”
I sipped my latte and said to Kwon Tae-soo.
The drink Kwon Tae-soo ordered was a coffee with a name of more than 10 characters, such as White Frapu.
No, is coffee right?
I didn’t even know that was on the menu.
A little while ago, he ordered a drink with that long name out of habit, and also actively used a membership card that I didn’t use.
The story is that this place is extremely familiar.
On the outside, it looks like you would order oolong tea at a coffee shop rather than a cafe, but it was unexpected.
“I come often with my granddaughter. That kid likes it.”
“aha… ”
“By the way, when will this student come?”
“It’s time for the appointment, so I’ll be back soon.”
I heard that even a tiger will come when I say it.
As soon as I finished my words, a female student in school uniform appeared at the entrance of the cafe.
It was Yeon Ji-woo.
“Ah, uncle! Grandpa too!”
She waved her hand happily and came towards me.
Yeon Ji-woo, seen after a few months, looked much healthier than before, with only bones remaining.
I think it’s a little too tall.
That was natural.
Not only would he no longer be executing the curse, but he would have been freed from the organization’s influence and suffered greatly.
Afterwards, Yeon Ji-woo and we exchanged brief greetings and suddenly glared at me.
“No, but how did you not contact me after that?”
“Why am I contacting you?”
“Of course I have to! that day, huh? All the gangsters are knocking together and they are fans!”
“What’s wrong with everyone beating each other? Don’t say anything weird and order me some coffee.”
“Will you buy it? It’s expensive here.”
“Even though it’s expensive, I doubt the police will tell the student to buy it.”
“Oh, thank you.”
“Hum… Then I will buy the cake.”
“To the cake? Really?”
Saying that, Kwon Tae-soo and Yeon Ji-woo went to the checkout to order.
And soon the two returned to the table with coffee and cake each.
Afterwards, we drank coffee and listened to Yeon Ji-woo’s current situation for a while.
“hmm… ”
Upon checking, it seems that there is no problem in her life.
Is that why?
Yeon Ji-woo wasn’t a very dark personality to begin with, but in just a few months, she became much brighter.
Kwon Tae-soo was relieved to see that he was not much different from other students.
About 30 minutes passed like that, I got up from my seat.
Now it was time to get to the point.
“Let’s talk the rest in the car.”
“yes? why?”
“What’s going on at school? That’s not what we’re talking about here.”
“ah… yes.”
At my words, Yeon Ji-woo calmly left the cafe and moved to the police car.
Then, she got into the police car and immediately looked inside the car.
“It’s the same here.”
“What’s the point of changing a police car? Rather, what did you see at school that led you to report it?”
“that is… There is such a thing as a ghost.”
“Ghost?”
“yes. Wasn’t it until last month? however-“
Afterwards, Yeon Ji-woo explained the ghost for a while.
The ghost started appearing less than a month ago.
Yeon Ji-woo said that the first person to notice this was not herself, but another student who stayed late at school.
“My school can grow palms until 11:00. But one of the kids who fills up the time and goes to the palm said that there was a strange noise coming from the science room.”
“Sounds strange?”
“yes. It just rattles, sounds like that.”
“It seems like a common ghost story.”
“Right? So, at first, I just thought it was no big deal. When I opened the door to the science room the next day, they said the science room was in a mess. Seeing that, the teacher just got angry and didn’t even make a fuss. There was talk of a thief coming in.”
I nodded my head at Yeon Ji-woo’s words.
It was unclear whether it was an exorcism or not.
But her testimony continued.
“But from that day on, the kids who keep sleeping are saying similar things. Hearing the sound of a piano in the music room, or the rattling of the bathroom door with the lights off. So I decided to check it out for myself.”
“Huh, dangerous three.”
“If you let that happen, your friends will be in danger.”
Regarding Kwon Tae-soo’s concerns, Ji-woo Yeon said as if it were natural.
But I was bothered by something completely irrelevant in those words.
“But don’t you sleep? Are you in high school now? Aren’t you going to college?”
“No, how can you say the same thing as my mother?”
Yeon Ji-woo said as if it was absurd.
“I am not going to college. He said he would make an exorcist.”
“You’re not going to believe that?”
“Well, that’s not all… ”
She continued with a slightly intimidated face.
“Actually, I’m not good at studying.”
“Didn’t you?”
“I did? Did you work really hard on that too?”
At my words, Yeon Ji-woo sharply opened his eyes and shot at me.
In response, I secretly tried to discern the truth and lies of the words.
Surprisingly, what she said was true.
“When I was caught there… I thought I had to study well to get out of there. After getting first place in the entire school, and just becoming a lawyer and a judge, I’m going to catch them all. So I studied really hard in my first year of high school, right?”
“… … ”
“But when I looked at the mock test, none of the national youngsoos were in the 5th grade… I gave up. I knew it because I did it myself. It’s not like this, it’s what you do.”
“… hmm”
If that was the case, I had nothing to say.
I didn’t even do it lightly.
In such a bad situation, I clung to my studies as if I was holding on to the last rope.
“… then. There’s nothing wrong with being an exorcist.”
Is that why?
Even Kwon Tae-soo, who usually grumbled about why he wanted to do something like an exorcist, said that.
Then, Yeon Ji-woo’s expression brightened.
“Right? You’re going to be an exorcist anyway, so can’t you?”
“I don’t have to do anything else, but I have to speak Korean. How many papers do you have to look at?”
“… is it so?”
“And it’s good to know about national love and world history.”
“Why is that?”
“Sometimes I fight with people who come out there.”
“and… crazy. Really? Are you just fighting King Sejong?”
“No, not that.”
I waved my hands.
Suddenly, the story was falling into Samcheonpo.
“Rather than that, continue what you were talking about. So what did you see at school pretending to be a palm that you don’t even do?”
“that is… I only checked the music room. There really was a ghost playing the piano.”
“A ghost?”
“yes. But it quickly disappeared, so I couldn’t see it. I immediately tried to check other places, but I couldn’t because I found a child from the class next to me collapsed on the stairs that day. From then on, even the palm tree was banned.”
Is the student who was said to have been knocked down the injured person who came out this time?
Hearing Yeon Ji-woo’s words, it was still impossible to say for sure what the cause was.
I also needed to check the site.
I looked at Kwon Tae-soo, who was behind the wheel.
“I need to go to school.”
“Yes, I see.”
Then I cast my gaze at Yeon Ji-woo.
Then she said boldly.
“Even if you tell me to get off, I won’t get off.”
Yes, I guess.
I didn’t mean to tell her to get off either.
For her aspiring exorcist, today would be a rare day to study for the future.
“No, fasten your seatbelt.”
“Ah, yes.”
Like that, the car headed for Yeon Ji-woo’s high school.
As expected, the police had contacted us in advance, and as soon as we arrived at the school, we were led by the teacher and arrived at the teachers’ office.
The one who greeted us was a teacher who seemed to be in his late thirties.
“Are you from the police?”
“yes. My name is Inspector Kang Jin-woo.”
“Let Kwon Tae-soo come.”
“Nice to meet you. I am Soo-jeong Choi. I am a Korean language teacher, and I am in charge of the 3rd grade teacher.”
She greeted me and Kwon Tae-soo, and she naturally looked at Yeon Ji-woo, who was next to us.
“But, erase. Why are you here?”
“uh… that is… ”
“The first caller is out for a while.”
At my words, Yeon Ji-woo pouted and expressed dissatisfaction, but there was nothing he could do.
It was strange in many ways to hear the police testify with Yeon Ji-woo in front of the teacher.
As if he was aware of that, Yeon Ji-woo left the staff room with a face that said he couldn’t do it soon.
“Then first-”
I asked Sujeong Choi a few questions.
These were all obvious questions that a police officer would ask.
But even among those obvious questions, there was something unexpected to come up with.
“Is that mysterious sound still going on?”
“yes. As strange as it may sound, I heard it too. Because of that, it’s scary to stay at school at night these days, and the security guards don’t want to stand on duty… ”
“Do you have any guesses as to the cause?”
“No, there is none.”
“So, has anything similar happened in the past?”
“It’s the past… ?”
At my words, she thought for a while.
“that is… ”
And she barely wanted to part her lips, but then she shook her head.
“No, no. Nothing similar happened.”
“Looks like you were trying to say something.”
“It was just a weird idea. Nothing similar has happened in the past, so you don’t have to worry about it.”
“It doesn’t matter. It may be a clue for us, so please let us know.”
At my words, she put on a strange expression, but nodded slightly.
“then… All right. Officer, you know about school ghost stories, right?”
“of course.”
“I was just trying to say that this incident is similar to a ghost story I heard when I was a student.”
“When you were a student?”
“Actually, I am from this school. therefore… I graduated 18 years ago.”
“Ah, that’s right.”
“It has completely disappeared now, but at that time, ghost stories like the 7 wonders of the world were circulating around the school for a long time. In fact, I had forgotten most of it, but the things that are happening now are similar to the ghost stories I heard back then… ”
She blurted out her words as if she was ashamed to say nonsense, but it never sounded like nonsense to me.
I don’t know if it’s another school.
If it’s a ghost story that existed in this school in the past, there’s a good chance it’s related to the incident.
But just this was not enough.
So while I was considering the next question, Kwon Tae-soo, who had been quiet, opened his mouth.
“Can I ask you one question?”
“yes. Please speak.”
“Eighteen years ago, it would have been in the early 2000s… Ghost stories were popular back then?”
Kwon Tae-soo asked curiously.
I was in elementary school then, so I didn’t know it was strange that ghost stories were so popular in high school.
It seems that was not the case for Kwon Tae-soo, who clearly remembers that era.
“Oh, of course there was a special reason. At that time, something terrible happened at school.”
“A nasty thing… ?”
“One of my classmates… I committed suicide by falling out of the classroom window.”
At that, I nodded.
indeed.
Now it felt like the lacking part had been filled in a little.