5 – The Story of a Childhood Friend Who Sees Ghosts #5
Actually, I had some idea about what was happening.
It is said that Joo-hyuk may have been possessed by a ghost. He just wasn’t sure because he had never seen an object in person. However, unlike me, Sarah could clearly see the ghost’s appearance, so she was able to believe it.
“There’s a dead girl hanging around your friend. They’re planning to kill her and make her a ghost. Almost getting hit by a truck just now is only the beginning.”
“Is it because Joo-hyuk stole the candy in the morning? Is that why Gaek-gwi is angry?”
“Yes. I chose Joo-hyuk as my target because he stole the candy. Even if he hadn’t touched the candy, I could have coaxed him into becoming Buddha.”
Joo Hyuk, who was listening to the conversation between me and Sarah, carefully asked a question.
Joo Hyuk, who had just come back from death, was sweating all over his body.
“…What on earth was that candy? I ate it!”
“Have you heard the rumor that there’s a ghost in our class? The candy I put in was like an offering to appease the ghost. Since the offering was taken away, of course the ghost would be angry.”
“Huh…!”
Joo Hyuk was surprised and gasped after hearing Sarah’s explanation. Unlike us, Joo-hyuk knew very little about the occult. Only then did he realize the identity of the candy he had carelessly eaten.
“So, you’re saying the ghost is trying to kill me?”
“That’s right. You might die right now, tonight.”
It wasn’t a joke or anything. Sarah’s expression was serious. Joo-hyuk was shaking and suddenly turned his head and looked at Sarah as if he remembered something.
“Sera…! You’re the daughter of a shaman! So don’t you know how to exorcise ghosts?”
“Of course I know about exorcism.”
“Yes, yes!”
Sarah’s mother was a spiritual shaman in her neighborhood. She was born as the daughter of a shaman, and not only could Sarah see her ghosts, but she also knew how to exorcise them. After hearing the answer, Joo-hyuk opened his mouth with earnest eyes.
“Please save me, me, me. Please save me.”
“You want me to save you? What did you say in class earlier? You were so shameless when you stole the candy.”
“I’m so sorry! I won’t do it again, so please!!”
“Huh….”
Joo-hyuk threw away his pride and prayed for Sarah’s palm in front of her. It was the first time in my life that I had seen the big Joohyuk begging in front of a girl. Sarah was looking at Joo-hyuk with her arms crossed, and then she nodded her head.
“Okay. I’ll exorcise you.”
“Really?”
“I was planning on rescuing you anyway. I didn’t commit a mortal sin by stealing some candy.”
“Thank you!!”
Although Sarah had her temperament, she was not so cruel that she would watch people die in front of her eyes. As I was watching from her side, I felt a little relieved.
“But to perform an exorcism, you have to come to my house. You have to stay at my house late at night to perform an exorcism.”
“I have to stay at your house all night? Why?”
“Ghosts only reveal themselves when it gets dark. It must be time for the boundary between the living and the dead to be broken down. Only then can we interfere with the dead. To perform an exorcism, it must be at least past midnight. It’s okay.”
However, a condition was necessary for exorcism.
Joo Hyuk had to stay at Sarah’s house until late at night.
Joo-hyuk thought for a moment and then nodded.
“Okay, I’ll call my mom and tell her I’m going to sleep over at her friend’s house.”
“Why? You and I aren’t really friends. Just tell the truth that you’re going to a shaman’s house because you’re possessed by a ghost.”
“My parents never believe in ghosts. They have no religion and they think all stories about ghosts are lies. If I told them I was going to a shaman’s house, they would probably beat me up. If I told them honestly that I was possessed by a ghost, they would send me to a mental hospital.”
Joo Hyuk’s parents were people who never believed in ghosts. Ironically, they are not the people who can properly help Joo-hyuk. If Joo-hyuk gets seriously injured or dies, he might start believing in ghosts, but wouldn’t it be too late?
“Okay. Just cover yourself up and come. And then you.”
Sarah raised her finger and pointed at me.
I was surprised to suddenly be pointed at.
“Jinwoo, you come to my house too.”
“Why me?”
“Please come with me and help me exorcise the ghost. Because of my parents’ work, I am the only one home when I go home. It would be easier if there was at least one more person to help. You said you wanted to see the ghost in the first place, right?”
“I want to see you, of course.”
“Maybe I’ll see a ghost in my house tonight? Because during an exorcism, a ghost appears. If you want to see it, come and help me.”
“Oh….”
You want to show me a ghost?
I was intrigued. It was an opportunity to actually see a ghost, and I couldn’t miss it.
“I’ll be there right away. Just leave whatever happens to me.”
“Wow, this is really cool.”
“I told you to come!”
“But I never thought he would really come.”
Sarah smiled her smile and left for her home.
As Joo-hyuk and I followed behind Sarah, we took out her cell phone and handed it to her parents. In the first place, we often stayed over at friends’ houses, so getting around wasn’t that difficult.
*
Time passed and we arrived at Sarah’s house.
It was a luxurious house with a large yard. White and red flags were hung on the top of the house to indicate that she was a god.
Sera opened the front door and let us into the house.
“It’s a real shaman’s house.”
“Why? Jinwoo. Is this your first time coming to a shaman’s house?”
“I’ve been to an abandoned shaman’s house, but this is the first time I’ve been to a shaman’s house that isn’t an abandoned house.”
Actually, I have been to an abandoned shaman’s house. However, it was my first time to see a shaman’s house with people living in good condition. Unfortunately, Sarah’s parents were not at home right now.
Sera’s parents said they were away from home because they were busy with work.
So, it means that we are the only ones in this house today.
“Where have your parents gone?”
“My dad is in Sweden for work, and my mom went far away for a good fortune.”
“Far away?”
“My mom has a lot of people calling her from all over. She’s probably in Jeju Island now.”
Because my father is a foreigner and my mother is a spiritual shaman. It is inevitable that parents will go out frequently. Sarah seemed quite used to living alone in her spacious house.
“This is the shrine.”
Sera took us to the room where the shrine was set up.
A room with a large shaman painting occupying one wall.
In front of the shaman painting, there was an altar with a Buddha statue on it.
It was a fairly spacious shrine, so it felt like there was plenty of space even with three children.
“You two are waiting here until midnight. The exorcism will be performed in the yard, but neither of you should come out of the shrine until then.”
“Me too?”
“Jinwoo, you have to watch over Joohyuk. If your friend does something dangerous, stop him.”
Now I understand why Sarah brought me to the shaman’s house. She was brought here to take care of keeping tabs on Joo-hyuk. Its role was to restrain people who were possessed by ghosts.
“I’m hungry. Will you give me food?”
“I’ll let you eat.”
It is already 6 PM. Sarah brought rice and side dishes from the kitchen and gave them to us. We ate and spent time at the shrine until midnight. However, Sarah was not always with us.
“I’m going to go prepare for the ceremony. As I said before, you must not come out of the shrine. Don’t answer even if anyone calls from outside except me.”
After dinner, Sera left the shrine to make items for the ceremony.
Joohyuk and I were left alone in an unfamiliar shrine.
I told you not to answer even if someone calls you.
As Sarah left the shrine, someone’s voice really began to be heard.
━━Let’s play!
At first, the sound was very faint.
But as time passed, it became clearer to our ears.
━━Let’s play together!
━━Joo Hyuk! Come outside!
It was the voice of a young girl.
Outside the curtained window of the shrine, a young girl was calling Joo-hyuk.
“Wooooo!”
When Joo-hyuk heard the voice calling him, he couldn’t hold back and screamed.
“That’s that sound! That’s the voice I heard in my dream!”
In an instant, the atmosphere in the shrine became cold.
I turned my head and looked toward the window.
A pitch black figure was visible above the curtain covering the window.
━━Let’s play together! Let’s play together! Let’s play together!
The pitch-black figure on the window kept calling to Joo-hyuk.
I couldn’t help but get goosebumps because they kept saying the same thing over and over again.
‘The voices are the same.’
It was normal for the intonation to change slightly when speaking.
━━Let’s play together! Let’s play together! Let’s play together!
However, the sound from outside was eerily constant in pitch and intonation.
It is definitely not a voice that a human could make.
“Huhhh….”
━━Thump thump thump thump!!!
A pitch-black figure struck the window of the shrine violently. A loud sound rang out as if the palm was being struck incessantly. Joohyuk and I were just curled up inside the shrine, feeling like we were dead, with nothing to do.
━━Joo Hyuk! Come outside!
━━Let’s play together!
━━Let’s play! Come outside! Joo Hyuk!
━━Thump thump thump thump thump thump!!!
All kinds of sounds were mixed together.
Every minute and every second seems to pass by as slowly as a year.
How much time has passed?
The clock hanging in the shrine pointed to midnight.
━━Quick!
The door suddenly opened.
I quickly raised my head and looked towards the door, and saw pure white silver hair.
“You waited a long time, right?”
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When Sarah opened the door and entered the room, the sound that had been bothering us so much disappeared.
Sera opened her mouth to us, who were lying dead in the room.
“We’re ready, so come out to the yard. Now it’s time to chase away the ghost.”
“You, you… But what are you holding in your hand?”
Joo Hyuk looked surprised when he saw Sarah’s hand.
Because in Sarah’s hand was a sharply sharpened kitchen knife.
“Why did you bring a knife…!”
“This is a necessary tool for exorcism.”
Sarah shrugged her shoulders while holding up her kitchen knife.
“Because I’m going to ‘bite a ghost’ with this knife.”
“Dog, bitten by an object?”
“It’s a ritual to chase away ghosts.”
I immediately knew what Sarah was trying to do.
‘Bite an object’
It was a ritual to exorcise ghosts that has been passed down to Korea since ancient times.
It literally means expelling an evil spirit that has entered a person’s body.
I never thought I would actually see the object bite that I had only heard about.
I tapped Joo-hyuk, who was scared and scared, on the shoulder.
“Hey, Joo Hyuk. Don’t be scared and let’s get out quickly. That kitchen knife is really used to chase away ghosts.”
“G-is it true?”
“Then you’re telling me it’s true? Just trust me.”
We took Joo-hyuk out to the yard.
All the tools needed for the ceremony were prepared in the yard.
“I’m going to start biting the ghost from now on.”
Finally we started the exorcism.