SATURDAY 66

Beep— a tinnitus-like ringing passed through my ears.

“What…?”

“It’s probably not a big deal. It’s not exactly a country with a highly developed communication network, so sometimes contact gets cut off like this.”

“….”

That wasn’t right. I had never heard Inha or my family complain about communication issues after visiting the Philippines. It wasn’t such an underdeveloped country in the first place. And wasn’t Manila the capital?

“Tell me exactly, uncle. What does it mean that his location can’t be determined?”

“….”

Whether my uncle read the thoughts on my face or not, he pressed his lips together for a moment in contemplation before opening his mouth.

“…They’re calling it a disappearance.”

My head spun. A disappearance in Manila, of all places. Whether it was a Korean or a foreigner, it wasn’t uncommon for a businessman to go missing in the Philippines.

But why, of all people, did it have to be Mr. Taeseon?

With a dazed mind, I listened to more detailed information from my uncle. They say that while Mr. Taeseon was moving from the airport to the hotel, he was on the phone with his secretaries waiting at the hotel when the call suddenly cut off with a noise. Since then, his phone has remained turned off.

Before the call was cut, he was heard asking “What’s going on?” along with the sound of brakes, followed by a loud noise and someone shouting something in Tagalog. The call ended shortly after. The secretary said it felt as if the phone had been snatched away.

No articles had been published yet. Information likely hadn’t even reached domestic media outlets. Until it transitions to a public investigation, everything is a top-secret matter on par with classified intelligence.

The future looked pitch black…. I felt as if the seeds of anxiety had sprouted and shot up from the ground to overwhelm me.

“Un, uncle… what should we do?”

I couldn’t stay composed. My uncle touched my cheek and said something, but I couldn’t hear him well. My whole body was trembling. And at that moment….

「What did I tell you?」

A voice was heard like a hallucination, and before I knew it, Inha was standing behind my uncle with his arms hanging limp, slowly swaying his body.

Water and blood pooled where Inha stood. Through his hair matted with blood, his swollen face was visible. That pallid face was smiling as if he were dying of joy.

“Was it… was it you?”

The day of the accident suddenly came to mind. Inha’s face when he didn’t understand what was happening to him. That pale, dying face. It was right here in its entirety. That swollen face was the trace of CPR performed to hold onto his last spark of life.

“What? Inyoung-ah? Inyoung-ah, are you okay?”

My uncle’s voice suddenly pierced my ears like an arrow. I looked at my uncle for a moment, but I had to turn my head back immediately because of Inha, who had begun to cackle and laugh.

“What is even there… Inyoung-ah, Yoon Inyoung! Pull yourself together!”

Lili, who had been by my side, was nowhere to be seen. She had clearly run away somewhere. If so, it meant that Inha over there wasn’t just visible to my eyes. It wasn’t a mere illusion; that was truly….

「So what did I tell you? I said I’d kill him, didn’t I? Hmm? I said I’d kill him, didn’t I? He’s really dead, isn’t he? Dead?」

“No….”

「Oh, really? You wish it weren’t so, right? But it’s true, he’s dead. Because I killed him. He was shot and died. His body will be found on the street, stuffed in a trash bag.」

“No!”

“Inyoung-ah!”

“Un, uncle, tell Inha, tell Inha to go away…. He listens to you, uncle, tell Inha to leave….”

My uncle’s face turned pale.

“What are you… Inyoung-ah, pull yourself together, please.”

However, Inha stopped his swaying body abruptly and began to approach me, thump, thump. Then he passed through my uncle and stood right in front of me. The moment Inha passed through his body, my uncle grimaced and shuddered.

Inha, standing there obscuring my uncle, sat down as if collapsing forward and placed both knees on the sofa. Then he rested both arms on the back of the sofa. Becoming completely trapped in Inha’s embrace, I broke into a cold sweat looking at the broken arms and legs visible right next to me.

“He, hng, go away….”

My uncle was shaking my body and constantly shouting something. I can’t hear him. Only the Inha in front of my eyes is vivid. Inha forced my head back and opened his mouth wide. Cold blood dripped down, wetting my lips.

No matter how I tried to avoid it, it was no use. Then Inha stuck out his tongue long. The blood was clearly red, but strangely, the tongue was bright blue. It was also unnaturally long. With that tongue, Inha licked my cheek with a long stroke. Goosebumps broke out all over my body.

「You should have died that day.」

“….”

「You should have died. Why are you alive? Why are you the one alive? You should have died. Why are you alive? Why are you alive?」

Inha spoke very rapidly. Eventually, it sounded more like a “creak-creak” noise than words. However, I could guess what he was saying. Inha endlessly repeated the words ‘Why are you alive?’

Then, he suddenly muttered at a speed I could understand.

「That’s why Lee Taeseon dies.」

“What, do you mean….”

「Lee Taeseon is dead.」

“….”

「Because of you!」

“Inyoung-ah!”

The moment Inha opened his mouth wide as if to devour me and screamed, my uncle’s voice pierced my ears, and soon my body was shaken violently. My uncle was grabbing my shoulders and shaking me.

When I reflexively looked around, there was no trace of Inha anywhere; it was just our ordinary living room.

Just in case, I looked at the path Inha had walked, but I couldn’t see any signs of water or blood having dripped.

Did I see a phantom…. But it was too vivid to be an illusion.

“Inyoung-ah… are you okay? Do you want to go back to the hospital?”

“A, no, no…. No, I’m fine.”

I slowly shook my head and then looked at my uncle. My uncle was looking at me with a face turned white with worry. Well, how strange my behavior must have been. However, my mouth opened of its own accord.

“Uncle…. Inha says, he says Mr. Taeseon is dead.”

“What?”

My uncle’s face distorted. I immediately regretted saying those words. I hadn’t intended to say such nonsense. The shock of seeing Inha hadn’t faded yet, so it just came out of my mouth as it pleased. My uncle looked at me with a serious expression and asked.

“Inha? What do you mean by that?”

“I keep seeing Inha…. The Shaman said it, that Inha would appear in my dreams. Now he doesn’t just appear in dreams, I see him in reality too.”

“Do you still believe that crazy woman’s words?”

“It’s not that… it’s because I really see Inha.”

My uncle let out a short sigh. Then he stroked my hair and helped me up from the sofa. On the floor, a teacup was rolling around, and spilled tea was soaking the area. My uncle held me as if supporting me, went up to the second floor, and laid me down in the bedroom.

The moment I lay on the bed, it occurred to me that this was no time for me to be doing this, and I sat up abruptly.

“Wait, uncle, what about Mr. Taeseon? What’s going to happen to Mr. Taeseon?”

“There’s no need to worry right now. It’s just that contact has been lost.”

That couldn’t be. Mr. Taeseon is a businessman. Furthermore, he had an important schedule today. I heard the meeting was tomorrow, but he said he would go around a few large stores and the cooking factory in Manila with the executives there a day in advance.

But to suddenly be out of contact, does that make any sense? It can’t be explained unless something has happened.

“It’s okay. I’m checking local news in real-time for the area within a 50km radius of Manila. And since it seems the Chairman of Joyday is also out of contact…. Maybe the two of them are just playing golf together in a place like Angeles or Calamba.”

“….”

‘Joyday’ was the name of the large fast-food chain Mr. Taeseon was supposed to meet. To suddenly meet the Chairman alone, cut off all contact, and be playing golf just the two of them…?

It was a plausible assumption, but I couldn’t fully accept it. It was merely something my uncle was saying to reassure me.

“What if he’s been caught up in something bad along with the Chairman…?”

“I told you the Philippine media is quiet. And if something happened in the middle of the capital or its vicinity, in this day and age, something would have already been posted on Instagram or TikTok.”

That… was true. We live in a world with surveillance cameras everywhere nowadays. I had heard warnings to be careful for that very reason from my parents and the Shaman several times. Truly, these days, anyone can become an informant just by surreptitiously picking up a phone.

“What should I do, uncle, if something has happened to Mr. Taeseon, I….”

I felt as if I understood, even if just a little, how Mr. Taeseon must have felt when he heard the news of my death. A feeling like the world was collapsing.

However, there was no time to wallow in that feeling. The moment Lili hopped onto the bed and approached my phone, it began to vibrate.