Page 12 of Vicious Spirits

“A few months ago, a private investigator came sniffing around. Said he was hired by some big-shot Seoul cop to find me. Said it had to do with my son. So I thought it was about time to come see how you were doing.” Jihoon’s father puffed on his cigarette, blowing out smoke in lazy clouds.

Big-shot Seoul cop. That could only mean one person. Hae Taewoo. Miyoung’s fists clenched. She must have been thinking the same thing Somin was. That her father, a man who had gotten close to Jihoon in order to find Miyoung, was still messing with their lives from beyond the grave. He’d tried to kill Miyoung this past spring, and now his actions had brought Jihoon’s father back to town.

It also wasn’t lost on Somin that the private investigator had found Jihoon’s father a few months ago, but he’d still waited to come. Probably because he needed something now.

“You guys, can I have a minute alone?” Jihoon asked.

Somin wanted to say no, and from Miyoung’s silence, she seemed to feel the same way.

Jihoon must have sensed it as well, because he said to his father, “Can we go downstairs to talk in private?”

Instead of replying, the man gestured for Jihoon to lead the way.

When Somin moved to follow them down the stairs, Junu held her back. “He wants to handle this alone.”

Somin wanted to object. She wanted to shout that this was unfair. That Jihoon didn’t deserve this. But she’d learned thatwhat was right and fair was rarely what happened in this world. Her friends’ broken lives were all proof of that. So she turned back to Miyoung.

“We can’t just stand here. That man is a bastard who abused Jihoon as a kid!”

Miyoung’s eyes were glued to the top of the stairs. “I’d like to siphon away all his energy and leave his body to rot.”

Even Somin was shocked by the vitriol she heard in Miyoung’s voice. “Can you still do that?”

“There’s only one way to find out.” Then she sighed. “But when my father came back, I needed to be able to face him alone. Jihoon probably needs to do the same.” Miyoung stepped into the apartment.

And, outnumbered, Somin followed behind her.

6

JUNU HAD TOLDSomin to allow Jihoon to face his father, but that didn’t mean Jihoon should be left without backup. Junu could tell Mr. Ahn was the type of person who abandoned the ones who needed him most until he could come around and leech off them. There were only two reasons for a man like that to come around: He was running from something or he wanted something. Either way, he should be dealt with quickly and efficiently.

Junu leaned against the front of the building, out of sight from the front windows, but close enough that with his dokkaebi hearing he could make out what was being said inside.

“There’s nothing for you here,” Jihoon was saying.

Don’t show weakness, Junu thought.Make him think he doesn’t affect you. Don’t let him have a piece of your pride.

“That’s not for you to decide,” Mr. Ahn said. There was the sound of lips puffing on the cigarette. A nasty habit, if you asked Junu.

“You can go through the place, but you won’t find anything but dirt. Might be fitting, I guess,” Jihoon said.

There was the sound of a smack. Skin against skin. The kind made from an open palm. A slap instead of a punch. A move meant to embarrass just as much as it was meant to hurt.

The sound of it painted Junu’s vision red. He clenched hisfists, his skin burning hot with his anger. And he knew it wasn’t just normal rage, but the beginning of dokkaebi fire. No, he hadn’t used it in centuries, and he wouldn’t break now. Not even as memories of his own broken childhood flooded back. Junu’s father had liked to punish with equal parts pain and humiliation. But his father had been dead for centuries and Jihoon’s father, though a bastard, was a human. It wouldn’t do to intercede or to use supernatural means to do so.

“You can’t hurt me anymore.” Jihoon’s voice was hard with defiance. Junu nodded in approval.Good. Don’t let him see your pain.

“Ingrate. I clothed and fed you for your first four years, and this is the thanks I get?”

“You barely took care of me and only did it because you were too cowardly to admit you couldn’t hack it as a husband and a father. When you went to jail, it was the best thing that ever happened to our family.”

“I don’t see your slut of a mother here!” Mr. Ahn shouted. “How is she any better than me?”

“Why did you come back?” Jihoon asked. “Was it for money?” There was the sound of coins hitting the floor. As if Jihoon had emptied his pockets.

“Here. It’s all I have,” Jihoon said.

“What about what your halmeoni left you? She must have had loads. Was always harping on me to save for your college. Where’s that money?”

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