Page 57 of Vicious Spirits

Junu sighed. “Just remember that your choices affect other people before you go riding off into danger. And I’d appreciate it if you didn’t tell Somin about this conversation. If it gets out that I had loose lips, then my business could suffer.”

“Sure, whatever.”

Jihoon let out a yawn, and Junu realized for the first time how exhausted Jihoon looked. Maybe Junu had been wrong to assume Jihoon wasn’t worrying. It seemed he hadn’t gotten any sleep either.

“You doing okay?” Junu asked.

“I’m fine, I just didn’t sleep well last night. I had the weirdest dreams, but I can’t remember them now,” Jihoon muttered as if talking to himself.

They finally reached the end of the traffic jam. It was a car accident that had closed two lanes. Police were talking to both drivers and neither looked very happy. One was animatedly gesturing toward the road, and the officers were staring at him like he was spouting nonsense. But Junu saw what had caused the accident. A ghostly woman stood in the middle of the lanes, her hair hanging in her face, dripping wet. A mul gwishin. And it seemed only one of the drivers could see her. Had probably swerved to avoid her.

“It’s getting worse,” Jihoon said. “The tear between the worlds.”

“We need to get home,” Junu said, stepping on the gas now that they were clear of the bottleneck.

27

SOMIN DISCOVERED THAT,though Junu’s kitchen had all the state-of-the-art cooking tools one would desire, it had no food. When she asked Miyoung, she was informed that Junu liked owning shiny things but he hated cooking, so he ordered in more often than not.

Annoyed, Somin reluctantly went out to buy food before they starved to death. Okay, fine, maybe that was an exaggeration, but she felt better being annoyed with Junu than being worried about him. So she held on to the feeling as she traversed the neighborhood to the closest market.

She was baking under the sun and out of breath as she lugged her groceries. Maybe she’d let her anger push her too far, as she’d bought enough food to make a full banquet. Sweat dripped into her eyes, and since both of her hands were filled, she tried to wipe it away with her shoulder. She heard shouts but ignored them as she shifted the bags digging into her palms. She didn’t realize that people were shouting at her to get out of the way until someone slammed into her and she went sprawling, groceries spilling into the road.

More people were shouting, yelling things she couldn’t process at first.

“What are you doing?”

“Wait, don’t!”

“Somebody stop him!”

She pulled herself up in time to see a man race into the street, right into oncoming traffic.

He turned for just a second, so Somin could see his face. His wide eyes were shifting wildly. And she had a moment of recognition as he howled, “He’s after me!”

Then a cab screeched as it slammed on the brakes and swerved to avoid him. But the cab clipped the man with the edge of its hood and he went flying. For a moment, as he soared through the air, she saw a moment of clarity on his face. And the madness was replaced with terror. Somin turned away, not wanting to see what happened next.

She heard the screams. People shouting about calling an ambulance, about getting help.

It’s that man, Somin thought.The one who said he was being haunted.

“The ghost drove him mad,” said a low, clear voice.

A shiver raced down Somin’s spine before she looked up. The boy in black stood beside her. The one she saw outside of Jihoon’s apartment. This close, she could see that he was gorgeous. Smooth pale skin, a long thin nose, and full lips. He was again dressed head to toe in black, including a black trench coat that was inappropriate for the sweltering weather.

“I’ve seen you before,” she said.

“This will happen again if he does not hurry.”

“Who has to hurry? What happened here?”

“Spirits should not spend too much time in the world of the living. Their influence can be... harmful.”

“Like driving a man to throw himself into traffic?”

“He must hurry,” the boy said, instead of answering her question. “The tear between the worlds is widening. This will happen again.”

“What are you?” Somin asked, because she knew that this beautiful boy could not be human.

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