Mu-ryeong’s Spirit

"……."
"……."
The steady sound of rain filled the silence. The soft plop, plop of raindrops hitting the umbrella mixed with the ambient downpour. They stood so close that their breaths nearly intertwined, their bodies pressed together just enough to make it seem like they could feel each other's warmth.

"……Why?"
Mu-ryeong caught a flicker of emotion in Hwan-young’s gaze—an unidentifiable hesitation, or perhaps something akin to longing. Neither emotion suited the current situation, making Mu-ryeong blink slowly in confusion.
"Do you not want to wear the raincoat?"

"……."
Hwan-young’s lips moved slightly. The reason his pale face didn’t look sickly was the striking contrast of his unusually red lips. His long, dark lashes, sharp nose, and deep black irises gave him a calm, still presence.
"……No."

"……."
"I don’t mind."
His low voice sliced through the sound of the rain, echoing in Mu-ryeong’s ears. For a brief moment, Mu-ryeong felt an overwhelming urge to scratch the inside of his ear. Hwan-young’s voice tickled, like the brush of a feather against his skin.

"Then I’ll put mine on first and hold the umbrella for you."
Feigning nonchalance, Mu-ryeong adjusted his backpack. He planned to wear the raincoat over it and leave the bag near the entrance once they got inside. Jumping the wall would be slightly inconvenient, but he had packed light today on purpose.
As Mu-ryeong rustled with the raincoat, Hwan-young remained still, holding the umbrella. He seemed to be watching Mu-ryeong closely, but his expression was unreadable. The only indication of his reaction was the slight twitch of his straight eyebrows whenever Mu-ryeong brushed against him.

"Here, give it to me. I’ll hold the umbrella now."
Without a word, Hwan-young handed it over. Then, he took the raincoat and began putting it on over his uniform. To keep him from getting wet, Mu-ryeong stretched his arm out and tilted the umbrella toward him.
"It’s not too small, right?"

Despite Hwan-young’s tall frame, the raincoat fit well. Bringing Mu-heun’s old one had been a good decision—if it had been any smaller, it would have been useless.
"Put the hood on too."
Without complaint, Hwan-young pulled the hood up. Then, reaching out, he firmly tugged Mu-ryeong’s hood into place as well. Mu-ryeong blinked, his eyes widening beneath the shadow of the hood.
"You didn’t even put yours on."

"……."
A beat of silence passed before Mu-ryeong's lips curled into a small smile. His dimples deepened, his expression bright and cheerful. Hwan-young turned his head slightly to the side, letting out an awkward cough.
"The ground’s slippery because of the rain, so be careful."

Since Hwan-young had never climbed a wall before, Mu-ryeong decided to demonstrate first. He bounced lightly on his feet, then leaped up, grabbing the top of the wall. His fingers gripped tightly to keep from slipping in the rain, and he smoothly pushed off the wall with his foot, lifting himself up. The graceful movement, effortless and quick, was reminiscent of a cat or some other small, agile creature.
Perched on the edge, Mu-ryeong hooked his fingers into the chain-link fence and glanced down.
"You can climb up, right?"

He wasn’t particularly worried. Hwan-young was naturally athletic—Mu-ryeong had been shocked at his agility during dodgeball, despite his broad frame.
"Throw this inside and then come over. I’ll go first."
Taking the umbrella from Hwan-young, Mu-ryeong tossed it over the fence. Then, as he always did, he easily jumped over the wire and landed lightly on the ground.

"……?"
In that same instant, someone landed beside him.
Hwan-young.

Mu-ryeong hadn’t seen him climb at all. One moment, he was on the other side of the fence, and the next, he was standing next to him, casually picking up the umbrella.
"……Have you done this before?"
"No?"

The question seemed pointless—what reason would Hwan-young have to scale walls? Mu-ryeong nodded in agreement, but when Hwan-young added, "You seem to have done it a lot," he couldn’t exactly deny it.
A lot was an understatement. There had been weeks where he climbed the wall more often than he used the front gate.
"……I wasn’t doing anything bad."

"Of course not."
Mu-ryeong had meant it as an excuse, but Hwan-young responded as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Feeling oddly embarrassed, Mu-ryeong took the lead, walking ahead. The wet ground made soft splashing noises with every step.
They stopped in front of the flower bed near the annex, where Mu-ryeong had been digging the day before. A new sign had been added next to the No Entry warning—a small, cheerful message reading, The flowers are in pain. Though nothing had been planted yet, the school planned to restore the flowerbed once the monsoon season passed.

"This poor flowerbed sure has been through a lot."
Most people would have given up on it long ago, but the English teacher remained stubbornly dedicated. Apparently, they had even made and placed the signs themselves.
"So what exactly are we looking for?"

"Well, first, a time capsule…."
Mu-ryeong narrowed his eyes, scanning the area carefully. The possessed student hadn’t appeared yet. Maybe it wasn’t time, or maybe they were just that good at keeping promises. Hoping for the latter, Mu-ryeong lowered his hands in front of him and murmured,
"It’d be great if we could find it tonight."

Hwan-young watched Mu-ryeong’s actions without blinking. He had seen this scene before, so it didn’t take him long to figure out what was happening. Yet, despite already knowing, he still couldn’t shake the feeling that Mu-ryeong was about to perform some kind of magic.
Whistle—
Mu-ryeong let out a sharp whistle, tugging his oversized raincoat snugly around him and extending both hands neatly in front of him. A faint smile lingered on his lips. At the same moment the high-pitched note rang through the air, three bright blue flames ignited in his palms.

"……."
It was almost like magic.
Fire, blazing in the middle of a heavy downpour—it was a sight that defied logic. The only difference from before was that instead of a single flame, there were now three.

"……You're keeping three goblins with you?"
The floating flames pulsed, their sizes expanding and shrinking as if to show off. One of them even flipped upside down and circled Hwan-young, as if taunting him. It wasn’t just a feeling—it was mockery.
"They're not things."

"……What?"
"Not things, but creatures. Not three things, but three beings."
As if to confirm Mu-ryeong’s words, the flames bobbed up and down in agreement, their glow flickering with an almost offended air. Mu-ryeong chuckled softly and reached out to tap one of them.

"Don’t be like that. He didn’t know."
The blue light illuminated Mu-ryeong’s face, casting eerie shadows in the darkness. As he lifted his eyes, he met Hwan-young’s gaze. The reflection of the ghostly flames shimmered in his black irises, dancing across his skin.
"They get sulky easily. You need to apologize."

"……Oh, uh, sorry."
Hwan-young’s quick, almost meek response felt out of character. Mu-ryeong tilted his head slightly, watching him curiously. Hwan-young was looking at him, but whenever Mu-ryeong tried to meet his eyes directly, his gaze awkwardly shifted.
"……So, what are you asking them to do?"

"Ah."
With a small noise of realization, Mu-ryeong slid his hand into the upper part of his raincoat. After rummaging around his bag, he pulled out a handful of ten-won coins from his front pocket. Without hesitation, he tossed three into the air.
"……."

Hwan-young’s eyes widened.
The moment the coins left Mu-ryeong’s fingers, the flames darted forward, swallowing them whole. Not a single trace remained.
Mu-ryeong, looking thoroughly pleased with himself, spoke in a tone reminiscent of a kindergarten teacher.

"We’ll be covering a lot of ground tonight, so it’ll be a tough job."
Truthfully, he should have done this yesterday. It would’ve saved him from digging through the dirt with his bare hands and getting those cuts. Of course, a little bit of theatrics had been necessary to put the ghost at ease, but still.
"Check the entire building and find any old objects buried underground."

"……."
"When you find something, don’t touch it—just come back and tell me. Got it?"
Mu-ryeong was the only one talking, but it was clear who he was speaking to. The flames flickered as if nodding in response.

"It’s fine if you can’t find anything. Just don’t push yourselves too hard."
As soon as he finished speaking, the flames vanished. Even the faint afterimage they had left in the air was gone in the blink of an eye.
"……."

The world around them was once again swallowed by darkness. But for them, both possessing spiritual sensitivity, it wasn’t a problem.
Mu-ryeong stared at the empty space where the flames had been, then glanced over at Hwan-young, who stood stiffly beside him. A playful grin spread across Mu-ryeong’s face.
"Now, should we find somewhere dry to wait?"

This was exactly why he had said he didn’t need help. The goblins would do all the work while he simply waited.
"……."
Hwan-young finally seemed to grasp this fact, letting out a dry chuckle, his expression incredulous. Ridiculous… he seemed to murmur under his breath—probably something along the lines of I really didn’t need to offer to help, did I?

"You pay them with money?"
"Money? Oh…"
Mu-ryeong looked momentarily puzzled before nodding in understanding. It made sense—Hwan-young had seen him hand over the ten-won coins, so of course he’d assume it was payment.

The real issue, though, was that he was only giving them ten won.
"That’s not even minimum wage…"