Chapter 2

　　A taxi glided to a stop in front of her. She took a moment to steady her breathing before peering into the driver’s seat. To her relief, a perfectly ordinary driver smiled back at her, a hint of curiosity in his eyes.

　　It’s okay. It’s daytime. They won’t appear.

　　Spotting her luggage, the driver pressed a button to open the trunk. As Muhee lifted the heavy suitcase inside, she noticed the zipper was slightly ajar. She dismissed it as a hasty mistake and zipped it shut.

* * *

　　"This is a complete ambush."

　　The refuge she’d fled to, leaving a perfectly good apartment behind, was her younger brother’s studio apartment. Muhyeok, who lived away from home for work, stood at the door with a dumbfounded expression.

　　"I’ll just crash here until Mom and Dad get back."

　　"I don’t recall giving you permission," Muhyeok replied flatly.

　　"It’s not like you bought this place with your own money," she retorted.

　　"It’s not yours either. You’ve got some nerve," he shot back. "My friend was supposed to sleep over tomorrow. Now I’m going to get an earful because of you."

　　"He can still come."

　　"Are you serious? How can I bring a grown man over with my older sister here? Even if he’s my friend, that’s just not right."

　　"It’s not like I can’t defend myself."

　　Muhyeok opened his mouth to argue, then clamped it shut, remembering the various martial arts his sister had mastered for self-defense.

　　Muhee casually opened the door to the spare room that doubled as a closet, glanced inside, and shoved her suitcase into a corner.

　　"By the way, if that friend of yours happens to be a girl, I apologize in advance."

　　"I said it’s a guy!" he shouted.

　　"It’s fine. Nothing to be ashamed of. You’re a grown man now, these things happen."

　　"Ah, Muhee, come on!"

　　Watching her little brother huff and slam his bedroom door, Muhee let out a small laugh. He’s gotten huge, but he’s still the same. They hadn’t seen much of each other since he moved out, and she’d worried it might be awkward, but she was relieved to find nothing had changed.

　　At least I’m with family I can trust. I should be able to sleep soundly tonight. With that comforting thought, she settled in for a peaceful evening.

　　The night fell. Muhee had spread bedding on the floor and was about to drift off when a persistent noise made her frown.

　　It was a car horn, blaring at a steady, maddening rhythm. She covered her ears, but the sound drilled into her skull. Yet, there were no shouts of complaint from the neighbors. She knew, instinctively, that she was the only one who could hear it.

　　She grimaced, the noise pollution agonizing.

　　Glancing out the window, she saw a plain black taxi parked in the alley below.

　　Damn it. It’s him. The hunky ghost who called her Mu and possessed an otherworldly skill behind the wheel.

　　Why did he follow me? How could he possibly know I was here? A torrent of frantic questions flooded her mind, but she forced herself to lie back down, keeping her eyes squeezed shut. She couldn’t risk their eyes meeting. If she could just hold out till the morning, he would be gone.

　　He had to be.

　　A faint sound, nearly lost beneath the blare of the horn. From the suitcase in the corner, a single, black strand of hair slithered out. It was followed by one, then another… The zipper began to part, the teeth separating with a slow, deliberate crawl, but the incessant honking completely masked the sound.

　　Soon, the zipper was wide open. A pale, bloodless arm extended from the darkness within. After groping once through the air, it slapped onto the floor.

　　The sound was bizarre, like something wet hitting the ground. The arm stretched forward again, and with a scrape, the suitcase lurched toward the bed. Once. Twice. Three times.

　　Her heart hammered against her ribs. The suitcase, now beside her bedding, began to move again with a clatter. She wanted to leap up and bolt from the room, but her body was frozen, betraying the frantic command of her mind.

　　She sensed the wheels had stopped moving. Her back was slick with sweat. She felt a weight press down on the covers behind her—a weight that was not her own.

　　The whisper of breath near her ear. A shadow falling over her, a presence she could feel even with her eyes closed. The tickle of hair against her cheek.

　　What did I do to deserve this?

　　The cursed dream from a week ago, the bizarre days that followed. Was someone tormenting her? Cursing her to eternal insomnia, to live every second in trembling fear, to have the very will to live squeezed out of her? She had pretended to be fine, inwardly cursing these unknown things, but she had been in agony. It was as if they were mocking her for daring to hope for a single night of peace in her brother’s home.

　　An icy sensation touched her neck. Her body was paralyzed as a hand closed in, ready to choke her.

　　Ah, right. She didn’t know what these things were, but she knew one thing. They were unwelcome guests, and they were here because they didn’t want her to be alive.

　　The car horn had stopped. A choking sound escaped Muhee’s lips as her throat was squeezed. It was a pressure she had never felt before, a force dragging her down, intent on drowning her in a swamp of pure terror.

　　But why? Is there no reason at all?

　　Her eyelids fluttered open. She didn’t want to see, but it just felt so unfair. A ghost was there, doing a handstand, strangling her. When their eyes met, its mouth stretched into an impossibly wide grin. She couldn’t fathom what it found so delightful.

　　A tear ran down her cheek. She was filled with despair at the thought of her little brother finding her corpse here. If she had known this would happen, she would have stayed home. She didn’t want to become such a burden on him.

　　"Mu."

　　A low voice. The man, to whom the now-familiar voice belonged, brushed away her falling tear. Her eyes darted to the side. The hulking man had somehow entered the room and was kneeling beside her, staring intently.

　　The tears of blood that had terrified the taxi driver were gone. He was just a normal-looking man with pale skin, his finger poised to wipe away her tears.

　　"Don’t. Cry."

　　The disjointed words strung themselves together, a clumsy attempt at comfort. Don’t cry, he says. As if he weren’t just another terrifying ghost making her life a living hell.

　　The man reached out, grabbing the arm that was choking her. With a grating shriek, the female ghost vanished. A shower of glittering light, like shattered glass, rained down over Muhee and the man. Through it all, he never once took his eyes off her.

　　"I. Will. Protect. You."

　　"…Why?"

　　For the first time, Muhee asked the unknown entity for the reason. He stood outside her door every dawn and followed her in a taxi without a license plate on dark nights. Despite his creepy behavior, he now claimed he would protect her.

　　"…Piti. Ful."

　　Pitiful? What was? The sight of her suffering, surrounded by ghosts? Her state of having slept less than ten hours in an entire week? Or was it…

　　"Fucking bastard."

　　An indescribable emotion unleashed a fresh flood of tears. The man cupped a finger beneath her eye, catching them before they could fall. He stared at the tear that trickled down the back of his hand, his expression still utterly lifeless. She couldn’t comprehend the emotions swirling within her, but one thing was certain.

　　For a fleeting moment, his gentle touch had felt like a comfort.

　　"Get lost," she spat. "I don’t need you. Don’t ever show your face to me again."

　　The hand that was moving to wipe her other cheek froze. He tilted his head, the angle so bizarrely inclined it was frightening. After a moment of silence, he simply patted her cheek, his touch surprisingly casual.

　　"There, there. Sleep now?"

　　Damn it. Usually, after a line like that, they’re supposed to give you a wistful look and disappear, right? Have I watched too many movies? When the reaction she expected didn’t come, she just closed her eyes again.

　　The steady pat, pat of his hand on her cheek echoed in the room. Is he trying to help me sleep or torture me?

　　But despite the absurd action, her eyelids grew heavy. Perhaps, she subconsciously reasoned, as long as this man was here, no other dangerous ghosts would approach. In her right mind, she would have cursed herself for such a thought, but right now, Muhee was too deadbeat to care.

　　She never knew that the man remained by her side long after she fell asleep, his gaze fixed on the traces of dried tears on her face.

　　The next day, Muhyeok came out of his room and stopped short, letting out a startled cough at the sight of Muhee sprawled across the dining table. With her long hair hanging down, her limp form looked like something between a ghost and a corpse. It was a deeply unsettling sight.

　　"Ah, Muhee! You scared me!"

　　"Shut up…" she groaned.

　　"If you’re going to sleep, do it in your room. Why are you out here?"

　　"The suitcase is in there," she mumbled.

　　Catching her garbled words, Muhyeok’s face twisted in disbelief.

　　"The suitcase?" he repeated, then stormed into the spare room and dragged the large, gray case out. Before Muhee could even cry out in protest, he was huffing with irritation.

　　"What’s so special about this suitcase that you’re acting so weird? Is a corpse going to pop out of it or something?"

　　"Muhyeok Han!"

　　"Seriously, try to act normal when my friend comes over, please. You were exhausting enough back in high school."

　　Muhee fell silent, a wave of guilt washing over her. She remembered how much her brother, who had attended the same school, had suffered because of her. It was always her fault, her over-sensitivity. Her family and everyone around her said she was strange.

　　"There’s nothing in here," he said, his voice softening slightly. "Please, just get a grip. You were doing better lately."

　　Yes, she had been doing better. Before that dream a week ago had turned her reality upside down.

　　The suitcase Muhyeok had unzipped and thrown open was filled with nothing but her belongings. He shot her an exasperated look, and she could only nod limply. A single strand of hair was caught in the zipper’s teeth, but she deliberately averted her gaze and mumbled a reply.

　　"Sorry. I haven’t been sleeping well. I must be exhausted."

　　"You quit your part-time job, didn’t you? Weren’t you on a break, resting at home? If you were going to be like this, you should have just gone on the trip with Mom and Dad."

　　"No, I didn’t want to interrupt their time together. Besides, my stepfather would be uncomfortable with me there."

　　"I guess that’s true. Ugh, I don’t know. My friend is stopping by later, okay? He won’t be long, so don’t worry. You can stay here for now."

　　"Okay."

　　"And… never mind. I’m going to the convenience store to grab us some lunch. Just rest."

　　Glancing at her silent form, Muhyeok looked like he wanted to apologize for his harshness, but instead, he just clicked his tongue, pulled on a hat, and headed out.

　　Muhee heard the front door closing and whispered, so softly it was almost inaudible.

　　"Take care."

　　The door clicked shut. At that exact moment, a cold hand from under the table gripped her delicate ankle, its hold tightening.

　　"Don’t be too late…"

　　She buried her face in her hands. The quiet plea would never reach her brother.