“You’re seriously going out with that kid?” Jiho demands incredulously. “He’s weird!”

Kyung is busy shoving a notebook and pencil case into his backpack and doesn’t look up. “Yes, Minwoo and I are going into town with Junhong,” he mutters, zipping the bag up. “It’s not like a date. We’re just going to the library.”

“On a Saturday,” Jiho points out huffily, crossing his arms.

Kyung rolls his eyes. “Yes, Jiho. On a Saturday. Now I have to get going or I’m going to be late.”

“Kyu-ung!” Jiho whines, but his best friend ignores him and leaves the room, his backpack slung over his shoulder.

He doesn’t get why Jiho is being this way. Sure Jiho has always been a bit jealous of any time Kyung spends with anyone other than Jiho, but he’s never been quite this bad. And even though Kyung knows his best friend isn’t religious at all, he’s never ragged on Kyung’s beliefs quite as much as this either. He shakes his head. He’s got too much to worry about with the possibility of a demon roaming the corridors of the castle to bother with why Jiho is suddenly being so needy.

He finds Minwoo and Junhong already waiting outside the front doors. They had originally planned to meet inside in the entrance hall, but Junhong maintained that he doesn’t want to be in the castle any longer than he has to.

“There you are,” Minwoo says when Kyung joins them.

“Sorry I’m a little late,” Kyung mutters. “Got hung up.”

The others don’t question him, however, and the little trio heads for the main school gate, where they’ll be able to catch the bus into town. There are several other students waiting for the same bus, so it’s pretty crowded, and Junhong doesn’t dare bring up the subject of a demonic haunting while other people can hear him. When the bus finally comes, it too is very crowded, and so their conversation is very limited.

They’re the only ones who get off at the stop for the public library, however, so suddenly they’re washed in quiet.

“So what exactly are we looking for in here?” Junhong asks as they climb the steps and enter the cool, quiet library. Because it’s a Saturday, there are several small children, university students, and adults, but not really any other students their age.

Minwoo frowns. “We’re not exactly sure, to be honest,” he admits. “But we need to find out as much about Peritia Academy as we can.”

“Let’s start with the library search engine,” Kyung suggests. “We should be able to put in the keywords and find all the books with references to the school.”

So they head over to one of the computer systems and Kyung quickly types ‘Peritia Academy’ into the search engine. After a second of searching, the computer shows them a list of fifty or so books that reference the school.

Junhong groans. “Great. This is going to take forever.”

Minwoo scribbles down the names of the books in his notebook, along with their sections and call numbers. Then he tears the sheet of paper into thirds, passing one to Kyung, one to Junhong, and keeping one for himself.

“Go find all the books on your list,” he says. “We’ll meet up at that table over there in the corner of the history section. It seems pretty deserted there, so we’ll be able to talk without being overheard.”

Junhong glances at the list in his hand. There are sixteen books on it, and he hasn’t the faintest idea how to start looking for them. He’s not exactly well-versed in the workings of a library. In fact, this is probably the first time he’s ever even been in a public library.

Kyung and Minwoo disappear at once, going to search for their books, leaving him all on his lonesome. Luckily for him, the librarian happens to be passing by and sees the confused look on his face.

“Can I help you, young man?” she offers kindly.

Junhong wordlessly hands her the list.

“Oh my, what a lot of books you’re looking for,” she chuckles. 

“I’m, uh, doing a report for school,” he lies stupidly.

But she doesn’t really seem interested in why he’s looking for the books. “These will all be over here in the history section. Right this way.”

The librarian seems to know exactly where each of the books is located, and soon Junhong’s arms are aching with the weight of them all.

“There you are,” she says, plucking the last one from its shelf and placing it on top of the towering pile in his arms. “Good luck with your report, young man.” And she’s off to help someone else.

Junhong staggers over to the table under the weight of the books, dropping them with a loud clatter. He’s the first to arrive, so he settles heavily into one of the chairs, drags the nearest book to him, and starts flipping through the pages.

After a bit, Minwoo and Kyung arrive, also loaded down with books. They’re huffing and puffing as they drop armfuls onto the table, but then they settle down to start rifling through the old pages as well.

Most of the books contain the same information, they quickly discover.

“Peritia Academy was founded in 1771 by Han Chinho, known as one of Korea’s most respected historians,” Minwoo reads aloud. “That’s literally all this book says about the school. That’s all any of these books have said.”

“What about this Han Chinho person?” Junhong asks.

“What about him?” Kyung asks with a shrug. “Everyone knows about him. He’s super famous, and for a lot more than founding the school.”

“Yeah,” Minwoo agrees, closing his book and putting it in the reject pile. “He’s a really famous historian. Wrote a whole bunch of books and stuff.”

Junhong looks around the table at all the books they’d gone through, none of which had told them anything other than the name of the founder and the date it was founded. “Well, do you guys have a better idea?”

Minwoo and Kyung look at each other. Neither of them has a better idea.

So they return to the computer and Kyung types in ‘Han Chinho.’ This time the computer takes a lot longer to go through the results, and when they finally come up on the screen, Junhong is alarmed to see that there are two hundred and sixty-three books referencing Han Chinho.

“,” he mutters under his breath. “We’re never going to get through this many books!”

Minwoo frowns. “I bet we can rule a lot of them out just by the titles,” he suggests. “We don’t need any of the books Han Chinho wrote himself. Those will just be histories. Let’s just go through the list and see if anything jumps out at us as particularly important.”

It is a long and daunting task. Kyung scrolls through the list slowly and three pairs of eyes scan the titles quickly, looking for anything that seems interesting.

It’s not until they’re on the third page of search results that Junhong suddenly points to a title. “This,” he says, not knowing why he’s so sure. “We need to find this book.”

“A history of the occult in Korea,” Minwoo reads the title. “It definitely stands out, that’s for sure.”

“And one book is going to be a lot easier to find than two hundred and sixty-three,” Kyung agrees, scribbling down the book’s title and call number. “Let’s go.”

So the three of them set off in search of the book. When they got to the appropriate section and shelf, however, they couldn’t find it. The book was missing.

“Maybe somebody checked it out?” Minwoo suggests uncertainly.

“Let’s go ask the librarian,” Kyung says determinedly. “Maybe it’s been returned by now and it just hasn’t been shelved.”

The librarian is checking out a little girl and her mother, so the boys wait, a bit impatiently, for their turn. When they get to the counter, the librarian smiles and says, “Checking out?”

“We had a question, actually,” Kyung says. “We’re looking for a particular book, but it’s not on the shelves. I was wondering if you could tell me if it had been checked out.” He hands the piece of paper with the book’s information to the librarian.

She hums to herself as she enters the information into her computer. “I’m sorry, but this particular book hasn’t been checked out in over a decade.”

Junhong feels his heart drop all the way into his stomach. He’s even more positive now that this is the book they need.

Minwoo frowns. “If it hasn’t been checked out and it’s not on the shelf, where would it be?”

But the librarian only shrugs. “I’m not sure,” she admits. “Somebody could’ve misplaced it on the shelves. There are an awful lot of books in here, and people are always putting books back where they don’t belong. Or it could’ve been damaged and removed from circulation and nobody bothered to take it out of the listings. I’m sorry I can’t help you boys.” And with that they are dismissed.

They leave the library feeling glum and dejected.

“Well, at least we learned one thing today,” Kyung says as they walk back to the bus stop. It’s late by now; the sun is already setting.

Junhong huffs. “And what is that?”

“Han Chinho was obviously involved in something with the occult,” Kyung points out. “And somebody just as obviously doesn’t want anyone to find out. Books like that don’t just go missing.”

Minwoo nods his agreement. “Now we just have to find out what Han Chinho has to do with the occult.”

Easier said than done, Junhong thinks dryly.