Sang…Rae…20…95

„Hey Seohyun! Whatcha doin’?” Choa peeked over the younger girl’s shoulder.

“Ah,  it’s a... kind of reaserch.” Seohyun, embarassed, covered the paper she was writing on with a hand but she couldn‘t hide the notes from Choa’s sharp eyesight.

“Oh, you‘re writing about the Tower?”

“You know about it?”

“Well, yeah. When I was a child I‘ve been told some stories about it. You know, that horror stories for kids and such. Never got the chance to actually find out something about it. What are you researchin’?”

Seohyun sighed.

“It’s a long and teary story.”

Choa glimpsed at the notebook with an open, half-ready article about a/the phenomenom of poltergeist/s. Just now, when she got the opportunity to write something good, the work  couldn’t go any slower. She was also running out of a time, since the article was due the next day.

“It’s okay. I have time.”

“Few years ago I dated a boy who trained climbing. He decided to go to the Tower and to try climb on it. I told him it was a bad idea, but he wouldn’t listen. When he climbed on that tower – he disappeared. I didn’t know what to do. I was scared. I ran away. But I just can’t forget about it. So now, I’m looking up as much information about it as I can. ”

“You still love him?”

Seohyun shook her head. “ No. I just… Want to know what happened to him. People don’t simply evaporate like this.”

Choa nodded with understanding. Although Seohyun didn’t love her boyfriend anymore, she probably felt guilty she had ran away that day. And this was why she was working with Hyukjae and Donghae. To collect information easier.

“The more you know about other paranormal cases, the easier it is to link the fritters of information you’ve got into one piece.”  she said.

While the two girls were chatting, Hyukjae entered the room.

“Did you watch the news?”

Choa raised eyebrows and said no. Seohyun also looked surprised. “Check the news’ site.” Hyuk said and leaned against the desk. Seohyun quickly entered the site’s address and browsed through it. Hyukjae pointed his finger at one of the links.

“ The new, scary plague? The rats are terrorizing the city of Seoul? What is it?” Choa read out loud the headline and looked at her friends’ faces.

“For a few days several cases of abnormally large rats plundering neighborhoods of Seoul have been reported. The animals have been described as dog-sized and moving within small groups. The rats are knocking over rubbish bins, looking for a food. They weren’t said to be aggressive towards humans, however, one of the witnesses stated to have seen them fighting a cat and smaller rats. Where the rats came from and why they are so big is still unknown. The right service is examining the case right now.”

“There’s a photo attached.” Hyuk pointed his finger again.

“Ah, it’s so blurry…”

Indeed, it was hard to see what was on the photo. However, the mind started to put the white and black stains in the right order, revealing the subject. The three of them couldn’t deny – it was a large rat standing next to the tall rubbish bin, almost reaching to the half of it with its height. They looked at each other. None of them were saying anything but the same thought come to their minds. The atmosphere suddenly felt strange.

Donghae was about to finish his shift in the store. The job of a ghost hunter wasn’t really a reliable source of income, so he and Hyuk had to work at some other places to make ends meet.

I just have to put a few more cans on the shelf and I’ll be outta here. Just when he thought about it, his young co-worker Minho approached him. His expression was telling that something was afflicting him.

“Umm, hyung?” he asked uncertainly “Can I ask you for a favour?”

Donghae raised his eyebrows in curiosity. Minho was one of those people that liked to do everything by themselves.

“Yeah, sure. What is it?”

“It has something to do with your other job. The ghost hunting sort of a thing.”

Now it was really interesting.

“Oh, ok.” Said Donghae and looked at Minho, waiting for what the younger boy had to say. Minho hesitated, though.

“Let’s talk about it there.” He pointed at the back exit.

Donghae finished his last chores and changed to his casual clothes. He walked out through the back door and waited for a while for Minho. When he finally appeared, they sat on the stone stairs and began to talk.

“So you’re saying that your friend disappeared in that house?”

“He didn’t just disappeared. Something was in there. And I have a bad feeling that it could’ve got him.” 

It didn’t seem like Minho was joking. He looked really worried. Donghae thought that Hyukjae must’ve had similar expression on his face back then when they were younger. The memory gave him chills. In that moment he realised that he’ll be late to the office.

“I’ll see what we can do. I’ll call you later.” said Donghae, running to the bus stop.

When he reached the office, Hyukjae was about to call him.

“Hey. What was the case you wanted to talk about? The one you sent me a moment ago?”

“It’s about my dongsaeng, Minho. I think you may be interested in it.” Donghae quickly summarized Minho’s story. Just as he thought, Hyukjae didn’t make him beg.

“Since we have nothing else to do today, why don’t we go there and check?” he said, standing up with a spark in his eye, just like always when he felt like a leader. “Choa, are you going with us?”.

All this time Choa was listening with a one ear, since she tried to finish writing the article. Only few lines lef! But… Ugh! The case sounds amazing! I must see it myself! She grabbed her belongings and clumsily followed the boys, waving goodbye to Seohyun.

When they arrived at the place, they saw a house burnt to the half from the left side, just like Minho had subscribed it. It must’ve been pretty before it got burnt. It was surrounded by bushes but you could actually tell that the garden was also beautiful. I wonder who was living here, Choa thought.

It was still bright outside. Hyuk brang one of those ghost-searching devices from the car and the three of them entered the house.

“In this kind of places you can find ghosts. A woman have died here. Maybe we can meet her?” Hyuk said. Choa was very curious if they can really find something but on the other hand, she had goosebumps all over her arms and her heart was pounding loudly. She decided to go check upstairs.

Donghae find himself exploring the kitchen and corridor. There wasn’t anything to look at, only dust and some junks.

Then, under the pile of ash, he noticed something like a photo. He gently picked it up and blew off the dust. It was half-burnt, ironically, just like the house. Couldn’t recognize the people on it but Donghae was sure it was a wedding photograph. On the other side of it some words remained.

…Sang…Rae…20…95

So these are the owners. Mmm and Mmm, married on ’95. Alright, better than nothing.

“Over here! Look what I found!” Hyuk’s voice resonated through the house. Donghae, still holding the photo, left the kitchen and entered the corridor. Choa and Hyukjae were standing in front of door, that were propably leading to the basement.  It was pitch black down there; Donghae swallowed nervously.

“I’ll bring the flashlight.” Said Choa. When she went to the car, Hyuk smelled some odd scent getting from the basement.  Donghae also could smell it. They looked at each other inquiringly. When their female friend got back, she the flashlight and impatienly stepped onto the basement’s stairs. Hyukjae followed her but Donghae didn’t even moved.

“I have a Nyctophobia.” He said apologetically before Choa menaged to ask. She nodded her head but her face didn’t show if she understood or not.

The basement wasn’t big, just few meteres wide. Just like the rest of the house there was no furnitures. The walls were dark, covered with spider’s web and steeped with a smell of burning. And smell of something else…

Now the smell turned into odour, difficult to bear. It was an odour of a rotting meat.

Choa directed the light a bit further and almost screamed at the sight in front of her.

“What is that…?” she gasped but already knew the answer. She felt like throwing up and turned around. Hyukjae also covered his mouth with a hand.

A body of a huge rat was lying on the ground. It was dead.   

I'm so sorry for updating so late! If you have lots of work to do and you're lazy there's only one thing - insubordination. I will not make you wait for so long again.

Also, it will be over soon. I have two or three more chapters and i want to bring the story to the end.  But don't worry, i will write some other stories.

P.S. This chapter is only corrected in some parts. My beta was in hurry.

Love you all!

Meg