DH´s POV

Taxi driver

The moon was covered by a thick cloud when I tried to locate it on the vast dark sky. I was unsuccessful and leaned into my seat. Sitting in the old KIA, my cab, I the heating. It was October already and I just couldn´t warm up, twisting the red button, I hoped it wouldn´t be this cold. Only then I noticed a customer behind me on the back seat.

“I´m sorry, I didn´t hear you opening the door,” I apologized to the old man in plaid coat.

“Yeonjae, please,” he said quietly and I nodded my head.

Goose-bumps ran under my clothes again and I clenched my teeth, glancing at the man behind me, hoping he wasn´t as cold as me. He didn´t seem to complain, therefore I shifted the gear and started towards North and in the direction of Yeonjae. The road was wet and dark, trees around were moving from one side to another side like in a difficult exercise and I prayed that no branch would fall on my car.

“Sir, we´re in the neighbourhood, where exactly would you like me to drop you off?” I asked but the man didn´t answer.

I looked up into the rear mirror but there was nobody sitting on the backseat. I stepped on brakes, unfastening my seatbelt and leaning over the driver´s seat completely. The man was gone and with him the coldness too. The heating began finally working and my nose reddened. Great, I fell back and collapsed on the steering wheel, another apparition.

Sometimes this happens, I pick up a person who turns out to be a ghost passenger. The person disappears right when it´s time to pay, to my chagrin, which makes me quite lossy. Driving ghosts isn´t a very profiting business, I´m no Charon for that matter. It happened so many times that I lost count, it´s not even interesting anymore. Yet, it´s still frightening.

Pulling myself together, I drove back to the centre of Busan. I was just passing the dock when I noticed a bunch of school girls waving at me. I stopped and let them in. It was very late for high-schoolers to be out but I guessed that if they came late from a trip or something, they had no choice but to take a cab. Late night buses weren´t running that often and standing alone near the dock and waiting for the bus to arrive, wasn´t what young girls should be doing at this hour.

“Where do you want me to drive you?” I asked with a smile.

“Home,” one of the girls told me with a sad expression.

“And where is that?” I asked, trying to maintain the smile on my face. “I will take you.”

“Station,” she said in the end and I nodded in understanding.

I didn´t ask further, this one was obvious. Since the Sewol incident, I´ve been picking up many kids near the dock. At first, I avoided the part of the city, knowing perfectly well, they would choose my cab. But later I realised, I wasn´t as afraid of them as I was of other ghosts. I was only terribly sad, whenever I encountered these kids. I gave them a ride and then only waited for them to vanish from the backseat.

Somebody began sobbing, quiet cries echoed in the car and I had to clench my fists on the steering wheel to keep my cool. This was why I hated picking up children at the dock. When the sobbing quieted down, I looked in