Yongsun was a student. A pursuer of knowledge and facts by choice. She was also an oddly spiritual person.

Legends and myths are not the most accurate sources of information and they rarely have any pictures or paintings to back them up. Even the ancient tomes that did were labeled as fiction, not worth any historian's time. But Yongsun had always been a believer in these sorts of things. She wanted to believe. There had to be something more out there than meets the eye, more to the world than what was written down. She had inherited this love for the unknown and the occult from her grandmother.

Park Jihyo had been a kind old lady. Her booming voice and bright eyes came with tales of the many spirits she had befriended. She had pinky-promised a young Yongsun that she'd introduce her to them one day, after she had a chance to go ahead and set up a play date.

"Can you go ask them now? I really wanna go now!" Little Yongsun had begged.

"You'll have to wait, little one. The spirits will invite Granny first, I can't just waltz in whenever I want."

"But why?" 

"You'll understand when you're older."

And Yongsun did grow to understand. She grew old enough to realize that Granny Jihyo 'going ahead' to 'set up a play date' was not actually a play date. Or a hang out, as high school Yongsun preferred to call it. In fact, Yongsun had grown enough to worry for her grandmother. The stories of benevolent demons and sentient wisps had raised no questions other than 'Can I meet them?' when she was younger, but now she was questioning Jihyo's mental health. And so were other members of her family. The doctor told them it was fine to play along, as long as Jihyo didn't attempt to do anything that would harm herself or others. The sad truth was she was getting quite old. Or as Jihyo put it, she was 'moving up the invitation list'.

When Granny Jihyo did eventually get invited over, Yongsun was being invited to attend one of the most prestigious music universities in the country. They both accepted their invitations. Jihyo told Yongsun that she was sure to succeed in everything she wanted to do. Yongsun told Jihyo that she had plenty of time to set up her play date and to take it easy once she got over there. Jihyo made Yongsun promise that she wouldn't cry at the funeral.

"Crying is for goodbyes, Yongsun. You'll see me again when you come to 'hang out' with the spirits and I."

Yongsun did her best to wipe away the tears and smile, promising to come as soon as possible.

"Nonsense! I better not see you for a long time, young lady."

True to her word, Yongsun didn't cry.

One of the things that was left to Yongsun was a book. She had let out a wet laugh when her mother handed it to her. It seemed silly, but it was a gift straight from Jihyo, one she wouldn't take lightly. She didn't touch it for weeks after she got it. But, as she was packing her things for university, she finally took a proper look. The words Spirit Index were embossed on the hard leather cover, the letters gilded to match the gold clasp holding the book shut. Yongsun clicked it open for the first time and began to read through.

There were entries and illustrations depicting hundreds of types of spirits. It was almost like an encyclopedia. Names of spirits, how friendly to humans they are, the best time of day to summon them, on and on. On the back of each page was the spirits' respective summoning rituals. In the top left hand corner of entry was a small strip of metal that seemed to extend into the binding between pages. Eventually Yongsun found that there were five types of metals: copper, bronze, silver, gold, and platinum. These were to denote how dangerous the spirit was from least to most deadly, or at least that is what she read in the key.

The entire book was handwritten, Jihyo's neat and soft handwriting filling hundreds of pages. Notes were scribbled in the margin after lines were taken up and every so often she would see a little bubble next to a name that read 'Friend'. There were also pages with no pictures or even no names, only the words 'DO NOT SUMMON' written in their place, though this was mostly in the platinum section.

Her first summoning was in the beginning of the school year. Yongsun had been bored and was procrastinating, reading through the silver and gold sections instead of doing her chores. She lived in a private dorm room, courtesy of the university, so she often fell behind on chores in favor of doing homework, with no roommate to scold her for doing so. She stumbled across an entry titled 'Bae Joohyun (Irene)', an ice elemental spirit who was listed in the middle of the silver tier. Yongsun vaguely remembered seeing a few other elementals who also had two names. The traits section listed a few points that caught Yongsun's eye.

Will act cold towards you at first , as is her nature, but is a motherly figure to those close to her.

Wear freshly washed and ironed clothes when summoning her. Enjoys laundry related chores (washing, folding, ironing, etc).

Be polite in conversation. Mentioning your distaste for chicken will make her open up to you faster.

How convenient. Yongsun was sure there was no way any of this was real. The book made for an interesting read, she thought, not for much else. But a small part of her remembered the stories Granny Jihyo would tell, the way she had gotten so excited, as if she were actually recounting her experiences. Yongsun looked at the pile of clothes on her bedroom floor and considered her options before turning to Joohyun's summoning ritual.

Throw a piece of chicken in the trash and say "Kiyub".

What did she have to lose?