PS- this is part two of this update!!

Minseok enjoys travelling. There’s a sort of fun disassociation that comes with travelling that allows him to simply empty his mind, enjoy the view, and mindlessly roam through random thoughts or listen to music. He finds it incredibly restful, and in a sense rather therapeutic.

And after the final exams, this was a wonderful welcome reprieve towards a long awaited break before entering his final semester where he would need to prepare for his thesis. He already has an idea on what to do, but he needs to discuss matters with his advisor.

But his advisor, bless her lovely heart, also needed a break. So Minseok sort of looks forward to this utterly random road-trip for their next episode.

Baekhyun had found the place, combing through random mails (a lot of mails) sent to them, requesting them to investigate certain places, or just random stories and or myths from certain areas. This one had apparently been interesting enough for Jongdae to want to genuinely look into. It was also apparently a scenic place to go so Minseok looks forward to filming something idyllic instead of some dilapidated building.

Normally, Jongdae and Baekhyun gave him a run-down of where they were going, what they were investigating, and the background for the location, story, or people involved. But due to exams, Minseok had been out of touch and was only aware that after the final exam date, they would be travelling out immediately. And as the driver, Minseok had to know where and when they would be leaving so he could prepare renting out a car for the trip, being the only one with a license.

Jongdae and Baekhyun arrive at 9 AM sharp. Jongdae looking much more awake than Baekhyun who looks somewhat half asleep. They’re both carrying duffle-bags and pulling along Baekhyun’s massive and ridiculously strong suitcase they would be storing all of their equipment in.

‘Good morning!’ Jongdae beams, handing Minseok a cup of coffee before Minseok can even greet him back.

‘Thanks Dae,’ Minseok takes the cup as he steps back, allowing the duo to enter.

‘I love your place hyung,’ Baekhyun says sleepily, ‘So clean and always smells so good.’

‘Is this what it looks like to be an adult?’ Jongdae wonders, standing near the living room and looking around with admiration.

‘Stop up,’ Minseok rolls his eyes, gulping down his coffee. ‘I’ll be ready in a few minutes but fill me in on what we’re gonna be doing.’

Baekhyun stretches before collapsing like a noodle into the grey couch Minseok himself has crashed into many times. It’s not that Minseok came from a very rich family- he still worked a steady part-time job (though now this could be considered his part-time job) and saved up on everything as best as he could. But he lucked out when an aunt who lived in the city, mentioned that one of her friends was letting out a nice one-bedroom studio space and would give it to Minseok for a significantly cheaper price than anything of its size in the market. It was a little far away from the university, but Minseok learnt to adapt.

Minseok is proud of where he was, and couldn’t wish for more.

‘I’m genuinely excited to go,’ Jongdae grins as he takes a seat next to Baekhyun, shoulders bouncing a little. ‘From just a general story-telling perspective, it’s really cool too!’

‘There’s a greenhouse,’ Baekhyun explains as he yawns before sitting up straight, ‘And it’s been built over what was thought to be pretty normal and standard property but- I did some digging into the area-‘

‘-Baekhyun genuinely called like, 5 estate agencies and the agriculture department in the area,’ Jongdae says, sounding proud.

‘-want concrete facts!’ Baekhyun exclaims before continuing, ‘So it turns out that a huge section of the land there used to look really different before- it was a small community about, give or take, 80 years ago? And this is the original layout.’

With some difficulty, Baekhyun procures his tablet from inside his jacket pocket and after finding the images, slides it over to Minseok over the carpet where he was packing up.

‘I’ve circled the plot of land we’re going to investigate,’ Baekhyun tells him. ‘Also outlined the land right now in green! See! Complementary colours!’

‘You take one seminar in design and now you’re a master at colour theory,’ Jongdae remarks dryly before shuffling towards Minseok on his knees to just poke at his packing, ‘Hyung, your packing is so neat.’

Minseok slaps his inquisitive paws away before he squints at the tablet. It’s fine at first, nothing remarkable before Minseok swipes to the edited photo.

The property they were looking at now stood directly on top of what used to be a crossroads some 60 years back.

A lot of cultures across the world had stories and myths regarding crossroads. Minseok’s aunt has said many times that living in a house near any crossroad intersection invited, not bad, but not necessarily good circumstances. Of course now with modern technology, the development of massive electricity-based networking, a lot of the past myths and or legends were no longer applicable because the basis of fear long changed from the primal fears of darkness, predators, hunger, cold, and being lost. But some things still existed and pushed on – fear, hatred, anger, malice, cruelty- all of this still existed and could ade any place with newly adapted forms.

And crossroads were excellent places to allow these to gather and strengthen.

But Minseok doesn’t want to jump to conclusions.

‘Crossroads!’ Baekhyun exclaims, ‘But it’s not just that! Jongdae found old newspaper reports from this area and!’

‘Witchcraft,’ Jongdae says gleefully.

‘Witchcraft?’ Minseok repeats slowly.

Well, .

‘Yes!’ Baekhyun nods excitedly, all sleepiness gone. ‘Reports of witch-doctors and shamans being heavy influencers at the time. I think this area, at the time, before it is the way it is now, wasn’t very fertile? Like, not a lot of farming was possible. And so witch-doctors and shamans were really influential and stayed in this area a lot. In fact, according to some of the earliest records, this place doesn’t have a proper irrigation system so the shamans were requested to specify points where they could dig wells.’

Minseok shifts uncomfortably at that.

‘We’re guessing there were a lot of sacrifices done?’ Jongdae wonders, ‘I looked into the kind of shamanism they might have followed in the area and most rituals do require some sort of blood.’

Minseok knows this well. Most were just harmless rituals of burning herbs in animal fat obtained from the butchers- but if this went to the more serious, more dangerous side of witchcraft, it was absolutely possible that it could have even lead to something more ghastly than animal sacrifices.

‘So this place is a greenhouse now?’

‘Yeah,’ Baekhyun nods, ‘Whatever witchcraft they did then works now because the government expanded irrigation channels to this area and leveled some of the smaller hills here for making space for paddy fields. But most of it is gone and there’s houses in this area,’ he reaches over and taps at an area a little away from the circled zone. ‘This area is still farm land- but I think it’s like, fruit trees and maybe vegetable patches?’

Jongdae nods.

‘And what’s the story?’

‘The greenhouse was a government project but later went to private ownership,’ Baekhyun reels off, taking back his tablet. ‘They grow some rare plants, but it’s mainly like a park for the public? Date spot? It’s nice-‘

‘-but the story is,’ Jongdae butts in, bringing them back to the topic, ‘-the greenhouse keepers don’t like to stay after dark. Closing time is at 8, and no one ever stays back, and no one walks around by themselves in the garden alone after dark.’

Jongdae sounds oddly enthusiastic about this, which is odd to Minseok because Jongdae wasn’t one to find any of this worthy of enthusiasm.   

‘The person who reached out to us, a Mr. Jeon Jungkook, works there. His best-friend is a fan, and told us to email us especially after they found this,’ Jongdae is almost shivering as he grabs Baekhyun’s tablet and furiously taps about.

‘It’s a little scary how enthusiastic you are,’ Minseok laughs, ignoring the uncomfortable feeling in his gut.

‘Hyung, same,’ Baekhyun laughs, ‘I think it’s because it doesn’t really fit what he thinks is the “cliché” ghost story.’

‘Here!’ Jongdae eagerly waves the tablet at Minseok who takes it.

He’s a little confused for a moment, glossing over the polite and well constructed email before his eyes register the images he’s looking at.

‘Eggs.’

Minseok stares at the dirt-covered egg on the recently excavated ground, a pair of rubber-boot clad feet in the photo as well.

He’s definitely very uncomfortable now.

‘They found what?’ Minseok stares at the picture of the egg, his mind whirling. 

‘Eggs, buried in the four corners of the land.’ Jongdae sounds excited.

‘I-…I’m assuming they’re not like- I dunno, goose eggs or swan eggs or-‘ Minseok wonders if there was a poultry farm somewhere.

‘-no they were chicken eggs,’ Baekhyun explains sound creeped out but also excited.

Minseok feels distinctly uncomfortable.

This was bordering on not just “aesthetic” witchcraft like he hoped for, but on genuine black-magic like actions.

‘Mr. Jeon says he broke one accidently with his shovel, and he says he found hair in them,’ Jongdae sounds almost creepy with how excited he was, ‘That’s so gross isn’t it hyung? So gross and original I’ve never heard this before-‘

A shiver runs down Minseok’s back.

He wishes he knew what they were looking into before Baekhyun and Jongdae made the decision to go for this investigation.

.

Minseok hates witchcraft. Though a better word for it would be shamanism. His aunt always warned him of places that used shamanism and till now, a shrine, or a house that has been “blessed” using shamanism still gets to him. It wasn’t always negative- shamanism has been used for positive of course- but the weight of what it could open up to was incredibly heavy. Minseok has never had to deal with shamanism before- not directly at least. He’s been near shrines, seen a few shamans, been to 2 houses blessed by shamans- each experience left him uncomfortable, like a sticky substance on his skin, pulling down slowly with a weight he can’t shake off.

‘-but he freaked out, and ran away to get his friend. When they got back, because of course his friend didn’t believe him, it was gone.’ Jongdae finishes, unaware of Minseok’s internal struggle. ‘After that, he was determined to prove what he saw. So almost a month later, he found the egg again- and he yelled for his friend, and that’s how they took this picture. Mr. Jeon wanted to break the egg again, but his friend freaked out and stopped him,’ Jongdae laughs, ‘Or at least that’s the story.’

‘And that’s it?’ Minseok asks, sounding as normal as he could.

Instead Jongdae and Baekhyun give him twin devilish grins.

‘So- remember what I said about the whole, not staying here after dark?’ Baekhyun gestures with the tablet, ‘So Mr. Jeon, who is new to the place actually, summer-job I think he said? He started asking around and the older employees. Damn, the amount of stories- here, he lists them here!’

Minseok swipes up towards the email and at the neat bullet-points of every single incident he was able to hear about. Strange shadowy figures, full body apparitions, things moving from their place, foul smells, feeling like they’re being followed, phantom touches, sounds of displaced footsteps, giggling, doors slamming shut, windows slamming shut.

‘There’s a lot of stories,’ Jongdae nods, ‘But it’s just so cool to me! The whole set-up! Even if this is just a hoax, this is a really good one and I need in on it!’

Great. Baekhyun’s enthusiasm was one thing. Most times Jongdae simply indulged his best-friend and went along. But with both of them raring to go, Minseok doesn’t know how to deter them.

But other than that.

Minseok is also intrigued.

And maybe Baekhyun and Jongdae’s enthusiasm was getting to him, because despite the clear discomfort he felt towards shamanism, Minseok wants to investigate.

*

Baekhyun falls asleep 30 minutes into the car-ride. Jongdae sits shot-gun, having won an unnecessarily aggressive rock-paper-scissor match. It was mainly to fight over who would get the AUX cable. But he’s quiet right now, just humming along to the music playing quietly from his playlist.

Minseok likes listening to Jongdae sing and despite the destination they were headed for and the activity they were about to start, it’s a nice relaxing drive. The weather was nice and clear and not too cold just yet. The trees were bare and dry, but the sunlight filtering through them was a nice warm tone. Minseok is reminded of the drives his family used to go on in the winters to parks and other places. And everything is perfect when they stop for a short break and Baekhyun finds some wonderfully sweet oranges at a local market. Jongdae insists of making them a little warm by placing them on the dashboard, and it’s incredibly endearing as well as nostalgic.

Baekhyun takes a picture of them and posts it up on their social media accounts. They laugh as he reads out a few comments here and there, the fragrance of oranges encasing them like a protective shield from what they were about to get into.

The town is a small, farming community. Most of the people outside were older, wearing thick comfortable work-clothes. Minseok doesn’t really spot a lot of people his age or a little older. It was possible that most were living and working in the city.

So far, Minseok can’t tell I anything is terribly off with the town. It’s also fine when they pull up to what is clearly the only motel in the area.

According to Baekhyun, Mr. Jeon Jungkook and his friend would be waiting for them. Minseok spies two very tall young boys, probably in their late teens, standing near the doorway of the motel.

‘Is that them?’ Jongdae asks.

‘Yeap, I think so. That’s Jungkook, and the other one must be Taehyung,’ Baekhyun replies, squinting a little as Minseok slows to a stop.

The two boys are beaming as they bow before they’re even remotely close. They’re both fresh faced and young, a little shy and awkward but still enthusiastic.

‘Hi!’ the one that Minseok guesses is Jungkook. ‘It’s so nice to meet you!’

‘Hi!’ Baekhyun yells, pushing against Jongdae’s face with equal enthusiasm, ‘It’s good to see you too!’

‘Where can I park?’ Minseok has to yell before Baekhyun decides to start a conversation there and then.

‘Ah!’ Jungkook looks around a bit flustered before the other one next to him says in a shockingly deep voice and two thumb’s up, ‘It’s around the back! We’ll help carry your stuff!’

They’re excessively polite and boisterously help them take in their equipment, all the while talking loudly over each other about how they’re both big fans and were so happy to see them there.

‘Ah,’ Jongdae sighs, ‘Kids these days have so much energy.’

‘I don’t think they’re more than 5 years younger than you,’ Minseok deadpans.

‘So cute,’ Jongdae continues, pretending not to hear Minseok. ‘So tall.’

And they were indeed tall.

Sehun would definitely have some comment about this episode, Minseok thinks darkly.

The hotel owners are an older married couple who greet them with enough enthusiasm to embarrass Baekhyun and Jongdae because they exclaim that they’ve never had celebrities in the area before. Baekhyun is very quick to dash this idea down, stammering and turning red.

‘Ah! You should have come in September or October!’ the woman exclaims, ‘It’s so pretty then with the harvest and fruits!’

‘But ma, they haven’t come for sight-seeing,’ Taehyung comments, saving them from having to explain the honestly strange reason why they were here, ‘They’re here for the you-know-what.’

The couple laugh at Taehyung, ‘Of course of course, you young kids enjoy yourselves then! Dinner will be at 7 at the dining room!’

‘Your parents?’ Baekhyun asks, looking surprised as Taehyung shows them up to their rooms. Both Taehyung and Jungkook laugh at that.

‘No,’ Taehyung grins, ‘Our best friend’s parents, we practically grew up together so I call them both familiarly.’

‘I’ve been your best friend for ages, and you still make me formally bow to your parents,’ Baekhyun complains at Jongdae who sniggers.

‘The rooms aren’t very big,’ Jungkook begins apologetically.

‘That’s absolutely fine,’ Jongdae says dismissively before gesturing to all of them, ‘We’re vertically challenged.’

Neither of the two boys look like they don’t know whether to laugh or stay silent so instead politely change the subject with the subtlety of a thunder storm.

‘So- ghosts, am I right?’ Jungkook begins bravely, clapping his hands for effect and attempting to lean on the wall nonchalantly.

Minseok has to duck into his assigned room, face turning red from his efforts not to laugh out loud. The room is a nice clean, simple room. A small but comfortable looking low bed with what looked like hand-made mattresses and blankets rolled up to the side. A low bed-side table with lamp, extra sockets and plugs, and an electric kettle with two cups on a tray. There are rubber slippers on the bathroom mat and a quick look shows Minseok a small but clean toilet and shower area. Minseok remembers spying a local market across the street into this little town. They might  need to get some small supplies.

He unpacks his stuff, mainly his equipment and by the time he’s done, Baekhyun pokes his head in.

‘Jungkook and Taehyung are gonna give us a short tour of the place, and take us to the greenhouse! We think we might do the interview now with Jungkook and Taehyung, and scout places to put our cameras in tonight!’

‘Shouldn’t we not be going around at night?’ Minseok asks.

Baekhyun just grins, looking excited and nervous.

Minseok sighs.

This was going to be a long trip.

*

It was definitely much colder here than back in the city. It was also starting to get windy and Minseok is happy they all had the foresight to bring thick padded jackets and coats though it made carrying equipment a little tough. But for just the interview, Minseok brings only 2 cameras, a handful of coloured markers to note future camera spots, and several mics.

Jungkook and Taehyung, once they got over their shyness, were talkative and cheery. They walk them towards the greenhouse and Minseok takes a few clips here and there to potentially add into the episode. They had done a short introduction inside the car as they pulled into the town, with Baekhyun taking one of the GoPros. They made another short video with the owners of the motel, Mr. and Mrs. Park, who very sweetly cheered the show but with the wrong name.

‘It’s the thought that counts!’ Baekhyun had declared, while Jongdae turned pink trying not to laugh, his eyes twinkling.

When they walk past a house, Minseok feels, rather than hear, bells chiming.

He glances at the house, unsure if he was just imagining things. The moment he steps out of the shadow of the house, he notices with a startling realization, that his ears clear and open. He looks back, trying to scan the house as much as he could as he walked on.

‘Are you okay?’

Minseok is surprised to find the other boy, Taehyung, pausing to wait for him.

‘Oh yeah,’ Minseok smiles up, ‘Just got distracted.’

Taehyung gives him a curious look before accepting his answer and going on a long detailed lecture on when to pick strawberries for the perfect sweetness.

It’s almost 6 when they reach the greenhouse.

And Minseok hates the way his skin prickles.

Not because of the cold, or because of walking longer than he expected after driving for so long.

Baekhyun nervously smiles at his GoPro.

The entire area that consisted of the greenhouse is a series of long, tall, and neatly structured tarp-covered constructs. Minseok can see how it would be considered beautiful but honestly he can’t help but shudder at the chill this entire land was emitting. This was 10 times worse than Junmyeon’s childhood home.

‘That’s some really nice radishes!’ Jongdae exclaims loudly, walking over to said vegetable, piled up after being very recently harvested.

‘Ah yes! They’re very sweet too!’ Taehyung says delightfully, ‘Wait I think he’s here- JIMIN! JIMIN CAN I HAVE A RADISH!?’

In the distance you could spot a bunch of people still working on some parts of the field. They hear a voice from across the field yell back, ‘JUST ONE OR I’LL KILL YOU!’

‘YOU’RE ON TV! I LOVE YOU!’

‘NO I’M NOT! LOVE YOU TOO!’

Taehyung grins back at them while Jungkook covers his face with a hand.

Jongdae is cackling, having caught that all on his GoPro.

Minseok looks out into the field. The sun was just setting and it was casting a rosy golden light across the freshly dug up soil. But somehow the warmth of the setting sunlight wasn’t enough to really lighten up the greenhouse as they step closer and closer.

And somehow, the fully blossoming red camellias seem to add an even stronger terrifying aesthetic over the whole place.

‘Oh my god? This is sweet!’ Jongdae exclaims, munching on a bit of radish Taehyung had sliced off with a pocket knife.

Still munching on some freshly cut radish, an odd snack for sure, they set up a place to interview the two boys with the greenhouse land as backdrop. They garner some interest from the locals, who gather around slowly as they return home from their farming work.

To Minseok’s surprise Jungkook seems to know exactly how to work around a mic.

‘I’m a freshman in a film school,’ he confesses to Minseok, ‘I work here for the money during holidays.’

Minseok nods in understanding.

The interview goes well. Baekhyun introduces the story to the camera, reciting what they researched about the area, and some backstory into witchcraft and shamanism. Then Jungkook and Taehyung come in and explain their story. Jungkook does a good job narrating his story- it’s a little funny, but from his tone you can tell how genuinely disturbed he was with what he saw and found. But what’s surprising is Taehyung’s story.

As it turns out, Jungkook had found those eggs with Park Jimin, their other best friend who had been out in the radish field. Taehyung as it would turn out, not only worked at the farm full time, but his family owned the place.

‘Before the greenhouses were built and the park established, my family home used to be located a little way down there, past the white and green tarp,’ Taehyung points all the way towards the back. They would have to get him to show them all the main locations. ‘But we moved out before I was born and the house was torn down.’

Baekhyun and Jongdae both literally lean in, as though to hear everything as best as they could.

Minseok notices how some of the locals had gathered around. It almost feels like telling ghost stories around a small fire, or when the power used to go out when Minseok was a kid, and his parents would tell stories. Somehow, everyone being here, all light-hearted and genuine, made this whole thing comfortable for Minseok. Almost as though the people who lived here were counter-balancing the thing that existed in the greenhouse.

‘When my mum was pregnant with me,’ Taehyung describes this as he mimes a round belly, waddling a little in his seat, eyes a little big with earnestness. Minseok can see the way Baekhyun’s expression is incredibly endeared. ‘Her brother came to stay with her because my dad was away at the city during this part of the story. She was in her 8^th month? Trimester?’

Both Jongdae and Baekhyun look at each other in confusion, as Taehyung looks at Jungkook for confirmation, before all four of them look at Minseok for the answer.

Minseok shrugs.

‘The third trimester you fool!’ a voice says from the gathering crowd. It sounded familiar so Minseok guesses this was the other best friend.

Taehyung grins at the direction of the voice while there’s some chuckling from the small group of people behind them.

‘Because this place was still wild, there were cases of coyotes and foxes,’ Taehyung explains, ‘And at one point, my parents kept chickens too, so they had built these tall walls around the house and the grounds, with glass bottle spikes around the top. There was only one way in, through a heavy and thick door that was padlocked from the inside, every night.’

Jongdae and Baekhyun nod to this, forgetting the cold wind as they listened intently. Minseok makes a mental note to tell them that the next interviews should be hosted indoors next time.

‘One night, when my mum was sleeping, she thought she heard someone calling her name.’ Taehyung narrates. ‘She thought it might have been her neighbour, who at the time, was also pregnant with her son. So she got up and looked out of the door and called back out. But she heard nothing and didn’t see anyone.’

‘Yeah! Because mum was in the hospital at the time! Giving birth to me!’ that voice calls out.

Both Jongdae and Baekhyun burst out into laughter as Taehyung shoos him away from where he was sitting, Jungkook miming at him to shut up.

‘So she goes back in, and falls asleep pretty quickly. But again, she hears someone calling her name, right at her ear. She’s a bit afraid at this point. She’s also annoyed because well- pregnant,’ he mimes again, ‘and tired- she’s also wondering if some kids were playing pranks on her.’

‘Don’t do this kids!’ Baekhyun says sternly towards the camera.

‘So she sits up and looks out of the window above her bed. She doesn’t see anything even though the moons out. My mum thinks she’s dreaming so she just goes back to sleep,’ Taehyung explains. ‘This time she doesn’t get to fall asleep when she hears someone call her name and her door slams shut. She gets up really quickly, shocked, because she didn’t know her door was even open. She calls her brother and he gets in there very quickly because well-‘ he mimes a belly again. ‘And she tells him what happened. He’s skeptical at first but tells her that if she wants, he can sleep in the same room.’

‘Good brother,’ Jongdae nods approvingly.

‘So he gets his bedding and that night nothing more happens. The following week, my uncle is a little hung-over, and my mum hates the smell of alcohol, so he slept in his original room that night. And the same thing happens. But this time, someone shakes my mum awake, and at the corner of her room, my mum sees a young woman standing there. She’s dressed in what my mum describes as very old style clothes that look worn. She just calls my mums name in a friendly manner and says ‘it’s getting late! You should go soon!’ and walks to the door, opens it, and leaves the bedroom. My mum of course freaks out, thinking someone got in. My uncle, though hung-over, is sober enough to get to my mum. They search the house and the garden outside but no one is there. The gate is still locked up.’

Baekhyun visibly shivers and it’s not because it’s cold.

‘This happens a few times-‘

‘-a few times?’ Baekhyun blanches.

‘-and one night, my mum’s shaken awake and it’s 3 other girls this time. They’re not friendly and cheerful anymore- but they seem afraid, and they tell my mum the same thing ‘you should go soon’. And my mum is really tired and annoyed, so she tells them to leave.’

Baekhyun mimics the “white guy blinking” meme so perfectly Minseok knows people are going to comment.

‘But before she can say anything more, or call for her brother, someone knocks on the front door. And then the 3 girls vanish.’ Taehyung is an incredible story teller. Also his voice was perfect for this. All of the townspeople were engrossed in this story, which Minseok is sure they’ve all heard many times. ‘Then all the doors in the house slam open and shut several times- my uncle freaks out and rushes to my mum to check on her. The slamming stops but there’s still knocking on the door. My mum was expecting my dad to be back sometime that week. And for a moment she wonders if its him. But my uncle is really suspicious and he tells my mum that he’ll go check the door.’

Jongdae nods approvingly, his eyebrows furrowing as he listens to this story.

‘There’s no window that really looks out to the front porch area, so my uncle has to open the door to see who’s there,’ Taehyung explains, miming a little with his hands, ‘And when he opens it, there’s this incredibly old woman, back super hunched, covered in layers and layers of fabric. My uncle says she was incredibly stinky, so much so it stung his eyes. My uncle was both mad and afraid and he yelled at her to leave. My mum can see her from the hallway and she’s terrified. Like, how did this old woman get in? And the old woman points at my mum, and refuses to move. My uncle said he had this strange fear- like he knew he shouldn’t touch her. So he shuts the door, grabs one of the rakes he had brought in to fix, saying he’ll use that to push her out. He tells my mum to shut the door behind him once he gets the old woman off the porch and to only open it after he gets back. So my mum stands behind my uncle as he opens it and the old woman is there, trying to touch my mum. My uncle loses it, basically, and pushes and shoves this woman away. He said he was so afraid he wasn’t even thinking straight. The gate was still locked, and my uncle had to unlock the padlock and shove the old woman out before he locked it shut.’

Baekhyun’s eyes are incredibly wide.

Minseok’s skin hasn’t stopped crawling. He doesn’t want to stare directly at the boy, but instead chooses to look at him through the camera, studying Taehyung carefully.

‘After that, my brother called his other friends and they camped out at the house, and my mum went to stay with her neighbour until my dad came back. My dad didn’t really believe what happened, but knew that if this was this stressful for my mum, he should move her out. So they tore the house down, and the government wanted to use the land for this greenhouse project,’ Taehyung gestures behind him. ‘We’ve moved down town, a little past the market area now.’

He smiles brightly, as if he hadn’t just given Baekhyun nightmares for weeks. Even Jongdae looks disturbed at this story.

Minseok has to clear his throat to signal to the two of them to continue.

‘Right- so that’s- right,’ Baekhyun stammers.

‘Well, we’ll be back for the tour tomorrow, and some other interviews of the people who have worked in the greenhouse!’ Jongdae smiles at the camera before turning to Jungkook and Taehyung, ‘Thank you both for sharing your experiences!’

As they pack up for the evening, because Baekhyun would not be persuaded to step foot into the greenhouse after hearing everything Taehyung had to say, Minseok takes a moment to study Taehyung.

Because after hearing that story, Minseok knows. There was something that dwelled here. Something that was possibly created, or summoned, or accidently called out. And it had been fed, or kept, by a powerful shaman, trapped in the land.

Minseok isn’t sure what to make of the young women Taehyung’s mum saw and how they might have played into this story. But they were trying to warn her, or protect her.

Because that strange old woman figure hadn’t been pointing at her, hadn’t tried to touch her, but had tried to reach for Taehyung.

*

minghaoFrogagenda: I am cRYING THIS EPISODE IS SO TERRIFYING AND IT’S ONLY PART 1??????????????????

Give Finn and Poe the Gay Story They Deserve: not to be distracted from this terrifying episode but Taehyung needs to get into the audio book scene because he could read me the telephone book and it would still be the best thing ive listened to

Come Fries With Me: bad idea watching this alone, at 2 AM. I just wanted to procrastinate from my thesis please I didn’t ask for this trauma I’m suing #erikyoongiguess

serendipity_calico: mum dad you had ONE job!!!!!

SilverInk: I know I say this every episode bUT THIS WAS THE BEST EPISODE I CAN’T WAIT FOR PART TWO #iambothsoondoongianderikyoong??

Baguette Au Pain: yo hold up- no one messes with eggs in rituals that’s some voodoo y’all need to leave, take those cute boys wth you and YEET #erikyoong

Sehun_omayaaaaaa: it’s so weird seeing tall people in this episode wtf

GrimArtandStuff: SHUT THE FRONT DOOR I genuinely think this is a legitimately cursed place I’m not even kidding please PLEASE get yourselves blessed after this or something, holy water, salt, I don’t know something!!!

Indigo_Salad: how do I adopt Jungkook, every time he smiles I just *clenches fist* I will literally fight every demon for this tall boy

THISISNOTSPARTA: eggs are commonly used for exorcist practices I don’t think they’re there for a specifically ominous reason but rather for protection!! Pls dont disturb the eggs!! The reason why it had hair in it is because the exorcism works!! Its drawing out whatever is living there!

Spotlight.Naammon: I DON’T EVEN LIKE SCARY STUFF BUT I CAN’T STOP WATCHING I’M GONNA HAVE NIGHTMARES I CAN’T LOOK AT EGGS ANYMORE

Capitalism Will Kill Us All: this is It ™ this is the episode, I can feel it in my bones, they’re gonna definitely capture an FBA or something that will make me regret ever following them for comedic reasons because that demon-old woman wasn’t pointing at the mum in the story- she was pointing at Taehyung I KNOW THIS

(Author’s Notes)

btw this is a part two of the update!!!

So

Black magic

Idk how many of you believe in it

And I do believe in it to an extent

Minseok’s story comes from my mum who experienced this when she was pregnant with me

The eggs, the slamming doors, the giggling girls, the strange hunching woman inside a sealed high-walled garde. It’s all things that have happened to my mum

I hope

It isn’t TOO bad or creepy

So uh

Sorry

Also I’ll admit I editted this update out of pettiness in a way

Because this update is dedicated to that wonderful person who thought that messaging me incredibly dumb accusations and channeling intense 2015-2016 crazed vibes was a good idea. This BTS cameo is dedicated ESPECIALLY to you, you’re most welcome. Please enjoy. The next chapter too. ^_^