It had been almost a month since Baekhyun moved indefinitely to Jeju. His decision to leave Seoul had been rather abrupt but with Jongdae’s help, he had managed to find a little studio flat that required no deposit much to his surprise. The place was old and worn out, and Baekhyun knew that if he planned to stay for a long period he would probably need to find better housing. But for now he was satisfied and quickly settled into a daily routine which included taking walks along the beach, watching the children play in the park outside his studio flat, and visiting the secondhand bookshop managed by Chinsun.

As a writer, Baekhyun was ecstatic and felt right in his element whenever he wandered around the bookshop, exploring its every nook and cranny. He was intrigued by the name of the shop: Naesae, which meant afterlife. It was a name that was both bizarre and yet fitting. In a sense, a secondhand bookshop was the afterlife for books that had been given away by their owners. At the same time, since right next door was the Kim Funeral Home, a sensation of blurring of the worlds and mysticism was imbued into the humble shop.

Baekhyun had to admit however that what peaked his interest the most and motivated him to spend as much time as possible in the otherwise desolate and quiet bookshop was no other than Kwon Chinsun; the ethereal and haunting beauty that sat dutifully behind the counter, quietly guarding the books that had found shelter in Naesae.

Chinsun was truly an enigma. She was by no means antisocial or unlikeable — on the contrary she always wore a tender smile and entertained Jongdae in his foolish pranks and jokes — and yet, her eyes were constantly darting around, looking past Jongdae, past Baekhyun, past anything that had a concrete physical form. This raised great curiosity within Baekhyun as he wondered: just what kind of world could Chinsun see through her eyes?

Consequently, Baekhyun unintentionally developed a new habit since he started frequenting Naesae: spy on Chinsun and analyse her every motion and action in an attempt to dissect and read the girl. So far, Baekhyun had reached the conclusion that just as Jongdae had said, Chinsun had a habit of talking to herself. Sipping on her tea — which was a different one every day — she would then engage in a hushed and quiet conversation with seemingly no one in particular. Baekhyun also noticed that Chinsun had a habit of laying out second cup of tea, but he knew that it was not for him because by the time he arrived the tea was already cold. Thus one more item was added to the long list of unsolved mysteries revolving around Kwon Chinsun.

One more observation that Baekhyun had made was about Jongdae’s cousin Kim Jongin. The two had a few brief encounters but barely had any proper conversation. Nonetheless, Baekhyun frequently saw the broody and quiet male because he too would visit Naesae on a rather regular basis. Interestingly, Jongin’s exchanges with Chinsun were brief and mostly via their eyes, convincing Baekhyun that Jongin too had a glimpse of the same world Chinsun saw.

To add more to the mystery, Jongin did not come to the shop to buy books or read. Instead he only ever went to one place: a sliding door tucked away from sight hidden behind a curtain at the very back of the store.  If Baekhyun had not decided to follow Jongin on a whim, he would not even know of the door’s existence. He had tried to sneak inside once, but was immediately stopped by Chinsun who stepped between him and the door, not even giving him a chance to lay his eyes on what colour the door was. At the time, Chinsun simply smiled gently at him and told him that behind the door was the archive, and had nothing that would be of interest to him. Baekhyun wanted to protest for he knew that was not the case. There had been a handful of rare customers who also quietly slid into that door after giving Chinsun a quiet greeting, so there was definitely something hidden behind that mystery door.

・・・

Today as well, Chinsun was drinking a cup of tea, though this time instead of conversing to herself, she was immersed in a book about buddhism. Showing great concentration, her eyes glided across the pages, taking in each and every word. Baekhyun really wanted to ask Chinsun about her interest in religion and the supernatural, especially since she had such a prominent tattoo all over her arm, but he had yet to find the courage in him to step into her personal sphere.

Letting his feet lead the way, Baekhyun stopped by the shelf that held all the books related to the supernatural and traditional Korean folklore. He had picked the oldest looking and heaviest book, and took great care when turning the yellowed pages, not wanting to damage the ancient and rare-looking anthology of Korean folklore. Baekhyun avidly read through the text, becoming deeply immersed as the world and creatures described inside came to life in his mind.

Suddenly, Baekhyun’s ears picked up the sound of hushed conversations coming from the shelf behind him, which coincidentally was where the hidden door was located. Peeking through the gaps between the books, Baekhyun saw Jongin and Chinsun having a very heated discussion, clearly in the middle of a disagreement. Leaning in closer, Baekhyun closed his eyes to concentrate on hearing what they were saying.

“It’s just a cheonyeo gwishin, I can easily get rid of it,” Jongin grumbled. “It’s been clingin