TOIGC 49

Chapter 49 ..

I Am a Businessman (1)

“What…?”

Seeing the utterly flabbergasted Fernandez, Yoongi put on an expression that clearly said what did you expect?

“If you don’t want to suffer anymore torments from ghosts, you have to stay close to me. But I can’t stay in America, and you, Fernandez, don’t want to come to Korea. Doesn’t that make it obvious? You’d have no choice but to spend the rest of your life living in this log cabin.”

Fernandez’s face tightened into an even darker scowl.

“Are you messing with me right now?”

“I’m not messing with you; I’m talking purely about business. Did you have something else you wanted to ask me?”

“Well, obviously—”

“I told you before, exorcising them is out of the question.”

“Don’t lie!”

Yoongi looked back at him as if he were the unreasonable one.

“Didn’t you say you even threw yourself into religious cults? Didn’t you visit every church, cathedral, and faith healer you could find trying to fix your head?”

“That was…”

“Wouldn’t it be even more ridiculous to believe that I can banish a ghost when all those religious experts couldn’t?”

“Ugh…”

Since that was dead-on logic, Fernandez clenched his fists tight and swallowed his words.

Damn it, damn it, damn it!

He wanted to work. He wanted to go back to Gensler. Living a single day longer in this log cabin made him want to vomit, and the sheer terror of what would happen if the kid in front of him left—causing the nightmares and hallucinations to return—was paralyzing.

Yet, more than any of that, he loathed the idea of following this kid to Korea. Even in his desperate situation, he didn’t want to throw his entire life away into some country he’d never even heard of.

“You think I’m going to break just because of words like that? We found the cause, which means there’s definitely someone out there who can fix it!”

“Best of luck with that.”

Yoongi offered a casual two-finger mini-salute before pushing the cabin door open.

“Ah, you’re back.”

Seeing the corporal standing guard outside hastily pocket his pistol and offer an awkward smile, Yoongi turned to the sergeant.

“Let’s head back.”

“Pardon? At this hour?”

“Looks like we’re not exactly welcome guests anymore.”

As Yoongi took the lead and started walking down the wooded trail, the two soldiers looked surprised but immediately fell in step to cover his rear.

“We didn’t get the full story, but what business did you have with a guy like that anyway?”

“Ah, I’m running a department store in Korea meant for U.S. service members, and I need an interior design expert for it.”

“A department store for U.S. soldiers?”

“Yeah. Stationed troops have money but nowhere decent to spend it. Even the kijichon areas barely have any real shops. So I figured I’d build a place where they can enjoy themselves in an authentic American setting.”

“Oh… well, as it happens, I’m scheduled for reassignment to U.S. Forces Korea soon, so that works out great.”

The corporal nodded in agreement at the sergeant’s words.

“Wait, I’m getting reassigned to Korea soon too. Is that why command gave us this little assignment today?”

“Must be. Well, at least life won’t be too boring over in Korea. By the way, both of you had a drink back there—is it alright for us to drive? It’s no big deal compared to actual combat zones, but since we’ve got a civilian with us…”

Yoongi pointed to the military radio strapped to the sergeant’s waist.

“We might be a bit far out, but aren’t there other U.S. military bases around here? We can just call someone from one of them to come pick us up and drive us back to post.”

“Are you completely finished with your itinerary here?”

Yoongi shook his head.

“Not at all. Before long, he’ll be begging me on his knees to hire him.”

Yoongi wore a mischievous, impish smile, though the soldiers had no earthly idea what that smile actually meant.

“Aaaaaagh!”

Fernandez bolted upright from his wooden cot, his entire body drenched in cold sweat. Morning sunlight streamed through the window, but it did nothing to clear his fried mind.

Damn it all!

Ever since the kid named Yoongi had left yesterday, the hallucinations had grown exponentially worse.

[Plates suddenly smashed? But none of the broken plates are anywhere to be found…]

When he had screamed at his landlord accusing him of shaking the building, only to find the shattered plates completely intact, Fernandez had been left utterly speechless. No matter how intense his hallucinations were, they never actually altered physical reality. The evil spirit was purely projecting visions straight into Fernandez’s brain without having any actual kinetic leverage over the physical world.

Still, that alone was more than enough to torture Fernandez to the brink of insanity. The ghost that had taken a severe beating from Deokbae yesterday seemed to be taking out its pent-up rage on him, driving his bloodshot eyes to an even more frantic shade of red.

I… I have to do something.

Packing a few essentials, Fernandez dragged his bicycle out of the shed, clattered down the wooded path, and started riding hard toward the Nevada highway. Catching a flight, he immediately tracked down the religious cults he used to frequent and visited every psychiatric clinic he could think of.

Yet not a single person believed him. The religious sects demanded money for ‘special new prayers’ to drive out demons, while the psychiatrists decided his hallucinations had simply worsened, pushing heavy-duty medication and immediate inpatient confinement.

Lying bastards!

In the end, the only person left for Fernandez to turn to was Lianna back in Cambridge.

Lianna was the one who recommended me, right?

With no other way to contact the kid, Lianna was his absolute last lifeline. And during the grueling week it took him to finally track her down and meet face-to-face, Fernandez was subjected to an even more brutal level of psychological torment.

“My god, Fernandez… what happened to your face?”

Between the endless sweating and total lack of sleep, Fernandez looked less like an architect and more like a shell-shocked veteran suffering from severe PTSD—or a full-blown narcotics addict.

“Y-Yoongi. Who the hell is that kid named Yoongi?”

With bloodshot eyes wide with panic, Fernandez had ambushed her demanding answers about Yoongi, startling Lianna so badly she finally spilled the truth.

“He’s a kid from Korea who sponsors our scholarships. He’s also a businessman.”

“What? A businessman? A kid like that?”

“Yeah. He mentioned he was going to go see you a while back. Did things not go well?”

Judging by the fact that Fernandez was referring to Yoongi as a ‘kid,’ Lianna assumed they had already met.

“Talk to me straight. Just who the hell is he?”

“Like I just said, he’s the businessman funding our education.”

“Why the hell is he sponsoring people anyway?”

“Because when he reaches adulthood, he wants to build a pool of trusted talent to work under him.”

“So everyone taking his scholarship is legally forced to go to Korea as payment?”

Lianna shook her head.

“No. He just asks that we apply for a position at his company when the time comes. He claims he’ll offer terms we simply can’t refuse.”

“And you actually believe that…? Korea’s a place nobody’s even heard of.”

Lianna gave him a look that clearly asked why on earth should that matter?

“As long as the money clears, what’s the problem? I’m not the only one getting it either—there are well over ten people on this scholarship.”

“What…?”

“Besides, once we all got together and actually researched what kind of place Korea is, it turns out it’s not a bad spot to work at at all. Plus, as long as the pay is good, who cares where you work? Especially in this economy. Well, since you were working at Gensler, I guess you never had to feel the pinch…”

Seeing her mix of envy and admiration for a successful peer, Fernandez finally realized he had probably just blown the opportunity of a lifetime.

“Damn it, I didn’t even know where Korea was on a map.”

“You turned down Yoongi’s offer? That’s a shame. Yoongi isn’t the type to make offers people regret passing up, either…”

“Offer? I didn’t even stick around long enough to hear it.”

“Huh? Why not?”

Faced with Lianna’s baffled expression, Fernandez had no excuse. He could at least have listened to what the kid had to say, but the only reason that atmosphere never materialized was because of his own paranoia.

“Uh… never mind. Do you happen to have Yoongi’s contact info? He didn’t leave a number for me.”

“Just what kind of reaction did you give Yoongi to screw this up so badly?”

“Shut up and just give me the number!”

“You’re still out of your mind, aren’t you…”

“Do I look sane to you? Just give it to me already!”

Remembering how Fernandez had completely lost his grip on reality and started firing guns around, Lianna told him to check Andrew’s office before abruptly walking away under the excuse of having other business to attend to.

“Damn it, damn it all…”

Desperate to catch up to the train that had already left the station, Fernandez pushed himself to move fast.

“So you’re saying not all ghosts stick around this mortal coil forever, right?”

At Yoongi’s question, Deokbae nodded.

<Of 6:00 AM Sindorim Station Think about all around at course end every exactly from ghost here, history hung in it just like logically—if looking middle not. of platform single subway the up whole winter. world would>

Ugh, just imagining that makes my skin crawl.

<Hardly Honestly, What’s a and any anything, anyway. around be behind boring. can’t conversation? eat, even gets hanging hold human hundred, if life lives of place point proper spirits stay the to touch where you>

Then where do ghosts actually disappear to?

<They Anyway, I What a actually afterlife. around assume can do don’t ghosts have heads. here in is… just kind know. linger loose most move of on real screw somewhere that the their to well, who world you>

Is that why people occasionally claim they’ve seen real ghosts and start rumors?

<Most Didn’t Finding I a actually fraction ghost helpful illness, is just like me mental of only plain rarity. real spirit. spotting tell that tiny with you?>

Well… I guess I have to give you that much. By the way, what was that you mentioned before about getting teased? Are those spirits abnormal too?

Deokbae wore a look of strange, distant nostalgia.

<Those I’m a ancestral and because bored but couple eat even eventually food, for get got guys it just moved obsessed of on. once ritual sick stubborn this times, too. uniquely with world you>

That sounds kind of bittersweet.

<Nothing Live about. and bitter bore doesn’t feel hundred if life see tears. to two years you yourself>

I’m having a blast right now, though.

At Yoongi’s dramatic response, Deokbae burst out laughing.

Kid! That’s only because you’re having fun right now. Besides, even if you add your two lives together, you haven’t even hit sixty yet!

Fair point, I suppose.

Anyway, it’s getting close to our meeting time. Shouldn’t you get up?

Time to get moving, yeah.

Responding to Fernandez’s request for a meeting, Yoongi had returned to Cambridge the previous night. The current time was 11:00 AM. Since they had agreed to meet at a cafe near the hotel at 11:30 AM, it was about time to get ready.

At 11:15 AM, through the cafe window, Fernandez could be seen pacing anxiously outside, constantly glancing around.

Naturally. The ghost that gave him a royal beating has probably been taking out all its frustration on him.

<Well, been but days either few have he last miserable must pure those torture. way, would’ve>

Which means I should be able to have a very smooth conversation with him now.

As Yoongi stepped into the cafe, Fernandez instinctively jumped to his feet before awkwardly sitting right back down. He quickly slapped on a nonchalant expression, trying to act like he didn’t care, but since Yoongi had already watched his frantic display through the window, the act didn’t work.

“What did you want to see me about?”

Thanks to insisting he wanted to hear the purpose of the meeting in person, Yoongi was, on paper, entirely clueless as to why Fernandez had called him out.

“Ah, well, it’s nothing major. I just figured I might as well go to Korea and ‘do some work’ for you.”

At Fernandez’s condescending tone, as if he were doing Yoongi a massive favor, Yoongi tilted his head.

“I don’t need you anymore, though.”