Chapter 108

The female ghosts were practicing their scary appearance together, while regular ghosts from One Meal Restaurant watched nearby.

“Hey! Don’t do it like that. When making noise, just repeat one word continuously. Ah…Ah…”

“Yes, Kang is doing well.”

“My hobby is searching for children who can see ghosts.”

“That human…no, ghost is truly bad.”

“You need to know such things for comfort as a ghost.” Smiling, the ghost named Kang spoke towards the female ghosts, “Okay, let’s try again.”

The ghosts of One Meal Restaurant were teaching and training the female ghosts on how to be frightening as spirits.

Kang Jin had summoned these regular ghosts for this purpose. He believed it would be effective to have experienced ghosts teach and discipline others on how to scare people properly. Before encountering One Meal Restaurant, Kang Jin didn’t believe in ghosts and had never seen one. However, as Choi Hocheol mentioned before, there exist individuals who can naturally perceive ghosts. Some ghosts relished scaring such people, although they generally refrained from causing harm. Once they tasted the thrill, though, it became quite entertaining for them.

Regardless, these mischievous ghosts were now imparting their skills to the female ghosts. They demonstrated techniques like twisting their dangling necks or showing off gaping mouths dripping with blood.

Despite not intending to, these ghastly displays unnerved Kang Jin more than anything else. With the bad guy unconscious, only Kang Jin was privy to this spectacle.

While the female ghosts practiced their horrifying moves, Kang Jin continued working his convenience store job. However…there wasn’t much for him to do.

The store had attracted both the ghosts following the bad guy and those summoned by Kang Jin. As a result, with so many spirits milling around, customers avoided entering the shop altogether.

The president will flip when he sees the sales report.

This time of day should have been bustling with customers finishing work or school, but the store remained eerily empty.

Suddenly, Kang Jin glanced at the clock with surprise.

“It’s 8 o’clock already!”

In his preoccupation with solving the evil spirit problem, Kang Jin hadn’t realized he needed to keep the restaurant open today. He hastily took out his phone and urgently called Shin Su-jo.

“Hello?” answered Shin Su-jo.

“I’m sorry, but by any chance, do you have time today?” Kang Jin rushed straight to the point due to urgency.

There was a brief pause before Shin Su-jo responded:

“Yes, I can help.”

Kang Jin breathed a sigh of relief at Shin Su-jo’s immediate agreement.

“Oh! Thank you very much.”

“No problem. Business has been slow lately anyway, so it helps me earn some income.”

With that, Shin Su-jo ended the call, leaving Kang Jin to exhale softly.

“Phew, narrowly avoided disaster.”

Kang Jin shook his head and glanced at the female ghosts nearby. They had been practicing their scary expressions but now stood poised, watching the bad guy intently.

“Ahhhhh!” The bad guy groaned as he clutched his neck and struggled to stand up. Witnessing this, the ghosts who were teaching the females quickly hid themselves behind a corner, pumping their fists in encouragement.

“Ughh…my neck.” Holding onto his neck, the bad guy froze mid-rise.

“What? Huh?” As he muttered, “What?” repeatedly, the female ghosts stared at him with their necks twisted unnaturally.

“Aaahhh!” Screaming, the bad guy retreated backward while randomly grabbing objects from the corner and hurling them around.

Whish-whish!

“Get away from me! Leave!” As the rogue man screamed and continuously threw items, Kang Jin’s eyes sparkled.

‘Disturbing business operations! Property damage!’

Seeing the man hurling objects at ghosts, Kang Jin immediately picked up the phone.

“Hello? Is this the police?”

“Aaargh!”

Even as he was being reported to the police, the rogue continued throwing things at the ghosts. The ghosts who taught him these techniques laughed at his actions.

“Yes.”

“Just aim slightly higher… Good job!”

Kang Jin pursed his lips watching the ghosts coaching the rogue. Despite understanding what was happening, it still unnerved him somewhat.

Shivering uncontrollably, the rogue curled up until the police pulled him aside.

“Hey! If you continue like this…”

“Aaaagh!” With a loud cry, the rogue pushed away the police officer and yelled.

“Th-they’re ghosts!” The police officer recoiled at his outburst and squinted at him.

“I’m arresting you for property damage and disrupting business.” As the policeman took out handcuffs, the criminal muttered towards the female ghosts.

“You… I killed you…I killed you.”

“Kill her?”

“I definitely killed that woman. I…”

“Killed the woman?”

“I…I clearly killed that bitch two years ago.”

The policemen exchanged glances as they listened to the mumbling man who seemed delirious.

“He appears to be losing it?”

“Let’s apprehend him first.”

They then produced their batons.

Clank! Clank!

Swinging them forcefully downward extended the batons’ length.

“Grab him!”

With a shout, the two officers approached from either side and tackled the criminal to the ground.

“Ack! Let go! Let me go!”

As the criminal struggled and twisted his body, one of the officers handcuffed him and dragged him away. Once inside the police car, female ghosts started entering its narrow interior. The man’s screams grew louder.

“There are ghosts! Aaaah! Help!”

Continuously screaming, he banged on the car door. Kang Jin cautiously approached the officer nearby.

“By the way, sir, this guy was taking pictures of women earlier.”

“Pictures of women?”

“He dropped his phone here.” Kang Jin handed over the smartphone to the officer. However, it was locked, so there wasn’t much they could see immediately.

“You said he was photographing women?”

“Yes. And from what I heard, he has been taking pictures of women here twice a day for several days now.”

“For several days…”

“Yes.”

Upon hearing Kang Jin’s account, the police officer glanced at the culprit sitting handcuffed in the back seat and nodded.

“In any case, thank you for your help. We need to conduct further investigations, so please come by the station when we contact you.”

In response, Kang Jin provided his phone number.

“You’re welcome.”

As the police car drove away, Kang Jin peeked through the window at the backseat. The criminal was huddled tightly with his head bowed down, while the ghost girl, whose presence he couldn’t detect earlier, stared at him with a peculiar expression.

[99]

“G-g-gah!” The man let out a terrified sound.

Vroom!

Watching the police car depart, Choi Hocheol turned to Kang Jin.

“I will follow them.”

“You won’t return until this matter is resolved?”

“We need to keep watch.”

As Choi Hocheol spoke, he began chasing after the police car. Following him were the ghosts who had taught the terrifying technique to the female ghost.

Watching these spirits depart, Kang Jin looked at Bae Yongsoo.

“Why don’t you tag along too?”

“Me?”

“Go and observe how they plan to return.”

With that, Bae Yongsoo sighed before running off in the direction the ghosts had gone.

Kang Jin then entered the convenience store as he watched Yongsoo leave. One corner of the store was in disarray due to both the criminal’s rampage and the subsequent damage caused by the police while apprehending him.

“I need to inform the manager first.”

An incident occurred at the store, so he had to report it to the manager. Even though Kang Jin was only working one shift per day as part-time staff, protocol remained unchanged. Thus, Kang Jin called the president and explained what happened.

“It has been quiet for a few days… Did that guy drink alcohol?”

“No sir.”

“The crazy bastard didn’t even drink… How much damage did he cause?”

“There is some damage, but I think I can fix most of it.”

“You?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Understood. Then regarding the damaged goods…”

“I checked them and informed the police.”

“Oh?”

“And I charged 1.5 times their value.”

‘Charged 1.5 times’ meant he billed the broken items at 1.5 times their original price.

[Good job.]

“The police will contact you as a witness. When they do, if you mention your loss during business hours, you may be able to claim damages from that scoundrel.”

[I see…]

“This isn’t my first time dealing with such incidents while working at convenience stores.”

[Anyway… I’ll arrive around noon. Please hang tight until then.]

“Understood.”

With that, Kang Jin ended the call and started cleaning his damaged store after surveying the damage.

It was nearing 1 AM when Kang Jin took a taxi to One Meal Restaurant. Originally, his shift should have ended at 1 AM, but due to today’s incident, the manager let him finish early.

The president also gave him 20,000 won for taxi fare. It was not much considering it as daily wages, but since he wanted to catch the thief…

Anyway, Kang Jin arrived at One Meal Restaurant by taxi using the given money and gazed upon the establishment. The lights inside were brightly lit. He looked down at himself and straightened his clothes.

It wasn’t yet one o’clock, so the trainee should still be working there. Since this would be their first meeting, he took care to present himself neatly. As he adjusted his attire, Kang Jin noticed a woman talking on her phone outside a cell phone shop next door.

She’s pretty.

The woman dressed in a red one-piece outfit was quite pretty. Her hair had been dyed a similar shade of red, giving her a sexy vibe.

Is she heading to a club?

There were several clubs nearby, so it seemed plausible. Besides, this wasn’t exactly attire for strolling down the street.

Kang Jin continued observing the woman before opening the door and entering the restaurant. He paused as soon as he stepped inside.

Lee Hye-sun and the virgin ghosts were seated there drinking alcohol.

“Jin!” At Lee Hye-sun’s call, Kang Jin waved at her but then scanned the room.

Where’s Shin Su-jo?

Not spotting anyone who resembled her, Kang Jin approached Lee Hye-sun.

“Where’s Shin Su-jo?”

“She was outside on her phone just now. Didn’t you see her?” Lee Hye-sun replied.

Kang Jin looked outside as she spoke.

That must’ve been…

He recalled seeing a woman talking on her phone right out front and asked:

“In red?”

“Yes, that’s her. She said we should all go to a club together later.” Lee Hye-sun smiled at Kang Jin. “Oh! Do you want to join us?”

“Me?” As Kang Jin pointed at himself, Kang Hanna gently nudged Lee Hye-sun.

“Sis.”

“What?”

“Kang Jin is…” A bit…”

Lee Hye-sun turned to look at Kang Jin as if she understood what Kang Hanna was implying and nodded with a knowing smile.

“We can go together next time.”

Kang Jin frowned at this response.

“Why?”

“Just let’s do it another time.”

“I feel like I’m being excluded for no reason.”

Lee Hye-sun pursed her lips before explaining. “It’s because clubs have a strict dress code for men during peak hours.”

“Why?”

“It’s just how things are here. Have you ever been to a club, Kang Jin?”

“Nope.”

“Well, then don’t bother going. It won’t be fun anyway.”

When Lee Hye-sun poured him some soju, Kang Jin accepted it.

“I feel kind of…like I lost something?”

“You wouldn’t enjoy yourself even if we went.”

It was exactly as she said—going to that club would be no fun at all. It was located in Gangnam, one of Seoul’s most upscale neighborhoods. The entry standards for clubs there were notoriously high, and considering it was already late, they’d likely have instituted “water management,” which meant only men with model looks or those willing to reserve a table could get inside. Kang Jin didn’t fit either category.

As he took another sip of soju while Lee Hye-sun continued talking, he heard a familiar chime.

Ding-dong! Ding-dong!

Kang Jin turned toward the sound just in time to see a woman dressed in red entering the restaurant. He set down his shot glass and stood up.

“Ms. Shin Su-jo?”

At Kang Jin’s words, Shin Su-jo extended her hand towards him.

“It’s nice to meet you. I’m Shin Su-jo.”

Seeing Shin Su-jo’s gesture, Kang Jin gently shook her hand.

“I apologize for suddenly asking your help like this. My name is Lee Kang-jin.”

In response, Shin Su-jo firmly shook his hand once and said,

“Now that Mr. Kang Jin has arrived, may I leave?”

“You’re leaving already?”

“Yes, it’s time.”

Checking the time, Shin Su-jo grabbed her small purse from the counter. As she did so, Kang Jin inadvertently spoke up:

“T-there’s something I’d like to discuss with you.”

Lee Hye-sun recounted today’s events to Lee Kang-jin. Initially, he brought it up because he wanted to talk more with Shin Su-jo, but as they discussed it further, his tone turned serious.

After listening intently, Shin Su-jo stroked her chin thoughtfully, while the virgin ghosts expressed their anger with narrowed eyes.

“That bastard! Where is he?!”

“Yes! We’ll gouge out his eyes and rip them apart.”

Kang Jin flinched at the fury of the virgin ghosts. Unbeknownst to him, it was past 1 AM, and the ghosts had already transformed into their ghostly forms. Their rage made Kang Jin feel a chill run down his spine.

Suddenly, Lee Hye-sun shouted at him, “Where is he?”