Legend [YEONBIN] ✓

twenty ; soobin

I banged on the rusted metal door, grateful for the narrow alleyway and its ability to block out the light of the sun. My sunglasses weren’t able to hold off my throbbing headache. And, unfortunately, they only protected against UV rays and not ghosts that danced in and out of my vision.

These ghosts had plagued me for the past week. Demons of my past, people who’d sinned in life, and now, as specters, taunted me with threats.

Cannot wait till your soul joins us.

You kill to live; how is that any different from what I did?

Your sins are all that sustain you in life, and when you die, your punishments will be severe!

I knocked harder, trying to drown out the whispers.

“Okay! I hear you!” a voice shouted from inside a second before the door opened to reveal Taehyun’s annoyed glare.

“Of course it’s you.” He scowled. “I’m going to have a talk with that shaman. I’m starting to wish he’d never brought you around here.”

“What was it?” I asked, ignoring Taehyun’s snarl as I stepped into the foyer. And suddenly, the ghosts were gone. I spun around, searching for them. “Wait, what’s going on?”

“Okay, you’re going to have to ask a full question. These half inquiries are not making any sense.” Taehyun still held the door open as if hoping I’d change my mind and leave.

“What was that thing you sold me?” Iasked.

“A talisman,” Taehyun said slowly, as if I were a child.

“I know that. What does it do?”

“Did you use it?”

“Maybe,” I said vaguely, unsure if I wanted to share too much information with the dokkaebi.

“You did. And now you’re seeing ghosts. And you’re wondering why they haven’t followed you into my home.”

I didn’t reply.

“It’s this.” Taehyun pointed to a golden talisman hanging by his door. “It’s a protection of sorts against unsavory things. I thought it was broken since you’re here.”

“Har-har.” I rolled my eyes. My nerves were frayed from a week living with the faces of my victims, following me no matter where I hid. I pulled out my wallet and my fingers trembled. I gripped them together until they stopped. “How much?”

“For the joke? Free.” Taehyun gave me a saucy wink.

“The talisman.” I refused to react to how he’d purposefully misunderstood me. “How much for it?”

Without waiting for an answer, I pulled out all the cash in my wallet. Taehyun eyed the money, but didn’t take it.

“Why did you need the first talisman?”

I glared at him, refusing to answer.

“If you tell me, I’ll give you this one.” Taehyun pointed to the yellow strip of paper fluttering in the wind.

“I lost something. I needed to put it back where it belongs and Sunghoon said that talisman would open my energy to it.”

“Unless what you lost was ghosts, I don’t think your shaman was telling you the full truth.”

I hated that Taehyun spoke my own suspicions aloud. “Is that really all it can do? Open my mind to seeing ghosts? Nothing else?”

“Well, all things can be . . . shifted,” Taehyun mused. “But it’s far too dangerous to try such a thing without the proper skill and direction.”

I sighed. I’d been a fool to think I had a handle on things. And now I was paying the price.

“What could a gumiho lose that would cause her to risk such a thing?” Taehyun asked as he studied me.

“It’s none of your business.”

“You can’t blame me for being curious.”

“I didn’t come here for a game of twenty questions. I came here for that talisman.”

Taehyun held up a hand, and it took all of me control not to snap off one of his fingers. His eyes widened with understanding. “How does a gumiho lose it’s yeowu guseul?”

I shouldn’t have been surprised he guessed so quickly. I’d already figured out this dokkaebi was smarter than an average goblin, and twice as annoying.

“I don’t know, but we’re about to find out how a dokkaebi loses his left hand.”

Taehyun lifted the appendage in question in surrender. Then pulled down the yellow slip, gave it to me, and plucked the money out of my grip.

“Nice doing business with you. No need to eat this one. Just keep it on you. It’ll lessen the presence of spirits.”

“Lessen?” I asked.

“It won’t completely protect you from the ghosts. My home has other charms that magnify the effects, but they’re too bulky to carry everywhere. Whether you like it or not, you are now the proud new owner of the gift of sight.”

“Oh goody.”

I pushed back out to the alley. The crash of the door exacerbated my headache, but the ghosts were gone. Or mostly gone. There were still shadows that flew in my peripheral vision, but they no longer swept tauntingly past me, and their whispers were silenced.

The buzzing in my pocket made me jump. For a moment I thought one of the ghosts had broken past the charm to shake me. I pulled out my phone and frowned at my mother’s number.

“Hello?”

“The school called me.” Mom’s voice dripped with displeasure. “They said you haven’t been in class all week. You know how I despise being contacted by your schools. Is there something I should know?”

“I just didn’t feel like going,” I said lightly, hoping the tremor in my hands didn’t transmit to my voice. “When will you be home?” Now my voice did shake. I was tired and scared, and I needed my mother.

“I still have business to take care of. It’ll be another two weeks at least.”

I swallowed back a sob.

“You’ll return to school tomorrow.” My mom delivered the edict and hung up without giving me a chance to reply.