Chapter 10

Chapter 2. A Lullaby for You

Thunk—

Semi jerked awake from where she’d been dozing off.

Hearing a small noise, she lifted her head and saw that the picture frame displayed on top of the cabinet had fallen face-down.

A faint smile spread across her lips as she walked over and picked it up.

Inside the frame was a golden retriever with bright yellow fur, grinning happily with its mouth wide open.

Semi gently stroked the frame with a wistful expression.

Warm early-summer sunlight streamed through the window.

Soft classical music drifted from the radio she’d turned on earlier.

Taro… Mom’s doing well. You’re doing well in doggy heaven too, right?

A year ago, Semi lost her beloved dog, Taro.

Semi had adopted Taro from an animal shelter as soon as she moved out on her own at thirty.

Bright, affectionate, and endlessly playful, Taro captured her heart immediately.

For the next ten years, Taro became Semi’s one and only family.

But when he turned thirteen, Taro eventually passed away from old age.

The veterinarian comforted her, saying Taro had actually lived longer than average for his breed, and since he hadn’t suffered from any major illnesses, he likely passed peacefully in his sleep.

Those words meant nothing to Semi.

To her, Taro had always been her little baby— whining over food and refusing to sleep unless she comforted him.

She hated the heavens for taking that baby away from her.

The emptiness left behind by losing her only family was impossible to recover from.

After Taro’s death, even ordinary daily life became difficult for her.

And as if things weren’t bad enough already, the company she worked for collapsed a few months later, leaving her penniless overnight.

It was the hardest period of her entire forty years of life.

Like wandering alone through endless darkness without a single light.

Around that time, Semi met Guijun through a friend’s introduction.

Guijun was quiet and poor at expressing emotions.

But strangely, that made him easier to be around.

Unlike everyone else, he never told Semi to cheer up.

Never told her to move on.

He simply waited for her.

Guijun was blunt, but thoughtful.

When Semi worried about having no income and repeatedly failing job interviews, wondering how she’d even pay rent anymore, Guijun calmly told her he would earn enough for both of them and that she should just rest for a while instead of forcing herself to work.

Just hearing those words already made her grateful.

But Guijun went further—

he truly gave her a room in his home.

And so, only six months after meeting, the two began living together.

Compared to her past relationships, things had progressed unusually quickly.

Still, Semi felt more stable and secure now than at any other point in her life.

Taro… you’re the one who sent Guijun to me, aren’t you? Thank you.

Smiling softly, Semi stroked the picture frame once more.

Creeeak—

Suddenly, the sound of a door opening came from behind her.

Turning around, she saw the bedroom door standing slightly ajar.

There wasn’t even any wind, but lately the door kept opening by itself.

Maybe the floor of the old villa building was slightly uneven or slanted.

She’d heard old buildings could be like that sometimes.

Thunk—

Less than a minute later, the fabric cover draped over the sofa armrest slipped onto the floor.

Semi let out a quiet laugh.

It felt exactly like the old days living with Taro.

Taro used to wander all over the house causing little accidents everywhere.

Back then she’d scold him to stop.

But now…

she thought she wouldn’t mind the mess at all if it meant he could stay beside her again.

At that moment, Brahms’ Lullaby began playing from the radio.

Taro often fussed like a little baby before sleeping.

Whenever that happened, Semi would play lullabies and soothe him gently until he fell asleep.

Then suddenly—

a thought struck her mind like lightning.

Her entire body trembled violently.

“Taro! Is it you? Are you here right now?”

As though responding to her tearful voice—

the calendar hanging on the living room wall suddenly fell to the floor.

* * *

“Great work!”

After finishing dance practice, Mugyeong wiped sweat from his forehead.

Even indoors with the AC running, the outside weather still hovered around 35°C (95°F), and after dancing intensely for an entire hour, his whole body was drenched in sweat.

The choreographer who had been teaching him patted his back encouragingly.

“You worked hard.”

“I should be the thankful one, hyung. I heard you’ve been really busy lately, so thanks for making time for me.”

“How could I say no when you’re asking, Mugyeong? Honestly, it’s amazing passion— taking lessons even though your comeback schedule hasn’t even been decided yet.”

The older dancer smiled warmly.

“You know I’m always rooting for you, right?”

“Yes. Thank you.”

Mugyeong bowed deeply.

Hexatonic was currently inactive, but Mugyeong still visited the company practice room whenever he had free time so he wouldn’t lose his skills.

Whenever he had even a little extra money, he asked dancer acquaintances for one-on-one lessons like today.

It was his own way of preparing himself for a comeback at any time.

“And 108 Ghost Stories? That hit 100,000 views. Congrats.”

“Oh, you watched it?”

Mugyeong tried to act calm, but couldn’t stop the corners of his lips from creeping upward.

The edited version of their livestream had been uploaded recently, and little by little the views rose until suddenly hitting 100,000 within a week.

According to PD Park, people from the online communities that had watched the livestream started spreading word that it was genuinely entertaining.

“Of course I watched! Seriously, it was terrifying.”

“Thank you.”

“You totally hit the algorithm jackpot.”

“Honestly, I didn’t expect it at all. I still can’t believe it.”

“Maybe things are finally starting to work out for you now. What if this leads to comeback discussions? Has your company contacted you yet?”

“Haha, no. Not at all.”

Mugyeong waved his hands quickly.

“Comebacks cost insane amounts of money. This level of attention isn’t nearly enough.”

Even while saying that, his smile stretched almost to his ears.

No one from the company had contacted him yet—

but if he gained just a little more traction…

maybe they finally would.

Right then, his phone vibrated.

PD Park’s name appeared on the screen.

“Oh, PD-nim’s calling.”

“Oh? The 108 Ghost Stories PD?”

The timing made the choreographer visibly curious.

Mugyeong unconsciously puffed up with pride.

“Yes. Then I’ll get going now, hyung.”

“Alright. Go!”

Bowing politely once more, Mugyeong left the practice room.

A grin kept leaking onto his face.

He hadn’t earned a single won yet, but somehow he still felt like he’d become somebody important.

A 100,000-view YouTuber.

“Hello, PD-nim.”

— Mugyeong-nim, did something good happen today?

Hearing the laughter in his voice, PD Park sounded suspicious.

“Hahaha. When you’re a 100,000-view influencer, you smile even without a reason. So what brings a 100,000-view PD-nim to call me?”

— Haah….

A deep sigh echoed through the phone.

— That 100,000 views is exactly the problem. I expected it might do well eventually, but our video blew up way faster than expected.

“Isn’t that a good thing? I heard most people run channels for years without even hitting 10,000 views.”

— What’s the point of 100,000 views when our channel has literally no other videos? People click the channel name, realize it’s empty, and leave immediately. That means no subscribers and low overall channel traffic.

Her voice sounded genuinely frustrated.

— Originally, the plan was to struggle for three or four months building up backlog content first, then hit the algorithm afterward….

And honestly—

she was right.

The 108 Ghost Stories channel currently had only 258 subscribers.

Compared to its explosive views, the number looked pitiful.

Suddenly, Mugyeong felt anxious.

“Then… what do we do now?”

— We film and upload the next episode before the hype dies down. Actually, that’s why I called. I urgently found our next client. Filming is tomorrow at 4 PM in Seoul. Can you make it?

“Yes. Absolutely.”

Mugyeong answered instantly.

Technically, he had a convenience store shift then—

but he figured he could somehow beg the night-shift worker to swap with him.

— Then I’ll see you tomorrow. I texted you the address already.

Opening his messages, Mugyeong checked the location.

It was near Bukam Station.

Fortunately, the route worked reasonably well with his convenience store job too.

This next broadcast absolutely had to succeed too.

Mugyeong nodded firmly to himself.

Now Mugyeong stood near Bukam Station waiting for Unho and PD Park.

Despite the sweltering weather, an odd chill lingered in the air, making him unconsciously rub his arms.

Lately, he’d been suffering from headaches and constant fatigue.

Even under the blazing afternoon sun, his body sometimes felt cold, almost feverish.

Thinking about it—

the symptoms started after filming 108 Ghost Stories.

Mugyeong frowned uneasily.

Too many unsettling things happened during that shoot.

For the first time in his life, he’d seen a ghost.

And one of them had even attacked him.

“…Wait a second.”

“What if that ghost attached itself to me?”

Tap.

“AAAH!”

Someone suddenly tapped his shoulder, making Mugyeong leap straight into the air.

Completely panicked, he spun around—

only to see a familiar face.

It was Unho.

Mugyeong clutched his chest in relief.

“Unho-ah, you scared me half to death. Make some noise when you walk around.”

White shirt.

Black slacks.

Hair swept back slightly to reveal his forehead.

Honestly, teenage fangirls would probably line up to buy photocards of him even if someone snapped random candid photos right now.

Unlike Hexatonic’s photocards, which had neither supply nor demand.

Unho grinned.

“Ah, sorry. But people need to be genuinely startled for it to fall off properly.”

“…What falls off?”

Mugyeong asked in horror.

But Unho clearly had no intention of explaining.

“The ghost? Wait— was there actually a ghost attached to me?”

“No.”

“Then what was it?! If not a ghost, then what?!”

No matter how desperately Mugyeong questioned him, Unho simply smiled and changed the subject.

“Let’s stop talking about ghosts. Unless you want to see them again.”

“What does that have to do with anything?”

“Ghosts like people talking about them.”

Unho casually glanced beside Mugyeong with meaningful eyes.

“Can’t you see them gathering now because you keep mentioning ghosts?”

Mugyeong’s face instantly turned pale as he hurriedly looked around.

But he saw nothing.

“They’re next to me right now?!”

“Even if they are nearby, there’s no reason to be afraid. Most wandering spirits don’t harm people.”

Unho’s gaze remained calm.

“At least not until someone acknowledges them.”

Something about the way he kept avoiding direct answers felt incredibly suspicious.

“So the thing that charged at me during the last stream— that happened because it realized I could see it?”

“Probably.”

Unho’s black eyes locked directly onto Mugyeong’s.

“If the entire world treated you like an invisible person…”

“….”

“But then one single person could finally see you—”

His soft eyes curved gently.

“Wouldn’t you follow that person forever?”

For some reason—

this suddenly didn’t feel like he was talking about ghosts anymore.

What exactly is he trying to say?

Mugyeong swallowed nervously despite not fully understanding.

“So even if you see them, pretend you didn’t.”

“Even if you recognize them, pretend you don’t.”

“But—”

“Hello! Looks like you two got here first.”

PD Park arrived just in time, cutting off the conversation completely.

Mugyeong swallowed the rest of his questions.

You’re the one who brought me onto a ghost-hunting show, so what do you mean don’t see ghosts?

As they walked toward the villa, PD Park briefly explained today’s filming.

“Today won’t be livestreamed. We’re prerecording, so anything weird can be edited out later. Still, the story’s pretty sad, so it’d be nice if you showed empathy.”

When PD Park rang the bell, a soft-faced woman in her forties opened the door.

She introduced herself as Yoon Semi.

Then quietly said:

“I think… the dog that died a year ago is still living in this house with us.”

• 브람스의 자장가 (Brahms’ Lullaby) is one of the world’s most famous lullabies and commonly associated with comforting children or pets to sleep.