By Ji-eun
The cafe is open again.
The "maintenance" sign has been removed.
The lights are on.
The smell of coffee fills the air again.
But today, it's not just coffee.
It's a calling.
I invited three people.
Not by force.
Not by fate.
Out of necessity.
And out of a strange feeling I've never felt before:
hope.
Min-jae arrives first.
He enters slowly, as always, with his student backpack and glasses fogged by the coffee steam. He has the look of a sleepless night. Deep circles under his eyes. Shaky hands.
"Did you see the recording?" he asks, not looking at me.
"I saw it," I say, pouring a ginseng tea. "The voice at the back of the construction site. The one that said, 'He's coming.'"
He shakes his head.
"It's not just a voice. It's an echo. A repetition of all the deaths linked to the gwisin. And they all have the same intonation... the same pause before the word 'revenge.'"
He opens his laptop.
An audio clip plays. The voice is distorted but clear:
"He's coming... and the traitors... will burn."
"That's not just a spirit," he whispers. "It's a command. Someone is orchestrating this."
"The King," I say.
Min-jae finally looks at me.
"You think I'm weak, don't you?"
"I think you're the bravest of us all."
He laughs bitterly.
"Courage? I barely leave the basement. Every time I hear a voice, I think, 'Is that her?' My sister... she called me for three days after she died. Until I blocked out all the sounds. Until I erased the recordings."
"What if she wasn't asking for help?" I ask.
"What if she was trapped?"
He doesn't answer. But he closes the laptop slowly. And says:
"If you go after her... I'll go with you."
Suah enters like a thunderclap.
Wearing a leather jacket, her hair tied in a high bun, the look of someone who's seen the worst.
"You called me to a staff meeting?" she says, crossing her arms. "I thought this was just you and your magic tea."
"I thought so too," I admit. "Until I almost died."
She looks at me. Not with pity. With respect.
"Do you know why I fight?" she asks.
"For revenge?"
"No. For guilt."
She sits down. For the first time, she looks tired.
"My mother was possessed by a grieving gwisin. He used her body to kill my father. I saw her. I was hiding in the closet. And I did nothing. Because I was afraid. Then she killed herself. And I swore: never to be afraid again. Never to lose anyone again."
"You won't lose anyone," I say. "Not if we fight together."
She stares at me.
"I'm not just strength, Ji-eun. I'm rage. And blind rage kills allies."
"Then let's give you a clear target," I say.
"The King. The one who corrupts. The one who uses pain to create monsters."
She smiles. Small but real.
"Okay. But if I fall… you pick me up.
And if you fall… I break whoever knocked you down."
—
Hae-jun arrives with a gamer's smile.
University baseball uniform. Glove in hand.
He looks like he's just come from practice.
"Sorry I'm late! I hit an epic home run!" he says, tossing the glove on the counter. But his eyes are nervous. He avoids looking at the corner where the dokkaebi usually sits.
"Did you play baseball?" I ask.
"I used to play. Until one night, my coach saw me… changing."
He laughs, but it's not amusing.
"My shadow grew. My eyes glowed. And I disappeared for three days. When I came back, he said I was a monster. And he kicked me out."
"Are you a gumiho?" I ask.
He pauses. The smile fades.
"Half-gumiho. My mother was an enchanted fox. My father… a human who couldn't handle it. She disappeared when I was 12. They say she was hunted."
"And the tails?"
"I had nine. Now… I have five." He lowers his voice. "Every time I use illusion to save someone… I lose a little. As if the power exacted a price."
"And why do you help?" I ask.
"Because no one helped me." He looks at me. Seriously, for the first time. "And because this cafe… is the first place I've felt invisible on purpose. Not out of fear. By choice."
—
And so, the four of us sit. In silence. With steaming cups.
"I'm not the leader because I'm strong," I say. "I'm the leader because I've seen what happens when we act alone. I almost died. Min-jae isolates herself. Suah carries guilt. Hae-jun hides who she is. And all of us… are afraid of what's coming."
I look at each of them.
"But if we come together… we don't need to be afraid. We may be broken. We may bleed. But we will fight. Not for glory.
Not for revenge. Because someone has to protect those they can't see. And because, maybe… we can heal what hurt us."
Silence.
Until Min-jae places the laptop in the center of the table.
"So… where do we begin?"
Suah smiles.
"For the next gwisin."
Hae-jun lifts his cup.
"And I bring the illusions."
And I… smile. For the first time in months, I feel like I'm not alone.