Big Life

Chapter 144. Tremble in Fear (3)

“Seems like it,” Ha Jae-Gun said as he bored his eyes on the signboard.

It read Gyeongja Bathhouse.

It was called Gyeoja Bathhouse because the words ng seemed to have fallen from the sign. It seemed that it had been quite a while since those two words disappeared, as dust had covered the empty spot.

“Seems like it closed a long time ago.”

A reception counter could be seen behind the doors. On both sides were the doors to the men's and women's baths. The spider webs behind the tinted glass gave off a creepy feeling.

“Jae-Gun, this is scary. Let’s just go.”

“But I want to go in.”

“What?” Lee Soo-Hee was surprised.

Ha Jae-Gun turned to look at Lee Soo-Hee and said, “I want to take a look since I’ve already come all the way here.”

“But do you really need to go in? It’s getting dark, too.”

“I have a flashlight.” Ha Jae-Gun took out the flashlight from his bag and turned it on before hanging it around his neck.

Lee Soo-Hee was dumbfounded.

“Can you wait in the car? I’ll take around five minutes.”

“No. I’ll go in with you then. But we’ll leave here soon, okay?”

Ha Jae-Gun pushed the door open. He pondered for a while, then finally decided to enter the men’s bath while holding Lee Soo-Hee’s hands.

They took the stairs and headed into the dark basement.

“There would have been a huge problem if I hadn’t brought a flashlight,” Ha Jae-Gun mumbled as they walked through the changing room. The old lockers surrounded them like folding screens. Lee Soo-Hee grabbed Ha Jae-Gun’s arm—her hands were sweating out of nervousness.

“It’s the baths if we go this way.”

“Jae-Gun, must we really go in? Isn’t it enough that we’ve come this far?”

However, Ha Jae-Gun dragged Lee Soo-Hee along with him without answering her.

It wasn’t because he had decided to ignore her, he simply didn’t hear her.

The familiar sight of the place distracted him more as they walked further in.

“The walls are gone,” Ha Jae-Gun murmured as he shone the flashlight on the wall to the right side of the huge bath. Behind the half-demolished wall was the women’s bath.

“Was there another use for it?” Lee Soo-Hee asked.

“There’s a sauna with state-of-the-art equipment nearby. This building is quite old, and it’s locked, too. Maybe the wall fell, and they were using it as a storage room?”

“That could be it too.”

Ha Jae-Gun agreed and shone the flashlight in all directions.

Just then, he discovered scribbles beside the showers.

- Brothers, Kim Jung-Hwan and Kim Jung-Suk were here.

- Lee Hye-Jung was here.

The words were crooked, seemingly written by young kids. Ha Jae-Gun repeated both lines in his head. He then visualized two boys and a girl spending their time playing in his shabby building.

“Let’s go nowJae-Gun.”

“Yeah, let’s go through the women’s bath as we exit.”

Ha Jae-Gun wanted to look around for a while more, but he decided to leave after considering Lee Soo-Hee’s feelings.

They passed through the crumbled wall and entered the women’s bath. It didn’t look any different than the men’s bath. However, there was an extra door by the sauna room that the men’s bath did not have.

Ha Jae-Gun looked at the door and stopped in his tracks.

“What’s wrong?” Lee Soo-Hee asked.

“No, it’s just that door…” Ha Jae-Gun muttered and cracked his neck. His eyes were unwittingly transfixed on the door in the darkness.

His expressionless stiff face made shivers travel down Lee Soo-Hee’s spine.

“What’s wrong, Jae-Gun? You’re scaring me.”

“That should be the toilet.”

“…Huh? How do you know?”

“Once you enter, it should be the toilet, and to the right should be the boiler room.”

Ha Jae-Gun then walked to the door, trying to show that he was right.

Lee Soo-Hee hurried behind him.

Ha Jae-Gun then pushed open the door without hesitation.

“Oh, you’re right.” Lee Soo-Hee’s jaws dropped midway as she saw through the open door. There was a broken sliding door and the squat toilets behind it.

“How did you know? You’ve come here before, right?”

“No, I really don’t know. Did I come here before when I was young?”

The unknown origin of this memory made Ha Jae-Gun feel frustrated. He looked to the side and saw the door to the boiler room.

Ha Jae-Gun was about to grab the doorknob when Lee Soo-Hee asked, “Why? Are you going to open it?”

Lee Soo-Hee’s fear-stricken voice quivered ever so slightly.

Ha Jae-Gun suddenly had a mischievous thought.

He looked at Lee Soo-Hee with narrowed, dreary eyes.

“W-what’s wrong?”

“Soo-Hee, do you… want to know what’s in here?”

“Stop doing that. I’m going to leave.”

“Haha, I’m sorry. It’s just a prank. What else would be in here?”

Ha Jae-Gun laughed for a while, then flung the door to the boiler room open.

However, a crouched little girl with long hair looked up at them.

Her bright eyes stood out behind her disheveled hair.

“Ah!”

“Kyaaaa!”

Startled, Ha Jae-Gun fell to the ground first.

Lee Soo-Hee retreated a few steps and struck the wall hard behind her.

“W-w-w-w-who are you?”

Lee Soo-Hee’s fear-stricken voice sounded off to Ha Jae-Gun. Soon, the girl buried her face in her hands and burst into tears.

“Waaaaaah!”

“D-don’t cry. Why are you here alone? Hmm?”

“The oppas don’t want to play with me!”

Ha Jae-Gun finally realized that the girl was probably just an elementary school student.

Lee Soo-Hee let out a long sigh of relief and approached the little girl. “They are bad oppas. Right? Unni will scold them for you. Come with me.”

Ha Jae-Gun and Lee Soo-Hee each held one of the little girl’s hands and headed out of the building. They walked through the alley from earlier and arrived at where they had come from to see the same group of children still playing hopscotch.

“Hey, it’s your sister,” one of the kids said to another boy.

The boy looked up and threw a pebble at the little girl holding Lee Soo-Hee’s hand.

“Where were you? I told you to stay where I can see you, didn’t I?”

“It’s because you guys don’t want to play with me! You don’t let me play with you guys either!”

“You can’t play this game, so we didn’t let you join us, dummy!”

“Waaaaah! I’m going to tell Mom!”

Ha Jae-Gun and Lee Soo-Hee bought the kids a bag of ice cream to calm them down before leaving. As they headed back to the car, Ha Jae-Gun stopped by the real estate office when he chanced upon one.

“Gyeoja Bathhouse? It’s been a while since Mr. Kim, running a logistics company, bought that building. He was going to use it as a warehouse.”

Ha Jae-Gun then handed the agent a drink after opening it while he listened.

“The building was old, so the former owner only sold it for the cost of the land. It has been a while since they closed the bathhouse, too. Why are you asking this?”

“It’s nothing. I thought I'd been here when I was younger, but I can’t exactly remember it. Thank you.”

The couple left the real estate office and got into the car.

Ha Jae-Gun helped Lee Soo-Hee with her seatbelt and apologized to her.

“I’m sorry, you were scared, right?”

“It’s not your fault. And I found it funny, actually.”

Lee Soo-Hee looked out the window and giggled.

“The sight of you falling on your butt in shock.”

“My heart felt like it stopped when that happened. Who would have known that there’d be a little girl in the room?”

“Let’s call it quits now since you’ve been trying to scare me the whole time. That’s karma.”

With that, the couple headed to a restaurant to have some delicious tofu hotpot for dinner and returned to their hotel soon afterward.

Lee Soo-Hee was quite exhausted after walking around for the entire day. While she headed off to shower first, Ha Jae-Gun took out his fountain pen.

‘I think this could make a story.’

No story had been formed, yet ideas were dancing and prancing around in his mind. Ha Jae-Gun wrote down the things he had seen and felt at the bathhouse, as well as everything that had happened earlier.

He didn’t want to forget the emotions he felt on this abnormal day.

“Ha Jae-Gun, are you busy?”

Lee Soo-Hee’s voice came from behind. However, Ha Jae-Gun did not look up but continued writing on his notepad.

“No, I’m not busy. Why?”

“Go take a bath before the water cools down. I prepared the bath water for you in the tub.”

Ha Jae-Gun finally turned around and saw Lee Soo-Hee in a white gown drying her hair with a towel. Her still-damp skin made Ha Jae-Gun come to his senses.

“You’re done?”

“Yeah, what’s the matter?”

“No, it’s nothing.”

Ha Jae-Gun looked disappointed as he entered the bathroom. He still found it awkward to suggest they shower together.

While he was taking off his shirt, he heard a muffled voice behind him.

“Um, if… you need me to help you scrub your back, just call me.”

All thoughts of the novel were erased from his mind the moment he heard her words.

He decided to postpone thinking about it until after their trip.

***

“Ten tonight? Mm, you’re treating? Shall I close the doors early and look for you then? I’m not getting customers anyway.”

The cafe owner looked around the place and pondered.

There were fewer customers recently, probably due to the recession. Or was he falling into despair? He was leaning toward closing the cafe doors early and going out for some drinks with his friend.

Just then, the cafe doors opened, and a customer walked in.

He recognized the customer immediately and turned serious.

“Hey, I’m sorry, but I can’t be there by ten. I’ll be there by eleven twenty instead. A customer just walked in. He once helped me close the store. Do you get it? Ah, I’m hanging up.”

The customer walked up to the order counter.

The cafe owner grinned and said, “Welcome. What would you like to order today?”

“Hello. Please give me a regular iced americano and a double cheesecake.”

After ordering, the customer went off to their usual seat. The cafe owner knew that as well, as that customer had never once chosen to sit anywhere else before.

‘But he looks quite familiar. Was it because he comes here often?’ The cafe owner wondered as he prepared the drink and cake. He felt that he had definitely seen him before, not just as a customer but from somewhere else.

The customer at the table pulled out his writing stationary.

The customer was none other than Ha Jae-Gun.

‘Phew, my muse. Please take care of me today as well.’

Ha Jae-Gun returned here for his new novel, following The Breath and Oscar’s Dungeon. He had just started working on the novel’s structure, so it was much more comfortable for him to work alone than in the writer’s office.

‘The main character would be the younger of the one-year-apart brothers. The older brother is in elementary 6, and the younger in elementary 5. And there’s a younger girl called Kyeong-Ja, in elementary 4.’

Ha Jae-Gun held Seo Gun-Woo’s fountain pen in hand and started organizing his thoughts on the characters in the story. He created them using the scribble that he had seen back in the bathhouse as a reference—the brothers and a girl.

‘The two brothers lived poorly with their mother. They followed their mother, who works in a canned goods factory and moved to another neighborhood. The younger brother adapted to his new school and friends, but the shy older brother was having difficulty. One day, as he was on the way home, he found the Gyeoja Bathhouse…!’

Ha Jae-Gun was hyper-focused as he scribbled away on his notepad. The cafe owner brought his drink and food to his table because Ha Jae-Gun didn’t hear the bell, but Ha Jae-Gun didn’t even notice the cafe owner.

‘The little girl was teased by others because of the destroyed signboard, Gyeoja—it became her nickname. And so she played alone in the bathhouse turned warehouse that her father used to store food ingredients. The two brothers that came playing in the bathhouse grew closer to the little girl named Gyeo-Ja…!’

Thirty minutes—no, an hour later, Ha Jae-Gun suddenly felt thirsty.

He downed the entire cup of diluted Americano and picked up his pen once again.

‘The artistic older brother drew a picture of the little girl’s face one day. The little girl asked him to color it, but the older brother refused because he didn’t have any coloring materials. The little girl teased the older brother for it.

’The older brother, having always felt inferior for coming from a poor family, couldn’t suppress his anger anymore and exploded before decisively leaving. While the little girl cried, the younger brother went to steal her favorite chocolate—’’

Bzzt!

Ha Jae-Gun flinched when his phone vibrated.

It was a call from Director Yoon Tae-Sung.

“Hello, director.”

— How have you been, Writer Ha?

“I’m doing well. How about you? How’s your short film going?”

— I’m almost done with it, just left with the post-edits. It’s looking great so far. You’re going to come for the movie preview, right?

“Of course. It’s your film, after all.”

— Haha, it’s my honor. Mr. Do-Joon’s value seemed to have skyrocketed ever since he stepped into China. Have you seen the news? I heard he’s currently filming another commercial.

“Ah, really? That’s great. I do talk with him over the phone occasionally, but Do-Joon doesn’t really bring up much about his work.”

— I’ve felt this when we worked together, he seems to be quite shy. Ah, Writer Ha, are there any updates on your next novel? I’m actually most curious about this.

“Ah, my next novel…?”

Ha Jae-Gun read through the things he had written so far in the notepad. He had written them out without much thought, so he was still undecided about the book’s genre.

Ha Jae-Gun recalled Yoon Tae-Sung’s question and decided on its tentative genre right there and then.

“I think it might be a horror mystery story.”

Yoon Tae-Sung’s voice from the other side of the line sounded quite excited.

— Horror?! I’d love to take a look once the manuscript is done.

“Do you like horror stories?”

— Of course. It’s my personal favorite genre, and I wish to direct one. Writer Ha, when horror genre manuscripts surface, copyright contract offers come knocking on your doors immediately. I’m confident about that.

“Ah, is that so? I thought I understood your tastes quite well while working on There Was A Sea with you, I never knew you liked horror stories, too.”

The cafe owner hid himself behind the coffee machine, eavesdropping on Ha Jae-Gun’s phone conversation. His jaws fell open as he flicked his fingers. Hearing him talk about There Was A Sea made him certain about the man’s identity.

“I understand. I’ll send you a copy of the draft once it’s completed. Yes, please have a good rest.”

Ha Jae-Gun hung up his phone and picked up his pen again.

Just then, the cafe owner came up to him timidly and stood by the table.

“Excuse me, customer—no, sir.”

“Yes?” Ha Jae-Gun looked up.

The cafe owner twiddled his fingers and had an awkward smile.

“I’ve always enjoyed your novels. That’s why I run a cafe by the bookstore.”

“Ah, I see. Thank you.”

“I’m really sorry but… could I get an autograph from you? I’d like to hang it on the cafe walls.”

“I’m still not good with my autograph, but if you’re fine with it, I can do it for you.”

“Aigoo, thank you so much. I’ll go grab a piece of paper.”

After getting Ha Jae-Gun’s autograph, the cafe owner immediately framed it up and hung it in the center of the cafe.

And as usual, Ha Jae-Gun helped the cafe owner close the cafe…

Ha Jae-Gun was all smiles because he was ninety percent done with Gyeoja Bathhouse’s story structure.