Chapter 46.2

Chapter 46.2

Suho gave a sheepish smile, his face calm despite the unexpected weight of his confession.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know,” Ara replied, startled into an awkward silence.

Ji-hye had been Suho’s girlfriend back in their school days. She was the student council president, and he, the vice president—a duo as sharp and kind as they were popular. Teachers adored them, and classmates admired them, calling them the perfect “golden couple,” thanks in no small part to their good looks.

Their relationship had been so strong, so harmonious, that everyone at school had believed they were destined to get married someday.

“No, it’s not your fault. I didn’t mention it,” Suho reassured her, noticing how flustered Ara seemed. He smoothly shifted the conversation.

“Anyway, I’m not sure what’s going on, but are you planning to stay here for a while?” He asked.

“Hmm, yeah. Probably for now.”

“Alright. Then let me know when you’re free. Since we ran into each other, I’d like to treat you to a cup of coffee sometime.”

Finally, Suho keyed in his number on Ara’s phone. Pressing the call button, he let it ring, and a vibration came from his pocket.

“Okay, I will,” Ara replied, taking her phone back and nodding.

“Want me to walk you home?”

“No, it’s fine. It’s not far. I need to stop somewhere with Baekseol first, so I’ll head off now.”

“Alright. See you around,” Suho said with a bright smile, giving her a friendly wave.

Ara dipped her head slightly in farewell and turned toward the trailhead she had come down earlier.

Baekseol hesitated for a moment, trailing after her before stopping and glancing around curiously, as if trying to make sense of something.

“Baekseol, what are you doing? Come quickly! We need to go home!”

Ara, who had already moved quite far away, urged her to come. Yoon Suho, still standing in place, was also carefully watching Baekseol’s movements, worried she might get lost.

Baekseol reluctantly got up.

But as she moved, she repeatedly sniffed and looked back.

“What’s wrong with you, Baekseol? Is there some smell?”

After passing through the crowd and entering a less populated street, Ara lowered her voice and asked.

“Well… I’m not sure whether I should say it exists or not…”

Baekseol glanced towards the market and finally spoke. A frustrated sigh escaped her.

“I’m not certain. Around the time you were greeting that human male, I suddenly felt a strong spiritual energy. But it happened so quickly, and there were too many other local spirits around…”

“Wait, are you saying there were local spirits there?”

Ara’s eyes widened in shock as she looked back at the path they had come.

“Of course. Fortunately, they won’t be visible to your eyes, but the human world is full of spirits trapped by various circumstances.”

Baekseol clicked her tongue as if stating the most obvious thing.

Ara, feeling goosebumps, subtly rubbed her neck and stood right next to Baekseol.

“Could it be… the ghost we met last time?

She looked down and touched her wrist where the dark energy had been.

Fortunately or unfortunately, Baekseol firmly shook her head.

“Similar, but different. If it had been that spirit, there would’ve been a more terrible stench. I wouldn’t be confused.”

“Could it be another ghost…?”

“Well, maybe.”

Sniff, Baekseol twitched her nose one last time. The blowing wind was mixed with various human world smells. A typical contemporary scent.

“I might have been mistaken.”

Baekseol answered with a hint of uncertainty.

In fact, since the spirit’s invasion last time, she had been hypersensitive about everything.

Spending all day away from home, carefully planting dogweed around the goblin realm as an alert, and making the maze realm’s structure more complex were all because of that.

“I haven’t had many chances to mingle with people lately.”

To ease Ara’s tension, Baekseol deliberately cracked a joke by imitating her responses to Suho while dragging the cart with her tail.

“Baekseol, you can’t tell anyone about this! Promise? Okay?”

“We’ll see. That depends on you. What else will you make besides tomahawk steak?”

Ara and Baekseol began climbing the mountain path, bickering yet relying on each other.

Their ordinary, everyday conversation and periodic footsteps soon entered the maze realm. It was the moment when the clear presence just moments ago disappeared like a lie.

At the edge of the market they had just passed, a massive, gloomy energy flickered like a flash of light.