Still holding onto the knob of the door, Lim Soohyun asked Kiho, who was standing beside him, but Kiho enveloped his hand on the knob without saying anything, his eyes fixed on the knob of the door. Without turning the knob, Kiho paused like that for a while until Lim Soohyun couldn't take it anymore.
"What are you doing?"
Sliding out his hand, he spoke in an annoyed tone.
"If you haven't been down there, then there's no need to check it out."
Speaking in a stern voice, Kiho naturally started walking to the kitchen as if he had been living here for the past fifty years, already familiar with the house. Lim Soohyun didn't think he needed to guide the kid, so he stood in a corner observing him. There wasn't any difference between him or this medium. Kiho was glancing around the place, but he paid more attention to the furniture or objects than the places where a ghost would be. If he could see ghosts, he'd definitely search for them first and foremost.
"The bedrooms are upstairs. Do you want to overlook them too?"
"Yes."
Kiho responded to him and, taking the lead again, climbed the stairs slowly.
"Do you have to select a spot for the séance? Is that why you need to tour the house?"
Stepping behind him, Lim Soohyun spoke, sniffing his clothes, which smelled like his cigarettes...
"Not necessarily. A séance can be done anywhere, but the most important part is knowing who you're calling out for. Mr. Soohyun, who do you wish to talk to?"
There isn't anyone, though.
"Just the spirits here in this house. This is a haunted house. There should be spirits here willing to talk, right?"
Stopping at the threshold of his bedroom, Kiho turned around suddenly, his eyes glancing and blinking as if he wanted to avoid him, but then he gazed at him directly.
"Mr. Soohyun, I need to be sure of your purpose here. Why do you want to contact the spirits of this house?"
Lim Soohyun stared back at him with his hands in his jeans pocket before responding.
"I'll pay you however much you want, Kiho, so just proceed with the séance. For the questions, since you're the professional, I'll leave them to you."
Passing Kiho, he pushed open the bedroom door.
"It would be fun to know more about the spirits that are living here for free for years."
He muttered, switching on the lights of the bedroom. Kiho stared at the claw marks on the walls and wooden floor and then glanced at him again.
"This..."
"Don't worry about these. Keep looking and let me know if you see anything."
Lim Soohyun showed him to the other two bedrooms too before they descended the stairs. Skipping the living room, Kiho chose to sit at the dining table. It was already dark outside. On his request, Lim Soohyun had to turn on all the lights of the house.
"I have milk and 99% orange juice. Which one do you want?"
Lim Soohyun spoke, grabbing a glass for Kiho.
"I would like some tea, Mr. Soohyun."
"..…."
He put back the glass and sat down opposite of Kiho on the dining table.
"I don't have tea."
"I'll take the orange juice..."
Kiho responded in a low voice, prompting him to get back up to grab a glass of juice for Kiho, but he was satisfied. Kids at that age should be drinking juice or milk. Placing the juice carton and glass in front of Kiho, he finally took his seat again.
"It's not recommended to drive at night here, so you'll have to stay the night here, Kiho. Sorry about that."
Drinking half the orange juice, Kiho put down the glass on the table and pulled out bright yellow papers the size of his hand from his coat's inner pocket. Lim Soohyun watched curiously as Kiho got up and started to paste the yellow papers with red characters on the walls of the house.
"What are you doing? Are you already scared? We still haven't done the séance."
As he recognized the talismans, he spoke, wanting to tear them off the walls. He wasn't here to keep the spirits in check. Why would he need protection talismans?
"Please don't remove them, Mr. Soohyun."
Lim Soohyun, whose hand was just about to rip off the talisman, stopped as he heard Kiho's voice from the side. Eyeing him, he decided to do it later when Kiho was gone, in case he was really scared.
"Kiho, I'm not sure if you're scared—although this is your profession—but I'm not scared of ghosts and stuff. You don't need to do this. I only called you for a séance."
They both sat down on the dining table after Kiho had finished covering the kitchen with talismans, though he didn't appear content with his work. Every time Lim Soohyun said anything about the séance, Kiho would just avoid it altogether. Wasn't he here for a séance in the first place?
"Look, Kiho, don't take it to heart, but can you even do a séance, or is the medium front just all fake? You don't seem all that different from a normal human to me."
Trying to not sound like a scumbag, Lim Soohyun kept his tone gentle as he spoke. Kiho stared with his hands crossed on the table for a moment. Just when Lim Soohyun thought he wasn't going to reply, he heard him speak up.
"I have seen ghosts, spirits, or whatever you might want to address them as, for almost my life since childhood until now, Mr. Soohyun."
"Ah...yeah?"
"I can see spirits and even other unusual beings, but it's a bit difficult to not get an attachment if they become aware of the fact that I am able to see them."
Kiho explained in a stiff voice. Lim Soohyun thought he was joking at first, but then he continued, entirely serious, causing him to listen earnestly.
"But if this house is really haunted, didn't you just tell them that you can see them, or can they not hear us?"
"Mr. Soohyun, did you believe what I just said?"
"No."
He bluntly answered without a second thought.
"It's like that for them too. They wouldn't believe that so easily."
However, Kiho was unaffected, still speaking in a solemnly deep voice.
"And if they try to test it?"
Lim Soohyun questioned, looking at Kiho.
"I've learned to avoid their suspicions."
"...you should've kept that to yourself."
If Kiho was telling him the truth, then Lim Soohyun was concerned about him. The last thing he wanted to do was drag an innocent person into something dangerous alongside him. That's why he had always ventured out alone. As he was thinking if he should cancel the séance service and just do it on his own, Kiho began to glance behind him again.
"...?"
He took a quick glance behind him, but there was nothing that caught his eye. Didn't this kid just say he wouldn't stare at the spirits? Then what was this?
"Mr. Soohyun, are you sure the spirits in this house were once humans? There are other entities that take the form of humans sometimes to trick humans."
"Of course I wouldn't know that."
At his response, Kiho's eyebrows frowned slightly.
"What about those marks in your bedroom? Did you not ask anything when you were buying this house? Why did you even move into a haunted house?"
"Watch your tone, Kiho."
Lim Soohyun warned, although he wasn't one to be strict about formalities, but using informal language suddenly while speaking to him as if he was being interrogated was crossing a line.
"There are ways to tell them apart. The nonhuman entities can never replicate a human perfectly. There is always a flaw. If you can notice it, try your best to not interact or have any interest in that entity."
"Whatever happens, you should never ever try to talk to something non-human."
"I don't think it's any of your business to be worrying about a stranger, Kiho. You should worry about yourself instead."
In a stalemate, both of them stared at each other in silence. Lim Soohyun brushed his hair back from his forehead, bringing out a cigarette to his lips, feeling irritated from the lack of entertainment. He chewed onto the cigarette in his mouth, not wanting to argue with a kid ten years younger than him, when he heard Kiho's voice from the front.
"Mr. Soohyun, I will not be performing a séance for you."