"You're here already? Ah, wait a sec. Sit here. I'll get you something to drink."
Upon entrance, they walked into the courtyard of the house where a woman was sitting on the pyongsang in the middle of the courtyard, seemingly waiting for them.
"That won't be needed. I'm here for work, Ms. Youngmi."
Not wavering from his stern, static composure, Kiho responded in his deep voice but still obediently sat down on the low wooden table. Lim Soohyun, not knowing what he should do, stood by his side like an assistant, bowing to the woman who was most likely his age.
"If you're here for work, then we will have to pay you."
A man's voice came from behind them. Holding his daughter (probably) in his arms, the man strode towards them, all smiles, looking even younger than any of them. The girl resembled him a great deal. Hugging a white bear plushie, her eyes landed on Lim Soohyun—very judging eyes.
"I don't charge first-time customers."
Kiho replied instantly. Lim Soohyun raised an eyebrow as he heard the words he had never heard when he asked Kiho how much he'd take for performing a séance, also as a first-time customer.
Is this his way of being nice?
The man settled his daughter on the pyongsang next to Kiho as they continued talking. The little girl immediately jumped down from the table, still gazing at him curiously.
"It's her first time seeing you. That's why she was the same when she met Kiho."
The mother laughed at her daughter's behavior.
"Mija, introduce yourself to your hyung."
"Hello."
Mija listened very well to her mother's words and bowed slightly, greeting Lim Soohyun, who bowed to her too, keeping things polite.
"I'm Lim Soohyun. Nice to meet you."
"Mr. Soohyun, are you older than Kiho? If I had to guess, you must be the same age as him, right?"
Having already guessed he was older than Kiho, Youngmi still decided to be kind. Lim Soohyun, not fond of meeting more than one stranger—much less three—in a day, tried to keep his little smile as he spoke.
"I'm ten years older than him, actually..."
"Oh... ten years! Your skin is better than teens these days, Mr. Soohyun. Are you married by any chance?"
"No... haha..."
"I know of a few candidates available for marriage. Why don't we select a day and talk about it later?"
He had never encountered someone as friendly as Youngmi. Fully cornered and sweat permeating, he was speechless when Kiho cut in abruptly, saving the day.
"Nuna, stop putting pressure on Mr. Soohyun. He's not interested in marriage right now."
"What? I was just thinking for his better..."
Putting her hand on her hip, Youngmi switched to questioning Kiho instead.
"How did you get to know each other, Kiho? He's way older than you."
"It's strictly a business relationship. We got to know each other through work."
"Is he also a medium, then? I thought you liked to work alone?"
Accustomed to her questions, Kiho was unaffected by being bombarded with all sorts of questions. Lim Soohyun naturally stepped out of the circle of talk to the quiet side, and surprisingly, Mija decided to follow after him, standing next to him, gazing ahead with her droopy eyes.
"Hyung, can you also see ghosts?"
"...No."
Mija hummed, sounding a bit disappointed.
"Mom says that the thing I see sometimes is also a ghost. I want to be like Kiho-hyung and befriend the ghosts."
Speaking in a calm and sharp tone, Mija might have just told him rather an important piece of information. Befriending ghosts did seem like an enjoyable hobby, so he had nothing to say to crush her innocent dreams.
"The ghost that you see... what does it look like? It's not scary?"
Mija slowly blinked at him and then shook her head.
"I don't know."
"Can't tell?"
"No... Hyung, can you hold onto my doll?"
Mija replied instantly and suddenly pushed the white bear plushie in her hands to him. Lim Soohyun stared at her, intrigued for a few seconds. Just as he was about to reach out to take the white bear plushie from her, Kiho cut in between them with his body, glaring at him.
"Don't touch her."
"...?? ...What do you think of me to say that?"
Unperturbed by his comment, Kiho turned to Mija to take the plushie for himself, but the little girl refused to give it to him.
"No! You can see them."
The girl who had just claimed to grow up to be like Kiho faced him as if she was his enemy. Lim Soohyun felt a bit hurt by Kiho's words. He tugged at his clothes, wanting an explanation.
"Hey, why can't I touch her? I wasn't even going to. I just wanted to swiftly grab the plushie."
"You're here to observe only. Don't do anything more than that."
Clearly setting a boundary, Kiho stared at him with no mercy.
"It's alright, Kiho. You don't have to be so uptight."
The man tried to fan down the heat, taking his daughter away and dragging Kiho with him instead. Lim Soohyun gazed at Kiho's back for a while before stepping forward to follow after them, thinking Kiho must have his own reasons too.
"It's not that serious, but it is still worrying. Things disappearing on their own and doors closing are no pressing matters, but I think it's starting to affect Mija too. She keeps saying she sees a ghost in the house—not all the time, but she sees it every day."
Stepping into the rooms, Kiho examined the house for starters as always while listening to the couple's worries.