Mu-ryeong’s Spirit

"......"

A strange presence stirred the air. A chill so intense that it sent shivers down his spine made Mu-ryeong instinctively turn his head. At that exact moment, someone brushed past him, emerging from the cafeteria.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing..."

The student was noticeably taller than most, standing a head above the others. His broad shoulders and composed stride felt almost out of place for a high schooler. Mu-ryeong narrowed his eyes as he watched the figure gradually walk away, then shook his head.

"It's nothing."

"Yeah, right."

Naturally, Seung-joo didn’t believe him. He only turned his head in the same direction, his tone indifferent. Blinking blankly, he muttered a familiar name.

"Ki Hwan-young?"

Was it just his imagination? For the briefest moment, the distant figure seemed to hesitate. Of course, at this distance, there was no way Hwan-young could have heard him. It had to be a coincidence.

"Ki Hwan-young? Where?"

"Wow, he's huge every time I see him."

"I'm jealous. I wish I were that tall."

"Not me… That’s too much."

"Shut up, you only say that because you're short."

The conversation, which had veered into ghost stories, quickly shifted to Hwan-young instead. Comments about his striking looks, his aloof personality, and how top students were always like that flooded the discussion.

As the gossip, fueled by a classmate's firsthand accounts, turned into outright backbiting, Seung-joo glanced at Mu-ryeong and asked, "Why'd you suddenly bring him up?"

Mu-ryeong slipped his hand into his pants pocket in silence. His fingers brushed against the hard surface of a plastic object. Just then, he saw Hwan-young turn a corner and quickly looked away, pretending not to care.

"Nothing. Just... jealous of his height."

His smooth response was enough to dispel any suspicion. Seung-joo even gave him a pat on the shoulder, offering a half-hearted reassurance that it was fine—he was still growing, after all. The sentiment didn’t feel particularly sincere, but Mu-ryeong decided to let it slide.

Before long, the conversation had shifted once again, now focused on the topic of "Why does Ki Hwan-young always walk alone?" Some thought it was because he had no friends; others countered that he didn’t even seem interested in making any.

Mu-ryeong cut through the speculation and turned to the friend who had asked for his help earlier.

***

"So, what exactly is your request?"

His friend's problem was simple—every morning, the library was a mess. No matter how neatly it was organized the night before, books would be scattered on the floor or rearranged in complete disarray by the time morning came.

At first, they thought it was just a coincidence. But when it happened repeatedly—twice, three times, more—it started to feel unnatural.

"Someone must be messing around, but there's no way to catch them."

Mu-ryeong didn’t pry too much before accepting the request. There wasn’t much he could gain from it, but they agreed to sort out the compensation later.

The investigation period was set for a week, though if Mu-ryeong put his mind to it, he could solve it in a single night.

"Just go home and get some sleep tonight."

Seung-joo, sensing what Mu-ryeong was thinking, had repeated this several times over lunch. The case wasn’t urgent, so for once, he should just take a break.

Mu-ryeong only grinned sheepishly, never actually promising to take it easy.

"What can I do? It's just easier to solve it quickly."

That evening, long after everyone had gone home, Mu-ryeong stood in front of the school’s outer wall, squinting.

A small flame flickered in the air around him, bobbing side to side as if shaking its head in disapproval. But Mu-ryeong simply smiled, unbothered.@@novelbin@@

"It’s fine. I’ll finish early tonight."

The location was clear, the method obvious, and he already had some suspicions. If his friend hadn’t exaggerated, the same disturbance should happen in the library tonight.

Mu-ryeong lightly bounced on the balls of his feet, gauging the height of the wall before him. Even with his arms fully extended, the top was out of reach, and a fence nearly his height ran along it. Most people wouldn’t be able to climb over, but he didn’t hesitate.

With a swift motion, he leaped up, gripping the wall’s edge with ease. Pressing one foot against the smooth surface, he used the momentum to pull himself up in one fluid motion. Once he was balanced on top, he tossed his bag over the fence.

Thud—his bag landed softly inside. Without missing a beat, Mu-ryeong reached for the highest part of the fence. Though lower than the wall, the way it rattled didn’t inspire much confidence.

"I hate climbing walls."

It makes me feel like a criminal.

Muttering to himself, he sprang up, grabbing the top of the fence in one effortless motion. With nowhere to brace his feet this time, he let himself drop straight to the ground, landing on both feet as smoothly as if he had done it a hundred times before.

His destination: the annex building, where the library was located.

The school had multiple buildings—Main Building 1, Main Building 2, the New Building, the Annex, and even a gymnasium that doubled as an auditorium. It was the kind of lavish school only a wealthy chairman could have built, and every structure was unnecessarily spacious.

Mu-ryeong stopped at the entrance of the annex, scanning his surroundings like a thief. Once the sun set, students—and even security—were strictly forbidden from entering. But it never hurt to be careful.

After making sure no one was around, he waved at the floating flame.

"You can do it, right?"

The flame spun in a small circle as if to say, Leave it to me. Mu-ryeong placed his hand on the chain wrapped around the door handle, watching as the flame got to work.

The bright blue flame hovered around the padlock, moving slowly. Before long, there was a soft click as the lock disengaged.

"Good job."

Mu-ryeong let out a quiet chuckle and pulled a ten-won coin from his pocket. Ting! The coin flipped through the air, and the floating flame swiftly caught it. The way it flared up, crackling brightly, made it seem almost… happy.

Inside the annex, the atmosphere was even more eerie than it had appeared from the outside. The only light came from the moon filtering through the windows, casting long, sharp shadows. The silence was oppressive—so deep that it almost felt alive. But Mu-ryeong, long accustomed to such settings, strode forward without the slightest hesitation.

With each step he took, the flames flickered alongside him, casting a dim, wavering glow. The way they floated at his sides made them resemble tiny streetlights. Every five steps, Mu-ryeong flicked another ten-won coin into the air, marking his path.

At the far end of the first floor, he arrived at the library.

[Haeyeon’s Dream]

The moment he reached the entrance, one of the flames darted eagerly into the gap beneath the door. Mu-ryeong let out a quiet breath of amusement and pulled out a key, reaching up toward the lock.

“Oh no,” he mused lightly, “this time, I can actually open it myself.”

Click. The lock disengaged.

The flame wavered, shrinking slightly as if sulking. Its flickering glow seemed to ask, Why do you have that?

Instead of explaining that he’d gotten it from the student who had requested his help, Mu-ryeong simply smiled.

“Don’t worry about it.”

The moment the door creaked open, an ominous chill seeped out. The library was so silent that he could hear the sound of his own breathing. But Mu-ryeong could sense it—something else was in there with him.

Ga, Na, Da, Ra…

He moved through the aisles, scanning the bookshelves carefully. At the “Sa” section, his steps halted.

“You guys are in for a feast tonight.”

At his words, the flames flared up, twirling excitedly. Mu-ryeong glanced at the books scattered across the floor, then slowly lifted his gaze.

A student stood there, arms full of books, sobbing uncontrollably.

***

“…So?”

The incredulous voice came from across the desk.

Rather than a simple So?, it sounded more like, What kind of bullshit is that?

Still half-asleep, Mu-ryeong mumbled from where he lay slumped over his desk.

“I stayed up all night organizing books…”

"……."

Seung-joo’s expression twisted in disbelief. He clearly had a lot he wanted to say, but Mu-ryeong weakly raised a hand, as if begging him to let it go.

“Please. Not today. I’m going to sleep.”

“…Ugh.”

Seung-joo sighed, then unceremoniously tossed his gym jacket over Mu-ryeong’s face. It was an expression of sheer exasperation, but ironically, it helped block out the light, making it easier for Mu-ryeong to fall asleep.

As his friend quickly drifted off, Seung-joo ran a hand down his face.

It was a student who used to work in the library.

He’d been confused about what the hell Mu-ryeong was rambling about all morning, but now it was starting to make sense. It had to be the request from Min-ji, the girl from the class next door.

Not only had Mu-ryeong taken on the job without settling on a reward, but he’d also had a full six days left to complete it.

And yet, this idiot had immediately run off to deal with it that very night, spending hours playing with ghosts.

The supervising teacher was really strict. I guess the other kids messed around and swapped all the book covers as a prank. Since the student was the library committee head, they got blamed for everything and couldn’t even go home until they cleaned up the mess.

As usual, Mu-ryeong hadn’t mentioned the cause of death.

Not that he was hiding it—more likely, he simply didn’t know. Most wandering spirits had no memory of how they had died.

It wasn’t a vengeful spirit… The energy was so weak that it would have disappeared by sunrise anyway.

Mu-ryeong hadn’t explained much beyond that, but Seung-joo could already picture what had happened.

Mu-ryeong must have stayed up all night, patiently reorganizing every single book according to the ghost’s instructions.

And knowing him, he hadn’t stopped there—he probably made sure to restore the proper order so that Min-ji wouldn’t have to deal with it again.

“Seriously…”

Seung-joo sighed deeply.

From his own, reasonably selfish perspective, he couldn’t understand why Mu-ryeong lived like this.

And it wasn’t even because someone had specifically asked him for help—no, it was probably just because of an offhand complaint Min-ji had made the other day.

"It stresses me out so much I’ve started getting stomach pains."

Mu-ryeong didn’t care if he suffered.

But if someone else was suffering? He couldn’t just ignore it.

Even if the complaint had been nothing more than a passing grumble.

“…Idiot.”

With that muttered insult, Seung-joo reached out and absentmindedly ruffled Mu-ryeong’s hair through the gym jacket.

Once that guy fell asleep, nothing could wake him. Not unless you shook him hard.

Not that Seung-joo particularly cared whether he woke up or not.

Just then—

“…What the hell?”

“Why is he in our class?”

A murmur rippled through the classroom. Seung-joo lifted his head, frowning at the commotion.

At the back door, standing neatly in his uniform, was a student.

“…….”

Ki Hwan-young.

Tall and sharp-featured, he had been a campus-wide sensation since the entrance ceremony. His presence was unnerving, his demeanor cold, and his reputation even icier.

And, more importantly—

Whenever he walked down the hall, Mu-ryeong always watched him with wary eyes.

Mu-ryeong probably thought he was being subtle, but Seung-joo had long since noticed.

And because of that, he also knew one thing for sure—

If Mu-ryeong was keeping his guard up around someone, then that person definitely wasn’t the culprit.

This was the same Mu-ryeong who wagged his metaphorical tail at both the living and the dead, treating everyone with casual warmth.

If he was being cautious, then something was off.

Not that it’s any of my business.

Seung-joo decided he didn’t particularly care.

After all, it wasn’t like Ki Hwan-young was breaking any rules by being here. And unlike the other students, Seung-joo had no interest in whispering behind his back.

That is—

Until Hwan-young opened his mouth and said a name.

“Call Kim Mu-ryeong for me.”