lifted into her bangs. She was shocked that there was actually something they agreed on. “Wow, you surprise me.”
“Why? Does it not bother you how Changwan’s father talks to him? How he belittles him?” Junu asked, and from the vitriol in his voice, Somin wondered if there was more going on here than just indignation about Mr. Oh’s rudeness.
“Of course I hate how he talks to Changwan, but what am I supposed to do about that? He’s his father.”
“Just because someone’s a father doesn’t mean he knows what’s best for his children,” Junu muttered.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Somin asked, genuinely curious about the dokkaebi for the first time. It seemed that perhaps his waters didn’t run as shallow as she’d assumed. The cup of coffee still in Junu’s hand started to bubble and steam.
Junu glanced down, then pulled it behind his back. “I’m going to take a walk.” He turned on his heel, throwing the steaming cup in the trash before turning down a random hallway.
Somin almost went after him. There was an odd feeling in her gut. Junu was definitely hurting even if he wasn’t admitting it. But that wasn’t the part that worried Somin. What worried her was that she had a strange need to comfort him.
Snap out of it, she told herself. She started to go to the waiting area, but a chill raced down her spine. And she turned toward the hallway Junu had just gone down. A figure stood there. Salt-and-pepper hair sticking out from under a baseball cap that shaded his eyes. That same strange man from the street.
“Excuse me,” she said. The man started down the hall and she went after him. “Hey! I just wanted to ask you something.” There was something so familiar about the figure, and she had to find out what it was.
She walked until she was in a completely different wing. It was quiet. And it looked like most of the rooms down here weren’t being used. Without the beeps of machines and the chatter of nurses, Somin felt like she could hear strange noises. Like whispers in the air.
“Hello?” she called, wondering where the man could have gone. She strained to hear his footsteps, but all she heard was the whoosh of the air-conditioning.
Somin was about to give up and go back when she noticed an old man. He stood with his face practically pressed against a door. He wore the outfit of a patient, and Somin wondered if maybe he’d gotten locked out of his room. Could the rooms even lock in a hospital?
“Sir, are you okay?” Somin asked, looking around for a nurse or someone to help.
He turned, and she jerked back, letting out an involuntary yelp.
His eyes were white as snow, and she could see right through him to the doorway beyond.
Somin slapped her hands over her mouth, worried the sound might agitate the man. But he just turned down the hall. He didn’t walk; his feet didn’t even touch the ground. He just floated gently down the corridor.
Then, at the end of the hall, he faded into the beige wall.
Somin blinked so hard that lights bloomed in her vision. She had to be seeing things. This couldn’t be real. She just had delayed heat stroke or something.
Hands came down on her shoulders, and she let out another yelp. She spun around, swinging out. But instead of a ghostly figure, she saw Junu.
“Whoa, I come in peace. I’m not here to fight.” Junu lifted his hands, palms out.
Somin closed her eyes and crossed her fists over her speeding heart. “Don’t sneak up on people like that.”
“I was calling your name. I thought you heard me.”
She took a deep, steadying breath. “No, I was . . . I was distracted.”
“By this completely empty hallway?” Junu asked, glancing behind her.
“By none of your business.” Somin started down the hall, then thought twice. If this was where that . . . man had gone, she wasn’t sure if she wanted to be here anymore. At least not alone. She turned back and considered Junu. Trying to decide what was better: his company, or ghosts.
“I can practically hear the thoughts churning in your head.”
“No, you can’t,” Somin said, but a part of her wondered whether he could somehow read her mind.
“Well, I can tell you’re spooked. Let’s get out of here.”
She nodded and let Junu lead the way back toward the main hospital wing.