Ghost Writer

Microwaveable Meals and Nasty Neighbors

━━━━━━ ◦ ❖ ◦ ━━━━━━

"She's from Unit 601, right? I hope so, or this will be very awkward. I don't want to give rice cakes to the people whose identity I'm stealing for gym purposes," Chung-Cha muttered. She knocked on the door, and an unfamiliar person opened the door. He must be Joo-Hyung, Min-Ji's husband.

"Oh! Hello. I'm Chung-Cha, Min-Ji's "gym-buddy", haha. Anyway, I heard that she was sick, so I wanted to visit her and see how she is doing." Chung-Cha held up the package of rice cakes. "I have rice cakes too. No wheat, just like she likes."

The unfamiliar man studied her, making Chung-Cha feel uncomfortable. "Well, she's resting right now, but I can give it to her when she wakes up."

Chung-Cha reached out, about to give it to him, when she noticed the dark red stains on his sleeves. In a panic, she forcefully snatched the rice cakes back. She forced a smile.

"On second thought, I'll like to give it to her myself."

The man paused, then shrugged. "Suit yourself. You can put the rice cakes on the counter. Min-Ji is in the toilet. She's been vomiting all day, you should see if she's okay."

Didn't you say she was resting?

"Alright..." Chung-Cha couldn't back out now. She walked hesitantly to the bathroom and knocked lightly. "Min-Ji? Are you in there?" There was no response.

Chung-Cha glanced fearfully at Joo-Hyung, who gestured her to go in. She didn't hear any ghosts the whole time she interacted with him, so he definitely didn't kill Min-Ji. But then what was the red stains on the sleeves? And why was he standing so far away, his face masked in false confidence? Chung-Cha didn't know, so she assumed she was being paranoid. There definitely wasn't anything bad on the other side⁠—it was just Min-Ji, Chung-Cha reassured herself.

"Min-Ji, I'm going in." 

The door creaked open and Chung-Cha peeked in. There was a bloody handprint smeared on the wall, but the toilet was otherwise empty. "Min-Ji?" 

Something was wrong. Chung-Cha turned around, about to run away, when the man pushed her into the toilet. He shut the door.

Chung-Cha furiously rattled the door handle, but Joo-Hyung held it firmly on the other side. "HEY! Let me out—"

The words died in her throat when something caught her eye. A woman stood unmoving, facing the wall, hidden in a small crevice that was blocked when the door was open. She slowly turned around to face Chung-Cha. Red veins were prominent against the woman's pasty skin; the main manifestation of the disease. Afraid, Chung-Cha ran into the shower and held the door firmly shut.

Min-Ji staggered to the shower. "Chung-Cha..."

"Min-Ji, oh, what happened to you?" Chung-Cha's voice wavered as she stared at Min-Ji's face. Her gaze landed on Min-Ji's milky white eyes. "You must be in so much pain."

Min-Ji didn't respond (or she couldn't). Instead, she turned to the door, where Joo-Hyung was frantically calling the authorities on the other side. 

Chung-Cha watched carefully. The news said that infected patients were extremely aggressive, but Min-Ji wasn't aggressive to her, only entirely focused on Joo-Hyung. Why? Did he do something to her? Against her better judgement, Chung-Cha said, "I'll open the door."

Chung-Cha slowly opened the shower door, looking at Min-Ji to see whether she would attack. When she didn't, Chung-Cha quickly sprang for the door handle, then retreated back to the shower.

The door opened slowly. Min-Ji took one step out of the toilet, then another, glaring at her husband the whole time. Joo-Hyung stopped talking mid-way, finally noticing her. They looked at each other for a tense moment, before Joo-Hyung cursed and ran. On his way out, he shoved the grocery store woman who was about to knock on the door. Luckily, Min-Ji totally ignored her and continued chasing Joo-Hyung.

"Shit!" The woman ran into the house and grabbed a pillow from the sofa. She made brief eye contact with Chung-Cha, who stood shell-shocked, wondering if she made the right choice. The woman shook her head, as if saying I'll deal with you later, then ran after the pair.

Chung-Cha tried to walk, but her knees buckled, and she collapsed to the ground. What if other people got hurt because of her? The severity of the situation finally hit her, and she sobbed quietly on the ground, gasping for air.

Minutes passed, or hours, Chung-Cha didn't keep track. Footsteps approached her, and for a moment, she thought that Min-Ji or Joo-Hyung had come back for her.

"Hey, are you OK?"

Chung-Cha looked up, and through her tears, she saw that thankfully, it was neither of them. It was Yi-Hyun, her neighbor who gave her rice cakes the day before. Chung-Cha wiped away her tears, letting him guide her to the sofa. 

"I'm a detective. I understand that you are shaken up, but I still need to take your statement."

Chung-Cha nodded shakily, and Yi-Hyun took out his phone and pressed record. He placed it on the sofa armrest, when he noticed a dark red splotch on the carpet. As Chung-Cha recounted what had happened, Yi-Hyun followed the trail to a golf club in the corner of the living room. He held it up and inspected it. Dark red coated the flat side of the golf club.

Chung-Cha stopped rambling and stared at the golf club. "Wha—"

Yi-Hyun quickly bagged the evidence and hid it behind him, not wanting the younger girl to see it. "Thank you for your statement. Let me check the toilet, then I'll bring you back to your unit."

The pair walked back in silence. At the door, Chung-Cha paused. "Will Joo-Hyung come after me?"

Yi-Hyun looked at Chung-Cha, noticing her trembling. He tried to give her a reassuring smile. "He's currently being tested, but he might be back later. Sae-Bom and I will be with you if he tries anything. We're at Unit 501 if you need anything. I'll also talk to your neighbors to see if they can help." 

Chung-Cha bowed slightly, mumbling her thanks. Yi-Hyun left after that.

After all that, Chung-Cha was exhausted. However, when she closed her eyes, she kept seeing Min-Ji. Quietly, Chung-Cha took out her notebook and began to sketch the image—the matted hair, the blank face, the red dripping from her fingers and drenching her feet. With everything out, slowly, Chung-Cha drifted to sleep.