horror story: the regular who never left (Suwon bar)

I wasn't going to post this but it's been sitting in my head since 2023 so here we go.

Early 2023 I started a part-time job at a pojangmacha-style bar in Ingye-dong, Suwon. Night district, always packed until like 3am, underground spot with decent sales. Should've been fine.

Except. Every night around 2am when we'd start closing up, there was always this shadow near the entrance. Just. Standing there. I figured it was a drunk customer trying to get back in, so first few times I opened the door to check.

Nobody there.

Then one night the kitchen auntie pulls me aside and goes, "you see that guy who's always standing outside? Gray jumper, black cap. You've seen him too, haven't you."

I felt my whole body go cold because her description matched EXACTLY what I'd been seeing.

And then she kept going.

"That guy... he used to be a regular here. Two years ago. Always came alone, drank quietly, left. Then one day he just. disappeared. Last place anyone saw him was this bar."

Okay so I'm scared but also I'm nosy, so the next day after closing I went back and checked the CCTV footage.

The shadow was on the tape. Clearly. Standing there.

But here's the thing that broke my brain. The spot where he was standing.

That's a wall. Not the door. The actual wall of the building.

He was standing in front of a wall like it was an entrance.

A few days later, the night I'd decided to quit, I was locking up alone. Reached up to close the door. Glanced at that little glass panel above it.

His face was reflected in it.

He was smiling. Mouth stretched up so wide it looked like it was about to split to his ears. Eyes completely black. Like holes.

I never went back. I don't go anywhere near that alley in Ingye-dong anymore.

But someone told me recently: "he still shows up on the CCTV sometimes. same spot. just standing there trying to get in."

and I just. I need to not think about this.