met a girl at the club. my buddy had a confession.

Okay so this was about a year ago, early summer.

I was working convenience store shifts and grinding for the civil service exam at the same time. Fresh out of the military, zero social life, fashion was literally not a concept I understood anymore. Just. Work. Study. Work. Study. Repeat forever.

Then my ride-or-die homie Baek shows up with 8 days of leave. Eight whole days. I decided right then, we are going OUT and we are NOT coming back empty-handed. The plan was ambitious. The plan involved women. Obviously.

I was living in this tiny studio near SJ university, so we figured the club scene over by KG university was our best bet. I pulled out every piece of clothing I owned. Even got a fresh haircut. I walked into that club on a Thursday night at 10pm feeling like a GENERAL marching into battle.

Thursday. We picked Thursday because we thought it'd be chill. Less crowded. Easier to operate.

It was PACKED. Absolutely rammed with people.

The bass was thumping and these women with bodies I had literally never seen outside of a library imagination were out there half-dressed just. moving. I completely lost my mind for a solid few minutes ngl.

But then I remembered. In high school I used to walk into karaoke, sing ONE song, and walk out with someone. I am built for this. I took a breath. Became a cheetah in my mind. "Tonight. I WILL succeed."

After a few drinks and several failed attempts at talking to people... two women finally agreed to sit with us. I was internally screaming with joy. But something felt off immediately. I don't know why. Just a weird vibe.

One of them was tall, maybe 170cm, sharp features. The other was short and round, like 150-something, really cute. We'll call them Sharp and Chubby.

I went ALL in. Talking, charming, the whole thing. Vibe was genuinely good.

Then Baek and Chubby started bickering. Out of nowhere. The music was too loud to hear what about, so Sharp and I are just sitting there like ??? And then Baek. This man. Makes BOTH of them cry and basically tells them to get lost.

I brought these girls over. I did the work. And he just blew it up.

Sharp took Chubby and they disappeared into the crowd. Me and Baek just standing there under the strobelights like idiots.

I grabbed him and dragged him outside. He came too easily. I should've noticed that.

Then his hands started shaking. Visibly shaking. He said he needed to go somewhere private, that he had something to tell me.

I was like bro if you want to leave just leave, I am staying and I am finding someone tonight. But then his whole face changed. He looked at me dead serious and said "do you actually want to cut ties with me. because if not, we need to go somewhere with no people. right now."

Something about the way he said it. I believed him.

We went back to my studio.

Once we got there he seemed to calm down a little. I asked him what the hell was going on.

He pushed his snapback down over my eyes so I couldn't see anything. All the way down.

"Don't open your eyes. Just listen. I've been hiding this from you and I'm sorry. But today I have to tell you. What I'm about to say stays between us only."

I just nodded. What else was I gonna do.

"Do you believe in ghosts? Because I can see them. I can actually touch them. And if I can touch them, I can remove them. Now. Those girls you picked up tonight. The chubby one. The one who fought with me. She's the same kind as me. I could tell the moment we started talking."

I'm sitting there like. okay this is insane. But his voice was so different from normal that I was genuinely scared to move.

"That's not the problem. The problem is I watched those two PUT something on you. I couldn't just let that happen. If you'd gone home with anyone else tonight, you would've died on the way back. Or the next day. Within a few days. Dead."

I panicked. I started rambling about how I just got discharged, I haven't even lived yet, I haven't even EATEN yet (you know what I mean), please tell me I'm okay-

"Shut up and listen. Keep your eyes closed. I always carry something with me. Think of it like holy water. There's no ghost I can't remove with this. But while I'm doing the ritual, do NOT open your eyes. If you do, I can't help you."

Dead. Eyes closed = survive. Eyes open = die. Not a lot of options here. I kept them shut.

I heard metal clinking. Rustling. Him pulling something out. I wanted to open my eyes SO BAD. But like. Dying. So I didn't.

"Stick your tongue out. Sit cross-legged. And I will say this one more time. Eyes stay closed until this is done. I cannot guarantee anything if you open them."

I was stressed, so I kind of snapped at him and stuck my tongue out.

He started doing something. Mumbling. Rubbing sounds. Stopping and starting. His breathing got heavier. I got more and more tense.

About 15 minutes in, he said in this exhausted voice that the holy water was almost ready. Open your mouth wider.

"Hurry up and shoot!"

And that's when I realized.

I had just told him to hurry up and finish. With my tongue out. Eyes closed. Sitting cross-legged on the floor of my studio.

"YOU KNEW THE WHOLE TIME AND YOU WERE DOING THIS ON PURPOSE."

"Just give me the holy water. NOW."

"RECEIVE MY SACRED ESSENCE."

Splat.

And that's how we got together. I waited until his military discharge. We became one.