TURN A DEAF EAR

It goes like this:

Jaewon Lee awoke from restless dreams to a storm running through Center City. She heard the rain slamming against her windows, and the booms of thunder far off near Rittenhouse Square (if she had to guess).

She ran a hand through her sweaty hair, bangs falling into her face, looking at the window. Usually, the sound of rain against the windows and roof of her place would knock her out cold. Not tonight.

Maybe she was dreaming still. She used to have crazy dreams on melatonin, that she was still awake. Everything in her room, the way the darkness morphed the furniture in her bedroom, the way the shadows hit because of the flashes of lightining, made everything toe the line of reality.

Whatever it was, before she woke up she had a dream about being back in Busan, visiting her grandmother when she was younger, around six years old. Jaewon couldn't remember why she was there specifically, probably for Chuseok, but it was around the time she had gotten a handle on summoning the Divine Dogs. No one in her family could see them, and she hadn't met Ryan and Sandara yet, so she had just figured they were imaginary friends.

Her grandmother had lived in an apartment complex a few blocks away from the beach, and the rest of her family was up there, in the white jutting building. Little Jaewon had snuck out, to walk around the park sandwiched between the two buildings that made the complex, to walk her imaginary dogs.

It was nice to have them, she had thought. Mom and Dad won't let me get real doggies, but even though no one but me can see them, these ones act like the real thing…

The white dog rushed over to Jaewon, sitting down in front of her. As she rubbed its cheeks, she looked over to see the black one rushing over to an older man. Jaewon quickly stood up, and ran towards it, before stopping in her tracks.

The dog wasn't growling at or ignoring the man like it usually did with others, instead rushing over to seek attention from him.

And, for the first time ever, the man saw it, his eyes widening. He was about her grandmother's age, so mid-eighties, and he was clutching a black plastic cane in one gnarled hand.

Jaewon crept closer, eyes wide and round. The white dog followed behind her, wagging its tail.

"You…" The man spoke, his voice rough. "Are these your dogs?"

"Yessir," Jaewon nodded. Her mother had drilled in the importance of formal speaking to her elders before their flight, and she didn't want to get yelled at. "You can see them?"

Something in the way she spoke seemed to hit the man, and tears welled up in his eyes. Jaewon instinctively slunk back.

"Did I say something to upset you, mister…?" She asked, holding her hands in front of her, rubbing her thumb over her knuckles.

"No, no," he responded, wiping the tears away. "I'm not sad. I can see them."

At the time, Jaewon wasn't sure why he was crying. But she watched as the man walked over, and leaned down to pet the dogs, who shut their eyes. It was probably the first time they had been petted by someone who wasn't Jaewon.

"Really?" Jaewon said, tilting her head a little, her pigtails askew. "You're the first person who can see them, mister."

The man chuckled, his eyes crinkling.

"I knew someone long ago who had them," he said softly, his eyes looking through her. "Before you or your parents were born… She had many other spirits too. With them, she would steal from the rich, and give back to the poor…"

"Wow! Just like a real-life Robin Hood!" Jaewon exclaimed, her eyes wide as she hopped on her feet. "That's so cool! I wanna be like her!"

The old man smiled, and leaned down to meet her gaze.

"I can show you how to summon one of hers if you want."

"Well, of course! Show me, show me!" Jaewon continued to bounce higher, and one of the dogs barked.

"Well, alright," he said, before leaning his cane against one of the stone fences surrounding the park. "She moved her hands like this…"

Jaewon watched with wide eyes and bated breath as the man's hands began to position themselves, shifting, turning. In the end, they looked like the long snout of a snake.

"Then, she would call out, 'yeongno'!"

Jaewon had imitated his movements to the best of her ability, but no matter how she shouted, she couldn't get this 'yeongno' to appear. It was frustrating, and she had nearly cried, but the man had rubbed her head and told her that she'll get it right soon enough.

Then, he had left, and Jaewon trudged back to her grandmother's apartment after dismissing her dogs. Of course, she got yelled at for running off after.

Jaewon stared into the darkness, rubbing her eyes. Silently, she moved her hands, trying to match her hands to the memory of the old man. When she felt a little confident, she called out into the darkness:

"Yeongno."

For a moment, there was nothing, just the sound of rain pelting her windows. Then, a gurgling, shifting noise as something began to rise from the shadows, pushing forward. Jaewon couldn't see it very well, but it appeared to have a long, snakelike body, an almost beaked face with four glowing yellow eyes.

"Shaman," it spoke in strange, antiquated Korean. "You've called me forth, after my long slumber…"

It leaned in closer, staring at her on the bed. Jaewon sat up, covers shielding most of her body. She didn't want to get judged by this… spirit (?).

"You're a lot older than the others were," it said, eyes narrowed. "When they first summoned me."

"Ouch," Jaewon responded.

"It does not matter to me," the yeongno replied, leaning back. "You have summoned me now… Lee Jaewon."

"You know my name?"

"Of course," It boomed. "I know the names of all who have summoned me. Generations of your forebearers. I remember them all…"

Jaewon's eyebrows raised. To be honest, she was so sleepy that none of these revelations were hitting her. Plus, this is probably just a dream.

"You do not need me now," it said, as it slowly slunk back into the shadows. "But when you need me most, call me forth, and I shall be there…"

Then, as quickly as it came, the yeongno was gone. Jaewon stared at the spot where it once was for a moment, before the rain lulled her into a dreamless sleep.

It had been a few weeks of on and off training, both with their handlers and without, before Jaewon received that fateful call.

And of course, it happened while she was doing her groceries. She had gotten into a habit of taking the Official Federal Burner Phone (as they had grown to call it) out with her, just in case.

As she stood in the basement of the grocery, staring at different variations of instant noodles, she felt the phone vibrate in her back pocket. She pulled it out, ponytail brushing against her t-shirt, before answering.

"Hello?"

"Hello, Jaewon," Haoyu replied, his voice staticky through the phone. "We have been summoned for a mission."

'We'. So it seemed that her handlers are also going along with her. It felt like something heavy was lifted from her shoulders.

"Oh?" Jaewon replied, rubbing her finger and thumb together absent-mindedly. "Are we? Can you divulge any information on the phone?"

"No," he said, and she heard the shifting of paper on the other end of the phone. "You've been emailed your Amtrak tickets. We will discuss it there."

"...Okay?" Jaewon scoffed, as her handler hung up.

She tabbed over to her emails, and sure enough, she found two sent with a 'dot-Gov' handle. The first was a forward of a train ticket to Washington D.C. scheduled about a day in advance. The second was a list of etiquette, what to expect… The foursome was expected to be neatly dressed, in 'uniform', which was white dress shirts with dark pants and suit jackets, much like their handlers. Their badges would be distributed on-site.

Luckily for them, Jaewon's job was coincidentally skimping on hours, so she didn't have to make up some bullshit story to get the days off. And, she had her 'uniform' in her closet.

Looking back up at the shelf, she notices an empty spot in the ramen shelf, one the perfect size for a packet of it to fit. There wasn't enough of any brand to fill the slot, and it made her skin itch as she walked away.

What an omen.

"They removed the clacker board," Dara said, squinting at the LCD screen in the middle of the wide halls of 30th Street Station.

30th Street Station had that old-timey look that all civic buildings seemed to have in Philadelphia, big sprawling towers of marble, statues carved into it of horses and Greek guys gesticulaing every which way. But, as with all such buildings in this city, the beautiful ornate sculptures were across from a Wendys or Saxbys, or some other fast-food chain. Everything seemed just a little run down and worn, especially the pew-like benches in the middle of the room, where people sat to eat, sleep, and scroll on their phone. Dara had stopped by one of the statues, and forced Jaewon to take a picture of her posing by a column on a disposable camera to send to Jessica later.

"Yeah," Ryan replied, tapping his foot. His dress shoes made a loud clicking noise. "They took it down like five years ago. Get with the times, old hag."

"You're the one who's older!" Dara shouted.

All three were dressed appropriately, with Dara wearing her hair down, and Ryan slicking his bangs back which gave him the appearance of a sleep-deprived and blonde Patrick Bateman. Jaewon had tried brush her wavy hair out when she woke up, which was around three in the morning, but ended up wearing it as is after checking the email five times to make sure there was no information about hairstyles.

"No bitching," Jaewon grumbled, rubbing the bridge of her nose. "Is our train on the board yet?"

It was, but it had a fifteen minute delay. Enough time for them to grab a quick coffee from Saxbys, and sit down. Of course, after one single sip of her hazelnut coffee, their train was called, and they joined the rush of people walking down the platform steps.

While the train rushed through small towns, suburban sprawl that plagued the surrounding area, and scattered forests, Jaewon stared out the window with her head resting in the palm of her right hand, lost in thought as Dara and Ryan chattered.

There was always a calculated risk in their old field, that they'll get caught. Of course, the thought of any risk made part of her brain go into overdrive, and made a laundry list of compulsions emerge from the depths, but it was just a fact of life.

Now, that risk has increased to death. Even with their handlers assisting, one wrong move…

Jaewon shuddered at the thought. Her hands felt colder than usual.

For he-e-ere, am I sitting in my tin can…

When the train stopped, and the three got off of the train platform, walking up to the station, they're met by their handlers. James and Haoyu looked the same as usual, and Jaewon swore she saw the latter smirk at them.

"Good, you three follow instructions well," he said, shifting his gait. "We're stopping into the office for ID photos, then we're off."

"Why didn't we take those earlier?" Dara questioned, eyes narrowed and lip curled.

"Training was our main priority," James responded, before gesturing for them to follow.

Walking, Amtrak, now a black, fancy looking car with tinted windows. Jaewon wouldn't be surprised if the trip to this mission of theirs was either by bus or boat… It'd be almost funny, if it didn't feel like the closer they got, a blade was inching closer to her neck.

After a few misadventures with traffic, the car pulled up on the garish tan form of the J Edgar Hoover Building, jutting out from the ground like a bizarre sculpture. Part of it looked like a regular building, but a strange top-heavy structure was on top of the roof of one half, with pillars stretching down like a strange animal attaching itself to another, as if it were a parasite. Jaewon found herself almost instinctively gritting her teeth at it.

"This is our office?" Dara said, turning to look back at Haoyu. "This?! Are you fucking serious?"

"Yeah, I know," James said, sighing and shaking his head. "We all hate it too, let's just get in there."

Of course, as they got in they were swept into a whirlwind of security checks, clearance forms, all sorts of paperwork they had to fill out before even getting to the camera. All painfully mundane.

"Again," Dara said, looking back at James as she signed off on the last pile of paperwork, sitting in the small white-walled office that was supposedly for 'Sorcerer Affairs' (even though the label on the front said 'Break Room'). "Why not do this earlier instead of hoisting this on us right before a mission?"

"So you don't die your first day out there?" Haoyu sneered, adjusting his sunglasses. "Stop whining and fill this shit out already."

Jaewon has a gut feeling that they just simply forgot until the last possible second, at this point. This place also gave her the creeps in general. White walls, white ceiling, like traveling through a blank void. Can't believe she's working in this pit of despair…

Finally, they took their photos, standing rigidly with no expression on their faces, and then their badges were prepared, and handed out to each of them. It was honestly one of the worst photos she had ever taken, with the lighting accentuating her eyebags to the point that she looked haunting. And her eyes were slightly wide, as is she was glaring at the person taking her photo. If she flashed this at some guy, he'd probably be scared shitless, thinking she was some sort of demon or something.

Then again, her mugshot probably looks worse.

"Alright," James said, clapping his hands once. "Now, for our mission."

"There's a hotel down in Virginia that has had repeated reports of curse activity. The typical hallmarks, feelings of dread, shadows, people going missing-"

"People going missing?!" Ryan exclaimed, his eyes going wide.

"Yeah," James nodded, even as Haoyu was scowling at Ryan. "All stuff that points to a pretty strong curse. One of these jujutsu schools will be dispatched at the same time as us, as our sources have told us."

"So…?" Jaewon said, rubbing her chin.

"We are posing as a ghost exploration television crew to observe them, glean any possible information that we can about the schools," Haoyu replied, adjusting his sunglasses once again. "And anything they might be plotting. We will not interfere unless absolutely necessary for our survival, and the survival of anyone involved."

"'Plotting'? What would they be plotting?" Jaewon asked. "They're kids, right?"

Haoyu stared back at her, his eyes hidden as always. His mouth was tight, however. As if he had swallowed a lemon.

"You'll find out soon enough. Let's go."

And with that ominous-ass explanation, their first mission was on.

authors notes:

chapter title is from 마이동풍 (turning a deaf ear) by baechigi

i had eggs for breakfast this morning