The Ring

Joonjae and the others walked up to the reception.

"Hello," he greeted the nurse at the reception desk. "I am here to meet a patient."

"Please state the name, sir," she replied.

"His name is Kim Hyun Bin," Joonjae informed her. "He has been living in the burn unit for the past twenty years. His wife, Lee Shinah was the perpetrator."

"Kindly wait a minute, sir," the nurse said, checking the records. "He is in room 220 on level two."

"Thank you," Joonjae said. He turned to his companions. "Let's go."

They walked up the stairs to reach level two.

"Should be somewhere here," Yoseob commented. "Aha!"

He pointed at a door in front of them. "There it is," he said.

"Wait," Undertaker stopped them. "What if this one is a false lead as well? I heard the last time you guys went to a mental asylum in search of a similar demon and ended up finding a minion instead. And also witnessed the demon killing its host."

"Yeah," Yoseob realized. "What if there's a demon in him and he also ends up doing something like that?"

"We don't have a choice," Joonjae reasoned. "We'll only find out if he's possessed after interrogating him."

"Tch, you guys are useless," Undertaker scoffed."Luckily,I came prepared. Just keep an eye out for anyone approaching this way."

He took out a yellow paper and laid it on the floor. Joonjae and Yoseob surrounded him, with their back turned towards him, looking out for anyone who may approach their way. Undertaker took out a quill and began to draw ancient strokes on it, while chanting a mantra under his breath. The strokes flashed brightly for a second before disappearing.

"There's no demon in there," Undertaker announced. "He's clean."

"Thank god," Yoseob let out a sigh of relief. "I don't think I could have taken another gruesome sight."

"Let's go in," Joonjae ordered. He led the way. Knocking on the door, he asked, "Mr. Kim? Can we come in?"

A grunt came from within. Assuming that they were allowed to enter, Joonjae slowly opened the door.

Before them lay a man in his late sixties. His body from neck to toe was inside an incubator, which was covered with a large blanket. Joonjae approached him. The face was partially burnt. One side was burnt brown and the eye socket was hollow while the other side had minor scratches.

"W...who...a-a...are…" he tried to ask but the words came out as a series of grunts. His lips were burnt as well and he could barely open them.

"Mr. Kim, please don't stress yourself," Joonjae assured him. "We came here to talk to you about what happened with your wife."

The mention of his wife sent chills down Kim Hyun Bin's spine. His one eye widened in apparent fear and the men in front of him were scaring him. Sensing his fear, Joonjae quickly said, "Please don't be afraid. I know what she did and what made her do it. I'm sure you know it too. It's just that...my mother also did the same thing as your wife. She set our house on fire, killing my father in it before committing suicide…"

Joonjae stroked Hyun Bin's head. "I lost my family too," he whispered. "Which is why I came to seek your help. All you have to do is nod or shake your head. If you feel uncomfortable during our questioning, just look away. Please, can you help us?"

Seeing the earnest plea in Joonjae's eyes, the old man felt sympathetic. But the mention of his wife scared him. He did not want to face his past. The pain he went through when he realized his wife was…

"Was your wife possessed by a demon?" Joonjae asked The old man looked at him in surprise. He slowly nodded his head.

"You saw the demon that night, didn't you?" Joonjae questioned him. "When your wife killed herself, you saw the demon escaping her body, right?"

The old man nodded again. He remembered it clearly but no one believed him. When his wife stabbed herself in the midst of the burning house, he was conscious enough to see the monstrous being coming out of her body. It met his eyes and its lips curved into a leering smile before it vanished, leaving him and his family for death.

"Before that, did your wife show any signs of insanity or mental illness?" Undertaker asked. The old man shook his head.

"Was she ever diagnosed with any mental disorder?"

The old man shook his head again.

"So you believe, she was possessed?" Yoseob interrogated. Nod.

"Mr. Kim, did you ever see the demon again after that night?" Joonjae asked.

Joonjae did not expect the demon to show his face in front of his surviving victims but to his surprise, Kim Hyun Bin nodded his head.

"L-last...n-n-night…" Mr. Kim managed to say.

"Last night?" Hyunjae frowned. He turned towards the Undertaker. "But you said there aren't any demons here."

"There weren't any when I put a spell on the door," Undertaker replied. "If the demon was here last night, then there are no signs of him here anymore."

Mr. Kim began to widget. He was grunting loudly, pointing his face towards something behind them.

"I think he's pointing towards something," Yoseob frowned. They followed the gaze of the old man. Behind them was a small cupboard.

"There's something in there?" Joonjae asked the old man. He nodded in response.

Wasting no time, Joonjae strode over and opened the closet. Upon opening it, he was shocked.

Inside the closet, was a small ring made of white gold. It had a white diamond fixed on it. Picking up the ring, he saw the initials 'KJ 6.6.1955'.

"What is it?" Undertaker asked, peering over his shoulder. "It's just a ring."

Joonjae ignored him and turned to the old man. "Did the demon leave this here?" he asked.

The old man nodded.

"Did he say anything else?"

The old man shook his head.

"Thank you, Mr. Kim," Joonjae said, bowing down in respect. "You have helped us a lot today. We will make sure that the demon never returns here again."

"Undertaker," he turned to him. "Put on the strongest charms in this room to keep away any demon."

"I will!" Undertaker bowed and proceeded to take out his charm papers. He began to draw symbols on them and chanted spells to seal the charms. He then stuck the papers on different corners of the room, away from people's sight.

"Yoseob," Joonjae turned to the teemager while Undertaker sealed the room with spells. "We'll pay for Mr. Kim's treatment. Have the best medical team in the city look after him."

"Roger, Sir!" Yoseob conceded. He was slightly surprised by his boss' benevolence. Joonjae once again bowed down to the old man and exited the room. The old man was grateful for the stranger's help and silently prayed for his well-being.

"What was that about, boss?" Yoseob asked Joonjae as they headed towards the car.

"Yeah, how come you were being so generous to him? Undertaker asked. "While you never paid me anything!"

Joonjae took a deep breath and took out the ring.

"What does this ring have to do with anything?" Undertaker frowned.

"Look at the initials," Joonjae pointed out, handing the ring to him. Undertaker and Yoseob leaned in to read.

"KJ 6.6.1995," he read out loud. "KJ...wait. KJ stands for…"

"Kim Jisoo," Joonjae revealed. "My mother's name. That ring belonged to her."