Devil’s Music

After completing his visit to the Hindu temple, Ethan Jones said his last goodbyes to Timo and secretly took a bus to Pokhara Airport to catch a flight back to Korea.

Thanks to the money he earned from a commercial shoot, Ethan was able to afford a business class seat back to Korea. He arrived at Incheon Airport, wrapped his face tightly with a towel, hat, and mask, and left the airport.

Since he hadn't announced his schedule in advance, no one at the Korean airport recognized him.

After leaving the airport, Ethan took an airport limousine home and gently caressed the body of his Harley Davidson that was still parked in front of his house.

"It's been two months, home. Have you been well? I'll start you up later, my dear."

Upon entering the main door on the first floor, Ethan removed his mask. Just to be cautious, he didn't take off his hat and sunglasses and pressed the button for the 22nd floor in the elevator. Right before the elevator doors closed, a high school girl rushed in through the automatic doors on the first floor and shouted as she saw the elevator doors nearly shut.

"Wait! Let's go together!"

Ethan instinctively pressed the open button. The high school girl, seeing the doors open again, hurried inside.

"Heh, thank you."

Ethan smiled and nodded, and the girl, seeing the light for the 22nd floor already on, turned to look at him.

"Do you live on the 22nd floor? I live there too. Must be the guy from the apartment across, huh? But I've moved here over two years ago, and we've never met before?"

The girl scrutinized Ethan's face, still partially hidden by the hat and sunglasses.

"Wow, he's super handsome? I wonder if his eyes are as small as buttonholes without the sunglasses."

Feeling her gaze, Ethan reflexively covered his mouth and chuckled.

"Ahaha, yes, nice to meet you."

The girl stood in front of Ethan, examining his face from different angles.

"My name is Han Ji-e. And you are?"

"Ah... I..."

Ding-

The elevator reached the 22nd floor just in time to save Ethan from further conversation. As the doors opened, Ethan quickly exited, saying,

"See you next time, Ji-e."

Ji-e watched Ethan enter the apartment across with curiosity. Watching him enter his password, she thought he didn't seem like a strange person. Just as she was about to enter her own code, a sharp female voice came from behind.

"Brother!! What's this? You came without contacting me? If you had told me, I would've come to pick you up at the airport!"

By the time Ji-e turned around, the door next door had already closed.

"Brother? The sister living next door is 21, right? So he must be 22 or 23 years old. Wow, a total hottie! Even with sunglasses on, his handsomeness is totally obvious!"

Ji-e, excited, rushed into her apartment, threw her backpack down, and called out,

"Sister! Sister!"

She ran into her sister's room without knocking and shouted,

"Sister! What are you doing?"

Inside, a woman with long hair, wearing a sky-blue tee and white shorts, was lying on the bed with her laptop. She seemed to be listening to something through her headphones. Irritated by the abrupt entry, she sighed and took off her headphones.

"Han Ji-e, I told you to knock before coming into my room, didn't I?"

Ji-e, still in her school uniform, jumped onto her sister's bed and said,

"Ah, I hate that! It feels like it's creating a distance between us!"

"You're in high school now. Why are you home so early? Didn't you go to the library?"

"Ah, come on! Is it not enough that mom pressures me about studying, now you too?"

"These days, if you don't graduate from college, you're treated like you're worth nothing. You won't even be able to get married."

"Oh, come on, is that why you never date and always stay home? Even though you attend one of our country's prestigious women's universities?"

Her sister pinched Ji-e's side as she replied,

"You little brat! Shut that sassy mouth of yours!"

"Kyahaha!! Stop, it tickles!"

As the two sisters playfully fought and chatted on the bed, their mother entered the room and exclaimed,

"Oh, it's so noisy! Han Ji-e! When you come home, you should greet your mother first, you have no manners, Han Yun-hee! And you, being a university student, should go out and do some activities instead of cooping yourself up at home after school. Are you a homebody?"

Their mother looked around Yun-hee's room and continued,

"Clean up a bit! What kind of man will take you if you're like this? Being a university student and all you do is hang up celebrity photos on the wall, grow up. Ji-e is starting to follow your footsteps, chasing after celebrities all day."

Ji-e sat up on the bed abruptly and protested,

"I'm not! I'm not some crazy fan. The kids in my class practically live in front of male idol dorms, but at least the people sister and I like are active abroad so we don't do such things, be thankful for that, Mom."

Their mother poked Ji-e's chest with a back scratcher as she teased,

"Oh, thank goodness for that. Thank you, Han Ji-e?"

"Kyahaha, that tickles, Mom."

"Come on, let's eat dinner."

The three women gathered at the dinner table and began chatting as they ate. Ji-e spooned up some soybean paste stew and said,

"But, sister. You know the sister next door?"

"Yes, Si-hwa? What about her?"

"Does she have a brother?"

Yun-hee tilted her head in confusion,

"No? I've never seen one. I thought only Si-hwa, her mother, and the real estate agent lived next door?"

"Right? Si-hwa is your school senior, and I've been so respectful towards her, she never mentioned having a brother."

"Yeah, she's close to me, but she's never talked about having a brother."

"I saw a guy with sunglasses and a hat entering next door in the elevator earlier. Even though half of his face was covered, he was really handsome, a real catch!"

"Really? Maybe just a delivery guy or something?"

"No, he entered the code to get in, and I heard Si-hwa's voice calling him brother."

"A relative maybe?"

"Can't we ask?"

"What will you ask, you silly girl? 'Who's that man entering your house?' That would be weird."

"But he was really handsome! Aren't you curious, sister?"

"I didn't see him, so no, I'm not curious. Let's just eat."

"Ah!! I'm so curious it's killing me."

"Girls!! Can we not have all this chatter at the dinner table? Just eat!"

The dinner table debate ended with their mother's shout. But their mother, too, couldn't resist joining in on the conversation soon after, breaking the momentary peace.

"Yun-hee, still no boyfriend?"

Yun-hee rolled her eyes,

"Mom, other parents tell their daughters not to date, but why are you so eager to ship yours off to some guy?"

"Because you're always cooped up at home, all you do is cling to that laptop, searching for news about that K or whatever his name is. Aren't you tired of watching his videos all day?"

Ji-e chimed in,

"What, sister? Is there a new video?"

Their mother hit Ji-e's head with a spoon,

"You should be studying, not following your sister and obsessing over that guy. Take down those pictures in your room! Not even proper posters, but sneaky photos, are you some kind of stalker?"

Ji-e touched her head, pretending to be hurt,

"Mom! K hasn't debuted yet, so there aren't any official posters! It's just fan-taken or journalist photos!"

"Then study now and buy his posters when he debuts, you little pervert!"

"Argh, don't interfere with my pure love! I'm not a pervert; it's a spiritual connection and communication."

Their mother sighed heavily, looking at Yun-hee and Ji-e,

"Your father has been working in Saudi for ten years, bending his back to support you, and here you two are, wasting your days away."

"Ah! Why bring up dad now?"

"Yeah, Mom. What does dad have to do with this? Don't overdo it."

"Ah, my daughters..."

Ding-dong, ding-dong-

The sudden ring of the intercom made their mother stand up,

"Huh? Who could it be at this hour? We're not expecting any delivery."

Upon checking the outdoor camera, their mother's face lit up,

"Oh my, Si-hwa's mom! What brings you here?"

Si-hwa's mom, Young-ha, showed something on a tray to the camera and smiled,

"Ah, I brought this for you to try. Are you in the middle of dinner?"

"Oh, but come in, I'll open the door for you, just a moment!"

After ending the call, their mother hurried to open the door, and Young-ha peeked in,

"I brought this so you can try it together with your dinner, Yun-hee's mom."

"Oh, what's this? Please, come in."

"No, no, go on with your meal."

Yun-hee's mom lifted the cloth to reveal the contents and exclaimed,

"My, what is this? It doesn't look like Korean food?"

Young-ha smiled and replied,

"It's Nepali food, called momo. Think of it as Nepali dumplings. It's made with buffalo meat, which you can't usually find in Korea, haha."

"Oh, such a rare treat, but how did you come across Nepali food, Si-hwa's mom?"

"Ah, my son brought it back from his travels."

"Your son? Was the man Ji-e saw entering next door your son?"

"Yes, haha. He's just returned home after a long time."

"No way, how long was he traveling for? We moved in two and a half years ago and haven't seen him once."

"Haha, he went straight on a trip after being discharged from the military. Before that, he was studying abroad."

"Oh, you must be delighted to see your son after such a long time. Your face is all brightened up, absolutely."

"Hoho, indeed. Enjoy the momos, and I'll come by for a visit next time~"

"Sure, thank you so much. I'll wash the tray and return it."

As their mother brought the tray of momos to the dining table, Ji-e's eyes widened in amazement upon tasting them.

"Wow, this is really good. Sister, try this."

Yun-hee also picked one up, and liking it, started to eat more enthusiastically. Their mother watched them eat with a smile, then said,

"After dinner, Yun-hee will do the dishes. Ji-e, take the tray back next door."

"Got it!"

After dinner, Yun-hee helped their mother with the dishes. In the midst of washing, their mother handed a cleaned tray to Ji-e, who was eating watermelon, saying,

"Go next door and make sure to say thank you."

Ji-e eagerly took the tray and headed to the front door, with her mother calling after her,

"Change out of your uniform! Why do you always run around in your school clothes after coming home?"

"I'll change when I get back!"

Ji-e, stepping out of the house, took a deep breath as she approached Ethan's door.

'I might see him if I go now. Surely he won't be wearing sunglasses at home!'

With another deep breath, Ji-e rang Ethan's doorbell.

Ding-dong-

>

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