CHAPTER 3: THE MAN WHO KNOWS
1312 Words
They followed Mr. Kim in a tight, miserable line, boots sinking into damp soil, leaves brushing against their arms like warnings. Like nervous children on a field trip. If the teacher had just burned a monster alive with a flaming arrow. The jungle grew thicker with every step. Roots curled above the ground like traps. Red threads and carved symbols appeared on trees, some smeared with ash, others tied with bone charms that clicked softly.
Behind Mr. Kim, Dr. Cho stumbled slightly.
“Wait, wait, slow down,” he muttered, patting his pockets frantically. “My—my teeth—”
Ben glanced back. “Sir, if you’re talking about snacks, now is not the time.”
“No!” Dr. Cho hissed. “My dentures. I dropped them back there!”
Everyone froze.
“You dropped your WHAT,” Tanya whispered.
Dr. Cho turned pale. “When the creature jumped earlier. I screamed. I tripped. I fell face-first into the sand and—and they’re gone.”
Dr. Cho’s eyes watered. “Do you know how expensive those were?”
Mr. Kim stopped walking. He turned slowly and spoke—sharp, irritated.
“Doragaji mara.”
“ Dora? Whattt?” Marissa asked
“He said we’re not going back,” Yoo Jin translated.
All eyes went to Yoo Jin.
“He said we’re not going back,” she repeated
“But I need them!” Dr. Cho cried. “I can’t speak properly now. Listen to me—I sound like I’m gargling air!”
Mr. Kim replied coldly.
“Geu goseuro doragamyeon jugneunda.”
Yoo Jin swallowed. “He said… if we go back, we die.”
Dr. Cho’s eyes filled with tears.
“They were custom-made, medical-grade. Do you know how hard it is to get used to dentures?”
Tanya muttered, “We’re really risking our lives for teeth.”
“They’re not just teeth,” Dr. Cho snapped weakly. “They’re part of my identity.”
Mr. Kim turned away and continued walking.
“Ijeo.”
Yoo Jin hesitated. “He said to forget them.”
Dr. Cho stopped again.
“No.”
“No,” Dr. Cho repeated, louder. “I refuse.”
Mr. Kim spun around, eyes dark.
“Geu sseuregi ttaemune neo-ui myeong-i kkeutnanda.”
Dr. Cho froze, then he looked at Yoo Jin.
“ What is he saying?” he said softly.
Yoo Jin translated softly, “He said… if you go back for them, you’ll die.”
Dr. Cho stared at the ground, shoulders shaking.
“Even my dentures want me dead,” he whispered.
Ben gently pushed him forward. “Sir. Please. We’ll buy you new ones. Luxury dentures. Just live.”
Dr. Cho walked again, quietly crying.
“I liked those,” he murmured. “They fit perfectly.”
Symbols thickened along the path.
Mr. Kim spoke again.
“I gil-eun barabonda.”
“The path is watching us,” Yoo Jin said.
Lester swallowed. “I hate that sentence.”
They reached a clearing—and froze. The hut stood there like it didn’t belong to this century. It wasn’t just a shack. It was a ritual house. Dark wood reinforced with stone and bone. Charms hung everywhere—feathers, bells, shells, carved teeth, tiny bottles filled with herbs and powder. Wind chimes made of bone and metal clinked softly, even though the air was still. Red strings crisscrossed the doorway. Symbols were burned into the walls. A stone altar stood in the center, blackened from fire, surrounded by melted candles and dried blood stains that no one wanted to ask about.
“Yeah, definitely not Airbnb.” Tanya whispered.
“Negative stars, the host is scary but effective,” Lester added.
Mr. Kim stopped at the entrance. His eyes locked onto Yoo Jin.
Hard.
Focused.
He stepped closer.
Too close.
Yoo Jin shifted uncomfortably. “Sir… personal space?”
Mr. Kim ignored her words. His gaze moved from her face… to her neck… to her wounded leg.
“You,” he said slowly.
Ben immediately stepped between them.
“Okay, okay—sir, respectfully, she’s not into older men.”
“Yeah….her type is alive.” Tanya nodded seriously.
“And emotionally stable,” Marissa added.
Mr. Kim blinked. Then sighed in irritation and turned away.
“Fools,” he muttered.
Yoo Jin frowned. “Why are you staring at me like that?”
Mr. Kim paused.
“Because I have seen your kind before.”
Silence.
Marissa blinked.
“Wait.”
She pointed at him.
“You can speak English??”
Mr. Kim glanced at her. “Yes.”
Marissa threw her hands up. “Oh, so you can speak English after all. You really made things difficult for us outside.”
Ben nodded furiously. “Yeah! We went through fear, trauma, translations—”
Dr. Cho sobbed, “I almost died toothless!”
Mr. Kim raised an eyebrow. “You were not listening anyway.”
“…Fair,” Tanya muttered.
Mr. Kim’s eyes shifted—locking onto Yoo Jin.
“ One of you awaken that monster, now get inside before that creature appears again and makes you their supper.”
Everyone went inside. Mr. Kim shut the door, pausing just before it fully closed, his hand lingering on the handle as if he was listening to something only he could hear. The room fell into a heavy silence—no one spoke, no one moved—until he finally pushed the door shut completely, the sound echoing softly, leaving everyone standing there, uneasy, and full of unspoken questions.
Mr. Kim turned around, and he looked at them one by one, seriously.
“That creature was not an animal. It was made.”
Simon stiffened. “Made… how?”
“Through blood rituals,” Mr. Kim said. “By a man who believed intelligence could control savagery.”
Dr. Cho went pale.
“Cannimaw,” he whispered.
Mr. Kim looked at him sharply. “You know.”
“I’ve heard the story,” Dr. Cho said, voice shaking. “A forbidden experiment. A hybrid created through blood rituals. It was dismissed as a myth.”
“You’re telling me, that thing is from a bedtime horror story?” Tanya said slowly,
“A story meant to warn, not entertain,” Mr. Kim replied.
Marissa hugged herself. “So the monster we saw—”
Mr. Kim nodded.
“The one you saw, was only one.”
Lester’s knees buckled. “ONLY ONE?”
Tanya stared at the doorway. “So… they’ve been watching us since we arrived.”
Mr. Kim met her gaze. “Since before.”
Yoo Jin hugged herself. “Then why attack now?”
Mr. Kim looked at her again.
“Because of blood,” he said.
“What? “ Yoo Jin asked, confused
“And it woke because it sensed something. They do not hunt blindly, they choose. They test. The one you saw was sent to see how you reacted.”
“And?” Lester asked.
Mr. Kim’s lips thinned. “You ran.”
Marissa pointed. “HEY. That was a tactical retreat.”
Mr. Kim ignored her. “Fire slowed it. But understand this—Cannimaw cannot be killed by ordinary weapons. Steel, bullets, blades… useless.”
Marissa’s voice shook. “But your arrow—”
“Was not ordinary, it was treated with ritual oil and fire. Even then, it only worked because it was alone.” Mr. Kim said.
“So what now?” Simon asked.
Mr. Kim turned toward the altar. “Now, you stay alive.”
Yoo Jin swallowed. “And if they come again?”
“They will,” Mr. Kim said quietly.
The bone chimes rang again. Closer.
“This island remembers….and what it remembers…it does not let go.” Mr. Kim said quietly
- Writer
