The next two days passed somewhat uneventfully - or at least, I didn't see much of what was happening. I stayed at our apartment and only went out to fetch some mountain water and cook soup for the next few days. So, every news I heard came from your grandmother. There had been some unrest because the well near Deiji's house wasn't the only one to have those strange yellow streaks in the water; other wells near the sea had also been contaminated. We sat together in the evening by an old oil lamp that smelled rancid and partially darkened the room with its smoke, casting a dim glow. She sat knitting and squinted to see the stitches, while I had already put you to bed in the adjacent room. Your father still hadn't returned, and slowly, anxiety began well up inside me. Was he in danger? Had they drifted away and landed in the South, where they had been executed? I needed him, I needed him so badly! Everything else was too terrible... I just needed him! And you, Joon-Ho, I needed you too!

"Have you heard what they're saying?" my mother suddenly asked, setting her knitting down on her lap.

She looked at me with a furrowed brow, as if she expected that I knew what she meant.

"No, what?"

"The wells, they've been poisoned. They were talking about it today in the gardens near the slopes. I just wanted to check on things, help out as one does, but everyone was in an uproar."

"What did they say?"

"I don't know, it mainly revolved around some things happening down by the shore that aren't very nice. Not nice at all. They say people from the South are responsible. They must have sneaked across the border. No one knows how many there are, but they must have poured something into the sea near the coast... They say people are getting more aggressive down there. Losing respect for each other. There have always been people who were just sick. People who were poisoned, not by something in the water, but by this place. By their lives..."

Her expression twisted, and she anxiously looked toward the front door, as if expecting someone to burst in and storm into the room.

"From the South? That's terrible!"

But it made sense. Who else would have contaminated the groundwater? Why else would something emerge from the wells that harmed us?

But the voices, why had I heard them? Did I also drink something that would harm me?

Of course, what she said... it troubled me. It troubled me because I knew it was true, even if I didn't want to believe it. This place, this city, something sick was here, slumbering beneath us, occasionally stretching its jaws to take one of us. But this country... It was the best in the world, wasn't it? At least, I thought so back then, even though my belief in it was slowly fading with every horror I experienced. The words my mother spoke... If someone had heard them, she would have been taken away. That's how it was back then. I know you probably can't even imagine that, Joon-Ho, but it was... like in a different world, where a different, terrible truth prevailed.

"People from the South... You've told me about them. They live like animals, don't care for each other. Let their children lie in the dirt. Eat each other. You always told me that. Where... where do you know that from?" I carefully asked.

"Old wives' tales," my mother said bitterly, "but there's truth in them, of course. The South is more rotten than this town could ever be. People there only live for themselves and are even poorer than we are. They're being drained, drained by the monsters in the West, who are draining everything there like leeches, secretive, devious. You know the border is close. Just fifteen kilometers away, and the South begins. Beyond the mountains. Beyond the electric fences and the minefields. It's not far. Someone could try to come here, unnoticed. Sneak in and harm us."

"Has it happened often?"

"No, never. But they'll surely try one day, now that things are getting worse out there..."

I had thought about it before but had never witnessed anyone truly crossing over and into the town. I had always assumed the border was well enough secured to protect us. I knew the measures taken for that. No one could cross the death strip, the demilitarized zone... But... what if someone had come? Put something in the water? Dragging us down to their level, so that we lived like rabid maggots as well?

On the other hand... I had seen something down at the harbor. Had seen something wrapped in a tarp that was still moving...

"It... I need to ask you something. The... things that sometimes wash up on the beach, after heavy storms and rain..."

"Also old wives' tales," my mother cut me off sharply.

I hesitated, thinking back to that plateau in the mountains, back to Joo's screams, and the gurgling...

"But... everyone here knows it. Everyone. Those creatures, what if they were behind it?"

"Enough of that. Those are just silly stories people tell to keep us from going further out... A sea full of creatures from the depths, waiting to devour sailors. Monsters in the mountains, sliding Mulgda, or whatever... Bah! Those are stories meant to warn us about the world out there. So that children and teenagers like you don't stray too far and get shot at the border! Just stories! What's happening today is real! The water was poisoned, and I believe the others when they say it was someone from the South. Who else would do something like this? It's disgusting and terrible because where else are the people down there going to get their water? Some have started filtering seawater because they no longer want to drink from the wells. Others are desperate and drink it anyway. Yet others dismiss it as a rumor. It's that scum from the South, I'm sure of it. Who else could be so vile?"

With that, she turned her attention back to her knitting, and I knew the conversation was over for her.

But my thoughts were racing. You can guess why, can't you, Joon-Ho? Because I had been there, in the mountains. On that plateau. I had heard the sounds when Joo died. And I had also heard what had been in old Young-Soo's leaky room with us. Deep down, I knew there was more to this area, that it wasn't just vile people from the South, but other ancient things that I didn't understand. Things that threatened me. And threatened you. You were so young, so innocent, and had already seen and heard more horrors than most people do in their entire lives. I hate myself for not protecting you from them, you have to believe me!

Your grandmother also knew that there was more to it. I could see it in her face, in her eyes shimmering in the light of the oil lamp.

She was afraid... Afraid of something she did not dare speak about...

But I just had to know. I needed to learn more about what was happening here. I had to know so I could protect you from it. And I knew who I had to ask. I knew from whom I might get more answers...

The next day, I asked my mother to look after you again and set off alone. I dressed warmly because the cloud cover had thickened, and a chilly wind had begun to sweep across the streets. In the distance, I saw some birds flying north, and a strange feeling washed over me. It felt melancholic but also gloomy and hostile, as if the town itself was inhaling to soon unleash a loud roar into the world. I took the road to the outskirts of Gipeun, passing by the desolate sheds and sparse gardens to visit the relatively large house of Ayeum and her family. The path was almost the same as the one I had taken a few days ago to reach our old viewing platform, but just before leaving the town behind, I turned right and walked along a lush green grassy belt and into the Kwon's garden. As I walked by, I overheard a conversation between two young women who looked up to Ayeum's property with narrowed eyes and hushed voices.

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

"Up there, they live so nicely. Where do they get the money? Have you ever wondered?"

"No, but it is strange. I mean, she's not even married. Always just sulks! How can she afford all this anyway? Such a lush garden? Such a big house?"

"I visited them once; they have four rooms! Plus, working water pipes and even candles that don't smell and smoke like our oil lamps. My pipes are broken, and I have to sit in that stinking smoke every evening, and my eyes hurt..."

"And then the sunflowers, why does she have so many? They don't grow so nicely for me!"

"Yeah, something's not right, maybe they're traitors? Maybe they're getting money from the South? I heard that spies were seen. Down at the harbor. And that they poisoned the water. But they, up there, they have pure mountain water running through their pipes... I'm telling you, this makes..."

Finally, I was past them and couldn't hear them anymore. Those two women gave me an eerie feeling. They didn't care that I overheard everything – they didn't even bother to lower their voices. I knew that Ayeum, who still lived alone with her elderly father, possessed a bit more than most others in the city. However, this was mainly because the land her house was built on was close to the wooded slopes, making the soil unusually rich and the yield from her property high. The pipes worked, that was true, but that was probably just a matter of luck and not a question of cost. Nevertheless, these circumstances had often led to quiet conversations behind closed doors. Deiji and I had also wondered if everything was on the up-and-up, but today, I'm sure... it was just luck. I also knew that Ayeum never truly enjoyed her home and in her thoughts was still at that pit where her sister had perished all those years ago.

I briskly walked the last meters to the Kwon's front door, which was smooth and made of fine wood. It took a moment before Ayeum's father opened. He was emaciated and trembling. His gray hair looked wild, and a shadow loomed over his eyes, which had grown steadily over the years.

"Ah, it's you. Ayeum is in bed. As usual. It's nice that you're visiting her again."

"I... How is she? Am I interrupting?"

"No, no... Well, she's had better days. The summer was lovely; she tended to the garden a lot. You know she has a green thumb. She still cares to her sunflowers... I think the garden is her only solace. It reminds her of... you know... I'll take you to her..."

"I... actually wanted to see you..."

He looked surprised and furrowed his brow. His eyes seemed to see me properly for the first time.

"To see... me? Why?"

"It's about... the old stories. I know, I know, but it's important. I think? The old folks like your father and Hoon knew them best. And you probably know them too, at least most of them..."

"Yes, I know them. Silly stories. I remember when we found you after... Hoon said it was all a warning, and my father agreed. I believed them. I swallowed down my anger, my rage, my misery. But today... He was an old fool, and Hoon is still spinning his sailor's tales down by the sea. Old weak men! I should have screamed; I should have beaten Hyeon unconscious. Don't look at me like that; I know it was him! He always had nonsense in his head. He incited all of you to venture out too far! Who else? You all followed him... My father's ashes are rotting buried out there in the ground, and with him, his clinging to all the tales he always told. All that remains is me and Ayeum, both broken! Tell me, why do you want to hear these terrible stories? Do you want to scare your daughter with them soon, so she's not foolish enough to wander too far into the mountains? So you won't lose her to a stupid boy's ideas?"

He spoke calmly and sounded more sad and exhausted than angry, but his words also carried an underlying sharpness.

"It... No, yes, maybe. It's about my daughter, yes, but not like you think. I believe something terrible is happening down by the sea..."

I hesitated and looked at him. Should I tell him everything? Should I tell him that it was suspected that South Korean scum had infiltrated us and poisoned the wells? That people were becoming more aggressive and suspicious because they were drinking some filth since they had no other water? But... what if Ayeum's family really had a deal with the South? What if they were traitors? What if the two women were right, and this old broken man and his shattered daughter were actually against us?

Nonsense. Terrible thoughts that I hate myself for nowadays.

"They say the wells are poisoned. With something that makes people angry. They are strangely furious and hateful; there's violence... They say it's people from the South who are responsible..."

"South Korean scum? Damn it! Only filth and corruption come from beyond the border!"

The man's features hardened, and he spat on the ground.

"That is horrifying! But what does it have to do with the stories?"

"It... I believe maybe there could be something in the tales that... provides a better explanation. My mother told me there have never really been intruders here, so I just don't know if perhaps..."

"Something else is responsible? Come on. You can't possibly believe..."

"The water. Do the old stories mention anything about the water?"

He paused, thinking.

"No," he said plainly.

"And about voices? Are there stories about voices?"

Silence. He thought about it as well.

Suddenly, he twitched.

"That... yes. But what does that have to do with all of this? I thought it was about poisoned water?"

"Please, tell me about it. Please!"

Finally, he gave in, bewildered, and slowly led me to his kitchen table.

We sat down hesitantly, and he stared at his ridged fingernails for a while before looking up and sighing.

"The Whisperers. There are stories about Whisperers in the night. What do you want to know about them, child?"

"Well, everything! I've never heard of them before. I don't know many of the stories; my mother mostly just told me about the Mulgdas in the mountains. I don't remember much else. I still know about Gosas, but other than that... It's been a long time, and I think I just wanted to forget..."

"Whisperers... Well, those were very vague stories. Not very embellished, not very profound. I think they were told to keep children from going outside at night or leaving the shutters open. The Whisperers in the night... They're said to be evil, godless devils who whisper hateful, hostile words and wait to snatch those who venture outside too late at night. To take all those who don't close the shutters, so they can float into the rooms and... I don't remember anymore. Maybe eat the children? It was something terrible like that. But it's also said that they've disappeared a long time ago, so long that not even a memory of their appearance remains. Maybe they were never here, they say. Maybe they've always been in another place, a place before. Maybe they were just a legend from a time when we didn't live here yet, but somewhere else... Nonsense! Who knows what that's supposed to mean! But that's how they tell the story. Well, does it help you?"

The whispering I had heard. Was that one of those... beings? But it hadn't happened at night. Not in front of a window. They had whispered to me from a bucket. What did that mean? It did not fit...

"Thank you, you have helped me a lot," I lied.

It was an ominous story, but it just didn't fit. Just an old wives' tale... Back then, I thought it was just a coincidence. A silly coincidence that I thought I had heard whispers, a delusion produced by my confused mind because of the terrible events I had witnessed. A silly coincidence that there was a similar story. Oh, Joon-Ho, I still don't know what was true about the Whisperers in the night. But I'm pretty sure they were more than just a silly tale, because... But let's take it step by step...

The old man and I sat in silence for a moment, but there was something else I needed to know. Something I had never dared to ask him...

"You said you wanted to beat up Hyeon back then. Have you forgiven him over the years? Forgiven us?"

He looked at me for a long time, thought deeply, and seemed tired again.

"I... a part of me has forgiven him. All of you. But there's something else. A small, tiny place inside me that's blind with anger, hatred, and disgust. It's not even that I directly associate it with all of you. But it's there, lingering and festering since that day. I would love to say that everything is long gone, that all is forgiven and forgotten. It would almost be the truth, even. But this small part... this scar that the death of my daughter left in me. It still bleeds now and then..."

I thought back to the plateau. Thought about the cave. About Ayeum, thrashing around like crazy. Hyeon, holding her down...

"Hyeon saved Ayeum back then. She would have jumped after Joo if he hadn't held her down. I don't know if we ever told you. Actually... we never talked about it, did we?"

"No. It's good to know that he saved Ayeum, but it doesn't change anything in me. Those are just words that do not reach that dark place in my heart... I'm tired. Please go now. And don't come back for a while."

His suddenly harsh tone stabbed me like a dagger. Tears welled up inside me.

"I'm sorry. Thank you for the story."

I could hardly speak. I felt both cold and warm. His judging eyes burned me. Quickly, I turned to leave and hurried out of the house.

It had started to rain lightly. I was glad for it because that way, people couldn't see my tears.