Last year, something peculiar happened over as many nine days. And it happened repeatedly.
It was last year's summer. After living alone for five years, I began living with my father.
My father's place of work changed, so he needed a place to live for the time being. And there happened to be an empty room in the place I was living by myself.
But you tend to clash with your parents if you try to live with them again after living alone for a while. Honestly, I was worried too.
On top of that, my father tends to nag a lot.
"Hyun Woo!"
"Song Hyun Woo!"
"What? What is it?"
"I told you not to turn your socks inside out."
"Where are you going? I am still talking."
"I told you to separate your clothes by color before washing them. How many times must I tell you? You just won't listen!"
He's very neat type, so he can't stand seeing even a strand of hair on the floor. He even irons his underwear.
I couldn't get used to his nagging. I hadn't heard for a while, but it was reassuring to be with my father, my only family.
Then one Saturday. My father worked on weekends too, so I was alone at home when I got up after sleeping in. I gave a big yawn as I came out to the living room.
(Day-1)
'Ahh'
"Gosh, what was that?"
I stepped on something sharp.
"What is this? Where did it fall from?"
What was on the floor...was a small and black moon-shaped piece.
"Isn't this a fingernail?"
The edges of the fingernail weren't neat. The edges were uneven as if someone forcefully pulled it off. It felt leery so I threw it in the trash can right away.
Then I washed my hands thoroughly with soap. I didn't feel any better, so I vacuumed every corner of the house.
(Day-2)
The next day was Sunday, I hurried to the veranda to wash my clothes before my father came home.
'Ahhh!'
"Gosh, that stings!"
Something stung my foot so I checked what it was. There was another black and sharp piece on the floor.
It was another black fingernail. Seeing an unusual fingernail in the house two days in a row, it started to feel ominous.
"Did someone break into the house and throw these away?" "Are they pulling pranks?" I had all sorts of doubts.
This time I didn't throw away the black fingernail but kept it. And I showed it to my father who came back home from work.
"Dad!"
"Look at this. I have been seeing a fingernail like this in the house since yesterday."
"A fingernail?"
"Yes."
"What kind of fingernail is this black?"
"I think there's something wrong with this place."
"I told you so. Didn't I tell you to clean the place daily?"
But my father disregarded what I told him and nagged at me, saying things like this wouldn't happen if I cleaned well.
This time, I decided to clean the whole house. In case someone breaks in, I checked every door and locked them before going to bed.
(Day -3)
And the next day. As soon as I got up, I started looking for that black fingernail.
"There can't be another one when I thoroughly cleaned the house yesterday. There can't be another one."
I checked every floor just in case. Fortunately, I couldn't find another black fingernail anywhere.
After my tension eases, I became thirsty. So I had a refreshing cup of water and put the cup down on the table.
"Wait."
I found another black fingernail.
"Why did it show up again? Did someone actually put it here?"
(You can check out my original story. The title is 'The Reddest Red')