It started raining on the way home, convenience store bag in hand.

"Ah, shit."

Baek Doram muttered briefly, looking up at the sky. Maybe he should have checked the forecast. No, even if he had, he wouldn't have brought an umbrella. The store was only five minutes from his house. Carrying an umbrella for those five minutes was something only an excessively diligent person would do.

He hurried his pace, dragging his slippers. Two cans of beer clattered against each other inside the bag. Tonight's dinner: triangle kimbap, beer, and a peaceful night undisturbed by anyone. Life had been quite satisfying since he stopped serving God. At least he didn't have to clean up bugs crawling out of someone's body or recite Latin at three in the morning.

Then, he stopped at the corner of the alley.

At first, he thought it was a trash bag. Something large and damp sprawled on the roadside, soaked by the rain. But the moment the streetlight swept over it... was it a person?

To be precise, it was something that looked like a person.

Baek Doram let out a sigh as he started to walk past, then turned back to look down at the creature. The rain grew heavier, and the puddles on the ground slowly spread beneath the huddled figure.

He approached and crouched down. Setting the convenience store bag aside, he poked the damp shoulder with a finger.

"Hey."

There was no answer.

That was when it happened. The body he touched moved ever so slightly.

Baek Doram fell silent for a moment. Then, following a habit he'd acquired years ago as an exorcist, he sensed the other's presence. A familiar yet unpleasant sensation brushed the back of his neck. It was slightly off for a human, yet not quite the same as the demonic energy he knew.

Oh my God.

He reflexively looked up at the sky. It was filled only with dark clouds.

"I quit, you know, Big Guy."

Of course, the heavens gave no answer.

He looked back down at the figure on the ground. They looked quite pitiful, soaked in the rain. Leaving them there felt wrong, but calling it in would be hard to explain. Above all, if he went home like this, he knew he'd be thinking about this thing all night.

Baek Doram let out a deep sigh and picked up his convenience store bag.

"Fine. Just for today."

It was an excuse, though he didn't know who he was saying it to.

He carefully gathered the figure from the ground and lifted them up. He didn't know yet whether what he had just picked up was a troublemaker fallen from heaven, a disaster crawled out of hell, or something far more annoying.

Only one thing was certain.

His plan to relax quietly tonight with a beer was completely ruined.