Death on the Way to Save a Life
It wasn't just his imagination. The chill was truly ebbing away, as if it had never been there at all. In its place, he began to feel the heat of the summer sun he had forgotten.
...What?
"You must have been worried sick about the money, right? I'm sorry. I've put you through a lot of stress."
The landlady said this as she watched Park Su-hwan's expression ease. She assumed it was because his money worries had lifted.
"Ah—no. Yes..."
Park Su-hwan avoided her gaze, thoroughly confused.
Why did my body suddenly get better?
"That's my sister's bokchae. Mine still hasn't been paid. How about dinner tonight if you've got time? Meat—I'll treat you to a full spread."
At that moment, something in Kang Dong-hyun's words jogged a forgotten fact free in his mind.
It was the true meaning of bokchae.
Even if Park Su-hwan was a fraudulent shaman, he wasn't completely devoid of spiritual knowledge. You needed to know something to pull a con, after all, so he had studied shamanism in his own way.
Bokchae wasn't simply a service fee paid to a shaman in exchange for a reading. In the process, the client transferred the impurity and misfortune they carried onto the shaman, and the shaman used the bokchae they received as a shield to block it.
But Park Su-hwan had taken nothing from Kang Dong-hyun. And he had done so while committing the taboo of Cheonki Nuseol—reciting the man's death date in advance.
That's why this happened. Because I didn't take it.
The horrific nightmares—and the chill!
Why didn't I think of this sooner.
"Hey...?"
"Ah, yes?"
Park Su-hwan snapped back to his senses at Kang Dong-hyun's voice.
"If meat's not your thing... is there something else you like?"
Right. Surviving after pulling a stunt like that is already a miracle.
And as long as I receive bokchae, I'll be fine, right?
Park Su-hwan roughly concluded the matter by looking on the bright side.
"No. I'd never turn down free meat."
As it is, I'm so broke I can't even remember the last time I tasted meat.
At the thought of eating meat, his mouth started watering.
But...
"Beef? Or pork?"
Of course either is fine. But after all I've done for him, wouldn't beef be better?
As if reading Park Su-hwan's mind, Kang Dong-hyun burst out laughing.
"Beef, of course!"
Creak. Knock-knock.
Suddenly the front gate opened, and a middle-aged man appeared. He wore a thoroughly rumpled suit, greasy hair, and a haggard face that looked as if he hadn't slept in days.
"Is this... a fortune-telling house...?"
When three pairs of eyes locked onto him at once, he flinched and trailed off.
"Is it not? There was a flag hanging outside..."
His gaze shifted to Park Su-hwan in his hanbok.
"That's right. But what brings you here?"
There definitely weren't any appointments left for today.
"Ah. I just happened to pass by and saw it."
And then, the moment their eyes met again—
"...!"
A ledger appeared before Park Su-hwan's eyes, and—
Flutterrrrr!!
The pages began flipping at breakneck speed, and in an instant Park Su-hwan's vision went black.
"Huh..."
Just like that?
Once again Park Su-hwan was trapped in pitch-black darkness with the ledger. But this time he didn't panic or get as frightened as before.
What is it this time.
He muttered as he looked at the ledger glowing softly alone in the void.
As long as he possessed the ledger, he had figured something like this would happen again eventually. But he never expected the ledger to pop up in front of him of its own accord. And in front of everyone, no less.
Thank goodness no one else could see it—I nearly had a heart attack right then and there.
As expected, a ghostly object...
Park Su-hwan hurriedly shook his head and corrected himself.
A divine object.
After obtaining the ledger, his leg had healed as if by a miracle, and even his overdue rent problem had been solved in one go. So calling it a ghostly object would be nothing short of an insult.
"Let's take a look."
Unlike before, when it had been blank, the ledger was now packed dense with Chinese characters steeped in black ink.
It seemed he could only see and read the contents of the ledger in this place. He didn't know why, but he didn't bother to dig into it. He simply figured this was a special space, and left it at that.
"It's not like I'm a reaper."
Exactly. How could a mere human possibly understand a divine object?
And what mattered more right now was the ledger's contents.
"Is this his future?"
Name: Kim Jun-young.
Place of residence: ...
Recalling the man's thoroughly haggard face, Park Su-hwan began to read the ledger.
"If nothing unusual turns up in this exam, you'll be able to leave the hospital."
"The surgical ward is down corridor eight."
Before he knew it, the background had shifted to the main entrance of Hankook University Hospital.
Hankook University Hospital...
That's a pretty well-known university hospital.
Park Su-hwan watched Kim Jun-young talking on the phone amid a throng of people.
"Yeah, yeah. Ye-na. It's Daddy. The surgery's over now. Getting off work? Of course. I'll be home soon."
Wearing a gown, he looked thoroughly exhausted—as if he had just come out of a long surgery.
He didn't look like one... so he's a doctor?
"Come on. I really am going home this time. Daddy's sorry. There was one more surgery... no, there are just so many people who need Daddy."
The way he fumbled through the call with his daughter, anyone could see he was a total daughter-dork.
"Really. Daddy's on his way right now, okay?"
Just as he was about to start walking, a young doctor in a gown stepped in front of him holding a cola.
"Yeah, yeah. Daddy will call you back later, okay? Mmhmm. I'll definitely come home today. Promise."
Watching him hang up with difficulty, the young doctor smiled and said,
"Professor. Looks like Ye-na gave you a hard time. Here's a cola."
"Thanks. I deserved the scolding. I haven't been home in three weeks. She says she doesn't even remember Daddy's face anymore. That hurts. It really does."
He sighed and continued.
"When the hell is this damned cancer going to be conquered. Tsk."
"Tell me about it..."
He replied with a bitter look.
"Ah, you'd better hurry. Ye-na's waiting. The surgery went well, so there shouldn't be any problems. Even if something does come up, the kids and I will take full responsibility and handle it."
"I'm counting on you. Still, call me if anything happens. I'm off."
Kim Jun-young clapped Resident Kwon Seok-ho on the shoulder and headed down the hill. Park Su-hwan, ledger in hand, followed behind him.
Looking at it this way, I really do feel like a ghost.
"Hmm-hmm-hmm~ Better grab some of the bread Ye-na likes on the way~"
Humming to himself, he had just crossed the crosswalk and was heading toward the bakery when—
Riiing!
The phone in his pocket started blaring. Kim Jun-young pulled it out and checked the screen without much thought.
"Seok-ho? Hello?"
"P-Professor!! I'm sorry, I'm so sorry! I said we'd take responsibility and handle it, but...!"
Kwon Seok-ho's panicking voice came through the phone.
"Never mind that. What happened!"
Kim Jun-young's face twisted into something demonic in an instant. The gentle demeanor from moments before felt like a lie.
"Patient Han Su-young's vitals aren't responding! Her blood pressure suddenly dropped and—Arrest! Get her back, now, you bastards!!"
Click!
"Kwon Seok-ho! Hey, you!!"
The call cut off.
"Son of a bitch! What the hell happened!"
He had finally thought he'd make it home today—but he'd been wrong.
"Not a single day of peace. This damn surgery department!"
Rage surged to the top of his head as he roughly turned back from the bakery. Standing at the crosswalk, he glared at the red light and ground his shoe heel into the pavement.
"The surgery clearly went fine... so what went wrong. Damn it."
He stole anxious glances at the traffic light. The red signal felt especially long today.
"I'm busy as hell..."
Click!
Finally!
The light changed, and he hurried forward—
Screeeeeech!!!
A flash of light slammed into Kim Jun-young and the people around him.
KRAAASH!!
He was flung into the air like a scrap of paper.
That was Kim Jun-young's cause of death written in the ledger.
"No...!!!"
The haggard Kim Jun-young who looked ready to collapse at any moment appeared. He was looking down at Park Su-hwan, who had crumpled to the floor, with worried eyes.
"Are you okay? Nothing looks particularly injured..."
"Hah, huff, haah..."
Park Su-hwan looked up at him, panting hard. For a moment the blood-soaked version of the man from moments before seemed to overlay him.
Damn it. Shit...
I never thought I'd watch someone get hit by a car and die from this close up.
"Haah... Yes. I'm fine."
The landlady beside him, pale as a sheet, spoke in a trembling voice.
"A-are you okay? Young man?"
Kang Dong-hyun next to her didn't look much better.
"...Yes."
Park Su-hwan rubbed his head and looked at himself lying on the floor.
Why am I like this.
What happened while I was reading the ledger.
I'll have to carefully ask the landlady about this later.
Having steadied his breathing, Park Su-hwan forced himself to act nonchalant as he got to his feet.
"Whew, I'm sorry. I must have startled you."
"You don't have some kind of condition, do you? It might be good to get checked out."
As expected... is it because he's a doctor.
Park Su-hwan thought as he glanced at him.
How do I put this.
"Hankook University Hospital. You're Professor Kim Jun-young, right? Surgery."
His deliberation was short. Beating around the bush wasn't in his nature.
Working as a shaman had eroded a bit of his manners, but that was unavoidable. You could call it an occupational hazard, of sorts.
Still, he was carefully using polite speech. He wasn't currently performing gongsu—that is, pretending to be possessed by a spirit.
"How do you...!"
Kim Jun-young's eyes went wide enough to split.
"How do I know? Because I saw it all. You can't go home properly because of surgeries. Your daughter's name... Ye-na, was it?"
"Hhk!"
Kim Jun-young sucked in a breath and froze.
"But Professor. You might die soon."
Park Su-hwan said, staring straight into the man's wavering pupils.
"Tomorrow afternoon, in a traffic accident."