The Puppy and the Noble Person
"Who is it?"
The landlady eyed Yoon Ji-ho with open suspicion. He fidgeted and glanced toward Park Su-hwan.
"...I came for a little help."
"Oh my."
Her expression brightened at once. Lately Park Su-hwan's spiritual power had been running high, and visitors had been growing more frequent.
"Hello."
Park Su-hwan, who had been playing with the puppy, set down the grass in his hand and rose from his seat. He gave no further attention to the little creature that whimpered in disappointment.
Honestly, after more than an hour of play, the dog ought to be satisfied by now.
"It's been a while. Do you like dogs?"
"Mmm... I'm not sure."
The answer was as noncommittal as the one he had given the landlady.
Whine.
The pup was cute, no question—but that was all. Or rather, he wasn't sure. At a glance the animal clearly belonged to someone.
Had it been abandoned, or had it simply run away? He would have to ask the landlady later how the little thing had ended up here.
"Have you been well? It's hot out—why don't we talk inside?"
Park Su-hwan gave a light bow toward the landlady, who had been watching them.
"We'll go in first."
"Sure, sure. Go on in. Have a good day."
"You too, ma'am."
Just as Park Su-hwan and Yoon Ji-ho were about to enter the shrine, the Jindo puppy waddled after them.
"Ah—no—"
He had no time to block it with his foot. The little dog slipped its small body through the doorway first.
Yap!
It looked back at Park Su-hwan with a triumphant expression.
"..."
"I bought this as a token of thanks."
Yoon Ji-ho held out a tub of expensive brand-name ice cream. It felt like a natural extension of the cheap chocolate cone Park Su-hwan had once demanded as bokchae.
"..."
When Park Su-hwan simply stared at it, Yoon scratched his head, looking embarrassed.
"You seemed to like ice cream quite a bit."
"Well... yes. I do like it."
That was for the bokchae!
He did enjoy ice cream, but receiving it as payment for saving a life felt a little weak.
Still, he swallowed a sigh and rose from his seat, remembering that the young man had only just pinned on his police badge.
"Just a moment."
He put the ice cream in the freezer and brought out two bottles of fruit juice, setting one in front of Yoon.
"Ah. Thank you."
"It's real fruit—should taste good. Nice and rich."
This, too, had been a gift from someone in return for his services.
Grrr, grrr.
The puppy that had sneaked in had now completely claimed the floor cushion and was gnawing on it. Displaced, Yoon Ji-ho sat on the bare floor.
"..."
Seeing Park Su-hwan's face darken, Yoon carefully avoided looking at the dog and asked,
"Are you all right?"
"...No."
The cushion was already old and worn—one of the things he had bought when he first started the shaman business. Still, it could have lasted a few more months. If only the little beast hadn't started chewing it.
"I'll have to buy a new one."
The corners of Park Su-hwan's smiling mouth twitched. The dog had already settled in so thoroughly that kicking it out now looked impossible. And even if he forced it out, the creature didn't look like the type to leave quietly.
Yap yap! Grr!
Outwardly it was a Jindo, but its temper was pure chihuahua—the breed famous for being vicious.
"Can't be helped."
Well. It had saved him from a nightmare. One cushion was a small price.
Then he remembered that expensive Korean beef had also gone into that mouth, and his stomach started to hurt a little.
"Looks like its mouth is itching."
Yoon Ji-ho couldn't take his eyes off the dog.
"Its mouth?"
"Yes. It's teething right now—that's why it's doing that. You should get it something to chew on, like a dog chew. What's its name?"
The question caught him off guard. He had only met the puppy yesterday and had never once considered keeping it.
Being rescued from a nightmare was something to be grateful for. Taking responsibility for a life, however, was another matter entirely.
Anyone listening would think I own this thing. Park Su-hwan felt an odd mix of feelings and changed the subject.
"How did things turn out with the case?"
What he really wanted to know was the full story—how exactly Yoon had tried to dodge fate.
"Honestly, at first I didn't really believe it."
"They never do."
Park Su-hwan gave a short laugh. He was long used to the skepticism that followed his words.
"But then the things you said suddenly came back to me."
The old pink villa with its peeling paint had been no ordinary color. After that, every prophecy Park Su-hwan had spoken closed around Yoon Ji-ho like a net.
The time of the incident, the place, even the exact location—everything matched without a single error. From one to nine, nothing had been wrong. That only made it more terrifying. He had dreaded that the final prediction—that he would be stabbed to death—would come true as well.
"The second I saw his face I rushed him and..."
"...?"
"Cuffed him. Just like you said."
"Were you trying to build suspense just now?"
Park Su-hwan let out a dry laugh. Deliberately pausing for a beat was a technique he himself often used to keep people on edge.
"Haha. Yes. Did it work a little?"
"Mmm... just a tiny bit. Glad there weren't any major problems. That's a relief."
"Ah. That's not quite right. I got chewed out pretty hard. Legally speaking, it was excessive force and I had no real defense."
True enough. Looking only at the situation, the man had not yet attacked the police. That he would swing the knife had been nothing more than a "prophecy"—a future that had not yet happened.
"The... slightly heavyset one who went with you?"
Park Su-hwan recalled the officer who had accompanied him.
"Yeah. That's right. You saw that too."
Yoon looked at him now with something close to awe. He had never expected every single detail to line up without a single word out of place.
Is there really such a thing as gods...?
He had always believed superstition and the like were pure fraud. Watching Park Su-hwan, though, he felt that belief being shaken by the roots.
"So did you receive any disciplinary action or personnel penalties?"
"No. I actually got a special promotion. There was even a small article about how I'd prevented a murder."
By the book, that should not have happened. Cuffing a man before he even drew a weapon was a clear procedural violation and excessive force.
"Oh..."
"Honestly, it still doesn't feel real. I never expected things to go this far for me."
Veteran officer Go Sang-seok had not wanted to lose the sharp-minded rookie who had finally appeared. So he had rewritten the narrative of the case in a way that favored Yoon Ji-ho.
The excessive-force issue arising from the preemptive arrest became "emergency measures to rescue a victim of assault and confinement."
The weapon under the sofa cushion became "evidence fortuitously exposed during the process of subduing the suspect."
And the most fatal mistake—the failure to read the Miranda rights—became "a situation in which the suspect could not hear due to the extreme chaos at the scene."
Go Sang-seok had not invented facts or fabricated evidence. He had simply looked at the same events from a different angle. In doing so, every procedural flaw Yoon Ji-ho had committed turned into legitimate performance of duty.
"Wow..."
A genuine note of admiration escaped Park Su-hwan.
He had looked like someone who just hated working... yet you really couldn't judge a person by appearances alone. He had never expected the man to have that kind of skill.
"This is a real secret. He told me never to speak of it anywhere."
"Of course. And the fact that I gave you a reading that day should stay secret as well."
"Ah! About that..."
They understood each other at once. Park Su-hwan already knew whom he had told.
"I doubt he believed it anyway."
He meant Go Sang-seok, who had been with him. To explain the excessive force, Park Su-hwan's words would inevitably have come up.
"You're right. He told me to stop talking crazy."
Yoon Ji-ho gave an awkward smile and carefully continued.
"But he said he was curious and wanted to meet you at least once. Would that be all right? Or I can try to talk him out of it as best I can."
"That's fine. No trouble at all."
Yap.
The puppy, apparently bored of playing alone, suddenly climbed onto Park Su-hwan's lap.
"Whoa?"
It wriggled its round little rear until it found a comfortable position, then settled down.
"It really likes you, Teacher."
"...Does it?"
Park Su-hwan looked down at the dog with a dubious expression. When exactly had they gotten close enough for it to trust him with its whole body like this?
"Anyway, thank you for taking the trouble to come."
He deliberately ignored the heavy weight on his thigh and turned his attention back to Yoon Ji-ho.
"Not at all. And, uh, this..."
Yoon drew a white envelope from his jacket.
"I didn't think a chocolate cone was proper bokchae."
Don't tell me—!
Park Su-hwan's eyes lit up. Money. It had to be money!
After seeing Yoon Ji-ho off, Park Su-hwan would normally have spent a leisurely day doing nothing—there were no readings scheduled. Instead he found himself staring at the black plastic bag in his hand and muttering,
Who would've thought I'd be buying this stuff.
The bag was stuffed with every kind of dog chew, chicken-breast jerky, and other puppy snacks. He couldn't understand how a single tiny piece of meat could cost several thousand won. Looking at the ingredient list, it was just ordinary meat.
Ugh... I can't exactly ask for repair money either.
The puppy that had been chewing the cushion had finally graduated to clawing wildly at the wallpaper. When Park Su-hwan finally lost patience and ordered it out, it ignored him completely—and, as if mocking him, promptly flopped down and made itself comfortable.
Yes. This was nothing more than a bribe. A clear message: stop destroying the house.
The little thing was shameless to the core. Where on earth was its owner? Someone needed to come claim it already.
My life never goes the way I want. Ever.
He heaved a long sigh and looked up at the steep stairs that were drawing nearer. Just looking at them made him want to throw up.
They were the only way home, and they hadn't earned the nickname "Stairs of Lamentation" for nothing. There was a reason every client who came to the shrine arrived soaked in sweat.
At the foot of the stairs stood a bent old woman carrying a large bundle of belongings.
Don't tell me she's planning to carry that up herself.
Even young people found the climb exhausting. One wrong step and a fall could mean serious injury—especially for someone her age.
"Grandma!"
Park Su-hwan ran toward her without hesitation. Carrying a heavy load for someone else wasn't difficult at all.
"Eh?"
"Let me help you with that!"
The old woman turned at the unfamiliar voice. Their eyes met—and before Park Su-hwan could even resist, he was sucked into the world of the Ledger of the Deceased.
B-blue writing...!
The moment he saw her fate, Park Su-hwan's eyes flew wide and he cried out.
A Noble Person.
It was a Noble Person!