Chapter 36
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 36
Chapter Title: Hell Bent 6
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In the sky, Venus burned brightly.
A shoulder-length bob swayed gently. Delicate eyebrows resembled tiny fish. The large, round eyes held not only innocence but a hint of mischief as well. Beneath the straight nose, her lips twitched incessantly. She was trying to act calm, but it was hard to suppress the silly smile threatening to break free.
"Okay, taking the shot."
Her flushed face filled the phone screen.
"Um... so... I, Park Saetbyeol..."
Her hands were clasped behind her back, her eyes rolling aimlessly from right to left.
A boy's laughter echoed from off-screen.
"What? You wanted to do it—why are you so embarrassed?"
"I'm doing it right now! Just wait!"
The girl cleared her throat again and opened her mouth. Her already flushed cheeks grew even redder.
"I, Park Saetbyeol... like Haewon!"
Truly embarrassed, she squeezed out the final "like" with eyes clenched shut and rap-like speed. Then she spent a while giggling awkwardly, unable to continue.
"What? Rapping now? Can't you do it right?"
"Enough! Your turn now. Haewon loves Park Saetbyeol! Hurry!"
"You said 'like,' so why 'love' for me?"
"I don't know—just do it!"
The screen shook violently, mixing the concrete floor with the early evening sky. Next, a boy with sharp, handsome features filled the frame.
"Hurry up!"
"Okay, okay."
The boy waved his hand a few times before assuming a relatively calm and straight posture.
"I, Haewon, love Park Saetbyeol."
"Wow, what are you? How can you say it so casually?"
"Is that my fault?"
"Not embarrassed at all?"
"You're calling it embarrassing, which makes it sound weird..."
The girl's voice, which had been snapping sulkily for a while, suddenly turned serious.
"For real?"
"Huh?"
"Do you really love me?"
Annoyance was now clear on the boy's face. He waved it off as if asking why go that far, but the girl pressed on relentlessly.
"Enough to marry me?"
"...Yeah."
"Forever?"
"What?"
"Can you swear it'll be forever... until a star dies?"
No one who has ever loved another person for such a time would exist. The boy hesitated for a long while but eventually answered.
Perhaps he thought he was just indulging his whining girlfriend's tantrum, or in youthful ignorance, he didn't realize the enormity of his words.
But at least in that moment, he believed it was sincere.
"Forever."
The screen shook slightly. The girl's hand had grabbed the boy's. She pulled him lightly into an embrace. The smartphone tumbled to the ground, recording not yet stopped.
No more people appeared on the screen. Only sounds remained. The brush of skin against skin, faint whispers, then moans bursting forth. The two entangled bodies writhed as one on the hard floor.
A fact learned much later: this was the union of the living and the dead. It was right to call it thus.
Ghost marriage.
In the sky, Venus burned brightly.
It was a fresh grave, roots not yet settled. The thin crescent moon had slipped behind the mountain, just before dawn broke. And beside the grave stood two people.
One was a woman in her forties, dressed in mourning garb. Prostrated before the tombstone, she pressed her body flat to the earth, head bowed, not daring to lift her face.
A voice, squeezed out amid sobs, echoed by the grave.
"I beg you. Thus I plead. Great spirit, my lowly child in ignorance committed an offense too grave to utter. It is my fault. I failed to teach my son properly, so the fool could not recognize you. Punish me and spare my son."
"No need. I permitted it myself."
In stark contrast, a crisp voice rang out clearly from before her.
The speaker was a girl perhaps half the shaman's age. She wore a neat school uniform, ill-suited to the place and hour.
And addressing the prostrated shaman, she spoke in a tone laced with blatant condescension.
"But if atonement must be made, then I'll take him with me."
"Please, anything but that... He still has many days to live..."
"Did you not claim he had sinned?"
"......"
The girl smiled at the trembling, speechless shaman—a smile blue and cold as moonlight.
"What safety is there?"
"Then... then..."
The shaman raised her head. Tears overflowed from her eyes.
"Could we not hold a proper wedding?"
She thought it an overreach. The next instant, she might bleed from every orifice and die.
But nothing of the sort happened. On the contrary. The girl flashed a grin as wide as a serving tray and nodded.
"Good! Wonderful! Great idea! I'll be a fine bride! A wise wife devoted to her husband!"
An unexpected turn. The shaman, head raised, swallowed hard.
"Then... grant us some time. Such a wedding is no light matter... Give me time to prepare fittingly. In the interim, my foolish son will become a man more worthy of you."
"Your son is already the handsomest man in the world."
Yet the girl who said it then took a step back and added,
"But rash impatience ill befits a chaste woman. He will be mine in the end. The longer the wait, the greater the happiness he shall bring."
The girl rummaged briefly in her backpack, then pulled out a sheet of paper and offered it. A contract.
"Smear his blood here. And keep it safe. On the date written, I'll come running."
The shaman took the paper with trembling hands. The girl continued in a steady voice.
"Don't toy with the contract. For instance... by hiding it deep away."
That was the end. The girl strode past the shaman and entered the grave mound, lying down within. Only the shaman's sobs remained.
In the sky, Venus burned brightly.
Of course, right before his eyes as well.
Venus, the brightest star in the sky. Thus, the blazing Venus of the early evening sky is also called the Morning Star.
Haewon stared blankly at Saetbyeol, who smiled radiantly at him. Was what he had just seen the truth? Right here, right now—had his mother and Saetbyeol truly met alone?
The woman I longed for so desperately had always been circling me.
I shouldn't have sent my mother off so lonely.
My entire life up to now had been utterly wrong.
"Ready?"
Saetbyeol's hand rested lightly on his. The feel was exactly as he had always yearned for, tightening his throat.
The words that had lingered at the root of his tongue finally emerged.
"Your hair's gotten so much longer."
It had. The Saetbyeol before him had changed from the lively bob he remembered to long, flowing locks.
"Yeah. It's been a long time."
"Right... it has."
"Why? Don't you like it?"
Saetbyeol's face suddenly turned pitiful, like a sad puppy. He couldn't bear to say otherwise and shook his head.
"No. It suits you. You're even prettier than back then. Much more."
Only then did Saetbyeol smile in relief, beaming. A pang ached in his chest. He wasn't sure if he was even allowed to love this woman. Just that thought felt like a sin.
But he had already sworn. There was no turning back.
"Come on."
Saetbyeol took his hand in her light steps and led him.
"It's our wedding."
Before he knew it, the surroundings had blurred away. The graveyard, the sky. Nati and Ibi too.
Who were they again? They seemed important... but his mind was foggy, like mist had settled. No idea. They must not have been close. If they mattered, he'd remember eventually.
Beside him was a bride who gazed only at him, boldly leading him down an unfamiliar path. Nothing was lacking.
"Saetbyeol. I've got something I'm curious about."
"What?"
Suddenly, seas of brilliant stars unfurled along both sides of their path. The Great Bear and Little Bear strolled by. A lyre player scattered sweet melodies. Billions of crows and magpies gathered to build a bridge. A pair of lovers crossed it.
His hesitant lips finally parted.
"Would that... hurt?"
"You mean dying?"
Saetbyeol, walking beside him, slipped into his arms. The face buried in his chest looked up. Their eyes met. Tears beaded on her lashes. He wiped them with his fingertip.
In the sky, Venus burned brightly.
"Don't worry. I would never hurt you."