107. Look Behind You

When Rembrary raised his head, he caught sight of a silhouette slipping stealthily past the window — a figure with the head of an ox.

Rembrary pocketed his phone, eased the door open, and peeked out. The Ox-Headed Monster was tiptoeing carefully toward somewhere.

It's after Lim Yu-han again!

Rembrary hurriedly searched for Sa Gam-jae. But once again, the grim reaper was nowhere to be seen.

Was that reaper truly interested in nothing but his sacred swimwear?

Exasperated as he was, things being what they were, Rembrary had little choice — if the ox-head meant to attack someone, he would have to stop it himself. He slipped out of the van and tailed the creature cautiously.

The Ox-Headed Monster, glancing this way and that, finally spotted Lim Yu-han.

Just as I thought. Lim Yu-han is the target.

Rembrary swallowed dryly and kept his eyes fixed on it.

But the moment the ox-head saw that Lim Yu-han was surrounded by people, it turned away and crept toward Maeng Woo-shin instead.

So it hasn't settled on a target?

It truly seemed to have none.

Maeng Woo-shin was standing at the edge of the very pond where Rembrary had taken his splash shots earlier, texting away — ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and now the ox-head was sneaking both hands toward Maeng Woo-shin's back, angling to shove him in.

Is it planning to kill anyone famous, no matter who?

Either way, Rembrary deliberately strolled toward Maeng Woo-shin and cleared his throat loudly.

The ox-head panicked and bolted in the other direction.

Maeng Woo-shin whirled around, startled — and scowled the moment he saw Rembrary.

"Hey, you little snitch. What did you do right this time, coming over here with that fake cough?"

"Who are you calling a snitch? You cursed at me first, remember?"

"Did I say 'damn it'? Hey, that was just me cursing in general. Situational anger, that kind of thing. Swearing just comes out when you're mad."

"That was me cursing in general too."

"Oh, really? …Why, you little—"

"Behave yourself before I go tattling again, sunbae."

Rembrary hauled the sputtering Maeng Woo-shin over and pushed him in among the staff, then went looking for the ox-head that had fled earlier.

But the creature had hidden itself somewhere in the meantime and was nowhere in sight.

Come to think of it, he'd once watched it vanish behind a curtain without a trace — its concealment abilities were clearly formidable. It had probably slipped into some gap between objects again.

Rembrary finally gave up on the hunt and called Sa Gam-jae.

"…"

But the reaper didn't even answer. So that guy really did care about nothing but swimwear.

Rembrary clicked his tongue and pressed the end-call button.

Then what am I supposed to do?

If the ox-head had simply fled for good, fine — but he couldn't shake the worry that it might be lying low, waiting for the moment he looked away to stalk someone else.

He was fiddling with his phone, reluctant as he was to call the "spear guy" who might be Nakru, when — unexpectedly — that very spear-wielding man was standing among the onlookers watching the film set.

Why is he here of all places? Rembrary's eyes went wide with surprise, and the Spear Wielder, spotting him at the same moment, waved.

Rembrary scrunched up his face and pointedly ignored him.

Maeng Woo-shin, standing blankly among the staff, had belatedly come over to demand what the hell that was back there — only to catch Rembrary desperately pretending not to know someone, and he smirked.

"Hey. Somebody over there's saying hi to you."

"Is one or two people saying hi to me such an odd thing?"

"He seems awfully friendly about it."

"Is one or two people acting friendly with me such an odd thing?"

"Really? Well, just in case, should I go over and say something?"

Rembrary reluctantly turned to glare at Maeng Woo-shin.

Maeng Woo-shin simply stared back, fascinated. It was strange to see someone as shameless as Rembrary actually avoiding a person.

terrified that Maeng Woo-shin might actually go over and strike up a conversation with the Spear Wielder, Rembrary reluctantly spoke.

"That guy might be Nakru."

Maeng Woo-shin's smirk froze.

"What?"

"You know what Nakru is, right?"

"What do you take me for, an idiot?"

Fair enough. Nakru was bold enough to raid Daeju's secret locations directly — there was no way Maeng Woo-shin, who came and went freely from those places, wouldn't know about them.

In any case, it made explaining things much easier if Maeng Woo-shin already knew.

Rembrary led him into his van and laid it out in more detail.

"That guy who was being friendly with me earlier — that's Nakru. You should act like you don't know him."

"How do you even know he's Nakru?"

"I'm not certain."

"What?"

"But he's suspicious."

"Suspicious how?"

"He was carrying a spear, chasing after some strangely shaped youkai."

"What?"

Maeng Woo-shin recoiled, repeating "A youkai?" in disbelief.

Rembrary arched an eyebrow and looked down at him.

For someone throwing around talk of angels, he knew surprisingly little. Could it be he didn't actually know much about the organization he belonged to?

Under Rembrary's stare, Maeng Woo-shin swallowed hard and asked,

"Where is this youkai, exactly?"

"It was trying to shove you into the water earlier, sunbae."

"What?"

"You keep saying 'what.'"

"Well, excuse me for being shocked."

"You can't see youkai, sunbae?"

"Most people can't! Wait — you're serious? It really tried to shove me in? A youkai?"

"That's why I dragged you over among the staff."

"…So that's why Daeju treats you like something precious. Because you can see youkai."

That was probably not the reason, but Rembrary let it pass without argument. Still, one question nagged at him.

"Doesn't your organization ever hunt youkai down?"

Back in his original world, the temple fought valiantly against the monsters and youkai that preyed on people.

There were even Holy Knights who specialized in exactly that kind of work, and though Rembrary himself had never been a Holy Knight, he had been dispatched on missions several times before becoming High Priest.

But even worshiping the same goddess, this world differed from his own in many ways.

With Daeju as the only priest and no temple structure to speak of, he was skeptical that Maeng Woo-shin and the others could ever be led into battle against youkai.

And sure enough, Maeng Woo-shin answered bluntly.

"Nope. They don't. Daeju could probably do it, but he usually stays out of it. Me? I couldn't pick out a youkai even if it was standing right next to me."

To draw in believers, one had to perform miracles of some kind. So how was Daeju growing his flock?

Did it have something to do with only accepting 'high-caliber' celebrities?

"Why do you ask? Doesn't really concern you either way, does it?"

***

After urging Maeng Woo-shin not to wander off alone, Rembrary went back outside, found a spot with few people around, and tried calling Sa Gam-jae again.

Thankfully, this time the reaper picked up.

Whether he answered or not, it wasn't much help.

"The Ox-Headed Monster has shown up. How far away are you?"

"It's a wonder you haven't been fired yet, working as a manager like this."

"Then hurry up and get here."

Rembrary clicked his tongue, hung up, pocketed his phone, and unfolded his script, leaning against a tree.

As he stood there, he could hear the click-click of phones snapping photos from a distance, and staff members pleading with onlookers to be careful about spoilers.

Rembrary let it all wash over him and focused on the script.

Im Seo, who had borne the full force of Deung-baek's fury in the last episode, does something unhinged in this one.

When Yang-hong is struck by a blade, Deung-baek worries over him and grieves — and Im Seo, watching this, grows curious. He begins to wonder: if he died, would Deung-baek grieve for him like that?

And so, deliberately, in front of Deung-baek's very eyes, Im Seo throws himself into the pond.

The same pond Rembrary had leapt into earlier — it was only 1.5 meters deep in reality, though the drama planned to pretend it was considerably deeper.

At any rate, Im Seo is rescued without incident.

But contrary to his expectations, Deung-baek doesn't worry — he rages, calling him a lunatic, and Im Seo asks why he's angry.

"Why are you angry? Why ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠won't you grieve for me?"

Rembrary muttered his few lines under his breath.

"If you fell into the water, sunbae, would I be angry, or would I grieve? …Finding out comes first."

Yang-hong, having heard how things unfolded, insists that Deung-baek — a layman — cannot manage someone like Im Seo, and suggests he ought to be treated at a hospital.

Deung-baek defends Im Seo — the boy who 'doesn't know whether others would grieve or rage if he drowned, but does know that pushing others into fire is a sin' — arguing that he is far better than those who commit crimes on impulse.

And with that, Deung-baek and Yang-hong have their first truly serious fight — the fight that will later become the catalyst for them finally understanding each other's hearts. That was the content of episode 8.

"Why are you angry? Why are you angry?"

Rembrary was in the middle of trying Im Seo's lines in one tone after another when the commotion he'd been forcibly ignoring swelled even louder.

He finally stopped reading and lifted his head — and it looked as though a fight had finally broken out between the spectators trying to film the set and the staff trying to block the spoilers.

Deciding that stepping in himself would accomplish nothing, Rembrary gathered ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠his script and headed back toward the van.

But he'd barely taken a few steps when he froze.

Beyond the arguing crowd, the Ox-Headed Monster stood there. And in front of it… stood that spear-wielding man.

But as if his presence registered only to those who laid eyes on him directly, the Spear Wielder was still gazing at Rembrary alone.

Alarmed, Rembrary pointed a finger at the space behind the man.

Not reading the signal at all, the Spear Wielder grinned and waved.

Rembrary hastily shook his head ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠— no, not that — and pointed behind him again, but the man just kept waving.

Worse, apparently deciding this was some kind of fan service, the other spectators began drifting over too, all of them waving along with him.

That is not what this is.

Driven to distraction, Rembrary yanked out his phone, frantically scrolled through his contacts, and found the Spear Wielder's number.

The man picked up in less than a second, his voice cheerful.

The Spear Wielder's voice was bright and easy.

Utterly unaware that, directly behind him, the Ox-Headed Monster was quietly drawing out its one remaining horn.

Rembrary shouted, urgent.

"Behind you! Look behind you!"

"It's right behind you."

At Rembrary's words, the Spear Wielder flinched and turned his head.

In that instant, the Ox-Headed Monster drove both its raised horns clean through the man's chest.

The phone slipped from his hand and clattered to the ground.

As the monster wrenched its horns back out, blood sprayed high into the air.

The onlookers clustered around Rembrary flinched at the droplets striking their faces and clothes, and turned to look.

There, a man was collapsing to the ground, blood pouring out of him.

"Ah… AAAAGH!"

The screams came a beat too late.

The Ox-Headed Monster slotting its blood-soaked horns back onto its own head, flashed a grin at Rembrary.

Then it whipped around and fled in another direction.

"Someone's collapsed!"

"A mugger stabbed him!"

"Call 112!"

"Call 119!"

As the screams spread in every direction, everyone gathered nearby surged toward the fallen man. The staff went sprinting after them.

Rembrary frantically punched in Sa Gam-jae's number.

Too many people had crowded around the Spear Wielder for Rembrary to run over and help.

And then there was the phone — the one that had been connected to Rembrary during the attack — lying where the Spear Wielder had dropped it, now being kicked and trampled under the crowd's feet.

In that moment—

Someone in a black cap pulled low to hide their face bent down and picked the fallen phone up off the ground.