Super Spiritual Earth God
“Isn’t there any today?”
Half-adrift in that childhood thought, memories of my mother, and the lingering scent of Yunchae still clinging to my nose, I was floating in that hazy border between sleep and waking when an alien voice cut through. It was a middle-aged woman’s voice—sharp, cutting, edged like a blade. Footsteps thudded across the living-room floorboards, and then Yunchae’s voice answered.
“Who are you looking for? And why are you barging in like this all of a sudden?”
Yunchae’s tone was just as fierce. I sat up. The auntie’s voice came again.
“That young man from yesterday. I’ve got something to say to him. Is he home right now? Or when can I meet him if I come back?”
I heard Yunchae sigh.
“I’ve decided I’m done with the mudang life, and that man has nothing whatsoever to do with my work as a mudang.”
She was speaking casually, almost dismissively. Mudang usually talk down to the aunties who come for readings, age be damned. The auntie’s distinctive, shameless, sly high-pitched voice floated back.
“Aigoo… I’m not here for a reading, and I’m not here to harass you either.”
I quietly pushed myself upright. A short silence settled, then the auntie’s voice returned, a little calmer.
“On the way home yesterday, the other ladies and I just bawled our eyes out. We started thinking about what the hell we’d been doing with our lives. All because we were so moved by that young man’s words. The way every single thing he said just lifted us up and set us down again…”
I nearly laughed. What were they, a bunch of teenage girls? The auntie’s wheedling voice continued.
“So if it’s all right, we were wondering if we could hear that young man’s stories every now and then. That’s why I came. The other ladies feel the same. Even just once a week would be fine.”
The smile vanished from my face. What the hell was this?
“He isn’t that kind of person. He’s the one my Jusin chose to—”
Yunchae stopped mid-sentence, realizing she’d said too much. The auntie clapped her hands.
“See? I knew it. He wasn’t ordinary after all. Every word that young man spoke went straight to the heart. We’re not asking for free time, you know. We’ll give him the money we’d already prepared as a consultation fee, as payment for his trouble. Hmm? Could you ask him for us?”
Yunchae couldn’t get a word in. There was no room. The auntie was steamrolling ahead, rapid-fire and relentless.
“This is my number, okay? Call me when you’ve got a time set. Got it?”
The front door sounded. I stood up. Only then did I realize I was completely naked. I yanked on just my underwear and stepped out. Yunchae was turning around by the entrance.
“You heard?”
I nodded. In her hand she held a sticky note and an envelope. When my eyes dropped to them, she opened the envelope and showed me the cash. At least ten fifty-thousand-won notes, maybe more.
She set the contact info and the envelope on the living-room table and went back to the kitchen, resuming whatever she’d been doing. I returned to the room and got dressed.
Even while we ate the meal she’d prepared, neither of us spoke a word. Yunchae’s face was dark; I was too busy reading her mood to open my mouth. After we cleared the table and I drank the coffee she’d made, I stood up. The air was unbearably heavy.
“I should go…”
Yunchae, who had been pressing her lips tight, finally spoke.
“I’m sorry…”
I turned to look at her.
“For what…?”
She kept her head down, not meeting my eyes.
“I hated doing mudang work so much that I just went along with everything you told me to do… but talking to that auntie just now forced me to look at this situation objectively. In the end… aren’t you basically my new Jusin, taking the place of the old one?”
I let out a short laugh.
“What are you talking about? I’m an ordinary guy. A student. I don’t have a shred of spiritual power…”
But Yunchae’s expression stayed deadly serious.
“I never started doing readings because I wanted to. Those aunties found me somehow after hearing I was a possessed person. I didn’t even know how to read fortunes, and I never thought I could do something like that. But back then I was broke. The money from the support group wasn’t enough to get me through art school. So I thought, screw it, and started giving readings. I just said whatever floated into my head, and they left believing every word like it was absolute truth.”
I sat down beside her again. She continued.
“I never fully believed it, but I sometimes wondered if that was the power of my Jusin. I decided I didn’t need any of that anymore and stopped doing readings… and yet those women came back, drawn to you this time. It makes me think the Jusin really did transfer over to you.”
I spoke in a low, gentle voice.
“We’re living in the twenty-first century. Ghosts? Spiritual powers? I don’t buy any of that. And I’ve always been good at saying things that make people feel good. You saw it yourself when I was recruiting for the club. I’m decent at persuading people. That’s all it is.”
Yunchae lifted her head and looked at me. Her eyes were glistening. How could anyone be that beautiful…
“I keep wondering if I dragged you into something strange for no reason…”
I smiled and shook my head.
“Don’t think like that. Those aunties… they’re probably just terribly lonely. Beaten down by life, by their husbands, by their kids… living in a constant blur. Then they get older, finally have a little breathing room, look back at themselves, and emptiness and futility come crashing in. They come to places like this looking for something to fill that hollow space inside. When someone tells them they’re doing okay, that the years they’ve lived weren’t meaningless… of course they’re going to be moved. It’s that simple.”
Yunchae was staring straight through me. I kept going.
“When people who’ve grown fragile receive comfort from someone, they can start to feel like they’ve been saved. And that’s a good thing for them, isn’t it? I’ll do it. If it gives them even a little strength or comfort, I’ll do it. That’s a rational reason, completely unrelated to any gods. So don’t feel guilty. I actually enjoy talking to people like that.”
Yunchae neither answered nor nodded. I smiled and stood.
“Just set a time and let me know. I’m heading back.”
The moment I turned toward the entrance, Yunchae grabbed my hand.
“Super Spiritual Earth God!!”
I flinched and looked down at her. She gazed up at me and declared,
“You are a god whose will surpasses even the gods themselves. Until the day I die, I will devote everything I am to serving you.”
A chill raced down my spine. I gently freed my hand and stepped outside. Cold air seemed to cling to my skin. I hurried down the hill without once looking back. I was afraid I might see Yunchae.
My heart was hammering. For a moment Yunchae had scared me. She claimed she had rejected her fate because she didn’t want to be a mudang, yet the terrifying flashes that sometimes surfaced in her made me wonder if she had never been an ordinary woman at all. The whole situation left me unsettled.
But once I was sitting on the subway and my pulse had calmed a little, that frightening image of her faded. All that filled my body and mind was the memory of Yunchae’s porcelain skin, her cotton-candy breasts, the inside of her body where I had been… By the time I reached home, I even found myself wanting to see her again.
Lying in my room, I deliberately scaled everything down in my head. All I had to do was stand in front of a few people and tell them stories that would give them strength to keep living. That would give me an excuse to spend more time with Yunchae. Adding a shameless little thought of my own, I decided I wanted to hold her again because of it, and concluded, “It’s no big deal.” That conclusion would become the beginning of the event that would move my entire life.
When I went up to the lecture hall on Monday, Yunchae was standing right in front of it. Other male students kept glancing at her—no surprise, given that she was the kind of woman who drew eyes even standing on a random street. I approached her with wide eyes and could practically feel those sidelong stares turning into open hostility.
“Is Wednesday evening this week free?”
I nodded.
“I’ll contact them for that time.”
I understood what she meant and nodded again.
“You could’ve just texted or called about something like that…”
Yunchae shook her head.
“Things like this are better said in person. And it gave me an excuse to see your face.”
Then she took a step closer and whispered right against my ear.
“There are people around, so I’m speaking casually. Forgive me.”
When I opened my eyes wide at her, Yunchae gave me a light bow and headed toward the stairs. I wasn’t the only one watching her retreating figure—every male student nearby was doing exactly the same.