Joining
The smile had vanished from my face. The older woman regarded me with a faintly frightening look before her expression shifted at once. She returned to that slightly vacant face of hers and beamed.
“Then let’s go inside and talk. I’ll come in a little later with the others...”
She bowed to me and went outside. I felt something strange about it. When I stepped into the house, Yongjin and Yunchae stared straight at me. Their eyes said, Who were you talking to just now? There was no reason to hide it. Sitting down in the living room, I told them everything I had just discussed with the woman. Yunchae frowned as she spoke.
“That woman... She’s been coming since I first started as a shaman. She barely ever got her own fortune told. And yet she kept showing up steadily with other people. I thought it was a little odd, but she never did me any harm...”
I looked at Yongjin. A smile had risen to the corners of his mouth.
“Maybe... that woman is the final puzzle piece I was talking about...”
I asked him, watching his face.
“What do you mean?”
Yongjin didn’t answer right away. He only wore a meaningful smile before speaking.
“Okay. Once the gathering’s over, let’s meet that woman together. When we talk later, you two stay quiet. I’ll handle the conversation.”
Honestly, I had no real desire to hold a serious talk about any of that. Yunchae didn’t seem particularly interested either. Though she and I had become intimate enough to sleep pressed against each other, I still couldn’t read her heart. Whether it was her characteristically blank expression or something else, I had no idea what she was thinking. I still couldn’t tell whether the things she said were sincere. Maybe it was simply that I wasn’t used to her yet, so I didn’t dwell on it too deeply. A day would come when I could read her face, I figured, and so I didn’t rush.
At the appointed time, the older women began filing into Yunchae’s house. The woman I had spoken with earlier appeared as expected, leading the group, and though our eyes met she merely smiled and offered a greeting. I thought she was remarkably skilled at the poker face. The sharp look she had shown me earlier made it clear she was no ordinary person.
Once everyone had entered, I stood before them and began to speak. Of course it was the same talk I had given the day before. I considered fairness with those who had come yesterday. Today as well, people’s gazes never left me while I spoke, and by the time my story was winding down they rose from their seats with faces full of emotion, just as I had hoped and intended. As the women left, I stood at the entrance greeting them, and some took my hand and heaped praise on me. They all went home looking refreshed.
After everyone had gone and the three of us were tidying the living room, that woman opened the front door and came in. She entered carefully with a somewhat foolish smile, and I approached her and guided her inside. Yunchae went to the kitchen to fetch drinks. When I glanced at Yongjin, he was observing the woman with extremely sharp eyes.
“I don’t know if you’ve heard...”
The woman launched in without preamble. Yongjin and I fixed our gazes on her face. Perhaps finding our stares burdensome, she gave an awkward smile.
“Oh my... Being stared at like that makes me nervous...”
Just then Yunchae joined us with the drinks and sat down. The woman wet her throat from the glass and spoke.
“First, let me introduce myself. I’m Go Myeongsuk.”
Myeongsuk took another sip. In an instant the foolish smile vanished from her face, replaced by a very cold expression. I felt a jolt but tried to stay calm.
“It’s a simple matter. As you’ve heard, if the people here intend to continue gatherings like yesterday and today, I’d like to help with recruiting people.”
It was what she had said before, but her single remark plunged the whole house into an inexplicable silence. The silence was so heavy I didn’t dare break it. But Yongjin took the lead and opened his mouth first.
“I’ll ask a simple question too. What do you get out of helping us?”
Myeongsuk didn’t smile. She kept that cold face.
“Isn’t it obvious?”
Myeongsuk drew an envelope from her bag. It was thick with money, as expected. She placed the envelope in front of us.
“I want my share of what’s collected like this.”
Yongjin twisted his mouth into a smile as he looked at the envelope. Then he spoke in a very cynical tone.
“You’re already taking your own share, aren’t you?”
Myeongsuk lifted her head and looked at Yongjin with very sharp eyes, and Yongjin didn’t avoid her gaze. The taut atmosphere as they stared each other down for a moment quickly dissolved with Myeongsuk’s smile.
“Nice. I figured you wouldn’t be pushovers like most young people, but that’s actually fortunate. Looking at it, the people here seem to share my thoughts, so from now on let’s all talk comfortably.”
Myeongsuk looked around at us.
“This Jisin here has every element I was looking for. You can’t gather people with just a shaman. But with this person’s narrative and eloquence, we can gather far more people.”
Myeongsuk glanced at me.
“If it’s not just simple fortune fees but an atmosphere where people voluntarily make offerings, we can bring in even more people.”
Yongjin spoke with his cold face still in place.
“How many people can you gather that you’re talking like this?”
Myeongsuk smiled, but it wasn’t the smile she usually showed.
“I don’t have any memory of giving my all to gather people. I just said a few words for side-dish money. But looking at you people, I thought it might be worth giving my best once... so I’m saying this.”
No matter how I looked at it, she didn’t seem like an ordinary middle-aged woman, and I felt a bit frightened. But Yongjin wore a thoroughly satisfied expression. Myeongsuk continued.
“What I can do only goes as far as drawing people in. Shaking their hearts to open their wallets and safes is your job. The wealth we gain that way, we all split equally.”
Without realizing it, I swallowed. Yongjin smiled and took a sip of his drink. Myeongsuk’s expression had relaxed a great deal as well.
“You people have nothing to lose either. Gatherings like this don’t last long anyway. When an obviously good path is visible, shouldn’t we put our abilities to use?”
Yongjin nodded and held out his hand. Then he looked at me and Yunchae. I held out my hand without thinking. Seeing me do so, Yunchae held out hers.
“We’re just ordinary people living ordinary lives anyway. In our not-so-long lives, a moment came that felt like an opportunity, but something was missing. Now it feels like everything’s perfectly in place. Trust me this once. I’ll make sure all of us can live lives we never even imagined.”
Yongjin finished speaking and looked back at Myeongsuk. Myeongsuk’s smile turned into her foolish one as she held out her hand. The four of us joined hands like that, and our journey began that way.
That day we parted right then. Honestly I was just dazed, and it wasn’t a situation for talking about anything more there. Yunchae seemed to feel the same. We all parted without much conversation, and Yongjin, the woman, and I left Yunchae’s house. Yunchae shot me glances, but today I wanted to go to my place and sleep comfortably.
As we walked down the darkened hill path, Yongjin said,
“I’ll go home and organize some things today. Let’s meet again around the day after tomorrow. That okay with you, ma’am?”
Myeongsuk smiled as she turned and said,
“Now that we’re family, calling me ‘ma’am’ feels a bit off. Call me Myeongsuk... I’ll treat you casually too...”
Yongjin nodded with a comfortable smile. Myeongsuk looked at me and said,
“But for our Jisin, I think we should all use honorifics. If we get too casual in daily life and slip up in front of people, it could be problematic, so at least with Jisin we should always be respectful.”
Yongjin beamed. I knew that right then tens of thousands of plans were forming in Yongjin’s head. His eyes sparkled as much as the stars twinkling in the night sky.