A Damn Peaceful Day
Flicker.
The fluorescent tube overhead blinked once, and light returned to the basement.
Whatever had appeared here for a brief moment before vanishing was probably one of Mother's countless servants and children. It had swallowed every stray spirit gathered in this place without leaving a crumb, and then it was gone.
I let out a labored breath and turned my head toward my left hand.
Aftermath of summoning that thing, perhaps? It felt as if I could wield something stronger now, but the spot had grown larger than before.
Rubbing the tingling patch, I turned toward the two lawyers.
"Hiiiiiek!! Eeeeek!!"
Both of them had their ears plugged and their eyes screwed shut, screaming their heads off.
A relief, that. If either had opened his eyes or unstoppered his ears out of curiosity, they'd both look like Bop-sa Lee Su by now.
I stole a glance at the old man.
"Hahahaha!! Hehehehe!!"
...He was drooling down his chin and laughing like a lunatic. I had my doubts I'd ever pry the information I wanted out of him in that state.
I left him be for the moment and went to check on Song Seongjae first.
"Song Seongjae. Hey. Snap out of it."
When I laid a hand on his shoulder, Song Seongjae flinched and squeezed his eyes shut even tighter. This man would keep his own skin intact wherever he went.
"Hiiiiiek!!"
"Snap out of it, man. You can open your eyes now."
"Y-Young Master... Is it... over...?"
Song Seongjae slit his eyes open, and once he confirmed the light had come back, he let out a long breath.
"It's over, then... I'm not seeing things, am I? Aaagh!!"
The moment those words left his mouth, I pinched the inside of his forearm, and only then did he come back to himself, springing up from his seat.
"Uuugh... That's going too far, even for you."
"I'll handle the cleanup here, so see to your own business. That man stopped being my concern just now."
Sooner or later, Lee Seokmin would reap the fallout of commissioning that curse. The legal payback waiting for him at his former boss's hands would be a bonus on top.
Silently wishing the foolish lawyer's soul a peaceful rest, I walked slowly toward Bop-sa Lee Su.
"My... everything of mine... hehehehe!! Khehehehe!!"
Ah. So he hadn't lost his mind simply from laying eyes on 'that thing.'
I gave a hollow laugh as I took in the jars behind the ritualist, every last one of them blown to pieces. It had eaten them clean; not so much as a trace of the curses they'd held remained.
Bop-sa Lee Su tried to gather the shards and fit the jars back together. Then he dropped the pieces, burst into mad laughter, and came crawling toward me.
"You... this is all your doing... You just stole everything I had..."
Grip.
The old man's feeble hand clamped onto my trouser leg. His palm was bleeding freely, sliced open by the jar shards he'd just been gathering.
His voice was no longer that sheet-metal rasp; it was closer to the feeble whistle of wind pushing through a torn paper screen.
"O minion of the wicked demon... Do you think you shall remain unscathed after this...?"
"'Minion of a wicked demon'? Anyone who overheard that would think I was the one who cursed you."
Twisting one corner of my mouth, I crouched down. In the span of a few short minutes, the old man's face seemed to have aged another decade.
"I shall not forgive you..."
I glared into Bop-sa Lee Su's eyes. Bloodshot crimson, they stared back at me with nothing but hatred.
"Let me ask you one thing, old man."
"You fool... You think I shall answer just because you ask...?"
"That depends. Would you rather open your mouth and disgrace yourself, or cling to whatever pride you have left? So answer while I'm asking nicely."
I placed my left hand on the crown of Bop-sa Lee Su's head.
"Kim Yeongsik, the CEO of Hwangchung Construction. You had a hand in the curse placed on him too, didn't you?"
The instant Kim Yeongsik's name left my lips, Bop-sa Lee Su's pupils shook as if an earthquake had torn through them.
If anything, the reaction struck me as suspicious. Did he have more hidden away that could still be shaken loose? If it was his own doing, he could simply own up to it, so why respond like this?
I quietly pushed a thread of shadow into Bop-sa Lee Su. I'd spoken Kim Yeongsik's name right in front of him, so pulling the memory out of his head should be easy.
And just as before, shards of a shattered vision swept through my mind.
"...So this wasn't your handiwork."
I laughed hollowly, at a loss. Bop-sa Lee Su scrambled backward with a speed you'd never believe from that decrepit body.
"Someone is behind you, aren't they? Who taught you this method?"
Fear took root in the ritualist's eyes as he watched me close the distance.
"I-I cannot tell you. Did I not say I know nothing?"
I sighed. Having a patron whose power ran too strong was its own problem. I had no way of knowing what would become of a person if I forced their hand.
"Well, never mind. I can simply wait for the curses to come home to you."
Bop-sa Lee Su ground his teeth, humiliation written across his face.
"A curse... I shall curse you... Mark my words..."
"Go ahead, all you like. However you please. Assuming there's still enough of a mind left in there to cast one."
He was volunteering to supply Mother's tribute for me, so there was no reason to decline. Snickering, I turned away.
Lee Seokmin had vanished somewhere, and only Song Seongjae remained, waiting for me.
"Where did your traitor run off to?"
"The moment he came to, he screamed and fled. There was no reason to chase him down just yet. There will always be time to return the favor."
As if to say running would change nothing, Song Seongjae smirked at the door.
"Is your business here finished?"
"Yeah. His power has been neutered completely. He won't be stacking up another curse like that one."
Song Seongjae frowned, glaring at Bop-sa Lee Su.
"...I heard shamans who curse people are all but extinct these days."
"There are exceptions to everything. Get desperate enough and there's no telling what a person will do. Just look at him."
Just then, Bop-sa Lee Su, still clutching the broken jars, writhed, keeled forward all at once, and began twisting his body violently.
"Now what is that...?"
Over the Taoist robes he wore, some shape bulged and rippled as though it were flowing along his veins. I watched it and gave a shrug.
"It's starting."
"What is?"
"The curse's backlash."
Crunch-crack-crack!!
"Ugh... Uuuaaagh!!"
His joints bent in directions no human's should, and the sounds of snapping bone and tearing muscle filled the room.
These were curses that had killed people. No ordinary punishment would see this through to the end.
"Khhhaaaaaagh!!"
And then 'insects' came pouring out of Bop-sa Lee Su's mouth, ears, and eyes.
Centipedes. Spiders. Poison moths. Tiny venomous snakes. Scorpions.
As if countless venomous insects had hatched inside his body all at once, they came crawling out and began scattering in every direction.
Even for me, who had seen more than my share of revolting things, that was hard to watch with my eyes open.
"Aaaaagh!! Young Master!!"
"Let's go! Damn it all!!"
Song Seongjae and I fled the meditation center, scrambling out of the building as if for our lives.
Gulping down air, we each clamped a cigarette between our lips and did our best to forget what we had just witnessed.
"...Glad I skipped lunch before coming here."
With a little nicotine working its way into my system, I felt like I might live. Song Seongjae, meanwhile, was too far gone in shock to manage a single word.
We burned our cigarettes in silence for a while, and when they were half gone, Song Seongjae finally spoke.
"What becomes of that old man now?"
"Hard to say. I doubt he'll get to die an easy death. Curious?"
"...No."
Song Seongjae apparently couldn't hear it, but every so often my ears caught the sound of flesh and bone being torn apart.
Weren't newly hatched insects supposed to make their own eggshell their first meal? Then it was plain as day who was serving as that first meal.
By the time our cigarettes burned down, the sounds had faded. Song Seongjae and I opened the entrance to the meditation center, and all that remained on the floor was a jet-black scorch mark.
I fished the glass bottle from inside my jacket. After letting out the centipede still glowing within it, I hurled the bottle against the floor and shattered it.
So I muttered, and shut the door. It had been one hell of a peaceful day.
The next time I saw Song Seongjae was after the verdict came down.
The result: a win. And needless to say, Jeong Hyeonyeong was safe and sound.
Song Seongjae left me sitting in the reception room while he rummaged through this and that, then drew out several sheets of paper and handed them over.
One was a map; the rest were contracts. The map showed a street somewhere in Yeonhui-dong, while the other documents were a promissory note and a sale contract.
"What's this?"
"Didn't I tell you I'd set you up with a new shrine, grand and proper?"
Song Seongjae laid the map on the table and pointed to one spot.
"Here. There's a building I took in a while back as repayment in kind. A commercial property, one basement floor and four above... The location is rather attractive, wouldn't you say?"
My eyes went round. Wait, a remark I'd tossed out offhand comes back around as this?
I forced myself to play it calm, but anyone looking would have seen my pupils quaking like an earthquake had hit.
A building owner.
The fabled building owner, the one I'd only ever heard tell of!
If there's a soul out there who wouldn't be stunned to receive an entire building, let them step forward.
"...Ahem. A far cry from 'grand and proper,' this."
"Hahaha. See it in person and you'll change your tune."
I did my best to look composed, and Song Seongjae burst out laughing beside me.
Then I pored over the contract, which refused to be properly read, the way one reads a coded message.
"...So, going by these documents, I lent you money, and you're repaying me in real estate. That about covers it?"
"Precisely, Young Master. There are tax advantages, and legally speaking, it steers clear of every potential snag."
Song Seongjae walked me through the contract piece by piece, helpful in his own way.
"Sly. You'd have made a fortune as a con man."
"A con man who makes a fortune is called a legal professional, Young Master. That's the tradition."
Song Seongjae smiled cynically, squared the papers into a neat stack, and handed them over.
"Well. There is one small issue with the building."
Just as I'd thought, a retainer this size wouldn't pass without a catch. I gave Song Seongjae a sour look.
"Something dreadful happened there a long time ago, and there are stories of ghosts being seen."
Ah, a bonus. Just the sort of arrangement Mother would appreciate.
But I made a show of finding it a nuisance as I looked at him.
"The location and the rest of its value will satisfy you amply. And once word gets around that a shaman has moved into a haunted building, the price will probably right itself, too."
Song Seongjae tacked that on quickly, but I shook my head.
"Annoying is still annoying. You're not just palming a white elephant off on me, are you?"
At my suspicious stare, Song Seongjae shook his head like a madman.
"No! Absolutely not! I'll own that I'm a bad man, but how could I ever dare do such a thing to you, Young Master!"
"Is that so?"
I tapped the sale contract a few times, then opened my mouth.
"...Calling it a trade would be a stretch, but do one thing for me and I'll let it slide."
"You needn't call it a trade at all. Anything you wish."
Coward though he was, the man's drive would certainly prove useful when it came to hunting down Lee Seokmin.
"I thought so."
"Can you dig into Bop-sa Lee Su's background as thoroughly as the police would?"
At my question, the corner of Song Seongjae's mouth crept upward.
"It's work I'd have to do anyway while looking into that traitor. I'll take it on with pleasure."
Done.
This way, I could put a tail on whoever stood behind him, scattering those curses far and wide.
"...This should do it, right, Teacher?"
Reporting as much in my head, I gathered up the papers. Song Seongjae gave me a loose, easy smile.
"If you have the time, come see it for yourself. I'll go along and help."
"Sure. Annoying things are best swept off the list quickly."
I slipped the documents into my bag and rose from my seat. Just then,
"Oh, you're both here. Perfect timing."
The office door opened, and Jeong Hyeonyeong walked in with her secretary.
"What brings you here, Director?"
"Nothing much. I wanted to give you both a little something to celebrate the win. I'm glad you're here too, Young Master."
Jeong Hyeonyeong held up two tall, narrow shopping bags.
Confirming that Muyeong's presence still clung close at her side, I let out a quiet snort.
Song Seongjae and I looked over Jeong Hyeonyeong's gifts, and he let out an exclamation of admiration on the spot.
"Oh... GlenDronach. It's been a while. Does the gallery deal in items like this, too?"
"It's not bad. Though it isn't exactly gallery merchandise."
What came out of the shopping bags was whisky that looked expensive at a single glance.
Frankly, you'd have to have tasted liquor like this before to even know whether it was good or bad.
"Young Master, this is a difficult bottle to come by."
"I'll try it later, I suppose. It has to taste better than soju."
"Hey!! You're pouring me a glass of that, no exceptions!! Non-negotiable!!"
The moment the whisky landed in my hands, Muyeong, who had been quietly keeping to himself, started bellowing right beside my ear.
"Ugh, so loud. So, what's your report?"
"Hmph. There was an incident. It got sorted out one way or another."
At Muyeong's answer, I tilted my head. What was this? That wasn't like the dokkaebi at all; he didn't do humble.
"Oh, that's right, Young Master."
Just then, Jeong Hyeonyeong rummaged through her bag and drew out, from its very depths, the talisman I had given her.
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