An Unexpected Encounter
Why was Jae-young here? A startled Yeo-won looked at him before her gaze naturally dropped. The employee ID hanging around his neck clearly displayed the words Design Team 2, Yoo Jae-young.
“Why are you here, sunbae?”
Yeo-won looked up again in surprise.
“Oh, I came for work. Is this your company, Jae-young?”
“Yes. But what work?”
During the conversation, Cheong-sil squirmed in her arms. Yeo-won tightened her hold and whispered for him to stay still. With Jae-young blocking the way, the elevator doors closed and it began descending again. Yeo-won swallowed a sigh inwardly.
Unaware of her inner turmoil, Jae-young furrowed his brows as if pondering something before opening his mouth with a cheerful tone.
“Could it be that the savior of Design Team 1 is you, sunbae?”
“Savior?”
“Yes. The rumor even reached our team that there was an amazing freelancer who delivered the project right on time after the deadline was miscommunicated.”
Yeo-won gave an awkward smile as Jae-young added that sunbae was truly impressive, as expected. She slowly edged sideways and firmly pressed the elevator button.
“Thank you for the compliment. It was nice seeing you. But I’m a bit busy right now.”
The elevator showed no sign of moving from the basement level. Staring at the indicator panel, Yeo-won tapped her foot impatiently. She noticed the emergency door nearby and considered taking the stairs when Jae-young spoke to her again.
“But who is this child?”
When she looked over, Jae-young was pointing at Cheong-sil with his index finger. Why hadn’t he left yet? They had parted so coldly last time—didn’t he feel awkward around her? She wondered if she should speak to him coldly again like before when her eyes caught the bandage wrapped around his wrist. Yeo-won’s gaze traveled up along the bandage. It continued beneath his dress shirt. The clumsy taping suggested he had never gone to the hospital.
The ghost scratching at the wounded arm behind Jae-young flashed through her mind. When she glanced behind him, fortunately it was nowhere to be seen now.
Yeo-won, who had been about to speak coldly, ended up letting out a small sigh instead.
“He’s my nephew.”
“Ah, I thought he might be your son, sunbae. What a relief.”
Seeing Jae-young’s relieved expression, Yeo-won frowned. She had no desire to know why he felt relieved. As she narrowed her eyes at him, Cheong-sil, who had been nestled in her arms, began to struggle.
“Ch-Cheong-min. Stay still.”
She couldn’t call him Cheong-sil, so she attached a random name. Despite Yeo-won’s command to stay still, Cheong-sil stubbornly turned his head and stared intently at Jae-young.
“Wow, he has such pretty eyes. Is he mixed-race?”
Jae-young lowered his body to meet Cheong-sil’s gaze. The corners of his eyes crinkled as he smiled brightly. With an innocent and affectionate smile, he reached out toward Cheong-sil. Just before his hand could touch the boy’s head, Yeo-won felt a chill run through her. The same black smoke she had seen before began rising from his back. She reached out to stop him, but Cheong-sil was faster.
"Kyaak!"
Cheong-sil fiercely scratched the back of the approaching hand. Jae-young froze solid, and Yeo-won’s mind went blank for a moment as well. But as Cheong-sil’s hand began transforming into a fox paw, she quickly snatched it and hid it from view.
“J-Jae-young, are you okay?”
“……”
Three vivid scratch marks rose on the back of the dazed Jae-young’s hand, and blood began trickling down.
At that moment, a ding sounded beside them as the elevator doors opened. An employee who stepped out looked back and forth between them before dropping what they held in shock.
“Jae-young? What are you doing here? Oh my, blood! What happened to your hand?!”
“……Ah.”
Jae-young let out a low exclamation with a blank expression. The sight drained the color from Yeo-won’s face. She had no idea what to say. She needed to apologize first, but her lips trembled so violently that her voice refused to come out properly.
“Ah, more importantly, sunbae, I…”
Her heart sank. Jae-young wore a strangely hesitant expression. What was he about to ask? Had he seen Cheong-sil’s true form in that brief moment? He might have. How could she explain it? As Yeo-won’s pupils trembled with anxiety, she noticed the elevator doors beginning to close.
“S-sorry…”
Still clutching Cheong-sil tightly, Yeo-won threw herself into the closing elevator as if fleeing.
“I’m sorry!”
Her insignificant apology came out in a pathetic squeak as she repeatedly pressed the close button. Through the narrowing gap, she could see Jae-young. Their eyes met as he stared at her with an icy, frozen gaze.
Her body stiffened as if turned to ice, and then the doors shut completely.
Even after the doors closed, Jae-young’s cold face lingered before her eyes like an afterimage.
Even after Yeo-won left, the employee didn’t stop fussing.
“Are you okay, Jae-young? The person who just left was that external contractor for Design Team 1, right? Did something happen between you two? Never mind, let’s treat that wound first.”
The employee, hovering between curiosity and concern, reached out to examine the injury more closely. Jae-young naturally withdrew his hand and smiled brightly.
“It’s nothing. I’m fine.”
“Fine? With blood flowing like that… What scratched you?”
At her question, Jae-young looked down at the back of his hand again. Blood droplets beaded and flowed from the three deep scratch lines. They were far too sharp to have come from a child’s fingernails. Jae-young let out a soft chuckle.
“I wonder… Maybe a wild animal?”
The employee tilted her head at his incomprehensible words. He smiled as if it were no big deal and spoke to the worried colleague.
“Team leader, I have a favor to ask.”
After leaving the building, Yeo-won hailed the first passing taxi and climbed in. When they were about ten minutes from home, Cheong-sil, still nestled in her arms, whispered into her ear.
Yeo-won glared at him with eyes heavy with fatigue.
“Your insides…? Why?”
Her stomach was spinning…? When she lifted the bucket hat slightly, Cheong-sil was still in human form, but his complexion looked poor. His cheeks were puffed out as if he were holding something back. As the car jolted over a speed bump, Cheong-sil gave a small dry heave.
Realizing that what Cheong-sil described meant motion sickness, Yeo-won urgently raised her voice.
“Driver! Please stop the car!”
After paying the fare, Yeo-won picked up Cheong-sil and looked around.
They were only about ten minutes from home, yet the scenery felt unfamiliar. It was partly because Yeo-won rarely went outside, but also because the driver had turned into the alleys at her request to hurry.
After walking a short distance, she spotted a quiet playground. It was peaceful, as it was a weekday afternoon.
Yeo-won sat Cheong-sil on a bench and squatted down in front of him. When she carefully lifted the hat, his color had returned as if he had recovered in the meantime.
“…Is your stomach feeling better?”
Instead of answering, Cheong-sil nodded. So it really had been motion sickness.
“How about your body? You said earlier that your spiritual energy was low and your transformation might come undone.”
Cheong-sil answered dejectedly. No wonder she had felt strangely tired—it seemed Cheong-sil had drawn some of her spiritual energy. The fact that spiritual energy could transfer just by holding him was both fascinating and worrying. She recalled Shin-wol saying that spiritual energy was essentially the same as life force.
Still, since she had been the one to reach out and hold him first, she could hardly blame Cheong-sil.
Yeo-won let out a small sigh and opened her eyes sternly.
“Cheong-sil, why did you do that earlier?”
“You scratched Jae-young’s hand.”
Yeo-won squeezed her eyes shut at the memory of the wound. It had looked quite deep—would he be all right? She needed to apologize, but she didn’t have his contact information. Perhaps the proxy driver could tell her.
She had expected him to apologize right away and back down, but Cheong-sil puffed out his cheeks in a pout and protested. Yeo-won frowned at the sight.
“Did Shin-wol tell you to injure people?”
“But you said you didn’t know what the bad thing was…”
Yeo-won pressed hard on her throbbing forehead.
“A nasty smell? What is that?”
Cheong-sil flinched. Then he closed his eyes as if pondering something and remained that way for a long time. Yeo-won waited patiently, and eventually Cheong-sil opened his eyes and answered.
“…So what exactly is it?”
It would be nice if he told her what Shin-wol had eliminated. Feeling deflated, Yeo-won hung her head and sighed. Seeing her slumped form, Cheong-sil fidgeted anxiously.
Yeo-won lifted her head weakly. It seemed Cheong-sil truly didn’t understand what the problem was. In fact, he even looked proud. What should she do here? Even if she told him not to, he would likely ignore it since it was Shin-wol’s command. He had no concept that hurting people was wrong. But leaving things as they were made her worry about the future.
In that case… Yeo-won hardened her expression with determination and spoke.
“Cheong-sil, you must never do that again. Even if it’s Shin-wol-nim’s order, I mean hurting people.”
“If you smell something strange, just tell me. I’ll avoid it myself. Shin-wol-nim didn’t tell you not to do that, right?”
Once again, she had no choice but to persuade him this way. It wasn’t that she was treating him like a fool; this was the best option for now. Since she would meet Shin-wol soon anyway, it seemed better to ask him then.
“It’s not disobeying orders. It’s because if you hurt people, I won’t be able to take you around with me. Do you understand?”
Cheong-sil hesitated, conflicted. It was clearly different from before. Previously he had immediately agreed, but not this time. It seemed he had realized something in the meantime. Then Cheong-sil’s gaze shifted. His eyes sparkled as he looked somewhere.
Following his line of sight, she saw a group of children holding soft-serve ice cream.
There must have been a school nearby, because students on their way home were gathering in small groups at the ice cream stand.
“Do you want ice cream?”
At Yeo-won’s question, Cheong-sil startled.
“Yes. If you promise, I’ll buy you some.”
Cheong-sil opened his mouth wide as if he might drool. He squeezed his eyes shut while looking at the ice cream stand, as if instinct and reason were clashing. But after only a few seconds, he opened his eyes again, his body trembling.
Seeing Cheong-sil’s face that looked like the world was ending, Yeo-won finally reached out her hand with reluctance.
“…Let’s go. I’ll buy you some.”
“I’ll just buy it. It’s because I want to eat it.”
How could she not buy it when he made such an expression? Yeo-won decided to put off getting a firm promise from Cheong-sil for now. As soon as she got home, she needed to contact Jae-young first.