The Truth Behind the Mother and Son
“Money?”
“Thirty million won.”
“You heard from your son that he was living it up in a private room, didn’t you?”
“Yes.”
“So what I’m seeing is your one and only precious son, and his value is only thirty million won?”
The muscle in Kang-to’s eyes tightened. She had dumped cash on him without warning, and this was his rebuke.
“Then...”
Hong Young-ja laid out her necklace and bracelet as well.
“If I add it all up, it should come to more than a hundred million. Just give me a good gongsu.”
She was going even further now.
“You’d buy my body spirit for one hundred million?”
“If the result satisfies me, I can give you more. So please, just a good way to break the spell...”
“Manager Seo.”
Kang-to shouted toward the floor below.
“This lady is leaving. Bring the next person up.”
When Seo, the manager, came up, Kang-to pointed at the door.
“Beopsa.”
Hong Young-ja looked at Kang-to in surprise.
“Everything that happens in here is under the care of my body spirit. Even if you were the kind of person who could shake this entire country by the throat.”
“If I was rude, please forgive me.”
Hong Young-ja bowed her head.
“Will you follow the body spirit’s rules?”
“Yes.”
“Then don’t bother with options. Put away the money bag and the jewelry first. You’ll bring impurity in here.”
“Understood.”
Hong Young-ja drew the luxury bag closed and zipped it up. In the meantime, Kang-to had already finished reading the fate battery on her.
[Health fortune ▮▮▮▮▯]
[Wealth fortune ▮▮▮▮▮]
[Family fortune ▮▯▯▯▯]
[Career fortune ▮▮▮▮▮]
[People fortune ▮▮▮▮▯]
- Merit ledger ▮▮/▮▮/▮▯
“Madam, there was a major accident in your late twenties. You nearly died, didn’t you?”
“...Yes.”
Hong Young-ja was calm. She’d heard this sort of gongsu so many times it no longer impressed her.
“Your husband passed away, and your son is a piece of trash. All your other fortunes are decent enough, but your child fortune is bottoming out.”
“Exactly. That’s my one and only worry.”
“Your people fortune is also nearing its peak. You should start doing a little good.”
“......”
She had heard all this before, in one form or another. Boredom tugged at the corner of Hong Young-ja’s lips.
“Who do you think you succeeded thanks to?”
“My grandfather. He was a fashion designer, and with that foundation he built a beauty company. In broadcasting and entertainment circles, he’s a name people know by heart.”
That was Hong Young-ja’s answer. She was in her early sixties, but her skin was baby-smooth and not a single wrinkle marked her face. That was the kind of maintenance expected from a successful beauty-and-makeup matriarch.
“That modesty of yours may be the only reason your son’s still alive.”
“Can you see my son’s sins?”
“Didn’t I tell you? He came dragging two ghost spirits behind him.”
“Two ghost spirits...?”
“The spirits of a mother and daughter who died at the same time, on the same day.”
“At the same time?”
“Yes.”
“Hoo.”
With a long sigh, Hong Young-ja picked up her bag and rose to her feet.
“I had a feeling.”
She muttered to herself and started toward the stairs, looking disappointed.
“And here I was, thinking I could overcome my son’s fate without even the patience to match it...”
Jjjarararang.
Kang-to shook the ritual bell. The strange sound chased after Hong Young-ja’s steps.
He’s just a fraud anyway. And so young, too... Tsk.
Clicking her tongue, Hong Young-ja stepped onto the stair landing.
Kang-to’s reading had been badly off.
There had been a woman who killed herself because of her worthless son. Not long after, that woman’s mother also left a note and poisoned herself to death.
At least, that was how Hong Young-ja remembered it. It had happened in the summer, a brutally hot summer, made worse because the intercalary month had fallen in summer that year. She couldn’t forget it if she tried; she’d aged ten years handling the mess those two women left behind.
A shaman was still a person.
A mistake or two could be forgiven. The twin spirits were real, after all. But the same day and same hour? Once she heard such a ridiculous error, there was no point expecting a proper reading after that.
It was my mistake for coming here with a money bag just because of rumors.
She was about to step down the stairs again when a chill of premonition struck the back of her head.
That mother and daughter...
The daughter had hung herself around 11 p.m. on July 1. Hong Young-ja immediately pulled out her phone. She brought up the calendar from the year the women had died, then counted forward about a month.
My God.
As she checked the dates, Hong Young-ja gripped the stair rail and shuddered, gooseflesh racing down her spine.
[Same day, same hour]
Kang-to’s gongsu.
It fit perfectly. According to the police report, the mother had died by poisoning at roughly 11 p.m. That was the very day the intercalary seventh month began. In other words, the daughter had died at 11 p.m. on July 1, before the leap month began, and the mother had died at 11 p.m. on the July 1 of the intercalary month.
“Assistant Jang...”
Still leaning on the rail, she gave her instructions. About five minutes later, an answer came back.
“After checking it, if you take the intercalary month into account...”
-That mother and daughter died at the same time on the same day.
That was Assistant Jang’s reply.
My God.
Hong Young-ja’s strength drained away. Just as she finally got her breathing under control, she saw the next customer coming up the stairs.
“Sorry, but I’m not finished yet.”
She gave a one-sided notice and climbed back up the stairs she’d just come down.
“I understand that the deceased are dead.”
Kang-to’s voice was heavy.
“I was reckless.”
Hong Young-ja bowed deeply. She bent so low her head seemed about to touch the floor, and did not move until Kang-to accepted her apology.
“I’ll let it go this once.”
“Thank you, Beopsa.”
“Then shall we continue?”
At Kang-to’s words, Hong Young-ja straightened her posture. Not a trace of doubt or insolence remained in her face now.
“That brat of a son of mine is nothing short of my mortal enemy. After he came back from studying in the United States, I put him in charge of the flagship Myeong-dong hair-and-makeup branch, and he went and got an aspiring idol pregnant. That branch has a lot of celebrity clients, so executives from major agencies like TNT’s Park Tae-rim and Cheonjo’s Lee Eun-seo come there all the time.”
Lee Eun-seo?
Kang-to’s ears twitched slightly. If it wasn’t someone with the same name, then that was the name of his biological older sister.
“He seduced her by dangling those names in front of her, promising to get her debut through them. When she got pregnant, she demanded they break up, threatening to report him to the police for drugging her drinks with what was basically liquid ecstasy. In the end, she killed herself, so she was the daughter of the mother and daughter who died on the same day.”
“Go on.”
“Up to that point, I still didn’t know what a disgrace my son was. He acted diligent in front of me. Later I found out that, though he was my son, there was no bigger wastrel than him. Every night he’d roam Gangnam, Hongdae, and Itaewon... throwing decadence parties with rookie entertainers and idol aspirants. I only learned the truth after the mother of that pair also killed herself.”
“......”
“Still, he was my son, so I used a broker to smooth things over. That mother had a disabled son, and we reached an agreement after giving them enough compensation. But then...”
“......”
“Even after that, my son’s accidents never stopped. He’d take drugs and go running around half-naked until citizens reported him, or he’d drink and suddenly start beating the people sitting beside him for no reason at all... He even once drove straight across the center line and hit an oncoming car. Thanks to that, he’s currently under investigation without detention. Unless a ghost was riding him...”
“If you have a photo of your son, please show me.”
“Here...”
Hong Young-ja opened the photo file for him.
Jjararang.
As he looked at the picture, Kang-to entered a state of spiritual attunement.
Jjarararang.
As the amplitude of the vibration quickened like a feverish violin, two spirits came into view.
“Two spirits have come to meet you.”
With Kang-to’s words, a bleak sound approached in resonance.
[Lie]
The spirits’ choir reached his ears. It was the mother and daughter who had died on the same day.
Gulp.
Hong Young-ja suddenly felt breathless, and for a moment it seemed as though her heart had climbed all the way up to her throat.
-It’s unfair. I didn’t kill myself.
-When I said I wanted to get married, your son gave me too much of that drug. I’m saying that wasn’t something I took on my own.
-I was forced to die.
-You paid compensation?
-Lie.
-That compensation never even reached our son’s hands.
-Everything is a lie.
The spirits pressed down on Hong Young-ja. They looked ready to pounce at any second. Kang-to’s reading stopped there.
“......?”
Hong Young-ja, who had been resonating with him, went white as ash. Sweat poured down from her forehead onto the back of her hand.
“Beopsa?”
“Those twin spirits are following your son, Madam.”
“No way...”
“Humans lie. Gods do not.”
“That’s impossible. No matter how much of a wastrel my son is...”
“If you put the facts together properly, it will make sense. If your son had done nothing wrong, why would twin spirits be following him?”
“......”
“You’re welcome to check.”
“Impossible...”
Hong Young-ja grabbed her phone with trembling hands. Standing by the window overlooking the sea, she made the call. There were two calls in all. Her voice rose now and then, and in the end her head drooped.
“Beopsa.”
Hong Young-ja came back to Kang-to.
“Have you confirmed it?”
“That was a truly profound reading. When I pressed my son in line with what the spirits said, he confessed. He said he’d told her to use contraception, but then she suddenly got pregnant and demanded marriage, so he got angry and did it.”
“Contraception isn’t something only a woman handles alone.”
“My son says that the next afternoon he had an appearance scheduled on a Tokyo broadcast, and when she said she was going to follow him there, he wanted to put her to sleep...”
“What about compensation?”
“That’s become a problem too. The other son had a disability, so the payment went to the wife in cash, but it seems the wife pocketed everything and divorced him. So now the son is being held in a facility for the disabled...”
“......”
“How can I make the twin spirits go away?”
“First, your son has to turn himself in and accept the punishment for his crimes.”
“What?”
“There isn’t just one vengeful spirit. There are two. If he keeps holding out like this, they’ll eventually take his life. And beyond that, they’ll begin to affect your business as well.”
“If you have divine power, Beopsa, isn’t there some way to break the spell?”
“My body spirit does not condone covering up ugly business like that.”
“I’m sorry.”
“You said your son is currently under investigation without detention for a traffic accident, correct?”
“Yes.”
“There was no intent to kill, so if he turns himself in, he may be able to avoid the harshest punishment. So let him take responsibility. Your son’s future fortune looks decent, so if he properly repents now, he should be able to live a new life.”
“My son’s future... it really looks all right?”
“Your son’s early people fortune is at rock bottom.”
“Exactly. Ever since middle school, the friends he’s had...”
“But once he enters middle age, it does recover somewhat. If he accepts punishment and lives with genuine repentance, he may be able to avoid further calamity.”
“If only that could happen...”
“Before that, you must make proper restitution to the disabled son of the twin spirits. Only then will their resentment settle down. Have your son personally ask for forgiveness and deliver it before he turns himself in. After that, if you go to the twin spirits’ graves and apologize, the knot will be untied. I’ll write you a talisman to help resolve the twin spirits’ grievance.”
“Understood, Beopsa.”
“But Madam.”
“Yes?”
“Earlier you mentioned a regular client named Lee Eun-seo. Is she one of the executives in Cheonjo Group’s entertainment division?”
“That’s right. There’s technically a separate representative for Cheonjo Entertainment, but she’s the one with real power. Do you know her too, Beopsa?”
“No. The name just sounded familiar...”
“Well, Manager Lee Eun-seo doesn’t really seem like the type for compatibility readings or shamanic stuff. I once saw her come to the main branch with some rookies, and when she heard them joking about compatibility, she gave them a sharp warning.”
“I see...”
“Anyway, I’m glad I came here. Once I received your reading, it felt like the darkness was being stripped away. On the way here I kept wondering what kind of bad luck had been following my son all this time.”
“Any misfortune without a cause ends only once. Please see this through to the end and settle the grievance properly.”
“The lighthouse shrine...”
Hong Young-ja stood, brushed herself off, and continued while looking out at the sea.
“That was a reading sharp enough to split the sky open. I feel relieved already.”
When she finished, Hong Young-ja bowed once more, then made her way lightly down the lighthouse stairs.
After that, the readings continued smoothly.
But.
The last visitor who came up was strange.
Very strange indeed.