The Island Village Shaman Dad Is a Chaebol's Illegitimate Child... 38
He folded the paper flowers from white hanshi paper.
Layer by layer, twisted and folded, a white chrysanthemum bloomed in his hands. He had learned the art of making funeral paper flowers from Song Wansu, the flower-maker who had helped his mother.
A master of paper flowers was called a jihwajang. Tae-seop wasn’t one himself, but he still poured sincerity into every petal.
Mother.
His mother had come.
If fate had ever truly worked in her favor, she might have become his mother-in-law instead.
Maybe this was their first meeting...
He hoped it would become a welcome offering of respect.
The paper flower, now imbued with his wish, was complete.
“Here.”
Unlike Chairman Lee, he pointed her to the second hill on Chiluijae.
“So this is the open place where you’ve been laid to rest.”
Song Jina set the paper flower down. Snow began to fall from the gray sky.
Strangely, the snow did not soak the flower. Following those drifting flakes, his mother came down. She picked up the paper flower, tucked it into the hem of her clothes, and rose lightly into the air again. It was impossible to tell where the snow ended and his mother began. She drifted like that for a while, then slowly faded into the distance.
Had it comforted his mother?
As the snowfall weakened again, the village loudspeaker crackled to life.
“Ahem. Residents of Chilui Island, this is Village Chief Choi Byung-gae. An urgent matter has arisen on Chilui Island, so all residents of Naechilli and Oechilli, please gather at the lighthouse without exception.”
Listening to the broadcast, they headed down to the lighthouse.
People soon began to gather.
“What’s going on?”
“How should I know? I heard it was good news.”
“Did County Governor Hur send heating supplies for New Year’s or something?”
Everyone buzzed with curiosity.
The announcement was about Kang-to. Song Jina’s donation had been relayed to Village Chief Choi. A benefactor’s generosity only grew when praised, and they also needed to make the desalination-facility donation public. If worst came to worst, Song Jina might change her mind.
“Beopsa Kang-to?”
Village Chief Choi, Village Head Park, the fisheries association head, the ship captains’ chairman, and other local notables approached them.
“Is that the lady?” Choi asked, looking at Song Jina.
“This is Ms. Song Jina, the head of Songra Jewelry.”
“That’ll cost a pretty penny...”
Choi still sounded half skeptical.
“She’ll sign the MOU.”
“M-O-what?”
“You know, that agreement thing? A memorandum of understanding. Means we’ll do this and that.”
The youth association president jumped in.
“Oh, that MOU the county governor was talking about before?”
The village elders nodded in unison.
“Anyway, thank you. You’re a great benefactor to our island.”
As the representative, Choi bowed his head.
“I’m glad if it helps,” Song Jina said. “As soon as I get back, I’ll choose a contractor and send them over.”
With that set in stone, Choi bowed again. “If you’ll do that much, we won’t forget your kindness.”
“Everyone.”
Turning to the residents, Choi’s voice swelled with pride.
“At last, our island’s long-cherished dream is going to be realized.”
“What’s he going on about all of a sudden?”
“Beats me.”
The residents murmured among themselves.
“Ahem, I’ll get to the point later... In other words, the water project our island has been hoping for—the desalination facility. Ms. Song Jina here has agreed to cover the full cost and sign the MOU.”
“M-O-what?”
The residents’ eyes darted back and forth.
“Er, the MOU is basically a written promise that all these things will be done.”
“Is that so?”
“Now then, let’s all give a big hand to Ms. Song Jina of Songra Jewelry.”
“Is that really true? She’s going to pay for that expensive desalination facility?”
“That’s what I said. So, applause.”
Clap, clap, clap.
Only then did a warm wave of applause sweep through the crowd.
“Aigoo, how can we ever thank you?”
“Thank you so much.”
The old folks were practically overwhelmed. It was the sort of thing they had only ever dreamed about. Now that someone had actually promised to make it happen, it was no wonder they were moved.
“But isn’t that lady our Beopsa Kang-to’s guest?” Grandma Hong-seo asked.
“That’s right.”
“Then it’s thanks to Beopsa Kang-to, isn’t it?”
“Well, that’s... true, too,” Choi said, his voice hitching a little. He wanted to claim some credit for himself, but it wasn’t exactly the time.
“Aigoo, I knew this would happen. Didn’t I say so last time? That the spiritual power of Beopsa Kang-to, just like the West Sea Manshin his grandmother, would save our island? Aigoo, Beopsa Kang-to.”
Grandma Hong-seo came over and took Kang-to’s hand.
Just then, Prime Minister Kim Ki-wook stepped forward.
“Everyone.”
“......?”
“Truth be told, I also owe Beopsa Kang-to a debt of gratitude. I wanted to help somehow, and now that Ms. Song has offered to install the desalination facility, I’ll contact the county governor and urge him to provide the maximum possible administrative support.”
“Who’s that gentleman?” Grandma Jjang-gu whispered to Grandma Hong-seo.
“Oh! Now that I look closer, isn’t he that fellow who used to be governor?”
“That’s right. The governor... Didn’t he go on to do very well after that?”
Only then did the elders’ memories come back to them.
With Song Jina’s financial support and the county governor’s administrative backing, the desalination facility could finally move full speed ahead.
“Now then, everyone, a big hand for Ms. Song and former Governor Kim.”
“Waaaah.”
Clap, clap, clap.
“And let’s hear it for our Beopsa Kang-to as well.”
Clap, clap, clap, clap.
The applause only grew louder.
Hoooot.
A passenger ferry began to appear over the horizon.
“Please be careful on your way.”
Kang-to saw Song Jina off. He didn’t arrange for Sol-bi to make a formal greeting. He intended to have her do it later, once the deal was done and the mood had softened into reconciliation.
The crowd packed the pier wall to wall. That was the power of a desalination-facility donation.
“Please take care!”
“May you be blessed!”
The islanders’ greetings and praise followed the ferry as it pulled away.
“Manager Seo.”
Once the boat was gone, Kang-to called Manager Seo into the shrine room.
“You have something to say, don’t you?”
“......”
“It’s all right. Go ahead.”
Kang-to gave her the opening first.
Manager Seo Bok-nyeo.
She had spent decades working side by side with his mother, and she had known Kang-to since he was little. In other words, there was nothing about his family she didn’t know.
His mother had never once mentioned Chairman Lee Tae-seop, not even at the very end. But after all the recent events... someone like Manager Seo, who made her living by reading the room, could hardly have failed to catch on.
“That’s...”
“Chairman Lee Tae-seop of Cheonjo Group, and Ms. Songra Jewelry who visited earlier...”
“......”
“Who do you think they are?”
“......”
“I said it’s fine.”
“Beopsa Kang-to... is he your father?”
She got it right in one shot.
“Yes.”
“Good heavens.”
Manager Seo clapped a hand over her mouth.
“My mother told me with her dying words. About Chiluijae over there...”
“Then the one who bought Chiluijae too?”
“Yes.”
“Good heavens.”
“The person who came today is Chairman Lee’s mother. The yacht that came before belonged to his son.”
“Then...”
Manager Seo’s face darkened all at once.
“What is it?”
“Beopsa Kang-to... does that mean you won’t be a shaman anymore?”
“What?”
“If your father’s a chaebol, and that grandmother just now looked like some incredibly famous figure...”
“You want me to trade my money for my body’s spirit guardian?”
“No, that’s not what I mean...”
“The person who left brought the paperwork for registering me in the family registry. I’m telling you this because she’s practically like an aunt to me... even if they handed me the whole company, I wouldn’t leave this shrine.”
“Really?”
“My body’s spirit guardian was brought to me by my mother, who staked her life on it. With what my spirit guardian can do, why would I envy a chaebol?”
“Beopsa Kang-to...”
“So let’s just understand each other that way and keep walking the same path.”
“Aigoo, that’s exactly my dream!”
Manager Seo’s face finally brightened.
“Sol-bi’s dad!”
Hong-seo’s voice rang out from afar.
“Hong-seo and Tae-hee’s place?”
Manager Seo craned her neck toward the window.
“Why are they like that? Did something happen?”
“What is it?”
Hearing the alarm in her voice, Kang-to looked outside as well. Below the lighthouse, Hong-seo and Tae-hee were running without even stopping for breath.
“What’s wrong?” Kang-to called down from the lighthouse.
“It’s bad! Dong-cheol pushed Sol-bi off the breakwater, and Sol-bi got hurt!”
“There’s blood too.”
The children’s report came tumbling out in a rush.
“Wait.”
Kang-to hurried down the lighthouse stairs.
“Sol-bi got hurt?”
“Dong-cheol pushed her. That’s why she’s bleeding.”
“Where’s Sol-bi?”
“She’s at the public health clinic.”
“Okay. Thanks.”
Kang-to ran toward the clinic.
Maybe this was bad luck inviting trouble. Now that the ferry had already left, unease gnawed at him. If they had to go to a mainland hospital, they’d have to wait a full day. The clinic that usually felt so close suddenly seemed impossibly far away.
“It’s Sol-bi’s dad.”
Jae-dong, Eun-ha, and the other children standing in front of the clinic shouted.
“Dad’s here.”
The clinic director, who had already finished first aid, turned to Kang-to.
“Dad.”
Sol-bi rushed into his arms. A bandage was wrapped around her forehead, and more covered her knee and forearm.
“I scraped the forehead a bit, and the skin on the knee and forearm is lightly torn. Luckily, nothing was split open, so she probably won’t be left with scars, but she seems to have been badly frightened,” the clinic director explained.
“Dad.”
In Kang-to’s arms, Sol-bi’s tears spilled down like drops of glass. Even the all-conquering Sol-bi seemed to have been scared.
“Dong-cheol pushed me.”
“Why? Did you two fight?”
“No, I wanted to show him a crab on the breakwater, and then from behind...”
“It’s okay now. Dad’s here.”
“Dad...”
As Sol-bi’s tears refused to stop, Kang-to’s anger rose too. And the culprit was Dong-cheol—the island boy the other children ostracized. The only one who ever looked after him was Sol-bi.
And yet he’d shoved her from behind in a dangerous place...
“Ahem.”
With a clearing of the throat, the fisheries association head stepped inside.
“Sol-bi got hurt because of our Dong-cheol?”
“......”
“Ah, that brat finally...”
The fisheries association head’s expression darkened.
“Sol-bi, I’m sorry. I’ll pay the medical costs.”
Normally, he’d have gone on about how kids were just playing and why make such a fuss, turning the blame around on them instead. But since he had rushed over to apologize, Kang-to couldn’t very well blow up at him.
“Sol-bi is fine. It’s because Dong-cheol is sick,” she sniffled, still looking after Dong-cheol even while crying.
That kindness came from kindergarten.
There had been a developmentally disabled child in the mainland kindergarten too. Thanks to the teachers’ devotion, the children learned how to get along with that child. That was the foundation for it.
“But Dong-cheol’s eyes were scary.”
“His eyes?”
“When he pushed me. It didn’t feel like Dong-cheol.”
“......”
At Sol-bi’s words, the fisheries association head’s face grew darker.
“Sol-bi, do you want unnie to carry you?”
Once they got outside, Tae-hee and Yoon-ji bent down and offered their backs.
“Hey, you’re little too—who are you calling unnie? I’ll carry you.”
Eun-ha, who was now practically the big sixth-grade sister, lowered herself as well.
“Told you not to play with that little turd, remember? I got hit in the back with a hoe around this time last year too.”
Sol-bi glanced at Kang-to, then happily flung herself onto Eun-ha’s back and flashed a triumphant V sign. Only then did Kang-to finally feel at ease.
“Beopsa Kang-to...”
The fisheries association head approached hesitantly.
“Forget it. Kids were playing, that’s all.”
He decided to let it go. Luckily, she wasn’t seriously hurt, and Dong-cheol wasn’t exactly a normal child. So he wasn’t going to cling to the matter like mainland parents, demanding this and that.
“Thank you...”
“What about Dong-cheol?”
“That’s...”
With a sigh, the fisheries association head made his request.
“I’m sorry, but could you take a look at our Dong-cheol too?”
“Was Dong-cheol hurt as well?”
“Not that. This.”
The fisheries association head tapped his own head. He meant a mental illness.
“It’s not something the hospital can do anything about anyway...”
“You want me to take a look?”
“While I was listening to Grandma Hong-gu’s story, I thought of something... My late mother used to say your grandmother cured all sorts of mentally ill people back in the day.”
“But Dong-cheol...”
Kang-to tilted his head. He had never sensed a spirit attached to Dong-cheol.
“That boy usually has seizures at night and stays quiet during the day, but every year around his birthday, he acts up like this once.”
[Dong-cheol’s eyes were scary.]
[I got hit in the back with a hoe around this time last year too.]
On top of Sol-bi’s words, Eun-ha’s comment overlapped like a second echo.
[Every year around his birthday, he acts up like this once...]
Then it was periodic. That unsettled Kang-to.
“All right. I’ll at least take a look.”
Kang-to agreed. The fisheries association head, who had once treated shamanism like a thorn in his eye, was now extending an olive branch, starting with the sea bream.
Added to that were the seizure at a specific time of year and Sol-bi’s testimony. It wasn’t something he could just brush off.
“When did Dong-cheol first start getting sick?”
He asked as they headed to the fisheries association head’s house. The sky, which had seemed almost clear a moment ago, darkened again and began to shed snow.
“After his third birthday? Come to think of it, the sky was pitch-black like this back then too.”
The fisheries association head stepped into the yard.
He opened the front door of the old single-story house.
“Dong-cheol.”
His grandfather called, but Dong-cheol did not answer. The child’s gaze was fixed on the half-open attic.
Ugh.
Kang-to reacted first.
A spirit.
A small child spirit, condensed from fierce resentment, was crouched in the attic, staring down at Dong-cheol with blood dripping from its head and eyes.