Crows Over Osan
The hour was not far from lunchtime.
Kang Hyeong-seok was hammering away at his keyboard, filling out one document form after another.
Ding!
At the message that popped up in the lower corner of his monitor, Kang Hyeong-seok raised his head. Shin Jeong-ah, already up from her desk, was heading for the break room, and their eyes met.
"Heh."
He gave a short laugh and waited until Shin Jeong-ah had fully left the office before rising from his chair. Two people moving at the same time during work hours never looked good, no matter how you sliced it.
The rooftop door swung open with a bang, and the first thing he saw was Shin Jeong-ah lighting a cigarette.
"Did you have something to tell me?"
"Weather's nice. You need days like this once in a while."
Nice weather, his ass. The fact that she had something on her mind was written plainly across her eyes.
"Good timing, then. There was actually something I'd been meaning to say to you, Section Chief."
That was when Shin Jeong-ah's eyes went round.
Rustle.
"Here you go. Take this."
"What is this?"
Shin Jeong-ah looked down at the paper she'd accepted, and one eyebrow arched.
"It's the address of a shrine. If you ever need help, go there."
"A shrine?"
The faint smile that had been on Shin Jeong-ah's face just moments before stiffened. The shrine she had trusted had turned out to be run by a fraud, and that fraud had played her for a fool — barely days ago.
"No, it's fine. I'm done with shrines for a while."
"Keep it anyway."
Kang Hyeong-seok continued without so much as a glance at the paper she was trying to hand back.
"It's the shrine of the person I call my teacher."
Shin Jeong-ah couldn't know. What kind of shaman Lee Geum-kyeong was. Or how enormous a benefit it was for Kang Hyeong-seok to recommend that shrine to anyone at all.
"...A gifted shaman?"
"Very."
She looked so floored she couldn't even find her footing, and the corners of Kang Hyeong-seok's mouth crept upward.
"She's the most famous one in this whole area. People come from all over the country, so even booking an appointment is hard."
"Uh, what?"
"Mention my name and you'll be able to see her without one. I've already put in a good word with one of her disciples."
Only now did it seem to dawn on Shin Jeong-ah that he had gone out of his way for her sake. Her eyes had gone wide — and the bewilderment that had settled in them washed away clean, as if it had never been there at all.
"Oh... I never even thought of that. Thanks."
"Tell them I sent you, and they might even knock a little off the price."
He added it like a joke, and Shin Jeong-ah laughed too.
"But what is she like, exactly?"
"Well... whatever you're picturing right now is probably about right."
Shin Jeong-ah turned his words over in her head, then smiled awkwardly, awe and unease sharing her face all at once.
It was an understandable reaction. She had been to a shrine before, so she could roughly grasp the standing a genuinely gifted one would hold.
Powerful shamans are needed by many people. Those with money. Those with power. Or those chasing money and power alike. Such people had a way of swarming like a school of carp that had stumbled onto a feeding ground.
"So do politicians go to her too?"
Kang Hyeong-seok shook his head, his face turning sour.
"No. She won't take clients like that."
"Huh? Why not?"
"They ask all the time, apparently. She refuses every one of them."
That was the kind of person Lee Geum-kyeong was. She took fierce pride in being a shaman and lived by her own creed, drawing a razor-sharp line between the work she would do and the work she would not.
There were two kinds of clients she would never, under any circumstances, accept. The first were those looking to cut flesh from someone, or to buy a rite that would send a living person off to the afterlife. The second was anyone entangled with politics.
"She believes a shaman has to stay a shaman," he said. "So even if you do end up visiting, all you need to do is not put a foot wrong."
"Oh... right."
When Shin Jeong-ah answered, looking a touch sheepish, Kang Hyeong-seok added with a smile,
"That was just a long way of saying don't go carting along a gift basket or anything."
"Hey! I know that much!"
Whether she registered the joke or not, Shin Jeong-ah's voice shot up even as she grinned — and right at that moment:
"What's got you two so cheerful?"
Kwak Young-ho came through the door, eyes wide with surprise.
"Department Head — no, sir, nothing at all."
"Nearly jumped out of my skin. Nothing's going on, is there?"
"Of course not!"
Shin Jeong-ah hid the paper behind her back and stuffed it into her back pocket. Kwak Young-ho saw that too, but apparently deciding it was nothing worth asking about, he let it go.
"Oh, Assistant Manager Kang, you were here too? Nothing urgent on your plate?"
"There is some work I need to get through, but nothing urgent."
"Is that so?"
As though that had worked out nicely, Kwak Young-ho fished out a cigarette and set it between his lips. He lit it, then turned his gaze on Shin Jeong-ah.
"Section Chief Shin hasn't told you anything yet, has she?"
"No, sir. You go ahead and tell him."
So whatever Shin Jeong-ah had been meaning to say apparently involved Kwak Young-ho as well.
"Were you about to say something, sir?"
"Nothing major. Phew! So — nothing you need to rush off and handle right now, right?"
It was a question Kwak Young-ho asked with a grin, cigarette pinched between his fingers. A sudden jolt told Kang Hyeong-seok he had better answer well. Shin Jeong-ah, watching from the side, sent him a glance that seemed to say his instincts were right on the money.
"Whatever you decide for me, Department Head."
"Oho?"
Kwak Young-ho gave him a well, look-at-this sort of look.
"I do have some work on, but it's nothing urgent, and I can have it finished within the morning. If there's something you need done right away, I'll get started on it the moment the afternoon schedule begins."
Kwak Young-ho looked outright moved.
"Well, I'll be. All right then — you take Assistant Manager Lee and go out to Gaseong-dong."
"Gaseong-dong? Isn't that where the logistics warehouse is?"
"The contract there ended recently. We meant to renew it, but that fell through — you remember?"
"Yes, sir."
The problem had been the change of building owner. The old man had died of old age, and the young son who inherited the deed had the gall to demand steeply higher fees — and in the end, that was what killed the renewal.
"We need to get a new warehouse building under contract. Go take care of it with Assistant Manager Lee Jin-pyeong."
"With Assistant Manager Lee Jin-pyeong... you said?"
"Why? Don't want to?"
"No, sir. Of course I do."
Kwak Young-ho let out a short laugh, as if he understood everything.
"He's a bit blunt, I'll grant you, but he's not a bad man. Lead him well out there."
Lee Jin-pyeong was not a man of good repute — not good enough that Kwak Young-ho would make a request like that of Kang Hyeong-seok, who wasn't even the man's senior. All of it came down to a mouth far too heavy. To put it kindly, Lee Jin-pyeong was introverted; to put it unkindly, he was so closed off you couldn't tell what went on inside him. That was Lee Jin-pyeong.
"Think of it as a chance to get some air. The company car's all sorted — Assistant Manager Lee took care of everything, so there's nothing left for you to worry about. Got it?"
"Yes, sir. Understood."
Kang Hyeong-seok bowed his head and took the stairs down first. Faintly, he could make out Shin Jeong-ah and Kwak Young-ho murmuring with their voices lowered, but it carried none of the flavor of gossip, so he chose not to dwell on it.
Lunch was, as always, settled at the company cafeteria. There was none of the Western-or-Korean menu choice a true conglomerate might offer, but it was still miles better than the school lunches of his student days. You had to buy meal tickets, but the price was next to nothing, and there were days Kang Hyeong-seok missed this cafeteria even on his days off.
In any case, with the day's meal behind him, he headed out to the parking lot, bag in hand. Why the bag? Because today he was clocking out on-site. For a Friday afternoon schedule, it did not get any better than this.
"Assistant Manager Lee!"
He had come out five minutes early, and yet there was Lee Jin-pyeong in the parking lot, already waiting for him.
"You could have waited in the car. Why stand out here?"
"In case you couldn't find me."
A low, mumbling voice. Right. This was Assistant Manager Lee Jin-pyeong, all right.
Kang Hyeong-seok smiled, only the corners of his mouth lifting, and dropped his gaze toward Lee Jin-pyeong's feet.
There it is again — same as ever.
There, a presence stood that only someone with open Yeongan — the spiritual eye — could see. The white Spitz Lee Jin-pyeong had raised in the old days. Its tail cocked to one side, and unlike its owner, it seemed to have a real gift for making friends. The dog came trotting up to Kang Hyeong-seok, who had met its eyes, wagging its tail in a blur and laying on the charm for all it was worth. If Lee Jin-pyeong hadn't been standing right there, he might have gone through the motions of patting its head.
"I'll drive."
"Huh? Ah — yes."
The taciturn Lee Jin-pyeong slid naturally into the driver's seat, and Kang Hyeong-seok climbed in on the passenger side. The dog hopped up beside him at first, then moved on to settle on Lee Jin-pyeong's lap.
It wore the happiest face in the world, but every time the dog showed him this side of itself, Kang Hyeong-seok's chest tightened with pity. The one who would most want to see that bright smile was its owner — and the owner could not see it at all.
You can't be blind to it either. And yet you smile anyway.
Watching the Spitz settle itself on its owner's lap and nuzzle its head against Lee Jin-pyeong's stomach, Kang Hyeong-seok swallowed down the bitter taste rising in him.
Rurr-rurr-rurr!
Befitting a company car passed around half the office, the engine coughed itself awake with a labored groan.
Gaseong-dong lay between Pyeongtaek and Yongin. They had to cut out of Osan toward the outskirts, then drive a good long while down a road strung with dump trucks and squat, scattered buildings.
Sipping the coffee he'd grabbed from the break room, Kang Hyeong-seok made conversation with Lee Jin-pyeong whenever the chance offered.
"The warehouse we're headed to — is it decent?"
"Don't know."
Lee Jin-pyeong answered haltingly. Even so, Kang Hyeong-seok showed no trace of taking offense. He knew Lee Jin-pyeong had always been this way, and he knew there was no malice in it.
"Word is the owner of the old warehouse is raising hell about getting our things out fast. I hope this one pans out. Otherwise I figure we'll be trudging all over the countryside again."
"Yes."
Kang Hyeong-seok was talking a great deal — almost past the point of what his usual self would call reasonable. It was because, blunt as the replies came, Lee Jin-pyeong showed no sign of minding the chatter.
"I heard they quoted the rent absurdly low, though? The place must be getting on in years."
"It's my first time going out there too, so..."
"Really? Then this would be the company's first visit, wouldn't it."
Kang Hyeong-seok tapped the destination address into the map app on his phone. He'd been about to pull up the street view when the sound of crows from beyond the window snagged his gaze.
Caw. Caw. Caw.
Countless crows packed the sky — so many of them they muddied his field of vision.
"They do say there are a lot of crows around Osan..."
It was muttered to himself, and Lee Jin-pyeong gave no answer. Setting his phone down on his knee, Kang Hyeong-seok narrowed his eyes and gazed up at the swarm of black wings.
What is this? Why do I feel...
Something sat wrong, somehow.
Was it simply that he'd seen too many crows at once? A strong déjà vu pressed in on him, like he had lived through something like this once before — and because of it, Kang Hyeong-seok shifted his eyes down to the bag resting in front of him.
It came immediately after that.
Wa-ra-ra-ra-ra-rang!
The mudang bang-ul — the sacred shaman bells — clamored inside his bag, warning of danger.