If You're All Right, Then I'm All Right
The next day, 9:30 a.m.
Vrrroooom.
Dressed down in casual clothes and sneakers, Kang Hyeong-seok drove toward Shin Jeong-ah's place. He was near the main gate of her apartment complex when he spotted her — unmistakable even from a distance — waving to him in an outfit much like the one she wore to the office.
Clunk!
No sooner had the car stopped than Shin Jeong-ah loaded a suitcase into the back seat and climbed into the passenger side.
"Hi there!"
"You came all the way out front to wait, I see."
"Of course I did. You're up early, huh, Assistant Manager Kang?"
She tossed the question out lightly as she fastened her seatbelt, and Kang Hyeong-seok answered while easing the car fully onto a quiet shoulder of the road.
"Yes. I had somewhere to stop on the way."
"At this hour?"
Kang Hyeong-seok fished a convenience store bag out of the back seat, pulled a sandwich and a can of coffee from it, and handed them over.
"I had to drop by that shrine I told you about."
"Huh...?"
She didn't so much as glance at the sandwich and coffee, her expression turning grave — and at the sight, Kang Hyeong-seok let out a breath that was almost a laugh.
"It wasn't because of anything strange. I'd borrowed some ritual implements a while back. I just went to return them."
The tools he'd used to send the vengeful spirit from the warehouse on its passage. The hemp cloth and the Sinjangkal belonged to Cheong-geum.
"R-Right?"
"Yes."
"Ugh, sorry about that. If I'd known, I never would've insisted on tagging along."
"Please don't worry about it. The holidays came with some unexpected days off this year, so I have plenty of time."
Even as he said it, Kang Hyeong-seok drew the canned coffee back out of the bag, disappointment written across his face, and popped the tab.
So I missed Master again this time.
If ever a situation deserved the phrase of all days, this was it. Lee Geum-kyeong was finally returning from a long trip — and today, of all days, was when she'd arrive. The timing simply wouldn't cooperate; she'd get in around late afternoon, and by then keeping his promise to Shin Jeong-ah would be out of the question.
"I'm not putting you out or anything, am I?"
"Not at all. It's really fine, so don't give it another thought."
It wasn't as though anything urgent needed discussing with Lee Geum-kyeong, so Kang Hyeong-seok meant every word. The sincerity must have landed, because Shin Jeong-ah wiped the apology from her face and settled comfortably into her sandwich.
"Oh, right! Thanks for this — I hadn't even thought of it."
"Just a light bite for now. We can grab some udon at a rest stop later."
"And that's on me!"
Kang Hyeong-seok laughed heartily, punched a new destination into the navigation, and set off.
Was it Shin Jeong-ah's outfit? Or the fact that it was a weekday?
Vroooooom!
The instant they were rolling down the highway, it felt exactly like heading out on a business trip. Then again, there was something to how differently a drive could feel depending on who shared the passenger seat. Back in the day, Noh Soo-chul and his dumpster-fire personality had made him wish the man would simply stop breathing; Namgoong Min-ah had felt like a kid sister. Shin Jeong-ah, unmistakably, felt like his boss.
"Today's the day you were visiting that client, isn't it?"
"Yep. I inherited my predecessor's accounts, so I should at least show my face."
Shin Jeong-ah answered while checking over documents one by one, papers she'd taken from the suitcase spread across her lap.
"Will you be all right on your own?"
"I'll have to make sure I am. This kind of thing I'm used to."
Fair enough — she was a veteran. Shin Jeong-ah had been brought in to replace Deputy General Manager Noh Soo-chul, so it would surprise no one if she made Deputy General Manager herself this promotion cycle, or the next.
Vrooooom!
Kang Hyeong-seok gave a silent nod inside the car as it rumbled steadily along. They ran the length of the highway, stopped once at a rest area for a bowl of udon apiece — breakfast and lunch in one — and talked far less than he'd expected. Just a bit of easy chatter, the kind you'd trade over a cigarette on the office rooftop.
And then they'd arrived in Gangwon-do, Kang Hyeong-seok's destination.
"Drop me off here."
"I can take you farther in."
"It's a quick taxi ride from here, so don't fuss over me."
Shin Jeong-ah said her piece briskly and stepped out of the car. Kang Hyeong-seok climbed out after her and watched with worry in his eyes, but she was pulling her suitcase from the back seat as though nothing in the world could touch her.
"I'll text you once work's done. And if anything comes up, you call me!"
"Understood."
When Kang Hyeong-seok answered with an apologetic smile, Shin Jeong-ah flashed a grin.
"You won't forget me once you head back up, will you?"
"I know better. I won't forget."
"Then give my best to your parents!"
"I will. Thank you."
Kang Hyeong-seok took one last look at Shin Jeong-ah settling onto the bench at the bus stop, then climbed back in. As he pulled away, he glanced at the side mirror; she was absorbed in her phone, apparently hailing a taxi.
Well — nothing's going to happen to her.
Even if something did, she wasn't the type to panic or fumble the job. At least, the Shin Jeong-ah he knew never had been. All that remained was seeing his parents for the first time in ages, and Kang Hyeong-seok drove on looking just a little nervous.
"Oh, you wretched boy."
Meeting him at the front door, his mother Park Jeong-im greeted Kang Hyeong-seok with those words and no warning at all.
Thump!
A fist heavy with reproach bounced off his chest — and in the next breath she pulled her son into a fierce embrace.
"Why only now? You should have at least called before coming."
"If I had, you'd have rushed around preparing this and that. I couldn't let you."
"And going all that time without so much as a phone call — you weren't sorry about that?"
Kang Hyeong-seok laughed — unconsciously, in exactly the way Kwak Young-ho would have. Then he wrapped his arms around the mother in them and held her tight.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."
"Aigoo! Have you eaten?"
"I grabbed something quick at a rest stop. What about Father?"
Park Jeong-im slipped out of the embrace and pressed the back of her hand hard against her dampening eyes.
"He's gone fishing with your uncle. He'll be back any minute."
Kang Hyeong-seok nodded his understanding. His parents had moved all the way down to Gangwon-do from Gyeonggi Province largely because of his uncle, and with his father Kang Doo-seok and his mother's brother Park Ji-hoon both certifiable fishing addicts, it made perfect sense.
"You're not heading back right away, are you?"
"No. I'll be staying a few days."
"Then go wash up and change into something comfortable first. I'm off to the market — you take the back room!"
"I'll drive you there in my car."
"No need. There's a grocer's right up the street, and they deliver. You won't have to lift a finger."
Could a son's visit really delight her that much? Beaming from ear to ear, Park Jeong-im scooped up her phone in its wallet case and headed out the door.
Left alone, Kang Hyeong-seok looked over the home he'd returned to after so long, a gentle warmth softening his face. The truth was, he had no memories here — he'd come by exactly once before, when his parents first moved in.
So this is where Mom and Dad live now.
Three rooms and two bathrooms. The largest room was his parents' bedroom; the other two served as storage and a study. The place felt so unfamiliar that if not for his parents' presence steeped into every corner, it could have passed for a complete stranger's home.
If he'd known, he should have come far more often. Clicking his tongue at the regret, he showered and changed into comfortable clothes — and then the door chimed.
Beep-beep-beep, chime-chime!
The door swung open, and in hurried Park Jeong-im, cheeks flushed, as if she'd raced home half afraid her son might have slipped away again.
"Son! I bought piles of everything you love. Mom will have it ready in no time."
"I thought you were having it delivered?"
"Only the heavy stuff. Go sit."
That was easier said than done. Kang Hyeong-seok followed Park Jeong-im into the kitchen and helped her get dinner ready.
Chop, chop, chop, chop.
As he pared the zucchini into neat half-moons with practiced ease, Park Jeong-im sent him a look of open surprise.
"Your knife work's really come along. Do you cook for yourself often?"
"I do. These days every recipe's on the internet, so you just follow along — it's easy."
"Still, look at you. My son's really got a knack. At this rate you're ready to take a wife. So? Is there anyone you're seeing?"
Those eyes were brimming with hope, and with genuine regret Kang Hyeong-seok shook his head behind an awkward smile.
"No one."
"Then every woman in the world must be blind. With a fine son like you."
Every mother on earth probably felt the same. Kang Hyeong-seok kept slicing the zucchini, smiling — and little by little, he wiped the smile away.
This won't be easy. Tell them I must — that I've received a god.
The words simply refused to come. That he had received a god. That he was walking the shaman's path now. That he had become a shaman living among ordinary people. Merely imagining the confession was enough to seal his lips.
Beep-beep! Chime-chime!
"Honey, I'm home!"
"Dear! In here — quick, quick."
"What is it? Who's visiting? There's a pair of shoes here I've never seen before."
Kang Hyeong-seok laid the knife on the cutting board, washed his hands at the sink, and turned around.
"Well, I'll be! Look who it is!"
"Father."
"You should've called ahead, you rascal!"
His father, Kang Doo-seok, flung his fishing bag aside and pulled Kang Hyeong-seok into a rough, warm welcome.
"Look at you — you've gotten even bigger. Been working out?"
"Just the basics. Nothing ailing you anywhere, Father?"
"Of course not, you rascal! Who's worrying about whom here?"
Kang Doo-seok certainly looked the part. Bronzed dark by all those fishing trips, he seemed far hardier than his years.
"Have a seat at the table. Where's Uncle Ji-hoon, though?"
"My brother-in-law went home."
"Home?"
"Says he got his hands on some rare liquor from somewhere, and he's bringing it over."
"He'll be late, then?"
"He'll eat first and come by after, I expect. Put together some snacks to go with the drinks later."
Kang Doo-seok stole a glance at Park Jeong-im. He always did that when drink came up, and she — forever touchy on the subject — let it pass this once without a word, perhaps with their son in the house.
Soon the table filled with rice and stew, kimchi, and a heaping spread of side dishes. A home-cooked meal after all this time — and yet Kang Hyeong-seok couldn't bring himself to lift his spoon.
"What is it? Something you need to say?"
Park Jeong-im, reading the trouble on him, asked gently, and Kang Doo-seok paused with his spoon in the air, eyes narrowing as his gaze came around too.
It was time. Before his uncle Park Ji-hoon arrived — while it was just the three of them — it was right to spit it out cleanly.
"Phew."
Kang Hyeong-seok let out a small breath, looked at his parents, and opened his mouth.
Then he watched the two of them.
As expected... The warm harmony of a moment ago bolted out the window like a thief caught red-handed, and an awkward, suffocating heaviness took its seat instead. Faced with their frozen faces, Kang Hyeong-seok pressed his lips together, then opened them again.
"They say I won't have to set up a shrine."
"Who told you that?"
"Master Lee Geum-kyeong."
Kang Doo-seok, who had fired the question out, crossed his arms and heaved a long, heavy sigh. The air was still awkward, but it sat lighter than before — the word that even having received a god, his son need not live as a shaman seemed, just a little, to have brought them comfort.
Such is the way of shamans. There is the matter of how the world sees them, and no shortage of people who look at a shaman through prejudiced eyes from the very first glance. Plenty flee abroad to escape receiving a god at all, or burn through small fortunes putting off the rite of possession.
"So you're not becoming a shaman?"
"Half of one. She said I'm to be a shaman among the people."
Kang Doo-seok's face went dark as a moonless night, and Park Jeong-im, thrown into confusion, looked anxiously between her son and her husband.
"And your job?"
"I'm still working. Same as always."
"Nothing dangerous, is there?"
"There's been nothing dangerous."
"No seeing ghosts, nothing tormenting you?"
"No."
A long silence settled over the table. The longer it stretched, the more visibly uneasy Park Jeong-im became, while Kang Hyeong-seok waited on his parents' response with a level face. At last Kang Doo-seok, who had kept his mouth firmly shut through it all, uncrossed his arms and met his son's gaze.
"Then that's enough for me."
Watching his son steadily, as if to say he would not turn away from the heart behind such a difficult confession, Kang Doo-seok went on.
"If you're all right with it, then so am I."
There was no hollow comfort in his eyes, no pretense. Kang Hyeong-seok's mouth curved upward without a sound, and then he bowed his head, deep in gratitude.