Let's Head to Gangwon Land (2)
The flipped card was the reversed High Priestess. In tarot readings, the High Priestess is considered one of the good cards. The problem was that it had come out reversed.
Still, what mattered wasn't the tarot interpretation itself, but the future I saw stretching out before him. And in that future, there was one glaring issue.
"Are you aiming for a promotion?"
"...W-well, who doesn't aim for a promotion?"
"The desire to grow is something everyone has. But don't betray others to get there."
He flinched. His shoulders trembled.
"That betrayal will only poison you in the end. Do you know the saying 'kill the dog after the hunt'?"
Once the rabbit is caught, the hunting dog is boiled and eaten. He would betray his current boss for a promotion, team up with another superior, only to be discarded in the end.
"Don't get dragged into pointless fights. Figure out what your real job is and focus on that."
"...But won't that delay my promotion?"
"The High Priestess card stands for foresight, quiet leadership, and intelligent, refined judgment. The problem is that it's reversed. It points to ignorance, foolishness, and poor decisions."
"......"
"Since your choices will be wrong, don't neglect your efforts and research."
Jeong Yu-chan squeezed his eyes shut. He looked like he was wrestling with whether or not to believe me.
"...Mr. Kang Noah. Have you done tarot readings before? You seem far too experienced for this to be your first time."
"Hahaha."
"Whew... It felt so real."
"Do you think it's fake?"
"Do you know about the Barnum effect?"
The psychological tendency where people accept vague, broadly applicable statements as if they were uniquely tailored to them. Hmm. I suppose what I said was a little ambiguous.
Even setting aside the past, high positions are always limited. Political scheming is only natural in the process, so it made sense that he'd find my words vague.
Should I just spell it out? Tell him not to play both sides between Vice Director Kwon Seung-ho and Department Head Yang Gyu-myeong and just do his own damn job?
"Anyway, just proceed as I advised. Though when it comes to the past, it's better to stay a bit more vague."
"Is that so?"
Well, the important thing wasn't my conversation with this man anyway.
"So, does that mean I passed?"
"Overall, you're far more outstanding than any of the applicants we've seen so far. Haha, I genuinely thought you'd read my past and future."
I did, though. But in the end, this came down to trust. If he didn't want to believe it, that was his problem.
"The event runs for four days starting three days from now. Mr. Kang Noah, you'll be working in the hotel event hall as the mysterious tarot fortune teller."
Nine in the morning until six in the evening. Two-hour lunch break, and I could relax whenever there were no customers. They even provided snacks, and said it was fine to have a drink or two if I wanted. It really did sound like an excellent gig.
"However, please be careful."
"Yes?"
"That hotel is quite an extraordinary place."
"Yes... I heard it's a five-star hotel."
"Precisely because it's such a fine hotel, it attracts many extraordinary guests."
He warned me firmly that any mistake could lead to serious trouble. I had no intention of acting out of line there anyway.
"Understood."
I'd just read the room and move accordingly.
. . .
Sagniel Hotel. Even among South Korea's five-star hotels, it was renowned for its luxury. In a corner of the hotel's central event hall, a space had been prepared.
We'll Tell You Your Future
"Oh my? What's that?"
"A tarot reading...?"
"Ah. Is it part of the hotel's 20th anniversary event?"
"Why do a tarot event when there are so many other events?"
"Right?"
The guests kept glancing over and chatting. But what did that have to do with me? I was just a part-timer. The smartest move was to kill time and get through the shift.
I sat in my seat wearing the robe the company had provided, waiting for customers who might or might not show up.
"They say Shining Ka is coming this time?"
"STS is tomorrow, I heard."
"Bray Casti is coming on the last day."
Since it was a major hotel's anniversary event, they'd invited some truly impressive people. Idol singers I recognized, famous overseas pop artists. Doing an event alongside people like that felt... well, pretty damn impressive.
Anyway, the crowd seemed far more interested in the celebrities participating in the event than in me, tucked away in my corner. That suited me just fine.
I sat in my little corner, sipping the complimentary drink from the hotel, and watched the people come and go. Whether in the past or the future, not many people had particularly dramatic twists in their lives.
At most, I saw things like a failed promotion or a breakup with a lover. It was a truly smooth and beautiful future. Especially compared to Gangwon Land.
Anyway, there were no customers on the first day. None on the second, either. Was it really okay to get paid for this? But if customers stayed this scarce, then my plan...
"Um..."
Finally.
"Ah. Yes."
"Are you doing tarot readings?"
"Yes. It's free if you have a room key."
Since it was an event for hotel guests. The woman who had shown interest stepped back with a disappointed look. Not a guest, then? The women behind her giggled as they walked past with the one who had spoken.
After that, I was alone again. Nice and quiet.
I spent another day like that, and then came the final day. Being the last day, the crowd was noticeably larger than the previous ones.
"Tarot readings?"
"They really do everything here."
"Fortune telling in this age of science and reason?"
"Ugh. Even Sagniel has lost its touch."
A few guests made no effort to hide their displeasure. But I focused on someone else. On the woman approaching me with clear interest.
"Do you do tarot readings?"
"Welcome."
Finally, my first customer. She was a woman in her early twenties who still carried a hint of girlish innocence, dressed in clearly expensive clothes. The cute young woman, brimming with the liveliness and purity typical of her age, stared intently at my tarot cards.
"Do you only do tarot?"
"Actually, I do all kinds of readings."
"Oh my. That's interesting. What kinds do you know?"
"Truthfully, my specialty is Hwatu readings."
"Pfft. First time I've seen someone offer Hwatu readings in a place like this."
At the mention of Hwatu, the anxiety radiating from her eased slightly. The reason was simple. In the past I'd glimpsed, there was a memory of her as a little girl, held in her grandmother's arms while watching a Hwatu reading. That memory must have lowered her guard.
"If you don't like Hwatu, I have other methods..."
"Hwatu is fine."
"Understood."
I set the tarot cards aside and pulled out the flower cards.
"I'll shuffle."
I mixed the deck. The crisp, rhythmic sound filled our corner.
"Please cut the deck."
"...Is this how you do Hwatu fortune telling?"
"There are many different ways to read fortunes."
In the end, it's all about interpretation anyway. And since I wasn't actually doing real fortune telling, the method hardly mattered.
"Hmm. All right."
Though she looked a bit bewildered, she cut the deck. Four for me, four for her, four for me, four for her, two for me, two for her. Eight cards laid out on the floor, with the rest of the deck set aside as the dummy pile.
"But are you any good? I'm really strong at Go-Stop."
"Young people these days don't play it much anymore."
"My grandmother loves it, so I've played a lot."
She said she'd even reached the King rank in online Go-Stop.
"I see. Well then, I'll go first."
Out of the cards on the floor, I held eight and she held five. Since it was the lower count, the higher one went first.
"Let's begin."
Smack!!
The clear, bright sound of flower cards colliding rang through the event hall. Several people turned their heads at the noise.
"What kind of crazy person plays Hwatu here of all places..."
"Wait, Hwatu?! I wanna play!"
"Isn't that a fortune-telling booth? Why are they playing Go-Stop?"
People who saw us playing grew curious and drifted closer. We ignored them and continued our game.
"I shook."
"No, miss. How can you throw a poop card there?"
"Huh? Ssok! It's a ssok!"
"Wow. This guy has the heart of a beast..."
Admiring murmurs rose from the crowd. King in online Go-Stop? I'd reached Emperor. It wasn't that I particularly enjoyed Go-Stop. The director had made me play. Though he ended up spending all the money I earned.
"My win. Seventeen points. Two gos, pi-bak, red dan, blue dan, godori..."
"Ugh... Fine. How much per point?"
"It's fortune telling. There are no points. Now let's do the actual reading."
I looked at the woman.
"Your name is..."
"Hong Su-yeon."
"You have a fiancé you promised to marry."
"Oh my. Hehe. A woman like me would naturally have a partner."
"That partner is currently cheating on you."
"......"
"With the friend you believe is closest to you."
Hong Su-yeon's expression froze. The people around us looked equally shocked.
"W-what?!"
"Go back to the house where he is staying right now. You'll be able to confirm it. Ah, don't go alone. Take at least two trustworthy men with you."
"......."
"You have bodyguards waiting outside, don't you? Go with them. He's the type who turns to violence when things don't go his way."
Hong Su-yeon was stunned. She shot up from her seat, face flushed red, glared at me, then spun on her heel and stormed off.
Now, I wonder how this will turn out.
Hong Su-yeon couldn't contain the unpleasant feeling twisting inside her. Her boyfriend was cheating? He loved her. She loved him too.
That was why she'd gotten him an officetel despite him being a poor college student. She'd made a card for him, bought him a car. There was no reason for him to betray her.
Yes. It had to be that way. Yet the anxiety refused to disappear. Especially since she'd noticed how often he had been contacting her friend from high school lately. He claimed it was because they played the same game, but the unease still lingered.
"Miss. What would you like to do?"
The bodyguard asked quietly. After a long moment of hesitation, she let out a sigh. This wasn't suspicion. She just wanted to check. She'd tell her boyfriend about what happened today. She'd already told him they couldn't meet because of the event until tomorrow.
But she no longer wanted to stay at the hotel. So she wouldn't contact him. She'd just go. Think of it as a surprise. She was absolutely, positively not suspecting him.
With that thought, she arrived in front of his officetel in Gangnam.
"Ah! Ah! Ah!! Honeyyy!!"
"Huk! Huk!!"
The sounds coming through the door. Hong Su-yeon froze. It couldn't be. Maybe he was just watching porn? Anxiety surged. Her hands trembled. She squeezed her eyes shut, pulled out the card key, and held it to the door. The master key unlocked the front door.
And what she saw was her boyfriend, naked, locked in an embrace with another, thrusting his hips like a vulgar animal, and her best friend lying beneath him, moaning in ecstasy.
"Uh, uhh... S-Su-yeon!! I-it's a misunderstanding!! Misunderstanding!!"
From between her friend's legs, the man's organ—shrunken from shock and tension—spurted a stream of white fluid. At that filthy sight. At the man who had betrayed her. Hong Su-yeon could do only one thing.
"Get out of my house right now."
She kicked them out. That was all she could do.