Omen (5)
It was the moment Han Dohyeon, startled by Nakyeong's message, scrambled to send a reply.
At the same time, back in Korea—
"……."
Cheon Seo-hui was having lunch, the table set with the side dishes Dohyeon had prepared for her before he left. Her eyes were fixed on a video playing on the small phone propped up on the table.
"This place took first place in this year's domestic hotel rankings. Worldwide, it's sixty-ninth!"
The video panned through every corner of the hotel while the narration offered explanations and impressions.
"As you'd expect from the top hotel in the country, even the toiletries are top-of-the-line."
Seo-hui watched as if she were peering into an entirely different world.
How much money do you need to burn through seven hundred thousand won on a single night?
People said that once the gap grew vast enough, envy simply stopped. Seo-hui was that type. Born into a life that had never once been comfortable, she had never felt envy watching the rich parade across the media. From the start, she had assumed they lived in a different world entirely.
What she actually envied were the so-called middle class — or those just below. Positions she could reach, depending on how hard she worked.
"That's all for today — see you in the next review!"
The video ended. Chewing slowly, Seo-hui reached out to queue something else.
In that instant—
Playing next video in 7 seconds
Academy Teacher Vlog
The algorithm's recommended video filled the screen. It was Choi Yeonjeong's — the same Choi Yeonjeong whose appointment as an Academy instructor had even made the news.
She does YouTube too?
Among anyone with even a passing interest in explorers, there was no one who didn't know the Divine Archer, Choi Yeonjeong. She was one of the most successful explorers in the country, and among marksmen worldwide, her name was always near the top of the list.
Did she just start?
Mildly curious, Seo-hui navigated to Choi Yeonjeong's channel.
Whoa.
One hundred ninety-four thousand subscribers, and the sole video — uploaded not long ago — already had over seven million views. That was the weight of Choi Yeonjeong's name.
One video makes more than a month's salary.
Seo-hui felt a quiet flicker of admiration and pressed play on the first video.
"Hi. I'm Choi Yeonjeong. Uh… I started a vlog."
At first, there wasn't much to it. What she ate in the morning, how she got ready, what she rode to work — plain, straightforward content. The only thing that stood out was the casual display of staggering wealth.
"Morning classes are done. The kids followed along well, so that's a relief."
Familiar glimpses of the Academy campus in the background stirred a quiet sense of recognition—
"For lunch, I'm meeting a close friend for a meal."
The screen cut, and a man's face appeared.
"What's that for?"
"…Huh?"
Seo-hui's eyes went wide.
Teacher…?
It was unmistakably Han Dohyeon.
"I'm shooting a video."
"A video, all of a sudden?"
"Didn't I tell you? I started a vlog."
"Huh? You?"
On screen, Dohyeon spoke with Yeonjeong in a tone of easy familiarity.
"Hello, everyone subscribed to Yeonjeong's channel. I'm Han Dohyeon, Yeonjeong's friend. …Like that?"
"Did you practice that at home in secret? That was way too natural."
"Maybe I've got talent too? Network producers, I'm waiting for your call."
"And if they actually call, you'd go on TV?"
"As if."
The easy banter made it obvious — they were completely at ease with each other.
Teacher and… Choi Yeonjeong?
Watching the two of them, Seo-hui felt her appetite vanish without warning. How to put it — some unidentifiable unpleasantness was seeping up from deep in her chest.
That nameless discomfort hit its peak in the next scene.
"The food here's pretty good."
"Right? The owner of a shop I go to recommended this place."
The two of them sat across from each other at a restaurant, eating.
"Ah… the one who likes leopard print?"
"Yeah, that's her. You remember?"
"Of course. Is there anything I don't know about you?"
Whether deliberate or accidental, every single shot seemed designed to emphasize how close Dohyeon and Yeonjeong were.
"What are you doing this weekend?"
"Me? Probably just staying home. Why?"
"Want to come over to my place for a drink? It's been a while."
When Yeonjeong casually invited him for drinks — just the two of them — a revulsion Seo-hui couldn't explain rose in her throat.
"Nah, I can't. I'm not going out."
Dohyeon turning down the drinks helped a little — but only a little.
"Well, can't be helped. I just got in this really, really good bottle…"
"…How good are we talking?"
Watching Yeonjeong openly reel him in and Dohyeon take the bait without a clue, the unpleasantness surged back full force.
"Ah. I was going to crack it open the second Dohyeon showed up… Guess I'll just give it to someone."
"Hey. Give it to who? Just keep it safe at home. You've got plenty of places to put it."
"Why? If I keep it, will you come over and drink it?"
"…Depends on the situation."
It was hard to breathe. Her chest felt so tight her teeth ground together.
What is this?
She couldn't pinpoint exactly what bothered her so much. She just hated seeing Yeonjeong and Dohyeon in the same frame. She hated everything they did. It was an unbroken stretch of nameless discomfort and frustration.
"Coffee for dessert, then back to afternoon classes!"
Fortunately, after a photo of the two of them holding coffee side by side, he didn't appear again. In a fit of anger, Seo-hui shut off the screen. Then her eyes fell on the side dishes Dohyeon had so carefully prepared for her, and the scenes from the video rose back up in her mind.
"…Ha."
And at last, she understood.
Dohyeon was a man with many sins.
They had raced back to Tokyo. Dohyeon and Yeonjeong had originally planned to grab lunch the moment they arrived, but for some reason they headed straight to the lodging instead.
Nakyeong's ultimatum had come down.
"Ah… please…"
Phone pressed to his ear, Dohyeon paced restlessly by the window, pouring out another sigh as the mechanical tone rang again. That was the second rejected call.
I'm going insane.
Unable to shake the dread, Dohyeon chewed his lower lip and dialed again.
Rrring. Rrring.
But the connection tone dragged on once more, and he immediately opened the messenger and sent Nakyeong a text.
Then he stared at the little "1" still sitting next to the string of messages he'd been sending and let out a deep sigh.
What if she actually leaves?
An old memory seized him with sudden fear — the time his adorable little daughter had walked out of the house on those tiny legs and glared at him with pure resentment, demanding how he could forget her mother.
I never should have come here!
Regretting the trip to Japan for no good reason, he squeezed his eyes shut — and in that instant, the ringing cut off.
Nakyeong had answered.
"Na—Nakyeong…!"
Startled, Dohyeon spilled out everything he'd been holding in a jumbled rush.
"Wh-where are you right now? You didn't go anywhere, did you? Just give me a chance to explain…!"
"…Haa…."
A long sigh came through the speaker.
"…!"
Dohyeon's words stuck in his throat. He swallowed hard and waited.
"…Mr. Han Dohyeon."
Her voice came through, cold and settled.
"Looks like you've been having quite a fun little trip behind my back."
Dohyeon flinched and waved his free hand frantically.
"N-no! That's a total misunderstanding! She just said she was shooting a video, so I stepped into frame for a second! I'll explain everything!"
"No need to explain. Just spend the rest of your life with that ajumma."
Nakyeong clearly had no intention of listening.
"Thanks for raising me all this time."
"Wh-what!?"
To Dohyeon, those words might as well have been a death sentence.
"Ha—Han Nakyeong! What kind of thing is that to say to your father!? Thanks for raising you — what are you thanking me for!? It's not like that at all!!"
Panicked, Dohyeon launched into a desperate explanation. People had just jumped to conclusions on their own. There was truly nothing going on. The video had been edited, but when he'd turned down the drinks, he'd even mentioned his promise with her.
"……."
On the other end, Nakyeong listened in silence. After pouring out his grievances at length and finally calming down, Dohyeon begged her forgiveness in a voice close to pleading.
"Dad is really sorry…."
"Sorry for what?"
"…Huh?"
Nakyeong was giving him a chance.
"I'm asking if you actually know what you did wrong and you're apologizing for it."
One last chance at a comeback.
"O-of course I know! The, the video…"
"…Do you think I'm doing this over some stupid video?"
Dohyeon lost his words.
"The problem is that you hid it from me."
"!"
Only after her rebuke landed did he realize his mistake and hastily course-correct the apology.
"I—I thought you'd… assume something was going on with Yeonjeong. I'm sorry…."
"Haa…. Do I look that petty to you, Dad? I already know perfectly well how close you two are. You think I can't tell the difference?"
"Y-yeah. Right. Our Nakyeong would never be like that. I was wrong. I'm really sorry. I wasn't trying to hide it on purpose — I just happened to be in Japan and completely forgot to tell you. Honestly."
Dohyeon mixed apology with self-reproach, doing everything he could to soothe her.
"I was really wrong. I won't do it again. I'm sorry, Nakyeong."
From start to finish, he was utterly convinced that every single thing had been his fault.
"……."
On the other end, Nakyeong listened to his repentance in silence. Then—
"I just sent you a photo."
Dohyeon's phone buzzed once.
"!"
He snapped the messenger open. There, through a full-length mirror, was a photo of Nakyeong sitting in a pitch-dark space.
"What is this…"
In that moment, the messenger screen scrolled up and another photo arrived. Same location, by the look of it — and in Nakyeong's hand was an enormous women's tattoo design that would cover large stretches of her upper body.
"Pretty, right?"
She was sitting in a tattoo parlor.
"Y-you…! What are you doing there!? Get out right now!"
The world spun. Dohyeon cried out in panic, but Nakyeong just kept talking to herself.
"You say you love me all the time, but you just keep hiding things. This is all because I'm not pretty enough, isn't it?"
It was a blatant threat.
"N-no! Our Nakyeong is the prettiest! Really!"
A woman who did what she said she would. With no confidence he could win against Han Nakyeong, Dohyeon dropped into full submission and begged for mercy.
"D-Dad's coming back tomorrow, okay? When I get back…. Huh? Nooo…. I want to come back today too, but the flights…. Th-then!"
Meanwhile, at that same moment, Choi Yeonjeong—
"……."
She filled her glass with strong whiskey and listened through the slightly open door to every word of Dohyeon's voice carrying through. It wasn't hard to figure out that he was getting gaslit all over again.
Blackmail using the body of the daughter she killed herself.
Privately impressed once more, Yeonjeong quietly raised the glass to her lips.
Crazy bitch.
A thick smirk curved at the corner of her mouth.