The White Tiger of Jangsan
Se-a had a place she always went after school. It was a small cafe right in front of the school called Idea. It wasn’t a chain coffee shop—the owner ran it personally—so the atmosphere was cozy and unpretentious, and the unique menu items made it pretty popular with students.
Se-a always went there alone. She left all her friends behind. The reason she went by herself was none other than…
Ding-ding~
“Welco… Wait, Jeong Se-a. You’re here again?”
“I’m here today too~!”
It was because Yoo Se-hwan worked part-time there. She hadn’t known because they hadn’t been in touch for a while, but yesterday she happened to walk past the cafe and spotted him working. The white shirt, apron, and black baker’s cap of the staff uniform looked surprisingly good on him, at least in Se-a’s eyes. She’d even felt the urge to snap a photo, but she held back because she knew Se-hwan would hate it.
“But this is only my second time here. Isn’t the staff attitude a little too cold?”
“…Welcome, ma’am.”
“That’s way too stiff.”
“What exactly do you want from me…?”
When Se-hwan looked dumbfounded, Se-a burst out laughing like it was the funniest thing. Then she asked him,
“You said you work weekends too, right?”
“Ah, that…”
Just as he was about to answer, someone spoke from behind him.
“Hmm? Who’s that? A friend of student Se-hwan?”
“Ah, yes. Boss.”
It was a woman who looked to be in her mid-to-late thirties. Seeing Se-hwan call her “boss” after she came out of the staff room, Se-a quickly bowed her head in greeting.
“Hello! I’m Jeong Se-a, Se-hwan’s friend!”
“Oh my, what a polite friend. Student Se-hwan is so blunt, it’s a problem~.”
“I don’t think I’ve been that blunt with customers…”
“Your voice has no energy today.”
“…I didn’t sleep much.”
Hearing Se-hwan’s answer, Se-a tilted her head.
“Huh? Why couldn’t you sleep?”
“Ah, well… something came up.”
The vague reply made it clear he didn’t want to talk about it. Se-a nodded understandingly.
“I see.”
“Anyway, student Se-hwan is pretty popular. You’ve got three pretty friends like this. I’ve had you working here four months and I’m only finding out today.”
“…It’s not like that.”
“R-right! We’re just friends!”
Se-a had been flustered by the boss’s comment and quickly made an excuse, but after thinking for a second, her eyes widened.
Three pretty friends?
Why three? Se-a knew better than anyone that Se-hwan didn’t have that many friends. And the boss wouldn’t lie, so there had to be a reason she said three.
“Student Se-a, enjoy your drink. Student Se-hwan, I’ll step out for a bit?”
“…Ah, yes!”
“Yes, take care.”
Once the cafe owner left through the door, Se-a looked at Se-hwan with a confused expression. He simply asked,
“What do you want to drink?”
“…Huh? Oh, I’ll have…”
“Excuse me. Cafe staff guy.”
At that moment, someone behind Se-a called out to Se-hwan. The second he saw who it was, Se-hwan frowned.
“What now.”
“Can I get an Americano refill?”
“…I told you it’s only once. You’ve got plenty of money—just buy a new one.”
“Aww.”
The thin, elegant voice sounded familiar, and the way Se-hwan spoke to her so casually… Se-a quickly turned her head.
“Huh? Hello… we met before…”
“Ah…”
It was the woman from that time. The incredibly beautiful one… Se-hwan’s exorcist colleague. Se-a hid her flustered feelings and bowed her head.
“Hello.”
Even as she greeted her, Se-a’s mind was spinning. Why was someone like this here? Was she waiting for Se-hwan’s shift to end because they were colleagues?
“…I never got your name last time. What is it?”
“Ah… I’m Jeong Se-a.”
“I’m Baek Seol-hwa.”
Baek Seol-hwa. Even her name was pretty. Se-a glanced at her. Even on second look, she really was stunning. An inexplicable sense of wariness began to rise inside her.
Then something caught Se-a’s eye. The Americano cup Seol-hwa had brought for a refill—there were two of them.
“Two cups?”
There was no reason for one person to have two cups. And she hadn’t brought them out to throw away—she’d brought them specifically for a refill. While Se-a was tilting her head in confusion, Seol-hwa spoke.
“Ah, these. There’s an uninvited guest, so…”
“Isn’t calling me an uninvited guest a bit harsh?”
Another voice. One Se-a had never heard before. The moment she heard it, Seol-hwa’s eyes narrowed into slits, and Se-a’s own eyes widened in shock.
“Y-Yoo Se-hwan…”
“…Huh?”
Se-a couldn’t help but call out to him. The woman had striking white hair that drew the eye and beautiful crimson eyes like jewels. Another beautiful woman had appeared, so of course Se-a was thrown completely off balance. She had thought Se-hwan’s surroundings were safe, yet suddenly two gorgeous women had shown up.
“W-what the—! Who is she this time?!”
“Ah, that is…”
She had white hair and a beautiful face with a great figure, similar to Seol-hwa, but her overall impression was sharper than Seol-hwa’s gentle aura. She looked like a strong-willed older sister type. Pretty was one thing, but the crop top and shorts that boldly showed off her body were another red flag for Se-a.
Without realizing it, Se-a found herself comparing her own body.
“Ugh…!”
It was a total defeat. Both Seol-hwa and this new woman had bodies you didn’t see every day. While Se-a was wallowing in her solo defeat, Se-hwan, who had finished thinking, finally spoke.
“…She’s an exorcist colleague. She’s Baek Seol-hwa’s sister.”
“S-sister…?”
“What? Why would I be—”
Seol-hwa shot him a look that clearly said what the hell are you talking about, but the woman beside her quickly cut her off.
“So you’re Se-hwan’s friend. I’m Baek San, Seol-hwa’s little sister.”
Seol-hwa made a face like she’d just tasted something disgusting, but San gave her a look that said just go with it.
“…I hate to admit it, but I do have a sister like this.”
“Oh my, sis. That’s a bit harsh~.”
Seol-hwa stared at San with genuine revulsion, but San looked like she was having the time of her life. The way her lips curled into a grin was proof enough.
While Seol-hwa was busy being annoyed, Se-a fell into serious thought.
His colleagues are beautiful sisters…?
Even if they were just colleagues, working together like that could easily lead to something more. And if both of them were that pretty… Se-hwan was still a guy. There was no guarantee nothing would happen. It wasn’t one—it was two. The odds were even higher.
Se-a realized how serious the situation was. She looked at Se-hwan.
“…So your colleagues came to visit?”
“Yeah.”
“You’re going exorcising right after your shift?”
“…That’s the plan.”
“Doesn’t the cafe close at night?”
“Ten o’clock.”
“Ah… so you finish at ten and then spend the late night with them…”
Late at night. Se-hwan with two beautiful sisters. What did they do after the exorcism? Did they really just part ways?
Se-a’s head was spinning.
“Hey.”
“…Yeah?”
Se-hwan must have read her expression, because he turned a little serious and explained.
“I don’t know what you’re thinking, but there’s nothing between me and them.”
“…Really?”
“Don’t get any weird ideas. We’re just like you and me. Just acquaintances. You get it, right?”
He had noticed she was misunderstanding. Se-hwan’s explanation brought her some relief, but she also felt a little disappointed.
Just like you and me…
He was right. Se-a wasn’t anything to Se-hwan either. They were just a little closer than normal friends.
“Se-hwan oppa, are we really only that?”
“…Don’t say such disgusting nonsense.”
San let out a small laugh and walked up to the counter, leaning over it to look at Se-hwan.
“I think someone like oppa would be just fine.”
“Stop saying weird stuff. Hurry up and order, then leave.”
It was obviously just a joke, but Se-a still flinched. Even though she knew it was a prank, San’s words sounded dangerously sweet. But the real reason she was flustered was because she could tell exactly why San was suddenly acting like this.
Se-a gripped her bag strap tightly. Then she said to Se-hwan,
“Hey, is there a weekend part-time spot open here?”
“Huh?… Yeah, there is. The boss was actually looking to hire someone.”
“Really?”
She had just been openly teased right in front of her, but Se-a wasn’t the type to back down from something like that. Instead, it ignited her competitive spirit. She decided she had to increase the amount of time she spent with Se-hwan no matter what.
“Got it, see you later!”
“Huh? You’re leaving already?”
“I have to prepare for the interview!”
Se-a left without looking back. What she didn’t know was that the weekend part-time position had only opened because Se-hwan was quitting.
Watching Se-a practically fly out of the cafe, Se-hwan muttered in a slightly bewildered voice,
“The interview is just showing up in decent clothes… what is there to prepare…?”
“She’s cute. Is she your friend?”
At San’s question, Se-hwan’s brows furrowed deeply.
“Why are you pulling this weird prank again? Hurry up and order, then leave. You promised you wouldn’t bother me while I was working.”
“How could I not tease her when she reacts like that?”
“What reaction…?”
“Hey, Yoo Se-hwan! Why am I her sister?!”
“Then what was I supposed to say? You two look alike in a lot of ways, so I figured it’d be easy to pass off.”
“Why do I have to be related to someone like her…”
To the grumbling Seol-hwa, Se-hwan said,
“Just order your drinks and go wait somewhere.”
“…Caramel macchiato.”
“I’ll have an apple mango smoothie, please.”
“Why the hell would you order a smoothie, it’s so annoying…”
With a deep sigh, Se-hwan handed them a pager.
“Take this and wait.”
“Okay.”
Finally having driven the uninvited guests away from the counter, Se-hwan turned to start making the drinks. That was when the cafe door opened.
Ding-ding~
“Welcome.”
One person.
Ding-ding~
“Welcome.”
Two, three.
Ding-ding~
“…Welcome.”
Four, five, six…
Every single customer who walked in was male. And though they naturally walked up to the counter after entering, their eyes weren’t on the menu—they were looking somewhere else.
“Your order…”
“Ice Americano.”
It was ridiculous how every single one of them ordered the exact same thing. Their goal was way too obvious. Just moments ago, three beautiful women had been gathered at the counter. They must have seen it from outside and come in.
After that, more men who had been watching from outside kept pouring in. Thanks to them, Se-hwan had to keep brewing Americanos nonstop. He ground his teeth.
…These damn useless yokai bastards.
“Wow, your cafe is doing amazing business! There were so many customers!”
“……”
I had a lot I wanted to say, but I held it in. At least the boss was happy about the sales.
“Hey, are you seriously asking because you don’t know?”
Jang San looked genuinely confused, and Baek Seol-hwa stared at her like she had no idea what she was talking about.
There really were a disgusting number of customers.
It wasn’t for nothing that cafes hired pretty and handsome part-timers. I realized today just how powerful the advertising effect was just by having attractive people around.
Since Jeong Se-a would be taking my weekend shifts, I figured customer numbers would go up even more. Maybe the boss would raise my hourly wage.
“You mean you know?”
“How could I not?”
“What is it then?”
“I’m not telling you.”
“Why do you get to know and I don’t!”
A teasing Jangsanbeom messing with a dumb gumiho… it was quite the rare sight, but I really wished they would both stop. My brain felt like it was freezing over.
“That’s enough chatter. Let’s get to work. I want to go home and sleep as soon as possible.”
“Ah, okay.”
“Sure.”
We had come to Haeundae District and were climbing Mount Jangsan. Not the one standing next to me—the actual Mount Jangsan. It was the origin of the Jangsanbeom legend, a massive mountain that took up most of the district’s area.
From the top you could see the Gwangan Bridge, Centum City, Marine City—all the places with beautiful night views—so even in the evening, a lot of people hiked up. The mountain wasn’t that high to begin with, so it wasn’t dangerous either.
But since it was already past ten, there were hardly any people around.
“We have to get back before the subway stops running.”
“It’s fine even if it stops. You can just sleep over at my place.”
“Absolutely not.”
She was basically inviting me to walk into the tiger’s den on my own two feet. No way in hell.
“How far do we have to go up?”
“We need to go somewhere without people. If we get interrupted, things could go seriously wrong.”
What we were about to do was a ritual to extinguish calamity. We were going to burn away the image of ‘Jangsanbeom’ that Jang San had been forced to bear because of human rumors.
Originally, a calamity-extinguishing ritual was meant to destroy evil spirits that had gone beyond redemption. I only learned from Jang San that it could be used for something like this. That was why she needed an exorcist’s help.
The reason she specifically came to me was obvious… if she went to any other exorcist, they would obviously try to exterminate her.
She was right. Exorcists exterminated yokai on sight. Even the pure-hearted gumiho next to me would be done for if she ran into a real exorcist. She’d have a lightning talisman slapped on her forehead instantly.
“But is this going to be okay?”
“What?”
“You said you’ve never done the ritual before.”
It was true. I had never performed it myself. I had only observed my parents doing it… but I knew the theory inside and out, so I knew the method.
“It’ll work.”
“Wow, that’s so irresponsible.”
“What else can I do? There’s no one else who can do it. If you’re that worried, should I practice on you first?”
“Why am I suddenly the test subject?!”
While Baek Seol-hwa was having a fit, Jang San chuckled and said,
“It’s fine even if it fails. The only reason I came to you is because this is the only method. I wasn’t expecting it to succeed for sure.”
“…Do you know what happens if it fails?”
“I would completely take on the calamity and become Jangsanbeom itself, right? Then I really… wouldn’t be able to hold back the urge to eat humans. I would become the real Jangsanbeom from the urban legend.”
…She knew too well. I had nothing more to say.
“If that happens, you can take care of me.”
It was a little sad hearing those words from someone who had once been a sacred spiritual beast. Since ancient times, tigers had been seen as sacred spiritual beasts by the people. Some were even worshipped as mountain lords. Wasn’t the White Tiger one of the Four Guardian Deities?
Of course, that White Tiger looked quite different from a normal tiger… but it was still based on the worship of white-furred tigers as divine beings.
So was she that White Tiger? No. The White Tiger of the Four Guardians, even if not as powerful as before, was still revered and worshipped. It wouldn’t be swept up by something as trivial as an urban legend. She was probably just one of many tigers treated as sacred spiritual beasts. Maybe one of the mountain lords. We couldn’t know for sure.
“Since I know the method, as long as nothing unexpected happens, it should be fine.”
“…Yeah.”
We walked up a little higher and left the hiking trail. It was dangerous, but with two yokai next to me, there was no way I would get lost. We looked around for a flat spot suitable for the ritual. Since the slope wasn’t too steep, we quickly found a good place.
“Stand here.”
After telling Jang San to stand still, I rummaged through my bag and pulled out a thick stack of talismans. They were blank—there were no characters written on them yet, so they had no power.
I had to write on all these talismans for the ritual. I glanced at Baek Seol-hwa.
“If I pass out from anemia, take me to the hospital.”
“…Stop worrying about pointless things and just do it already.”
After getting a firm answer from her, I pricked the area below my thumb with a needle. When a drop of blood welled up, I began writing on the talismans. On each one, I wrote the character for extinguish.
Every time the blood stopped flowing, I pricked myself again. I don’t know how many I wrote. By the time I filled in the last blank sheet, I looked at my thumb, which was now a complete mess.
Even though I only drew a little blood each time, doing it repeatedly made my head throb and feel dizzy. My finger hurt too.
“Get me some ointment and a bandage from the bag.”
“…Are you okay? You look dizzy. I’ll do it.”
“…Thanks.”
When I held out my thumb, Seol-hwa applied the ointment and wrapped the bandage around it. After that, I placed the blood-written talismans in a circle around Jang San. I also stuck one on each nearby tree trunk, and finally arranged more talismans in a rectangular border around the area.
Now came the important part…
I need to light the candles…
They weren’t ordinary candles. They were special ones used for spirit purification. I wondered if the wildfire watchmen would see them. What if they thought I was an arsonist…?
“Keep an eye out to make sure no one’s coming.”
“Got it!”
Her confident answer only made me more anxious. Still, I had to do it. No choice.
I lit the candles with the lighter I had brought and placed them all around Jang San.
“Kneel down right there. And don’t hide your yoki—let it out fully.”
“Understood.”
As Jang San knelt, her red robe spread out across the ground. Then, just as I had instructed, she stopped concealing her energy and let it flow out openly.
“!”
“…Holy… crap…!”
Seol-hwa’s intense reaction and swearing were understandable. I couldn’t blame her.
“You really haven’t eaten any living people, right…?”
The yoki was so immense it made me doubt. The spirit-purifying candles, which almost never went out, flickered and nearly died before barely recovering. Comparing it to Seol-hwa’s yoki would be rude.
With her ears and nine tails fully revealed, Jang San said,
“You’re still saying that? Even if the spiritual energy left in corpses is less than that of living people, how many bodies do you think I’ve eaten? This much is only natural.”
…Well, she had posted stuff on the gallery about how thighs tasted good every day, so yeah.
“Plus, the spiritual energy I originally possessed is now manifesting as yoki.”
“…I see.”
We had to proceed with the ritual as quickly as possible. With so many lit candles, the area was very bright. Real wildfire watchmen might spot us. But the bigger danger was…
…With this much yoki, all the evil spirits in the area must have already reacted.
If any evil spirits drawn by the yoki tried to interfere, it would be a huge pain. The thousand-year-old idiot might handle it well, but still…
“Starting now.”
“Okay.”
Jang San knelt politely and closed her eyes. With the ancient robe draped over her, the scene overflowed with classical beauty, but there was no time to appreciate it.
Se-hwan immediately took a fan out of his bag and began to move. The reason shamans dance during rituals isn’t pointless. Although shamans and true exorcists are quite different, their dances still had a foundation.
Whoosh!
He spread the fan wide, extending his arm fully before drawing it back and closing the fan. Se-hwan moved as if dancing with joy. Yet there was nothing frivolous about it. Every motion was full of refined control. His stride, gestures, the movement of his wrists and ankles—everything was mysterious and precise.
Clack!
He spread the fan and thrust his arm forward before pulling it back toward his chest and closing it again. Sweat rolled down his cheek from the intense movements. Se-hwan danced in a circle around Jang San. His motions grew faster and more fierce, to the point sweat flew off him, but he never lost focus. Even his breathing was controlled as he poured everything into the ritual.
Seol-hwa watched in a daze. She had heard he came from an exorcist clan, but she hadn’t really felt it except when he used talismans or summoned familiars…
…He really is an exorcist.
She couldn’t take her eyes off the sight. Completely unaware of how burdensome Se-hwan found her gaze, she kept staring until she suddenly snapped back to her senses.
“…!”
Seol-hwa whipped her head around. It seemed the uninvited guests Se-hwan had mentioned had already arrived. Between the trees she narrowed her eyes at, long black hair appeared.
Crack!
The moment the dried, twisted fingers brushed against a tree, the bark shattered from the evil energy alone. The fingers looked so thin they might snap if touched, but they were abnormally long. The nails were just as long, and the hands themselves were twice the size of a human head.
“Yeah. With yoki this tempting, there was no way it would pass quietly, huh?”
Seol-hwa revealed the ears and tails she had been hiding. Her single white tail unraveled smoothly and split into nine. A round bead floated beside her. It was her fox bead, filled with Seol-hwa’s yoki.
The moment she revealed her yoki along with the fox bead, the evil spirit that had looked ready to charge hesitated. Her blue eyes sparkled with deep yoki.
“If you come any closer, you’ll regret it.”