Fate 89

Chapter 89: The Changed Flow of Fate

Dohyuk’s eyebrow rose crookedly, his face contorting. This happened right after Yeon had just answered that he had a house under his own name.

“With what money?”

“I received a bankbook. A bankbook in my name with money collected from my client work. Lee Yeon-ssi gave it to me.”

Ha. A hollow laugh escaped him. So this was why they couldn’t track the fees that went into Muryeong. It seemed they hadn’t been collected as Muyeong’s personal assets, but were deposited separately under each shaman’s name. Now he understood why the fees deposited through Hovan Gallery had been divided and transferred to dozens of different names. Had Muyeong really just been protecting the shamans?

“I thought you said you didn’t have a name or family registry?”

Yeon had clearly explained that to Dohyuk when they first met. This time too, he nodded readily.

“I didn’t know that Master Muyeong had created identities for all the shamans. I guess he prepared for when we might leave, even though we could have stayed at Muryeong for life.”

Yeon didn’t seem to know the exact details either.

“Muryeong has been burned to the ground.”

At those words, Yeon’s expression hardened momentarily. But he soon nodded silently.

“You’re not sad about it.”

At Dohyuk’s observation, Yeon gave a bitter smile.

“When Lee Yeon-ssi told me that Master Muyeong had left without leaving any message, I’d already suspected something like this might happen.”

Yeon had noticed the various colored threads connecting Muyeong and all the shamans gradually fading. If Muryeong’s headquarters had been burned down, it would have been Muyeong’s will. So it wasn’t something for him to be sad about.

Dohyuk didn’t mention Muryeong anymore either. If Muryeong hadn’t been burned down and Muyeong hadn’t disappeared, he wouldn’t have said anything to Yeon at all. He was against Yeon returning to Muryeong above all else.

“What’s this fortune-telling café? And who was that woman?”

“Lee Yeon-ssi and Lee Je-ssi are siblings. It’s a bit different from Muryeong, but it seems like everyone in Lee Yeon-ssi’s family is born with unique abilities. I heard that Lee Yeon-ssi happened to connect with Muryeong somehow, and Master Muyeong entrusted me to her.”

Yeon told Dohyuk what he had heard from Lee Yeon about the day Kang Chahyuk’s car had overturned. After hearing everything, Dohyuk frowned. Muyeong had planned to take Yeon away from him from the beginning. If he had foreseen the accident that day, he could have asked Dohyuk for help, but he didn’t. Even after saving Yeon, he hid that fact and then Muyeong himself completely disappeared.

He couldn’t deny Chairman Kang Mansik’s words that they had set fire to Muryeong themselves out of pride. They chose to leave without a trace rather than become someone’s possession.

“I was in the hospital for a while after the accident, and after being discharged, I stayed here helping out at the café.”

“While reading people’s fortunes?”

When Dohyuk mocked him, Yeon shook his head with a faint smile.

“Taking orders, serving, that kind of work.”

No wonder it was harder to find him since he hadn’t shown any aspects of being a shaman. And since Dohyuk didn’t know Yeon’s registered name, it was inevitable that the search would be difficult.

“So what’s your name now?”

He needed to know his name at least, so he could find this guy again if he disappeared.

“Here.”

Instead of answering, Yeon placed an ID card on the table. It had Yeon’s photo and the name Lee Ha-yeon written on it. After checking even the birth date, Dohyuk let out an incredulous laugh.

“Is that your real birthday?”

“I’m not sure.”

Yeon answered that he wasn’t sure, but if Yeon had been born and raised in Muryeong, this birthday would probably be correct. Calculating his age, Dohyuk let out a groan. He was only twenty-two. There was almost a ten-year difference between them. He had thought Yeon looked young, but he was even younger than expected. It was mind-boggling that a mere twenty-two-year-old had acted as if he had mastered life.

“So you’re going to keep working here?”

“For a while, yes.”

“I oppose that.”

Dohyuk answered flatly.

“Find something you really want to do instead. Not here.”

Both the café owner and the woman called “noona” were also close to being shamans. If he left Yeon in a place like this, he would get entangled in those matters again.

“Besides, I don’t like that owner guy.”

Yeon stared at Dohyuk, who was acting coldly as if there was no room for reconsideration, and spotted a yellow thread rising behind Dohyuk.

“You don’t need to be jealous.”

“Who’s jealous of whom?”

“Lee Je-ssi has a proper fated partner.”

Proper. At that expression, Dohyuk’s face hardened. Yeon realized his mistake. He hadn’t specifically meant to compare them, but it was a slip-up.

“You said there were three ill-fated connections tied to me, right?”

When Dohyuk brought up what Yeon had said on their first day, Yeon closed his mouth.

“Kang Mansik and Kang Chahyuk. Who’s the third one?”

“…”

When Yeon couldn’t answer immediately, Dohyuk sighed deeply, saying he’d figured as much.

“You, bound by the red thread. You thought you were the ill-fated connection, right?”

Yeon didn’t say anything. He neither denied nor affirmed it. Dohyuk was silent for a moment too. After experiencing Yeon nearly dying before his eyes twice, he couldn’t definitively say that this red thread wasn’t an ill-fated connection.

But no matter what, he couldn’t let go. Like being pulled by some powerful invisible force, he wanted Yeon.

“What should I do?”

After a long while, Dohyuk asked. Yeon raised his head to look at him, wondering what he meant.

“I don’t mean I’ll let you go. I’m asking what I should do to be with you. What do I need to do for you to accept this red thread as fate, not an ill-fated connection?”

Fate… Yeon stared at Dohyuk without even blinking. He never expected to hear the word “fate” from his lips. This was a person who had said there was no such thing as fate, that he could change everything with his will. In fact, Kang Dohyuk had scoffed every time Yeon warned him about his ill-fated connections.

Now that same person was talking about fate. Telling Yeon that he wished he would accept it as his fate. How should he interpret this?

As Yeon’s gaze lowered, he suddenly looked at his own hand and his eyes widened. He saw something that shouldn’t exist. Thinking he might have seen wrong, he shook his head, closed his eyes, opened them again and looked once more, but it was still there.

A blue thread was tied together with the red thread.

“This can’t be…”

As Yeon moved his eyes following the direction of the blue thread, Kang Dohyuk was at its end. A blue thread tied to his hand was connected to the blue thread tied to Yeon’s finger.

“Are you saying it’s impossible to be with me?”

Dohyuk’s face immediately contorted.

“No. That’s not it…”

Yeon looked back and forth between his hand and Dohyuk’s hand several times.

“The thread…”

“Has it been cut?”

When Yeon hesitated and didn’t continue, Dohyuk’s face hardened even more.

“No…”

A blue thread has appeared. It was a simple statement, but he couldn’t voice it. He still couldn’t believe it himself. How could a thread that hadn’t existed before suddenly appear? This had never happened once in countless lifetimes.

Has something changed…? Had the flow of fate started flowing in a different direction because all of Kang Dohyuk’s ill-fated connections were properly severed? It would have been good if Muyeong was by his side at a time like this. Yeon could see the threads of connection as they were and sometimes cut or blur those connections depending on the circumstances, but he didn’t know how the overall fate flowed. Muyeong was not only the leader and protector of the Muryeong shamans but also their teacher. So he would have explained why this phenomenon occurred in a way Yeon could understand.

Not understanding the sudden change, he felt scared. He was afraid because he couldn’t predict where this flow, which was starting to differ from past lives, would go.

“I want to stay like this for a while.”

Dohyuk’s eyebrows twisted as he realized what Yeon meant by wanting to stay as is.

“You’re not coming back?”

“I’m not saying I won’t meet you. I’ll answer whenever you call. It’s fine if you come to find me, or I’ll come to meet you if Kang Dohyuk-ssi is busy. Just… I need some time for now.”

He needed to be certain that this blue thread he was seeing would really change his and Kang Dohyuk’s fate. Certainty that neither he nor Kang Dohyuk would experience the same things as before.

Dohyuk’s lips were set in a straight line, displeased with Yeon’s proposal, but he didn’t insist on taking him away right now either. If he had his way, he would have dragged Yeon away by force and kept him locked up somewhere only he could see. But Chairman Kang Mansik’s warning wouldn’t leave his mind.

The scene of Kang Chahyuk’s car exploding before his eyes flashed in his mind. If he tried to possess Yeon by force, everything might be burned down like Muryeong. This time, this guy might really disappear before his eyes.

That one possibility prevented him from acting forcefully like before.

Haah. After letting out a big sigh, Dohyuk called Director Choi and instructed him to bring a mobile phone right away. It was obvious that Yeon wouldn’t have gotten a phone for himself.

“Ah… I can do it myself.”

Yeon declined, having guessed Dohyuk’s intention, but this was one thing Dohyuk couldn’t compromise on. In exchange for letting him go as he wished for now, he felt he could only be at ease if he installed a location-tracking app on the phone.

About 30 minutes later, Director Choi returned with an activated phone. Since it was the same model Yeon had used before, there was no need to explain how to use it.

“Hey.”

Café owner Lee Je, who had been watching Yeon and Dohyuk from the counter after returning from his errand, called out to Yeon. When Yeon turned around, Lee Je frowned and strode over to their table.

“Let me see that.”

Without waiting for an answer, Lee Je took Yeon’s phone and manipulated it.

“This. Did you consent to this?”

After finding the hidden location-tracking app, he showed the screen to Yeon and asked.

“Ah…”

Yeon turned to look at Dohyuk. Though caught installing the app secretly, Dohyuk faced Yeon without showing any hint of apology.

“It’s okay.”

Yeon answered as he took back the phone from Lee Je.

“If it makes him feel at ease, it can stay.”

“If you’re fine with it, then whatever…”

Lee Je’s gaze turned to Dohyuk.

“I still don’t like it.”