“It hurts! I said it hurts!!! Fuck, it’s killing me!!!”
Lee Seonghun thrashed his body while screaming. Currently, his body was restrained to the bed. It wasn’t a problem if he injured the caregiver in his violent struggles, unable to bear the pain. He didn’t care whether some caregiver got hurt or not. Money could solve that.
However, they had no choice but to tie him down because Lee Seonghun would sometimes fall off the bed while struggling, or bang his head against the wall, and so on. It was to preserve his son’s body even a little.
“It’s okay. You’ll be fine soon. This father will definitely cure you.”
Chairman Lee gripped Lee Seonghun’s hand tightly and spoke in an earnest tone. It was truly hard to watch his precious only son of five generations, whom he treasured more than his own eyes, suffering in pain. It felt like someone was stabbing his heart with a knife.
“Do something!!! I’m dying from the pain!!”
“Yes, I’ll cure you. Of course I will. Even if I have to spend my entire fortune, I’ll cure you. Just trust Father.”
After speaking as if making a vow, Chairman Lee stood up and signaled to the medical staff with his eyes. Then a male nurse restrained Lee Seonghun, and the doctor quickly administered a sedative. Lee Seonghun, who had been breathing heavily and venting his pain and resentment for a while longer, finally fell asleep. He trembled in pain even while sleeping, but it was still better to force him to sleep.
Chairman Lee let out a heavy sigh and stroked his sleeping son for a long while before coming down to the reception room. Then he saw Kim Intaek.
“Bora, bring me a glass of cold water.”
After asking the housekeeper for cold water, Chairman Lee sat in the seat of honor on the reception room sofa and asked Kim Intaek, “How did it go?” He had gotten angry enough to raise his voice at the rude Eun Seonmyeong’s attitude and left, but when he looked into it separately afterward, that arrogant brat really was the best. Above all, there were no other exorcists left besides that damn bastard. If it were a ghost possession, a shaman could have resolved it, but unfortunately, his son’s problem wasn’t a ghost.
After visiting the Eun family, he mobilized all his connections to bring in an eminent monk who said that what was eating away at his son’s body was a yokai, and only an exorcist could exorcise yokai. In the past, some monks with high spiritual power could also exorcise yokai, but now it was impossible, so he left saying to visit the Gaju of the Eun family. Chairman Lee lamented but had no other choice. However, he couldn’t visit in person due to his pride. So he sent Kim Intaek.
“He told you to come visit him yourself and ask sincerely.”
Kim Intaek, unable to convey Eun Seonmyeong’s words verbatim, softened them as much as possible, but even that much made Chairman Lee angry as if insulted. Chairman Lee, who had struck the armrest, shouted angrily.
“Who does he think he is, telling me to come or not! That arrogant bastard. And what, ask? A lowly shaman at that.”
Eun Seonmyeong was technically not a shaman but an exorcist and hunter, but Kim Intaek didn’t bother to correct the title. To Chairman Lee, shamans and hunters would be the same thing anyway. Instead, he tried to gently persuade the reddened and furious Chairman Lee.
“CEO Eun has a rather strong personality. He absolutely doesn’t bend to someone stronger. Rather, if you try to press down on him, he bounces back like a spring.”
“A rebellious spirit. In the old days, he would have become a traitor!”
Kim Intaek, who swallowed a sigh inwardly at Chairman Lee’s attitude of trying to disparage Eun Seonmyeong by any means, continued to persuade calmly.
“That’s why it would be better for you to bend this time. You need to save Seonghun, don’t you?”
“……”
The housekeeper brought cold water. Chairman Lee picked up the cup and drank it all at once.
“How long will you leave Seonghun like that? I could hear his painful groans all the way here. Didn’t Master Mujeong also say that only CEO Eun could do it?”
“Tsk. Go to that bastard and tell him I’ll give him a billion won.”
“CEO Eun is greedy for money, but he doesn’t sell his pride for money.”
“Two billion!”
Kim Intaek let out a sigh. Even if offered three billion, Eun Seonmyeong didn’t seem like he would bend. Eun Seonmyeong was the complete opposite of his father, Eun Daewon. Eun Daewon was a good-natured nice person. To put it negatively, he was close to being a pushover. So even after being used and stabbed in the back, he would just laugh it off.
“Why don’t you visit him yourself and sincerely ask? His condition is getting worse, so how long will you just watch? I’m telling you clearly, CEO Eun is the only one who can cure Seonghun’s body.”
“I’ll… think about it.”
Chairman Lee, who spoke as if chewing the words, gripped the armrest. Kim Intaek glanced at his whitened knuckles and then stood up. Five years ago, he had gotten involved because he met him at a gathering and received significant financial help a couple of times, but it seemed he had done his duty with this much. The rest was Chairman Lee’s responsibility.
***
“You really used my body like a canvas. Are you a hunter or a painter?”
Shim Iyul muttered as he entered Eun Seonmyeong’s bathroom, thinking he should take a shower after rolling around in Eun Seonmyeong’s room. His chest reflected in the mirror was covered in marks. And how much had he sucked on his nipples that one side was still bigger. It even ached when he touched it lightly.
Of course, given his usual recovery speed, this much would heal quickly and become fine.
‘That’s strange?’
But his body was cleaner than expected. His last memory from last night was definitely rolling around in Eun Seonmyeong’s room and falling asleep as if fainting. He didn’t remember washing, but his body was as clean as if he had just come out from swimming under a waterfall. Shim Iyul’s face turned slightly red as he scratched his cheek and looked at the mirror.
If he hadn’t washed himself while completely asleep, then Eun Seonmyeong must have washed him, and imagining Eun Seonmyeong turning his sleeping body this way and that way, washing him cleanly…
‘Damn, why am I like this again?’
His heat cycle had definitely ended, but his lower half was trying to get excited for no reason. Shim Iyul sat down with his thighs together and thought of the White Fox and Mr. Park. After a moment, his groin returned to normal. As expected, thinking of enemies was the best for calming his lower half.
Standing naked in the bathroom and pondering for a moment, Shim Iyul hastily put his clothes back on.
‘Since the hunter washed me, I don’t need to wash again, right?’
As soon as he returned to the room, the phone rang. He hurried over and checked the screen – it was the shaman.
“What?”
Shim Iyul answered the phone with an inexplicable sense of disappointment.
— Fox-nim. If we talk on the phone too long, you’ll be exposed to electromagnetic waves, so I’ll be brief. Come visit!
“I’ll go next time.”
— I’ll buy you an Einspänner.
“I already had one. Someone bought it for me. I’ll go next time. Hanging up.”
There was no reason to take refuge at Ban Hanseong’s house since the room was warm and cozy, as if a good boiler had been installed only in his room. He didn’t feel like going out in this cold weather either. Shim Iyul, who had thought up various excuses for not visiting Ban Hanseong’s house, burrowed deep into the blanket.
“Ugh, it smells like the hunter.”
Shim Iyul, who trembled as if disgusted, pulled the blanket tight.
Eun Seonmyeong, who had parked his car in front of the house, didn’t get out right away. The inside of the car quickly grew cold after he turned off the engine, but somehow he couldn’t get out immediately. After dry-washing his face, Eun Seonmyeong, who had laid down on the steering wheel, turned his head to the left. Then he could see the Exorcism Talisman attached to the center of the tightly closed gate. Since he had given permission to enter, there was a hole in the center of the Exorcism Talisman that had become meaningless to Shim Iyul…
“Hm?”
That’s strange. Only then did Eun Seonmyeong get out of the car and approach the gate, letting out a hollow laugh. There was a tiny hole in the center of the Exorcism Talisman. It was such a small hole that you wouldn’t notice unless you looked carefully. Naturally, the talisman would have completely lost its function.
“That fox bastard, really.”
The culprit was obvious. It must be the Fire Fox. As if he had never hesitated, Eun Seonmyeong, who hurriedly pushed open the tightly closed door and entered, was about to head to the annex when he turned his body. He remembered that he had permitted him to stay in his room due to the boiler breakdown.
When he opened the door, he saw Shim Iyul lying on the bedding, giggling while looking at his phone.
“You’re back?”
Shim Iyul, who had only lifted his head slightly upon sensing a presence, greeted him half-heartedly. When he approached to see what he was looking at so intently, it was a webtoon.
“Fox bastard.”
“What?”
“Fox bastard!”
“What is it?”
Shim Iyul answered absentmindedly with his eyes fixed on his phone. Eun Seonmyeong’s eyes turned fierce. That fox bastard, tainted to the core by the secular world, didn’t even look at him despite being called twice? Displeased, Eun Seonmyeong snatched the phone from Shim Iyul’s hand.
“Ah, why!”
Only then did Shim Iyul sit up and show his annoyance.
“The Exorcism Talisman on the gate…”
Shim Iyul’s body flinched. His fiercely raised eyes also softened. He seemed to know well the sin he had committed.
“You saw it?”
“…What did you do? Why did you poke a hole in a perfectly good Exorcism Talisman?”
“It’s a bit annoying to always carry the entry talisman on me. So when you were suffering from the curse, I grabbed a passerby and asked them to poke a tiny, very tiny hole… How did you find out? You didn’t notice for several days, so I thought you’d never know.”
No matter how much he had an entry talisman, it was too much to directly touch the talisman. So when he happened to see a human passing by, he called them and asked them to poke a small hole, and the human did as told without even asking why. With a smile full of goodwill toward Shim Iyul.
Later, when they absurdly said, “By any chance, could I get your contact info…” he ignored them.
Anyway, after that, not only the house owner Eun Seonmyeong but also Ban Hanseong and Han Seolju didn’t know, so he thought he wouldn’t keep getting caught.
“Was it a man?”
“Huh?”
“The one who removed the talisman… No, wait, are you not in your right mind?”
“Even without the talisman, ordinary wandering ghosts can’t come near because of your spiritual energy, so what does it matter if I poked a hole!”
“……”
At times like this, shamelessness was the answer – thinking ‘what are you going to do about the hole that’s already poked?!’ he stared, and Eun Seonmyeong’s eyes gradually became fiercer. Shamelessness didn’t work. Only then did Shim Iyul change tactics and smiled like when bewitching humans.
“If wandering ghosts invade, I’ll just chase them out for you. Trust this fox talisman. I’ll be much better than that mere paper talisman.”
“That mere paper talisman I drew very diligently with all my heart! This is the third warning.”
“…?”
“Don’t act coy.”
Eun Seonmyeong, who extended his index finger to forcibly return Shim Iyul’s upturned mouth corners to their original position, turned his head.
“Didn’t you say your heat cycle ended?”
“I did.”
“But then…”
Why can I sense pheromones? The moment Shim Iyul smiled, he felt thick pheromones that seemed to shake his chest. His mind instantly became dizzy, and heat was gathering in his lower half.
