Eun Seonmyeong, who arrived at Chairman Lee’s house, didn’t go right in and waited for Han Seolju and Ban Hanseong to arrive. After waiting about ten minutes, Ban Hanseong’s car stopped. The person who got out of the driver’s seat was Han Seolju. Shortly after, Ban Hanseong, whose face was haggardly pale, got out of the passenger seat. Ban Hanseong, who was pale as if he’d suffered severe motion sickness, ran to Shim Iyul as soon as he saw him.
“Why is your face like that?”
“I-I feel nauseous.”
Ban Hanseong rubbed his stomach as if about to throw up any moment. From the moment he thought about seeing Lee Seonghun, his insides had started to twist. Was it twelve years since that incident? No, thirteen years? Anyway, even though it was well over ten years ago, his hands trembled when he thought of Lee Seonghun.
He’d pretended to be fine in front of Eun Seonmyeong and Han Seolju, but in fact he wasn’t. Even when he’d told Shim Iyul about it as if it were an amusing past incident, it had actually been hard. Of course it was. To Ban Hanseong, Lee Seonghun was a vise squeezing his heart, and an enormous fear that was hard to overcome. Because of him, he became afraid of humans, which had already been difficult. If it hadn’t been for the sense of duty that he needed to resolve the resentment of wronged spirits, he probably would never have thought of going outside the house for his entire life. What had given him the courage to go outside the house was purely the desire to help wronged ghosts. But humans were still scary. One-on-one was somewhat bearable if he forced himself, but one against many was hard. Especially seeing male students clustered together—even seeing them from afar made it hard to breathe and sometimes brought on panic attacks.
“Breathe.”
When Ban Hanseong couldn’t breathe well, Shim Iyul clicked his tongue and stroked his back. Ban Hanseong, who had been repeating rapid breaths following Shim Iyul’s touch, finally calmed down and smiled awkwardly.
“Th-thank you, Fox-nim.”
“Let’s go in now. We need to watch the human who made you like this writhing in pain. I went and saw this morning, and it was fun. I’ll make it fun for you too.”
Shim Iyul excitedly led Ban Hanseong as if going to ride an amusement park ride. Ban Hanseong took deep breaths and carefully followed Shim Iyul.
Eun Seonmyeong pressed the doorbell, and the gate opened immediately. The four entered through the gate.
“E-Eun daepyo! O-our Seonghun is making a fuss saying his left arm hurts, and he even fainted and just woke up!”
This time, instead of the woman he’d seen in the morning, Chairman Lee himself ran out to the entrance with tears welling up and spoke urgently. The arrogance that had remained until this morning was completely gone. Without saying anything, Eun Seonmyeong passed him and went up to the second floor. Lee Seonghun’s wailing filled the house.
Opening the door, he saw Lee Seonghun pressing his left arm with his right arm while crying. Eun Seonmyeong and Shim Iyul approached the bed.
“Oh? Two more have increased?”
The goljinchung inside Lee Seonghun’s body had already increased to three. Those three were aggressively sucking away the essence from Lee Seonghun’s left arm. Han Seolju and Ban Hanseong also entered the room and looked down at Lee Seonghun. Han Seolju’s expression was cold as ice, and Ban Hanseong’s was subtle.
“Fuck, you bastard Eun Seonmyeong! Don’t just watch, d-do something!!!”
Lee Seonghun, who had been screaming at Eun Seonmyeong while suffering as if dying, discovered Han Seolju and Shim Iyul and twisted his expression. Ban Hanseong, who had been hiding, cautiously revealed his face.
“You fucking bastards, coming in a group… Is this a spectacle!!!”
Ban Hanseong cautiously took one more step forward. Even though his entire body was revealed before Lee Seonghun, he didn’t recognize Ban Hanseong.
Ban Hanseong, who had been taking short breaths to calm his mind, called out to Lee Seonghun with a trembling voice.
“S-sunbae.”
“What? Do you know me?”
Even though he’d called him sunbae, Lee Seonghun just frowned at Ban Hanseong without showing any sign of recognition. Ban Hanseong, who had been quietly looking down at that sight, laughed hollowly. They say the one who hits sleeps with legs stretched out while the one who was hit sleeps curled up—it was exactly that situation, which was somehow funny.
“Gaju, Seonghun-sunbae doesn’t seem to remember me.”
He’d thought he would at least remember. Even if he wasn’t sorry, he’d thought he wouldn’t have forgotten. But Lee Seonghun had completely forgotten. For some reason, that made him angry.
“What sunbae. Just call him a scumbag.”
Eun Seonmyeong replied indifferently.
“Who are you?!”
“Can’t you tell even though you’re seeing me come with them? A thoughtless bastard with a bad head too.”
Lee Seonghun, who had been panting and thinking for a while, finally remembered Ban Hanseong.
“Ah, that pathetic and pitiful shaman bastard. Motherfucker, so you came to gleefully watch because I’ve become like this! The bastard who couldn’t even raise his head in front of me! I should have just killed you back then! Once I get up, I won’t let you off!”
When Lee Seonghun twisted his face like a yaksha and threatened him, Shim Iyul blocked the back of Ban Hanseong, who had flinched and stumbled backward without realizing it. Ban Hanseong’s body, unable to retreat further because Shim Iyul had blocked him, trembled finely. It felt like the fear from that day long ago was coming back to life. Sensing that, Shim Iyul slyly grabbed Ban Hanseong’s hand and sneered at Lee Seonghun.
“You trashy human who’s not even recyclable. You’ll never get up again. You’ll spend your whole life lying down shitting yourself.”
How dare this human who should have his breath cut off right now make Ban Hanseong feel scared?
“Fuck, who the hell are you?!”
“A great being that trash like you doesn’t need to know.”
“I’ll kill you!!!”
“Who is this insignificant human threatening?”
When Shim Iyul, who had spoken in a dismissive tone, let yogi flow in, Lee Seonghun screamed.
“See? He’s an insignificant bastard not even worth a bite.”
“Fox-nim…”
“Why are you scared of such an insignificant bastard who has no value to you?”
Shim Iyul said while looking at Ban Hanseong. Ban Hanseong glanced sideways at Shim Iyul, who was looking down at Lee Seonghun like an insignificant insect with his arms crossed, then exhaled deeply. The words about being insignificant and having no value somehow resonated with him. Shim Iyul was right. The people who have value to Ban Hanseong are only Eun Seonmyeong and Han Seolju. And though not human, there were Shim Iyul, Chwiweol, and Taeho.
He felt like a layer of fear had been peeled away. Looking at him now, Lee Seonghun was just a mere human too. A very insignificant one with no value to him.
“That’s right. He’s insignificant.”
Why had he been so afraid and scared? What had been so terrifying? Why had he feared such a human until now, even having nightmares sometimes? Looking at him now, he was just an insignificant human dying unable to handle mere insects. Of course, they weren’t ordinary insects.
“E-Eun daepyo! Please save him. Save my son!”
Chairman Lee, who had been in the hallway and heard Lee Seonghun’s desperate screams, suddenly dropped to his knees and pleaded. Ban Hanseong looked down blankly at Chairman Lee shedding tears. Eun Seonmyeong also gazed at him coldly. Chairman Lee, who had been unhesitating when trampling on other people’s children, also had tears. That fact was funny. They seemed as worthless as crocodile tears. Eun Seonmyeong gestured with his eyes at Chairman Lee, who was kneeling and crying, while saying “Watch carefully” to Ban Hanseong.
“Eun daepyo! Please save him. I can prepare the money right away!”
“I’ll try for now, but even with my power I might not be able…”
In Eun Seonmyeong’s eyes as he spoke in an insincere tone without an ounce of sincerity, he saw a housekeeper coming up the stairs holding a tray. Eun Seonmyeong stared at her blankly, and she also silently received his gaze without avoiding it. Why? Kang Sowon overlapped with the housekeeper’s face.
The next moment, Eun Seonmyeong smiled.
“Kang Sowon-ssi.”
Kang Sowon’s reaction was calm. Her eyebrows twitched, but that was all. Rather, Ban Hanseong’s reaction was more intense. He turned around with wide eyes, asking as if to confirm, “Really Kang Sowon?” then muttered to himself, “She looks different from the photo.”
“Yes. I am Kang Sowon. Did you come to exorcise the insect inside that beast who’s worse than an animal?”
Kang Sowon pointed at Lee Seonghun, full of disgust. Eun Seonmyeong met her eyes full of venom and hatred, then gave his gaze to Shim Iyul.
“Can you put those father and son to sleep for a moment?”
Shim Iyul nodded and let a bit of yogi flow into Chairman Lee and Lee Seonghun, making them lose consciousness.
“Did Kang Sowon-ssi feed the goljinchung to that bastard Lee Seonghun?”
“Yes, I fed it to him.”
With no intention of denying it, Kang Sowon readily admitted it.
“I couldn’t stand watching that monster who drove my younger brother and mother to death living perfectly fine!”
“…”
“Three years ago, do you know what that beast said to my mother, who came here saying she heard that beast had returned to Korea and couldn’t bear it without receiving even a single word of apology? He said my brother died because he was a cripple.”
Three years ago, Kang Sowon’s mother, Hyeon Gyeonghwa, had visited Lee Seonghun and his father for the first time in about ten years. Saying she felt like she could live only if she received even a false apology. To the request to apologize, even if it was just empty words, please say he was sorry, Lee Seonghun sneered coldly.
“Auntie. Your son died because he was like a cripple, so why are you telling me to apologize?”
Lee Seonghun had no sense of guilt. How could he mock a mother who had lost her child and was in despair? If he was human, if he had even the minimum conscience, he shouldn’t have done that.
Her mother, who had received another great wound to her heart, took to her bed as soon as she came home and passed away a month later after languishing. After that, Kang Sowon’s world turned into perfect darkness, and only a desire for revenge remained in her heart. She couldn’t forgive Lee Seonghun, who had pushed her family into hell. Her whole body trembled with rage. Those two father and son weren’t humans but beasts, monsters. She thought that to deal with monsters, she had no choice but to become a monster. She resolved to willingly become a monster or even a demon.
A year ago, Kang Sowon opened the warehouse her maternal grandfather had hidden. Inside were various yokai insects that the Hyeon Family had collected during its brilliant past, and books left by her ancestors. She holed herself up in the warehouse and studied her ancestors’ books. Yokai couldn’t be handled carelessly. If handled wrongly, the yokai could harm even innocent humans. Though she was a descendant of the Hyeon Family, she had almost no spiritual energy and could only see ghosts and evil things faintly. After desperately studying to find insects that wouldn’t harm other people and would only torment Lee Seonghun and his father, what she chose were the goljinchung and hyeolhyeopchung. The insects inside the special solution created by the Hyeon Family’s ancestors hadn’t died but were sleeping, so they could be used.
Kang Sowon changed her face slightly with plastic surgery and entered Lee Seonghun’s house as a housekeeper. Naturally, Lee Seonghun and his father didn’t recognize her. Living as a housekeeper while swallowing her desire for revenge every day, she looked for an opportunity and fed Lee Seonghun the goljinchung. Watching him writhe in pain every day as the goljinchung sucked the essence from his bones, she prayed for the peace of her dead brother and mother. She felt that those two could finally rest in peace now. She had no guilt. Lee Seonghun was just receiving the punishment he deserved.
When she was suffering, unable to overcome her resentment and anger toward Lee Seonghun and his father, someone had told her to forgive. To forgive everything and be at ease. Those words were another wound to Kang Sowon. No one could force her to forgive. They shouldn’t have.
“I didn’t expect Chairman Lee to call the Eun gaju. There’s no way he wouldn’t call the gaju of the Eun Family, the last remaining exorcist family, so I was foolish.”
Kang Sowon smiled bitterly. Her mother had fantasies about the past glory of the brilliant Hyeon Family, so from when she was young, she often told Kang Sowon about exorcists. She also told her about the Eun Family. Her mother had evaluated the Eun Family as ‘an exorcist family even greater than the Hyeon Family.’
When she saw Eun Seonmyeong this morning, her heart became anxious and she fed him two more insects. It was because of the impatience that Eun Seonmyeong might exorcise the goljinchung even though the lump in her heart hadn’t fully dissolved yet.
“I have no intention of interfering with Kang Sowon-ssi’s revenge.”
Eun Seonmyeong said calmly. Then doubt flickered in Kang Sowon’s eyes.
“…?”
“The reason I accepted Chairman Lee’s commission was because I was concerned the goljinchung might transfer to innocent people.”
“The ones I fed have no reproductive ability.”
“I know.”
“Really… you won’t exorcise them?”
Eun Seonmyeong shrugged.
“Is there a reason I must? If my ability doesn’t reach it, I can’t do it.”
“…”
There was no way the gaju of the Eun Family, whom her mother had evaluated so highly, lacked the ability to eliminate the goljinchung. Kang Sowon looked at Eun Seonmyeong blankly, then turned her gaze and gave it to Shim Iyul. She’d felt it from when she first saw him this morning, but he had a beautiful appearance to the point of not seeming human, and she could faintly sense a bewitching energy from him.
“That person over there… doesn’t seem to be human.”
At those words, Shim Iyul raised his chin and said primly.
“I am a great Fire Fox.”
