Gyohyun pulled an object roughly the size of two finger joints from his pocket. Even at a glance, it was no ordinary keyring. A pink diamond encircled by smaller diamonds sparkled brilliantly at its center. That single stone alone was easily worth over three billion won. Factor in the surrounding diamonds, and the price climbed even higher. They said that on the day the keyring went missing, Yoon Hoseong had torn his house apart looking for it.
But that didn’t matter to Gyohyun. What mattered was the fact that this small thing had managed to ward off his curse, even if only temporarily.
The material itself holds no power. Which means the one who made this keyring is the problem….
Given its temporary effect, it wasn’t something deliberately crafted as a protective charm — whoever made it was most likely someone with Spirit Eyes. Even without being a shaman, when a person with a high level of spiritual energy was involved, something like this occasionally happened. And if that wasn’t the case — then perhaps this time, he had truly found the Noble One.
“What a relief.”
Chief Manager Seo expressed his relief over Yoon Hoseong’s death, but Gyohyun merely found it tiresome. His head throbbed. As he pressed his thumb repeatedly against the space between his brows, Chief Manager Seo asked with a worried look.
“Did you not sleep last night either?”
“Mm.”
As if it were only last night. Ever since he had inherited the evil spirit from his father, he hadn’t had a proper night’s sleep.
The firstborn sons of the Lee family had lived for generations sending malevolent energy toward others — and in return, that same poison had been steadily accumulating within their own bodies.
It began with mild headaches and insomnia, but as time passed, hallucinations and auditory delusions would worsen, and in the end, they would go mad and die, or take their own lives. That was the price they paid. The only way to escape this fate was to find the Noble One.
The Noble One was a special being who could cleanse the evil energy that had accumulated in the body. They were the only ones who could purify the malevolent spirit energy rooted within the firstborn’s body and bring him liberation. That was why they were called the Noble One.
Gyohyun’s grandfather had been freed from his suffering because his grandmother was the Noble One — but Gyohyun’s father had never found his Noble One in all his life, and ultimately died in madness.
Now it was Gyohyun’s turn. Gyohyun, too, had been unable to find his Noble One for over thirty years. Chief Manager Seo knew this well, and it showed on his face.
“Speaking of which, Chief Manager Seo.”
“Yes, Director.”
Chief Manager Seo looked at Gyohyun through the rearview mirror.
Gyohyun’s mismatched irises glinted in the mirror. The right eye, a blue like the open sea — the left, a deep black like the dead of night. The two colors quietly met each other, as if harboring some unfathomable power.
Gyohyun’s lips parted.
“Have you found the person who made the keyring?”
Chief Manager Seo, who had been looking puzzled, let his eyes widen slightly. How could he have forgotten. It was only natural to be curious — after all, the reason Yoon Hoseong, who should have died long ago, had managed to hold on to his life was because of that keyring.
“Ah, yes. I found them.”
Chief Manager Seo had served the Lee family for over twenty years, so he was privy to the family’s secrets as well.
“He’s a man in his early twenties who runs a small workshop in an alley near Hongwon Market. The workshop is called Cheongnang, and the owner’s name is Cha Siyun….”
Chief Manager Seo was about to continue his report when Gyohyun stopped him with a hand.
“That’s enough.”
The eyes that had seemed indifferent sharpened with a keen glint. The blue pupil of his right eye shone a little brighter for a moment, then returned to its usual state.
“As they say — seeing is worth a thousand words. I’ll meet him in person rather than hear about him.”
Just then, raindrops began to gather on the car window.
* * *
Siyun slowly drew a leather knife along the pattern. Swish — the sound of the blade parting the leather rang through the workshop. He was more careful around the curved sections, and on the straight lines he pressed a ruler down and cut through in a single stroke. He was just about to cut the final corner.
“Ah!”
The knife slipped, and the blade caught the index finger of his left hand. A sharp sting — blood welled up. Siyun quickly set the knife down and put his finger to his mouth. The faint taste of blood spread across his tongue. Fortunately it wasn’t deep, but a clean red line had been cut into the tip of his finger.
What is going on with me today?
Something had felt off from the very start.
It began with the bathroom light — which had been perfectly fine — going out, and then he had dropped and shattered a cup while doing the dishes. And now he had cut his finger with a knife. These were mistakes he would never normally make. Once the blood began to well up and eventually flow, Siyun finally scrambled to get the first aid kit. It wasn’t always like this, but he did get hurt often enough in ordinary life — tripping, things falling — so both the workshop and his home were stocked with ointment and bandages.
Doing his best to ignore the stinging pain, Siyun rubbed at his heavy eyelids with his hand. Nightmares had been following him lately, and he hadn’t been getting proper sleep at night.
“Huu….”
The content of the dreams he’d had over the past two days was nothing much, really. Two dogs — one black, one white — had appeared in a wide open field, and they looked like ordinary dogs at play, so he had watched them without any particular thought. But from the third night, the atmosphere had suddenly changed. Dark storm clouds gathered thick across the sky, and the two dogs began to growl at each other. Then they suddenly broke into a fierce fight.
But the dream he had in the early hours of this morning was on a completely different level from the ones before. The black dog bit the white dog’s throat and killed it, then transformed into a snake and swallowed the corpse whole in a single gulp. It was vivid — as though he were watching it happen right in front of him. Even after waking up, Siyun couldn’t breathe, as if it were his own throat that had been bitten.
Rumble. The sky groaned.
The color of the sky beyond the window looked ominous. It seemed ready to pour again.
A shiver — goosebumps prickled across his skin for a moment.
“Maybe I’m coming down with something.”
Since morning, an odd chill had kept washing over him. And every time it did, he quickly turned his head to look — but there was nothing there.
“…….”
His condition wasn’t great, and he was considering whether to close up early today and head home, when a KakaoTalk notification chimed.
Siyun reached toward his phone sitting on the workbench.
It was his friend Jinwoong. The moment Jinwoong saw that Siyun had read his message, another one came through immediately.
Jinwoong:
Have you thought about it?
Thought about what?
Jinwoong:
The haunted house. The haunted house.
I really want to go.
I told you when we met last time. There’s an incredible spot in Chungnam Province.
He was such a cheerful and loyal friend — Siyun genuinely liked him — but there was one fatal flaw. Jinwoong was obsessed with horror. And Siyun was the complete opposite.
That conversation’s over. I’m not going.
I can’t even handle abandoned buildings, let alone a haunted house. What do you think is even in there?
I’m saying it again — absolutely not. I’m not going.
Jinwoong:
Ah, seriously, how can you just shoot me down like that?
My birthday is next month, you know. Think of it as a birthday present and come with me, yeah?
Siyun frowned at the thought of a friend who was no longer satisfied with watching horror content on a screen and had started seeking out actual haunted locations in person.
No.
It was a rare refusal from Siyun, who was endlessly soft toward the people he considered his own.
Siyun hesitated for a moment, then quickly tapped at the keypad.
You said you wanted an air purifier before, right?
I’ll buy you that, so stop bringing up the haunted house. Let’s call it your birthday present.
He thought he might be able to coax Jinwoong with something material — but it wasn’t going to be that easy.
Jinwoong:
Just once? Please? Just o-o-once!
Siyun let out a sigh. When coaxing failed, he was debating whether to get firm with him instead.
Jinwoong:
