After entering this house with a good and pure face and a year and six months passing, Shin Mua gradually revealed his true colors. He began to act as if he were Cheon Jieon’s affectionate lover or husband, and wanted to be treated accordingly.
When Jieon didn’t move according to his will, he treated others and himself violently, and as days went by, the level of self-harm increased so he couldn’t carelessly kick him out.
Even if his words were cold, Jieon couldn’t become cruel enough to leave someone who was self-harming alone. And above all, he was scared Shin Mua might shock his grandfather who was only now gradually finding stability.
However, despite Jieon’s efforts, Shin Mua didn’t improve but rather became increasingly vicious, and Jieon, who had reached his limit, finally notified him of divorce. If he held out this time too, he planned to use any means necessary.
Then the accident happened, and now Shin Mua was eating rice at dawn claiming he’d lost his memory. It was maddening.
“Shouldn’t we take him to a psychiatrist or something?”
Suchan, who had been pacing around the room for a while, muttered.
“No. He’s just putting on a show, I’m telling you.”
Jieon immediately retorted. The unfamiliar fear he’d felt toward Shin Mua at dawn suddenly came to mind, but he thought perhaps that was exactly the point he’d intended to avoid suspicion.
“Don’t say that and just take him once. If he’s really putting on a show, wouldn’t a professional’s eyes see something?”
“Hmm….”
Jieon furrowed his brow. Listening to it, Suchan’s words made sense. Even if the amnesia was false, the accident might have affected Shin Mua. Like how someone who was already half-crazy became crazier from accident aftereffects.
“Ah, really, I’m already aching and hurting all over, and now that thing has to be bothersome too.”
Jieon, who had been thinking about various possibilities, suddenly threw a fit at the oncoming headache and sprawled on the bed. He wondered what kind of suffering this was just from meeting the wrong person.
Suchan hurriedly approached Jieon’s side and soothed him.
“Just calm down for now. Even though you were discharged, they said you need to rest for the time being. I’ll talk to Mua first.”
“You brought the divorce papers, right?”
“Yeah, I brought them.”
“Psychiatrist or whatever, the best thing is just to divorce like this. Whether you coax him, sweet-talk him, or threaten him, you try persuading him well first. Okay?”
“Okay okay, I’ll talk to him well. You rest.”
Suchan spoke with a fairly reliable attitude. He was someone Jieon’s grandfather had personally selected, and had been by his side since Jieon was in middle school. Though he wasn’t real blood family and introduced himself as a secretary in front of others, he was practically like a real older brother.
When his younger brother was suffering this much, helping as his secretary and older brother was human nature. Suchan made a resolute determination to persuade Shin Mua somehow.
However, there were many things in the world that couldn’t be solved with determination alone.
“Where is the person in question, and why are you doing this?”
Suchan stared blankly at Mua, who glared up at him with clear, pure-looking eyes and protested. Persuasion or whatever—when the other party used such ridiculous speech, one’s fighting spirit was lost first.
“Jieon’s will is firm. You say you don’t remember, but this married life is already broken. There’s no point being stubborn—it’ll only make things harder for you.”
“Mm.”
“Even if you divorce, as contracted, the house, money, your share—you can get everything properly. If you want, we’ll continue to help with treatment. You have the contract too, so we can’t back out. So don’t make it tiring for both of us, okay? This is all for your sake….”
“So why are you saying this instead of the marriage… no, contract party? Tell him if he wants something, to come to Cheon Jieon directly.”
“I’m trying to talk nicely here, really… Hey, this won’t be good for you either.”
Suchan leaned toward him with a threatening face and spoke. Whether it resolved as he wanted or not, he needed to break Shin Mua’s spirit first. Suchan was nearly 2 meters tall with a large build, and most people would step back even when he spoke with a smiling face.
But how could a human’s size be threatening to a grim reaper who’d spent a hundred years in the Afterlife?
Mua said without batting an eye.
“Bring Cheon Jieon.”
“……”
“I have something to say to that kid.”
The moment Suchan, fed up with the stubborn Mua, opened his mouth to snap at him, a familiar voice was heard from behind.
“What do you have to say?”
It was Jieon.
“Why did you come out? I’ll handle it, so go inside and rest.”
Perhaps embarrassed at having stepped forward confidently but not solving anything, Suchan unnecessarily added words. Jieon, who glanced at him, sat down in front of Shin Mua and opened his mouth.
“When we can’t communicate, what handling? Forget it, I’ll do it. So what do you have to say to me?”
Jieon’s gaze turned to Mua again. Without avoiding his eyes, Mua said to Suchan.
“It’s a conversation for just us two, so I’d appreciate it if you’d leave.”
“No, I’ll also stay here…!”
“It’s okay, hyung. We’ll talk just the two of us. I’m very curious what kind of nonsense he’s trying to say.”
Jieon stopped Suchan, who wanted to stay saying he was worried something might happen. He was honestly curious what Shin Mua wanted to say with just the two of them. Surely it wouldn’t be the obvious line that he can’t divorce no matter what.
“Will you be okay?”
Suchan asked worriedly. Jieon waved his hand lightly.
“I’m not a child. It’s fine, it’s fine.”
“I’ll be in the room right next door.”
Suchan added words like a warning to Mua and stood up. Actually facing Shin Mua up close, he couldn’t erase an inexplicable anxiety. It was because his gentle eyes seemed strangely off. He definitely wasn’t normal.
After Suchan entered the room, Mua spoke in an indifferent voice.
“How old are you that you still need a guardian?”
“He’s not a guardian, he’s a secretary.”
Jieon immediately retorted. Honestly, it stung a bit, but he tried not to show it.
“So what do you have to say? Don’t tell me it’s some obvious thing like you don’t remember this marriage but absolutely can’t divorce?”
Facing Jieon who was openly provoking him, Mua spoke confidently.
“I can’t divorce.”
“…What?”
At Jieon, who reflexively asked back doubting his ears at the shameless confidence, Mua answered again clearly, letter by letter.
“I. Can’t. Di. Vorce.”
“No, really hey! Are you joking with me right now?”
“You asked, so I answered.”
“Why can’t you divorce?”
“Right now, I’m not in a situation where I can divorce.”
“What, because of that damn amnesia?”
Jieon was almost at the point of explosion. If his heart had its way, he wanted to flip over the table in front of him.
They’d repeated this “Divorce!” “I can’t!” shit for months. He was just sick of it all. Whether he went to his grandfather right now and told him or not, Jieon really wanted to stop seeing Shin Mua.
“No. Not because of amnesia. Actually, I don’t have amnesia.”
At that moment, completely unexpected words came from Shin Mua’s mouth. At the unexpected story, Jieon’s eyes, briefly dazed, sparkled.
“See? I knew it. You were acting all along, right?”
“Don’t get excited already. It’s just that it’s not amnesia—not remembering is the same either way.”
“What?”
“Listen carefully from now on.”
Shin Mua’s voice became very low. It was a tone he’d never heard even once before the accident.
His face that looked much younger than his age, his small build enough to be mistaken for an omega—everything was the same, yet strangely, Shin Mua right now looked like an immensely huge and mysterious being.
Jieon held his breath at the inexplicable pressure, and Shin Mua continued.
“Actually, I’m not Shin Mua.”
“……?”
“On the day of the accident, Shin Mua died. And I came to collect his soul and got caught up in an unknown accident.”
“…What?”
“Do you understand what I’m saying? I’m a grim reaper of the Afterlife trapped in Shin Mua’s body by an unexpected accident. I don’t remember past events because I’m not Shin Mua.”
At that moment, Cheon Jieon thought: If rumors spread that Shin Mua had completely lost his mind, would that affect the company’s stock price?
It was truly a confusing world for there to be such diverse ways of going crazy.
“Hey, are you really joking with me?”
Jieon asked back in a voice that sounded somewhat helpless. When he’d been lenient, wasn’t it getting worse day by day? In a situation where even amnesia was questionable to believe, suddenly what? A grim reaper? It was so absurd he felt like laughing.
“I know it’s hard to believe. I had a hard time accepting it too. But it’s something you need to know, so I explained it.”
Whether Jieon was dumbfounded or not, Mua still maintained composure. He literally knew Cheon Jieon wouldn’t believe it at once.
Even Mua himself, when he was human, wouldn’t have believed it if someone had said such things. Because he hadn’t thought the Afterlife actually existed until the moment of death.
Nevertheless, the reason Mua was honestly confessing today had sufficient justification.
He’d thought a lot after Sangmyeong left. Honestly, it was a situation with no answer. He didn’t know how to return to the Afterlife, and communication wasn’t easy. They told him to gather information from the Living World, but Mua merely occupied a human body—he didn’t know much about the modern Living World.
No matter how much he’d gone back and forth between the Living World and Afterlife, Mua had truly ‘belonged’ to the Living World a hundred years ago. The Living World then and now could be considered completely different worlds.
The information Mua knew when he was human was of no use whatsoever now.
In this situation, if he suddenly divorced and left this house, he’d just be headbutting blind ground without even a clue how to find the thread of the case.
