“What is this…!”
The one most shocked by that sight was Jieon. He never could have imagined that there would be talismans inside the cotton-filled fabric, not just in the pillowcase.
As soon as the talismans were revealed, Mua covered his mouth and dry heaved. Jieon stood as if nailed to the spot, unable to do anything. Even without knowing exactly what those talismans were, nausea welled up.
“How vicious…”
Mua muttered after finally calming down. It was an extremely vicious spell that not only stole a living person’s vitality but also damaged their soul to lead them to death.
“Probably all the pillows and blankets you use have these filthy things in them.”
Jieon collapsed onto the sofa with a thud and let out a hollow laugh. He had thought it was all nonsense. He had believed that Shin Mua was either playing tricks or spouting crazy nonsense.
It truly felt like being struck from behind.
“Who on earth would do such a thing…”
Jieon lowered his head like someone who had lost their soul and muttered blankly. When the situation reached this point, he wasn’t even angry. He didn’t even have the energy to be angry.
There weren’t many people who could touch his pillow. Since he wasn’t the type to invite friends to his home very often, the only people who could enter his room were family or those as close as family.
The one inhabiting the body of Shin Mua, who had been his legal family, said:
“The person who directly acted… seems to be Shin Mua.”
“……”
“My memory is coming back very slowly. Someone instructed Shin Mua to replace the pillow you use with this one.”
Jieon slowly raised his head and looked at Mua. The one who was Shin Mua but not Shin Mua was saying that the culprit of this incident was ‘Shin Mua.’
“What’s important is that Shin Mua didn’t do this alone.”
Mua frowned. It would have been good if the face of the instigator had come to mind as well, but unfortunately the memory didn’t reach that far.
“It means there’s someone besides Shin Mua who is trying to harm you and destroy your body and soul to gain something.”
Mua’s voice also sank low. He had thought that Shin Mua and Cheon Jieon were connected in some way, but he didn’t know it would be like this. Looking at it now, it seemed the real target of the previous accident wasn’t Shin Mua but Cheon Jieon.
“By any chance… is there anyone you suspect?”
Even knowing it was a burdensome question for Jieon, Mua steeled his heart and asked. If they were bastards who used such vicious sorcery, it was important to find them as soon as possible. If left alone, there was no telling what they might do next.
“Someone who was usually close with Shin Mua, or someone who might hold a grudge against you.”
“Uncle…”
Jieon opened his mouth in a very small voice.
“Uncle?”
“Uncle introduced Shin Mua to me… He said he was a friend who grew up in difficult circumstances but was kind and sincere… that with just a little financial help, he would become someone great…”
“……”
“Uncle is like a real father to me. After my parents passed away… excluding Grandfather, Uncle was the only one in our family who cared for and protected me.”
Mua didn’t refute his words and just listened quietly. Solving the case was important, but looking at Jieon now, it didn’t seem like pressing him would yield more accurate information.
Surprisingly, Mua felt a bit sorry for him. Even for someone who didn’t believe in superstitions, facing the fact that someone had been viciously cursing them would be shocking. Anyone would be affected when confronted with that level of malice.
“So I… tried not to suspect him. I knew Uncle had been obsessed with shamans and guts and such things from before, but still, you don’t suspect family.”
At Jieon’s continued words, Mua’s eyes glowed blue. Someone interested in shamanism from before, and who introduced Shin Mua to Cheon Jieon.
“Uncle was also the one who kept stopping me from divorcing Shin Mua immediately, you know? I thought… I thought it was all because he was worried about Grandfather… But that could be it, right? He could have stopped me because Grandfather would only be upset if I suddenly said I wanted a divorce.”
“Tsk…”
Mua clicked his tongue at the rambling words. Certainly, for now, this character called Cheon Jieon’s uncle was the most suspicious. But Mua didn’t press further and decided to wrap things up here for today.
“Enough. Think about it gradually, and for today, just rest first.”
“……”
“We don’t know what else might be in this room, so use my room. I’ll sleep in the living room.”
“What if Shin Mua did it alone?”
But instead of obediently standing up, Jieon grabbed Mua’s wrist and said:
“Maybe he coveted my money, or got angry because I kept saying let’s get divorced. So Shin Mua might have asked a shaman to do this.”
“Yes. That could be possible too.”
Mua neither shook off his hand nor refuted his words, nodding his head. As he said, it wasn’t an impossible story, and he didn’t want to drive the already confused young man further into a corner.
“I’m sure. It was Shin Mua. Shin Mua did it.”
Jieon muttered the same words for a long time as if convincing himself. Mua silently stayed by his side.
***
Even when the sun that brightly lit the world shone brightly into the room, Jieon just sat blankly on the bed. He didn’t know how time had passed. He had just been sitting there, endlessly repeating his thoughts.
He only realized he was in Shin Mua’s room after his surroundings brightened. He didn’t even remember how he got here. It was Mua who had personally brought Jieon to this room when he couldn’t even think to move and just sat still, but Jieon hadn’t even perceived that.
Nightmare-like memories flowed and flowed again. The warm, reassuring embrace that held him when he couldn’t stop crying at his parents’ funeral, the gentle promise that he would become his father.
The long years they had cherished and relied on each other as family.
Tracing those memories, Jieon kept repeating that it couldn’t be. No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn’t believe that Uncle had done bad things to him.
Uncle was probably deceived by Shin Mua too. He was cunning and knew well which aspects of himself disarmed others, so he must have pretended to be kind and sincere in front of Uncle.
Just because Uncle introduced Shin Mua to him wasn’t enough to suspect him. That’s what Jieon thought.
In the end, all of this might have been a conspiracy plotted by Shin Mua. After becoming a member of a chaebol family overnight through a contract marriage and enjoying wealth and glory, he might have become greedy for more.
Or perhaps unreturned love turned into anger and he wanted revenge on Jieon. He wanted to ruin Jieon’s life for making his heart hurt so much, and finally went as far as doing this. It was a very plausible hypothesis.
“……”
But Jieon knew. The fact that he had to defend Uncle so desperately was proof that he suspected him very deeply.
Throughout the night, he hadn’t thought of reasons why he should trust Grandfather or Suchan. Trusting them was so natural, and he had never doubted them even for a moment.
But only for Uncle, for Yangseon, he had to desperately make excuses and convince himself. He even pulled out the forced social convention that one shouldn’t suspect family.
If he really trusted Yangseon, there would be no need for that.
Jieon slowly got up. His body, which hadn’t rested properly, screamed in pain everywhere. With an appearance half like a corpse, he slowly went out to the living room. It wasn’t for any particular reason—it was closer to just stepping forward as things went.
And Cheon Jieon saw Shin Mua.
Whether he had woken up earlier or he too couldn’t sleep, Mua had gone out to the veranda and was looking outside.
Jieon stopped at the end of the living room and just quietly looked at Shin Mua’s back. Absurdly, the moment he faced him, an unidentifiable emotion washed over him. He even felt relieved that there was someone to share this confusing and terrible situation with.
The person he should trust least was clearly Shin Mua. That very person standing before his eyes right now was the one who had switched to those damn pillows. Yet Jieon felt relieved that it was none other than Shin Mua who was by his side.
It truly, truly was ridiculous.
“Shin Mua…”
As if possessed by something, he called his name very quietly. It was such a small voice that it would be hard to hear even from right next to him. Jieon naturally thought Shin Mua wouldn’t hear his voice.
But Shin Mua heard Cheon Jieon’s voice. He turned his head, and soon turned his whole body to face Jieon. Then he smiled with a gentle smile he had never shown before and said:
“Did you sleep well?”
Absurdly, it was the ridiculous manner of speech that Cheon Jieon wanted to hear most right now.
