“Ah…”
Seeing that, Cheon Jieon suddenly felt like all the problems that had been boiling inside him until just moments ago were nothing. From the minor matter of having kissed him to the major matter of nearly dying from being cursed by family—everything just seemed like it had no value at all.
What was truly important was right now, the existence before his eyes. In this moment, Jieon felt that way.
“It seems like the path is starting to become visible little by little. You’ve worked hard. I’ll make sure you’re no longer in danger.”
Shin Mua’s voice buzzed as if heard underwater. His heart beat roughly, in a different sense from the anxiousness earlier. He wanted to know Shin Mua a little more deeply. The desire to grow closer to him boiled over.
Jieon took one step closer to Shin Mua. He liked those smiling eyes that curved softly like spring sunlight. He had never looked deeply at that face before, and he learned for the first time that the mole dotted beneath the eye like a painting could be this lovely.
This was not the face of ‘Shin Mua.’ Jieon could realize this all too vividly.
Mua.
A being who lived as a human, died, became a Grim Reaper of the Afterlife, and truly hated selfish and greedy humans. He was completely different from ‘Shin Mua,’ who had been hell to him. Jieon was certain now.
“So even if you’re very worried, just be patient a little… Cheon Jieon…?”
As if only now recognizing Jieon’s movement of closing the distance, Mua called his name with a puzzled face. However, Jieon paid no mind and took another step closer, looking down at Mua with a strange expression as if bewitched by something.
“Why… are you doing this…?”
Mua asked, hesitating slightly as he realized the distance was excessively close. What he couldn’t understand about himself was his own behavior of not stepping back even after recognizing that sense of distance.
“I…”
Jieon finally opened his mouth. Until now, he had been worrying about how to make the ‘terrible’ incident that happened last night as if it never happened. What to apologize for, what excuse to make, how on earth to face Shin Mua—his head felt like it would explode.
But now, Jieon’s mind became surprisingly clear. It was true that he had made a mistake, but he didn’t regret it or want to make it as if it never happened. In fact, it seemed like he had felt that way from the beginning.
“Mua, I…”
Mua.
At the unfamiliar form of address heard once again, Mua’s shoulders flinched. The events of that day, which he had briefly forgotten in his excitement, came flooding back. Mua. The moment when he had completely lost his mind to Cheon Jieon’s eyes calling and looking only at him.
His heart beat again and his breath quickened. Was this also a reaction of the body of ‘Shin Mua,’ who had once loved Cheon Jieon terribly? Were the memories of love engraved in the body running wild on their own, regardless of Mua’s own emotions?
If so, just how long would these memories, these emotions, remain in this body?
His head was so dizzy that he couldn’t take any action, and Cheon Jieon lowered his head and began to approach very slowly.
Beep beep—
But before Jieon could do anything further, the sound of the door opening was heard along with a sharp notification tone. Shocked, the two people separated from each other in one bound. Jieon even stumbled backward, his legs caught, and plopped down on the sofa.
“Wha, what!!”
Jieon, his face flushed bright red, reflexively shouted. It was Suchan who had opened the door and revealed himself.
“Huh? You’re up?”
He stared blankly at Suchan, who approached with a face devoid of any malice and clearly worried about him, then soon burst into a hollow laugh.
“What? Why is your face so red? Is your fever still not down?”
Finally, Suchan even reached out his hand toward Jieon’s forehead to check his temperature. Jieon shook his head while avoiding Suchan’s hand.
“No, no. I’m much better.”
“Yeah? Hey, but it’s a relief it subsided quickly. I guess the shock was big.”
“Right. I’ve never been like this before…”
“Mua had a really hard time because of you. No, wait… should I call him Mua-ssi now?”
Suchan spoke while glancing around awkwardly. Shin Mua had been younger than Suchan to begin with, and from their first meeting, he had acted affectionately like a younger brother, calling him hyung, so speaking casually had become comfortable. But now that he was told Mua was a Grim Reaper who had lived for over a hundred years, he suddenly wondered if it was okay to speak casually.
“Mua-ssi, what? I can never call him that.”
Jieon answered defensively. He now knew that he wasn’t the ‘Shin Mua’ he had known, but he still didn’t want to treat him like a real hundred-year-old elder. It didn’t feel that way either.
Suchan, who had an awkward expression in the middle, continued while glancing at Mua.
“Anyway, um… I’m saying he worked hard taking care of you.”
“Hard work, what, ahem.”
Mua, who had been standing quietly listening to their conversation, answered while turning his gaze away. Hard work or whatever—thanks to what happened at the park, the memory of that day, which he had briefly forgotten, came back to mind, and he felt like disappearing to the Afterlife right now.
“If you’re okay now, that’s a relief.”
Mua barely managed to finish speaking while acting ‘as if nothing was wrong.’ He worried whether his voice trembled suspiciously, but he couldn’t hear well anyway because the sound of his heart beating at a level almost like causing a ruckus since earlier had become too loud.
Jieon sat on the sofa looking at such a Mua. He wanted to talk alone, but he couldn’t chase away Suchan who had made the effort to come, and even if they were left alone, he was at a loss for what to say.
Even though he had nothing to say, the feeling of just wanting to talk with Mua alone surged up. He couldn’t even guess what emotion this was.
Recalling what had just happened made it even more absurd. What on earth had he been trying to do to Mua? What had he wanted to do? If Suchan hadn’t come in at that moment, perhaps, perhaps he might have kissed Mua. And with a clear mind at that.
Had he gone crazy from experiencing shocking things one after another? With a heavy and confused heart, Jieon let out a deep sigh. Everything was a mess.
***
“Could you tell me a little more about that child?”
The client sitting in front of Gwi Bosal, whose complexion had improved greatly—Jieon’s uncle, Cheon Yangseon—widened his eyes at the unexpected question.
“That child…?”
“I mean the child named Shin Mua. His memory still hasn’t returned?”
“Ah, Shin Mua…”
Yangseon had been having a conversation meeting Gwi Bosal directly for once.
It wasn’t suspicious that Cheon Jieon had suddenly gone out saying he would spend time at a hotel, as it was something that happened often. It was just after he had mentioned in passing that it seemed a bit odd that he went together with Shin Mua, whom he hated so much.
“The problem isn’t that his memory hasn’t returned, but that the person has become a bit strange.”
“Strange, you say?”
“Yes. He uses a strange way of speaking he never used before and acts like he’s become a completely different person.”
“Hmm.”
“Do you suspect something?”
“It’s not certain yet, but…”
Gwi Bosal trailed off and fell into thought.
Even after the ritual failure and until now, Cheon Jieon’s energy couldn’t be read well. After completing all the preparations needed for the ritual, he could sense that energy whenever he wanted. However, after the accident, it was hard to grasp his condition, as if he were hidden in very thick fog.
At first, he thought it was because he himself had been greatly injured due to the ritual failure. But as time passed, it seemed like it wasn’t such a simple problem.
His disciple Museok, though far from reaching his master’s abilities, had skills good enough not to be inferior to others anywhere if judged on Museok alone.
The reason he hadn’t become independent yet and remained under Gwi Bosal was his own choice to train more and reach his master’s level, not because he lacked skill.
Yet, unlike Gwi Bosal, Museok couldn’t read Jieon’s energy even though he had barely been affected by the ritual failure. It wasn’t because Jieon’s energy was weak. It felt as if something was surrounding and protecting him like a defensive barrier.
Had he brought along some shaman he knew from somewhere out of the blue? Gwi Bosal had been making various hypotheses since then. According to Cheon Yangseon, Cheon Jieon was someone who didn’t believe in superstitions in the first place, but anyone’s thoughts could change after going through a life-or-death crisis.
“Could I perhaps meet that child once?”
After a brief silence, Gwi Bosal opened his mouth again. Yangseon asked with a puzzled expression.
“You mean Shin Mua?”
“Yes. Ideally, I’d like to see him together with Cheon Jieon… It’s fine if I don’t directly face them. However, I’d appreciate it if you could arrange a situation where I can see them up close.”
And among the various hypotheses Gwi Bosal had thought of, one of them included Shin Mua.
