Since they’d notified the expected arrival time when departing, passing through the gate wasn’t difficult. Seo Hyeonjeong must have been anxious as she came out to greet them at the entrance, fidgeting restlessly.
“CEO Eun! My child is acting strange! All night…!”
Seo Hyeonjeong, whose voice was trembling as she spoke, paused when she discovered the unfamiliar man behind Eun Seonmyeong.
“But who…?”
Seo Hyeonjeong asked while glancing sideways at Shim Iyul. What kind of man is so bewitchingly beautiful?
Shim Iyul, sensing her gaze, smiled sweetly. Her knees went weak at his lush red hair and the smile that made his eye corners gently fold.
Seeing that Seo Hyeonjeong couldn’t take her eyes off Shim Iyul, Eun Seonmyeong coughed, “Ahem.”
“This is my assistant.”
“Ah…”
“Calling me an assistant.”
The red-haired man muttered discontentedly. Even his furrowed brow was bewitching, and she was about to lose herself again when—
“Ahem!”
Eun Seonmyeong coughed again. Only then did Seo Hyeonjeong finally regain her senses and return to being a mother, asking worriedly.
“Will my child be able to hold on until we catch and kill the fox?”
“Don’t worry, I killed the fox.”
When he deliberately emphasized the pronunciation of “kill,” Shim Iyul’s brow furrowed. Eun Seonmyeong, confirming this with a sidelong glance, laughed briefly.
“Really? When?!”
“I killed it before coming here.”
“Then why hasn’t my child woken up?! You said my son would survive if you killed the fox.”
“A ritual is needed. He’ll wake soon, so prepare the money.”
When they climbed the stairs and stood in front of Seo Hyeonjeong’s son’s room, the familiar unpleasant smell of semen wafted over. Eun Seonmyeong, who entered the room with his nose wrinkled, paused. He saw a ghost with hair hanging down at the son’s bedside. A vengeful ghost. Looking closely, the vengeful ghost’s hair was wrapped around the son’s neck. The tighter the hair gripped the neck, the more the son convulsed and ejaculated.
No wonder he found it a bit strange when he heard the condition had suddenly worsened—a vengeful ghost had attached itself. Eun Seonmyeong clicked his tongue briefly.
“Seo Junhee.”
Shim Iyul muttered with interest from behind Eun Seonmyeong’s back. Having seen her through an article at the restaurant just moments ago, he recognized her at once. Eun Seonmyeong also nodded, saying “Right.”
Seo Junhee, who had died less than a day ago and still retained her memories from life, looked up when she heard her name and flinched. To her, Shim Iyul and Eun Seonmyeong were more terrifying than the grim reaper. Trembling, she looked back and forth between Seo Hyeonjeong’s son and Eun Seonmyeong. Then she unwrapped the hair that had been coiled around the man’s neck and turned to flee, but didn’t forget to glare at the son with resentful eyes. Her bleeding eyes were layered with grudges.
‘So the second or third-generation chaebol who dumped Seo Junhee must have been this bastard.’
The bastard who tried to rape an unconscious woman after dragging her in. He was clearly someone who treated women carelessly. Since ancient times, bastards like him had created vengeful ghosts.
“Get out.”
Shim Iyul said to Seo Hyeonjeong. His expression was cold and his tone rough. Shim Iyul could use honorifics and act polite. But he had no courtesy to spare for a woman who raised such a human.
“What? No, what?”
“I said get out.”
“CEO Eun! Your assistant is too arrogant!”
Seo Hyeonjeong, offended by the obvious disrespect, complained to Eun Seonmyeong.
“He’s the type who’s eaten manners with his rice. Please understand, ma’am, and wait outside, won’t you? If you want to save your son.”
“…Fine. But you’d better be prepared if my child doesn’t wake up!”
Seo Hyeonjeong left after grinding out a warning.
Click—as soon as the door closed, Shim Iyul approached the son and placed his hand on his forehead. Then he withdrew the yokai energy he’d planted.
The son, who had been staring at empty air with hazy pupils unable to even close his eyelids, finally smoothly closed his eyes. If his vital energy damaged from endlessly ejaculating in the bewitching dream was properly replenished, he would be fine before long.
Shim Iyul turned around and crossed his arms, looking at Eun Seonmyeong.
“What will you do?”
“About what?”
“The vengeful ghost. She’ll come back soon after we leave—will you wait and eliminate her?”
Since he was a Hunter who went on about how human affairs were for humans to handle, it seemed like he would try to eliminate the vengeful ghost.
“Why would I?”
But Eun Seonmyeong’s reaction was different from expected.
“Huh?”
“I’ve never received a commission to eliminate the vengeful ghost.”
“…”
“I only do commissioned work. If the vengeful ghost tries to harm innocent people, then I’d have to eliminate her.”
Usually vengeful ghosts depart this world when their grudge is resolved. Sometimes even after resolving their grudge they become evil spirits by harming innocent people.
When Eun Seonmyeong opened the door wide, he saw Seo Hyeonjeong pacing anxiously. She rushed over as soon as she saw Eun Seonmyeong.
“My child?!”
“He’s sleeping. He’ll wake soon.”
Seo Hyeonjeong pushed past Eun Seonmyeong and rushed into the room. Then she approached the bed and examined her son before collapsing to sit. She didn’t know how long it had been since she’d seen him sleeping with such a peaceful expression. She stroked her son’s face for a long while before standing up.
“CEO Eun, thank you for your hard work.”
At Seo Hyeonjeong’s glance, her secretary brought over a bag. After receiving the bag, Eun Seonmyeong checked the money first.
“Well then.”
After confirming the 500 million won, Eun Seonmyeong left the Seonjin estate.
Shim Iyul also followed Eun Seonmyeong out. Like when they came, Shim Iyul got in the passenger seat of Eun Seonmyeong’s Porsche and opened the window to look outside. He could see the vengeful ghost slipping into the estate.
“I wonder how long he’ll last.”
The vengeful ghost’s torment. Humming while expressing condolences to the human who would suffer the vengeful ghost’s torment as soon as escaping the bewitching dream, Shim Iyul openly stared at Eun Seonmyeong who was driving. He was a slightly interesting Hunter. To turn away knowing the vengeful ghost would harm the human.
“Fox brat, turn your eyes away. It’s annoying.”
Correction. Still an irritating Hunter.
***
Returning home, Eun Seonmyeong headed straight to the main house’s master bedroom. Shim Iyul also went directly to the annex without looking back.
“Did you resolve the Seonjin matter well?”
Han Seolju, who had been playing with the little ghost in the yard, followed Eun Seonmyeong inside. Eun Seonmyeong opened the safe and stacked 300 million won neatly. The safe was full of cash bundles and pure gold, satisfying just to look at. This safe had been completely empty when Eun Seonmyeong inherited the family head position.
What Shim Iyul said about the Eun family’s fortunes declining was true. After the family head at that time was exiled for losing the Yeouiju, the Eun family gradually declined. The house that was once a 99-room grand estate had been sold off bit by bit, leaving now only the main house, sarangchae, and annex.
“You must have quite a bit of money?”
The fox’s words came to mind. Eun Seonmyeong snorted. Of course there was quite a bit. For ten years since becoming family head at twenty, he’d saved desperately. Even earning the sarcastic nickname “Money Demon.” So now he was quite wealthy. Humans may betray, but money doesn’t.
Eun Seonmyeong smiled contentedly, closed the safe, and turned around saying.
“Han Seolju, aren’t you going to work?”
Eun Seonmyeong couldn’t go to work since he didn’t know when the curse would start again. So at least Han Seolju should go to work and watch over the shop, but here he was at home playing with the little ghost—it was absurd.
“I can’t leave you, who doesn’t know when the curse will start again, alone with the fox. Don’t you become almost defenseless when suffering from the curse?”
Han Seolju’s face as he removed and set down his goggles was full of stubbornness. Eun Seonmyeong clicked his tongue. Originally the Han family’s duty was to guard the Eun family. He couldn’t scold him asking what excuse when he was trying to do his job.
“Go check the shop occasionally too. If you leave it entirely to employees, it’ll fail.”
“Yes, I’ll go check once a day so don’t worry. But it really is amazing.”
To Han Seolju, who had watched Eun Seonmyeong recently—no, for the past 2-3 years—as the curse started earlier and became several times more painful than before, his current state was simply amazing. When the curse started, he would moan on the cold floor unable to wear even a thread. Sometimes unable to bear the pain, he would obtain giant ice and roll around lying on it.
“I was amazed at first too, but thinking about it now, it’s just returned to before I met the White Fox.”
Before meeting the White Fox, the curse started precisely on the 1st and 15th. So the Fire Fox had merely returned Eun Seonmyeong to how he was before. Even so, he couldn’t deny that the Fire Fox was useful. Anyway, thanks to him, it was somewhat more comfortable.
“How did it go with what I asked you to look into about the department store fire?”
“I apologize. I can’t reach that Ban family bastard… Ban Hanseong.”
Han Seolju ground his teeth then released them.
“His house?”
“It’s empty.”
The public knew only the Han family as the Eun family’s vassal house, but in fact the Eun family had one more hidden vassal family. The Ban family, who possessed the talent to control and command ghosts.
The Ban family’s ancestor was Bihyeong. He was a man born with ghost-sight during the Silla period who rendered service to the nation by commanding ghosts. The king bestowed the surname Ban upon Bihyeong and commanded him to prosper the family through marriage, which Bihyeong followed. Bihyeong’s descendants inherited the talent to command ghosts, and Ban Hanseong, who could be called the last descendant of the Ban family with no other relatives, also commanded ghosts.
It wasn’t known when the Ban family began serving the Eun family. But they knew well when they became independent from the Eun family. It was during Eun Seonmyeong’s grandfather’s time. When the family fortunes gradually declined to the point of worrying about meals, grandfather sent away all the servants he employed, and when circumstances still weren’t favorable, he even made the vassal families independent. However, only the Han family insisted on living and dying with the Eun family, so they had no choice but to keep them as a vassal family.
The independent Ban family also didn’t abandon the Eun family. They worked as shamans based on their talent to command ghosts, and as rumors of their abilities spread, they accumulated quite a fortune and looked after the Eun family. Thus the Eun family once lived on the Ban family’s help.
Eun Seonmyeong, Han Seolju, and Ban Hanseong were also similar in age and played together often from birth. Han Seolju was upright and loyal even as a child just like now, and Ban Hanseong was peculiar in many ways. Befitting Bihyeong’s bloodline, he had been ghost-friendly since childhood, and currently he was a shaman who only took commissions from ghosts, specifically female ghosts. His specialty was hacking.
“Bring the Seokchung.”
“Are you thinking of calling Geum?”
“Yes. He’s probably holed up somewhere remote again with training as an excuse, so I need to find him.”
“I’ll prepare it right away.”
Han Seolju jumped up and soon brought Seokchung in a small dish. Meanwhile, Eun Seonmyeong took out pure gold the size of a fingernail from the safe.
How long had passed after placing the Seokchung and gold side by side on the desk? Through the open window flew in a golden ladybug the size of half a pinky fingernail. The ladybug circled once above Eun Seonmyeong’s head as if glad to see him, then landed on the desk and began gnawing at the gold piece twice the size of its body while embracing it.
This ladybug, crazy about gold and Seokchung, was named Geum. It possessed the talent to definitely find a person once imprinted, no matter where they were. Moreover, though almost invisible to the naked eye, it flew faster than a hawk.
Geum normally flew around freely, but would come following the scent when Eun Seonmyeong prepared gold and Seokchung.
Eun Seonmyeong waited until Geum ate its fill of gold and Seokchung, then held out his hand. Then Geum climbed onto Eun Seonmyeong’s finger.
“Go find Ban Hanseong.”
Geum fluttered its wings and flew out the window. Seeing Geum, Ban Hanseong would realize Eun Seonmyeong was calling, so a call would come.
