Having barely calmed himself, Eun Seonmyeong tapped the gun at his waist.
“Fine. If you try to bewitch me again next time, I’ll lodge an exorcism bullet in your belly. I can’t have you dying, so I’ll use one without my blood.”
“Thanks.”
Shim Iyul answered with a bright smile. It meant he’d rather endure the pain of being shot with an exorcism bullet than roll around with him. Just as Eun Seonmyeong frowned in inexplicable irritation, Ban Hanseong emerged from the sarangchae, scratching his belly. His disheveled hair and the white drool dried at the corner of his mouth unmistakably screamed “I just woke up.”
“Sleep well? Gaju. Did you rest well? Fox-nim.”
Ban Hanseong greeted Eun Seonmyeong and Shim Iyul in turn. Eun Seonmyeong started to nod but stopped mid-motion. He wasn’t the only human in this house. There was also Ban Hanseong, and Han Seolju preparing food in the kitchen. What if Han Seolju or Ban Hanseong caught a whiff of the Fire Fox’s pheromones powerful enough to bewitch him in just a moment? The mere thought was horrifying.
Eun Seonmyeong glared at Shim Iyul, who was nonchalantly receiving Ban Hanseong’s greeting with a “Yeah. Shaman, sleep well?” Shim Iyul looked up at the sharp gaze that seemed capable of boring through skin and asked irritably, “What now?!”
“You fox bastard, if you touch Hanseong or Seolju…”
Eun Seonmyeong couldn’t finish his sentence. Ban Hanseong was staring blankly at him.
“Ban Hanseong, you’re going back to your place today.”
“Even if you grab onto my crotch and beg me not to go, I’m leaving.”
“Why would I grab your crotch? Disgusting. I won’t stop you, so pack Seolju’s stuff when you go.”
“Why would I pack Seolju’s stuff?”
“You’ll be staying at your place with Seolju for a while.”
Rather than warning Shim Iyul that Han Seolju and Ban Hanseong were absolutely off-limits, it seemed better to temporarily evacuate them both. That was the safest way to protect his two retainers from the Fire Fox.
“Huh? My place is cramped as hell, it’ll be hard for two people to live there.”
Ban Hanseong immediately showed his displeasure.
“What’s cramped about a 70-pyeong apartment!”
Ban Hanseong’s home was an apartment famous for being expensive even in Hannam-dong. At 75 pyeong, it had five bedrooms.
“Do I live alone? I live with Chwiweol noona and Taeho, don’t I?”
“…”
Even with one human and two ghosts, it was an excessively large house. Under Eun Seonmyeong’s cold gaze, Ban Hanseong shrank his shoulders.
“To be honest, I don’t want to hear Seolju’s nagging.”
He didn’t know how much nagging he’d endured yesterday. Why don’t you answer your phone, is your cell phone just for show, how long are you going to live surrounded by ghosts, wash up and go to bed, etc. etc. etc. The guy had the build of a mountain but nagged so pettily.
“Still, bear with it and stay with Seolju for a while.”
“Why should I? Seolju will hate it too! At least tell me the reason… Ah, could it be.”
Ban Hanseong’s eyes narrowed as he suddenly stopped speaking. The words that might follow were unsettling.
“So you can fuck with Fox-nim comfortably?”
Ban Hanseong giggled with narrowed eyes. He repeatedly made a circle with his left index finger and thumb, pushing his right middle finger in and out of it. Then, belatedly realizing the presence of the little ghosts, Ban Hanseong said, “Ah, minors shouldn’t watch. Both of you cover your ears. Close your eyes too.” The two kids obediently closed their eyes tight and covered both ears with their hands.
“What crazy nonsense are you talking about?”
“Why act coy? I saw everything a few days ago. The day we came up from Haenam. You two were hugging each other naked?”
*Crash—*
The sound of something dropping was heard. Looking back, it was Han Seolju. Han Seolju, wearing a lace apron embroidered with uncharacteristic flower patterns, stood there pale, with a ladle fallen at his feet.
After remaining frozen and pale for a while, Han Seolju came down like an enraged bear.
“Gaju, I’m going to kill that Fire Fox bastard.”
Han Seolju ran to the sarangchae to get his wooden sword.
“You crazy fire bear bastard! The Gaju has the freedom to have sex! Would you rather the Gaju die old and a virgin!”
Ban Hanseong followed after him, shouting at the top of his lungs to stop Han Seolju.
Shim Iyul, who had been watching the whole spectacle, rubbed his temples as if he had a headache and turned to Eun Seonmyeong. Then he smiled with the corners of his eyes creased and asked.
“Are you a virgin?”
Eun Seonmyeong’s face contorted as he confirmed Shim Iyul’s lips twitching as if in mockery. He silently drew his Glock 19. Just as he was about to pull the trigger, Shim Iyul leaped outside the gate.
“You fox bastard, just try coming in. I’ll fire exorcism bullets straight at you.”
Eun Seonmyeong ground his teeth.
Having gone to the cafe as soon as it opened to buy an Einspänner on credit, Shim Iyul couldn’t bring himself to enter the house and crouched down in front of the gate. Recalling Eun Seonmyeong’s contorted expression, like a predator who’d had its prey snatched away after starving for ten days, he thought it would be better to take refuge for a bit.
It absolutely wasn’t because he was scared. Fighting with words was just bothersome. And there was that human saying about taking shelter from a sudden shower, wasn’t there?
He was thinking about sneaking in after finishing his coffee, and had drunk about half when:
“Am I Hong Gildong?! Not even allowed to call a virgin a virgin!”
*Bang—*
Eun Seonmyeong fired his gun without a word.
“Ah, fine! I’ll go, won’t I! I’ll go!”
*Bang—*
“Argh, stop shooting! Even if there’s no real damage, it stings!”
A scream was heard, then Ban Hanseong came running out in a hurry as if being chased. He twisted his body, rubbing his back with his fist, then spotted Shim Iyul crouched down and opened his eyes wide.
“Fox-nim, what are you doing here?”
Shim Iyul looked up at Ban Hanseong while slurping his coffee.
“Looks like the hunter’s anger hasn’t cooled yet?”
“Yes, anyway, his temper is so terrible it’s a problem. Only his looks are decent. Money-grubbing, terrible temper…”
At that moment, an exorcism bullet flew with a *ping* and lodged in the wall opposite the gate. Ban Hanseong made a “Heek” sound and hurriedly ran away, holding the hands of the two little ghosts who had come out with him.
“Gaju, I’m leaving!!!”
Even in the midst of it all, he didn’t forget to say goodbye. Shim Iyul also ran after Ban Hanseong. Ban Hanseong, who had been running away in a fluster, discovered Shim Iyul running alongside him and asked.
“Where are you going, Fox-nim?”
“To your place.”
“Excuse me?”
“To take refuge for a bit… No, to visit. You don’t want me to?”
“How could I not want you to? You’re very welcome!”
Ban Hanseong hailed a taxi with a beaming smile. Shim Iyul sat in the passenger seat, while Ban Hanseong and the three ghosts sat in a row in the back seat.
“Where shall I take you?”
“Let’s go to Hannam-dong.”
“Yes, sir.”
The taxi driver, who had been smiling kindly, suddenly felt an inexplicable chill and shivered. He turned up the heater and still hunched his shoulders as if cold.
“Phew, why is it suddenly so cold? Sir, I’ll turn the heater up a bit more.”
“Yes yes, go ahead.”
Ban Hanseong answered in an apologetic tone while looking at the ghosts beside him.
The taxi departed. The driver shivered the entire drive. Perhaps subconsciously sensing it was a different kind of chill from being cold, his speed gradually increased.
Ignoring even the speed limit warning sound and racing like an arrow, they arrived much faster than the expected arrival time. It seemed to have taken less than 15 minutes from order completion to food arrival. As soon as they got out after paying, the taxi sped away as if its tail was on fire.
“You live here?”
“Yes.”
“Are you rich?”
Ban Hanseong’s house was quite spacious and nice. The living room seemed wider than Eun Seonmyeong’s courtyard. Shim Iyul, who had been looking around here and there, sat on an obviously expensive-looking sofa and bounced his bottom. Ooh, the cushioning was quite good. Little Lee Seungjin also sat next to Shim Iyul and bounced along, laughing innocently.
“Enough that I could live my whole life without working and just playing around. Um… honestly, I’m fucking rich.”
At first, Ban Hanseong lowered his eyes pretending to be modest, but quickly changed his attitude and bragged. Then he started talking about how he made his money without even being asked.
“After my grandfather became independent from the Eun family, he said he absolutely had to make money, so he used the ghosts he controlled to work as a shaman. He was so uncannily accurate about the past and present that people came carrying money to get their fortunes told. With that money, he bought land in places like Bundang and Gangnam, and when the land prices skyrocketed, he became a nouveau riche. When I was fifteen, my parents passed away and I inherited all that money. I made money thanks to ghosts, and since I have no worries about making a living, I’m working as a shaman who only takes ghost requests.”
“You really don’t take any requests from humans at all?”
“There are tons of shamans dealing with humans, so is there any need for me to add to that? And I find it more comfortable to deal with pitiful ghosts with stories than humans. Humans are, how should I say… difficult.”
Ban Hanseong shook his head like someone facing a difficult problem. Then, while watching little Seungjin running around the house like a playground with little Taeho with a fond expression, he went into a room and came out with a laptop.
“Shall we try to find our Seungjin’s mom?”
He stretched his interlaced hands forward, then began searching based on the information the kid had provided.
Lee Seungjin, chick class, Seoul, the ○○ department store where the kid was found. And a fire within the last six months.
“Hmm…”
Among several search results, there was quite a bit of seemingly relevant information. As Ban Hanseong slowly scanned the screen, his eyes stopped on a particular article.
[○○ Department Store Fire.]
*Click—*
Ban Hanseong clicked on the article.
[Fire caused by gas explosion at a snack bar in the back alley of ○○ Department Store. The deceased were a 55-year-old female snack bar owner, one unidentified child, and 3 other injured.]
Unlike the title, the content was about a fire that occurred at a snack bar in the back alley of the department store. Jibak-ryeong aren’t necessarily bound to the exact place they died. It was entirely possible to be bound nearby. Considering that, there was a high probability that Seungjin was the unidentified child in the article.
Ban Hanseong looked back with pitying eyes. He saw Shim Iyul, who was hanging from the floor-to-ceiling window in the same pose as the two kids while pretending not to be interested, looking outside. Ban Hanseong let out a brief sigh and tapped at the keyboard for quite a while longer.
