“Strawberry.”
“…….”
“I like strawberry flavor.”
“…….”
“Strawberry flavor is delicious.”
Shim Iyul let out a sigh at the tearful voice coming from below. Then he looked down at the little ghost with displeasure. What a persistent ghost. He thought he’d shaken it off, but it had latched onto him again before he knew it.
When their eyes met, the little ghost trembled but said “Strawberry” in a pleading tone. Irritation bubbled up inside him.
“One more strawberry flavor.”
Irritably ordering one more strawberry flavor in the end, Shim Iyul held a cone ice cream in each hand and headed toward the emergency exit. Then he sat down on the stairs and shoved the strawberry flavor at the little ghost.
“I like strawberry ice cream.”
The little ghost smiled brightly as it received the ice cream.
“Take this and get lost already, kid.”
“…….”
As if it had never smiled, the little ghost’s face became sullen.
“I hate humans. I hate ghosts that were once humans even more.”
“…….”
“I’m too noble an existence for a trivial and filthy wandering ghost like you to cling to. So take that and go find someone else. Before I completely annihilate you.”
Shim Iyul spoke threateningly as he licked his mint chocolate ice cream. Humans are truly strange. How did they even think to mix toothpaste and chocolate? Even while grumbling, Shim Iyul’s face gradually hardened as he licked away at his ice cream. The little ghost that should have left long ago was still sniffling while eating that damn strawberry ice cream.
“Fox-nim, please take me to my mom.”
“…….”
“Fox-nim, I miss my mom.”
His irritation reached its limit. What an annoying wandering ghost kid. Once he finished this strange and mysterious mint chocolate ice cream, he’d completely annihilate it. After cursing and crunching through even the cone, Shim Iyul raised his hand toward the little ghost who was looking up at him with tear-filled eyes. Blue yokai energy flickered at Shim Iyul’s fingertips.
***
Opening his eyes, Eun Seonmyeong realized he was lying haphazardly on the floor and bolted upright. He couldn’t believe he’d fallen asleep with the fox bastard nearby. His heart instantly went cold.
‘Where’s the fox bastard?’
The Fire Fox was nowhere to be seen—perhaps it had left. Eun Seonmyeong’s brow furrowed as he looked around the room with full vigilance while simultaneously patting down his body. Nothing was missing, nothing had changed, and his body was fine too. Though there was a name pen rolling around on the floor, nothing else seemed out of the ordinary.
‘Did it just leave me alone?’
Why? Of course, foxes were notoriously cunning and sinister, so it might have secretly done something to his body, but for now he seemed fine. If he were the Fire Fox, he wouldn’t have just left a hunter alive and gone. He would have killed them without hesitation.
“Is it a crazy fox?”
Well, it must not be in its right mind to have come to him, a hunter, and spouted nonsense about removing the White Fox’s yokai energy, or asking to stay by his side until the White Fox appeared. He was standing dazedly in the middle of the room, feeling somewhat confused, when—
“Head of the family?”
Han Seolju’s voice was heard from outside. Eun Seonmyeong snapped to attention and opened the door. Then he saw Han Seolju with a surprised expression.
“When did you return? Did you catch the fox? Are you alright?”
“Ask one thing at a time. I’m going to run out of breath.”
At Eun Seonmyeong’s rebuke, Han Seolju smiled awkwardly and checked his physical condition first.
“Are you alright? You’re not injured anywhere?”
“I’m not injured. But I missed the fox because the damn curse started.”
“Why didn’t you contact me?”
“I barely made it back yesterday afternoon and collapsed, so I didn’t have time to contact you.”
“……This curse must have come on weakly. Your expression looks much more relaxed than before.”
“What are you talking about? It was so terri…….”
Eun Seonmyeong stopped mid-sentence as his face contorted. Now that he thought about it, his body felt quite comfortable. Once the curse started, he suffered through the agony of his internal organs burning until it ended, to the point where he’d thought, ‘I’d rather die than live like this.’
He’d lose weight in an instant, his eyes would sink deep, and he’d suffer until he looked like a ghost—so why was he fine this time? Eun Seonmyeong frowned as he fell into thought. Certainly the moment the curse started, it had been agonizing as always. He’d definitely suffered even after returning to Seoul.
‘Did the fox do something to my body?’
Thinking about it, the only thing different from before was the fox’s appearance.
“More importantly, what time is it?”
“It’s just past 8 in the morning.”
“8 in the morning…….”
Ha, Eun Seonmyeong let out an empty breath and repeatedly ran his left hand down his face. The fact that it was daylight was surprising. During curse periods, he’d barely get thirty minutes of sleep at most. Even when he managed to fall asleep, he’d usually wake up in terrible pain. But to have slept until morning. It was bewildering and amazing. He truly felt like he’d been bewitched by a fox.
“I was late because I was organizing the ledgers, so I slept at the shop and just got back, so I didn’t even know you’d returned. I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine. And I told you to call me CEO. ‘Head of the family’—it’s not like this is the Joseon era.”
“Yes, Head of the fami…… CEO-nim.”
Han Seolju awkwardly corrected the title, then glanced at Eun Seonmyeong’s chest.
“But what’s that?”
“What?”
“There’s something like a phone number written on CEO-nim’s chest.”
A phone number? Eun Seonmyeong frowned and pulled his chin in to look down. Then, just as Han Seolju said, he saw numbers that looked like a phone number.
Eun Seonmyeong went into the bathroom and looked at himself in the mirror. The numbers written above his nipple definitely looked like a phone number. Probably the fox bastard’s number. No wonder there was a name pen rolling around on the floor.
“That damn fox bastard thinks someone else’s chest is a notepad.”
A fox that left contact information—how ridiculous, pretending to be human.
Tsk, Eun Seonmyeong clicked his tongue, took off his pants, and stood under the showerhead. When he turned the nozzle, water immediately poured out. It was a cold and strong stream like a waterfall.
“It’s cold.”
Feeling goosebumps rise on his skin from the cold stream, Eun Seonmyeong muttered helplessly. When suffering from the curse, even an ice-cold stream felt hot, but now it was cold. Cold enough to chill his bones.
“Good grief…….”
Laughing in disbelief, Eun Seonmyeong changed the nozzle direction to hot water and ground his teeth. Meanwhile, he recalled the words the Fire Fox bastard had left.
“Let me stay by your side until then.”
“Let’s form a time-limited alliance.”
“I’ll remove the White Fox’s curse.”
He’d thought it was nonsense. Of course, he still felt the same way now. An alliance with the Fire Fox, a yosu—his pride as a hunter wouldn’t allow it. That should certainly be the case, yet he was bothered by how comfortable his body felt, wondering what that fox bastard had done. He found himself ridiculous for constantly mulling over ‘an alliance with a fox…….’
“Did I get bewitched by the fox bastard?”
It must have temporarily suppressed the curse with some sinister trick. There was a high possibility it would come back as an even bigger problem. So he shouldn’t fall for it. After all, bewitching people with ill intent was the fox’s specialty. Eun Seonmyeong couldn’t let go of his suspicion toward the fox as he vigorously scrubbed off the phone number with shower gel.
However, the numbers the fox had left were already ingrained in his mind.
***
“Seolju-ya, bring me the Goehoangji and Gyeongmyeonjusa.”
“Are you going to write a talisman?”
“Yes, I need to write an exorcism talisman.”
Eun Seonmyeong, who had come out of the bathroom, called out. He needed to write a new exorcism talisman and post it so the fox couldn’t come and go freely again.
Han Seolju soon brought the Goehoangji^2 and Gyeongmyeonjusa.^3
Eun Seonmyeong went to his study, lit the incense burner to clear his mind, then knelt down. With a pure heart, he made several exorcism talismans.
“Attach this to the center of the front gate.”
Eun Seonmyeong held out one exorcism talisman and immediately picked up the second one, saying “This one……” before clicking his tongue and putting it back down. Han Seolju, who had respectfully held out both hands to receive the second one as well, blinked in confusion.
“Just attach that one.”
“Yes.”
Han Seolju left with one exorcism talisman. Eun Seonmyeong pushed the Gyeongmyeonjusa and Goehoangji aside and rubbed under his chin with his index finger. The fox bastard’s number kept coming to mind, driving him crazy.
Unable to overcome his anxiety, Eun Seonmyeong abruptly stood up and paced around the study. The fox bastard could be killed anytime he wanted anyway. He just had to lodge an exorcism bullet in its stomach. So it was hard to shake off the thought that forming a temporary alliance might not be so bad. If he could even slightly alleviate the damn curse that had tormented him his whole life, he felt like he could join hands with the devil, let alone a fox.
‘Fuck, it was sweet.’
Even though the curse had started, there was no pain—it was sweet as honey. At the same time, rage toward the White Fox surged up.
In recent years the curse had become stronger and more severe, so he’d thought death was approaching, but to think it was because of the White Fox. Missing the White Fox three years ago was an eternal regret.
Chewing his lips like gum while agonizing over the absurd idea of an alliance with a fox, Eun Seonmyeong’s face contorted. Cold sweat instantly formed on his forehead. The damn curse stirred again.
It was when Eun Seonmyeong crossed over to the main room and impulsively grabbed his cell phone that he’d tossed aside.
“Come here!”
He heard a voice calling for the master. Also the sound of Han Seolju opening the front gate saying “Who is it?”
Going out to the courtyard with his cell phone still in hand, he saw the fox bastard confidently entering as if it had received an invitation. Since the master had opened the door from inside, the fox could enter without any harm.
“Who might you be?”
Han Seolju, who had no spiritual power and couldn’t recognize the fox before his eyes, asked politely, “Have you come with a request?” The fox looked Han Seolju over with a strange gaze, then turned its attention to Eun Seonmyeong, who was frowning.
“A request.”
“…….”
“Not from me, but from this one.”
When the fox stepped aside, a little ghost trembling with fear became visible.
***
^2 Yellow paper made by dyeing Korean paper with pagoda tree flowers or fruit, used when writing talismans.
^3 A red natural mineral made of mercury, used as a raw material when writing letters or drawing pictures on talismans.
Exorcism Talisman (퇴마부) – protective talisman
Goehoangji (괴황지/槐黃紙) – yellow paper for talismans
Gyeongmyeonjusa (경면주사/鏡面朱砂) – red mineral for talismans
