Ehyu. I let out a breath and smiled along with him. The conversation broke off for a moment, but strangely, my heart felt somewhat at ease. Unlike the storm-like past, the fact that I could laugh so peacefully now felt like a dream.
“You took your medicine, so hurry up and sleep.”
But there was something that kept weighing on my heart. The practical problems weren’t that big anymore, but the existence I’d been trying hard to ignore kept weighing on my heart. The biggest problem that I couldn’t just ignore now that the curse was broken. I looked at Bihyeon with the smile wiped from my face.
“Bihyeon-nim.”
Perhaps reading the meaning in my expression, Bihyeon’s face also hardened.
“Please let me be the one to end things with Aunt.”
“Why should you do such a thing?”
He grabbed my shoulder and shook his head.
“Bihyeon-nim, you’re a judge, right? But you can’t touch humans.”
He moved his lips and frowned as if he didn’t want to answer. I slowly raised my hand and pointed at my heart where the Cintamani would be. Since I received the Cintamani of him, the judge, wouldn’t I also have that kind of power? The power to judge the sins of Aunt, who had eaten the flesh of a god and lived as a human without dying from the past until now.
“Aunt is still human, so I’ll end it.”
And that prediction became certainty through Bihyeon’s reaction. He looked like he really didn’t want to, but he didn’t deny it. I reached out and stroked the area near Bihyeon’s heart.
“So please end the evil god inside Aunt, Bihyeon-nim.”
Honestly, I didn’t want to take him to that house. Now that I think about it, that house was the same as the house I lived in with Mom and Dad in the past. Although it had been modernized, it was still the same location and the same structure as back then. Strangely, I was certain that she would still be there. No, surely she wouldn’t be able to leave that place.
“I don’t mean we’re going right now. I need to recover enough to at least walk.”
“Why does the first thing you do as soon as you can walk have to be that ki— something like that?”
He seemed angry. I tightly grasped Bihyeon’s hand as he changed his words before the rough phrase “that kind of shit” could fully come out.
“Because that’s how we can live together.”
“I’ll take care of it…”
“And I think I need to end things with Aunt myself to be able to forgive my past self.”
Bihyeon frowned and raised his free hand to press firmly on my eyes.
“Even if it’s not my fault, Mom and Dad… and Bihyeon-nim, in the end you all got involved innocently because of me.”
I couldn’t say it wasn’t true. Back then, going against Aunt’s nerves and ignoring her warnings several times to go see Bihyeon was my choice. And the result of that involved everyone. That choice will probably remain as guilt for the rest of my life.
“So I’ll end it with my own hands.”
“First… first recover and then think about it.”
I grabbed Bihyeon’s hand with both of mine as he turned his head away, not wanting to answer right now.
“Promise me. Otherwise, I feel like you’ll go ahead and make a mistake before I even get there.”
“Ha…”
He must have really been thinking of doing that. When I held out my pinky finger, he bit his lip firmly. Since I had no intention of backing down, I held my hand out even closer. Bihyeon, who let out a deep sigh, finally hooked his pinky finger.
“I’m going with you too.”
“Yes. I won’t go alone. And you said you wouldn’t leave me alone.”
I smiled with my eyes closed. After firmly hooking our fingers and making the promise, we even stamped it. Then I lay down with a refreshed heart and pulled up the blanket. Unlike me who had become comfortable, Bihyeon’s eyes were sunken. When I pretended not to notice and closed my eyes, I heard the sound of a sigh. That’s enough now. I just need to think about recovering my body quickly.
* * *
A customer came around 2 o’clock. While I was resting after eating lunch and taking medicine, the fox informed me that a customer had arrived. Opening the door and entering was the cat, the rat, and a woman with an elegant atmosphere who had horizontally slit pupils, white permed hair braided to the side. She greeted Bihyeon and sat in front of me, then bowed her head. Ah, she had an atmosphere somewhat similar to the sheep. She opened her mouth.
“They said a baby, but you’re a fresh young baby.”
“Hello. I’m not that young though…”
“Right, I’m Maeyang. I’m the sheep among the Twelve Zodiac Deities. I’m also the teacher of Malgeum who stays here.”
Ah, so she’s the person Seodam-nim said he would call. And she’s Malgeum-nim’s teacher too… No wonder the atmosphere felt subtly similar. Interestingly, she goes around in human form. When I greeted her politely, she followed me and bowed again.
“I did come in a hurry after hearing from these children. But it seems everything has already been resolved.”
Her gaze turned toward my heart. Then she slowly raised her head, stared straight into my eyes, and said expressionlessly.
“You don’t need to worry too much. But be careful. Right now your body could easily just go whoosh.”
That subtly rough way of speaking really is similar to the sheep… When I looked with admiring eyes, she smiled at the corners of her mouth. Bihyeon sighed beside me but didn’t particularly stop her.
“Even now, you’re at a level where you should be in the ICU with a respirator, hovering between life and death. The talismans you have are sufficient, but… I’ll make you a bracelet, so wear it on your wrist.”
I was nodding my head when something felt strange and I blinked. Does this world have ICUs too? Perhaps because I had a puzzled expression, she took out beads and string from her pocket and answered while making something right there on the spot.
“I’m staying in the human world. I like humans too.”
“Ah… so that’s why you’re in human form.”
“It bothered you. Why didn’t you just ask directly?”
“Because it might be rude.”
“That’s nothing.”
She spoke indifferently, quickly made a bracelet with the beads, and handed it to me.
“When that breaks, it means you’ve gotten somewhat healthy, so from then on, take short walks outside when the weather is nice. You’ll need to practice walking since you’ve been lying down for a long time.”
For a long time? Come to think of it, I didn’t ask how long I’d been asleep since I was stabbed in the stomach. I glanced at Bihyeon.
“Three months since you were stabbed with the knife, ten days since you swallowed the Cintamani.”
“Huh? I slept more than I thought…?”
“I submitted a leave of absence for school.”
“That’s a relief.”
I smiled slightly at him who was worried. Actually, as soon as I heard “three months,” I naturally thought of school. It also meant that my heart had become even a little more comfortable. Perhaps knowing this, Bihyeon didn’t say anything more either. In the meantime, perhaps having finished making the bracelet with the beads, she approached me and tied it firmly on my wrist.
“For the sake of those who worry about you, and for your own sake, hurry up and get better.”
“Thank you.”
“For payment, let’s see… When you feel better later, make me cookies. They say they’re that delicious? My acquaintances have been bragging so much about them.”
“I’ll definitely make them for you.”
“I see why Malgeum likes you. You’re cute.”
Both Bihyeon and I reacted simultaneously to the word cute. I opened my mouth blankly and Bihyeon burst into laughter.
“What I’ll tell you is… what’s holding onto your soul right now are only the beings who cherish you. You’re not in there.”
I felt like I’d been caught at something. As I flinched my fingers and lowered my head, she put the things she’d taken out back in her bosom and stood up from her seat. Then tap tap. She casually stroked my head, bowed politely to Bihyeon, and left the room.
An uncomfortable silence flowed. The rat and cat who hadn’t left yet approached me. They seemed to glance at Bihyeon and me, then the rat smacked my leg.
“Seodam-nim, Myoun-nim. Hello. Thanks to you, I received good medicine.”
“You human, you really…!”
“Yeah, hello. Seodam kept worrying, that’s why. Please understand.”
At the cat’s words, the rat who let out a long deep sigh nervously tossed something onto my hand. It was a paper that was a bit large for a rat to hold. Looking with puzzled eyes, I checked the paper. It looked like some kind of blueprint. After looking at it for a while, the structure gradually became visible to my eyes. It seems to be a house blueprint. Is that right? Something with a lot of rooms and wide spaces, it also looks like a pension.
“What’s this?”
“Your house.”
“Ah, a house… What? A house?”
“Not a small one like back then, but we’re going to build it really big in the human world, fitted to your size.”
The rat, who shrugged his shoulders with a confident expression, sparkled his eyes.
“Bihyeon-nim said good land will become available soon, so he’ll buy that land and all the surrounding area, and we plan to build it big there.”
“Seodam-nim, wait a moment…”
“Don’t worry. That place was your house in the past, right? We won’t ruin the structure of the old house too much.”
I made eye contact with Bihyeon. The way he grinned and tilted his head as if he knew nothing about it was a bit infuriating. Whatever the case, when I looked at him with the intention of asking him to stop it, this time he turned his head away pretending not to notice. This god, really.
“Wait a moment, Seodam-nim. In our world, houses are extremely precious and expensive. But to do that…”
“That’s why Bihyeon-nim agreed to help.”
The rat sparkled his eyes and pointed at Bihyeon with both hands.
“We shouldn’t be discussing money in front of the god of wealth… Besides, you’re just taking back what was stolen from you, right? Then there’s no problem, is there?”
What was stolen. At that moment, that house, which must have been our house, came to mind. I should refuse, but my mouth just wouldn’t open. Right, that’s correct. That place was originally our family’s house. I was both angry at Aunt for using it as if it were her own house, and wondered why she had to go that far. Did Aunt ever think of us as family?
“Anyway, just know that. I’m showing you this so you can tell me if there’s anything you don’t like.”
“Actually, I don’t really know about these things…”
“Then I’ll take care of it. There are so many who say they’ll help because of you. Eoun too, and Boss Ppik, they’re so enthusiastic.”
Those two? Ah… I really need to thank them and apologize. When I spoke so coldly. A corner of my heart became stuffy and I smiled bitterly. The rat who jumped up saying he was going to go build the house seemed to remember something and tapped the cat.
“Ah… this is my gift.”
The cat, who had been quiet the whole time, took out a bell from his pocket and held it out to me.
“I heard that even though you solved the curse, you haven’t solved the human who cast the curse yet… It’s a bell that will block any curse just once.”
When I hesitated and didn’t take it, the cat pressed it firmly into my hand.
“You were in a difficult situation because of me… I’m giving this because I feel sorry about that.”
When that was also something done out of concern for me. I stared blankly at the bell, then gripped it tightly in my hand.
“Yes. Thank you.”
“I’ll go now… Get better soon.”
“Go carefully.”
Both of them waved their hands at me and left the room. Silence flowed. In the end, it was Bihyeon who broke the strange silence first.
