“What. I told you, hoo… not to come to the storage shed.”
Cheon Yijae spoke in a voice that had sunk coolly low. However, that tone was already full of exhausted energy, and the eyes he actually faced were also somewhat hazily unfocused. It looked similar to when he had been exhausted from using a lot of strength fighting the Hyeong Akgui at the movie theater in the past.
But somehow, it seemed Cheon Yijae had deliberately brought himself to that state now. As if he had intentionally driven himself into a painful situation.
“…Why did you suddenly hunt ghosts?”
“There were some petty ghosts being annoying, so I just cleaned them up… So don’t worry about it and leave.”
“…What’s the reason you’re tying yourself to that chair right now?”
“Haah… It’s because of the Hour of the Ox. During the Hour of the Ox, the Jaegui try to run wild.”
Cheon Yijae answered irritably as if annoyed. It was a tone where the intention to answer roughly and drive him out was clearly felt.
Though his voice stretched out languidly, he clearly communicated with the other person and controlled the Jaegui, so it seemed fortunately not a problem of rationality clouded by the yokai’s toxicity, but…
Sim Seowoo couldn’t understand Cheon Yijae at all.
Because the petty ghosts on the mountain were annoying, he stirred up Ghost Energy enough to shake the entire mountain to lure and devour all sorts of petty ghosts, and then tied himself to a chair with the purpose of needing to control the Jaegui because it was the Hour of the Ox? Binding the host so the bastards wouldn’t run wild on their own?
Though it sounded plausible at first glance, Sim Seowoo had never heard such a story from Do Seonhwa.
‘Ah, but Guiin. It would be better to hurry a bit. It’s almost the Hour of the Ox, so the ghosts on the mountain might run wild. They’re petty ghosts that wouldn’t dare approach when Sojunim is awake, but since he’s unconscious…’
Even recalling the content she had advised about the Hour of the Ox, there was no warning about Jaegui at all. If the Jaegui were dangerous, she would have certainly warned him not to approach Cheon Yijae first.
Rather, hadn’t Do Seonhwa only treated Cheon Yijae as ghost repellent?
“Can’t you understand? I told you to leave…”
“The reason you explained isn’t very understandable. Whether it’s really dangerous because of the Hour of the Ox.”
“Ha… Don’t you see the Ghost Energy filling the storage shed right now?”
As Cheon Yijae said, red Ghost Energy was ominously spread throughout the storage shed. Until just before, it had been swirling like a storm, but now it had become relatively calm, yet it still emitted an ominousness like a bomb that could explode at any moment.
However, Sim Seowoo was caught by an unsettling question.
A few hours ago in the Guiyeok, when Cheon Yijae had a battle of energy with the Jaegui, he had controlled them with his ‘hands’. When he raised his hand and slowly pressed down toward the floor, the Jaegui would also sink, and when he pointed somewhere with his index finger, they would fly there.
What he’d learned at Heun was that ‘actions’ were rituals that sent out energy. Being conscious of using abilities by making some movement, whether using tools or body gestures, was the first step of sorcery. That’s why not only Purifiers but various shamans like barrier masters operated spiritual power with brushes.
But right now, Cheon Yijae had bound himself with rope. Then it would be difficult to move his hands freely, yet he would control the Jaegui in that state? Wasn’t he rather giving the Jaegui a more advantageous situation?
Moreover, if it was really a problem of the Jaegui running wild, rather than enduring alone, he could just ask him to purify it. …Well, this was something Cheon Yijae wouldn’t request even in his right mind, though.
“Stop being annoying in front of my eyes and just fuck off.”
Just in time, Cheon Yijae’s fierce order to leave that supported his speculation fell, so Sim Seowoo nodded. As expected, what was annoying to Cheon Yijae would be the Purifier rather than the Jaegui’s rebellion.
However, even though he was somewhat convinced, he was pondering because Cheon Yijae’s words still didn’t match up.
“Urgh…”
Cheon Yijae groaned briefly and lowered his head. The groan that burst through his clenched teeth echoed painfully, so Sim Seowoo approached him in surprise.
Whoooosh!
But the moment he stepped into the storage shed, the Ghost Energy surged. The red energy that had been lying calmly rose in an instant, and the Jaegui circling around Cheon Yijae immediately rushed at Sim Seowoo.
They charged roughly as if wanting to devour him entirely, then—thud!—were slammed to the floor right in front of him. Beyond the feeling of being held by a leash and pulled back, they were suppressed as if the back of their heads were seized and driven down. It was a suppression that occurred simultaneously with the chair Cheon Yijae was tied to shaking greatly.
Cheon Yijae, who had barely caught and blocked the Jaegui narrowly, as if control had been delayed due to binding himself, widened his eyes and looked at Sim Seowoo. Anger, or perhaps shock, was contained in his enlarged eyes.
“Are you crazy? Why do you keep trying to approach?”
“…”
“Don’t tell me you’re doing this because I sneered at whether you were in your right mind? Are you trying to show me what it’s really like to not be in your right mind, fuck!”
Cheon Yijae shouted fiercely, asking if defiance had risen because of the matter of pointing out to act normally. The momentum of nitpicking about how he could enter the storage shed full of summoned Jaegui, a space filled with Ghost Energy, was very sharp, but Sim Seowoo didn’t back down.
Rather, he only murmured in a very calm voice.
“…It really is the Gwaeoggong’s curse.”
A red mark had appeared on Cheon Yijae’s forehead, which had been clean until just now.
The moment a mark the size of a thumb appeared—sliding—between his disheveled jet-black hair, Sim Seowoo felt the questions he’d held until now being resolved. The situation was finally understood.
Cheon Yijae seemed to have been suppressing the curse by drawing up Ghost Energy.
Probably the moment he felt the Gwaeoggong’s curse, even if he didn’t know exactly what it was, as soon as he detected the suspicious sign, he seemed to have deliberately devoured many ghosts to reinforce his Ghost Energy. Should it be called fighting fire with fire? Even if contamination set in, he seemed to have thought he could ignore the curse with the pain of his soul rotting.
More than any confusion, survival instinct would take priority over things like sexual desire, so he deliberately drove himself to the limit. It was quite a plausible hypothesis.
‘Why is your, body scent, like this…’
Really, perhaps the reason he reacted to body scent was also because of that—did the instinct to escape the curse stimulate sexual desire?
While Sim Seowoo was pondering, Cheon Yijae spoke in a slightly trembling voice.
“…What? What curse? Suddenly, what nonsense…”
Seeing his ash-colored eyes also tremble a little, he thought he might already know about the curse as well. Since he was a Heun member, he might know the legend thoroughly.
Still, just in case, he conveyed the information.
“Actually, there was something I heard from Gwangmin-ssi when we communicated a little while ago. It was a legend about the Gwaeoggong’s curse…”
Though he had conveyed the contents of the earlier communication, he hadn’t mentioned this curse. At the time, since the red mark wasn’t visible, he thought it would be fine, and honestly he’d swallowed it because it seemed like a somewhat uncomfortable topic, but now he decided he ultimately had to deal with it directly.
Though Cheon Yijae would be an expert on ghosts… still, he was older than him.
Since he had lived a few more years than him, who was now twenty-one, he thought the other person would be less embarrassed if he handled this topic as calmly as possible. Perhaps the reason Cheon Yijae had been on edge so unstably until now was also because he was suffering from such a sensation for the first time—such a speculation also arose.
“They said the Gwaeoggong leaves a red mark on the forehead of the target it wants to take final revenge on at the moment of death. And to remove that red mark, married couples have to sleep together.”
“…”
“So, um, shall I help?”
“…What nonsense are you talking about right now? Help with what? Exactly what, how?”
Cheon Yijae questioned in an absurd tone. It wasn’t his usual fierce attitude, but he asked accusingly in a voice that was genuinely dumbfounded, so Sim Seowoo sighed, “Ah.”
He belatedly realized his words could cause misunderstanding. He had just brought up the conclusion right away because he was worried this kind of topic might be uncomfortable.
“Ah, I meant I’d try purifying it since Sojunim seems to be in a difficult situation right now because of that curse. That’s also the yokai’s energy, so I thought maybe it could be erased with purification.”
Sim Seowoo added an explanation. He spoke quite confidently with the assurance that it was fairly reasonable, but Cheon Yijae laughed, “Huh,” as if it was absurd.
Following that, his shoulders trembled slightly as he lowered his head. He sneered, stifling laughter as if he’d heard such absurd words, then soon raised only his eyes obliquely and spoke. Between his disheveled jet-black hair, his ash-colored eyes turned bleakly toward Sim Seowoo.
“Haha, really… you’re annoyingly meddlesome to a laughable degree.”
“…”
“I’ll suppress it myself, so stop talking nonsense and leave. I don’t need your help or anything.”
Cheon Yijae issued an order to leave in an annoyed tone. It was a cold attitude as if he didn’t even want to converse anymore, but Sim Seowoo noticed his voice had stretched out much more exhaustedly than before. Now that he knew the cause of his problem, he could notice it even more easily.
He seemed to have consumed a lot of energy forcibly drawing up Ghost Energy and also making a fuss just before. Though he couldn’t see it now with his head lowered, his forehead had been full of cold sweat. His breathing was also unstable, and his fingertips hanging below the chair also spasmed intermittently.
Even in this state, Cheon Yijae didn’t ask for help.
Was it still rejection because purification was an opposing ability, confidence as Sojunim that he didn’t need anyone’s help, or… because he had always endured alone, did the option of asking someone for help not exist in his head in the first place?
Sim Seowoo gazed down at the crown of Cheon Yijae’s head silently, then looked around the scene of the storage shed that had become a mess once before moving his steps.
Thud, thud—realizing the calm footsteps were approaching, Cheon Yijae sharply raised his head.
“Why…!”
“Since you’re conveniently tied up, I’ll purify you quickly.”
Sim Seowoo wanted to make full use of Cheon Yijae’s bound state.
