Chapter 4. Reunion (4)

Translator: Lili

Weekly Chapter 5/5

The wooden-floored hall was sparsely furnished, with no proper table, so they sat directly on the floor, facing each other. The team leader, clearly unaccustomed to sitting cross-legged, kept shifting uncomfortably. Even so, his gaze lingered on the framed certificates hanging on the wall.

The certificates and commendations were mostly for Yoon Seopjae’s advisory work with the first president and members of the National Assembly. The letters of appreciation bore the logos of various major corporations.

“Master Yoon Seopjae was truly as renowned as I’ve heard.”

Most of his grandfather’s clients had indeed been political and business elites. The frames, once polished daily, were now coated in dust.

“Should I guess why you came here?”

Yoon Dam asked.

“…Excuse me?”

“When people visit a shaman, they usually expect them to know their reason for coming without being told. They think that’s proof of real talent.”

“That’s not necessary. But… if you could guess, it would certainly make you more convincing.”

“My grandfather might have been able to do that, but I already told you—I’m not a shaman. I don’t have that kind of ability.”

“Then…”

Doubt flickered in the team leader’s eyes.

He clearly didn’t trust Yoon Dam, especially since he had agreed to talk the moment money was mentioned.

“What exactly did Lee Jaeoh write in his post?”

As soon as Yoon Dam brought it up, the team leader immediately pulled his phone from his suit pocket.

Unlocking it, he opened his photo gallery, revealing screenshots of Lee Jaeoh’s forum post.

Reading through it, Yoon Dam clicked his tongue when he reached the end.

“This is exaggerated.”

“…What?”

“The story is somewhat accurate, but I never said this.”

He tapped a specific line on the screen.

— The one you’re looking for isn’t here, so stop bothering Shell and leave.

“This part is wrong. I don’t talk to ghosts.”

“Wait… you don’t talk to ghosts?”

“That’s right. I don’t engage with them at all. And this part is wrong, too.”

He tapped another line.

— Cover your ears and close your eyes.

“Private First Class Lee Jaeoh… died that night.”

The team leader’s pupils slowly dilated as he turned to look at Yoon Dam.

“The night he and I were on frontline duty together, he suddenly woke up and started acting strangely. Before I could stop him, he took his own life. That’s why I was discharged early.”

“Are you kidding me?! The guy I was just with—he’s standing right outside!”

The team leader’s face flushed red with outrage as he pointed toward the gate.

“That young man? That’s not Lee Jaeoh. Check for yourself.”

Yoon Dam slid his phone across the floor toward him.

With pale fingers, the team leader hastily sent a message to someone, then turned back to Yoon Dam with a glare that all but screamed,

‘If this is a joke, you’re dead.’

Minutes passed before a response arrived.

The moment he read it, the team leader let out a deep, shaky sigh.

The message confirmed it—the young man outside was not Lee Jaeoh. The real Lee Jaeoh had already died.

The team leader had been so focused on finding Yoon Seopjae that he had blindly believed what the young man had said.

His fingers twitched as he ran a hand over his forehead, then looked up at the wooden rafters before shaking his head.

‘Am I losing my mind?’

Muttering to himself, he gripped his phone so tightly it looked like he might crush it.

“Then… the fact that you didn’t say a single word to ‘Lee Jaeoh’…”

He exhaled sharply and pressed his lips together.

Until now, he had assumed Yoon Dam simply refused to speak to a subordinate who had carelessly given away his information.

But if what Yoon Dam said was true—if he never spoke to ghosts—

“…Did you just save me from a ghost?”

Yoon Dam shook his head firmly,

“No. Lee Jaeoh wasn’t here for you in the first place. He came for me. I heard from my grandfather that he came around this time last year as well. But back then, he didn’t take human form… I guess after failing once, he tried a different approach this year.”

“So, the deceased Lee Jaeoh… is possessing that young man outside?”

“Probably.”

Yoon Dam couldn’t say for sure, so he only answered with his gaze.

It was only then that the team leader, who had come all this way as if possessed himself, realized that Yoon Dam’s eyes were different from an ordinary person’s.

Yoon Dam had blue eyes—an unusual trait for an East Asian. They should have felt unnatural, but his delicate features made them blend in seamlessly.

“He insisted that he was Lee Jaeoh, though…”

Now that he was aware of it, the peculiarity fascinated him, but he refrained from commenting, worried it might be rude. Instead, he simply continued questioning Yoon Dam about Lee Jaeoh.

“I doubt you came here just because you were curious about my story. And to be honest… I’m not interested in the three hundred million you offered.”

“What? Then why…?”

“Curiosity got the better of me.”

Yoon Dam admitted he had a tendency to meddle.

He wondered just how desperate the situation had to be for them to offer such a sum to a complete stranger.

Looking back, if he hadn’t let sympathy get the better of him during the Lee Jaeoh incident, he wouldn’t have gone through so much trouble back then either.

“Now, can you clearly state why you were looking for my grandfather and me?”

The team leader shifted from sitting cross-legged to kneeling.

He clenched his fists lightly, resting them on his thighs, and repeatedly opened and closed his mouth as if struggling to speak.

‘Is this the right thing to do? Can I even say this?’

His hesitation was palpable.

Yoon Dam patiently waited, giving him time to gather his thoughts.

“The truth is… the person I serve…”

The security team leader swallowed hard.

“…claims to be a dokkaebi.”

***

[TL/N]

Dokkaebi: a mythical goblin-like creature in Korean folklore, known for its supernatural abilities and mischief.