Chapter 25

“I don’t know why you’re angry.”

“How much hair have you eaten from sacrifices so far.”

“Five strands at a time.”

When she took more than that, some sacrifices had woken up.

They foamed at the mouth, thought she was a ghost, and fainted. When that happened, Hisa would pull up wild ginseng the next day and secretly leave it by their side.

Compared to that, Hong Yeom-rang was generous. He even let her take a proper bite.

“…Then why did all those sacrifices come back shaved bald. You said you only took five strands.”

The villagers whispered that most sacrifices returned with their heads completely shorn.

“They said it was… gratitude. Or repayment.”

“Explain properly.”

“When I gave them wild ginseng or valuables, they cried and said they’d repay the great favor by cutting their hair to make something for a god.”

Hong Yeom-rang didn’t understand.

Hisa couldn’t explain it well either.

The goblins had whispered into their ears, telling them to cut their hair and leave it behind.

So on the last day, Hisa always received something she hadn’t asked for.

“…I’ll just show you.”

They were gifts someone had carefully made.

She couldn’t eat them.

Hair that had been cut off for more than three days had already lost all its vitality.

It was useless to her.

So she led the way.

It wasn’t far.

Hong Yeom-rang followed behind, still unable to make sense of what she was saying.

“They all made things like this… I couldn’t throw them away, so the goblins did this.”

On top of a huge pine tree, something black hung.

The closest one looked like a child’s shoe, braided together with dark strands.

Hong Yeom-rang quickly realized what it was.

Shoes made from hair.

For the first time, shock spread across his face.

“This is the goblins’ doing, right.”

“They said this is what you do with gifts.”

The goblins had giggled as they took the hair shoes the sacrifices made and hung them on the tree.

The sacred tree usually held strips of colored cloth.

But this—

Anyone passing by would be horrified.

The moment he saw it, even Hong Yeom-rang felt a chill run down his spine.

It looked like a haunted tree, soaked in human resentment.

For the first time, he understood how people could see this at night, panic, and lose their way in fear.

For the goblins, teasing Hisa might be the most entertaining thing in the world.

It was unsettling.

But Hisa looked at it as if it were sincerity and care, proudly showing it to him.

Hong Yeom-rang swallowed what he wanted to say.

“Yeom-rang.”

They hadn’t known each other long, yet she sometimes called him like that.

He finally tore his gaze away from the tree and looked down at her.

Her pale face.

He remembered how she looked slightly flushed when he let her eat more than five strands.

It was a miracle she was even alive in this insane forest.

“Eat as much as I give you. Don’t hold back.”

At those words, Hisa swallowed.

The sound of her gulp was oddly loud.

Even in front of that eerie tree, Hong Yeom-rang burst out laughing at her reaction.

If he had to stay here for the allotted time, maybe it was better to just keep her by his side.

Seeing him laugh, Hisa smiled along with him.

She had been with Baek-ah since he was a tiny tiger.

Even so, she couldn’t get angry at Hong Yeom-rang for cutting him.

Because she still remembered Baek-ah as a child.

The boy who once carried all the anger of the world, who clenched his teeth and held back his tears, had now grown into a full man.

“Everyone should know you’re this kind.”

Hisa said.

“What?”

He had only seen her a few times, yet she had grown fond of him enough to offer her hair.

Hisa didn’t answer.

She just looked at him and smiled softly.

He was clearly a kind man.

Yet everyone found him uncomfortable. They avoided him.

Bringing him here as a sacrifice had been an impulsive decision.

Even his own family cursed and resented him.

His father felt uneasy around his own outstanding son.

When word spread that Hong Yeom-rang had returned to the village, people whispered everywhere.

That bastard. That rotten one.

Rumors from the capital had spread here, exaggerated.

That he had grown even more violent after associating with thugs.

That no one in the capital could even meet his gaze.

Hisa had heard all of it while sitting atop the sacred tree.

“You’re kind. So don’t fight with Baek-ah anymore.”

“I don’t back down from fights that come to me.”

Kind?

It was the first time he had ever heard that.

With those ridiculous hair shoes fluttering in the wind, his mind felt restless.

And yet she kept saying absurd things.

“When a family that should’ve been branded traitors becomes honored instead…”

When she heard those words from atop the sacred tree, she decided to bring him.

After a hundred days, he would return to the capital.

So she would bring him here.

Keep him away from harsh words and cruel gazes.

Let him stay here instead.

It had been a completely impulsive decision.

The shaman had cried and begged her for three days not to do it.

But Hisa didn’t change her mind.

“Ah, I’m hungry. If you weren’t mad, I should’ve just eaten more.”

Hisa said brightly.

Hong Yeom-rang frowned.

It felt like he had missed something important.

Hisa turned lightly and walked back toward the cave.

The forest opened a path for her again.

He quickly followed, eager to get away from that eerie tree.

“If you want to keep eating pork, clear all that out.”

As the goblins stirred while opening the path, Hong Yeom-rang spoke low enough for them to hear.

Her yellow robe fluttered like a butterfly.

Her steps were light.

Even though he knew exactly where she was going, his pace quickened as he followed.

– Can we eat sorghum cakes too?

– I want some too.

The goblins whispered like they were making a secret deal.

Annoyed, Hong Yeom-rang waved a hand near his ear.

Those grotesque things were bad enough.

But the hair shoes made for Hisa bothered him even more.

The thought of her hanging them on a tree and smiling at them—

Only Hisa in the world could smile at something like that.

“You can eat the sorghum cakes too.”

As soon as he answered, something fell in the forest behind them.

When he reached the cave shortly after Hisa, only two bundles of hair were left.

One had already been there for three days.

The other five—

She had quickly eaten before he arrived.

He caught her just as she was untying the last one to swallow it.

“How do you even eat that?”

The question came out impulsively.

Even a single strand of hair in food made it hard to swallow.

Until now, he had never properly seen how she ate.

He was about to just tell her to eat and look away, not wanting to think of her as a monster—

“Like this.”

Hisa smiled and opened her lips.

Her lips were pale.

But her tongue was vividly red as it slipped out slightly.

She placed the small bundle of hair on it.

Her lips didn’t close.

Hong Yeom-rang forgot even the thought that she looked like a monster.

Instead, he took a step closer.

On the tip of her red tongue, the hair melted away.

Softly.

Like the way she smiled sometimes.

There was no need to chew or swallow.

As if it was something her body needed, part of her… it dissolved and disappeared instantly.

Only then did she pull her tongue back in and close her lips.

“I look like a real monster, don’t I?”

She asked playfully, as if she could read his mind.

Hong Yeom-rang couldn’t answer.

His gaze was fixed on her.

Her red tongue, still wet with saliva.

Her lips, now clearly flushed from the vitality of his hair.

A faint warmth returned to her body.

Even without touching her, he knew she would feel like a human.

Her gentle smile, without any intent to lure, made his mouth go dry.

“Don’t ever show that to anyone again.”

“Was it that weird? I shouldn’t have shown you.”

“…Yeah. It’s too… monstrous. Don’t show anyone.”

Aside from the shaman, Hong Yeom-rang was the only one she had properly shown this to.

And likely the last.

Hisa nodded at his unnecessary warning.

She almost mentioned that even the shaman had never been curious about this.

But remembering how sharp his gaze became whenever the shaman was mentioned, she stayed quiet.

Her hunger faded for now.

That rare sense of fullness made her feel satisfied.

She shouldn’t smile.

Eating hair and smiling like this really made her look like a monster.

And yet, the corners of her lips kept lifting anyway.