Chapter 7
The window of the stopped sedan slid down.
Jin-hyuk leaned his head out.
“Where are you headed?”
“Near Gandeung Hill.”
Yeon-su answered without thinking, and Jin-hyuk offered,
“I’m going that way too. I’ll give you a ride. Get in, Miss Ha Yeon-su.”
At his words, Yeon-su’s face instantly stiffened.
“No, that’s alright. I’m fine.”
She waved her hand in refusal.
Just then, a bus pulled into the stop, honking loudly.
“Come on, get in.”
Flustered, Yeon-su ended up climbing into the car.
She was already running late for her meeting with Su-ryeon.
Waiting an hour for the next bus wasn’t an option, and she couldn’t afford a taxi either.
Canceling wasn’t possible either. She couldn’t leave Su-ryeon to spend her birthday alone.
She wasn’t fully recovered yet. To let her sit by herself at the shaman’s house on her birthday felt too cruel.
“Then thank you, I’ll take the ride.”
Yeon-su gave a polite nod and fastened her seatbelt.
Jin-hyuk smoothly turned the wheel and headed toward her destination.
A heavy silence filled the car for a long while.
Caught in the deep cedar scent of his cologne, Yeon-su stole a sideways glance.
His profile at the wheel looked as though it had been painted with a brush.
Long lashes and flawless, smooth lines made him strikingly beautiful, even for a man.
Suddenly, a car cut into their lane without signaling.
Jin-hyuk slammed the brakes, and Yeon-su’s body lurched forward.
At the same time, his right arm shot out, bracing her from falling.
“Are you alright?”
His arm had brushed against her chest for only a moment, but her heart hammered like a drum.
Her face flushed red before she realized it.
“Y-yes, I’m fine.”
At her answer, Jin-hyuk straightened the wheel again.
Anyone else would have cursed, but he kept his composure as if nothing had happened.
His calmness cooled the heat still burning on her cheeks.
Soon, they reached the entrance to Gandeung Hill.
By bus, it would have been a long detour, but by car it had taken no time at all.
“Do you have business out here, sir?”
It was nothing more than polite small talk.
But Jin-hyuk’s reply made her heart sink.
“There’s a fortune-telling house nearby. The Baby Bodhisattva’s, do you know it?”
Yeon-su’s back stiffened instantly.
“No, I don’t.”
She cut him off quickly. He glanced at her, a faint smile tugging at his lips.
“Are you headed to that fortune-teller now?”
Though Su-ryeon strictly operated by reservation, a few unannounced visitors always came.
If Jin-hyuk showed up there, it would be the absolute worst scenario.
“Not today.”
Relief escaped her in a quiet sigh.
“I might stop by next time I’m in the area. I went once, and she was just as good as they say.”
“Yes…”
Yeon-su nodded automatically, but her eyes widened at his next words.
“She told me I’d marry this year. My bride would be someone born in December, with strong Water energy.”
Her heart began pounding again.
“When’s your birthday, Miss Ha Yeon-su?”
“…January 18th.”
She hesitated before answering, a chill of dread running through her.
“Ah. That makes you a December baby on the lunar calendar.”
She bit her lip and nodded.
“And earlier you said your name was written with Yeon for stream and Su for water. Sounds like you fit my fortune perfectly.”
The shock dropped her jaw.
She had been terrified he might have recognized her as the Baby Bodhisattva, but instead, he thought she was his fated bride…
“What do you think?”
He asked softly.
The words were spoken lightly, but to Yeon-su they sounded alarmingly sincere.
By then, the car was pulling into Gandeung Hill.
“Executive Director… isn’t fortune-telling nothing more than superstition?”
Her voice wavered with hesitation.
His tone turned sharp at once.
“What do you mean by that?”
“I-I just mean, there’s no need to take it so literally.”
She forced a nervous smile.
“So you’re saying the Baby Bodhisattva tricked me?”
“No, not tricked, I just—”
“I paid thirty million won for that reading about marriage. If it’s false, I should press fraud charges.”
Her lips parted in disbelief.
So Su-ryeon really hadn’t exaggerated. Thirty million for a single fortune-telling. He truly was a client they couldn’t afford to lose.
“Not just a refund lawsuit, I should also claim damages for emotional distress.”
The air turned heavy in an instant.
“I’d hire a lawyer with a one-hundred-percent win rate.”
Yeon-su swallowed hard.
The way he smiled then was like Death himself.
She had thought the worst was behind her, but clearly she had been wrong.
* * *
After dropping Yeon-su off, Jin-hyuk returned to the office.
Chief Jeon was waiting, papers in hand.
“Sir, here’s the report you requested on the Baby Bodhisattva.”
He laid it before Jin-hyuk and continued,
“The person presumed to be the Baby Bodhisattva is Min Su-ryeon. Age twenty-seven. Graduated from SeoDae High School.”
Jin-hyuk’s sharp gaze swept across her profile.
After high school, she had no record of college or employment. Only frequent hospital visits.
Then, a few years ago, the hospital records stopped. Around that same time, she rented the house now used as the Baby Bodhisattva’s shrine.
“So this woman is the Baby Bodhisattva?”
“Not confirmed, but she likely received divine possession after illness and opened her shrine.”
His finger tapped lightly against the desk.
“Have you confirmed her whereabouts that day?”
He meant the day he himself had visited the shrine.
“That morning, an ambulance was dispatched to her house.”
“What happened?”
“A woman in her twenties was rushed to the hospital for emergency appendectomy surgery.”
At that, a flicker of interest crossed Jin-hyuk’s face.
Maybe Min Su-ryeon hadn’t been living there alone.
In that case, she couldn’t be definitively identified as the Baby Bodhisattva.
Though circumstantially, she was still the strongest candidate.
“You’re certain the one who had surgery was Min Su-ryeon?”
“Yes, sir.”
He nodded, expression unreadable.
“Then who was the one I met?”
“That… I’m not sure.”
Chief Jeon trailed off, bowing his head apologetically.
He had gone to see a celebrated shaman, only to find she had been taken away in an ambulance. Even he couldn’t make sense of it.
“I’ll investigate who was impersonating her.”
“No. Don’t bother.”
Jin-hyuk already knew who it was.
“Keep today’s matter a secret. Especially from the chairman.”
If Do Ju-myung ever heard, his reaction would be all too predictable.
“Understood.”
After Chief Jeon left, Jin-hyuk picked up a photo of Su-ryeon.
It was from a high school field trip, where she stood arm in arm with a friend whom Jin-hyuk recognized well.
The image stirred the memory of Myung-un, the diviner.
Jin-hyuk had gone to him once at his grandfather’s insistence.
A man shrouded in shadows, exuding a damp, sinister energy. His snake-like eyes had studied Jin-hyuk closely.
“Executive Director, great fortune will open for you soon. Until then, you must obey the chairman’s words.”
Without a word of thanks, Jin-hyuk had stood and left.
“I have a meeting. I’ll take my leave.”
He had bowed to Do Ju-myung before stepping out, clicking his tongue.
The chairman’s words had always meant obeying Myung-un.
In the end, it was the diviner pulling the strings.
Do Ju-myung had barely survived death’s door. His once sharp, powerful face still bore the pallor of illness.
Perhaps that was why he had needed something to cling to.
At the time, Jin-hyuk had thought nothing of it. He never imagined the grip of that belief would last so long.
The memory darkened his face, a faint crack of anger showing.
He turned back to the report Chief Jeon had compiled, combing through every detail.
Finally, he concluded there was no connection between the Baby Bodhisattva and Myung-un.
Only then did his mind ease.
Now it was time to put his own plan into motion.
To be continued
Brought to you by Gourmet Scans
Translator: Maize
Editor: Maize
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