#087
Since Gyo-ha had secretly entered the country without informing his family, he contacted Jung-hye as soon as day broke. Jung-hye, as expected, flew into a rage upon hearing that her brother, whom she thought was safely tucked away in America, had returned to Korea.
“What kind of brother are you…”
Although it wasn’t the first time Hwi-kyung had seen Jung-hye angry, he still felt inexplicably sorry. If it weren’t for him, Gyo-ha wouldn’t have returned to the country in this manner.
However, Gyo-ha remained nonchalant, regardless of whether Jung-hye might collapse from high blood pressure. His attitude was that it wasn’t a big deal since he hadn’t dropped out like in the previous iteration, nor had he bought his degree with money.
Hwi-kyung patted Gyo-ha’s back, who was being incredibly brazen. Even though Hwi-kyung was sitting right next to Gyo-ha, Jung-hye couldn’t perceive him.
“Just apologize to her.”
“Sorry?”
“What?”
“No, don’t answer me. Remember, no one but you can see me.”
Since only Gyo-ha could perceive Hwi-kyung, conversations were difficult when other people were around. Hwi-kyung’s heart raced as he wondered if he had been this obvious when he could see the system window.
“I’m really sorry, sis.”
Instead of lying down and asking what he had done wrong like before, Gyo-ha apologized obediently as Hwi-kyung instructed. When the guy who would have brazenly rolled around saying “What’s wrong with me coming back to Korea!” suddenly changed his attitude, Jung-hye was so dumbfounded she lost the energy to be angry.
“Did you tell Father?”
“No. Only you know right now.”
“Why did you suddenly return? Did something happen in America?”
“Nothing special happened.”
“Then why did you come back?”
“I have something I need to do. Oh, and sis.”
“What?”
“I won the lottery.”
The shocking news of winning the first prize in the lottery left Jung-hye speechless. Both of her younger brothers had given her trouble since childhood because she never knew what they might do next, but Gyo-ha always managed to exceed her expectations.
“Don’t tell me you came back because you got money? Did you cause all this fuss thinking you’d be fine even if your support was cut off?”
“It’s not like that. I just wanted to let you know in advance in case there are tax issues later. I don’t plan to use that money right away.”
“…”
“I’m telling the truth!”
“Did you do drugs in America by any chance?”
“Sis, really… Is drugs the only thing you can think to ask me about?”
“Tax evasion and drugs are the two biggest things the youngest son of a chaebol family should avoid!”
“I don’t need things like dopamine!”
Hwi-kyung understood Jung-hye, who looked like she was about to die from frustration. Although he had been involved in a bus accident because Jung-hye had fired him immediately in the fourteenth iteration, he didn’t resent her.
Lee Jung-hye was, after all, favorable towards her brother Lee Gyo-ha. It was true that she had tried to use Hwi-kyung because Gyo-ha wasn’t going according to her wishes, but she had never shown any ill feelings towards Hwi-kyung.
Instead, Hwi-kyung found Jung-hye impressive. If he had a brother like Gyo-ha, he would have collapsed from stress long ago. He was suddenly grateful for being an only child.
“I’ve already applied for a leave of absence mid-semester. They said it’s possible for up to 4 years.”
“What’s this thing you need to do that’s so urgent you had to return suddenly?”
“I think I need to meet our maternal grandmother.”
“What?”
“I need some help.”
Jung-hye frowned at the mention of needing help from their maternal grandmother, the famous shaman. Although it was confidential that the BK Group had grown with the support of the shaman, Jung-hye, being closest to becoming the group’s successor, knew about it to some extent.
Of course, she didn’t completely trust the shaman like their father, who would throw himself into a dung field if his mother-in-law told him to. To Jung-hye, their maternal grandmother seemed a bit like a con artist. Although every business she picked turned out well, she couldn’t fully trust a shaman who often spouted nonsense.
If it weren’t for their maternal grandmother, Jung-hye would never have believed in superstitions like shamanic faith. In fact, not just Jung-hye, but Sung-ha and Gyo-ha hadn’t believed in the shaman’s abilities either.
Sung-ha even had a bad relationship with their maternal grandmother. Having grown up being told by the shaman that he would ruin the family, it was nonsensical for someone with his bad temper to be fond of the shaman as a grandmother.
The only fortunate thing was that the shaman didn’t stay in one place but wandered around everywhere, so they rarely encountered her. She was someone they could hardly see even once outside of holidays, and even Lee Baek-gyeong, her son-in-law, often communicated with her only by phone rather than meeting in person.
Moreover, for the past few years, who knows what she had been up to, consistently maintaining radio silence and not even accepting Lee Baek-gyeong’s calls. So why was Gyo-ha looking for her now? Jung-hye looked at her brother with a suspicious face.
“Don’t tell me you’ve suddenly started seeing ghosts at your age?”
It was Hwi-kyung, not Gyo-ha, who was surprised by this question. Since Gyo-ha could see him while Jung-hye couldn’t, it was indeed similar to seeing ghosts.
“It’s not like that.”
“Isn’t it though? I’m pretty much like a ghost right now…”
“Oh, come on.”
Gyo-ha, who had been trying to keep his gaze fixed on Jung-hye, finally looked at Hwi-kyung. Jung-hye paid attention even to this small action.
So it has finally come to this. For Jung-hye, who knew well why their father doted on Gyo-ha unlike Sung-ha, it felt like lightning striking above her head.
How worried their father had been that by the time she would lead the BK Group, their maternal grandmother would have passed away, making it difficult to make important decisions. But what if her useless younger brother gained abilities similar to their maternal grandmother? For Jung-hye, who was aiming to manage the BK Group, this could be fortunate.
“Alright. I’ll try to find our maternal grandmother.”
“Thanks, sis.”
“Enough. Once you’ve resolved your business, just graduate from graduate school safely and come back. You’ll need a degree if you want to have a position next to me.”
Gyo-ha guessed what calculations Jung-hye had just finished in her mind. He couldn’t not know. He had observed Lee Jung-hye for as many years as his maternal grandmother’s age.
But Gyo-ha didn’t blurt out something amateur like “I’m not going to work beside you, sis.” The tact and culture that graduate school had built up only worked well at times like this.
After Jung-hye had swept through and left, only Hwi-kyung and Gyo-ha remained in that spacious area. Hwi-kyung leaned back completely on the sofa he was sitting on and stared at the continuously flickering system window.
App■■■■■te ■■ndit■■ns ■■t ■■t
No matter how he looked at it, the system window and Gyo-ha seemed to be incompatible. Since Gyo-ha had found Hwi-kyung, Hwi-kyung hadn’t returned to the beginning. The broken letters in the system window also showed no signs of recovering.
Being the shaman’s grandson, perhaps Gyo-ha also had the ability to get rid of the system window? After a long conversation, the two came to a conclusion.
For now, let’s ask Grandmother shaman since we don’t know.
The problem was that Gyo-ha’s maternal grandmother wouldn’t answer calls even if she were to die. Hwi-kyung was shocked to hear Gyo-ha say he wasn’t close with his grandmother. Living like strangers with your grandmother… How could that be? It was inconceivable to Hwi-kyung.
In the end, judging that he couldn’t find his maternal grandmother on his own, Gyo-ha decided to get Jung-hye’s help. He had revealed his return to Korea to Jung-hye to receive this kind of assistance.
“Do you think she’ll be able to contact her?”
“My sister is someone who makes the impossible possible, so I think she will.”
“What if there’s no way?”
“Well then… I guess you’ll have to stick close to me and live together.”
“…”
“I’m joking. Don’t look so serious.”
Living a daily life where only one person can see you? That would be walking the same path as the system window. In fact, before Gyo-ha appeared, the system window was only visible to Hwi-kyung.
Living cozily with Gyo-ha wasn’t a big problem, but Hwi-kyung had one more important person besides Gyo-ha. If he remained a non-existent being like this, Ok-ja, without a guardian, could be kicked out of the hospital at any time.
Since they weren’t family, it was difficult for Gyo-ha to become Ok-ja’s guardian in place of Hwi-kyung. The Korean medical law system was frustrating, but there was no suitable alternative. For Ok-ja’s sake, Hwi-kyung had to regain his existence.
* * *
The shaman knocked on the door of Gyo-ha’s officetel exactly two days later. Jung-hye had caught their maternal grandmother, who had been recuperating at the foot of Jirisan Mountain, alive.
However, the shaman also couldn’t recognize Hwi-kyung, just like the others. Since only Gyo-ha was bound to Hwi-kyung by the ‘oath’, the shaman couldn’t even remember Hwi-kyung’s existence.
“My goodness, this child… What on earth have you been up to all this time?”
However, just because she had no memory didn’t mean she couldn’t recognize the things entangled with Gyo-ha. The shaman was shocked, not knowing what her grandson had made an oath about.
“You rascal, what kind of oath did you make? Why did you receive a wish when you’re not even a god?”
“What?”
“Don’t pretend you don’t know! You knew all this, didn’t you?”
I really don’t know?
Gyo-ha supported his maternal grandmother, who looked like she might collapse at any moment. What is it? Unfortunately, Gyo-ha didn’t know that what he had done for Hwi-kyung was an oath. He equally had no idea that he had even repaired a wish.
Realizing that her grandson had really done all this without knowing anything, the shaman collapsed from stress. Occupying Gyo-ha’s bed, the shaman grumbled while giving a lot of nagging.
“If you’re going to make an oath, you should only stake yourself, not the entire family.”
“I really don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Oh my, it’s so frustrating. I’m going to die from frustration.”
“So, could you help me, Grandmother?”
“I don’t know if you’re my grandson or my enemy…”
Hwi-kyung thought it was fortunate that Gyo-ha was on his side. Gyo-ha, who clearly demanded what he wanted regardless of whether his family collapsed from stress, seemed like a clear-eyed madman.
“I promised to save someone.”
“…”
“But there’s something suspicious attached to that person.”
“Oh my, oh my… You’re tangling your own fate…”
“I’m trying to remove and get rid of it, but I don’t know how. Is there a way?”
“Oh, spirits above, oh…”
He’s truly a terribly unfilial child. However, before Hwi-kyung could marvel at Gyo-ha’s extremely unfilial behavior, the shaman suddenly sat up. It was clear she didn’t suffer from orthostatic hypotension despite her age.
“There is a way.”
“As expected of you, Grandmother.”
“But if it goes wrong, you’ll die and our family will be ruined.”
“Wow.”
It was Hwi-kyung, not Gyo-ha, who was surprised by the mention of Gyo-ha dying and the family being ruined. Lee Gyo-ha remained carefree even after hearing he might die.
“Anyway, there is a way, right?”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
