At Bonryeong, Kim Young and Ryu Seong-hee faced off.
“Ms. Ryu, I intend to formally transfer exorcist Gi Jae-eon’s affiliation to Bonryeong.”
His tone was sharp.
Yet Ryu Seong-hee showed no particular disturbance. Her delicate hand gently lifted a warm teacup. With a leisurely air, she pursed her lips and asked back:
“And the reason?”
“The reason for asking is the reason itself. I ask you in turn: do you consider exorcist Gi Jae-on’s current condition… normal?”
Kim Young spoke honestly.
“A curse? No. There is none. I can assert this in the name of a haejusa (curse breaker). Ms. Ryu, or rather… Ja-eon’s mother, I myself am far from perfect. I know that. But… I am an adult. Yes, so I will say this.”
Kim Young clenched his hands tightly on his lap, his expression contorted in distress.
“Ja-eon must go to the hospital.”
He is in a very dangerous state right now.
At the bustling market—
“Ten thousand won for a box of tangerines! Ten thousand won each box~~~!”
“Sir, how much is this?”
“Come on, three packs for five thousand won, let’s go!”
“Hyung! Why did you rest yesterday?”
“Ah, got sick from drinking! How about you, did you sell a lot today?”
“Mother! This is what I caught today!”
The noisy chatter, bustling sounds, clatter of feet.
It felt like every sound in the world had gathered.
Gi Jae-eon followed Kim Joo-won and the others closely like a duckling. Because of his tall height, even if he lost them, he could find them quickly.
“Two big chickens, please.”
Kim Joo-won cut swiftly through the crowd, quickly finding the ingredients written on the note.
“Aunt, do you have peeled green onions?”
“Potatoes? No, the ones next to them. How much?”
“Where’s the small minced garlic?”
He was a pro.
“Hey.”
“Ah… yeah.”
Gi Jae-eon accepted the heavy black bag Kim Joo-won handed him. It was full of potatoes and mushrooms.
“That’s all?”
“W-wait a minute… two chickens, g-g, green onions… garlic… ah, minced garlic… potatoes…”
Kim Joo-won sneered at Gi Jae-eon, who listed off each item, then abruptly changed direction and started walking. Gi Jae-eon followed awkwardly.
The two stopped at a snack stand inside the market.
“Aunt, please give me two servings of tteokbokki and three thousand won worth of fried snacks. Also, some soondae, without liver but lots of lungs. I’ll just eat the fish cakes and pay for them.”
While Kim Joo-won skillfully ordered, Gi Jae-eon quietly rolled his eyes around. Then a paper cup filled with fish cake broth was plopped down before him. Kim Joo-won’s big, firm hand left the cup and disappeared.
“Don’t tell me it’s your first time eating this.”
That’s so outdated. Kim Joo-won muttered under his breath and started eating the first serving of tteokbokki. His strong jaw didn’t stop moving.
Students here. Soon the fried snacks and soondae arrived—a lavish spread. Gi Jae-eon peeked cautiously, then hesitantly picked up a toothpick. He wasn’t especially hungry, but maybe because of the atmosphere, his hand moved on its own.
Actually, he had eaten snacks like these before, back when traveling nationwide exorcising yokai.
When he had no time for meals, the manager sometimes brought kimbap and tteokbokki for him to eat on the go. But this was his first time eating at a market… and standing while eating at that.
He remembered once, by chance…
‘This is how kids eat.’
Kids dressed in school uniforms clustered happily, eating delicious food together. He felt like he was one of them.
‘...Doing all sorts of things.’
But it wasn’t an unpleasant feeling.
Gi Jae-eon put the steaming bright red tteokbokki into his mouth. The spicy-sweet gochujang sauce coated his mouth smoothly, followed by a chewy texture that was quite… good.
Surprisingly, he didn’t feel nauseous or queasy.
Kim Joo-won, pretending not to look, chewed expressionlessly, then suddenly slid an egg from the tteokbokki toward Gi Jae-eon.
“...?”
“Eat.”
Then he crushed a fish cake in one bite. It was like there was a black hole in his mouth.
‘That’s huge...’
Gi Jae-eon rolled the big egg with his toothpick, unsure what to do, when a low voice nearby said, “Hey.” The hand messing with the egg twitched.
Ah… did he think he was playing with the food?
Thinking he’d get scolded again, Gi Jae-eon shrank his neck and looked up, only to see Kim Joo-won’s slightly embarrassed face.
He unusually hesitated for a moment, then asked in a somewhat awkward tone:
“How do you see me…?”
A strange question. See you how? What?
Gi Jae-eon blinked, not understanding the question itself.
…He seemed to want some sort of evaluation.
But he had no idea what to evaluate. In the end, he gave the most basic answer about appearance.
“Well, you’re pretty… t-tall…”
Honestly, a truthful answer should have included ‘a bit scary.’ But no matter how socially awkward, telling someone ‘you look scary’ to their face was a bit much.
So he managed a somewhat plausible reply…
“No, idiot.”
Apparently not.
“I meant my skills! Who asked you to judge my looks? Who doesn’t know I’m good-looking?”
Ah, that part.
Gi Jae-eon was briefly startled but quickly figured out the meaning. Since the question was specific, answering was easier.
Kim Joo-won’s skill? Well, of course…
“Weak.”
He grabbed him by the collar.
‘Ja-eon must go to the hospital.’
“Exorcist Gi Jae-eon… has mental issues. Is that the interpretation?”
Ryu Seong-hee finally spoke after a long silence.
Kim Young nodded calmly, meaning yes.
“I know Ja-eon has great abilities. But…”
“If you go any further, that will be quite a dangerous statement.”
Ryu Seong-hee’s gaze sharpened considerably. It was natural. The current ‘Gi Jae-eon’ was no longer just Cheonjiharang’s or the Gi family’s alone. In a way, he was a brand—a representative talent of a profession. It wasn’t for nothing he was called “the human closest to a god.”
But if someone with such a heavy responsibility had a defect? A mental one at that?
It was not something to let slide.
Gi Jae-eon had to be flawless. Without a single blemish.
If he faltered, his brand’s reputation would fall, and naturally his value too. The financial loss would be considerable.
Would it end there?
A pack of jackals, eagerly waiting for the tiger’s teeth to fall, would fiercely rush in to take the throne.
Rootless Bonryeong.
Arrogant Haeshin.
Neither was qualified. A future led by the unworthy could only be a path of destruction.
Having devoted her whole life to this world, Ryu Seong-hee could not watch such a future unfold.
“I pride myself on having perfectly supported exorcist Gi Jae-eon.”
“Ms. Ryu, …Ja-eon’s mother!”
Kim Young jumped up and shouted at her. Did she not realize the gravity of the situation? His anxious face looked truly distressed.
“But—”
She calmly continued, her voice gentle but firm.
“If you talk about parental qualifications, I have no rebuttal.”
Their eyes locked tightly.
Kim Young opened his eyes wide and awkwardly sat back down. Realizing he had acted hastily, he felt embarrassed.
Yet Ryu Seong-hee only quietly smiled, showing displeasure at Kim Young’s careless judgment.
In truth, seen as a mother rather than as the human Ryu Seong-hee, her thoughts were surprisingly close to Kim Young’s.
“I couldn’t bring myself to ask.”
Ryu Seong-hee recalled the first day Gi Jae-eon collapsed.
Then when he shut himself in the corner, screaming constantly.
Then when he fainted in the bathroom while eating.
Yes, the many times Ja-eon had broken down.
One, two, three, four times…
There had been many chances.
Are you okay? Is something wrong?
Try telling your mother… just lacked the courage to reach out.
“I know exorcist Gi Jae-eon better than anyone else, but I didn’t know my own son at all. His favorite color, side dishes, clothes… nothing.”
“...”
“I regret it.”
Those words carried much meaning.
“Why did I think he was okay? He’s still just a person.”
He’d always done well, exceeded expectations.
“That faith led my son into the abyss.”
Ryu Seong-hee smiled weakly. The smile was unlike her usual self—somewhere hollow and pitiful.
“It may be too late to act as a mother now… but I must do what I can.”
She picked up her neatly placed bag. From it, she pulled out a catalog densely packed with lists of well-known hospitals in Seoul. Like VVIP customers selecting goods in a private room at a department store… the neatly organized hospital list was a service only top executives could usually afford.
But Ryu Seong-hee effortlessly displayed wealth comparable to the best.
“Anywhere.”
Even a hospital where booking is as difficult as catching a star in the sky, she had the director’s business card.
“As many as needed.”
Her expression was resolute.
“If Ja-eon needs it.”
She would marshal all her power to protect him. Whoever stood in her way would not be forgiven. Even if it was Cheonjiharang or the Gi family.
For her child, she would give up everything. Everything was only for Ja-eon.