ETVC C37

Chapter 37

Ryu Jisoo too regarded me with a face of utmost severity. Yet recalling my reflection in the glass that very morning, I could swear by heaven itself that I was not in so dire a state. Wan and hollow-eyed from sleepless nights, yes—but if one must draw comparisons, I was not a corpse, merely akin to a programmer who has discovered a grievous error one week before the launch of his game.

When measured against the physique of Jisoo, forged by muscle and strength, I may indeed appear frail. Yet Woojin’s body, being that of a swordsman, is robust enough. Were I still in my original form, I should have fainted by the third day and been plagued by nothing but nightmares.

“You cannot see yourself. One light touch and I swear you would fall.”

I waved my hand to deny it, but neither would believe me. Kim Jun’s eyes grew yet more dewy, as though to weep. I had done so little for them, and yet their concern was more than I deserved. My chest grew tight.

“Soon the curse-breaker shall arrive. Woojin will lie in the centre, and the rest of you sit at a proper distance.”

Kang Gwonhoo spoke with his usual composure, unshaken by the others’ fretfulness. And as he said, the curse-breaker soon entered through the door, with a man and woman at his side like guards.

I had thought to see a venerable old sage—but that was my prejudice.

The curse-breaker was a man with long hair, red as flame, and ears laden with piercings.

“Hello.”

Was I to answer in English as well? For an instant, the well-worn phrase “Nice to meet you” rose to my lips, that most Korean of English greetings.

“There is no need for such pretence. Your tongue and your mind are wholly Korean.”

Gwonhoo’s words, touched with a trace of mockery, suggested he was well acquainted with the man.

“Ah, must you spoil the act? Could you not see I flew here at your request, Mr. Kang?”

The man’s features, no less than his hair, bore a foreign air—perhaps of mixed blood.

“I see it well enough, Mr. Kim Minsoo—ten times the usual fee, was it not? Now begin.”

That face, and yet the name Kim Minsoo. My prejudices were falling in pieces this day.

“And must you truly post guild members outside? Can you not yet trust me?”

He spoke of the guards I had noticed standing without—the remnants of Gwonhoo’s old guild.

“Shall I tell you thrice before you obey?”

“You fiend of a man. I cannot imagine how you deceive the world.”

It was both strange and bitterly amusing to find, at last, another soul who shared my sentiment.

“Close your eyes and lie down. Where lies the curse?”

The moment Minsoo’s hand brushed my shoulder, the pain flared like fire. My body writhed, though a strong grip forced me down.

“Endure it. The powers clash within you, hence the frenzy.”

Already sweat beaded his brow. I longed to spare him, who had come to aid me, but my body heeded me no more.

“Come hold him. Else he shall rend his own flesh.”

At once Soohyuk was there, seizing my arms. Thus began ten minutes that felt like eternity, until at last the pain ebbed.

“Hm… this much I can manage. But this curse is not singular.”

“What?”

The room stilled.

“I know not whether to call it a curse. I cannot lift it, yet it does not seem to threaten your life. Still, I can sever the one that writhes at present, if that suffices.”

Not in the least did it suffice. My skin crawled to leave any trace behind.

Could it be tied to my status ailments? They are curse-like enough.

The desire to be rid of them grew fierce.

“Are you certain this hidden thing does no harm?”

“Certain enough. Or so it seems.”

“Then attend only to the pressing matter. Do not stir greater trouble by overreaching.”

“There is wisdom in that.”

Strange indeed, to see Gwonhoo and Soohyuk consult one another civilly, with my body their common ground.

And why is my opinion worth nothing?

Yet when I opened my mouth, it was only groans that escaped. And since Gwonhoo paid the fee, what choice had I but to submit? Still, the unfairness rankled.

“Ahh—!”

Minsoo’s right hand covered my eyes while his left seized my shoulder. At once I felt something drawn from me, as though a shard were wrenched away.

“Now—tighten the circle! Do not let even a fragment escape!”

His companions’ presence was explained—they formed the ward, holding the fragment fast until Minsoo could purge it.

The shrieking of the curse grew faint. The pain fled.

“Well done. Sleep now.”

Thus ended my long vigil. My eyes, once forced open by torment, at last closed of their own accord. And as I drifted, I felt a hand gently smoothing my brow.

Peaceful slumber, the first in so long. Even aware I dreamed, I had no wish to wake. The nightmares that had tormented me were gone. Only rest remained.

How long has it been, since I felt such respite?

Perhaps this was how a marathoner feels, when at last he halts and beholds the landscape.

Tap, tap.

The patter of rain drew me to open my eyes. An unfamiliar ceiling greeted me, and beyond the window the summer storm poured. Then a shadow—dark and blurred—resolved as I blinked into focus. It was Soohyuk. He had been watching me, perhaps for long. Though I stirred, he made no motion, save that his black eyes held a sorrow deep and quiet.

Has he been watching me thus all this while?

Since coming here, I had felt his constant care—a care I had not known since the death of Seogo Gyeol, Woojin’s only true kin. I had not wished to grow accustomed to it, yet already I feared I was.

But it is not I whom you care for.

The thought was bitter upon my tongue, like a draught of foul medicine. The more our bond mended, the more often I felt that sting of guilt.

I did not choose this body. I cannot confess the truth. And yet, to be cherished as his brother… my heart is torn.

Even if he would not believe the truth, to deceive one who looked upon me with such regard was a heavy burden.

“What are you staring at?”

As ever, my words belied my heart. A cruel greeting for one who had tended me.

“It seems you can bear my face again.”

Soohyuk knew well my condition.

Indeed… no nightmare rises now when I behold him.

Freed of the curse, I was whole again. Clearly the nightmare had been no mere dream, but a curse bleeding into the waking. Yet I would not confess it, not when shame burned in me. Better to write ten more clumsy letters than speak that truth.

“Peeping at a man’s sleep like some degenerate—what nonsense is that?”

I spoke with malice alone. He gave no sign of offense. The curse had passed, but a shadow of awkwardness remained between us.

“I thought you had fallen into that state again.”

As the curse had scarred Woojin’s body, so had memory scarred Soohyuk.

Of course. He too lost a father, brutally slain. Add Woojin’s coldness after, and their family was shattered entire.

So he too carried old wounds, and in them this awkwardness festered. And since I could not speak plainly, nor mend it with words, I was at a loss.

But must I truly? Must I force away this awkwardness?

And suddenly I saw it—my error. The bond was mended enough. Perhaps I need not strive for more.

Is it truly for my own sake that I seek his closeness…?