CH 143

He continued, “If I leave your name next to those who died, there’s bound to be one who realizes that this is the curse that you gave them after you were so violently murdered in the mansion. Even if they call a shaman to perform a ritual in front of the remains of the mansion, the curse won’t stop. Eventually, a few people in this world will remember your name. They’ll all beg for your forgiveness their entire lives—even though you’ll be living a perfectly normal life.”

The man who became a wicked ghost after giving his body to me was confessing that he wanted to remain as a curse that was in my name. A part of my heart throbbed. It wasn’t reacting like that because I feared how many people would end up dying.

Maybe because he was the only person I saw and talked to all day that I was slowly going insane. I felt like I could understand him a bit now. Didn’t he drop a hint earlier? He said, “If I were to reject him.” His obsession with me was beyond normal bounds. Thus, this would never happen unless our relationship completely fell through.

“Of course… This is truly heartbreaking to me, so if possible, I don’t want to think about it—the thought of you and I parting and the thought of other people learning your name. So Haeseo, if I’m lacking anything, tell me. I’ll do everything in my power to prevent that. I can do anything if it’s for your sake.”

As I thought.

He quickly added that everything was just a thought experiment. He had merely said it out loud, but he must have felt anxious thinking that what he said could have a way of coming true. He rubbed his well-shaped lips with his thumb. After scrubbing the lips that had said such bad things, he met my eyes and smiled softly. “In any case, if you truly wanted revenge, I could help you as much as I can.”

I looked down. The white plate with pieces of breadcrumbs and lettuce entered my vision. The other man stopped talking a while ago, but my heart still prickled.

What should I say to hear the answer that I wanted? I thought about it before deciding to ask candidly, “Would doing that make you happy?”

How would I be able to return the kid Haeseo’s life? I thought it over again, but it had already gone too far. If Haeseo returned to being human, would he accept everything that happened so far? In return for sympathizing with a mere evil spirit, he lost his mother, grandmother, and his dazzling adolescence and twenties. Not only that, but with all his might, he loved a plague of an evil spirit that could jump between bodies and use them as he wished.

That would be impossible if it were me. My head hurt.

As if asking me how I could ask such a simple question, he smiled from ear to ear. “I’m happy.”

His confident reply worsened my headache. I wrapped my hands around my head. Thinking that the man in front of me was pitiful, I wasn’t sure if my brain was functioning properly. My guilt dried out my lips.

“Haeseo, you know, I…” It was rare for me to call “him” Haeseo. I took off my hands and looked at the other man. To be exact, I was looking at the small child beyond that shell of his. He was still smiling, but he seemed a bit tense, realizing that I wanted to say something serious. Maybe that was part of the illusion that made me feel bad for him. “I… I can’t hate you.”

“Oh…” He seemed truly surprised as his eyes grew round. The clock must have hit 12 as the heavy bells tolled from the church. A familiar expression surfaced on the man I was still unaccustomed to. It was the same face as when I agreed to Yeonseon’s ridiculous request. Each breath was more difficult than the last; my lungs seemed to be collapsing in on themselves.

“How could I ever hate you…?” I said.

He was the only being that held out a helping hand.

“I can’t reject or refuse you,” I continued.

We grew up together. I grew up in Haeseo’s body because I was stunted as a child, and he grew up as he followed me between bodies. First, he was my parent, then my relative, then a schoolmate, then a stranger—and finally, lovers. He experienced a broad range of human relationships as the Child grew up.