By Zephyria Lee-eum squeezed his eyes shut as he looked at the photo album and envelope in his hand. Damn it, why did I receive this? He even thought about throwing it in the trash, but no matter how much he hated the guy, he couldn’t bring himself to throw away photos. Besides, it was said to be a letter written by his mother, so he couldn’t do that even more.
Lee-eum sighed deeply, put the photo album and letter in the glove box, and headed to the destination where he was supposed to meet Jeong Nam-su. As he approached the destination, houses with red and white flags were noticeable everywhere.
He parked the car at the entrance of the alley and walked up to find a mart, and Jeong Nam-su was sitting on a wooden platform in front of the mart. He waved his hand while sucking on a Jjuba popsicle, and handed Lee-eum another one as he approached.
“You’re here?”
“Did you wait long? Sorry.”
“The weather is totally crazy. We should be at the beach on a day like this, but instead, we’re chasing criminals.”
Lee-eum fanned Nam-soo with his hand, saying he had worked hard. Then Nam-soo leaned his head on his shoulder and acted cute.
“You’re the best, Sunbae.”
“Get off, it’s hot.”
“You’re so heartless. Oh, didn’t you hear about Detective Park? It seems more serious than I thought. That husband even called the police chief’s office and made a fuss, and posted on the bulletin board.”
Detective Park hadn’t returned since then. Nam-soo complained that he had turned off his phone and didn’t know what he was thinking, and Lee-eum also sighed. An affair. He couldn’t imagine it at all, looking at Detective Park’s usual behavior. So the two of them sat on the platform, finished their ice cream, and went to the shaman’s house written on the address.
“There are many shaman houses around here, right? This one is said to be the most famous.”
Knock, knock. When he knocked on the iron gate, a man came out after a while.
“We’re not taking guests today.”
Lee-eum showed his ID.
“Is Jo Soon-young inside? We’re from the Seobu Police Station regarding the Kim Dong-hee case.”
The man looked troubled, but then a sliding door opened from behind and a woman dressed neatly in Hanbok peeked her face out. “Tell the guests to come in.” The man stepped aside, and Lee-eum and Nam-soo went inside.
They took off their shoes and entered the room, where there were colorful paintings on the walls, lotus-shaped lamps above, and various shapes of Buddha statues and unidentified objects below.
“What brings you detectives all the way here?”
“Is Kim Dong-hee your son?”
“Yes, he is. Why?”
“He’s wanted for fraud…”
Perhaps because he already had a criminal record, the shaman didn’t react much even when told that her son had committed a crime.
“Have you heard from him recently?”
“It’s been a long time since I cut ties with him.”
“Do you have any idea where he might be?”
“Shall I do a Divination to see where he is?”
Lee-eum frowned slightly. His family had been Catholic for generations. He even had a baptismal name. In particular, his father didn’t believe in superstitions and even hated them, but according to his Noona, his mother secretly wrote amulets from somewhere and put them in their pillows every year the three siblings went to college, without his father knowing.
“No, thank you.”
Nam-soo, who was next to him, suddenly chimed in.
“Can you take a look for me? While you’re at it, can you do mine too…”
Lee-eum nudged Nam-soo’s arm. He gestured for him to stop, but Jeong Nam-soo, who was usually crazy about fortune-telling, insisted on telling the shaman his birth date and time. After listening to everything, the shaman scattered rice on a small table and shook a bell. Then, her voice changed and she picked out the rice with her hands.
“Let’s see, let’s see. Our Hyung is in his Three Disasters this year.”
“Three Disasters?”
“But it’s not bad. It’s a year when new relationships come in, so you’ll have a chance to meet a good person.”
“A good person?”
“Yes, someone who works for the government, and I see a car.”
Jeong Nam-soo covered his mouth and exclaimed. He confessed that he had been meeting a girl in the traffic department of the National Forensic Service occasionally, having tea and meals with her. If it was just a crush at first, his feelings were now quite deep.
Then, the shaman coaxed him to get a Three Disasters Amulet while he was there, saying she would give him a discount. Lee-eum grabbed Nam-soo’s arm, but he was already taking out his wallet. After receiving 100,000 won for the amulet, she looked at Lee-eum.
“Doesn’t Hyung have anything you’re curious about?”
Lee-eum replied with an indifferent expression.
“No, I don’t.”
“Really nothing?”
“Can you tell me where your son is?”
“I don’t know either. I can’t see him.”
“Then that’s fine.”
“Hyung, get an amulet too.”
Lee-eum smiled awkwardly and nudged Nam-soo’s leg. He signaled to leave and stood up, but the shaman called out to Lee-eum.
“Something strange is attached to Hyung.”
Then Jeong Nam-soo chimed in and joked.
“What? What’s attached? Handsomeness?”
“No, it’s not a ghost, but something more vicious than a ghost.”
“……”
Then the shaman clutched her nose.
“Ugh, the stench. The smell of blood is vibrating all the way here.”
Lee-eum paused and looked at the shaman. Even if he tried to deny it, there was a face that instantly came to mind. Not being able to hide his conflicted expression, the shaman seized the opportunity and came in.
“Don’t you want to get rid of that person? Aren’t you sick of it?”
Lee-eum tried to ignore it.
“Nam-soo, let’s go. It’s late.”
“If you don’t get rid of it properly, it’ll stick to you like an evil spirit for the rest of your life?”
The words “for the rest of your life” made it impossible for him to leave. In the end, he returned to his spot and hesitantly took out his wallet.
“You said it was… 100,000 won…?”
“For Hyung, it’s 20.”
Lee-eum frowned, and the shaman added.
“It’s not an ordinary vicious one. The grandma next to me says it’s not even human.”
Reluctantly, he sent 200,000 won by bank transfer, and the shaman told him to come back in a few days to pick it up, as she needed to pray and write the amulet. As Lee-eum came out, he was belatedly hit with a reality check and squeezed his eyes shut. He was about to go back in to cancel the amulet and get his money back, but Nam-soo stopped him.
“Since you already did it, just carry it around.”
“It’s all your fault, you bastard.”
“You were tempted too, Sunbae. But who is the vicious one?”
“You don’t need to know. Don’t tell anyone about this. Especially Team Leader Oh, absolutely.”
If it got into his Noona’s ears, it would be a disaster. Lee-eum regretted it and tore at his hair. I’m crazy. I fell for those words and even bought an amulet. With 200,000 won, I could have eaten plenty of meat. It’s all because of that Choi Won-joon. As he repeatedly regretted it, he got into the car and started the engine, and news came on the radio.
【Today, Assemblyman Kim Yong-taek announced his departure from the party. He had insisted that he would never leave the party, but with the Kim Ji-cheol case occurring, public opinion worsened uncontrollably, and he seems to have made the final decision.】
Jeong Nam-soo, who had been listening quietly, clicked his tongue and shook his head.
“He’s showing all sorts of ugly sides, when the result was going to be like this anyway.”
As he said, Kim Yong-taek tried to use it when his son Kim Ji-cheol was kidnapped and returned, rather than being angry. He even intentionally exposed his son’s appearance in the hospital room to gain sympathy, which seemed to have angered people. There were posts saying, “Do you want to maintain your position as a lawmaker even if you have to sell your son?” and some people even said that Kim Ji-cheol was being punished for his actions, while others speculated that it was a self-made drama.
Regardless, the Kim Ji-cheol kidnapping case was still under investigation, but according to the prosecutor in charge, there was no evidence, and although they created a composite sketch of the criminal’s face that Kim Ji-cheol remembered, it would not be easy to find him. And the Nambu Police Station announced that they planned to investigate Kim Ji-cheol for abetting suicide, illegal video filming, and blackmail as soon as he recovered.
“How do you feel?”
Lee-eum couldn’t answer Nam-soo’s question easily. Would this have been possible without Choi Won-joon? No. It’s a result that would never have been achieved legally. So he couldn’t just be happy, and there was even a sense of bitterness, and to be honest, he felt miserable.
“Shall we eat codfish stew on the way…?”
Lee-eum changed the subject instead of revealing his true feelings.
“Codfish stew at the intersection?”
“Yeah.”
“Okay. It’s really delicious there.”
While they were talking about this and that, they were almost near the restaurant and were looking for a place to park when Team Leader Oh called. But his voice on the phone was unusual.
【Are you guys done with your work?】
“Yes, we’re done and we’re going to eat.”
【Eat and go catch Detective Park.】
“Did something happen to Detective Park?”
【Ha, that crazy bastard caused an accident.】
“An accident?”
【You know that florist husband who came this morning? He went and beat him up. He made his face a bloody mess, so now they’re making a fuss about suing him. I’ll tell you the details when you get here, so hurry up and catch him.】
The call ended and silence filled the car. Nam-soo muttered a small curse and rubbed his head vigorously, and Lee-eum turned the car around and drove out of the alley he had entered. Detective Park was a cheerful person, but he sometimes had a temper. That’s why the Team leader had assigned the rational Detective Lee to Detective Park, he had said.
“Can’t we eat first?”
“Let’s go first. We have to bring him before the Team leader’s blood pressure rises and he collapses.”
“Ah, why is this year so eventful? I should have asked the shaman to write an Evil-repelling Amulet for our team too.”
When Lee-eum didn’t answer, Nam-soo subtly probed.
“But who is it?”
“What?”
“The vicious one the shaman was talking about.”
Lee-eum closed his mouth. He couldn’t tell the truth that it was Choi Won-joon, and even if he did, it seemed like it would only fuel curiosity since they were already rumored to be on good terms.