By Zephyria 
“…….”
“I’d rather have been eaten by a monster; why did you have to cause such a scene and damage my reputation? Ha, seriously. Is that something you say to a kid who almost died? Even to a stranger, you shouldn’t act that way.”
Responding with a bitter smile, Jeil Heon refilled the makgeolli they were drinking.
The Aberration that had killed Jeil Heon’s mother and worn her skin had been dominated by an extreme hunger, like a hungry ghost fallen into the Path of Pretas. Disguised as his mother, the Aberration had intended to drag in the mistress and her children to devour the entire family.
Had the true eye not opened for the fourteen-year-old Jeil Heon, the Aberration’s meal would have been a success. Jeil Heon had faced the revealed monster alone. He only managed to hunt the Aberration down just before he himself reached the brink of death. Behind him, his young siblings and his father’s mistress had been trembling, their faces pale with terror.
Naturally, this commotion became known to the Management Bureau and those close to them. Jeil Heon’s father, who had been safe because he was away at the time, was enraged—not by the fact that his wife had actually been dead for a long time, that his children had almost died, or that the mistress had nearly miscarried due to the shock, but by the fact that his reputation and pride had been tarnished. Had it not been laid bare that his household had nearly been ruined by a mere monster?
The younger siblings rebelled after seeing their eldest brother disowned by their father. The second son and eldest daughter, Je Eun-jung, who were able to defy their father more strongly because they were the children of the legal wife, also drew his ire. That emotional rift remained unhealed throughout their lives, and though she was eventually excluded from the line of succession, she did not regret it.
As several rounds of makgeolli and cola passed, the conversation grew richer. The lives his siblings had led during the twenty-two years he was gone seemed endless no matter how much he heard, and they were never boring.
Je Eun-jung, who was weak with alcohol, sighed with a flushed face.
“I’ve told you so many times, Oppa. I’m really glad you came back alive. Even when we were repairing your house over and over, we were like, why aren’t you tearing down a house where ghosts appear when Father and our uncles are probably dead anyway… damn it…”
Setting her empty glass down on the table with a clatter, she grabbed Jeil Heon’s hand. Feeling his sister’s somewhat warm temperature due to the alcohol, Jeil Heon silently lowered his gaze. Even in this hand, he could feel the flow of the years spent without him.
“Since you’ve returned safely, it doesn’t matter why you disappeared. I just… I want you to live your own life now. Quit the Management Bureau, stop hunting Aberrations like a madman… you’ve already avenged Mom.”
“I will.”
“Lying again. At the very least, try dating someone and show some interest in humans instead of Aberrations. Does it make sense that no matter how many blind dates I set up, you’ve never been with a partner for more than three months?”
“Maybe I’m destined to date Aberrations.”
“You’re insane.”
Je Eun-jung burst into an exaggerated laugh, shaking off the heavy atmosphere. Then, she whispered slyly.
“Once your life stabilizes a bit, want me to introduce someone again? People marry late these days, so there are plenty of unmarried people in their thirties.”
“What will happen when they find out my age on the family register?”
“You know that Unni in Pyeongchang-dong who married a judge? How about her? She recently divorced her husband and is single.”
“Would someone with such prestige be satisfied with a man as pretty and young as me?”
Trying to lure her indifferent eldest brother into the dating market, she found his nonchalant response so absurd that she didn’t just give an exaggerated laugh, but burst into genuine laughter.
“Have you ever been called ‘pretty’ by anyone?”
“Of course.”
“Ah, this is too funny. Calling you pretty even after seeing your build.”
Je Eun-jung even wiped away tears with a handkerchief. Since her brother took it playfully, it was a good thing. Instead of the beef tartare, which had become too difficult to swallow, Jeil Heon sipped his cola and thought of Yoo Jiha. He had set the table so that only the stew needed reheating, but he wondered if the boy was eating lunch well on his own at home.
He had walked home in a daze, to the point where a friend had asked if he was sick. At the time, he hadn’t realized it immediately due to the shock, but as he processed it on the way back, he realized that the middle-aged woman was that person. The woman in the photo he kept in his wallet. Someone who knew him from twenty-two years ago, a time he did not know.
Yoo Jiha, who had become gloomy knowing Jeil Heon was still absent, became even gloomier upon turning on the kitchen light.
Don’t forget to eat a good meal.
He hadn’t noticed because he left in a hurry during the day, but it seemed a meal had been prepared. Since the housekeeper didn’t visit on weekends, he must have cooked this gochujang stew himself. He took a spoonful. It was delicious even though it had cooled.
He swallowed the rice, eating the cold stew in large gulps. It was a taste that made him crave soju soaked in tears. If there was a date with a lover, he should have just gone out without worrying about the person clinging to the house for free.
“How can he go on a date when there’s a four-year-old alone at home…!”
His sorrow flared up in an unexpected direction. A thousand thoughts swirled in his head. From the agony of wondering how long they had been dating, to the unfairness of whether he truly had no appeal to the man at all.
Yoo Jiha suddenly stood up from his meal and looked at himself in the mirror from various angles. Would it have been better to wear a suit to look older and more mature? But then again, he didn’t own a single one.
“Do I really look that young?”
「Your appearance is exactly what one would guess for your age, so do not worry.」
“Right? I do get my ID checked at bars, but my friends also…”
Wait.
Who am I talking to right now?
The wandering thoughts in his head were cut off in an instant. A chill ran down his spine, as if someone had breathed a corpse-cold breath onto him. His trembling pupils slowly shifted to the side. A face was reflected in the mirror. A face where the mouth was on the forehead, the nostrils pointed toward the forehead, and a pair of eyes were attached to the chin. The face of a very white, pale woman.
His eyes met the woman hanging upside down.
“Aaaagh!”
Not paralyzed reason, but survival instinct moved his legs. Unable to even put on shoes, he tumbled down the steps and ran across the yard. Jeil Heon, who had just returned and was walking back from the garage, looked on with a puzzled expression.
“What’s wrong? Did something happen?”
“Gho… gho… gho…”
But before he could finish the word, a white face bloomed like a large lump near Jeil Heon’s chest. It was the woman hanging upside down.
Yoo Jiha fainted on the spot.
Catching him before the unconscious man could collapse, Jeil Heon clicked his tongue.
“Your joke went too far.”
「Hmm, my apologies. Since he works as an Agent in the Exploration Division, I thought this would be an acceptable first greeting, but his courage is not befitting of an Agent.」
“He is still young.”
The Spirit who had been floating upside down, Gong Ran-sa, stood upright with a slightly apologetic attitude. Heading inside, Jeil Heon laid Yoo Jiha on the living room sofa, then brewed herbal tea and sliced a Korean melon for the startled boy.
“I haven’t seen you for a while; where have you been?”
「Since the child seemed afraid of me, I stayed away from the house so he could adjust to the new home. In the meantime, I was busy learning Pilates. Flying yoga is more fun, but the instructor screamed because an empty hammock was moving. Install a hammock in the inner room and buy a Smart TV. Watching ads is tedious, so get YouTube Premium as well.」
“Please translate that into an early 2000s version.”
「I mean, please provide a DVD player since I need to play exercise DVDs. When will you be updated to the 2020s?」
Gong Ran-sa nagged, asking if he didn’t know there was already a Smart TV in the living room. Jeil Heon, who had simply watched Yoo Jiha fumble with the remote with curiosity and affection, only nodded. Unless an Aberration that spreads through Smart TVs appeared, there was no reason for him to put effort into learning about it.
「Ah, by the way. Speaking of which, what was your intention in mentioning pro-Japanese collaborators when this child’s parents visited? No matter how capable I am, I cannot identify every single ancestor.」
“It wasn’t a big deal. There were more than a few pro-Japanese collaborators in Jiha’s maternal lineage. I just tested the waters just in case, but the parents seemed completely unaware.”
「Does this child not know his own bloodline either?」
“I intend to keep it that way.”
The voice answering was firm, as if it would not waver regardless of any objection. However, unlike the voice, the touch stroking Yoo Jiha’s face was very careful, leaving Gong Ran-sa with no choice but to swallow a sigh.