By Zephyria 
Yoo Jiha soon regained consciousness.
“Are you awake?”
He felt relieved to see Jeil Heon’s familiar face clearly appearing in his blurred, blinking vision. As expected, the ghost he saw earlier must have been a dream…
「Were you very surprised? It was not out of malice, so I ask for your understanding.」
“Hwaaaak!”
Faster than his scream, Yoo Jiha urgently clung to Jeil Heon’s arm. Trembling violently as he desperately hugged the arm, Jiha only managed to calm down after being introduced to the translucent Spirit, whose name was Gong Ran-sa and whose pen name was Yeo-song.
“She’s not a land-bound spirit, but the original owner of this house. I mentioned that a bomb once exploded here during the Japanese colonial period, right? She is the one who set off that bomb.”
Ordinary people without spiritual sensitivity cannot see Spirits with the naked eye, but in Yoo Jiha’s eyes, not only was her form visible, but the True Eye Text was also readable. Feeling that it was somehow rude to peer into the depths of a friendly Aberration, he looked away. He had heard that Sunbaes could close their True Eyes when they didn’t want to use them, but he found it very difficult.
Gong Ran-sa was the daughter of the family that had amassed great wealth through pro-Japanese activities at the time. Having been taken to the military police and tortured for refusing the creation of Japanese surnames and shrine visits, she was eventually disowned by her father. Even after that, while teaching children in the countryside, she was forcibly brought back for a marriage. Her partner was a member of the Dong-yo-hoe (an organization of pro-Japanese collaborators who had received noble titles from Japan).
Gong Ran-sa pretended to comply with her parents and waited for the right moment. That moment came during the wedding ceremony, which was held at her home at her request. It was a grand wedding attended not only by relatives from both families—who were similarly pro-Japanese—but also by high-ranking officials from the Governor-General’s office. She achieved her righteous deed, even at the cost of her own life.
Following a chain of explosions and the subsequent fire, most of both families, including Gong Ran-sa herself, as well as half of the invited guests, were either killed or seriously injured.
‘Then she was an independence activist?’
The trembling of Yoo Jiha, who had been calming down while clinging to Jeil Heon’s arm, completely subsided at that explanation. Instead, his heart began to race for a different reason. It wasn’t as if he had regressed, possessed, or reincarnated into the Japanese colonial period, yet there was an independence activist right before his eyes.
Facing his sparkling eyes of admiration, Gong Ran-sa smiled gently. And ten minutes later, Yoo Jiha was learning Pilates from a ghost. There was a reason why a ghost who died decades ago was wearing comfortable training clothes.
「How can your body be so stiff even while exercising with me? You must breathe with your ribcage, not your abdomen. Try expanding and closing the volume of your ribs.」
“Aaaagh! How am I supposed to do that! People breathe through their noses!”
“Ah. I suppose there’s also the effect of using muscles that aren’t normally used.”
They say the sister-in-law who tries to stop the fight is the most annoying. Is he basically saying he’s the only one with muscles? He endured the ghost’s nagging through his resentment toward Jeil Heon.
Barely liberated, Yoo Jiha slumped over, munching on pieces of oriental melon that Jeil Heon had cut small and fed to him. His entire body felt tingly and numb, to the point where he couldn’t even move a finger.
However, he still had enough energy to chatter.
“If a four-year-old is being overworked with Pilates, you should save them. Is feeding me melon all you’re going to do?”
“Hmm? Who called you four years old? What four-year-old in this world could be as pretty and cute as our Jiha? Do you want Mister to scold you?”
“….”
This guy, seriously. Despite having admitted with his own mouth that he viewed him as a four-year-old, he was now nonchalantly brushing it off as if it never happened. Yet, his tone was still heavily laced with the feeling of treating him like a child.
What was more frustrating was his own reaction—the way the corners of his mouth twitched at being called pretty and cute, despite the obvious treatment as a child. No, that’s not it. An adult male should take compliments like “pretty” and “cute” as an insult.
Gong Ran-sa, who had been quietly observing Yoo Jiha as he put on a solemnly dignified expression, spoke up tentatively.
「Is the person you met today a woman?」
“A woman? Ah, Eun-jung is biologically female, yes.”
Eun-jung? Reflexively perking up his ears, Yoo Jiha carefully retraced the familiar name. Eun-jung, Eun-jung… A light bulb flickered on in his head.
“Mister’s younger sister?”
“Yeah. We had lunch together today and were on our way back from a drive.”
“…!”
If Jeil Heon hadn’t been there, he would have shouted for joy. Instead, swallowing a cheer while clenching his fists, Yoo Jiha sprang up. Even the pain in his aching body felt sweet.
“Mister, you should eat some melon too.”
Although he couldn’t peel the melon with a knife, he could stab the peeled pieces with a fork.
“…You’re giving it to me?”
“Hurry up.”
As he waved the fork, telling him to eat quickly, Jeil Heon lowered his head with a very awkward expression and took a bite of the melon. After chewing a small piece, Jeil Heon mumbled bashfully.
“I haven’t been fed by someone else since I was a child…”
“I’ll feed you from now on. There’s no four-year-old who feeds adults, right?”
Jeil Heon, who had been staring blankly at the obsessed-with-being-four Yoo Jiha, pulled him into an embrace and lightly tapped his forehead against Jiha’s. The sudden closeness made his heart plummet, and he almost dropped the fork.
“You can’t do this to an adult.”
“…I-I can let it slide occasionally.”
“I’m joking, I’m joking.”
With a grin, Jeil Heon ruffled his hair and pulled away. Yoo Jiha turned his head slightly to hide his blushing cheeks and munched on the melon. He couldn’t taste the sweetness of the melon he had been eating until just now. The smile Jeil Heon left behind was sweet enough to erase everything else.
[Hidden World Record]
Name: Gong Ran-sa
Classification: Aberration-G-M.So-0318
First Sighting Date: September 27, 194☓
Appearance Location: Mainly Pilgyeongdang, an old house at the top of the Bukchon hill, and downtown Seoul.
Danger Level: Safe
Containment Level: Unnecessary
True Eye Text: Do not commit the rudeness of reading with the True Eye.
Response: She is a person worthy of respect. Show polite courtesy.
Remarks: She is living proof that a Spirit becoming contaminated does not necessarily mean they turn into an Aberration with malice toward humans. It is not yet clear whether this is due to the teacher’s personality during her lifetime or if other factors are required.
You must remember the attached facial description and photograph. Even if she is not carrying a Ji-hwan, if she is a female Spirit in her 30s with a height of 153cm and an average build, first verify if it is Teacher Yeo-song. She usually wears comfortable, modern clothing. If it is an Aberration disguised as Teacher Yeo-song, I will trust the Agent’s luck and judgment.
└She is quite mischievous, so there are times she suddenly takes yoga or Pilates poses in the middle of the street. If you don’t want to be treated like a crazy person by those around you, let’s try to hold back our laughter.
Having confirmed that he hadn’t been dating an older woman and discovering the identity of the ghost in the inner house, Yoo Jiha fell asleep with a peaceful mind. So peaceful that he didn’t even hear the sound of Jeil Heon getting up from his room and crossing over to the inner house.
Gong Ran-sa habitually fingered her cross necklace while staring at the bead Jeil Heon had brought.
“What do you think, Teacher?”
「It doesn’t seem like a trick by a Mae-gu… It looks like a Tool capable of containing the energy of an Aberration. After all, wasn’t one of the reasons you brought Mr. Yoo to this house to coat him in my energy?」
“Jiha is different from other people.”
Even after thorough purification, Management Bureau employees who frequently encounter anomalies become slightly contaminated without realizing it. Of course, it wasn’t a level of contamination high enough to turn them into Aberrations.
If the contamination level of the Bureau were expressed in grayscale, most employees would be a very light gray. Field agents and researchers would be a bit darker, and Aberrations carrying a Ji-hwan would be close to black.
However, if there were an employee who remained pure white even long after joining, wouldn’t anyone find it strange?
Yoo Jiha was that pure white light.
A pure white possessing a purity that is difficult to hide. A clarity that purifies itself even when contaminated by an Aberration.
Jeil Heon intended to disguise that purity as being partially contaminated by covering it with the demonic energy of an Aberration. With the help of a friendly Aberration like Gong Ran-sa. Furthermore, he aimed to protect him within close reach of his own hands.
Because since returning from the Aberrant Realm—no, for the past 22 years—every aspect of Jeil Heon’s life had functioned solely to protect Yoo Jiha.