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Chapter 9
At the shaman’s appearance, Hongsi stepped back, her face turning deathly pale.
“So it has finally happened.”
The shaman had already approached them before anyone noticed.
Her dark crimson lips moved as she muttered ominously,
“I clearly told you there wasn’t much time left.”
Chairman Kang’s face twisted with rage as he stared at her.
Meeting his glare with chilling eyes, the shaman spoke.
“Staring at me like that is useless. If you wish to blame someone, you should blame your daughter-in-law, who is clinging to your grandson’s lifeline. I told you over and over again that only a heavenly person can sever that connection…!”
Bang!
Chairman Kang slammed the floor hard and shoved Chief Choi aside as he strode toward the shaman.
“That mouth of yours…!”
His wrinkled hand trembled violently, as if he wanted to seize the shaman by the throat right then and there.
Even in the face of Chairman Kang’s storm-like fury, the shaman’s eyes gleamed eerily.
Chairman Kang glared at her murderously before grinding out,
“Stop talking. My grandson isn’t dead yet.”
As though mocking his words, the corners of the shaman’s lips curled upward.
“Yes, not yet… oh?”
At that moment, the shaman’s pitch-black eyes slid past Chairman Kang and landed on Hongsi, who was standing in the corner.
Hongsi flinched when their eyes met.
Breaking away from Chairman Kang, the shaman quickly approached Hongsi and slowly scanned her from head to toe.
“Who is this child?”
The thick scent clinging to the shaman made bile rise in Hongsi’s throat and her stomach churn.
Then suddenly—
Cackle, cackle!
The shaman burst into laughter.
“So you had the heavenly person capable of blocking the curse right in front of you all along.”
At the shaman’s sudden words, Chairman Kang slowly turned around.
“What are you talking about? Hongsi is the heavenly person?”
The shaman looked back at him and stretched her lips into a grin.
“It means this child is the one who can properly extend your short-lived grandson’s lifespan.”
Heeyoung gasped in shock.
“H-Hongsi?”
Chief Choi cleared out the hospital director’s office in an instant and even stationed guards outside the door.
Inside the tightly sealed room, where no information could leak out, were Chairman Kang, Jung Heeyoung, the shaman, and Hongsi.
It was Heeyoung who took Hongsi’s hand and spoke first.
“What you hear from now on must never leave this room, Hongsi.”
Though confused, Hongsi nodded as if promising.
“As you know, Taesan went through a terrible accident when he was young. But after that…”
Heeyoung trailed off briefly before swallowing her tears and continuing.
She said strange accidents had constantly happened to Taesan ever since that day.
Anyone would find repeated incidents within such a short time ominous.
“At the time, I remembered Manshin-nim, an old benefactor of mine. I persuaded Father and took Taesan to see her. But the moment she saw Taesan, she said she could see Taesan’s mother. She said his mother was clinging to him, trying to take him away…”
At the horrifying words, Hongsi inhaled sharply.
“The only way to save Taesan was to find him a bride who could suppress the curse. But it took a long time just to find someone capable of that, and even when we finally found a few candidates, things kept falling apart. She said he would die if he passed thirty. Before then, no matter what, we had to find a bride to save him…”
Heeyoung tightened her grip on Hongsi’s hand.
“And now they’re saying you’re the heavenly person who can save Taesan.”
Hongsi couldn’t say anything.
She could barely breathe.
So that was why Chairman Kang had been so obsessed with arranging blind dates.
And this year, wasn’t Taesan turning thirty?
There had been a reason Chairman Kang sometimes looked so anxious.
Jung Heeyoung turned toward Chairman Kang.
“Father. Fifteen years ago, when Taesan saved Hongsi—that was fate.”
She was overjoyed, convinced they had finally found a way to save Taesan.
“We had her right in front of us this whole time and kept searching elsewhere. If we’d known sooner, we would have taken her to Manshin-nim earlier, and then Taesan wouldn’t have become like this…”
Unable to endure it anymore, Heeyoung burst into tears.
Chairman Kang remained silent the entire time.
He only stood by the window, staring outside.
The shaman spoke to him.
“Even while you hesitate, your grandson is dying. His mother is still reaching out to take him away—”
“Leave us.”
At Chairman Kang’s words, the shaman hesitated briefly before standing up.
Jung Heeyoung rose as well.
Hongsi also tried to stand, but Chairman Kang stopped her.
“Hongsi, you stay.”
Hongsi paused before sitting back down.
After a long silence, Chairman Kang finally turned toward her.
Hongsi shrank slightly under his gaze and lowered her head, but suddenly he let out a dry laugh.
“To think the girl I saw as livestock would turn out to be the heavenly person who could save Taesan.”
Hongsi’s shoulders trembled.
Then Chairman Kang approached and sat beside her.
Up close, he looked as though he had aged several more years overnight.
“To me, Taesan is everything.”
Adults often said something about Chairman Kang.
He had everything, yet failed to keep what mattered most.
They meant the children who had died before him.
Both his first and second sons were gone.
The only blood family he had left now were Taesan, Taekyung, and Taejun.
Yet to Chairman Kang, Taesan seemed to be the sore spot in his heart. He cherished Taesan even more than Taekyung or Taejun.
“If I can save that boy, I’d sell even my soul.”
Having watched and felt Chairman Kang’s love for Taesan all this time, Hongsi knew he wasn’t speaking lightly.
It was then that Chairman Kang suddenly grabbed Hongsi’s hand.
“Considering everything Taesan has done for you, you can’t possibly ignore this situation.”
His grip tightened.
“If you’re the only one who can save Taesan, then naturally you must save him. Wasn’t it my grandson who saved you when you were dying?”
His bloodshot eyes widened fiercely.
The heart that once wanted to cast Hongsi out had completely changed.
Hongsi was the heavenly person who could save Taesan.
Then whether through threats or persuasion, he had to hold onto her no matter what.
“You wouldn’t dare say you won’t save him, would you? After everything you’ve received. Just save Taesan. If you do, I’ll give you everything I have. But if you dare defy me here, then I’ll use every possible method to—!”
“Would you kill me?”
At Hongsi’s sudden words, Chairman Kang’s mouth fell open.
Then Hongsi lightly patted the hand gripping hers.
“You know, Grandpa… I’m actually really grateful that I have a chance to repay Oppa.”
Chairman Kang’s eyes shook violently.
“So you don’t need to threaten me so frighteningly.”
“……”
“I wish none of this had ever happened to Oppa in the first place. But if I really am the heavenly person who can save him, then of course I should do it.”
Hongsi gave him a bitter smile.
Tears welled in her dark grape-like eyes.
“Honestly, I still don’t fully understand any of this. This talk about Taesan Oppa needing a heavenly person and all that. But if I really can save him… then I should.”
She truly had no idea what this situation even was.
But there was one thing she did know.
No matter what, she had to save him.
Long ago, at that lake, the one who saved her when she nearly died had been Taesan.
Even her own mother had abandoned her, but he brought her home, fed her, clothed her, and even sent her to school.
He gave her a new life so she could live like everyone else.
Before she ever loved him, he had been her savior.
“My life belonged to Oppa from the start. If it weren’t for him, I’d already be dead. So even if I have to give up my life, I’ll do everything I can to save him.”
Chairman Kang quietly stared at Hongsi’s firm gaze, filled with unwavering sincerity, before the strength slowly drained from his hand.
“So this was fate all along. After the accident, that boy barely spoke to anyone, but suddenly he insisted on bringing you home and raising you. He was so stubborn about it. It was all leading to this…”
Watching him laugh helplessly, Hongsi spoke firmly.
“Don’t worry, Grandpa. Oppa will definitely wake up.”
Following the shaman out of the hospital, Hongsi arrived at a small shrine.
It resembled the shrine from her childhood nightmares.
The smell, the air—
Everything suffocated her.
But Hongsi endured it desperately.
Nausea rose within her, and she wanted to run away immediately, but she had to endure.
For Taesan.
