CS Chapter 3
by astherielle“Noona, did your part-time job go well?”
When Seowoo returned home, Junseo greeted her as if he had been waiting. He seemed to be in relatively good condition today, even giving her a small smile.
They were only two years apart, twenty-three and twenty-one, but due to his prolonged illness, Junseo looked much smaller than his peers.
“I want ramen.”
“Okay, wait a minute.”
At his request for ramen, she immediately filled a pot with water and put it on the stove. It had been a long time since he had expressed a desire for any specific food, so she wanted to make him a particularly delicious bowl of ramen.
“Isn’t Mom home from work yet?”
“She said there’s a spiritual retreat at church tonight, so she’s staying there overnight.”
“I see.”
The unpleasant memory of the elder’s gaze on the street made Seowoo shudder involuntarily.
“If it’s alright, I’d like to pray for him.”
“…”
“What do you say? Will you take me to your home Seowoo?”
Had she overreacted to what might have been purely innocent kindness? Lost in thought, she hadn’t noticed the pot of ramen beginning to boil over.
The smell of ramen filled their small home, and Junseo quickly unfolded their small folding table. Seowoo watched him with a warm feeling. She wished Junseo could be like this every day.
“Junseo, let’s eat before it gets soggy.”
“Okay! No one makes ramen like my sister.”
He slurped down the plump noodles with gusto. Seowoo smiled contentedly, took a few sips of the broth with a spoon, and then put down her chopsticks.
“Noona, aren’t you eating?”
“You eat a lot. I had something at the convenience store.”
“…Noona, I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“For cursing at you yesterday.”
“It’s not like it’s the first time. It’s okay.”
“Next time, no matter how much it hurts, I’ll try my best not to curse.”
“It’s really okay.”
Seowoo shrugged nonchalantly. She could understand, his harsh words stemmed from intense suffering.
“I’m sorry too.”
“What are you sorry for, Noona?”
“I briefly thought I wished you were dead, Junseo.”
“……Sorry.”
“I regret it. I didn’t mean it. I won’t think that way again, no matter how hard things get.”
“I understand how you feel, Noona.”
Junseo, who had been quietly nodding, suddenly dropped his ramen chopsticks and began scratching his elbows furiously.
“Are your arms itchy?”
“Yeah… I… I can’t eat any more ramen. The spiders… they’re moving again… Just look at them move… Ah, this is driving me crazy… Itchy, so itchy…”
Junseo had another ailment: psoriasis. Red patches and white scales would frequently appear on his scalp and elbows. His habit of frantically scratching himself, claiming spiders were crawling on him, had eventually developed into a chronic skin condition. However, Junseo firmly believed this too was caused by spiders biting him all over his body.
“Lie down. Let’s give you the sedative before it gets worse.”
Seowoo hurriedly fetched an alcohol swab and thoroughly disinfected Junseo’s forearm. The “sedative” she injected him with was actually psoriasis medication. The injection provided temporary relief from the itching, and perhaps due to the psychological comfort, it also seemed to lessen his pain and reduce his seizures.
As she injected the needle into her emaciated brother’s skin, Seowoo sighed inwardly.
“Noona, Mom said something strange.”
Junseo blinked slowly.
“What did she say?”
“She said the church elder is looking for a bride.”
“Is that so?”
Seowoo replied indifferently. Her initial thought was simply, “He’s still unmarried at his age?” But her brother’s next words left her aghast.
“But Mom… she asked me… what I thought about you marrying the elder.”
“What…?”
“Isn’t the elder really old? Why would Mom say something like that?”
Time seemed to stop for Seowoo. This confirmed her suspicions that the church her mother relied on so heavily was a cult.
The sheer cruelty of her life sent shivers down her spine.
If there is a goddamn God, please end my suffering now. Seowoo prayed in that fleeting moment.
***
“So, how about you just marry me then?”
Emerging from the hotel bathroom, Haeri slipped off her robe and stood before Minjun. She possessed a voluptuous figure, enough to instantly arouse any man, yet Minjun’s expression remained as indifferent as if he were viewing a dull piece of art.
Shin Haeri. The second daughter of the Nakwon Department Store Group, she and Cha Minjun had been maintaining a physical relationship for three years. They’d spent a significant amount of time together, almost like a couple, but one thing was certain: neither loved the other.
Perhaps their three-year relationship had lasted precisely because Haeri harbored no feelings for Minjun. The razor-sharp Cha Minjun would have undoubtedly severed ties without hesitation had he sensed even a hint of clinginess from her.
Minjun operated according to a meticulously planned timetable, scheduled down to the minute. He simply refused to waste time and emotion on frivolous matters.
In that sense, their arrangement offered numerous advantages. It provided a suitable spark to his otherwise monotonous routine and ensured quality sleep.
“Is my fortune just bad? Because I’m missing that wood element or whatever? Honestly, those old people are hilarious. What’s the big deal about fortune-telling anyway?”
Shin Haeri added with a giggle.
“But seriously, will you really die at forty if you don’t get married? Why?”
“My mother committed a sin when she was pregnant with me.”
“What sin?”
“She killed a cat. A car accident.”
Worried about Minjun’s frequent childhood illnesses, Jinwoong had summoned the shaman Cheonsin Bosal immediately after his son and daughter-in-law’s 49th-day memorial service.
The shamans hired by chaebol families weren’t just any ordinary charlatans. Rumors had long circulated about Cheonsin Bosal’s immense power and influence, even having access to the presidential office. She catered exclusively to the top 0.1% of Korean society, the elite, and even then, appointments had to be booked a year in advance.
However, the Daehan Group was an exception. Not only did they wield enormous economic power in Korea, but, more importantly, Cha Jinwoong had gifted Cheonsin Bosal tens of billions of won1 in cash and real estate.
Thanks to this, Cheonsin Bosal would drop everything to meet Chairman Cha Jinwoong whenever he summoned her.
“The problem lies with the child’s mother. The root of all misfortune stems from her.”
“The mother… you mean our daughter-in-law?”
“I see a snow-white cat. It’s crying and bleeding… its skull is fractured, its eyes are bulging out… Oh dear…”
“O-Our daughter-in-law hit a cat with her car a long time ago…”
“Your son was there too. In her womb. Tsk, tsk… If they had performed a memorial service then, things wouldn’t have come to this.”
“What if we hold one now?”
“It’s pointless.”
In essence, Cheonsin Bosal was saying that a god had laid down a curse as punishment for killing the cat. Although his parents had lost their lives to atone for the sin, the god’s wrath was so great that the karma had not diminished in the slightest and had been passed down entirely to Minjun.
That day, Cheonsin Bosal had also told Jinwoong that his grandson was fated to die young. The solution she offered was marriage, which was why Jinwoong was now pestering Minjun so relentlessly.
“So, if you get married, is this the end for us?”
“I’ll be in touch.”
He grinned, brazenly implying they’d continue their affair even after his marriage. That unnecessarily charming look of his annoyed Haeri.
“Ridiculous. What are you going to do if I get married?”
“If your husband isn’t satisfying, Ms. Shin Haeri, you should call me.”
“That’s why I like you. You’re… how should I put it? Elegant yet promiscuous.”
Shin Haeri snuggled into his broad, firm chest. As if signaling the start of their encounter, Minjun kissed her soft skin and continued his caresses.
However, Minjun’s mind was becoming increasingly complex.
He never believed or relied on the words of some shaman. He’d always considered marriage optional, but now that Jinwoong was using his inheritance as leverage, Minjun couldn’t simply stand by idly.
Once he returned to his office, he would have to carefully review the list of women his grandfather had given him. He thought he should choose the quietest and most obedient woman among them.
Oh, and if she was good in bed, even better.