TINL Ch 20

Wol’s hand, cold enough to feel the chill through her glove, pushed his arm away more firmly.

“Yes. Woljeop eggs aren’t harmful, so Mr. Sunwoo’s power won’t work on them. They’re actually beneficial, used as fever reducers and refrigerants.”

Sunwoo, resolving to set Wolha on fire and burn those damned Woljeop butterflies the moment he returned to the celestial realm, completely withdrew his hand. He sighed as he accelerated again, then asked cautiously, “What happens if you don’t take the hatching inhibitor?”

“Since the butterflies hatch from my fingertips, it would be very painful.”

“It would also be very painful if I went and grabbed Wolgungju by the throat right now.”

Answer me more specifically if you don’t want to see that happen.

Wol chuckled at Bae Sunwoo’s gentle threat, and Sunwoo shook his head.

“I’m asking very seriously, Senior.”

“When the eggs hatch, they become butterflies, right? Then the powder on the Woljeop’s wings would spread throughout my body. That powder is a poison that rots flesh upon contact, so I’d be left alive while rotting from my fingertips inward. I don’t want to live like that, so I have no choice but to obediently follow whatever they tell me to do.”

“…Are those eggs only on your fingertips?”

“Probably. They can’t move on their own before they hatch.”

“Why do you keep collecting only harmful things in your body?”

He slumped his shoulders, lamenting jokingly. Unlike his light tone and expression, Sunwoo’s mind was calculating how deeply he would need to put Wol to sleep to cut off her hand without her waking up.

‘Now that my name is officially registered in the Divine Registry, I can remove and regenerate it in an instant. To be sure, it would be best to experiment on someone else’s body first…’

He had restored Mago’s assistants, who had been charred to cinders, to perfect health, so he should be able to create a brand new hand for Wol. Still, he wanted to be cautious if possible.

Wol, oblivious to the man in front of her contemplating how and to what extent he would cut off her hand, snorted and opened the map app.

“Let’s at least have lunch before Wolgungju gets to me. A well-fed ghost looks better, you know. I ate what I wanted last night, so now it’s Mr. Sunwoo’s turn to choose.”

“Just rest until we get to the hotel. From today on, I’ll take care of the accommodation and meals.”

“I’m saying I’ll accommodate your tastes.”

“Watching you, Senior, everything you choose is a mess. Whether it’s people, food, or medicine, how do you manage to pick only the worst options?”

“I didn’t know any better back then. The hatching inhibitor is something I have to take; I had no choice.”

A symbol of misfortune unlike any other in the history of Korean mythology.

Myungwol looked down at her hands, remembering the infamous title people used to describe her.

“Who wants to pick only bad options? I choose them because they are the only options available.”

Muttering with an impassive face, she suppressed her rising frustration and gripped her phone. Her empty hand, tattered from desperately struggling alone, held only the bitter lesson that there was nothing to trust in this world, and the information she had traded for that lesson, all contained within this phone.

‘And I put everything I gained into Bae Sunwoo’s phone. I may be guilty, but it hurts to hear him say that.’

Wol slipped her phone into her pocket and took out a cigarette. Before she could light it, Sunwoo flicked his fingers and lit it for her.

“The fact that you lit my cigarette without nagging me to quit means you feel sorry for your slip-up.”

“If you insist on putting it that way, I suppose that’s one way to express it.”

The moment he retorted using her own words, rain began to fall from the clear, cloudless sky.

“A shower on the day the new Sun God representative is appointed? Honestly, Ms. Mago’s temper tantrums.”

Wol pointed to the rapidly graying sky and grumbled, blowing out smoke with her words. Thanks to this, Sunwoo remembered something important that he had completely forgotten about due to her hand issue.

“Oh, Mago told me to have a video conference with the Sun Gods from other branches today. Confirmed for 4 PM.”

“I’m the field manager, why did she tell Mr. Sunwoo that important information instead of me?”

Thinking simply, it could have been to upset Wol, but Mago was never that simple. Wol hurriedly tapped on her phone and opened the schedule, furrowing her brow.

“There must be a reason why Mago rushed Mr. Sunwoo’s Sun God confirmation like this, and why she only told Mr. Sunwoo about the meeting schedule. I thought it would take at least three days to a week for Mr. Sunwoo’s name to be registered in the Divine Registry, even if it was expedited.”

“Maybe the Sun Gods from other branches complained too much…? Something like that?”

“She’s not someone to be swayed by pressure from other branches. The fact that she put Mr. Sunwoo on the Divine Registry overnight like this is not a good sign. Contact the Sun God Association as soon as we check in.”

“Let’s have lunch first. Someone didn’t feed me properly, and I’m about to starve to death.”

“Are you that hungry right now?”

“You’re the one who said a well-fed ghost is better off.”

“…….”

“You haven’t forgotten that you promised to do everything I want, have you? I want to eat.”

Sunwoo dramatically turned the steering wheel and complained. It wasn’t a frivolous complaint. He was used to a diet of herbs grown with pure dew. He ate mountains of fresh greens, to the point where Jacheongbi would constantly nag him, saying, “That’s why you’re so strong, eating weeds like an elephant.” For someone like him, who had exerted himself to the point of nosebleeds and side effects, to have only eaten a handful of salad that came with his chicken… He was dizzy.

With his current stamina, protecting Wol was all he could manage, and he felt newly resentful that he had let Wolgungju go so easily.

‘Whether I’m getting into a fight or healing someone, replenishing my strength is the priority. I need to eat a lot and recover.’

As he steeled his resolve and accelerated, a TRV hotel came into view across the river. Seeing it in person for the first time after only encountering it through text, numbers, photos, or videos, he felt strangely pleased. But the pleasant feeling was fleeting. Overwhelmed by an unsettling feeling that had been creeping up his spine, he repeatedly checked his side and rearview mirrors.

‘I thought the car felt sluggish since the downpour started, but as soon as we got onto the Han River bridge, it felt heavier and heavier. Is it because I suddenly became the Sun God, so I’m affected by the weather? Or is the car malfunctioning?’

Just as he was about to ask Wol if she felt anything strange, Wol, who had been inhaling and exhaling smoke rapidly, finished a cigarette and lit another. Sunwoo, dumbfounded, forgot what he was going to say and shook his head.

“This time, Senior seems to be trying to starve me or suffocate me to death.”

“…If only I hadn’t confessed that….”

“You taught me that. ‘Other people’s weaknesses are very useful bargaining tools.’”

When Sunwoo cheekily brought up her memo, Wol frowned and inhaled deeply before stubbing out her cigarette. If the weather had been nice, she would have continued smoking with the window open, but with the rain pouring down, there was nothing she could do. Sunwoo, who had purified the lingering smoke in the car with a wave of his hand, remembered something else he had forgotten.

“I also forgot to mention this, but I’ve added a light flame to your clothes, Senior. If anyone other than you or me touches them, they will burst into flames.”

“Then I don’t need to carry a lighter anymore.”

“…I never thought of using it that way. I did think you could use the buttons like small bombs.”

Ignoring Sunwoo’s bewilderment, Wol added <Check Divine Registry Issue> to the top of today’s schedule and shared it with him.

“Either way, it’s fine as long as it’s useful. I also forgot to tell you something: we can track each other’s location with our phones. Make sure to keep your phone with you at all times in case of emergency.”

“One of us is planted with a bomb that prevents us from taking off our clothes, and the other has a tracking app…. We’re like a couple with very low trust.”

She snorted as if it were absurd, but she couldn’t deny it and changed the subject.

“By the way, hasn’t the car been acting strange? I think we should pull over and check it.”

“Right? I’ve been wondering if it was just me, too. I’ll get out and take a look.”

“Let’s go together. I’ll hold the umbrella.”

“You’re just saying that as an excuse to smoke outside.”

“It’s a win-win.”

She readily admitted it and as soon as Sunwoo pulled over, she got out of the car, lighting her cigarette by briefly touching the end to the button of her blouse sleeve. In the downpour, the tip of the cigarette she was inhaling glowed bright red amidst the gray surroundings. Wol quickly walked behind the car and opened the trunk.

Sunwoo, clicking his tongue at the woman whose unpredictable movements contrasted sharply with her calm demeanor and expression, hurriedly approached her.

“Hey, you said we’d get out together, so why did you move first? You forget too often that you’re the one being protected….”

Sunwoo, taking off his jacket to at least cover her head, trailed off mid-sentence and froze like a broken statue.

In front of the wide-open trunk was only a burning cigarette emitting a long trail of smoke. The unopened golf umbrella lay haphazardly on the rain-soaked ground. A long trail stretched from near the umbrella towards the sidewalk beside the road, as if something had been dragged quickly. The trail was quickly washed away by the heavy downpour.

The sudden downpour. The oppressive humidity. The trail silently dragged towards the river. It could only be interpreted as an abduction by the Water God.

‘Didn’t Master say that that side was clearly taken care of?’

Feeling as if someone was wringing his heart, he opened the location tracking app Wol had mentioned, unable to even breathe. The green circle stopped at another hotel by the Han River.

‘Han River Front Hotel… What a crappy name.’

Hoping that the flames he’d imbued into Wol’s clothes would do their job even in this humid weather, Sunwoo abandoned the car and sprinted towards his new destination.