UTPT Ch 4

The foot that struck his stomach was too harsh. Thinking his back would be a better target, Yihyun curled up and covered his head. He didn’t want to be slapped anymore. When he was slapped, his ears would ring, his head would spin, and his stomach would churn.

After being beaten for a while, his mind would go blank, and the emptiness would fill with old memories. Today, it was the memory of the day his nanny had died. Yihyun had cried a lot back then. Even though she had never been kind to him, she was the only person who had stayed by his side, and the emptiness he felt was indescribable.

It had taken Yihyun quite some time to realize that the nanny, who had collapsed from a heart attack on a cold winter day, had actually died. He hadn’t understood what death was at the time. He had simply thought the stillness was strange, and only after a long while did he recognize that her unmoving form was just like the cat that had eaten rat poison and died.

But he hadn’t even been able to stay by her side in her final moments. Yihyun was treated as something impure, and even the nanny’s death was considered a consequence of his impurity.

Still, things seemed better now than they had been back then. Back when he was too small and completely helpless, he had been no different from a tiny, insignificant creature. The beatings… hurt, but they weren’t unbearable. By now, he had grown used to them.

“You’re smiling?”

Han Suhyun, who had grabbed Yihyun by the hair and yanked him up, became even more enraged upon seeing his face. The inside of Yihyun’s cheek, already struck multiple times, was torn and bleeding profusely. Han Suhyun, still pulling at Yihyun’s hair as if to rip his scalp off, flung him back onto the floor. Dragged abruptly from past memories into the present, Yihyun struggled to breathe through the overwhelming pain.

Han Suhyun kicked Yihyun like a sandbag for a long while, panting heavily before spitting on the ground. Something landed on Yihyun’s long hair, but he didn’t even lift his head, focusing only on his ragged breathing.

“You worthless maggot. Who told you to act on your own?”

Who else was supposed to serve tea and clean up after a guest who arrived late at night? Was Han Suhyun going to do it? It wasn’t as if Yihyun wanted to be here either.

The longtime live-in housekeeper had stopped coming at some point, and the new housekeeper left promptly at six o’clock every evening. And who was it that had dragged Yihyun by the hair and thrown him into the kitchen, telling him to earn his keep instead of freeloading?

Even though he felt wronged, Yihyun knew that the moment he opened his mouth, even worse violence would follow. So he pressed his lips tightly shut. The first slap had already left the taste of blood in his mouth.

“Aren’t you going to get lost already?”

Thud. Another kick to his back. He wanted to jump up, but his injured leg wouldn’t move fast enough. As he staggered and barely managed to grab onto the sofa to pull himself up, Han Suhyun seized his long hair and slapped him again. His scalp burned with pain, as if all his hair would be torn out, and his already swollen cheek ballooned even further in an instant.

“Where do you think you’re putting those filthy hands, huh? Get the fuck out.”

He was trying to leave… but Han Suhyun kept yanking at his hair. Groaning from the pain that felt as if his hair were being ripped out, Yihyun pushed himself up. The hair that had been flung aside like something dirty smacked against his face again.

“That thing brought misfortune, scared away the spirits….”

It would be best to disappear before Han Suhyun could cause more havoc. Yihyun bit his lips to stifle any sound and barely managed to move his feet. But just as he was about to flee to the annex, Han Changwon stopped him, saying that another guest had arrived.

Why had there been so many evening visitors lately? Guests who came during the day were usually attended to by the housekeeper, so preparing for them was not something Yihyun was accustomed to. He had observed it enough to imitate the process, but he wasn’t confident he was doing it properly.

As Yihyun clumsily brewed tea in the kitchen, he could hear murmured voices from behind.

“Come on, President Han, why are you in such a rush? Jungjang District was under heavy government scrutiny, so we couldn’t get you in there, but we agreed to take care of the next one. And yet you couldn’t wait and went ahead to arrange a marriage with the imperial family? And where did this daughter suddenly come from?”

“This is all for CEO Park’s benefit. If the imperial family is so entranced by the shamanic reading that they accept the marriage proposal, we can use that to our advantage.”

“Then what does that make me—someone who’s also entranced by that reading?”

“You’ll get a real reading, CEO Park. We just need to make sure the imperial side only hears what’s favorable to us.”

“Hah, well now.”

“There’s nothing wrong with it. Even if the imperial family is just a figurehead, they still hold the authority to nominate the Prime Minister. You should serve another term as Prime Minister. I’ll back you up.”

Yihyun poured hot water over the tea leaves and closed the lid of the teapot. As he waited for the tea to steep, the two men continued their conversation.

“So, about the daughter?”

“She’s Suhyun’s twin, but she was raised elsewhere. The spirits dislike twins.”

“Hmm, I see. Well, it’s been nearly twenty years since we got on the same boat after that incident. If I can’t trust you, Director Han, who else could I trust?”

Yihyun hesitated as he placed the tea and teacups onto a tray and carried them to the living room. His entire body trembled, but running away would only lead to worse violence. When he clenched his teeth, the metallic taste of blood still lingered on his molars.

He approached quietly, set the cups down on the living room table, and poured the tea. His hand holding the lid trembled, making a clattering sound. The old man with a snake-like expression glanced at Yihyun.

“Where did you pick up this half-starved wench?”

“She just works here briefly in the evenings.”

“Come on, let me take a look at her face.”

The old man’s arm reached behind and wrapped tightly around Yihyun’s waist, pulling him in. Shocked, Yihyun let go of the teapot in his hand, and it clashed against the glass plate on the table with a sharp clang. Fortunately, the porcelain teapot did not break, but tea splashed everywhere.

“You stupid thing… Get out of here this instant!”

At Han Changwon’s shout, Yihyun instinctively stepped back and fled toward the kitchen. He felt so disgusted he thought he might vomit, but staying in that space was even worse. He placed the tray on the dining table, descended the stairs, and opened the back door.

As he quietly exited through the mansion’s back door and crossed the vast backyard, he reached a small shed-like house hidden behind a large tree. There was a small gate with a lock on the massive fence built to ward off misfortune. It was said that the place had once been the gardener’s quarters, but that must have been a long time ago. After all, Yihyun had been living there for nearly twenty years.

As soon as he stepped inside, Yihyun collapsed onto his knees. Only then did his senses seem to function properly. The disgust that had even numbed his pain gradually faded, though the lingering traces remained deep.

“…It hurts a little.”

When he quietly described his condition, a voice came from the empty air.

— Yihyun-ah.

“Spirit-nim¹….”

— Did you get beaten again?

Yihyun looked up at the translucent man perched on a large tree branch. The man, dressed in a deep blue hanbok, jumped down and approached Yihyun.

Not only had he been beaten today, but something even worse had happened. However, he didn’t want to talk about that. Instead, he simply gave a small nod and barely managed to sit up. Dirt was smeared all over him, but he didn’t even have the energy to brush it off.

— Your beautiful face has become a mess.

“…Spirit-nim, even now, can’t you attach to my brother?”

— Didn’t I already tell you? He has no ability. Your father was weak, but your brother has nothing at all.

“……”

— Who came today?

“A man.”

Should he mention the old man, too? But he was someone Yihyun didn’t even want to think about, so he shuddered and shook his head.

— Hmm… Is that so? How was he?

“…What do you mean?”

— I’m asking what you thought of that man.

Unable to fully grasp the words of the thousand-year-old ghost, Yihyun could only look up at him. He hadn’t even properly seen the face of the man who visited today. He had merely sliced through the heavy atmosphere in the living room to bring him a cup of green tea, then stayed hidden in the kitchen until they picked up the fountain pen he had dropped.

— Was he handsome?

“…What?”

— I asked if he was handsome.

It seemed the ghost wasn’t curious about the old man. That’s why he was asking such a question.

“I didn’t get a good look at his face.”

The pain subsided just a little. He didn’t know if it was the divine spirit’s power, but after talking with him, his body felt slightly lighter. Yihyun got up and went into the kitchen. He had to wash off the spit Han Suhyun had left in his hair.

— It’s freezing outside.

“Yes.”

— But this year will be fine.

“Is this winter going to be a bit warmer?”

— I can’t read the weather.

“Oh…”

Then why say it’ll be fine? Yihyun felt a surge of curiosity but didn’t bother asking. After being slapped dozens of times for saying the wrong thing, swallowing his words and keeping his mouth shut had become easy.