UTPT Ch 6

I have to run.

Yihyun quietly moved his feet, confirming that Han Changwon and Han Suhyun were still at the entrance, seeing off the guest. If he could just make it past the annex fence, he might get through the night without a beating. No one in this household ever stepped foot in the annex, believing it to be tainted by impurity.

As he descended the stairs leading to the back door and pushed it open, a fierce snowstorm howled in. Yihyun quickly stepped outside and shut the door firmly behind him, then trudged across the dry grass now covered in snow. He had barely made it halfway when—Bang! The back door was flung open.

“You little rat—where the hell do you think you’re running off to?”

With both legs perfectly fine, Han Suhyun closed the distance in heavy strides.

Hiiik! Fear constricted Yihyun’s lungs. He barely managed to suck in a breath and took a few steps back, but that was all he could do.

Han Suhyun held a pair of scissors in his hand. Grabbing a fistful of Yihyun’s tangled hair, he yanked him forward. His worn-out slippers flew off, and his old socks quickly became soaked from the snow.

“Ah, hyung¹…”

“Hyung? The fuck do you think you’re calling hyung? How many times do I have to tell you—you’re not a damn man?”

Han Suhyun shoved Yihyun back through the rear door. Yihyun’s entire body slammed into the stairs, and the sharp pain in his side felt as if the blood vessels inside had burst.

“Dragging that filthy hair around… Disgusting.”

The faint light seeping in from the kitchen reflected off the blades of the scissors. Yihyun gasped shallowly, his breathing rapid, as if he had been shot. He couldn’t get air into his lungs. His fingers clutched desperately around his throat, and between them, an old scar gleamed under the dim light.

“Suhyun-ah, stop. There’s not much time left anyway.”

At Han Changwon’s words, the scissors, which had been rushing toward him, suddenly stopped in midair. Yihyun held his breath, his gasping coming to a halt, as he stared at the gleaming silver blades. He still remembered the moment they had torn into the skin of his nape.

“Father. But this bastard…”

“Touching him will only bring more misfortune. Just throw him outside and come upstairs.”

Panting heavily, Han Suhyun flung the scissors to the floor and stormed upstairs. Yihyun remained utterly silent until the sound of their footsteps faded. The moment he was sure they were gone, he threw open the back door and ran toward the annex faster than he ever had before.

After picking up the shoes abandoned in the snow and holding them close to his chest, he stepped into the annex. Sitting on the wooden perch, the divine spirit clicked his tongue and approached him.

— Just ten years ago, I was commanding all the vengeful spirits…

“…Spirit-nim.”

— But now, the only thing I can do is read. How could that not be frustrating?

“…….”

— All I can do is tell you to endure it, and for that, I’m sorry. No one but you can even perceive me anymore; all others are blind and deaf to me.

Yihyun must have looked truly wretched. The divine spirit rarely spoke like this otherwise. He let down his disheveled hair and shook his head.

“If they hate me that much… they should just let me go.”

They constantly claimed he brought misfortune, so why keep him locked up in a place like this? He would rather be on his own, living somewhere else.

— Just hold on a little longer.

“…Alright.”

There was nothing Yihyun could do except endure it. Carefully lifting his clothes, he sighed at the large bruise on his waist. He needed to apply ointment, but he had already used up most of it—what should he do?

Using what little remained, he spread the ointment over his side before resuming the sewing he had left unfinished. He wanted to lie down right away, but he didn’t want to wake up in the morning to an even more torn blanket. He decided to finish quickly and then sleep.

— Why don’t you just sleep?

“I’ll sleep after I finish this.”

— Watching you always reminds me of that young master.

The spirit had told Yihyun this story countless times. He had heard it so often it was practically etched into his ears. As the divine spirit once again began reciting the familiar opening lines of a tale that would never fade even in death, Yihyun merely nodded absentmindedly, focusing on his hands as they moved swiftly.

— I must have been a truly well-respected manshin in my lifetime. I could command any ghost there was.

“Yes, yes…”

— Every morning, I performed divinations, and one day, I foresaw ruin upon the nation. The emperor’s children would kill one another over and over, and treacherous ministers crossing the borders would seal the emperor’s ears and mouth… When I spoke the truth a few times, they accused me of committing sins with my words, and soon, fingers pointed at me from all directions.

The shaman’s words had spread, eventually reaching the ears of those involved. One night, he was hanged by sword-wielding warriors from the peach tree right next to this annex. Since then, even when the peach tree bloomed, it never bore fruit.

— They all said my corpse was tainted and refused to touch it, but the young master was the one who prepared my burial. I nearly became a vengeful spirit, bound to that tree in my resentment, but he told me not to be consumed by hatred and to do as I wished. That’s why I remain like this.

“…How am I anything like that young master?”

— Hmm… the fact that you’re so naive it’s almost stupid?

“That’s an insult.”

— Is it? You think so?

“Spirit-nim…”

There was something Yihyun had always wanted to ask whenever he heard this story. Had the spirit been unable to foresee the disaster about to befall him?

“Did you not know they were coming to kill you?”

— Huh?

“You said the soldiers came at night.”

— I knew.

“Then why…?”

“Even if I had escaped in that moment, I wouldn’t have been able to rid myself of the death that had already attached itself to me.”

“……”

— No matter how many times I changed the conditions and cast the divinations—dozens or even hundreds of times—the despair of seeing the same fate was unbearable.

Despite his hatred for humans, this manshin had remained by their side for a thousand years, all for the sake of just one person. And yet, now, there wasn’t even bitterness left in his tone. Yihyun paused, his hands stilling, and looked up at the divine spirit. Meeting his gaze, the spirit smiled faintly and disappeared after leaving behind a goodnight.

***

“You little maggot.”

“……”

“Didn’t you hear me?”

As Han Yihyun scrubbed the kitchen floor with a rag, Han Suhyun tapped his head. Ignoring him, Yihyun only scrubbed harder at the stain. But no matter how much he wiped, the stain wouldn’t come out—it seemed the floor had been burned when the housekeeper briefly placed a hot pot on it the day before.

“It’s such a relief that I won’t have to see a disgusting maggot like you anymore.”

“…What?”

“You’re being sold off today.”

“I’m being sold?”

“Yeah. Just think of it as paying back the cost of all the food and clothes you’ve been given.”

The cost of food and clothes… It probably wasn’t much. Pushing back the strands of hair that had fallen forward, Yihyun looked up at Suhyun. The malice in his sneering face was so vivid it felt almost tangible. Why does he hate me so much?

Avoiding his gaze, Yihyun set the rag aside, tidied up, and washed his hands.

He could sense that something was off. The other members of the household were whispering among themselves while glancing at him. Having lived like a transparent being until now, Yihyun found the situation unfamiliar.

If he was being sold off, did that mean he would finally be able to leave this house? But the nuance of those words didn’t sound pleasant, and Yihyun already knew well enough that nothing in life ever went smoothly.

“Hey, after you finish cleaning that up, do the dishes and wait at the annex. He’s coming there.”

“Who is?”

“You don’t need to know.”

Han Suhyun irritably pushed Yihyun’s much smaller forehead with his fingertip before walking off to the living room. Even though this clearly involved him, no one was telling him anything. Yihyun wasn’t particularly affected by that—he was already used to it.

After finishing the dishes, he hid two boiled potatoes inside his sleeve and slipped out of the main house. He hurried across the backyard and into the annex, where he could finally breathe properly.

“Thank you for the meal.”

Saying the words out of habit, though no one was around to hear them, Yihyun filled his stomach by chewing on a potato for a long time, along with a few grains of salt. If he chewed until it turned to mush, even this little could feel filling.

— Are you eating that miserable excuse for food again?

“Oh, Spirit-nim.”

— You’re making such tasteless potatoes seem delicious.

“They taste good to me.”

The voice from the air was familiar. Yihyun responded lightly and popped another piece of potato into his mouth. He had never eaten until he was truly full, but he was already accustomed to small portions. A potato about the size of a fist was enough to serve as a meal.

— Yihyun-ah.

“Yes, Spirit-nim?”

— I have a dilemma.

“What kind of dilemma?”

After wiping his hands on an old towel, Yihyun loosened his tied-up long hair and ran his fingers through it. Perhaps due to a lack of proper nourishment, the ends of his hair were frizzy.

— I’ve told you before, haven’t I? I already sent all the evil spirits inside me to the afterlife, so all that remains is to shake off my lingering attachments and leave.

“Yes…”

The divine spirit’s words always lacked context or explanation, and Yihyun was lucky if he understood even half of what was said. However, he had a good memory, so he could clearly recall everything that had been spoken.

— I stayed here for a long time, saying I would repay my debt, but all I did was accumulate more sins… I think it’s time to put an end to it.

“…Put an end to it?”

— If I take care of only you, then he will forgive me.

“You mean… the young master?”

— Yes.

The divine spirit had a constitution that attracted souls like a magnet, drawing all sorts of beings to him. And he had once said that if the Han family desired it, he wouldn’t hesitate to use evil spirits to kill people.

Until now, he had taken on the role of keeping those evil spirits in check, which had led the grim reapers to turn a blind eye to his lingering presence in the mortal realm. But since he no longer held them bound, they had no reason to let him remain any longer.

— Today, your great fortune will come… You can’t go around looking like a mangy puppy. Get up and wash yourself before I kick your butt.

“But you can’t actually kick me.”

— I could hit you with the broom used for sweeping the yard.

“I wanted to take a bath anyway.”

Yawning broadly, Yihyun decided to enjoy this rare moment of free time. He planned to boil water for a bath and, if possible, take a nap. Last night, the divine spirit and other beings had been so noisy in the yard, busy with whatever they were doing, that he hadn’t been able to sleep well.

“Spirit-nim, what were you doing last night?”

— Your husband… No, I was just preparing for someone to take a beating.

“Who? Is someone really coming here?”

— You’ll find out soon enough.

They said he was being sold, so did that mean the buyer was coming? What would they even do with someone like him? Repeating the question in his mind, though no answer came to him, Yihyun headed toward the kitchen, which also served as the bathroom.