Whisper Chapter 7

It was a reasonable suspicion from Jang Pal-yong’s perspective. That mountain wasn’t an ordinary mountain.

 

He had never seen Cha Gyeol behave that way toward a woman before. For Cha Gyeol, women were merely tools he needed for chewing, and he was famous for choosing only skilled partners and chewing ferociously and roughly.

 

“I told you that mountain is strange! Don’t just sit there covered in Cha Gyeol’s shell. Get out here now!”

 

When Jang Pal-yong shouted angrily, Cha Gyeol stayed silent, but Lee Heewoo suddenly opened her eyes wide.

 

“That, that mountain isn’t strange. You shouldn’t, shouldn’t treat a person like, like that, should you?”

 

Her stammered words came out in an odd tone. Feeling guilty for no particular reason, Lee Heewoo couldn’t stop fiddling with her lips—biting them, then letting go, then biting them again in a frenzy.

 

Lee Heewoo, who had significantly contributed to the mountain being strange, wondered whether she should tell them that ghosts don’t possess human bodies.

 

“How, how would you know, young lady? You’re suspicious too.”

 

“M-me? I’m not, not suspicious…”

 

Lee Heewoo fidgeted nervously, shifting in her seat.

 

Damn, they’re doing great. It was ridiculous—like two kids who had just learned to speak but couldn’t manage to string proper sentences together.

 

Cha Gyeol pressed his fingers against his creased forehead.

 

“Enough.”

 

With that one short word, the room fell silent in an instant. Lee Heewoo subtly shifted her body and turned to face Cha Gyeol, making it clear she wouldn’t look at Jang Pal-yong.

 

“…Sir.”

 

Lee Heewoo, still staring at Cha Gyeol’s large hand holding her wrist, whispered softly.

 

“Yes, what?”

 

“…Are you angry?”

 

Feeling responsible for the awkward situation, Lee Heewoo’s voice shrank. She worried that Cha Gyeol might be angry because of her and that he had to hear things he shouldn’t have.

 

“What if I am?”

 

With his gaze lowered, Lee Heewoo couldn’t see the corner of Cha Gyeol’s mouth lifting into a smirk. Her face drooped with gloom. She wanted to make a good impression, but she had already failed on the first day.

 

“…Then I’ll behave.”

 

Her voice sounded as downcast as her face. Cha Gyeol let out a chuckle. This strange new kind of person, as if from another world, felt refreshingly amusing.

 

“Then I guess I’ll say I’m angry.”

 

Jang Pal-yong gawked, mouth agape, as Cha Gyeol lightly tapped the beauty mark at the tip of Lee Heewoo’s nose with his fingertip.

 

***

 

The house was situated in a location that was excellent from a feng shui perspective. Heo Gwiryeon clicked her tongue quietly at the pristine energy surrounding the area. What use was good energy if the people living there were filth incarnate?

 

Heo Gwiryeon, slowly turning a worn wooden rosary in her hand, briefly thought of Heewoo, who had gone off following Cha Gyeol. Even her parched, brittle heart still ached as though carved out with a sharp blade.

 

The tear-streaked face that had clasped her bony hand tightly, telling her not to get hurt and to take care, came to her mind and made her sigh. Despite having received nothing, Heewoo was not a child who threw tantrums. The child, who didn’t even know her own parents, lived buried as if she didn’t exist. Yet, when Heo Gwiryeon called her daughter, the child smiled and snuggled into her arms.

 

“You are free to move around anywhere within the annex.”

 

The attendant guiding Heo Gwiryeon spoke as the annex came into view. The path to the annex was distinct from that of the main building, designed to allow access without going through the main house.

 

Heo Gwiryeon silently observed the building. So this is where I will die. Her deep-set eyes darkened.

 

“If you need anything, you can ring the bell anytime.”

 

After finishing the explanation, the attendant, who had been guiding her, hesitated briefly before speaking again, as if unsure whether to say something.

 

“Just to let you know, someone will be staying in the annex with you, and there are attendants outside as well.”

 

In other words, don’t even think about escaping. Heo Gwiryeon, as if not hearing a single word, stepped into the room.

 

“…Haah…”

 

The god residing within Heo Gwiryeon’s body liked the room decorated as a shrine.

 

Heo Gwiryeon closed her eyes tightly, opened them again, and fumbled her way toward the cushion with trembling hands, clutching her prayer beads. She had spent her entire life in this line of work, yet it still gave her chills.

 

The god within her body grew increasingly violent. It demanded a new vessel, refusing the broken and worn-out one it inhabited, as if it would devour her. She didn’t care if it consumed her alone, but she couldn’t let its wrath touch Heewoo. Trying to push thoughts of Heewoo out of her mind, Heo Gwiryeon sped up her fingers on the prayer beads.

 

She needed to separate Heewoo from herself.

 

As cold sweat formed on her forehead, and she slowly turned the prayer beads once more, there was a knock at the door. She opened her eyes slowly as the door opened, and a familiar yet unsettling figure entered. Behind the closing door, several other people were visible.

 

“It’s even more delightful to see you here, elder.”

 

The man’s eyes, though smiling warmly, were snake-like. Even as Assemblyman Im sat down at a reasonable distance, Heo Gwiryeon didn’t utter a word. The god welcomed him, filled with all kinds of vile greed and malevolent energy, making her pale face even whiter as she struggled to suppress its influence.

 

“…I thought our transaction was finished.”

 

Watching Heo Gwiryeon’s labored breathing, Assemblyman Im nodded.

 

“Yes, that’s correct, elder.”

 

Heo Gwiryeon glared at him. A snake disguised as a human.

 

When he first came to her seven years ago, Assemblyman Im was just stepping into the world of politics. Now, he was considered a leading contender for the presidency. After learning of her abilities, he had brought her bags of cash, seeking her out at her shrine. At the time, Heo Gwiryeon had not rejected him. She needed a way to redirect the god’s violent energy and to secure money for Heewoo’s future.

 

“So, I’ve come to ask for a new deal.”

 

Assemblyman Im’s smile was just as horrifying as her god. He glanced around the shrine he had prepared.

 

“It looks pretty decent, doesn’t it? I worked hard to make it resemble your shrine, elder.”

 

“You—”

 

“All I need is to become president next year.”

 

Assemblyman Im said the word “president” as casually as if it were a pet’s name, his face already brimming with confidence.

 

Though she had suspected it, hearing it directly left her speechless. Heo Gwiryeon’s eyes widened as she glared at Assemblyman Im.

 

“That’s not your place.”

 

“You’ll make it my place, won’t you, elder? For the sake of your lovely granddaughter.”

 

***

 

Even on the mountain, he had found Heewoo fascinating, but now that they were in the city, he found her even more intriguing.

 

Cha Gyeol glanced sideways at Heewoo, who was pressed against the car window, eagerly observing her surroundings from the passenger seat.

 

“Looks like your head’s about to fall off. You must be dizzy, little miss.”

 

At the low, languid voice, Heewoo, who had been staring at a tall building, quickly turned her head. Her sparkling eyes seemed to ask, How did you know?

 

“Yes, it’s very complicated here, sir.”

 

“And you’re incredibly transparent.”

 

“…Me?”

 

Heewoo was different from most people and hadn’t been able to live a normal life.

 

After realizing her strangeness, Heewoo had confined herself to a small world. A world already narrow had become even smaller, and Heewoo lived as if she were neither fully of this world nor apart from it.

 

Cha Gyeol turned that world upside down. He showed Heewoo that there was another world. When she was with Cha Gyeol, she didn’t feel abnormal. Once she knew, she couldn’t forget. Like a magnet, she was drawn to it.

 

Even earlier, that bear-like man had regarded her suspiciously.

 

But Cha Gyeol didn’t treat Heewoo as something strange.

 

“If you’re that transparent, you’ll get eaten.”

 

“…?”

 

Not understanding the meaning, Heewoo tilted her head. What is clean is easily sullied, and there are plenty of things that want to corrupt it. Cha Gyeol looked at Heewoo with dry eyes, raising only one corner of his lips.

 

Heewoo was absolutely not his type.

 

“Didn’t you want to come down from the mountain?”

 

Perhaps because it was near quitting time, the traffic was heavier, with cars crawling like turtles. Though the office wasn’t far from home, the distance was taking up much more time than expected. This was why he usually avoided traveling at this hour.

 

“…Not particularly.”