Chapter 09
Bari absentmindedly spun a glass filled with cold coffee in her hand.
Hae-an snatched the dangerously swaying glass from her and placed it in front of himself. Bari rested her chin on her hand and looked at him across the table.
“Is this your office?”
Hae-an had dragged Bari, whom he met in front of the police station, straight into his team leader’s office. Normally, he would have exploded in anger, but instead he stayed silent and had already been sitting there bored for 10 minutes.
“Gang Hae-an!”
“Shh.”
No matter what she asked, he didn’t answer. So Bari naturally raised her voice. Hae-an gestured for her to be quiet.
If things continued like this, it was just a waste of time. The one who needed something here was clearly Gang Hae-an.
Bari picked up her handbag and stood up, heading toward the door. But suddenly, Hae-an grabbed her and pulled her back into her seat.
“There are too many eyes and ears here.”
Clenching his teeth, Hae-an grabbed the blind remote. Bari, who had been sitting with her back to the detective division office, hadn’t noticed. Many officers were secretly glancing toward this room.
Hae-an pressed the button and made the glass of the office turn opaque. Then he let out an irritated sigh.
“You’re getting worse every day. Do you know that?”
Still holding Bari’s arm tightly, he rubbed his forehead with the other hand.
“Is the police station your front yard? Stop barging in whenever you want.”
“Well, if I don’t come like this, I can’t meet you.”
“Kim Bari!”
“I told you. I warned you to come find me before things got worse. You ignored me, didn’t you?”
Bari shook off his grip and brushed her long hair back.
“I don’t care how you act. I still can’t trust you.”
Hae-an cut off his words as Bari snapped her fingers and pointed somewhere.
“Look there.”
Hae-an turned toward where she pointed.
On his computer screen, news headlines were refreshing automatically.
[1 year-long ‘Chilseongpa Great Theft Case’ that angered the nation. Finally a lead?]
[Police investigation that reached its limit… a counterattack begins.]
[No shifting of blame. Superintendent Woo Gwan-su shows leadership and promises to repay public trust.]
Public opinion, once cold and angry, had completely reversed.
A single anonymous tip had reignited the investigation into Chilseongpa, and now praise for the police was pouring in.
“See it? What I am to you?”
At that moment, Hae-an remembered what she had once said.
“Your life, Gang Hae-an, was originally designed for destruction. You know that better than anyone. You lost your mother at birth, and your father—your last protection—was also killed when you were young.”
Kim Bari’s confidence, that she could control Gang Hae-an’s fate, didn’t seem like a lie anymore.
Hae-an’s face twisted in frustration.
Even so, this is ridiculous. Could it all just be coincidence?
“Do you know that if coincidence keeps repeating, it’s no longer coincidence?”
“….”
“Believe it or not, I don’t care anymore. Your strong doubt is already starting to shake.”
Bari stood up, moved close to Hae-an, and put on sunglasses from her handbag. She placed her arm over his stiff shoulder and whispered:
“One small question mark… can bring everything down.”
Smiling lightly, she turned away.
Hae-an grabbed her wrist and slowly stood up.
“In your eyes…”
He pushed her toward the window.
His face came close to hers.
“Do I look like such an easy man to you?”
His anger was directed at Bari for shaking his beliefs.
Bari held his arm tightly as he tried to pull away.
“No. Not at all.”
Gang Hae-an. I’ve never seen a man as difficult and complicated as you.
Evening, after 8 PM
On his way home, Kang-ho sat in his car, thinking.
Today, Kim Bari had come to the police station. She had disappeared for a while, so he thought it was just a prank. But seeing Hae-an’s stiff expression all day made him think otherwise.
“A shaman… a shaman, huh.”
Her unusual job had bothered him from the beginning.
Kang-ho knew what he needed to do to calm this uneasy feeling.
After hesitating, he called his mother.
“Mom, have you heard of a place called ‘Just Fortune Telling House’?”
— “Oh! How do you know that place?”
“Is it famous?”
— “Of course! Very famous! Even rich families can’t easily enter. It’s that powerful. I want to go too, but it’s not open to everyone. You need a special business card from the head shaman.”
If even his mother, who loved fortune-telling shops, praised it this much, it wasn’t ordinary.
Kang-ho tapped the steering wheel.
Hae-an and he had worked together for years. They were closer than real brothers.
Now his partner was suddenly being pushed aside, his expression growing darker day by day.
Kang-ho couldn’t just stand by.
After ending the call, he muttered:
“Is there anyone who abandons their own family in trouble?”
He took out a business card from his pocket.
“It doesn’t hurt to try.”
A red card with gold lettering—Kim Bari, head shaman.
But Kang-ho didn’t realize something.
Somewhere beyond what he could hear…
A voice kept calling his name.
“Kang-ho… Kang-ho… Kang-ho…”
A man from his past life, calling him endlessly.
“You were born from tearing through the gates of the underworld and Dongdae Mountain’s yew tree. My loyal servant.”
But Kang-ho did not hear the voice of the master he once served with his life.
Bari’s shrine
After her tense confrontation with Hae-an, Bari returned to the shaman house and burst into the shrine room.
She glared at the painting of the gods hanging in the center and shouted:
“Are you satisfied now?! Heavenly Lord!”
She pointed directly at the Heavenly Emperor painted in the artwork.
Dakjae quickly ran to her and grabbed her.
“This isn’t new. Why are you like this again?”
“Exactly! It’s always like this! How long are you going to keep playing with Gang Hae-an’s life?! This isn’t guidance—it’s just trying to kill a human!”
“Bari, calm down…”
“Let go! You think I can calm down?”
She was already exhausted from protecting the reincarnation of her cursed ex-husband, Mu Jang-seung, and now she was even forced to oppose the Heavenly Lord for Gang Hae-an.
Something was clearly wrong.
The Heavenly Emperor in the painting remained silent, radiating divine energy.
But Bari understood its meaning.
It was only saying one thing:
Enlightenment. Enlightenment. Enlightenment.
“Damn it… that stupid enlightenment…”
She gagged and ran to the bathroom.
She vomited bile into the toilet.
Dakjae followed and patted her back.
“Your temper never changes.”
Bari pushed his hand away, but he didn’t stop.
At that moment, she felt understood.
Even if only slightly.
Three days later
Bari eventually passed out from exhaustion and slept for three days.
Changing human fate consumed enormous divine energy, even for gods.
Jom-rye stayed by her side without rest, worried sick.
When Bari finally woke up, she refused to leave her blanket.
Dakjae stood outside her door for a long time before going to the bathroom.
He turned on the cold water and stared blankly at the sink filled with water. Then he submerged his face.
He held his breath.
After a few minutes, he lifted his head, gasping.
Looking at his reflection, he muttered:
“If I’m going to die, I should at least grow old first. Damn face is still the same.”
He clicked his tongue.
His youthful face never aged.
He hated it.
To reject youth and immortality—what a cruel fate.
Even though he was a heavenly being, Dakjae wished he could become an ordinary human.
Because at his origin, he had once been human.
“Damn it… here we go again.”
A migraine returned.
A bell-like sound tightened around his heart and rang in his ears.
