Chapter 14
Seeing the IV line inserted into his arm, he held his dizzy forehead.
Kang-ho, who was restless and anxious, couldn’t hold back and questioned Hae-an, who was sitting blankly.
“Are you really okay?! Do you even recognize who I am?”
“I’m not deaf. Don’t shout.”
“What do you mean don’t shout?! You were unreachable all day, no contact, no nothing. I even went to your place! I was only relieved because I found you collapsed on the bedroom floor… do you know how shocked I was?!”
“Stop overreacting. How long was I asleep?”
“Two days.”
“That’s a long sleep.”
Hae-an got up from the bed while holding his aching head.
Then suddenly remembering something, he urgently looked at Kang-ho and said,
“Don’t tell the Commissioner… no, my father about this. It’ll be too much for an old man’s heart.”
“I already got a call from him. I told him you were out at a crime scene.”
“Good job.”
With a bitter smile, Hae-an suddenly pulled out the IV line.
Kang-ho panicked and shouted, asking what he was doing.
Hae-an, with a very exhausted face, muttered,
“Let’s go home.”
“Are you crazy?! You’re not normal yet!”
“I hate hospitals. I’ll just rest at home.”
“Hey, wait! Senior!”
Kang-ho grabbed Hae-an’s weak arms tightly.
“Please be honest. Is something going on?”
Something going on.
Could that one phrase even explain this messed-up situation?
Hae-an let out a hollow laugh and shook his head.
“What nonsense.”
It felt like a horrible nightmare, but he couldn’t remember the details.
However, one thing was clear—even in that dream, that damn Kim Bari was involved.
Otherwise, his instincts wouldn’t keep dragging her into his thoughts.
It was absurd and ridiculous, but at least right now, he strangely wanted to see her.
He didn’t know why, but he just did.
So he decided to suppress this uncomfortable instinct.
“There’s nothing like that.”
Hae-an clenched his fists tightly and gritted his teeth.
Yes. Even if something exists, it doesn’t. I’ll make sure of it.
Seven days had already passed, despite the already limited time.
Not only was Kang Hae-an acting annoying and uncontrollable, but now even Lee Dakjae was causing trouble.
Bari, who couldn’t contact Dakjae all day, kicked the ground in frustration.
It wasn’t the first time something like this happened in their hundreds of years together, but she still couldn’t help worrying.
Standing in front of a crosswalk, she angrily kicked the ground while eating a popsicle she bought from a convenience store and fiddling with her dead phone.
“Ugh, Lee Dakjae! That goblin is running away again at his age! He has no consideration for his roommate at all!”
If he was going to leave, he should at least say when and for how long.
But he just disappeared like a teenager going through a rebellious phase.
The phone gave another useless message:
The call cannot be connected…
“Seriously!”
Frustrated, Bari stood at the crosswalk, ready to cross when the light turned green.
Then—
BOOM!
A deafening crash echoed like thunder.
Bari stopped instantly and turned her head.
Time slowed down.
A car rushing at full speed had climbed onto the sidewalk and crashed into a tree pole.
People screamed, dropping their belongings and pointing in shock.
It was a massive accident, too sudden for anyone to react—even the gods.
“Damn it!”
Bari threw her half-eaten ice cream and rushed across the road.
Inside the crashed car, the driver was already dead, and the passenger was on the verge of death.
“P-please… save me…”
The blood-covered woman reached out with trembling hands, begging in tears.
But seeing Bari meant she was already close to becoming a spirit of death.
Bari sighed deeply and turned away—
Then the woman weakly said,
“My… my child… please save my baby…”
Bari quickly looked into the back seat.
There, a baby was sleeping peacefully in a child seat.
The parents had protected the child with their lives.
But smoke rising from the wreck warned that an explosion was imminent.
Bari had no choice.
“Poor child of mine. By the name of Bari, I grant you passage to paradise.”
At that moment, the last breath of the humans was taken.
Bari placed her hand over their heads, calming their souls, then forcefully opened the twisted car door.
“Do not forget that your parents’ sacrifice saved you, child.”
After gently touching the baby’s forehead, she disappeared.
Cold wind entered the car.
The baby woke up and started crying loudly.
People finally realized someone was alive and rushed in.
Police and firefighters arrived.
Bari quickly turned away.
Even a god cannot interfere too deeply with human life and death.
She only hoped the baby would be rescued safely.
But then—
Something unbelievable happened.
Her body wouldn’t move.
“What… what is this?”
It felt like something was grabbing her ankles, forcing her to stay.
She couldn’t move at all.
The firemen shouted that the car might explode soon.
Then—
BOOM!
A massive explosion shook everything.
Fuel ignited into a blazing fire that spread rapidly.
The flames rushed toward her.
“Kim Bari!”
At that moment, someone shouted her name.
A man ran at full speed and threw his jacket over her head.
They both fell and rolled on the ground together.
Scraped and bleeding, they rolled far away from the explosion before finally collapsing.
Only then did Bari recognize him.
“Ka… Kang Hae-an?”
Hae-an, breathing heavily, stood up and grabbed her arms in anger.
“Are you insane?! Where do you think you’re running into like that?!”
Bari couldn’t speak.
Hae-an’s eyes were filled with fear, anger, and something deeper he couldn’t even understand.
“I thought you were dead.”
Bari was speechless.
He was shaking.
Then, without realizing it himself, Hae-an spoke from pure instinct:
“You don’t need to be in the hospital, right?”
“Be quiet.”
It was just a minor injury, but Hae-an still brought Bari to the hospital emergency room.
Of all places, it had to be the hospital she hated most.
Bari sat on the bed nervously, looking around.
Fortunately, that annoying guy didn’t seem to be around.
But then—
A man in a white coat approached with a bored expression.
“A tiny girl causing trouble again, I see.”
He glanced at Bari, then immediately noticed Hae-an beside her.
Without much reaction, he spoke casually.
“I’m a former nine-tailed fox. Now I’m just a normal human.”
He smiled proudly.
Bari frowned.
“Normal human, my foot…”
After living thousands of years, how can someone like him be “normal”?
