INV 2

I pray, I pray, I pray.

The entirety of the nightmare consisted of a man he had never seen before chanting a prayer whose meaning was incomprehensible, but whenever Kwon Yihyeon had that dream, he was overwhelmed by a feeling that he was going crazy, even though he hadn’t done anything. The man praying nobly was trapped inside iron bars like a criminal beast, yet he was neither cringing nor miserable. Even while confined in a filthy cage, he alone was lofty and arrogant.

Rather, it was Kwon Yihyeon who felt as if he were trapped behind the bars. In that dream, Kwon Yihyeon felt a sensation as if he were being strangled over and over again.

Every time that happened, the man would stop praying and look directly at Kwon Yihyeon.

The eerie red eyes visible through his long, snow-white hair exercised a dominance that seemed as if it would swallow the one it touched, bones and all. Then, Kwon Yihyeon became unable to do anything. It was as if he were permitted to do nothing else but look at the man.

It was an eye contact that gave him the feeling of sleep paralysis. And Kwon Yihyeon thought that in reality, it wasn’t much different. A dog-like dream. Although the man never once made a gesture to threaten Kwon Yihyeon…

Even a single tilt of his chin was dangerous. That is to say, every nerve in his body announced that if this wasn’t a threat, then what was? Beads of cold sweat drip drip fell and his spine curled with chills, signaling that he had to run away immediately. Nevertheless, as if the purpose of the dream was to torment Kwon Yihyeon, he couldn’t even move his gaze.

In the end, Kwon Yihyeon had to stare intently at only the man.

The man trapped behind the bars had broad shoulders and excellently developed muscles, yet his waist stretched out slenderly, resembling the agility of a feline beast. A complexion that looked as if a single drop of blood had been flicked onto pale traditional paper, and white hair. As his dark red lips—which naturally brought the word “bewitching” to mind—parted subtly, pronouncing something that could be either a smile or a tear…

I pray, I pray, I pray.

…Kwon Yihyeon felt as if his lifespan was wearing away every time he had that dream. It felt as if an excessively massive presence was crushing him and sucking out his life force. The man himself wasn’t actually doing anything, but that was the sensation Kwon Yihyeon felt.

‘At this rate, I’m going to go crazy.’

As a result of the blood-drained Kwon Yihyeon counting day by day with bloodshot eyes, last night was already the ninety-eighth time he had this dream. It was no use going to all sorts of psychiatric clinics to take sleeping pills and receive counseling.

Even though he didn’t believe in it, he had tried getting a strange talisman from somewhere, but no change occurred. Salt didn’t work no matter how many thousands of times he sprinkled it. Every night was like this. By this point, he felt like he was going to die. Kwon Yihyeon was at the point where he was losing all his weight.

It didn’t matter whether he believed in shamanic faith or not. At this stage, he wanted to grasp even a rotten rope if it was offered.

‘Surely she wouldn’t make her grandson pay such a high price for a talisman.’

After always only offering greetings over the phone, Kwon Yihyeon, who finally returned to Cheongra and began to climb the Great Mountain, fell into a sensation where his entire body felt chilly.

Was this a place where such a cold and bizarre atmosphere lingered? Kwon Yihyeon climbed the mountain while enveloped in an uncertain fear. The path for people was at least marked with rocks to indicate where to walk. He thought he used to just run around happily when he was young, so how did he roam freely through a forest with such a strange and mysterious atmosphere? The more he retraced his thoughts, the more it seemed that in the past, it hadn’t been an eerie atmosphere that was this cold and dismissive.

Was it because it was early autumn that the weather was cold? Kwon Yihyeon clicked his tongue and tried to end his thoughts there. It was because he felt that if he dug deeper, he would just have to keep thinking about shamanic stories he didn’t even believe in. But just then.

“…Huh?”

Kwon Yihyeon discovered a man collapsed on the slope below.

It seemed he had slipped and fallen while climbing the slope, but if someone is sprawled out here in this weather, they usually die… That can’t happen!

Kwon Yihyeon immediately threw his body forward, angled his feet, and slid down the slope. His hands were shaking, but despite being unskilled in first aid, he did not make the mistake of recklessly shaking a collapsed person. Instead, he first raised his voice to call for rescue.

“Hey! Are you okay? Maternal uncle! Maternal aunt! Please come here! A person has collapsed here! Help me! Is nobody there? Wake up! Please… I said wake up!”

At the same time, Kwon Yihyeon scanned the surroundings meticulously. Judging by the fact that no blood was visible on the ground, it didn’t seem like his head was cracked open.

Even though his hair is snow-white, there isn’t a single drop of blood…

But in the very next moment, when that man suddenly opened his eyes, Kwon Yihyeon turned pale.

In an instant, that dream flashed through his mind.

‘Now that I think about it, this man, his hair is white too…’

His blood-red pupils, looking as if fresh blood had gathered and hardened at a single point, were curving sensually.

‘Even his appearance is exactly as it was in the dream.’

Upon seeing the red smile like a camellia flower blooming in a snowfield, his limbs were paralyzed as if he had been electrocuted. Kwon Yihyeon, struck with goosebumps, tried to flee backward. However, his arm was grabbed. Around the time long fingernails began to dig into his skin and a dizzying pain began to rush over him.

The man from the dream said.

“Caught you.”

Kwon Yihyeon woke up with a start.

It felt like he had been submerged in water and then suddenly jerked his head up.

But something was strange. Kwon Yihyeon clearly had memories of climbing the mountain, but when he opened his eyes, this was nothing more than a forest path located at the foot of the mountain.

As if all the mountain climbing Kwon Yihyeon had done until now was invalid.

‘As if it were all a dream…’

If there was a silver lining, it was the fact that his maternal aunt, maternal uncles, and grandmother were gathered around. Regardless, since the family members who were said to have a say in shamanism were gathered, Kwon Yihyeon wanted to believe that nothing bad would happen.

But the look in his family’s eyes was strange.

They were glaring toward Kwon Yihyeon while holding bizarre weapons as if they were hostile toward and wary of something.

‘Did something happen?’

To be honest, Kwon Yihyeon felt half-amused and half-afraid. For one, his grasp on reality was incomplete. For example, imagine a monk trying to fight while holding a wooden fish. In Kwon Yihyeon’s eyes, his relatives were acting hostile toward the direction where Kwon Yihyeon was, holding things they used whenever they performed rites or exorcisms for shamanic faith or whatever it was. Kwon Yihyeon was bewildered and frightened, so he tried to approach them. However, his forearm hurt.

Kwon Yihyeon turned his head, and his eyes met another’s.

“Did you have a good dream?”

The man’s presence was so intensely powerful that it was almost too much to even let out a scream. Instead of falling over in surprise, Kwon Yihyeon became fascinated in 그 moment.

When a perfume bottle breaks, an intense scent—so strong it feels toxic—instantly consumes the sense of smell. A beautiful and terrible fascination… if one were to define the man’s magical power, it would be just like that broken perfume bottle.

An utterly sharp and violent aesthetic was under his dominance.