INV 3

The white-haired man, who had always appeared only in his dreams, gazed at Kwon Yihyeon expressionlessly before smiling sensually as if melting away. That sight was an excessive stimulus for Kwon Yihyeon, who had always been forced to do nothing but stare at the man beyond the iron bars.

It was nauseatingly disgusting and terrifying, yet ecstatic.

However, he had to keep his wits about him. More accurately, the thought that he had to do so woke him up as he heard the deep sound of wind chimes carrying on the breeze.

Kwon Yihyeon bit the inside of his cheek to force himself awake and roughly shoved away the wrist of the hand gripping his forearm.

“What are you? Who the fuck are you to me…”

It was then.

“Kneel down this instant and offer your apologies!”

“What?”

“Hurry!”

Grandmother—no, the Mansin—commanded with a stern shout.

Suddenly, Kwon Yihyeon felt that his grandmother, whom he hadn’t seen in years, looked very old. That was a sad thing, but a sadder fact was that none of the relatives gathered here would listen to Kwon Yihyeon’s counterargument.

His older female cousin kicked the back of Kwon Yihyeon’s knees, forcing him down. Kwon Yihyeon felt an absurdly unfair and bewildered sense of indignation, but since he didn’t want to get into a physical scuffle with his cousin, he knelt, despite the ridiculousness of it all.

“No, I mean, why on earth…”

But in the next moment, he lost his nerve and bit his lip.

“I pray, I pray, I pray. May the most high and supreme spirit not be angry, and I dare to entreat, and entreat again, risking this body, that you forgive the sins committed by a foolish, foolish human out of ignorance.”

Grandmother was kneeling. She was praying. She—Kwon Seon-ja, the grandmother who loved Kwon Yihyeon and simultaneously the Mansin—was sincerely begging for forgiveness toward something fearsome and terrifying.

Only then did Kwon Yihyeon feel every hair on his body stand on end.

‘What is that? That white-haired man… what exactly is he…?’

“You… what did you wake up…?”

His cousin, who had always been strong-willed, whispered in a voice tinged with tears.

It was strange. He thought things like shamanic faith weren’t real, but seeing his relatives at this moment, they all seemed prepared for death.

It was when Kwon Yihyeon was swallowing hard.

“Forgiveness is not difficult. If you promise me just one thing.”

The white-haired man let out a shallow laugh, as if this entire situation was perfectly natural. Kwon Yihyeon thought he might be enchanted by that appearance again. The man seemed as if he were already full, or as if he were anticipating a future where he would soon feel satiated. Thus, Kwon Yihyeon ended up sensing it as if he were predicting a future he himself did not want.

“O Worthy One who deserves adoration, what may we offer you as a tribute?”

“Kwon Yihyeon.”

The result was just as his ominous premonition suggested. At the moment his name was finally placed upon those lips and called, Kwon Yihyeon wanted to faint. However, even if a healthy adult male wants to faint, it doesn’t happen easily.

“I want Kwon Yihyeon.”

In the end, he had no choice but to squeeze his eyes shut.

Regardless of that, Grandmother, who brought the man to the shrine with the word that she would offer detailed stories along with good alcohol, did not stop bowing her waist, which she had said was already aching. All the relatives were doing the same.

He could have felt resentful, but the truth was, he knew. He could understand, even while losing his mind, how desperately they were trying to protect Kwon Yihyeon. Grandmother, along with his maternal uncles and aunts, were repeatedly talking about other offerings as if they didn’t want to give Kwon Yihyeon up no matter what. They said they would offer their arms, their lives—truly anything.

However, the man only furrowed his brows languidly as if all the earnest prayers were tedious.

“Kwon Yihyeon is enough. I don’t need anything else.”

“…That child has no spiritual talent, and his vessel is small. It is far too absurd for him to receive a Great Spirit…”

“How long do you think I will remain patient?”

It was just one sentence. But with that one sentence, the atmosphere of the shrine froze in an instant.

Something was strange. But he could sense it.

‘That thing’—whether it was a spirit with fox ears or a monster—could make everyone gathered here pay a price.

Even without knowing what that price was, his nose tingled.

Not a single breath of wind blew, yet the candles went out on their own, and ominous, eerie fox-fires circled the vicinity and scattered across the escape routes. Even Kwon Yihyeon, famous for having absolutely no shamanic sense, noticed it. No one would be able to escape the fox-fires completely. Now, in the dark shrine without a single point of light, only the man’s white hair shimmered like the moon.

Around that time, Kwon Yihyeon sensed that the life he had lived would be completely shattered.

“Excuse me. Uh… Great Spirit.”

Kwon Yihyeon tried to use as calm a voice as possible.

Kwon Yihyeon originally didn’t believe in things like shamanic faith. He had lived his whole life without believing. However, instead of parents, Kwon Yihyeon had his grandmother. Grandmother had taken him in and allowed him to form relationships like family with his relatives, letting them live as one. Although Grandmother was a Mansin and his relatives were all members of a shaman family, making Kwon Yihyeon—who had zero talent for the spiritual side—feel oddly like an outsider, separate from that, it was impossible not to know how dearly they cared for and loved him. If his family were hurt because he made the wrong response, Kwon Yihyeon felt he would never be able to forgive himself for the rest of his life.

So, Kwon Yihyeon had no choice but to ask.

“What do you plan to use me for after you take me, Great Spirit?”

An expression and attitude that seemed a bit wary of the other’s reaction.

At that sight, Jae Angshin finally laughed. As if he were extremely satisfied that the prey had climbed into his palm…

“It is nothing much. You only need to share the joys and sorrows of life with this body and form a Bond of Clouds and Rain.”

He said softly, with a bored face as if it were a trivial matter, tilting his eyebrows up as if snorting. At the sound he produced, the relatives all swallowed their horrified hearts deep into their throats, but Kwon Yihyeon wasn’t there yet.

“I know what ‘joys and sorrows’ are, but what does ‘Bond of Clouds and Rain’ mean…?”

The Disaster, pursing his lips as if it were curious, smiled kindly.

“It means you will become my husband. Please devote yourself to the night work… Ah, surely, you aren’t a virgin who freaks out just at the mention of the word ‘sex’, are you…?”

Kwon Yihyeon freaked out at those words, proving the fact that he was a virgin incel.

At that moment, Kwon Yihyeon grabbed whatever was within reach and threw it with all his might. Fortunately for the relatives, what he grabbed was not something hard like an inkstone but a floor cushion, and the fox who had become Kwon Yihyeon’s bride without Kwon Yihyeon’s consent laughed brightly, as if he found the minor rebellion rather enjoyable. But Kwon Yihyeon did not empathize with anyone. He didn’t feel relieved, nor did he want to laugh.

If anything, he wanted to flip him the middle finger!

“Get lost! You crazy pervert!”

That was the first night.