NTH 104

Jin frowned his pretty brow and stared at Jeha. Jeha spoke calmly with a tone and expression that were as nonchalant as possible.

“About that…”

Just then, someone suddenly knocked on the door from outside.

“Young Master! I’m here!”

It was Chief Jeong’s voice. Jeha welcomed him as if his timing was perfect.

“Come in.”

Chief Jeong placed a box filled with various desserts next to the bed.

“Mr. Jin, you’re awake! How are you feeling?”

“I’m perfectly fine.”

“That’s a huge relief. I bought some tarts and eclairs that you like.”

Chief Jeong had forgotten everything about Cheon Sagang.

Originally, if a parasitic soul died before its host or was completely extinguished, all traces of it would disappear from the world. Jeha already knew this fact through the Cheonsu boy incident. The only ones who could remember the parasitic soul were those deeply entangled with it, like Jeha or Jin, and non-human beings like Gu Minho.

Chief Jeong perceived Jin’s kidnapping and return as a ‘random crime’ by gangsters. That was why he had brought a lot of delicious snacks for Jin, who must have been greatly shocked.

After giving Chief Jeong some time to talk with Jin, Jeha went out to the living room. He walked to the terrace that Jin liked. When he opened the window, cold air rushed in. Whoosh.

It was the night of the new moon. Jeha recited in his mind the words he could not bring himself to say to Jin.

I have to leave this place within a few days to become a monster. And after that, I will never be able to see you again.

In a world without you, will I be able to breathe with a sane mind? As much as I will live for eternity, the pain of longing for you will also never end.

In a world without me, will you be okay? When you are lonely and cold, who will be able to hold you? You are so beautiful and dazzling like the sunlight, you might fall in love with someone other than me again.

But what can I do. I just can’t bring myself to wish for your happiness. Just the thought of someone other than me being by your side makes my blood boil. It feels like my heart is being torn apart. How on earth should I tell you all of this.

Overwhelmed by the agony that rushed in with the cold wind, Jeha clutched his chest. Only the night sky, without a single ray of moonlight, was looking down on him blankly.

“Are you really not going to tell me?”

Jin said in a voice that was clearly angry. Jeha held his hand and interlocked their fingers.

“Not right now, but I’ll tell you after I’ve prepared my heart a little. Okay?”

“So you’re saying it’s okay for me to go find that giant monster guy?”

“What? What kind of dangerous talk is that?”

“You keep acting so suspicious. This won’t do, I have to meet him myself. I’m going to interrogate him myself to find out just what kind of promise you made that you can’t even tell me and keep walking on eggshells.”

“Don’t. If you say that, I’m worried you’ll really go.”

“Of course I’m planning to really go?”

“Jin. Don’t joke around. You don’t even know where the giant monster is.”

“He’ll come if I call. Have you forgotten? I’m Sonyeong! A monster who’s happy to meet an ordinary person like you, Jeha, there’s no way he wouldn’t recognize me, who was so spiritually powerful that I served as the nation’s shaman, right?”

Jin shouted in a confident voice. He looked incredibly cute, but Jeha did not have the slightest desire to show Jin to the Azure-Robed Boy.

The Azure-Robed Boy Jeha had met was not a gentle sage but a monster that was the embodiment of greed. If he were to meet Jin, he might want to have Jin as well, like a collector’s item. That was something he could never allow.

“More importantly, Jin. I’m so glad your check-up results were good. Is there anything you want as a congratulatory gift?”

Jeha changed the subject for now. They were on their way out after just having a check-up at the hospital. Jin’s hemoglobin and platelet counts had returned to the normal range. He had overcome his anemia in one fell swoop.

That was not all. All basic vital signs, such as blood pressure, pulse, respiration rate, and body temperature, were also impeccably normal. Jin’s former primary physician could not hide his amazement. He said it was the first time he had seen a patient with an incurable disease like Jin become so healthy, as if reborn.

As all of Jin’s energy returned with the extinguishment of the parasitic soul, the disease was also naturally cured. The phenomenon of people not remembering Jin’s face or treating him like an invisible man also disappeared overnight. Jeha was overjoyed.

If only he could spend the rest of his life with this healthy Jin for a long, long time, he would have nothing more to wish for, even if he could never be reincarnated again after this life and had to enter eternal sleep. Was that such an excessive desire?

“I don’t need a gift. Just hurry up and tell me what that giant monster or Azure-Robed Statue thing demanded from you, Jeha.”

As expected, Jin was a formidable opponent.

There was something Jeha desperately wanted to show Jin once he returned. His time on earth was running out, so he felt anxious. Jeha, who had come down to the hospital parking lot, put Jin in the passenger seat of the car.

“Let’s go somewhere together. There’s a place I absolutely must show you. I’ll tell you the story you want to hear after we’ve been there.”

“Really? I’m not the old idiot Nana anymore. I have an amazing memory and am the great Jin, who’s even smarter than a professor. So don’t even think about trying to sneakily get past this, or you’ll be in big trouble.”

“Yes, yes. I understand perfectly.”

Jeha, who answered obsequiously like a sycophant, got into the driver’s seat. The place they arrived at after driving was an art museum located on the outskirts of Seoul. It was a secluded place, situated on high and spacious grounds. The mountain behind it also made for a wonderful view.

“Museum Yeon (燕)”

Jin, who looked up at the sign at the entrance, tilted his head and said.

“Yeon Museum?”

“Yeah.”

“What’s here?”

“You’ll know when you go inside.”

Jeha took Jin and entered the museum. Inside the very luxuriously decorated museum, visitors were taking pictures here and there. On the wall at the entrance of the exhibition hall, there was a photo of the museum’s founder along with an introduction. Jeha and Jin stopped in front of it.

“Po-ui Seo Suhyun (抱義 徐秀賢), 1904~1989”

“Seo Suhyun…”

“My past life. When you were Tsubame.”

“What. 1989, you lived for a really long time, didn’t you? I think I died at twenty-two.”

“That’s why I missed you for over fifty years and died without ever getting married.”

“Really?”

Jin’s eyes widened as he looked at Jeha. Jin had always died earlier than Jeha in his past lives, so he had no idea how Jeha had lived after he died. Jeha put his arm around Jin’s shoulder and answered in a low voice.

“Seo Suhyun loved the swallow his entire life.”

“Because my name was Tsubame…?”

“Yeah. After growing Shinhwa Clothing, the predecessor of the current SH Group, into a first-rate company, he soothed his empty heart by collecting works of art depicting swallows. This museum was built in 1982, and it was remodeled a few years ago.”

Jeha took Jin to tour the exhibition halls from the first to the third floor. Artworks from a vast range of fields were on display, including paintings with the ‘swallow’ as a motif, various crafts, mother-of-pearl furniture, and literary works.

In the center of the third-floor exhibition hall, there was a large sculpture. It depicted an incredibly handsome young man sitting in an armchair. On the table in front of him were an old newspaper and a coffee cup. And, a cute swallow was sitting on the young man’s finger, making eye contact with him.

The title of the work was “With Tsubame (1938).”

“How does it feel? Seeing the proof that I loved you this much.”

To Jeha’s playful question, Jin answered in a serious voice.

“Scary. Your obsession is too heavy. You’re like a malignant stalker.”

“Jin…”

“That’s why, I think I’m the only one who can handle this level of affection. Anyway, you’ve cherished your feelings for me for a thousand years, Jeha.”

“But the one who cast the thousand-year spell was Sonyeong, not Meoru?”

“That’s true, but if Meoru forgot Sonyeong, the spell of oblivion would never have been broken.”

“Really?”

Jeha looked at Jin in surprise at this new piece of information. Jin answered without taking his eyes off the ‘With Tsubame’ sculpture.

“Yeah. Sonyeong thought, ‘It is impossible for Meoru’s feelings to remain unchanged even after a thousand years.’ Thinking that everything would be over by then, he set the duration of the spell to a thousand years.”

“But, because I still loved you even after a thousand years, the spell was broken and the memories of our past lives came back one by one, is that what you’re saying?”

“So to speak. The first few times, we just passed by each other regrettably, but from the time of the stable slave, your affection for me deepened. The resonance with the parasitic soul probably didn’t work properly from then on. I was no longer helplessly drawn to the parasitic soul. It might have been because I instinctively felt that I had another partner.”

Come to think of it, up until Chubok, Soondeok, and Meokmeok, their affection for the parasitic soul was very strong. No matter what unjust things they suffered, they adored the parasitic soul to the point of clinging to it blindly. But in the case of the falconer Manbong, he only had a slight liking for the parasitic soul, and in the lives after that, Makdong, Yeoheun, and Tsubame, while they coexisted with the parasitic soul out of necessity, they also feared and even detested him.

To think that all of that was because Meoru had cherished his love for Sonyeong so deeply. Jeha could not refute Jin’s words about his stalker-like obsession.

“But Sonyeong also loved Meoru like crazy, which is why he gave up his life knowing he would be taken by the parasitic soul. I’d say his obsession is just as strong. If you love each other that much, you can’t be called a stalker. Right?”

Jin turned to Jeha and grinned. Jeha’s heart pounded wildly. He grabbed Jin’s hand and started running, almost at a sprint.

“What’s wrong, Jeha?”

Jin asked, puzzled. He was fine now even after running for quite a while, so he did not turn deathly pale and collapse or vomit blood like before. Jeha, relieved by that fact anew, quickened his pace.

“We have to go to a hotel. There’s one right next door.”

“So suddenly?”

“Yes.”

He did not even have the luxury of driving home. Jeha wanted to hold Jin right now. He wanted to press his bare skin against Jin’s until their bodies wore away. He wanted to kiss him until he could no longer feel anything, and satisfy him until not a drop of moisture was left in Jin’s body.

If he did not, it felt like the lava boiling in his chest would erupt and overflow at any moment.

“I get that, but if I had died before you in this life too, would you have built a Banana Museum?”

At Jin’s nonchalant joke, Jeha burst out laughing.

As they went up to the top-floor suite, Jeha held Jin’s hand tightly. Embarrassingly, sweat was seeping from his hand, and his heart was pounding as if it would leap out. He had no idea why he could not calm down like this.

“Jeha. Are you anxious?”

Jin asked in a low voice. Jeha shook his head and answered with a gentle expression.

“No. You were worried because I was in such a hurry, right? I’m sorry. I’ll be as gentle as possible.”

“Ha. Are you kidding me right now?”

“Huh?”

As Jeha looked at him, not understanding, Jin frowned and chided him as if scolding him.

“You rushed all the way here from the museum in such a hurry, and what? As gentle as possible? And you call yourself a man?”

“Jin…”

“Don’t disappoint me. I’ve finally gotten healthy, so if you just fumble around sucking and licking, I’ll kick your inadequate dick, so you’d better do a good job.”

Ding. Just then, the elevator arrived. Jeha pulled Jin roughly. As he threw open the door to the suite, Jeha said.

“Can you take responsibility for what you just said?”