SATURDAY 60

Even their father, Yun Jaekwon, shared the same sentiment.

Regardless, the children had been born, and since it was impossible to leave only one unregistered, they were given names.

The first child, the beloved son, was named Inha (仁夏), taking the character for summer light to match the generational name. The ghost child was named Inyoung (仁影), using the same generational character but paired with the character for shadow.

From time to time, Yun Jaekwon would gaze blankly at Inyoung. That day was no different. Inyoung was standing alone under the scorching sun in the garden. Around him, Inha ran around ceaselessly with other children, firing water guns. Inyoung was the target.

As the couple watched the scene vacantly, Yun Jaekwon stood up from his seat. He went out to the garden, said something with a smile to the children, then brought Inyoung inside and sent the boy, who was dripping wet like a drowned rat, to his room.

Such incidents happened with Hong Sayoung as well. For some reason, Inyoung—who usually stayed hunched over and couldn’t even meet her eyes—had come running toward her that day with a bright smile, calling out “Mom.”

She couldn’t describe how lovely he looked in that moment. It felt as if a spring was bursting deep within her heart. That day, without realizing it, she had embraced the young Inyoung. Inyoung acted a bit awkward, but he seemed happy.

No matter how unpleasant the entity inside him was, he had come from her womb and possessed a human form. There was no way not to love him.

However, whenever such thoughts arose, she would remember what Inha had been robbed of. The Woljeong Shaman periodically brought various items to the house for exorcisms or purification rites and would take Inyoung away to perform rituals. These were mainly rites intended to return at least a portion of what Inyoung had stolen back to Inha.

Watching those performances made her hate Inyoung again. The ghost who stole what belonged to her beloved son. The wicked evil spirit who had stolen the destiny of Inha—who was originally fated to rise to a high position, possess all precious things, and live a healthy, long life—and reduced him to a commoner.

The more she thought he had “stolen it,” the more she hated Inyoung. She didn’t even want to look at him. He was disgusting and horrible. The way he faltered and cowered before her was also irritating.

When Inyoung was struck in Inha’s place, or when he took on Inha’s illnesses and suffered severely, she even felt a sense of relief, thinking that Inha’s revenge had been served. She even knew that Inha bullied Inyoung, but she left it alone.

Feelings of love and hatred became entangled.

However, when faced with the choice, she and her husband chose Inha without hesitation. Even though they clearly could not ignore their love for Inyoung.

The Woljeong Shaman had asked: Between Inha returning and Inyoung living as Inyoung, which side would they choose? Naturally, it was the former. It was the heart of a parent that they could only choose the former.

Of course, they felt sorry to Inyoung for such a choice. But what could be done? It was an unavoidable matter. Since they had no choice but to make that decision, Inyoung had to understand.

Hong Sayoung and Yun Jaekwon turned their eyes away, even while knowing they were rationalizing. Because they had no other choice.

Because the reason Inha was not perfect was Inyoung. The fact that he grew up with a wicked personality, that he was worse at studying than Inyoung, and even all other flaws Inha possessed were the fault of Inyoung stealing what Inha should have had.

After that terrible accident occurred, the Woljeong Shaman said that Inyoung’s soul was inside Inha’s body. She told them to wait, as she would call Inha’s soul back there. But no matter how much they were twins, could a parent fail to recognize their own child? Besides, there must be a reason why the Woljeong Shaman said so.

In truth… Hong Sayoung and Yun Jaekwon were indeed among the victims who had fallen for the Shaman’s brainwashing. But even so, it was certain that they lacked the qualifications to be parents.

Yoon Inyoung, Yoon Inha. The parents of the two held each other and pitied themselves for a long time. Even while clearly knowing who the person who truly deserved pity was, humans tend to lose sight of their surroundings when they fall into self-pity.

Only they were pathetic, and only they were miserable. The fact that they had to send away one child they had raised “like their own” by their own hands was deeply, deeply heartbreaking.

“Hmm, yes, I understand. I’ll take care of that part on my own.”

It was a dark night, and it was raining. Watching the lines of rain drawn outside the window, Jang Sehyeon was on the phone with someone.

“Yes, Shaman. Get some rest.”

The person on the other end was the Woljeong Shaman, Shin Myeong-hwa. After hanging up, Jang Sehyeon chuckled.

“Ha, this Yoon Inyoung, he’s a funny fellow…”

Having heard what happened at the family home from the Shaman, Jang Sehyeon shook his head while laughing continuously. Until two years ago, he was a puppet-like kid who would laugh if told to laugh and cry if told to cry; how did he change like that?

‘It’s probably because of Lee Taeseon.’

A person like Lee Taeseon changes people. In a positive direction. Naturally, Yoon Inyoung’s positive change was not welcomed by Jang Sehyeon and the Shaman.

That day…

Jang Sehyeon slowly reminisced about the events of that day.

A rainy Saturday, the time when evening was transitioning into night. The sky was pitch black as if it were midnight, and the rain was getting heavier. Jang Sehyeon had parked his car in a secluded spot that would never be noticed and was watching the scene.

Yoon Inha didn’t harbor any particular suspicion at the instruction to erase the tattoo. He just asked one thing: “Why?” Even so, when told it was to torment Yoon Inyoung, he happily and obediently headed to the hospital.

Traffic accident, and suicide. There would be no one who didn’t believe Yoon Inha’s claim that Yoon Inyoung had pushed him with a car. At the words that he even dared to try and kill Yoon Inha, who among the family members—excluding Yun Chaein—would not be enraged? It would be a reality that Yoon Inyoung’s weak mind could not endure.

In that way, he had told Yoon Inha. Yoon Inha was completely fooled. In fact, it was nearly half Yoon Inha’s own plan as well. Perhaps because he lived in a world where everything went according to his will, he occasionally didn’t even realize he was saying something absurd.

Stupidly, he was all smiles, not even knowing that the Shaman and Jang Sehyeon were trying to kill him… He looked very innocent and cute.

He had some grudges against Yoon Inha. That kid was so self-centered, rude, and possessed such a vicious personality that it was impossible to see him as being born from the same womb as Yoon Inyoung.

Since the parents didn’t have such bad personalities, seeing only him like that made one wonder if the evil spirit the Shaman spoke of wasn’t actually that side.

‘Though in reality, there’s no such thing.’

Where in the world would there be evil spirits or ghosts? A beast stealing a womb to be born? There’s no way such a thing could actually happen. Well, it might exist in the “real” world of shamanism that he doesn’t know about, but that’s a story of a world he doesn’t know and has no interest in.

At any rate, Yoon Inha was very pleased to hear that a car had been procured and that the driver had been chosen as a clever fellow. Without even knowing that the driver was intended to kill him.

The driver was picked from a suicide site. When told that his desired conditions would be met, he accepted at once. The condition was to kill the person against whom he held a grudge. It wasn’t a difficult task.

The grudge was also trivial. He claimed he had quit his job due to workplace bullying and could no longer live a proper life; his will was that although he would die, he would take the other person with him. Added to that was a bit of money for his family to live on.

With that, the driver took the wheel on a rainy night while intoxicated with alcohol and sleeping pills. Stepping on the accelerator with a hazy mind, he struck Yoon Inha, who had jumped out innocently without a second thought, thinking he had defeated Yoon Inyoung.

Even in that moment, Yoon Inha’s brain was working. Failing to realize why he had been told to erase his tattoo, he reportedly pretended to be Yoon Inyoung until the very end just to torment Yoon Inyoung. That kid truly had an amazing side to him. Thanks to that, the task became much easier.

‘Lee Taeseon seems to have grasped these circumstances accurately, but…’

Since that man is such a formidable human being, he guessed it wouldn’t take long for him to figure out the circumstances.

It’s not that he didn’t think about fingerprints. However, he thought the family members would be fooled even if they knew. He only worried about what to do with Lee Taeseon and Yun Chaein, but surprisingly, whether it was Shin Myeong-hwa’s secret ritual or something else, it really worked—they couldn’t even recognize Yoon Inyoung while he was right in front of them.

It was absurd, it was amusing, and it was fascinating. At any rate, the sight was quite ridiculous.

But now that they know everything, he can’t just sit back and watch because it’s amusing.

‘I must move before it’s too late.’

Jang Sehyeon looked at the mirror he had replaced with a new one. The wound he received that day… he knew Lee Taeseon knew how to hit a person, but he didn’t expect him to strike a visible place. It must have been a kind of warning.

He picked up his phone.

“…It’s me. Are the preparations finished? Regarding the driver.”

―Yes, the bribery is complete.

“Then start the operation immediately.”

Before it’s too late, before Yoon Inyoung completely escapes from the brainwashing, he must be disposed of.

But what to do about Lee Taeseon… Right.

“CEO Lee Taeseon has a business trip to the Philippines scheduled, doesn’t he?”

―Yes, I understand it is in three days.

“Right, I see.”

Jang Sehyeon grinned.