SATURDAY 87

To be precise, the owner of that voice was…

“Mr. Inha?”

“…Ah, yes. My apologies. Thank you for visiting despite your busy schedule.”

“Your impression is quite different from when I saw you before. Well, considering the circumstances…. Take heart. The Jegang Group depends on you now.”

“Thank you.”

If it had been the real Inha, he could have said something far more plausible, but all that came out of my mouth was a mere “thank you.”

Once I had seen them off, the procession of guests slowed down a bit. The thoughts I had momentarily forgotten in the busyness came back to life. The owner of that voice. A voice exactly like mine.

Yoon Inha.

“….”

Mr. Taeseon cast his gaze toward me as I stood there blankly for a moment.

“Inyoung, what’s wrong?”

“I… I think I heard Inha’s voice.”

“What?”

There was a time when I was perceived as ‘Inha’ by other people for a while. Is there any guarantee that such a thing won’t happen again?

No, this time, Inha’s soul might enter me entirely, and I might completely become Yoon Inha. That was also what the Shaman said at the beginning. That I would gradually become Inha.

It weighs on my mind that the Shaman laughed when I said I saw the Professor like a hallucination. Besides that, many situations…

Many situations were warning me that Inha would invade me.

The first emotion that came to mind the moment that thought occurred was, of course, terror. The fear of being robbed of myself by Inha, the fear of losing myself.

I stole a glance at Mr. Taeseon. He might soothe me by saying such a thing couldn’t possibly exist in this world. But hasn’t it already happened once?

I’m scared…. I’d rather pretend I don’t know, thinking that such a thing won’t happen. But that was like avoiding someone’s death that will eventually come. It was in the sense of turning one’s eyes away from something that will inevitably happen.

I whispered to Mr. Taeseon in a small voice.

“Mr. Taeseon, I think… the Shaman is plotting something. I mean… some kind of spell or something to make me completely become Inha.”

“….”

Mr. Taeseon looked at me silently for a moment. Would he deny it after all?

But unexpectedly, he wore a serious expression.

“That could be the case. I wouldn’t have believed it in the past, but since I’ve already experienced things myself, it’s hard to think of it as total nonsense.”

“Wh—what if… Inha really takes over my body? And why would the Shaman want to give Inha a body? You said it back then, Mr. Taeseon. That the Shaman and the Professor’s goal is our family’s wealth. Then, if they’re aiming for the wealth, I should rather….”

“They realized that it won’t work on you anymore. I’m here, Mr. Chaein is here, and you are gradually escaping from their grasp.”

I blinked at those words.

“I’m escaping?”

“Yes, though you might not have noticed yet. Inyoung. That is a very difficult thing. Your heart is weak right now, and your actual brain function is diminished. In such a state, it isn’t easy to even resolve to escape from those who have made you this way until now. You are truly incredible.”

“….”

I don’t feel like I’m doing something so incredible…. even in my own opinion, I still haven’t been able to let go of my lingering attachments to the Shaman and the Professor to a frustrating degree. It would have been easier if I were a bit more clever, like Inha.

But Mr. Taeseon’s words always lift me up. I felt a bit more courageous.

“If Yoon Inha is aiming for your body, there will surely be a way to stop it. Even if it means finding another shaman. Inyoung, keep this in mind. The dead cannot defeat the living. This body is yours. No matter what Yoon Inha and Shin Myeonghwa do.”

Mr. Taeseon said this while leaning his hand against my chest. I have been afraid of Inha all along. It’s true that Inha’s death gave me a little bit of relief. But now the dead Inha is making me fearful again.

However… Mr. Taeseon’s words were like an incantation. That the dead cannot defeat the living.

I don’t know if I’ll be able to recall those words even if the worst comes to pass, but the fear seemed to be fading, just a little.

I washed up and changed my clothes. Since it was the fourth day of the funeral, it was the first time I had taken off my funeral clothes in four full days.

After rotating my shift as chief mourner, I went up to the ward with Mr. Taeseon. It was because we heard from the doctor that Mother’s condition was not very good.

However, as soon as I entered the room, what greeted me was a tissue case thrown by Mother. It fell to the floor without even coming near me, but I froze for a moment. Mr. Taeseon furrowed his brow and looked at Mother.

“Mother.”

But Mother shouted at the top of her lungs as if she couldn’t even hear Mr. Taeseon’s words.

“It’s you, it’s because of you! I said your father’s death is because of you! Bring your father back to life. Huh? I said bring your father back to life!”

“…Calm down, Mother. Why are you doing this to Inyoung?”

“Why am I doing this? Are you asking because you don’t know why?”

“Yes, I’m asking because I don’t know. What did Inyoung do wrong?”

Mother was treating me as ‘Yoon Inyoung’ right now. Had she given up on calling me Inha? Or was she doing this because of the situation? Words flowed out of my mouth before I knew it.

“…I’m sorry, Mother….”

“Inyoung.”

Mr. Taeseon looked back at me. He had a stern face, unlike his usual self. It was a sign not to apologize. Because it wasn’t my fault.

But habits stick tenaciously like mud in a swamp and are difficult to shake off.

“Mother only….”

Mother muttered with a dazed face.

“Mother only needed Inha and Father…. Inyoung, I felt sorry for you, but Mother wanted to live happily with Inha and Father. But why is it that only you are by Mother’s side now?”

“Mother….”

I slowly approached the bed so as not to provoke Mother. Mother was leaning against the half-reclined bed, and she was so agitated that blood was flowing backward into the IV.

“You, yes…. You are Mother’s son too. Because Mother gave birth to you. Even if you’re called a monster or whatever, Inyoung, you are Mother’s son too. That’s true.”

“….”

At those words, I felt as if I’d been hit on the back of the head instead. Mother thought of me as a ‘son’?

Mr. Taeseon’s words came to mind. That parents shouldn’t bestow kindness on their children. That what parents must give is love. Have I ever received love, and not just kindness? Words burst out like water overflowing from a cup.

“But Mother hates me.”

…I will probably never forget the expression that flashed across Mother’s face in that moment.

The expression… of being hit where it hurts. The troubled expression when someone points out the truth one didn’t want to speak. That kind of look flashed across Mother’s face. It was only for a split second, but I could see it clearly.

Eventually, Mother said with a forced smile.

“Who says they hate you? I don’t hate you, Inyoung.”

“….”

I stared at Mother blankly. For the first time, I hated Mother. If you say you don’t hate me, does your heart feel at ease? Does the guilt of abusing me lessen?

Abuse.

Yes, what I suffered was abuse. I wasn’t a monster, nor was I a ghost born by stealing Inha’s fate.

I was just a twin child who was discovered a little late, hidden by Inha’s body, and I was simply sacrificed to the Shaman’s long-term plan to target our assets.

Those facts were quickly organized in my head.

It was so simple that I wondered why I hadn’t known until now. But it was also natural that I didn’t know. Because Mother and Father, the Shaman, the Professor, the household employees, and the relatives all banded together to drive me as a ghost and a monster.

It wasn’t some other thing that was a spell. That collective bullying was the spell and the curse. I… I wasn’t some cursed, deficient fool from before I was born. I was simply made that way.

Realizing that fact anew, I felt so angry that my vision turned red. I spoke toward Mother.

“Mother, what do you think it would be like if everything the Shaman said was a lie? What if everything the Shaman has said so far is… a scam?”

“What are you talking about right now? A scam? How can you utter such words!”

Mother’s voice grew louder.

“It wasn’t me who made Father die. Professor Jang did something. And Inha was killed because the Shaman and Professor Jang used a trick together…!”

With strength from somewhere, Mother sat up abruptly and slapped my cheek as I had approached right next to the bed. She struck me so fiercely that I almost stumbled and fell from the blow. Fortunately, my body was immediately enveloped by something. It was Mr. Taeseon.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

“Ha, I, I really, this is so absurd…. Yoon Inyoung, you, you ungrateful, shameless thing…. Ah, ahh, Shaman….”

Mr. Taeseon, while embracing me, checked my cheek for a moment and then furrowed his brow. He seemed quite upset, which made my own mood sink. Mr. Taeseon glared at Mother while holding me.

“Since you refuse to believe it so much, I will reveal it all, one by one.”