Fan Devotion and True Heart (1)

So-yul could still see it vividly: Yoon Bok-rye clutching her by the hair, hopping and flailing around like a shaman mid-ritual. That memory seemed destined to haunt her for the rest of her life.

And the next day, something unbelievable happened.

The day of the trial, So-yul's paternal grandmother, Yoon Bok-rye, dropped dead without warning.

With that, the case seemed to be closed — but then came something else. Her worthless father beat So-yul like a stray dog, and finally, he pulled out a knife.

He drove the blade into her mother's leg as she tried to intervene, then did the same thing to Ha Tae-joon's shoulder when he arrived too late.

In the Ongsimi restaurant, now awash in blood, all So-yul and her brother Ong Jun-soo could do was turn to the police once more.

Brother and sister gave statements covering everything — every time their father had abused them over the years — and had him taken into custody. He was sentenced to ten years.

That was the first time So-yul's father, Ong Gwang-ho, went to prison.

After the incident, Ha Tae-joon was taken in by social workers, passed through a hospital, and sent off to a care facility in the countryside.

And so she thought her bond with Ha Tae-joon was over — until one day, the year she turned twenty.

Ha Tae-joon appeared at the Ongsimi restaurant. He had changed so much she almost didn't recognize him.

The boy who'd once stood shorter than her had shot up so tall she had to tilt her head back just to meet his eyes, and the body that had looked ready to waste away was now packed with muscle and flesh, built solid enough that nobody dared mess with him.

That was how she reconnected with Ha Tae-joon at twenty, and they became friends again.

He'd failed the police physical exam again and again because of the old knife wound in his shoulder, but he never gave up.

In the end, he made it as a police officer — and became a fixture in her emergency room.

"Thanks for the coffee."

"Don't mention it. Now go grab your coffee and get going."

So-yul followed Ha Tae-joon out of the emergency room. It happened to be a rare break in her shift, so she stepped out the front doors for a bit of fresh air.

Each holding a cup of coffee, they felt the still-chilly wind of a spring night.

"Tae-joon. Dad's getting out soon."

She cracked the ice between her teeth as she brought up the problem she'd been chewing on.

Ong Gwang-ho, imprisoned for years of domestic violence and for leaving her mother's leg permanently crippled, had been released the year So-yul turned twenty.

But only a few years after reentering society, he was convicted of fraud and gambling and sentenced to another seven years behind bars.

Back then, she'd honestly been relieved — it felt like they'd bought themselves time. She just hadn't realized how fast that time would run out.

"I'm a cop now, so what's the problem? Don't worry. I'll personally keep tabs on the man."

Ha Tae-joon, who knew her family's situation better than anyone, said it gently, trying to comfort her.

He always said he owed her family more than he could ever repay, and that becoming a police officer was his way of protecting them.

So-yul turned to look at him.

Tae-joon was born to be a policeman more than anyone she knew. He had that clean, upstanding air of a man who could live by his own conscience even without the law — which probably made it all the more fitting.

And yet every time her father came up and he told her to trust only him, she knew she should feel reassured by his words —

But truthfully, because the image of the old Ha Tae-joon — the abused boy, the boy who'd been knifed — remained so vivid in her mind, what she felt wasn't reassurance so much as a dull ache of pity.

"Looks like you worked so hard your hair fell loose without you noticing."

Ha Tae-joon, who'd been watching her quietly, raised a hand and tucked her hair behind her ear.

It wasn't the first time — far from it. He was practically family, so she simply let him do as he pleased.

"So-yul, seriously — are you never going to date anyone?"

At the out-of-nowhere question, So-yul blew an exasperated puff of air through her nose.

"You've been asking that a lot lately, haven't you? Do you really not know? The word 'romance' doesn't exist in my dictionary."

"But you did date someone once in college. That senior, you said."

"...That was just... an accident that happened to happen, I guess. Ugh, drop it. I'm going to marry my job and spend the rest of my life with my mom until one of us dies."

In that instant, her grandmother's venom-laced voice rang in her ears like tinnitus.

The vicious words she'd hurled at So-yul as a curse.

And the very next day, her grandmother had died without warning. Could one of those two doomed people she spoke of have been the grandmother herself?

Of course, So-yul didn't believe Yoon Bok-rye's curse. But even setting superstition aside, her tangled, painful family history was reason enough not to want love or marriage.

"Good. That's the right call."

At her answer, Ha Tae-joon nodded. Then, abruptly, he began brushing off her shoulders with his hand, murmuring under his breath as though reciting some sacred verse.

Ha Tae-joon squeezed his eyes shut and opened them again, meeting her gaze. It happened often, but today the bloodshot lines in his eyes looked redder than usual.

They were eyes that reminded her, somehow, of her paternal grandmother's on that day — the day she'd left her curse behind.

"...By the way, So-yul. Are you seeing someone new these days? You even went to his place, didn't you?"

"What?"

At his uncannily perceptive question, Kang Dae-han surfaced in her mind. The man who, lately, had been taking over her everyday life.

Their first meeting had been rough, but he'd since become a surgeon she aspired to be like — a respected senior.

"I did go, but he's not someone you could ever see as a man, and I don't have... those kinds of feelings. We're just senior and junior colleagues, that's all."

"If you say so. But listen — if you do end up seeing someone, keep it light. Once love gets tangled in, there's no winning."

"..."

"Sorry. I don't want to remember some old woman's curse, but I keep... seeing things."

The uncanny Ha Tae-joon brushed her shoulder once more and gave her an awkward smile.

"I'll handle my own life, thank you very much. You just get back to the station."

So-yul waved a hand as she stood up.

"You take it easy too, So-yul. I'll stop by the restaurant this weekend."

"Skip the restaurant gig for once and go on a blind date yourself, why don't you."

"Who's going to like a guy who sees ghosts?"

She patted his drooping shoulders — thump, thump — and told him to cheer up.

"Nurse Park says it all the time. You're exactly the type women eat alive these days. And besides, even shamans are going on blind dates on TV now — what's so bad about seeing ghosts? And who turns their nose up at a stable government job as a police officer?"

"You know, Ong So-yul, you're my self-esteem keeper."

Self-esteem keeper. At Ha Tae-joon's words, she couldn't fathom why Kang Dae-han popped into her head yet again.

'If you're this cute, how must that make you feel?'

'You're charming enough to snag any man you set your sights on, Dr. Ong.'

That man, who seemed like the type to pinch every penny of praise, tossed out cute and charming whenever he laid eyes on her as casually as breathing.

At the time, she'd brushed it off with a laugh, thanking him for guarding her self-esteem. But sometimes his compliments would drift back to her, and she'd catch herself grinning like an idiot — mid-toothbrushing, or in the middle of a shower.

Come to think of it, I'd like to see him again. If we happen to run into each other later, should I ask if he has any errands for me?

Errands in name only — these days, whatever he assigned her felt less like chores and more like private tutoring, and she loved it.

Once, he'd told her to organize surgical footage and walked her through rare cases she'd never have encountered on her own — and thanks to that, she passed Professor Ham's exam in first place. Case closed, really.

"So-yul."

She'd drifted off into her own thoughts for a moment when Ha Tae-joon looked her dead in the eye and spoke.

"Don't fall too hard for that man. Be careful."

"...Hey, what — I told you, it's not like that?"

"Suit yourself. I'm off."

Ha Tae-joon ruffled her hair and waved goodbye.

Left alone, So-yul stood there for a while, staring blankly at her friend's back as he walked out through the front doors.