The Cost of Fortune-Telling
After the five-hundred-million-won transaction between the shamaness Yonghwa and Ji Okhyeon, the two of them had come to treat Jae like a mere possession.
Seonwoo looked at his mother with a face twisted even more severely.
“Mother and Grandmother were the ones who brought Jae into my life as my wife. That’s why we are living together as husband and wife.”
“…….”
“Is there really a fool in this world who can just stand by and watch his own wife being humiliated? Do I have to stay silent like an idiot?”
Okhyeon was visibly shaken by Seonwoo’s attitude toward Jae as his true wife.
“Seonwoo, honey, what’s gotten into you lately? Jae isn’t your real wife.”
As the two of them raised their voices, the ever-quiet shamaness Yonghwa finally stepped forward to restore order.
“You too, Seonwoo. That’s enough. It was my mistake.”
“Never touch Jae again. If something like this happens once more, I won’t just stand by.”
Seonwoo had never been the type to compromise under pressure. Having brought Jae into this house, he knew the shamaness had once crossed swords with him.
“If that is your wish and you wish to live as a married couple, then it is fortunate indeed.”
With her tail tucked between her legs, the shamaness said nothing more.
Okhyeon immediately rushed forward and seized her hand.
“Holy Mother.”
It had been Okhyeon who summoned the shamaness home, claiming she had business to attend to.
The night before, after Seonwoo’s accident, Okhyeon had called her in a panic and paid her tens of thousands of won per minute for the fortune-telling consultation.
After hours of constant complaining, the shamaness had decided to come to Seoul herself to examine Seonwoo’s face and the Three Disasters in person.
“If it were my own daughter-in-law, I would not stay silent for a second.”
Knowing that Okhyeon had already ordered protective charms to guard Seonwoo’s luck, she had bent over backward to please the shamaness.
“Everything I have done is because I wanted to deceive heaven and deceive people on the Holy Mother’s orders. Please do not be angry. I will apologize in your place.”
“Very well. Then there is nothing more to add.”
“Moreover, my Seonwoo should be able to sail through this year without any mishap, shouldn’t he?”
“I have already written several protective charms wishing him safety, but only after seeing the living quarters of the two of you will I decide whether or not to use them.”
At the mention of the charms, Okhyeon’s face brightened.
“Oh, thank you so much, Holy Mother! I am truly grateful. Please allow me to show you to the bedroom.”
Unable to bear the sight of the shamaness playing with his mother, Seonwoo turned his head away.
In the meantime, Okhyeon had seized the shamaness’s hand and led her out of the main quarters.
“If you follow this staircase, it will take you to the second floor. Seonwoo and Jae are using that level.”
Watching the two women climb the second-floor stairs, Jae exhaled in relief.
At least they couldn’t see her face. If the shamaness had discovered that she had disobeyed Okhyeon, it could easily have put her mother in danger.
From behind them, Jae slipped up the same staircase and followed them to the second floor.
“Holy Mother, this is the room the children use.”
Inside the bedroom, the shamaness scanned the bare walls with sharp eyes and began reciting incantations.
After inspecting the room thoroughly, she stopped in front of the vanity.
“A mirror facing a window is not good. It reflects favorable energy away.”
Startled, Okhyeon dashed over.
“Then I will move it at once. No, I will remove the mirror right now.”
“There is no need. It would change nothing if I did it later.”
The shamaness reached into her silk pouch and withdrew a single yellow charm.
“The energy that has already left cannot be returned, but from now on it can still be protected. I will place one charm here. Until the Three Disasters end, do not remove it under any circumstances.”
“Yes. I will remember.”
The shamaness affixed the geometric charm to the mirror, shook the bell in her other hand, and bowed deeply as Okhyeon clasped her hands in prayer beside her.
After another round of inspection, she moved to the pair of twin beds.
Staring at the beds and the nightstand between them, she reached into the drawer.
“Stop.”
Seonwoo had stepped forward, but this time the shamaness did not yield.
“This bed. It is wrong for a married couple to sleep in separate beds. As you yourself said, you have already united in body. There is no reason to keep them apart.”
“My habit of kicking in my sleep makes it easier for us to sleep apart.”
Seonwoo had no such habit, but the excuse had allowed them to use separate beds for two years and eleven months.
“That is the problem. Jae is not receiving her full energy, which is why the accident happened.”
At the word accident, Okhyeon jolted upright.
“Holy Mother, is that true? Was my son’s accident because of that?”
“The year when the Three Disasters leave. Evil things grow more rampant just before they are erased. If you sleep with protective charms nearby, you can avoid calamity.”
“Hearing you say so, I agree. Starting today, the two of them will share one bed. I will have the furniture moved immediately.”
“Mother!”
Seonwoo was about to protest, but Okhyeon would not back down. After all, her son’s safety was at stake.
“Seonwoo, Mother is thinking of everything.”
“Why do you always listen to the shaman so readily?”
“There is nothing to lose by listening. If it were for your sake, I would give my life. Moving a bed like this is nothing.”
Even as they argued, the shamaness selected charms from the ones she had written at the temple and pasted them on the walls to the four directions.
“Holy Mother, I will never forget this kindness. Thank you. Thank you so much.”
As she handed over a thick envelope containing several million won, Okhyeon bowed until her forehead touched the floor.
“More than before, the time until the Three Disasters end is crucial. Make sure Jae and you unite more often in body, and never set foot on the east side where Seonwoo’s room faces the entrance.”
“Yes. I will remember, Holy Mother.”
With the money bag in hand, the shamaness left, yet the house remained in turmoil long after she was gone.
Okhyeon immediately began tearing the bed apart while Seonwoo stood guard in front of the door and refused to move.
“Remove the mattress first and smash the frame with an axe, then burn everything.”
“Mother, please stop.”
In front of the bedroom door, Okhyeon and Seonwoo faced off in tense silence.
As the confrontation dragged on, the servants trembled while lifting and lowering the furniture. Unable to bear it any longer, Jae stepped in.
“Director, please listen to Mother. If you don’t remove the bed, she will refuse to yield all night.”
Jae too found sharing a bed uncomfortable, but she knew Okhyeon would not back down, so she had no choice.
Only after Jae intervened did Seonwoo finally step aside.
“Everyone, stop gawking and move the bed already!”
Realizing the moment had come, Okhyeon scolded the servants. The men rushed inside and hoisted Seonwoo’s bed with a single sweep.
“Jae, go downstairs and heat the soup. Seonhwan-daek, clean up the spot where the bed was removed.”
“Yes, Mother.”
Down in the kitchen, Jae touched the bowls of soup laid out on the table. The food she had prepared all day was now stone cold.
Meanwhile, Okhyeon was giving blessings over the garden bed she had placed outside, hoping to destroy it so she could put it back.
Following behind, Seonwoo watched his mother with disbelief.
For three years, from the first year the Three Disasters began to the third, Okhyeon had been swayed by the shamaness’s predictions, rearranging the furniture in the house and pasting hundreds of millions of won in charms everywhere.
Not content with that, she had even turned people into charms and encouraged contract marriages.
She had gone too far.
At midday, when the sun hung high, the sound of axe work rang out across the garden of Unamjae.
Chop, chop, chop. As the axe fell, Seonwoo’s face grew more grim.
When the headboard was split in half, Okhyeon walked away with a satisfied smile, heading back inside.
“Mother.”
Seonwoo blocked her path.
“If you keep doing this, I cannot live with you as mother and son.”
“What does that mean? This is all for you. If you say that, what will I rely on to live?”
Jae came running from outside and grabbed the collar of Seonwoo’s shirt.
“Please stop, Director.”
When Jae held his collar, Seonwoo suppressed his anger and retreated into the house.
Jae followed his retreating back up the stairs to the second floor.
In the bedroom, only one queen-sized bed remained.
That evening, after a shower, Jae entered the bedroom. Seonwoo, who had been staring out the window, turned around.
“What are you looking at?”
“The broken bed.”
In the garden, Seonwoo’s bed lay smashed where it had fallen.
“I will sleep in the guest room. Rest well.”
Seonwoo reached for the door, but Jae in her pajamas rushed over and grabbed the hem of his T-shirt.
“Director, if you sleep elsewhere, Mother will cause a scene.”
Okhyeon believed the accident had rattled Seonwoo’s luck.
She had emphasized many times that Jae, as a charm, must strengthen his energy. If they were caught using separate rooms again, another outburst would follow.
“Then I will sleep on the floor.”
“No.”
Jae shook her head and pointed to the far end of the bed.
“You had a car accident. You shouldn’t have to suffer more on my account. I am fine. Let’s sleep in the same bed. You take this end, I’ll take the other.”
“…….”
“I am truly fine. If we sleep at opposite ends, we won’t touch….”
“Very well. Tomorrow I will bring a larger bed. For tonight, let’s just endure the discomfort.”
“Yes.”
As the light went out, a dim glow from the garden lamp seeped through the window.
Jae pulled the blanket all the way up to her chin. The darkness made her nerves tingle.
Inside the room, the only sound was the rustle of bedding.
Thanks to her heightened senses, Jae could tell exactly what posture Seonwoo was in simply by listening to the movement.
“Hey, thank you for helping me today.”
Unable to stand the silence any longer, Jae spoke to him.
“Helped you?”
“The tattoo on my back. You helped me hide it.”
“I told you to get it removed, remember? You shouldn’t have to suffer because of me.”
“Still… thank you.”
“Let’s leave the greetings for another time. Time to sleep.”
Once more the bedding rustled as Seonwoo turned to the opposite side. Jae merely turned her head to watch his back.
Sharing the same bed felt colder than sleeping in separate ones had ever felt.
“Hey, over here.”
It was not her intention to keep him awake, but seeing him turn away as if blocking her out made her want to speak. Jae reached out toward his body.