Chapter 55

The day of the shamanic ritual for Choi Sijin arrived.

As if in keeping with the solar term’s meaning of being an ideal time for transplanting rice, the morning dawned bright and blazing. The surface temperature climbed steadily, reaching a daytime peak of thirty degrees Celsius.

Setting out early in his car, Mu-yeong headed toward Choi Sijin’s apartment complex. When he pulled into the underground parking garage, shade finally fell over the hood that had been sizzling under the scorching sun.

Parking in an inconspicuous spot, Mu-yeong scanned his surroundings. Kim Jeong-seon had arrived even earlier than he had. True to what she had said over the phone, she had driven herself and sat in the driver’s seat.

Her luminous pearl earrings matched her white blouse. The back seat was packed with supplies for the ritual. Between the cloth-wrapped bundles and boxes, a lump beneath a pure white blanket caught his eye.

Ten minutes remained until three o’clock, their appointed time. Slipping on nitrile gloves, Mu-yeong slid beneath Kim Jeong-seon’s vehicle and affixed a GPS tracker. Seven minutes, six minutes, five minutes… As the remaining time ticked away toward the top of the hour, the realization that his window to call Choi Yook was narrowing spurred his hands to move faster.

The glass door of the apartment entrance slid open with an audible click. Having finished the installation, Mu-yeong scrambled out from beneath the car and peeled off the gloves, which were mottled with black engine oil.

In the distance, he spotted Choi Sijin walking toward Kim Jeong-seon’s car. Quietly climbing back into his own vehicle, Mu-yeong checked the time: 2:59 PM.

Mu-yeong started up a prerecorded audio file—ambient street noise blending English, Chinese, and Korean with snatches of hip-hop, EDM, and K-pop. Listening to the convincing background noise, he dialed Choi Yook.

“Section Chief, I’m in Seongsu right now,” Mu-yeong said. “I’m on the job, feeling a little drowsy, and debating whether to grab a coffee. What are you up to?”

He pitched his voice slightly louder than usual so it wouldn’t be drowned out by the ambient audio. Choi Yook answered promptly.

—“I’m drinking the coffee you’re debating over. Seongsu?”

“Yes,” Mu-yeong replied.

—“That’s the neighborhood where Sijin lives.”

“It’s also a neighborhood where plenty of couples go on dates these days,” Mu-yeong explained pleasantly. “Cheating couples included, of course.”

Choi Yook seemed to fall into thought for a moment. Then came a sudden command.

—“Then snap a photo of the street right now and send it to me.”

“Sure, just a second,” Mu-yeong said.

Without hesitation, Mu-yeong texted over a photo stored on his phone. Having checked the image, Choi Yook’s voice came through the line.

—“What is this supposed to be?”

“Ah, apparently it’s a famous dessert shop these days,” Mu-yeong murmured.

Mu-yeong had spoken in a breezy tone. The photo was one he had casually snapped about an hour earlier. With no heed paid to framing or focus, the hasty shot paradoxically made it all the more convincing as authentic proof.

“The target I’m tailing queued up using an app and will be heading there shortly, so I put myself on the waitlist too,” Mu-yeong chattered on. “Looks delicious, doesn’t it? Back when you had to wait in line physically, people would always cut ahead of me even though I arrived first, and arguments would break out. Nowadays, an app does it all. Hasn’t the world gotten so convenient?”

Mu-yeong rambled with heartfelt admiration for technological advancement. While he wasn’t entirely devoid of tension, he was far from terrified enough to freeze up. Having tailed adulterous couples for so long, he had thoroughly mastered their seasoned methods of deception.

‘Honey, I’m having drinks with Seong-min right now. Oh, absolutely, the meat here is great—want me to bring you here next time?’ Spouting such brazen lies with a straight face, they would even send photo verification to seal the deal.

Accordingly, Mu-yeong had devised every conceivable contingency to match the intensity of Choi Yook’s suspicion. Today, especially, was a critical day when he could not afford to get caught under any circumstances.

Choi Yook demanded no further proof. Instead, he picked a fight from a different angle.

—“I don’t know about the world getting better, but there sure are a lot of people. Foreigners of every nationality practically spilling into the street.”

“True enough,” Mu-yeong agreed.

—“And with that many people around, there’s still nobody who can see you, right?”

The mocking voice held complete certainty that his assertion was correct. Much as he wanted to deny it, Mu-yeong had no choice but to concede.

“…No, no one,” Mu-yeong admitted.

—“Call again later.”

With that peremptory sign-off, the call abruptly cut off. Mu-yeong broke into a faint smile. Right, nobody can see me yet. Which is precisely why I can pull off stunts like this.

Maintaining an appropriate distance, Mu-yeong tailed Kim Jeong-seon’s car. Focusing with absolute intensity, nothing else registered in his sight.

Under the fiercely blazing sun, they drove for a solid hour and a half. The urban landscape lining both sides of the road dissolved away, replaced by expansive rice paddies and open fields. Soon, lush, deep-green foliage blanketed the view.

As they wound deeper into the mountain foothills, traces of human habitation grew scarce. Traffic on the road thinned noticeably, to the point where following any further by car risked drawing suspicion.

Pulling into the thick brush to conceal his vehicle, Mu-yeong placed a scheduled call to Choi Yook. Conveniently, Choi Yook did not pick up. Mu-yeong sent him a text instead.

Section Chief, I’m at Mount Inwang. I’m on my third client request of the day, and because the target is hiking up the mountain, I might be slow to answer your calls. If you don’t mind, I’ll keep updating you by text.

Mu-yeong casually tossed out a random mountain in Seoul as his alibi, hoping that Choi Yook would remain too busy to even check his phone.

Pulling his cap low and donning a face mask just in case, Mu-yeong slung his precious backpack over his shoulders and set out on foot, checking the GPS tracking app as he walked.

Before long, a fence strung with barbed wire came into view. A placard painted with stark red lettering issued a clear warning.

[Private Property — Strictly No Trespassing]

Beneath it, legal clauses were listed in tiny, dense print, but none of that was any concern of Mu-yeong’s. Without much trouble, he popped the heavy padlock open and stepped cautiously inside.

Since being spotted by the male shaman would spell disaster, Mu-yeong intended to advance slowly, keeping himself concealed behind trees. Fortunately, the lush, overgrown thickets provided ample cover. The grueling summer of frequent rains felt like a blessing today, if only for this.

Following a dirt road just wide enough for a single vehicle to pass, Mu-yeong pushed deeper into the property. Before long, distant human voices drifted to his ears.

Past the entrance, where sacred taboo ropes were strung up and red ocher soil was scattered across the threshold, a U-shaped traditional hanok house emerged. The pale tint of the timber suggested it was newly constructed rather than an ancient estate. In front stretched a spacious courtyard covered in white sand, hemmed in by steep mountain ridges.

Several sedans and vans were parked on one side of the yard. Dozens of people bustled about in preparation for the ritual. Though it was a scene familiar enough to Mu-yeong, the sheer extravagance of it was staggering.

Assorted fruits, rice cakes, savory pancakes, and seasoned greens were stacked multiple tiers high. The varieties of rice cakes alone easily numbered seven. Beside the honey pastries and puffed rice crackers, the familiar, rainbow-ringed candies of okchundang were also present. Gleaming incense burners, candlesticks, ritual liquor cups, and bottles were arranged in immaculate order.

In front of the altar, wide reed mats were laid out, where ritual musicians sat along the perimeter inspecting their barrel drums and hourglass drums. Several men and women in traditional hanbok could be seen directing laborers in casual work clothes. They appeared to be the male shaman’s initiated disciples.

Mu-yeong quickly swept the area, but the male shaman was nowhere to be seen. Instead, he spotted Kim Jeong-seon and Choi Sijin huddled together in a corner of the yard.

Parting the foliage, Mu-yeong crept closer. Glancing around the yard, Kim Jeong-seon gestured toward Choi Sijin.

Kim Jeong-seon urged her son, “Preparations are almost finished, so it’s time to bring it over. Go fetch it.”

“Ah, why can’t you just order someone else to do it?” Choi Sijin whined.

Grumbling with irritation, Choi Sijin stalked over to Kim Jeong-seon’s car. On the nearly cleared back seat sat a bulky cargo that still occupied considerable space: the bundle wrapped in a white blanket that had caught Mu-yeong’s eye earlier.

As he hauled it out, Choi Sijin momentarily staggered as though the weight were too cumbersome. With the movement, part of the blanket slipped down, revealing a familiar silhouette.

It was a dog crate.

Choi Sijin dumped the crate down beside the ritual grounds as if tossing away trash. Kim Jeong-seon gasped in shock.

Kim Jeong-seon’s eyes widened with distress. “How could you handle him so roughly? Do you have any idea what kind of child he is?”

“A damn dog is just a damn dog! Am I supposed to treat him like my lord and master?”

Choi Sijin snapped. Delicately lifting the blanket, Kim Jeong-seon swung the crate door open. A dog stumbled out into the open air.

In general build and appearance, it resembled a Jindo, but its ears, eyes, and tail all drooped at the tips. Even its white eyelashes slanted downward, giving it a perpetually sorrowful look. Its white coat carried a faint yellowish tinge.

Though panting heavily, the dog kept wagging its tail at the sight of Kim Jeong-seon. She stroked its head.

“Our Heendoong-ie, having a hard time on the car ride, weren’t you? It’s all right now, sweetie. Everything is all right,” Kim Jeong-seon whispered.

It was the white dog that had bounded toward Mu-yeong after catching the scent of hot dogs when he had staked out Choi Sijin’s family home. Having checked on the dog’s condition, Kim Jeong-seon took hold of the leash and tugged gently. Leading the meekly obedient dog, she headed toward the altar piled high with ritual offerings. Mu-yeong froze.

Something was wrong. When he had first spotted the crate, Mu-yeong hadn’t thought it odd that the dog had accompanied them here. After all, Kim Jeong-seon seemed to dote on the animal dearly, and a mountain like this was an ideal place for a dog to run around to its heart’s content.

Yet looking back, a shamanic ritual site was traditionally a place where people were deeply wary of bringing in anything unclean. He should have found it suspicious from the start that a beast was brought into a sacred enclosure ringed with taboo ropes to ward off impurity. Only now did the sturdy iron ring driven firmly into the earth before the altar catch his eye.

Involuntarily, Mu-yeong followed Kim Jeong-seon and halted beside her. The dog’s leash—from the handle all the way down to the collar—was entirely forged of silver metal. The collar encircling its neck was fastened with screws that gleamed sleekly without a speck of rust.

Kim Jeong-seon clipped the handle of the shortened leash to the ring anchored in the dirt. Still uneasy, she gave it several hard tugs to make sure it was secure. As she looked down at the dog, her eyes welled with moisture and the tip of her nose flushed red.

Her voice trembled with unshed tears. “I’m so sorry. There’s no other way if my child is to live well.”

It was the very first phrase that Mu-yeong himself had once heard. Feeling his heart thumping violently against his ribs, Mu-yeong pressed his hand hard over his chest. Kim Jeong-seon stroked the dog’s head over and over before crouching down to wrap it in an embrace.

“If you must resent anyone, resent me,” she pleaded softly. “Even so, you will surely be reborn as a human in your next life.”