As True as a Dream

Hae-Joo, who was walking like she was being dragged, nudged Eun-sil.

 “So, where do you want to go after running all the way back from Song Yue?” “The shaman’s house!” “What?” 

Hae-Joo stopped running, dragged along by Eun-Sil.

 

Eun-sil grabbed her arm and shook it in response to Hae-Joo’s obvious reluctance.

 “I’m just thinking about you. Who believes in this stuff? I don’t believe in it either. But it’s not the real thing, and my mother told me it’s really good. Let’s go there. Okay?” 

Hae-Joo looked at Eun-sil.

 “Sis, if you don’t get enough sleep, you’ll be in trouble. If it wasn’t for anything else, why would the driver be so sleepy?” 

Hae-Joo saw the genuine concern in Eun-sil’s eyes and sighed.

 

The textile factory where Eun-sil works has two shifts.

 

She has to go to work later, but she can’t rest, so she came all the way to Ixian and dragged her here.

 

She’s lucky to have someone who cares so much.

 “Where is it?” 

The place where Hae-Joo and Eun-sil were now near Sindang Jeong Tomok Village.

 “We’re almost there.” 

Eun-sil giggled at Hae-Joo’s somewhat subdued demeanor.

 “My mother told me to take you with me. If you’re too tired, you can come home and stay for a few days.” “Your mother? How is she these days? I haven’t seen her for a while.” “She’s the same as always. She’s had a cold for a few days, so I gave her some medicine.” 

Hae-Joo swallowed hard at the shade of color on Eun-sil’s face.

 

Eun-sil’s mother had been injured during the birth of her youngest son and had spent more days lying down than sitting up in the past five years.

 “Did you go to the hospital?” 

Eun-sil nodded and forced a smile.

 

Hae-Joo felt sorry for Eun-sil and squeezed her hand.

 

Her hands were rough from working so much.

 “There’s a big herbal medicine shop in the main village, let’s visit it for you next time.” “Huh? Sister, how much is Chinese medicine? You’re talking about trouble!” “Who is giving it to you? It’s for your mother. When she’s healthy, I’ll give you more delicious side dishes.” 

Hae-Joo playfully shook Eun-sil’s clasped hands, and Eun-sil’s eyes turned red.

 “You’re more like my mother’s daughter.” “Shall I ask you to be my daughter now?” 

Hae-Joo shook her head and Eun-sil wrinkled her nose and laughed, then said in a low voice.

 “Sis, I’ll make it up to you later. Thank you.” “Forget it. Have you and your mother forgotten that you saved me from freezing to death?” *** 

It had been about a year and three months ago.

 

She had just come to Gyeongseong and was living in an empty shantytown on the outskirts of Namdaemun with the intention of moving once she got a feel for the cost of living and the people in Gyeongseong.

 

An umbjip is a house dug into the ground with a bamboo roof.

 

The dirt floor was covered with a thick layer of straw, and the door was made of straw woven into a foot.

 

The houses were lucky if they had a pit latrine, and a few houses had one, and water had to be drawn from a well.

 

It was winter, and she thought she might freeze to death in the biting cold.

 

She ran to a nearby street in Sunginjeong (Sungin-dong), thinking that even if she had to spend some money, she had to live.

 

It was early in the morning and the curfew had just been lifted, so there were few people on the street.

 

With no one she knew and nowhere to go, she squatted on a street corner and regretted coming to Gyeongseong that day.

 

She felt weak and scared.

 

If she had stayed in Sogok Village, at least she wouldn’t have been alone.

 

If she had known that she would freeze to death, she wouldn’t have come to Gyeongseong.

 

No one would know that Hae-Joo died like that.

 

She has no one to worry about.

 

‘Why am I so pitiful?’

 

While she was thinking these thoughts, her eyes went blank and her senses went numb.

 

At that moment, someone asked her if she was okay and why she was here.

 

The hand on her shoulder gripped her like a straw and wouldn’t let go.

 

That day, the person holding her shoulder was Eun-sil.

 

Feeling sorry for her, Eun-sil took her home and gave her a warm blanket to keep her warm.

 

Eun-sil’s mother also made her a hot meal by hand.

 

Her two boys looked at her curiously.

 

She lived for two weeks in a dilapidated thatched house with only two rooms.

 

After that, Eun-sil often came to her hut to ask for raw fish, and their friendship continues to this day.

 “Sister, we’re almost there. I think it’s here!” 

Hae-Joo turned to follow the direction Eun-sil pointed.

 

A red and white flag fluttered gently in the breeze above the thatched roof of the hut.

 

They opened the gate and walked into the courtyard, where several men in rags stood around with dark faces.

 “Did you hear? He died again last week. His chest was dug up and they said his liver was missing?” “Hmph, that’s terrible. Wasn’t it an animal?” “Even if it’s a small village, this is Gyeongseong, what kind of animal is an animal?” 

Hae-Joo turned to follow the boisterous yet cautious voice.

 

A few meters away, two middle-aged Anak squatted face to face.

 “I don’t know what kind of poisonous disease you have, but you end up digging for livers and eating them.” “Do you really think digging into the livers of living people will cure you?” 

I tried not to listen, but the conversation almost made me choke.

 “I ate a dead man’s liver?” “Well, I can’t afford to go to the hospital, so I’ll just stay here and die. If I get better, I might as well try something. I’m hungry enough to eat dirt.” 

Hae-Joo looked at the hillside behind the shaman’s house, a cluster of shacks.

 

The villagers in the slums can barely eat a full meal a day.

 

Of course, they don’t have money for medicine when they get sick.

 

So when they get sick, they often resort to superstition to solve their problems.

 

She had seen a lot of superstitious and strange behavior during her short stay in the slums, but she had never heard of anyone eating human liver.

 

Just thinking about it sent shivers down her spine.

 “Sis, do you think it’s true?” 

Eun-sil, who had been quietly listening to the story, asked with a blush.

 “I told you that a family in the village starved to death the other day, but they didn’t really starve to death.” “They didn’t starve?” “There was no blood… no blood left in the body.” “No blood?” “Rumor has it that the person who killed that family had been starving for days, so he fed on blood…!” 

Eun-sil shuddered as if she had just received a chill.

 

Hae-Joo was no different.

 

She felt like if she kept talking about such a scary story, she’d come back with nightmares.

 

She just wanted to go home, her feet shuffling under her.

 

A boy in a colorful hanbok, kimchi smeared on his cheeks, approached and led her into the thatched hut.

 

Hae-Joo swallowed a sigh and rose from her seat.

 

***

 

Song Yue Pavilion Main Hall.

 

The clown troupe’s performance in Song Yue lasted for three days, and it was like a village festival.

 

Their efforts to revive Song Yue’s business had gone viral like a village festival, causing a stir throughout Jingshen Province.

 

This made Hongo even busier.

 

Managing materials to meet the growing demand from customers.

 

Managing temporary outside workers to make up for the lack of in-house labor.

 

Orchestrating conflicts between clients.

 

It wasn’t until four days later that he realized Yi Ho wasn’t at Song Yue.

 

Or, to be more precise, he didn’t notice until Yi Ho, dressed in black nightclothes, jumped through the window of his office.

 “Where did you go again without telling me?” “Hunting.” “What?” 

Hearing this unexpected answer, Hongo quickly scanned Yi Ho’s body up and down.

 

Fortunately, there didn’t seem to be anything wrong with him.

 

His cough had become a bit more frequent this year, but other than that, he hadn’t shown any other symptoms yet.

 

Of course, neither he nor Yi Ho knew what would happen.

 “What kind of hunting did you do?” 

Hongo asked and a beautiful smile spread over Yi Ho’s face like a flower in full bloom.

 

Hongo’s hair stood on end.

 

This was the kind of face Yi Ho only made when something really pleased him.

 “This.” 

Suddenly, a moon jar made of porcelain with a black screwed-on stopper flew in front of Hongo.

 

Hongo caught the jar safely with both hands and looked at Yi Ho with a puzzled expression.

 “Don’t you dare open it. It’s a secret.” 

Hongo’s hand that was about to open the lid immediately fell off.

 

An object that looks like a wicker stick, and when it falls on a person’s body, it pierces the skin and becomes a boil.

 

It didn’t kill anything, but in another sense, it made people want to die.

 “Where did you get this?” “Mount Jobi. I was lucky.” 

There was an uncharacteristic amusement in Yi Ho’s tone as he smiled.

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