NOVEL NEXT 1
* Please note that the story, organizations, and characters appearing in this novel are fictional and not related to reality. Also, the fire department’s rank system has been set differently from reality to help readers’ understanding, so please keep this in mind when reading the book.
Prologue
It was at a charity party I was invited to by an acquaintance that I heard ‘that’ rumor.
“What? A shaman?”
Grayson, who had been killing time by engaging in idle chatter with people at the party, frowned involuntarily and asked. The man who had first brought it up sipped his wine, heavily mixed with drugs, and chuckled mischievously.
“Yeah, I heard there was a fortune-teller invited to Hayden’s party, and it was quite interesting. They were pretty accurate? Everyone was amazed.”
“As if.”
Grayson drank his wine with an indifferent expression as he listened to the story. Fortune-telling? It’s foolish to believe in such superstitions.
…That’s not to say he hadn’t tried. In fact, he had already visited countless fortune-tellers and shamans. Probably at least ten times more than the maximum number of fortune-tellers an average person would meet in their lifetime. Grayson always asked them just one thing: Where is his destined partner?
He had heard many words and paid a considerable price, but the results were disappointing. Destined partner? Just when he thought he had finally met them, it turned out not to be, and when he thought he had met them again, it wasn’t. After going through this process several times, Grayson no longer blindly believed their words. That’s why even now, hearing about a new fortune-teller, he wasn’t easily swayed and maintained a lukewarm attitude while listening quite carefully. Seeing Grayson’s indifferent reaction, the man added, seeming a bit embarrassed:
“It’s just for fun. Well, they did make an absurd prediction to Keith, and that guy got incredibly angry.”
“To Keith? What kind of prediction?”
Grayson asked curiously at the unexpected name, and the man answered nonchalantly.
“That he’ll face a tremendous hardship soon. And if he’s not careful then, he’ll regret it for the rest of his life.”
“Like his business going bankrupt?”
Another man who was with them joked, snickering. The rest of the men laughed incredulously. The thought that Keith could go bankrupt – the world might end first – was probably shared by more than one person. The man who first brought up the topic spoke again.
“Who knows? They said he’d lose something more important than money, but I don’t know what it is. Keith got angry and left before hearing the rest.”
“He’s always been too quick-tempered.”
“I would’ve left too if I heard something like that.”
“Yeah, hearing bad predictions only ruins your mood.”
As voices of agreement came from here and there, the topic soon changed. Grayson thoughtfully sipped his wine and recalled.
It had been several years since Keith, who was as much of a playboy as Grayson, had chosen the unthinkable institution of marriage and settled down. It was a reality no one could believe, but he hadn’t strayed even once since getting married. If there was something so precious that it would make Keith that angry, it was probably Yeon-woo. Or his two adorable children.
A fraud.
There was nothing more to see. The idea of Yeon-woo leaving Keith’s side was absurd. Not to mention the children who could do nothing but chirp.
He had found his soulmate. Much earlier than Grayson, who was so desperately yearning for one. Looking at this, God must be an incredibly biased being. Keith had always mocked Grayson’s desire, yet he was the one who found his companion. Grayson remembered with a frown. That guy had never even had his fortune told.
For that fortune-teller to make such an ominous prediction to Keith, it was a miracle they had made it out in one piece. They must have used up all their lifetime’s luck at that moment.
If Hayden had brought them, he would have vetted them to some extent. But then again, it’s not easy to spot a fraud.
That was the extent of his impression of the new fortune-teller. Grayson soon joined in on the trivial topics, and the talk about the fortune-teller was about to be forgotten naturally.
However, a month later, Grayson’s attitude changed drastically, and he urgently contacted Hayden. He needed the fortune-teller’s contact information.
Because he had learned that the fortune-teller’s warning about Keith had come true exactly, and he was in an extremely difficult situation.
* * *
“Hmm…”
Grayson watched with a deeply furrowed brow as the middle-aged woman stared intently at the cards spread out on the table, her expression serious.
Quite some time seemed to have passed, but the fortune-teller remained silent. Why is it taking so long? Is it difficult to say? Or can’t she read the cards?
As distrust towards her gradually spread and filled his eyes, the fortune-teller finally straightened her back as if she had made a decision.
“This is quite difficult.”
At her meaningful first words, Grayson crossed his arms and stared at her face intently. The fortune-teller, either trying to avoid or ignore his piercing gaze, kept her eyes fixed on the cards and continued slowly.
“Your destined partner… it’s difficult. Very difficult…”
“So? Are you saying there isn’t one?”
Grayson pressed her, unable to contain himself. The fortune-teller, blinking as if startled for a moment, quickly cleared her throat.
“I didn’t say there isn’t one. But I can’t say there is one either…”
“Do you think I came all the way here to play word games?”
Grayson asked the fortune-teller, who kept beating around the bush. With a smile spread across his face. Despite this, the fortune-teller could tell all too well that his mood had seriously soured. After all, Grayson was exuding pheromones of anger with his entire body.
“Of course not.”
She quickly smiled, using years of experience to smooth over the situation.
“You’ve tried very hard to meet your partner until now. But you couldn’t have met them. It’s because the time hasn’t come yet…”
“So?”
Grayson pressed the fortune-teller without wasting any more time.
“When will that time come? Is it still far off? How much longer do I have to wait? Don’t tell me it’s an undertaker? Are they coming to clean my corpse after I die? Is that it?”
“Now, now, calm down.”
The fortune-teller raised one hand as if restraining an excited fighting dog and spoke after a pause.
“It’s not far off. You’ll meet them soon. You might have already crossed paths once.”
“You’re saying they were right in front of me and I didn’t recognize them?”
Just as doubt was about to rise with a ‘no way,’ the fortune-teller added:
“It might not have been a direct meeting. There are many encounters that pass by in this world. In Buddhism, there’s a saying, ‘Even brushing sleeves is a connection’…”
Grayson frowned and stared at her. Slowly crossing his arms and leaning back in his chair, his posture seemed to represent that he didn’t have much patience left.
“So.”
Grayson began slowly, contrary to his impatient heart.
“How can I meet this partner?”
The fortune-teller picked up a stack of cards set aside and drew one from it. As Grayson stared at the card placed on the table, she said:
“Fire.”
“Fire?”
When he asked back with a frown, the fortune-teller nodded and added an explanation.
“Helping others, and I see fire.”
“You mean a firefighter?”
“It could be, or it might not be.”
She took a step back again after speaking so well until now.
“It could also mean that your partner will appear as you help others while doing that job. Anyway, the keyword is fire.”
Grayson still looked at her with a frown. As if pondering how much of this fortune-teller’s words he should believe.
“Is there anything else?”
To Grayson’s demand for more information, she drew another card, checked it, and answered.
“It could be a woman, or it could be a man.”
“Of course it would be.”
Grayson sneered mercilessly, then fell into thought for a moment before narrowing his eyes and asking:
“The chest?”
“Pardon?”
Surprised by the sudden question, the fortune-teller blinked and asked back, and Grayson repeated:
“Can you see if the chest is big or small, or if there isn’t one at all? Well? The chest.”
“Um… It’s… big.”
After drawing a card and flipping it over, the fortune-teller gave her answer, to which Grayson concluded decisively:
“So it’s a woman.”
The fortune-teller was surprised by this clever move to determine the gender, but soon became puzzled. If so, why hadn’t the gender been clearly revealed in the earlier divination?