Chapter 05
“Damn it, I almost fell.”
Kang Sung-min regained his balance.
‘Bite him—harder!’
I shouted at the dog’s soul.
The dog’s spirit clamped down harder on Kang Sung-min’s left ankle.
“Huh?”
Kang Sung-min collapsed to the ground.
As if gaining confidence from his reaction, the dog’s soul shook his ankle violently.
“Aaaaargh!”
Kang Sung-min let out a scream of agony.
In that moment, I cried out in my mind to the Red Eyes.
‘Untie this!’
—How am I supposed to do that?
‘You shoved a perfectly fine person at a crosswalk—can’t you loosen a lousy rope like this? If I die here, you won’t even have anyone to study in your place!’
—Eek?!
The Red Eyes hurriedly loosened the rope around my wrists.
It didn’t come completely undone, but it was loose enough for me to barely slip my hands free.
Once my hands were free, I forced myself upright.
Maybe because I had been unconscious in the cold for hours, my body felt stiff, like it wasn’t even mine.
I gathered all my strength and ran down the mountain.
“Hey, you bastard! Where do you think you’re going? Ugh—ugh!”
I heard Kang Sung-min shouting behind me. Along with it came the dog’s growling… and his screams.
I ran all the way down and headed straight to my mother’s restaurant.
I had lost my bag and wallet, so running was my only option.
“Son? What’s wrong? What happened?”
Seeing my face drenched in sweat, my mother was startled.
“I’m okay.”
After gulping down a glass of cold water, I immediately called the police.
I contacted the team leader from the women and youth division who had handled my case before.
After explaining everything, I returned to the hillside with several officers.
But Kang Sung-min was no longer there.
“Search the area!”
The officers swept flashlights around, scanning the surroundings.
“Over here!”
One of them shouted from further down.
When we got there, Kang Sung-min was lying on the ground.
It looked like he had struck his head on a rock—blood was flowing, and his eyes were wide open in terror.
Neither his soul nor the dog’s spirit could be seen.
“It appears he slipped and fell from above.”
Given how steep the slope was, it was entirely possible.
The officer immediately called it in over the radio.
Bzzzt—
The sound of the radio felt strangely unreal.
13 years later—
“Only 3,000 won!”
The old man grinned, revealing yellowed teeth.
Morning sunlight shone brightly over the worn mat he had spread on the sidewalk.
But it was still late January—the kind of cold that made you clutch your coat tighter.
His tattered coat looked far too thin to block the biting winter wind.
“Just 3,000 won, and I’ll tell you your future clearly!”
He held up three fingers toward me.
Through the holes in his gloves, grimy fingernails poked out.
I let out a small sigh.
The reason he was being so persistent was partly my fault—I had paused when I heard his voice.
It was my first day at work.
I wasn’t exactly well-off, but I figured I could at least give him enough to buy a warm bowl of soup and start the day on a good note.
I took out a 10,000-won bill and crouched down in front of him.
“I don’t have any smaller change.”
—Wow… are you a sucker?
The Red Eyes widened.
I ignored it.
Today was my first day—I wanted to start it feeling good.
The old man’s eyes widened like a startled cow.
He looked like he’d just struck gold.
“No refunds! Ptui, ptui!”
He spat on both sides of the bill, as if worried I might change my mind and take it back.
The bill quickly disappeared into his coat.
“You going to that office over there?”
He pointed at a legal office building across the street.
Across from the district court annex, the area was packed with offices for lawyers, tax accountants, and legal clerks.
“Yes.”
“Then you a legal clerk? Office manager?”
“I’m a lawyer.”
I had graduated from law school, passed the bar exam, and today was my first day at the office.
Excitement and anxiety mixed within me.
“So, a lawyer, huh? I knew it—just by your face, I could tell you’ve got the look of someone destined for greatness. Let’s see… your forehead is straight, your eyebrows thick and even, your eyes sharp with intelligence. Your nose is straight—money will follow you. Your cheeks show you’ll have many benefactors. And those earlobes—thick and rich. You’re someone who’ll achieve great success.”
Now in a good mood, the old man rattled off pleasant-sounding words in rhythm.
—Didn’t even know you were a lawyer, and he’s reading your face? Total scammer.
The Red Eyes clicked its tongue.
I couldn’t help but chuckle.
“Thank you, sir. But you should really go somewhere warm. It’s too cold to be sitting out here.”
I started to stand up.
“Wait!”
The old man suddenly grabbed my hand.
For someone so frail-looking, his grip was surprisingly strong.
“You paid 3,000 won for a reading. That means you’ve got 7,000 won left.”
“Oh, that’s fine. Just keep it.”
“No, I can’t do that. I’ll give you something instead.”
Even when I tried to refuse, he wouldn’t let go.
“I’m not a beggar.”
“…Alright then, please just give it quickly. I really need to get to work. What are you giving me?”
“You should’ve said so earlier.”
In the end, I couldn’t win against his stubbornness.
The old man untied a bundle beside him and took out a palm-sized leaf and a thin brush pen.
“Young man, you’re talented and smart—but your environment doesn’t support you. Right? Like a dragon born in the wrong place. You don’t have luck with parents, so no matter how capable you are, it’s hard to shine. Especially your father—ah, I mean, your late father—he had many problems. Heh heh.”
Seeing my expression harden, he quickly corrected himself.
My father had died when I was seventeen.
He worked for a major corporation, but one day he was suddenly fired and hit with a damages lawsuit.
Unable to bear the pressure, he took his own life.
What remained for us was an enormous debt.
At the time, my mother, my younger sister, and I didn’t even know about the option of renouncing inheritance.
We only learned months after his death.
No one had told us.
Fortunately, my mother’s restaurant did well enough that we could slowly repay the debt.
If it hadn’t, our family would have been torn apart and left to live miserable lives.
That experience was what made me decide to study law.
“Let’s see… your fortune today isn’t good. Not good at all. I’ll draw you a talisman that’ll bring you luck. It’ll be more than worth 7,000 won.”
“Yes, yes. Please hurry.”
Whether the ink was dry or it was just habit, the old man moistened the brush with his tongue.
“Let’s trap your luck so it doesn’t slip away again.”
Humming to himself, he began drawing on the leaf.
It wasn’t writing—just a strange, twisting pattern that took shape in an instant.
Unlike typical talismans drawn on yellow paper with red ink, this one was black ink on a leaf.
“Now, hold out your palm.”
When I did, he placed the talisman onto his palm, then pressed it firmly onto my left hand.
A sudden heat spread through my palm, and I tried to pull away—but he gripped my wrist tightly.
When he let go, the talisman that should have been in my hand was gone.
“Huh? Where did it go?”
“Where else? It went to do its job.”
I looked around, but it had vanished without a trace.
The old man chuckled and waved me off.
Honestly, even if I’d kept it, I wouldn’t have known what to do with it. I stood up without hesitation.
“Goodbye, then.”
I turned and walked away.
After a few meters, I stopped.
The winter sunlight reflecting off the building across the street struck my eyes.
I turned back.
“Huh? Where did he go?”
The spot where he had been sitting was completely empty.
I checked behind me, across the street—there wasn’t even a trace of him.
—Ah! That old man wasn’t human! Totally vanished. Even fooled me…
The Red Eyes exclaimed in disbelief.
I looked at my palm where the talisman had been placed.
There wasn’t a single mark.
‘What was that old man…?’
I asked.
The Red Eyes hesitated.
—I don’t know. But he wasn’t an ordinary spirit. I feel stupid—I should’ve noticed. His energy was different from both humans and ghosts.
‘It happens. Don’t worry about it.’
I reassured it.
The light changed.
People at the intersection began crossing all at once.
I tightened my coat and crossed the street.
In the large building right in front of the court, signboards for lawyers, legal clerks, and tax accountants filled the exterior.
I entered one of the buildings.
Inside the lobby, there was a small security booth near the elevators.
“Hello.”
I greeted first, and the guard—who looked to be in his 60s—nodded.
“What floor?”
“8th floor. Law office.”
“Alright.”
He kept glancing at me until the elevator doors closed.
Inside, the directory board was packed with law firm names.
My eyes quickly scanned the 8th floor.
‘Law Office Ujeong — Room 804.’
Finally, I opened the glass door and stepped inside.
The first person I saw was a female employee sitting at a desk.
She looked to be in her mid-20s and greeted me brightly.
“How can I help you?”
“I’m starting work here today—”
Just then, a door inside opened, and Attorney Kim Chang-soo walked out.
“Hey, Yoo. You’re here.”
At 41, Kim Chang-soo was in his third year of running his own practice.
He was a senior from my friend Lee Sang-jae’s high school.
“Let me introduce you. This is our office staff, Assistant Oh Hyun-ah. Assistant Oh, this is Attorney Yoo Hyun-jae, who’ll be using Room 4 starting today—told you about him, right?”
“I’ve heard a lot about you.”
She bowed politely with both hands clasped.
“Yoo here just passed the bar exam. Fresh out of the oven.”
Kim Chang-soo said excitedly, leading me further in.
“This is Office Manager Kim Han-soo.”
A man in his late 30s gave a slight nod.
In the lobby were the desks of Assistant Oh and Manager Kim, and further inside were four doors in a row.
Each belonged to a lawyer.
Kim Chang-soo showed me around.
“This is Room 1—mine. Room 2 belongs to Attorney Eom Ji-sung, Room 3 to Attorney Park Hyun, and Room 4 is yours.”
Each door had a nameplate.
The office was small, just enough space for a desk, chair, bookshelf, and a four-person table.
“Oh, Eom’s coming in.”
Just as he said, a man entered through the front.
He was of average height with ordinary features—but beneath his thick glasses, his sharp, weasel-like eyes stood out.
