Chapter 03
Cause and Effect (1)
As soon as school ended the next day, Kang Sung-min’s group came looking for me.
They dragged me up the back hill, surrounding me like guards.
“Hyunjae, Yoo Hyunjae~.”
Kang Sung-min smirked, lifting one corner of his lips.
His clean white teeth showed in a smile that felt cold and cruel.
“Money?”
“I don’t have it.”
“Ha… wait. What did I just hear?”
He dug his pinky into his ear.
“What did this guy just say to me?”
“He said he doesn’t have it.”
One of his group answered.
“Hyunjae, then should I just sit on a park bench sucking my fingers with Miyeon today, huh? Because of you?”
He reached for my chin, but I shook him off.
He pretended to be surprised.
“Wow, look at this guy. Something’s changed overnight. You’re different from yesterday.”
He mocked me with amusement.
“Hyunjae. Hyunjae.”
He wrapped his arm around my head and whispered.
Everyone knew—
the more he smiled, the crueler he became.
I pushed his arm away.
“This bastard’s gone crazy?”
He hit my head hard.
I fell backward.
Unlike when fighting ghosts, it still hurt.
But somehow—
I felt like I could fight back.
“Look at his eyes. Something’s off.”
“What happened to him?”
Even his group noticed the change.
Suddenly, Kang Sung-min rushed forward and punched me repeatedly.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
My mind went blank. I tasted blood.
“Damn it!”
I kicked at him.
Thud!
He stepped back.
Shock spread across his face.
For the first time—
I had hit him.
But instead of hurting him, it only made him angrier.
He laughed in disbelief.
“Did Yoo Hyunjae just hit me?”
His group snickered.
That’s when—
I saw something new.
A faint light surrounded his body.
It was a muddy brown color.
And one part—his left ankle—was especially dark.
As I stared at it—
My own left ankle felt a dull pain.
That’s his weakness.
“Hey, what are you staring at?”
The moment he swung his fist—
I kicked his left ankle with all my strength.
Thud!
“Argh!”
He collapsed.
Rolling on the ground, clutching his ankle.
“Why is he like that?”
His group stepped back in shock.
“Didn’t he hurt that ankle last week?”
“Yeah, he twisted it coming out of a PC room.”
“How did he know that?”
One by one, they glared at me.
One. Two. Three. Four. Five.
I saw faint colors around them too—
Yellow. Blue. Red.
All dull.
Some had dark spots on their bodies, like weak points.
But five of them—
Holding bats and sticks—
was too much for me alone.
I stepped back.
But there was nowhere to run.
“Hey! What are you doing over there?”
Two men were coming up the hill.
“What’s that?”
“Hey, mind your business and leave.”
Kang Sung-min’s group tried to scare them off.
But the men didn’t back down.
“Five against one? This looks like school violence to me. Right, Detective Kang?”
“They’re from Jangsaeng High, sir.”
“…Police?”
“That’s right. Come quietly, or we’ll drag you.”
The group exchanged glances.
They were in trouble.
“Are you okay?”
One officer asked me.
He looked familiar.
He was—
the father of the boy I saved yesterday.
He patted my shoulder and smiled.
After giving my statement at the station, it was already dark outside.
The boy’s father was the head of the Youth Crimes Unit at this station.
Thanks to his strong support, I was treated clearly as a victim.
Before leaving, he told me:
“Someone called me from your phone and told me where you were. The number was blocked… sounded like a boy, like he was crying.”
A nasal voice.
It had to be the red-eyed spirit.
As soon as I thought of him—
he appeared.
—“Did I do well?”
“I was worried you might mess it up. How did you make the call?”
—“I intercepted a call. Any ghost with experience can do that.”
“Good job.”
—“That officer… he’s the father of the boy I pushed yesterday, right?”
“Yeah.”
—“How did you know he was a police officer?”
“I didn’t.”
—“Then why him?”
“I just had a feeling he’d become important to me.”
I had seen a faint light from his body.
It felt like intuition.
“Now go. Your business here is done.”
—“Yes.”
He hesitated, bowed, and disappeared.
The monk’s words came back to me:
“The more good you do, the more luck and wealth will come to you.”
I saved a child.
Stopped an evil spirit.
And now—
Kang Sung-min’s group had been caught.
Is this how my luck improves?
“Are you okay, my son?”
My mother had rushed from the restaurant.
“It’s fine. A good officer helped me.”
“How long have you been going through this?”
She looked shocked.
She didn’t know I had been bullied.
I couldn’t burden her more.
“I’ll handle it. Don’t worry.”
“Are you hungry? I’ll cook for you.”
She held my hand tightly.
Her cooking filled not just my stomach—
but my heart.
Soft steamed eggs.
Spicy, sour kimchi stew.
Roasted seaweed with sesame oil.
I could eat two or three bowls of rice easily.
“Mom, your cooking is too good just for us.”
She smiled faintly.
“If my kids enjoy it, that’s enough.”
But there was worry on her face.
“Something wrong at the restaurant?”
“The owner is closing the business… I’ll have to find another job.”
“Why?”
“She wants to retire in the countryside.”
“Is there no one to take over?”
“She asked me… but I don’t have the money.”
I saw regret in her eyes.
“Then sell this house.”
“What? Then where would you and Yeonhee live?”
“There’s a room at the restaurant.”
“It’s too small… and the building is old.”
Her reaction made one thing clear—
She wanted that place.
“I’ll go take a look tomorrow.”
The next day, I went to the restaurant.
It was in an old market, full of history and tourists.
But the building itself was small and worn.
“Hello?”
“Oh, Hyunjae! You came?”
The owner, an old grandmother, welcomed me warmly.
“Sit and eat.”
“It’s okay. I just came to see my mom.”
“She’s in the kitchen.”
I went inside.
My mother was making kimchi.
“I’ll be done soon. Wait a bit.”
While waiting, I looked around.
The small room inside was cramped—but cozy.
Then—
Something caught my eye.
In a corner of the kitchen—
Something was shining.
What is that?
It was—
a golden egg.
About the size of a forearm.
Clearly invisible to normal people.
I reached out and touched it.
Crack—
It split open instantly.
From inside—
came a small snake.
Golden.
Shining.
