Her period started right on schedule. A sigh of relief escaped Tae-eun as she washed her hands in the bathroom. “Guess he’s really infertile.” The tension in her shoulders, which had been stiff with worry over the possibility, finally eased.
“Ha…”
The nerves that had kept her awake and on edge until the late hours of the night began to calm down. At the same time, she felt embarrassed remembering how irritable she had been that morning.
She often got irritable right before her period, and this time, Hyun-ho had been the unsuspecting target. He had even called her right after a nightmare, worried about her, but she had been too cold to him.
“I should apologize.”
Just as she was about to call Hyun-ho, her mother knocked on her door and came in.
“Tae-eun, let’s go to the temple.”
“Why the temple?”
“Hyun-ho’s mom found out about a really good monk. She wants us to get our fortunes told together since his dad is getting his done.”
“I’m not interested. I don’t care about stuff like that.”
Tae-eun had an idea why her mom wanted to do this. Ever since Ye-jin had taken her own life two years ago, her mom had been anxious that the mental toll would affect her remaining daughter.
When Tae-eun had called home crying, saying she couldn’t take it anymore, it was her mother who had told her to pack up and come back to Seoul immediately. Her mom needed someone to tell her that her daughter had a better future ahead.
But Tae-eun didn’t want to know anything about her fate. If fate was determined by birth date, did that mean Ye-jin was destined to live such a painful life from the start? The thought made her sneer.
“Just think of it as a chance to hear something good. Hyun-ho is going too, so just go with him.”
Her mom used Ji Hyun-ho as bait. It was as if she knew everything about their relationship, which made Tae-eun jump.
“What does Hyun-ho going to the temple have to do with me?”
“Aren’t you two close? You seem to hang out together a lot. Just go to the temple, and then have lunch together. I don’t even want to smell the holiday food.”
Relenting to her mom’s persistent urging, Tae-eun reluctantly changed her clothes. She didn’t need to look in the mirror to know her face was red.
This was why you could deceive a ghost but not your mother. Boo Yun-hwa clearly distinguished between her daughter going to work at the café and spending time with Ji Hyun-ho. Tae-eun’s heart pounded at the thought that her mom might know they were more than just friends.
In the rush, she forgot about apologizing to him. It wasn’t until she saw the white SUV parked in front of her house that she remembered she hadn’t even called him.
“Hello.”
Tae-eun bowed to Hyun-ho’s mother, Kang Bo-yeon, who was already in the back seat.
“Do you want to sit in the front? I need to chat with your mom in the back.”
“Okay.”
As she hesitated and opened the passenger door, her eyes met Ji Hyun-ho’s. He usually greeted her with a gentle smile, but today he looked at her with an expressionless face. Her heart sank with a heavy thud.
“Hi.”
“Hi.”
After a brief greeting, Hyun-ho turned away immediately. Her hands felt cold as she fastened her seatbelt.
Unable to even glance at the driver’s seat, she stared straight ahead, blinking rapidly. Seeing him without his usual friendly smile felt overwhelmingly unfamiliar.
The thought that it was her fault made her clench her fists so tightly that her nails left marks on her palms.
She had ignored his warm concern in a moment of emotional turmoil. She hadn’t apologized yet, so it was natural for him to be upset. He was the one who got hurt, not her.
But just one glance from his cold eyes made her want to cry. She feared that, like everyone else, he would turn his back on her too. Her pathetic fear of abandonment reared its head.
She wanted to say she was sorry, but she was too conscious of the people in the back seat to open her mouth. She worried that his heart would harden even more in the meantime.
The car drove west for quite a while until it entered a quiet coastal village similar to Hajung-ri. Following a winding path through the fields, they arrived at a small temple called Guamsa.
While the adults crossed the threshold of the temple first, Tae-eun cautiously touched Hyun-ho’s arm. He stopped walking and looked down at her.
“I’m sorry for hanging up like that at dawn.”
She blurted out the apology without taking a breath, unable to muster the courage to meet his eyes, staring instead at his chest.
“I meant to call you in the morning, but I got busy getting ready to leave and forgot. I’m really sorry.”
“Look me in the eye and say it.”
At his cool tone, she quickly lifted her gaze. His bright eyes were staring at her reproachfully. With a trembling voice, she apologized again.
“I’m sorry, Hyun-ho.”
“Alright.”
Hyun-ho turned away first and stepped through the gate. Watching his back in a daze, she realized he hadn’t fully accepted her apology. He just didn’t want to show his anger in front of the adults.
With slumped shoulders, Tae-eun headed towards the main hall. The shoes of the people who had gone ahead were neatly lined up on the steps. The temple’s characteristic dry scent tickled her nose.
The adults bowed to the Buddha statue before sitting down on individual cushions. However, Hyun-ho didn’t bow and sat off to the side, slowly looking around the main hall. To avoid being in his line of sight, she sat next to her mother.
They had to wait a bit longer to meet the monk. Just as her legs were starting to fall asleep from sitting cross-legged, a small-framed monk appeared through the side door.
Having heard that he was a skilled monk who could read fortunes, she had vaguely imagined someone much older, but the monk looked to be only in his late 30s.
Kang Bo-yeon, who greeted the monk with her hands in a prayer position, was the first to hand over a piece of paper with Ji Yong-jae’s birthdate. The monk opened an old, yellowed book and quickly wrote something on a blank piece of paper. Then he spoke calmly.
“You don’t need to worry, he will be elected without any issues.”
A collective intake of breath echoed in the quiet hall. Kang Bo-yeon’s face brightened as she heard the answer she had been most eagerly waiting for, without even asking. She began to ask various questions to confirm it.
Her mother, delighted, nudged Tae-eun in the side. ‘See, I told you so?’ Her expression clearly conveyed.
But it wasn’t that Tae-eun didn’t believe in fortunes. She thought there could very well be monks with such amazing abilities. She just didn’t want to know about any predetermined fate.
“Tae-eun.”
With a look of relief, having learned that her husband would definitely be elected, Kang Bo-yeon called Tae-eun. Reluctantly, she joined her mother and sat down in front of the monk.
“Is this your daughter?”
“Yes.”
The monk stared intently at Tae-eun from across the small table. His eyes looked ordinary at first glance, but given his reputed abilities, she felt as if he could see right through her. She fought the urge to retreat and clenched her fists tightly.
“She’s in a lot of pain.”
At the monk’s simple diagnosis, Boo Yun-hwa, who was sitting next to her, leaned in closer to the table in shock.
“Where? Where is my daughter hurting?”
“Her heart is hurting.”
Boo Yun-hwa’s expression grew heavy. With her back to the sunlight streaming in through the door, her face looked almost as intimidating as the guardian statues at the temple entrance.
Unable to look at her mother, Tae-eun dropped her gaze to the legs of the table. She should have gone to a psychiatrist for counseling. At least there, her secrets would have been safe.
“She was born very intelligent. Her nature is quiet and sensitive. Let’s make this year a time for rest. Things will improve next year.”
The monk scribbled incomprehensible Chinese characters on the paper as he quickly read her fortune.
“Will she find a job and get healthy next year? Will everything go well?”
“Yes. From next year, your fortune will greatly improve, so there’s no need to rush.”
The monk said exactly what her mother wanted to hear. It seemed to be a great comfort to her, and Tae-eun thought that wasn’t too bad.
“What about marriage…?”
“Mom.”
Tae-eun frowned and looked at her mother, but her mother’s gaze was fixed on the monk.
“If she wants, she could get married next year too.”
The monk’s firm answer made Tae-eun’s mouth drop open slightly. Seeing her reaction, the monk added an explanation.
“It means her luck is that good.”
“Thank you.”
Not wanting to hear any more strange things, Tae-eun thanked the monk and stepped back. However, Boo Yun-hwa took the opportunity to ask about her son’s fortune as well. Kang Bo-yeon, who had only intended to check her husband’s fortune, also handed over the birth dates of her two sons.
“Is this also your son?”
The monk, who had just read Ji Young-hoon’s fortune, asked Kang Bo-yeon while checking the next birth date. When she confirmed, the monk stared at her face intently.
A rough silence filled the hall.
Tae-eun guessed that Hyun-ho’s mother was feeling something similar to what she had felt earlier—a sensation of having one’s innermost secrets exposed.
“Is there… something wrong?”
“Why did you bring the fortune of a deceased child?”
Tae-eun’s gaze immediately shifted to Ji Hyun-ho. He was leaning comfortably against the wall, watching the monk with an amused expression. Sensing her stare, he turned his head to the left.
When their eyes met, he raised one eyebrow. Combined with his flashy appearance, the expression made him momentarily look like a delinquent.
Slowly rising, Hyun-ho went to sit beside Kang Bo-yeon. He warmly held his mother’s pale hand.
“A deceased child?”
The man’s and the monk’s gazes locked. Smiling, he looked at the monk.
“I’m very much alive.”
🍉🍉🍉
