Chapter 06
With the help of the employee who had come to pick up Taeheon Gyeon, Iseo safely made it back to her studio apartment.
The hospital was also a place where there were quite a few people who held grudges and had bad intentions, so they had wanted to accompany her because he was weakened and could be in danger.
However, when the employee said that they planned to call his attending physician and quietly treat him at home, Iseo felt relieved and returned to her own home.
Only after entering the familiar space did her tension finally ease, and her body went limp.
She had not noticed it before, but her scraped back, her stiff neck, her hands that had been tense with strength—in fact, there was hardly a part of her body that did not hurt.
“Ugh. As expected… humans really are the scariest. I knew something was wrong from the moment I saw that creepy look in his eyes.”
Iseo took off her badly wrinkled shirt and looked at her back through the bathroom mirror.
Fortunately, perhaps because her clothes had been fairly thick, she did not seem to have any serious injuries.
Still, her whole body was aching, so she decided to take a half-body bath for the first time in a while and filled the bathtub with hot water.
It seemed like the perfect time to use the bath bomb Daeun had given her recently, telling her that it was good.
“Haa…”
Thanks to the pink bath bomb, a sweet fragrance spread throughout the bathroom.
When she stepped into the hot water that had turned a pretty shade of pink, her trembling body finally began to calm down.
Even ghosts did not scare Iseo, so what had happened today had been quite shocking.
She had never imagined that someone would follow her all the way home after being rejected and try to hurt her.
The rough hands and the face with eyes half-crazed with rage were horrifying even when she thought about them again.
If Gyeon Taeheon had not been there…
Iseo found even imagining it terrifying, and her eyes squeezed shut on their own.
“Grandma… I was so scared.”
Whenever she felt lonely or had a difficult moment, she naturally thought of her grandmother.
Only after thinking of her grandmother did tears finally gather in her eyes from the sadness.
I shouldn’t tell her about what happened today.
She’ll only worry from far away for no reason.
Bzzzz.
“…Gasp!”
At the sudden ringing of her phone, Iseo looked at the screen and sucked in a breath.
Thump, thump, thump.
Her heart was beating out of rhythm.
She had called her, and Grandma was already calling her.
The surprise made her tears disappear instantly.
As expected, her grandma was scarier than any ghost.
Iseo cleared her throat, pulled her lips into a bright smile, and pressed the answer button.
“Hi, Grandma. Did you call because you missed me?”
—Iseo, are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?
“G-Grandma.”
Her grandmother’s angry voice rushed through the phone.
No matter how hard she tried to act strong, it was useless in front of her grandmother.
Not because her grandmother was a shaman known as a mansin, a master of traditional Korean shamanism and intangible cultural heritage, who knew everything.
It was because she was Iseo’s only blood relative and the family she loved most.
“I was scared, Grandma… Sob, that bastard, he… sob…”
The determination she had made not to tell her grandmother became meaningless.
The moment she heard her grandmother’s firm voice, tears poured down from her sadness.
As Iseo sobbed like a child and could only shed tears, her grandmother’s breathing, which had been quietly listening, became rough.
—This year, your fortune has a strong influence from Pyeongwan and Dohwa, so I had a bad feeling and wrote several protective talismans for you… But are you hurt or in pain anywhere?
“Sniff, n-no. I’m okay.”
—Haa…
A deep sigh of relief came from her grandmother.
—Yes. The General told me that you would be fine, but I was still very worried, so I called. Come visit me when your exams are over and you’re not busy. Those talismans have used up their power now, so I’ll write new ones for you.
“Okay… I’ll come right after my exams. I was already planning to visit because I miss you, Grandma.”
—Good. Everything will be fine now, so don’t lose sleep over it. If you’re scared, call me anytime.
“Okay. Hearing that the General said I’ll be fine makes me feel relieved. You don’t worry about me either, Grandma. Get some good sleep.”
Iseo held back the tears that were about to spill again and finished saying goodbye.
Her grandmother’s words had never once been wrong, so surely everything would be fine this time too.
“…Ah! Gyeon Taeheon!”
She had meant to tell her grandmother about the ghost attached to Taeheon, but she had completely forgotten because she had been crying.
If she told her grandmother that he was the person who had helped her, Grandma might even tell her to help him instead of pretending she could not see the ghost…
Iseo wondered whether she should call again, but eventually put her phone down.
She would be going home next week anyway.
I’ll tell her then and get some talismans too!
After finishing her half-body bath, Iseo put on soft pajamas and hugged the cat-shaped stuffed toy on her bed tightly.
After making some sweet hot chocolate with milk and drinking it, she finally felt a little calmer.
“…I wonder if Gyeon Taeheon is okay.”
She thought about calling him, but figured he was probably sleeping after receiving an IV and did not want to wake him, so she simply stared down at her phone.
Then, a long message arrived.
Hello, I am Attorney Yoo Jeong-gu from Seojin Law Firm.
He was the lawyer who had taken Iseo’s number after saying that there might be matters to discuss regarding the victim, Iseo, and the perpetrator.
Since it was late at night, he said he was sending the information by message and briefly explained what he had found out.
Park Young-sung had maintained an intimate relationship with an employee from the academic affairs office and had obtained Iseo’s personal information.
After finding out her home address, he had not only wandered around her home several times but had also hidden near her villa, learned the password to the communal entrance, and entered the building.
He had even secretly taken photographs of Iseo’s home from outside the window.
Illegal acquisition of personal information, trespassing and stalking, illegal filming, and attempted rape. With these crimes being combined, there is a high possibility that he will receive at least three to seven years or more in prison, even if he offers a settlement. We can also file a civil lawsuit and separately demand compensation for the psychological damage.
Attorney Yoo Jeong-gu said he would try to obtain the highest possible settlement and compensation for emotional distress.
There was CCTV footage, testimonies from people around them, and even the video Taeheon had taken today of Park Young-sung’s crime, so the matter would be resolved quickly.
He also added that he would take care of everything related to the trial, so Iseo would not even need to appear in court.
Iseo immediately wrote a message to Attorney Yoo Jeong-gu.
Thank you for looking into everything. But, roughly how much will the cost be? And is Taeheon sunbae okay? What he did was self-defense, so there won’t be any separate problems for him, right?
What Taeheon did was obviously self-defense. I heard that his fever went down completely after receiving one IV. He is currently sleeping deeply at his family’s main residence. As for the retainer fee, you don’t need to worry about it. You can discuss the details directly with Taeheon when he wakes up tomorrow.
The message ended there.
Iseo had never hired a lawyer before, but she knew that legal fees could be quite expensive.
But he had told her not to worry.
A victim did not simply suffer the direct harm and have everything end there.
They had to file lawsuits, appear in court and testify, negotiate with the perpetrator, and deal with countless other things.
Yet thanks to Taeheon, she did not have to do anything.
“Isn’t Seojin Law Firm one of the most expensive law firms in Korea when it comes to retainer fees…?”
Iseo searched online for the cost and her mouth fell open.
It was much more expensive than she had expected.
“Even if I can get some of it back after winning the case… this isn’t an amount that can be recovered that easily.”
She had received far too great a favor.
She was nothing more than a junior she had met twice because of an assignment.
Yet even though he must have been in unbearable pain, he had never given up and had come to save her.
“…Even though I could clearly see that you were having a hard time, I pretended not to notice.”
Iseo felt tormented by her guilty conscience and made a troubled expression.
Then, as if she had made up her mind about something, she suddenly stood up.
“That’s right! Grandma, this can’t be helped. It’s not that I’m breaking my promise. I’m simply doing what a person should do. Grandma says this to her guests all the time.”
Iseo remembered something her grandmother often said and recited it out loud.
“You must not let kindness you have received simply disappear. The gods see it, and people see it too. When you receive someone’s kindness, engrave it in your heart and repay it someday. That is how your path opens and your blessings continue.”
Iseo clenched her fist and nodded.
“He saved my life. How can I just receive his help and pretend I don’t know him? I need to engrave his kindness in my heart and repay him! Right now!”
With that decision, Iseo began searching for the talismans she had.
She took out the yellow talismans one by one from all around the house, from her bags and clothes, and from places where she had stuck them.
She also brought out the container she carried around, filled with carefully roasted salt and red beans.
After piling everything together, however, she ran into one problem.
“Hmm… How am I supposed to give all this to him?”
