Chapter 144
Eunha's house hadn't changed much compared to the last time Ian visited. It was still simple, and the moon-shaped mood lamp in the corner sparkled as it cast light across the living room.
Ian flinched for no reason at the sight of that mood lamp.
It was a kind of post-traumatic stress disorder. The very illness commonly called PTSD.
Maybe it was because he'd once fought that giant egg-shaped moon head-on; for some reason, just seeing a round moon like that put him in a strangely unsettled mood.
Still, it wasn't so bad that he couldn't recover quickly. Ian hung his coat on the rack and sat on the warm floor, taking the cocoa Eunha handed him. The heat came through the cup.
“Thank you.”
“No, not at all. Here, Yuna, please take one too.”
“Y-yes…….”
Yuna and Eunha had already exchanged names. Thanks to that, they were now on a first-name basis, but the awkwardness remained. Neither of them was the type to step up and break the tension, so that heavy atmosphere looked likely to last for a while.
Ian had no intention of stepping in to help the two of them get closer.
People’s relationships were something they had to handle themselves. Even if someone else led the way and tried to help, it rarely moved things along.
So Ian just sat there and drank his cocoa.
Maybe because she'd only learned how to brew tea by staying home, Eunha's cocoa was quite delicious. The sweetness was blended so exquisitely that it suited Ian's tastes better than any hot chocolate he'd ever had.
“It's delicious.”
“I like it too. Personally, I prefer tea with a slightly bitter taste, but sometimes sweet things are nice.”
Eunha smiled faintly and sat down next to Ian.
A low table for sitting on the floor and drinking tea.
Around the square table, Yuna, Ian, and Eunha sat in a circle.
Thanks to the heating, it wasn't especially cold. Besides, it was spring, so the weather wasn't cold to begin with.
“Ian, about the items…….”
“Ah.”
As Ian quietly sipped his cocoa, Eunha casually asked him. He immediately set down his cup and took the items from his bag, placing them on the table.
A female goat's heart in a clear glass bowl, a pure white thin thread, and a single blooming lily with a slight reddish tint.
Eunha carefully checked the three items laid out on the table one by one, then nodded with satisfaction.
“They're all excellent quality. Thank you so much, Ian. With these, I should be able to safely make a contract with the demon.”
Her lips formed a tiny smile. Ian smiled back at her.
“It's nothing. I'm just glad you like them.”
“……Hehe, you're really good at talking.”
Clatter.
Eunha lightly set her teacup down and went on.
“Please tell me the cost right here. Honestly, no hiding anything.”
“Hmm…… understood. For all three together, it came to about 90 million won.”
“90 million…… That's a pretty reasonable price. Could you tell me your account number?”
He did.
Eunha immediately transferred the money to Ian's account.
A total of 100 million won.
It was an amount with an extra 10 million won added on top of the basic material cost. Ian, who had expected at most a few hundred thousand won, let out a dry laugh.
“Aren't you giving me too much? I feel even more sorry now.”
“I did have a mage run errands, after all, so a proper reward is only right. And your value isn't just a few hundred thousand, Ian.”
Eunha said it lightly. Ian's face was reflected clearly in her mint-colored eyes.
“Please take it without worrying.”
“……Understood. Then I'll do that.”
“Yes.”
Eunha smiled faintly and took a sip of tea. Ian set down his bag too and relaxed.
Then Yuna, who was sitting across from him, tapped his shin with her toes. Ian frowned slightly at the sudden touch.
“Why?”
“……”
Yuna didn't answer. Instead, she pouted and tapped his shin faster with both feet. It was a clear sign of displeasure.
Ian couldn't understand why on earth she was upset. Had she gotten shot in the head without him knowing?
He let out a long sigh and simply left her alone. If it had hurt or been unpleasant, he would have pushed her away appropriately, but it wasn't anything like that. And suddenly getting angry in someone else's house would have looked strange too.
“……Heehee.”
Taking Ian's silence as permission, Yuna moved her toes a little more rhythmically. Then she went so far as to play a tune on them as if she were at a piano.
Annoyed by that, Ian pinched the sole of her foot lightly.
“Hieek!”
Startled by the unexpected counterattack, she leaped up. In the rush to pull her leg back, her knee slammed hard into the table, and the snacks and drinks on top of it spilled everywhere like dominoes collapsing.
Fortunately, the heart, thread, and flower had been placed separately, so they were fine, but the teacup in front of Eunha toppled over and soaked her clothes.
“Gghh……! Ah, it hurts……!”
Even so, Yuna rolled around on the floor clutching her throbbing knee. Eunha turned to look at Yuna, inadvertently feeling the lukewarm tea soak into her clothes. Her head moved with a creepy creak, creak, in a chilling way.
“……”
Unlike her turned head, her lips stayed still, but Ian could roughly tell what she wanted to say.
Since it was probably going to be nothing good, Ian quickly stood up and went to get some wet wipes from nearby.
“Use this first. Isn't it hot?”
“……Yes. Fortunately, it's lukewarm.”
Eunha answered without taking her eyes off Yuna. Yuna whined on the floor.
“I-I hurt too, Ian…… W-what are you doing pinching me like that…….”
“I didn't do anything. You probably just got a cramp.”
Since she was trying to pull the classic 'if I'm going down, you're coming with me' trick, Ian quickly made an evasive move and gathered up the scattered snacks. Eunha also let out a long sigh and picked up the crumbs.
“You move too. It's your mess.”
“……Mmm…….”
Yuna joined in too.
The three of them wrapped up their chatter and, like the gleaning women in a Millet painting, bent over to tidy up the scattered clumps of flour here and there. They picked up the large pieces by hand and gathered them in one place, and the smaller bits were swept away by the vacuum.
Fortunately, the cleanup ended quickly. Eunha set the small handheld vacuum in the corner and opened her mouth, pointing at her wet clothes.
“I'm going to change clothes. Please wait a moment.”
“Ah, yes. Please go ahead.”
“G-go…… sorry…….”
“It's fine.”
Click.
Eunha went into the dressing room. Only then did Ian let out a long breath and turn to Yuna.
“Why are you throwing a fit over there?”
“Y-you……! Y-you……!”
“Are your feet sensitive?”
“They are a little sensitive…… b-but! If you hadn't pinched me, th-then there wouldn't have been anything like this……!”
Yuna hugged her knees, her pupils trembling. Her large chest squished inward.
“What if I get blocked again because my bad-impression stack keeps building up……?”
“Then get lost. I won't see you off.”
“I-I'll protest. I'll unleash a bunch of mysterious lurker accounts to demand that you get blocked too……!”
“Let's compromise.”
Ian backed down before the greatest threat a community ghost could wield. Yuna let out a tiny, muffled laugh.
“Th-then you'll defend me……?”
“……I'll try. But Eunha isn't that petty, so she won't block you just because you did something unlikable.”
“R-really……? I guess you're pretty close.”
Yuna muttered in a slightly lowered voice.
“D-do you like that type……? Like, innocent and quiet……?”
“……I don't know why this conversation is suddenly turning out like this, but I don't have a particular ideal type. I've been too busy trying to get by.”
“I-I see……? Then that's a relief…….”
Before Ian could even ask what exactly was a relief, Yuna edged a little closer to his side. A faint scent like sweet milk drifted over.
“By the way, you speak to your godmother in honorifics, don't you? Why……?”
“I actually prefer honorifics over casual speech anyway. Eunha and I just agreed to speak politely to each other.”
“……Th-then what about me……? Sh-should we use honorifics too…… yo……?”
“……I'm really sorry, but I don't particularly feel like speaking politely to you.”
“What?”
While they were exchanging such useless banter, Eunha came out after changing clothes. She gave the two of them, whose distance had somehow gotten a little closer than before, a brief sidelong glance, then shut the door loudly to distract them. The click echoed clearly.
Ian's head turned toward her on its own.
“Ah, Eunha.”
“I've changed clothes. Fortunately, there doesn't seem to be any stain on them. By the way, what were the two of you talking about?”
“Just chatting.”
Ian brushed it off vaguely and stood up. Yuna stood up too.
“Then, since I'm done here, I'll head back now. If there's another chance, then…….”
“Ah, hold on a moment. If you don't mind, may I make one suggestion?”
Eunha stopped Ian as he was about to leave. He tilted his head slightly.
“Uh…… yes. What suggestion?”
“Did you see the post I wrote on the community? It was about the mirror world.”
“Ah, I did. You were looking for someone to go with you…….”
“Yes, that's right. So if possible, could you go with me? I'm planning to handle the demon contract there.”
That was quite an interesting thing to hear. Ian's eyes naturally narrowed.
“Could you give me a more detailed explanation?”
“Of course. Yuna, you should listen too.”
“A, a-ah……! O-okay……!”
Yuna, who had thought she was the only one being left out, brightened up at once.
Eunha led the two of them into her dressing room.
Perhaps because she kept the smell under control normally, a subtle diffuser fragrance lingered in the room. But inside the room, there was something far more eye-catching than the scent.
A full-length mirror. But its condition wasn't very good. No, it was actually close to the worst possible.
What was there to hide?
The mirror was completely shattered, with cracks spreading all over it.
And inside it.
A faint sound could be heard from between the cracks in the broken mirror.
[Sssst!]
It sounded like a lizard's cry.