Yess & Yes

Lee Juwon’s hands shook. Rightfully so, since he was cursed right to his face. But he wasn't angry, he was scared. It wasn’t fear towards Reporter Choi, but fear towards himself, who didn’t seem to exist.

Unable to admit it, Lee Juwon raised his trembling hand and clenched it into a tight fist. He hit Reporter Choi’s chin hard with that fist. It was a very expensive punch for Lee Juwon, who prepared for the settlement money.

“Ugh!”

Lee Juwon's hand passed through the reporter's face. Lee Juwon, who pawed at the air, lost his balance and stumbled. Despite such a conspicuous and ridiculous move, no one even cast him a glance.

Like a ghost.

Ghost?

A ghost? That was ridiculous.

First and foremost, Lee Juwon regulated his breathing. In a situation like this, he had to think rationally.

It was true that he was invisible to other people. He had felt this disharmony since the bus stop. The whole street was full of people talking about him, but no one was interested in his presence.

But that didn’t mean he became a ghost. Sure, he was the Lee Juwon who was said to be like a ghost and called a dick, but there was no way he actually became a ghost or a spirit.

There was no mistaking it, he must’ve drunk an invisibility potion without realizing it himself. Invisibility potions were very precious items, but he had no idea how he consumed one. Even for ordinary people, it was natural that the potion's effectiveness would be significantly reduced, so how could he become completely invisible?

"How does this even make sense..."

There was a sudden commotion at the front gate. Reporters, sensing the presence, swarmed the doorway.

"When is the official announcement coming?"

“Where’s Hunter Kang Inheon?”

"I heard that CEO Lee Juwon was driving under the influence of alcohol, is that correct?"

"I heard his blood alcohol level was at the license suspension level, is that true?"

It was a jumble of employees trying to get to work, reporters trying to get in, and security guards trying to keep them out. It was no different from pandemonium. The guards checked employees' work IDs and held back the throng of reporters pushing, opening the door just barely enough to let one person through.

Lee Juwon followed the employee that entered last and entered the December building. No one—not the employees, not the security guards, not the reporters—noticed him enter.

In a split second, the door closed again. Noise from the outside was blocked out. Unlike the main entrance which was like a flea market, the company lobby was quiet, though there were a few people.

Odd energy passed through the silence. Employees whispered amongst themselves and exchanged shifty glances. That scene was creepy.

Rather, he preferred the chaotic atmosphere outside. Lee Juwon wanted to slam that door open, stand in front of them, and do the reporters’ interviews. He usually hated reporters, but now he was desperate.

If he could just stand in front of them, the situation would be resolved. After that, he could sue the people who wrote and spread the fake news and the YouTubers who talked nonsense and it’d all be over. Lee Juwon was already steadily collecting settlements from thousands of internet trolls.

But for now, all he could do was curse and head for the elevator. Whether it was amnesia or invisibility, he believed a detoxification potion would fix it all. If I take the detoxification potion, I'll remember what happened, the invisibility will wear off, and all the misunderstandings will be cleared up, Lee Juwon repeated to himself.

In front of the elevator, a man with disheveled hair and a loose tie in the morning was sniffling, as if he had pulled an all-nighter at work last night. Next to him, a similarly gaunt woman patted him on the back. It was Jung Inha, the team leader of the post-processing team, and one of her team members.

“Team leader... what should I do?” The man said, eyes brimming with tears. “The CEO actually died... ha... what do I do?”

"There's nothing we can do."

The elevator arrived with a soft electronic sound. He wasn't actually dead, but there was at least one person who felt sorry for Lee Juwon’s death anyway.

That team member, what was his name again... As Lee Juwon stepped onto the elevator, scrambling to remember, the man sobbed, “What do I do if the CEO died because I prayed for his death too earnestly?”

“Sigh, are you going to keep talking nonsense?”

“I laid down some draw water[1] and prayed...”

[1] Clean water drawn from a well at early dawn

“Purified water?”

"I bought it on Instagram..."

"Instagram...?"

“I heard that the water came from a well at dawn in the S-class temple dungeon…”

Team Leader Jung narrowed her eyes and said, "Was it even certified by the HA?"

The man, whose will died at the look in Team Leader Jung’s eyes, answered sullenly, “They said it was genuine, so...”

“You act like that while working at a hunter company?”

"No, but they said the effect was guaranteed..."

When the man hesitated, Team Leader Jung sighed lightly and soon tapped him on the shoulder. "Yeah, yeah, if there's any left, pray to win the lottery."

"Ha... I originally bought it to make another wish, but on impulse... I didn’t actually want the CEO to die... I was just frustrated with the situation..." The man squeezed his eyes shut and rubbed his face heavily with his hands. "What's even creepier is..."

“...…?”

“At dawn today, I saw the article at the company...” After catching his breath, the man spat out the words with difficulty. “I was happy...”

“......”

“I thought... I could go home now...”

After the man spoke, silence drifted inside the elevator. For a moment, Team Leader Jung chuckled lightly. "I don't know what to say."

“...What?”

“Just looking at the news of his death, I thought I finally killed that bastard without realizing it myself and almost turned myself in to the police.”

“Team leader, I was being serious though...” The man grumbled as if losing his steam, but Team Leader Jung said while grinning, “I’m also serious? If it wasn’t because of a car accident and someone really hit him in the streets at night, it really would’ve been me.”

At Team Leader Jung’s sneaky tone about accomplishing her original goals, the man laughed a bit as if it dumbfounded him. Team Leader Jung nudged the man in the side with her elbow and said, “Huh? You’re laughing after crying?”

“But I wasn’t crying, though?”

“Should I touch you to see if horns grew[2]?”

[2] horns growing, meaning getting angry, kinda like a bull

"Team Leader, that comment—that's hierarchical sexual harassment."

With a ding, the elevator arrived at the thirteenth floor, and the two continued their conversation as they stepped out of the elevator.

"Hey, can we... get some sleep tonight...? I've been sleeping so poorly lately that my heart really hurts..."

"Then, pack your bags. Let's go home and sleep for 48 hours. We'll just have to dodge the reporters on the way out."

Until the doors of the elevator closed, Lee Juwon stood there, still and unseen by anybody.

A moment later, the elevator moved with a rattle. The slight vibration jolted him awake, and he gritted his teeth as he realized what he was hearing.

“...Kim Kyungsoo, yeah, it was Kim Kyungsoo...”

Having remembered the team member’s name, he decided to make him pay the price for treating his death as a joke later.

On the monitor mounted on the wall of the elevator, Kang Inheon was still smiling brightly. The numbers on the floor indicator climbed higher and higher: 14, 15, 16. When it reached the 18th floor, the doors opened again.

Three or four employees stood in front of the door. A male employee held a large box in both hands. A triangular plaque sticking out of the box caught Lee Juwon's eye.

It was the plaque on Lee Juwon's desk, made of black aluminum and inscribed with the words CEO Lee Juwon in peeling gold leaf.

“Huh?”

Lee Juwon got off the elevator and hurriedly ran to the representative’s office. The door to the representative’s office was already wide open.

There was no plaque on the old desk he used in life, no chrysanthemum flowers in death. It was simply empty. The familiar space he had occupied until yesterday, with only a few of his belongings missing, felt unfamiliar. As if it had changed owners.

"Did those sons of a bitch clean the desk already?"

He wasn’t even dead yet, but even if he was, they hadn’t even held a funeral yet? Cleaning out the representative’s office first like they were waiting for it was something they couldn’t do unless they had gone crazy.

“...Just you wait until I can be seen again!”

He wondered what the faces of the humans who were now excitedly tidying up the representative’s office would be like. Would they be surprised as if they'd seen a ghost and fall to their knees and apologize for their false expectations?

In anticipation of that scene, Lee Juwon made his way to the potions laboratory. It was the only way to calm his boiling anger.

There was a security guard at the door of the potions laboratory and a resident researcher in the laboratory, but no one noticed Lee Juwon enter. The security guard and the researcher leaned back in their chairs and just fiddled with their phones.

Security was one of the things that Lee Juwon was investing money in while holding back tears. He even hired solely A-class hunters as security guards. But this kind of slackened discipline, unworthy of the amount he spent, was unacceptable. But no matter how much Lee Juwon scolded him, no one could hear his voice.

Wondering what the hell made them that focused, he glanced over and saw that they were watching a YouTube video on mute with subtitles on. The video playing on their phone screens was <125 Reasons Why Lee Juwon Had to Die>. The thumbs-up emoji glowed bright red.

“Just you wait...”

The number of likes and views on the video soared sky-high unknowingly, but it didn't matter. The video was going to go down soon anyway.

People who made fake news videos or rumour videos were the problem, but those who watched them happily were the same. Was there a place in this world where there was supply without demand? This was especially true on YouTube, the capitalist hub.

Lee Juwon wanted to sue the people who subscribed or pressed like on those types of videos until their pockets were emptied. The settlement money business seemed substantial, but both sympathizers and consumers were accomplices too, so why didn’t he punish them? He held back while thinking of seeing their regretful faces soon.

Lee Juwon found a detoxicant among the potions lining the shelves on the wall of the lab and pulled it out. It was Aqua Blue, which could neutralize any decent poison or curse, and if he drank it, his invisibility would obviously be removed too.

Lee Juwon removed the lid of the potion bottle and downed it in one gulp.

Normally, Lee Juwon would loudly rebuke his employees to recycle their potion bottles, but this time was different. He threw the empty potion bottle on the floor.

Shatter!

The sound of the glass bottle hitting the floor and breaking woke up the quiet laboratory. Researcher Park Sangwoo, who had been glued to his phone, jerked his head up. His eyes locked with Lee Juwon's.