Yess & Yes

The flood of articles stopped for a moment.

For the first time, December, or rather, Kang Inheon, had launched a major legal response. All five of the top law firms in the country and abroad have declared that there won’t even be an inch of tolerance. Due to the nature of the internet, they were unable to stop all of them, but everyone would have to lay low.

There were no more reporters or YouTubers seen at Lee Juwon's funeral. No one was willing to risk an eye, an arm, or even their lives for a camera close-up. If they had that much passion, they would volunteer as a war correspondent and not stay in Korea.

But the day before the departure of the funeral procession, things got a little rowdy at Lee Juwon's funeral hall at dawn.

Lee Juwon thought that all there was left was for Kang Inheon and the staff at the funeral home to take care of the rest of the arrangements, but then a middle-aged couple showed up claiming to be Lee Juwon's chief mourners. They claimed to be Lee Juwon's relatives.

Lee Juwon wasn’t someone with no acquaintances at all. They were his aunt and uncle, Lee Sukja and Kim Hanil, who had taken care of him when his parents died in an accident.

It didn't last long, and he was kicked out of the house and lived on his own, paying off debts. Two or three years ago, he heard in passing that his uncle had gone to prison for a business venture gone wrong. After that, they tried to contact him but he ignored it all and thought that their ties were cut, but he didn’t know he’d see them again like this.

The two looked like scruffy beggars. Their clothes were ragged and smelled funky. Their greasy hair was matted with light grey specks of dandruff and dust.

His scoundrel of an uncle, who had once been a frighteningly large man, was now shrivelled up like a deflated balloon. His big hands, like thick pot lids, were also as thin as old trees.

His aunt was the same. The hardships of time were deeply felt from her old face, as wrinkled as when she was angry.

The documents they brought proved that they were Lee Juwon's only relatives and the employees, unsure of what to do, left for a while to call the chief mourner, Kang Inheon. Inside the quiet funeral hall, Lee Sukja lowered her voice and said, “Wow, look at how empty the funeral hall is.”

"Good for us, I guess."

"You're sure we can get the inheritance, right?"

“Of course, Choi Pal hyung-nim recognized everything. We're fourth in line because we're collateral blood relatives, but he's all alone, so there’s no one before us."

“What a gracious hyung-nim.”

“Of course, let’s treat him when we get the inheritance. Isn’t it a relief that he died before getting married?”

“Anyhow, marriage is hopeless for him. He doesn’t open his heart to anyone,” Lee Sukja said with a look of boredom. Then she lowered her voice even further to a whisper. "How much do you think the inheritance will be?"

“What’s the point in saying? It’s got to be huge. Ah, but shit, I bet he has a lot of stuff hidden away...”

Lee Sukja’s face showed concern that they might not be able to gain all of Lee Juwon's inheritance. “Let’s think about that later...” Kim Hanil spoke up and continued, "It’s not like this is the end of the world. This is a good thing."

"So, can we go back to living like how we used to?"

“Is the past a problem? He’s on the level of a chaebol! Let’s move to that bastard’s house right after bereavement. It was in Hannam-dong, right?”

At Kim Hanil's words, Lee Sukja waved her hands in horror. “Places where people who died an untimely lived are uncomfortable. Let’s sell or rent it out and move somewhere else.”

“...Should we, then?”

In the quiet of the funeral home, as if scared of others hearing, the two discussed in hushed tones what to do with the vast inheritance they were about to receive. They'd already talked about it in the car on the way here, but the more they talked, the more excited they became.

This was their chance at getting rich overnight and getting out of their beggarly subdivided flat. As they talked about commercial buildings in hotspots, foreign cars, luxury goods, travelling abroad, and all sorts of delicacies, Kim Hanil muttered, "I've been dreaming good lately...”

“He didn't write a will or anything, did he?"

At Lee Sukja's words, Kim Hanil waved his hand in the air. “He died at such a young age, what do you mean will? And who would he leave his inheritance to? He has no family. He’s not the type to give back to society either.”

“That’s true... I’m sure Juwon is also glad we, his only blood relatives, will receive it.”

“Only when the ungrateful man dies will the favour be repaid.”

"That’s right. We fed and clothed him meticulously, even if we were forced to take him on."

As Lee Juwon listened helplessly to the conversation between the two, his anger couldn’t rise up and he became dispirited. To think that he had to listen to them discussing how they planned to spend his fortune, which he had habitually never spent properly, right in front of his eyes and that his death was more of a happy blessing than the lottery to them.

But it was unfortunate, but true, that Lee Juwon had died and that he had not made a will.

Lee Juwon was too young to think about death and had no chronic illnesses. His business was thriving, and he only had plans to expand. He never thought he would die in such a futile way.

He hadn't written a will, but he wasn't sure what he would say if he had the opportunity to go back in time and make a will. When he spent money, it was almost always for investment purposes and very rarely for consumption. So, there was no way he could write a will that distributed his property.

He had no will, no spouse, no siblings, no parents, not even grandparents, and they, his only relatives, would be the ones to inherit his inheritance. The money he had saved with his life while being insulted by all sorts of people would be used to make good things happen only for them, who were the worst of all. Lee Juwon could only laugh in vain.

Kang Inheon walked down the corridor.

With his large physique and straight posture, Kang Inheon could be seen even from a distance. He was familiar to the public because he was often in the news. Upon spotting him, the two rejoiced and jumped to their feet, but soon stopped.

His expressionless face and impeccable black suit made it difficult for them to approach him. Different from Kang Inheon's sincere and upright personality, unlike Kang Inheon's usual atmosphere like a soft spring breeze, the air that Kang Inheon originally exuded was overbearing.

Among those who use their bodies professionally, the man at the top of the heap was bound to feel like he transcends species. The overwhelming aura of a man whose daily routine is to deal with life and death on the front line could not be hidden even if he wore civilian clothes instead of a combat uniform.

Kang Inheon knew this, so he consciously kept a relaxed air outside of the dungeons so that people wouldn't feel threatened. He deliberately stood slouched and always smiled.

The office workers of December were more used to seeing the idle Kang Inheon crack silly jokes to lighten the mood. He was always friendly in his everyday life, which didn't match his job as an S-class hunter or his large physique.

Outside of dungeons, the only person he would get angry, swear, or raise his voice at was Lee Juwon.

But not now. Unlike before, both his expression and atmosphere didn’t relax. Still, his bloodlust wasn’t overflowing like when he was in a dungeon and he wasn’t sharply conscious of his surroundings. Kang Inheon was simply quiet, dreary, and gloomy.

Kim Hanil moved his gular sack in a swallow and cautiously held out his right hand. “H-hunter Kang Inheon-nim? N-nice to meet you.”

Kang Inheon wordlessly stared down at Kim Hanil’s face. Kim Hanil's hands were lost, hovering in the air.

Shamefully, Kim Hanil pulled back his dark hands with dirt stuck on each wrinkle and nail and wiped them on the waist of his pants. Rather than being embarrassed, Kim Hanil felt a chill go somewhere down his spine and just looked down at Kang Inheon’s shoes.

The atmosphere was cold. No one could say anything and silence passed by. Lee Sukja, who had been carefully reading the mood, closed her eyes tightly to break the icy silence and spoke like a rapid-fire cannon. “W-we belatedly saw what happened to our Juwon on the news and were so upset, we really... a lot was going on in our life, so we’re a b-bit late.” She dabbed at her dry eyes with the yellow handkerchief she held in her hand and continued, “You’ve worked hard during that time. You're not even a blood relative, but you did all the work of the chief mourner..."

At the end of Lee Sukja’s words, there was silence again. Kang Inheon was just staring down at their faces, still expressionless. Kim Hanil forced down his pounding heart and said, “Y-you can stop worrying now. Juwon’s parents became like that, and how close we had been...”

“Still, w-we fed and clothed him with all of our heart...”

As the two nodded to each other and added on, Kang Inheon jerked his chin toward the door. At the same time, the security guards standing behind Kang Inheon grabbed Lee Sukja and Kim Hanil by the shoulder. Their eyes widened at the suddenness of the situation.

Looking at them, Kang Inheon spoke in a low voice, “General Manager Choi.”

As one of the agents standing behind him took a step forward, Kang Inheon pointed at the middle-aged couple with a gesture of his chin and said dryly, "Don't let them step on Korean soil again."

“Pardon?”

"What?"

Facing Lee Sukja, whose eyes were wide open, and Kim Hanil, whose mouth was agape, the men bowed down towards Kang Inheon and grabbed their arms from either side.

“W-what is the meaning of this?”

No one answered Lee Sukja's words. Lee Sukja and Kim Hanil, who were being dragged away while staring at Kang Inheon’s back as he turned around, came to their senses and shouted.

“L-let me—go!”

“No, but w-what are you doing?”

The security officers’ rough hands covered their mouths. They were dragged to the end of the building. At the thought of losing the large sum of money in front of him, Kim Hanil was filled with rage, paralyzing reason and fear.

“Aaaargh! Let me go!” 

Kim Hanil, who had made all sorts of fuss and got the hand off his mouth, shouted loudly at Kang Inheon's back. "Who the fuck do you think you are, kicking out the bereaved?! Who do you think you are?! We’re Lee Juwon’s blood relatives!”

Boom!

Along with the sound of an explosion, a sudden gust of winter wind raged through the corridor of the funeral home. The closed door of the funeral home’s entrance broke into pieces.

“Ack!”

Kim Hanil couldn't say anything more than a cry of surprise. There was silence again. Amid the silence, Kang Inheon slowly turned around again.

“I’ll give you a choice then.”

“......”

"Either you’re going to get your head blown off here, or you’re going to keep living outside of Korea."

Kim Hanil, who had lived his entire life by the logic of the law of the jungle, was acutely aware of the superiority of strength. His eyes locked with Kang Inheon's, and like a small animal in front of a snake, he was filled with instinctive fear, unable to breathe. His heart was pounding wildly and his body was shaking uncontrollably. Lee Sukja’s legs had already given out and she sank to the floor.

The watching gaze demanded an answer. He knew he had to speak, but he was too paralyzed by fear to open his mouth.

If he answered the former, his head would crack open like how the thick iron door had broken. A single glance from Kang Inheon would determine his life and death. If he answered the latter, there was no way to receive the inheritance, no way to spend it. No, he couldn't answer easily when he didn't know where he would be sent outside of Korea.

“W-why are you doing this to us...”

It was their first time meeting Kang Inheon, but they could feel the slightest trace of bloodlust beyond his expressionless face. Incapable of knowing why he held animosity towards them, Kim Hanil and Lee Sukja shook.

Kang Inheon muttered in annoyance, “I’ll take that as you picking the former.”

When Kang Inheon tilted his head to the side, Kim Hanil dropped to his knees as he convulsed. He wrapped his arms around his head and screamed, “N-no, no! O-outside of K-Korea, w-won’t, a-again...!”

Kim Hanil buried his head on the floor and clasped his hands together, begging. Lee Sukja was almost in an unconscious state, unable to speak. Only the sound of their heavy breathing and the wind remained in the corridor.

After a while, the security guards picked them up again and took them outside. The funeral parlour was as quiet as a dead mouse again.

* * *

There was a time when Lee Juwon was a chief mourner too. He didn't remember much about it because he was so young and it was so sudden. Just that it was so long it seemed to last forever. The second funeral he watched in full was his own funeral, and it passed by in a flash.

After Lee Juwon’s corpse had neatly gone through the funeral service company’s procedures, it was placed into a fire going over a thousand degrees and even his bones were turned into a handful of ashes.

“I really died, huh.” Lee Juwon murmured as he looked at his own urn.

From the moment he saw his body with his neck broken, he had a hunch that there was no turning back. Even if he were to wake up, it would be meaningless. Now that he was reduced to charred powder and placed in a milky white pottery with his name engraved in hanja, his death had become more tangible.

Even if he came back to life, the whole country would be disappointed. Instead of mourning, his death was met with rejoicing.

Lee Juwon was at first outraged by the rejoicing, but now he had no energy to be angry. He just thought that he had lived a hard life. A life he lived so hard that people were happy when he died and sorry when he was alive.

Kang Inheon, the only one who did not rejoice in his death, carefully placed the urn in the car. The only thing that was a little strange was that it wasn't a limousine provided by the funeral company, but Kang Inheon's own car.

Lee Juwon climbed into the back seat without anyone noticing. The car had a high body and spacious interior, so he thought it was a good match for Kang Inheon.

The car driven by Kang Inheon left in silence. Lee Juwon was surprised that Kang Inheon had guarded the funeral hall alone until the end, but now that he thought about it, there was no one else who could have done that.

If it wasn't for Kang Inheon, would he have had a funeral with nobody? Well, the inheritance would have been more than the cost of the funeral, so the people who claimed to be the chief mourner might’ve immediately run there. Like his aunt and uncle who came to the funeral.

Instead of the ones he didn’t even want to walk by again, Kang Inheon became the chief mourner and guarded the funeral parlour until the end. When he thought of Kang Inheon, alone in the empty funeral home, he felt something burning hot surge up his chest.

“Sigh...” Lee Juwon closed his eyes and took a deep breath. For some reason, his eyes burned and his throat tightened.

But they weren't the end of it. Now that the inheritance of his property was in full swing, all kinds of blowflies waiting to smell would flock. It felt like that meant he had lived like feces, so Lee Juwon felt bitter.

Kang Inheon drove on the highway for more than two hours, even after leaving Gyeonggi-do. He didn't turn on the navigation system, radio, or any music. Whether it was worth its price or if the soundproofing was good, there was no engine noise or shaking, so the inside of the car was infinitely quiet. He had thought they were going to go to a nearby columbarium, but he couldn't figure out where they were going.

Anyway, it was the first time he had ever been in a car driven by Kang Inheon. Unlike other Hunters who usually drive recklessly, Kang Inheon drove safely like a chauffeur, obeying traffic laws and speed limits.

Lee Juwon stared at the winter scenery outside of the car window whizzing past for a while. The buildings along the roadside diminished in height until only a few single-storey houses with turquoise slate roofs stood out here and there. The harvested rice paddies were left with only short rows of straw. Between them, white snow lay like a dusting of salt.

One long, low, unbroken ridge rose and fell, varying slightly in height. The fields and paddies of grey and white were also flat.

Lee Juwon didn't bury his nose in his papers, looking away from the everyday scenery as he usually did. No, he couldn't. There was nothing he could do but stare blankly outside.

He couldn't remember the last time he had sat blankly and done nothing when he was alive. He even cut down his time for sleeping, thinking that he’ll sleep the rest of his life away when he dies. He only worked, not even realizing when the seasons change, but now that he died in vain, the time he economized so much was meaningless.

When Lee Juwon sighed,

Screech,

The car driven by Kang Inheon screeched to a halt. The items inside the box placed in the back seat spilled out. A black SUV forced its way in front of Kang Inheon's car and sped away with its emergency lights flashing.

"What the hell, are they crazy?"

Lee Juwon cursed, but Kang Inheon, the one who was actually driving, had no reaction whatsoever. He just closely checked if the case containing the urn on the passenger seat was okay. Kang Inheon, who confirmed that there was nothing wrong thanks to how well it was fastened, slowly stepped on the accelerator again.

“Huh...?”

The box on the back seat looked familiar. It was the box containing the items Kang Inheon had taken out of the safe.

When he wondered what the hell it was and how important it was for Kang Inheon to store it in a safe, he saw that what had fallen on the floor of the backseat was a small black name card book.

Who collects business cards these days? What kind of connections are these? Thinking that in a positive way, it was classic and in a realistic way he was behind on the times, Lee Juwon flipped open the leather cover of the name card book. He wondered what kind of business cards were inside. And then he unknowingly muttered to himself, “He still has this?”

On the first page of the name card book was Lee Juwon's business card. It was even from seven years ago when the company still had a tentative name. The material and design were extremely shoddy, and the card was yellowed with age, as it was ordered at the lowest price due to a lack of funds.

He flipped through another page and found another of his business card. It was a new business card with the company name changed to December.

The next page and the page after that were the same; it was Lee Juwon’s business cards. Every time he moved offices, changed addresses, changed websites, or changed numbers, he had to change his business cards, but he didn't remember giving any of them to Kang Inheon apart from the first one. He couldn't figure out how he had gotten all of them.

The last business card in the name card book was the one Lee Juwon was using now. It was a business card that was made at the lowest price, even though the company had grown to a size incomparable to before, and it was ordered in small quantities because it was seldom distributed now.

There was nothing else in the card name book apart from Lee Juwon’s business cards. Feeling strange, Lee Juwon swallowed dryly and took out another file from the box.

“Hm...?”

The files contained scraps from business magazines, newspapers, etc. They were all articles or interviews with Lee Juwon.

None of the articles scrapped by Kang Inheon contained negative opinions about Lee Juwon. There were only articles with media manipulation.

<The Necessity of Child Welfare Foundations and December’s Active Social Contribution Project Promotion>

...Lee Juwon, the CEO of December who participated in the sharing relay despite being in a difficult situation due to a financial audit, said, "Donations are the best value investment for the future,” and “We will continue to contribute to society with continuity so that children who are suffering from the dungeon situation do not lose hope,” he emphasized.

Hunter Kang Inheon, also from December, revealed his feelings, "If there was at least one person that believes in us, we can turn the impossible into the possible. December would like to take on that role.”

<December Donates 2.5 Billion to the Habyeon Region Hit Hard by Dungeon Damage>

...”As it is said that it is darkest before dawn, I hope the residents of Habyeon will work together to overcome the difficulties,” said CEO Lee Juwon...

<December Agrees to the Dungeon Information Disclosure Agreement>

...Lee Juwon, CEO of December, comes out to say that they will continue to disclose information to civilians even more actively in the future...

These articles were actually the result of Kang Inheon's own initiative or the tearful decision to spend money at the behest of his public relations team, and everyone knew it: reporters, the public, and Lee Juwon. Even if he sometimes made donations or sponsorships of his own volition, it was only to divert the money to a foundation to reduce taxes, so there was no way Kang Inheon wouldn’t have known even if he had his eyes covered.

Feeling embarrassed, Lee Juwon quickly flipped through the scrapbook and found a photo of a different article. It was a picture of Lee Juwon tapping Kang Inheon on the shoulder while he was wearing patient clothing.

It was easy for Lee Juwon to recognize when the photo was taken. It was when Kang Inheon had gotten injured in the Bangchuk-dong dungeon. That had been the first time Kang Inheon had ever been hospitalized.

He didn't visit him in the hospital except for the first day when he registered as a guardian, but the public criticism was too much, so he went to take a picture on the last day. It was taken on a bench on one of the outdoor paths of the hospital.

The same people who were cursing him for not making a visit to the hospital were showering him with curses telling him going to the hospital was like giving someone a disease and then giving them medicine. What the hell was he supposed to do? In fact, he couldn't understand how Kang Inheon was holding the same quality photo as the original, even though he had filed a timely defamation lawsuit against all of them and taken down all of the articles.

It was all blank starting from the next page and Lee Juwon was about to close the scrapbook after flipping through a few pages. But there was something at the very end. There was a photo stuck in there with a disposable bandage that had been worn out.

“...Huh?”

It was a group photo of students in uniform. The uniforms the students were wearing were familiar. When he looked at the year and place on the bottom of the photo, he realized that it was a group photo taken on a field trip to Icheon in middle school.

“...Isn’t this me?”

Lee Juwon recognized himself in the photo. He was younger than he was now but didn’t look different enough to the point of being unrecognizable.

"No way..."

There was a boy with a face so different from his current one that he wouldn't recognize him if he didn't look closely, standing far away from the children crowding together and making peace signs.

He knew that they went to the same middle school for a while, but they were in the same class? When Lee Juwon traced the face of the boy who looked young like a kid again with his finger, the car screeched to a halt.

Lee Juwon lifted his head. Through the car window, he could see an open landscape without a single building, unlike Seoul.

After driving for over an hour on the national highway from the Sangin junction, they reached the river located in Gyeongsam. Perhaps because the current was strong and deep, and the river flowed slowly and calmly without freezing even in the middle of winter.

The winter mountains bordering the river were covered in frost and specked with white. At some point, the sunset gradually set in the sky, and the blue river that reflected the sky turned red.

After stopping the car on the bank of the river, Kang Inheon opened the back door. Lee Juwon cleared his throat as if he had been caught sneaking into the back seat, but of course, Kang Inheon neither saw nor heard him.

He tucked the name card book, photo album, etc. that had fallen on the floor of the back seat back into the box and took the box out of the car.

Even the wind was quiet along the deserted riverside. The only sound was the rustling of the pebbles on the riverbank as Kang Inheon walked along. The early winter sun was tipping over the low mountains that surrounded the other side of the river like a folding screen.

He set the box down on the bank of the river and put a cigarette in his mouth. He took out a lighter, lit the end of the cigarette, and set the inside of the box on fire too. The contents were mostly photos, paper, and vinyl, so the box quickly went up in flames.

Like Lee Juwon's body, which was reduced to ashes, the records Kang Inheon had collected of him were instantly charred to blackness and shrivelled. The crackling red flames were like the colour of the sunset along the river.

“Sigh...”

For some reason, Lee Juwon sighed in regret. He didn't know why it felt like such a waste to burn most of the official data that anyone could have. It was as if he was disappearing in the fire once again.

Kang Inheon blankly stared at the bonfire. The flames burned a similar colour to the sunset sky, dying down little by little until there was nothing left to burn.

By the time he had burned three cigarettes in a row, only charred leather, bits of iron, and ashes remained.

A gust of bitter winter wind blew the black powder away. The smoky smell soon dissipated into thin air, leaving only the sound of dry branches swaying in the wind.

Kang Inheon even erased the remaining traces by kicking the charred pebbles with his shoe and turning around.

Lee Juwon couldn’t take his eyes off Kang Inheon’s back, who looked like he was going to drive away after burning all of the lingering feelings. His back was so wide that the black suit felt tight. His back, which was as wide as the sky, as firm as a big mountain, and as relaxed as a river, was strangely precarious as if it were about to collapse.

With a click, the car door opened. Kang Inheon opened the passenger door and took out the urn. Then he strode back to the river.

Was he going to scatter the ashes here too?

In principle, it was illegal, but it seemed better than putting them in a columbarium. If it were left in a columbarium, someone might try to terrorize it.

Not even having the time to mock himself for worrying about his safety only after his death, Kang Inheon inattentively passed by Lee Juwon and continued to slowly walk.

In order to scatter the ashes into the river, he needed to be close to the river, but the problem was that he didn't stop even when the water was up to his ankles.

It wasn't summer, and it wasn't like he was going to go play in the water, so it was really strange to enter the river with his shoes on.

“...Aren’t you cold?” Lee Juwon said, following behind him. Kang Inheon didn't answer.

Following him, Lee Juwon dipped his feet into the river, unable to feel the water's temperature. But it must be different for the living Kang Inheon. The water of the winter river must have been ankle-splittingly cold.

Without hesitation, Kang Inheon continued walking across the river. Soon, the river water rose over his knees and splashed. The black pants of his suit were soaked and the colour deepened.

“How far are you going to go...?”

At some point, the river water rose to Kang Inheon’s waist. Lee Juwon's urn, which he held with both hands, was also submerged in the river. But scattering ashes in the river like this was unheard of.

“It’s—it’s dangerous...”

The living Kang Inheon didn't shiver at all in the icy water, but the dead Lee Juwon was terrified. His knees stumbled uncontrollably, and he almost fell to the bottom of the river.

"Don't go any further... Then..." Lee Juwon murmured gibberish. “If... If not Hunter Kang, who’ll take care of the S-class dungeons...?”

Lee Juwon shut his eyes tight. Even as he spoke, he knew it didn't make sense. While calculating the cost-effectiveness, he didn’t even let Kang Inheon go to the dungeons only he could handle.

Dungeons are rated by their danger level, but for Lee Juwon, it was not the danger level that mattered, it was the value and usefulness of the dungeon. Real life wasn’t like games, where doing dangerous, difficult, and dirty jobs earns you a lot of experience, money, and prestige.

Dungeons in the real world were naturally not proportional in effort and reward. Lee Juwon's ability was to find work in which effort and reward were as inversely proportional as possible.

“W-what about our December...?”

After Lee Juwon's death, December was quietly festive. Lee Juwon thought that December wouldn’t be able to function properly without him, but only he thought that.

Aside from a day or two of internal turmoil, December ran smoothly. The staff, with the exception of Lee Juwon, had a strong bond. A common enemy tends to bring people together. What he didn't realize was that the enemy was Lee Juwon himself.

Lee Juwon thought the higher-than-average salary in the industry was the reason the employees didn't escape, but it wasn't the only reason. The sense of camaraderie built by pulling all-nighters and swearing together, and the pride of working with Kang Inheon, was what sustained December.

As soon as Lee Juwon's death was made official, December's brand value was re-adjusted and announced. As hard as it was for Lee Juwon to admit that his company had taken an ownership risk, like how hard it was for him to admit that he was dead, he was the one who said “Money doesn’t lie.” like it was a habit of mouth. However, it was a different story if Kang Inheon died. Without him, December would collapse.

But what did it matter if he was already dead? There was no use knowing how the company would run in the position of a dead man. Even these futile sounds couldn't reach Kang Inheon, and he was devastated.

Meanwhile, the river water had risen to his chest. Lee Juwon tried to grab Kang Inheon's arm, but all his fist could grab in the river was itself, so he couldn’t get a hold of him.

The further Kang Inheon went into the river, the more his vision became dizzy as if his already cut-off breath was being blocked. Lee Juwon cried out, feeling like he was losing consciousness. "Why the hell are you doing this?! What the hell is wrong with you?"

“......”

“I’d rather you mock me, why are you like this?! Are you insane?”

“......”

“Wake up, you crazy bastard!”

No matter how hard he shouted, there was no answer. As always, Kang Inheon was right in front of him now, but it was so different from before when it was natural for him to be by his side. Gritting his teeth, Lee Juwon said, "No matter how much I think about it, you're the only one who can receive my inheritance!"

It was the money he did everything to collect. He couldn't let Kang Inheon die because he couldn't let all that inheritance go to waste.

“You’re the best choice out of all of them...”

No matter how many times he thought about it, he would feel less unfair if Kang Inheon received his inheritance. He was the one who helped him grow his fortune the most, and he thought that he’d use it in the most desirable way, and they needed to save the company too...

No, none of that was necessary, he just wanted to give it to Kang Inheon.

"So, let's get out of here, okay?"

He hugged Kang Inheon tightly from behind, but nothing entered his arms. Kang Inheon kept going, and Lee was just grasping at the water. Like the river water flowing through his fingers, he couldn't hold Kang Inheon. He was slipping out of his grasp, and it was driving him crazy.

“Fuck! You don’t listen to me until the damn end!”

The water rose to his chin now. If he died here one more time, he might become a water ghost with him this time. He didn’t know about himself, but he couldn’t let that happen to Kang Inheon. But there was nothing Lee Juwon could do now.

“Pant, stop... Don’t go...”

His mouth burned despite being submerged in water. Even though he shouldn't be able to feel anything, he could taste iron in his tightly closed mouth.

A strong wind whipped the river into waves. His vision was blurry with the rising water. Like a mess, his face was damp and wet.

“You... You should live...”

Lee Juwon's voice, inaudible to anyone else, was a mixture of frustration, despair, and futility. Of all the mixed emotions, it was fear that overwhelmed him the most.

Rough breathing turned to sobs.

“Ha... Please... Inheon-ah...”

At that moment, Kang Inheon, who had been moving forward without hesitation while submerged in water up to his chest, turned around for the first time.

Only then was Lee Juwon capable of seeing Kang Inheon's face properly.

The tears that had pooled in the corners of his reddened eyes glistened in the sunset light of the river. He hadn't seen him cry during the whole funeral—no, maybe his face was wettened by the river water like himself.

Lee Juwon reached out to the corner of Kang Inheon’s eye. His outstretched hand passed through without touching him, but a single tear from the corner of his long eye slid down his shrivelled cheek and into the river.

It was a very tiny drop compared to the river, but the river seemed to deepen to Lee Juwon because of those tears.

He felt numb like an electric shock was applied to his stopped heart. His heart didn’t start beating again, but he felt pained like rusty cogs were creaking and turning.

Lee Juwon even noticed that his outstretched hand turned white.

“Ah...”

Looking at that hand, he suddenly fell into a daze. He felt like he was standing alone in a collapsed space-time.

He lost his body, lost his five senses, and now his soul was gradually becoming transparent. Will he disappear forever like this?

Then, what about Kang Inheon? What will happen to Kang Inheon?

The thought of Kang Inheon brought him back to reality. His eyes quickly regained their focus and chased after Kang Inheon again.

Before he knew it, Kang Inheon was submerged in the water again and he could barely see him. Lee Juwon reached out his hand once again toward Kang Inheon, who was sinking as if entangled in a jet-black, gooey swamp.

“Ugh... just, just once...”

But there was something strange about his hand that could not touch him. It was his first time experiencing the process of his ghost slowly becoming transparent, but something felt familiar. Rather than being transparent, his hands were white, like he was wearing gloves.

“Gasp!”

When the river water surged by the wind hit his face, the identity of the deja vu struck his head.

So,

In the shit dream he dreamt during Christmas,

It seemed like he drank from a spring and his hand ended up like this?

In the second that he closed his eyes against the surging current, Lee Juwon was conscious of how his surroundings changed in an instant.

Instead of a sunset sky, there was a low, white ceiling overhead.

His fingertips were dry now as if it were a lie that he had been submerged in the river water.

“...Huh?”

No matter how much he looked around, this was not the Gyeongsam River. There was no black sedan parked on the bank, no deep blue river, no urn, and most importantly, no Kang Inheon.

Lee Juwon was lying all alone in a clearing surrounded by white stones.

Translator notes:

the long chapter 2 has finally ended!! (but the end of long chapters has not come, bc chapter 4 is more than half of volume 2...)