Chapter 82 – Do You Have a Religion

Step, step.

Geum Nae-yeong was on his way back to the office after finishing the morning trial.

At that moment, someone spoke to Geum Nae-yeong.

“Excuse me.”

Looking back, a middle-aged woman wearing glasses was holding something in her hand. Wearing a black cross bag with her shoulders slumped, she had a somewhat listless attitude.

The woman came a bit closer to Geum Nae-yeong and scanned him from head to toe.

Young, neatly dressed, and with a handsome face. Looking at him, he was clearly an office worker working near here.

‘Is he a new recruit…?’

The woman’s eyes flashed for a moment.

‘Opting for a newcomer to society. He looks naive. This type is the easiest… they also pay well for prayer offerings.’

Having finished her calculation, the woman put on a kind smile.

“Ah, I’m not a strange person… I’m doing a psychological test and survey targeting young people. It’s to let you know how to govern your mind and live from now on. If it’s alright, could you spare some time?”

“A psychological test…”

At the word ‘test,’ Geum Nae-yeong nodded his head slightly.

“Hmm… it won’t take much time, right?”

“Would you like to do it? This takes less than five minutes. The young man is handsome, and even kind.”

The woman held out the paper.

Geum Nae-yeong received the paper marked as a questionnaire and began checking it.

1. I often hear that I am cold-hearted.

① Strongly agree ② Agree ③ Neutral …

Geum Nae-yeong checked number ① without hesitation.

2. When people around me shed tears and appeal about their difficulties, I do not understand their feelings well.

Once again, number ①.

In that way, Geum Nae-yeong checked the answers to the survey in an instant without any hesitation. The woman’s eyebrows furrowed minutely.

‘What…? They are all number one. No, is he a psychopath or what… isn’t he doing it too carelessly… tsk.’

The woman looking into the survey sheet instantly changed her frowning expression into a smile.

“I’m so grateful, as a reward for doing the survey, I will read your physiognomy. Let’s see… Oh my, your physiognomy is so good.”

The woman scanned Geum Nae-yeong and praised his appearance.

“I hear such things often.”

“But by any chance, do you dream often?”

“Dreams? Not at all.”

The woman tested Geum Nae-yeong slightly and examined his expression.

“Ah… I see. Don’t your ancestors appear in your dreams? Your grandfather is always following you around by your side.”

Geum Nae-yeong tilted his head.

“Following me around? My deceased grandfather?”

‘Oh. It worked.’

The woman, thinking he fell for it, was satisfied inwardly.

“Of course. He is unable to go to the afterlife because he wants his grandson to do well.”

“If so… you are saying he is floating around without a body, that is, a physical form?”

“Right. He follows you wherever you go. He’s just not visible to the eye. Because he’s a spirit.”

Geum Nae-yeong nodded and said seriously.

“Then, you are assuming that the existence of a soul is not subject to physical laws.

That is, you are saying that my deceased grandfather is following me at a tremendous speed to match the Earth’s rotation and revolution speed, right?”

Startled for a moment, the woman shook briefly, but soon replied as if nothing were wrong.

“…Pardon?… Well, yes. It’s just not visible to your eyes right now, young man. If you study the mind, you can actually see him.”

Geum Nae-yeong nodded briefly.

“I see… Schrödinger’s cat.”

“Yes…?”

“You are claiming that a living grandfather and a deceased grandfather coexist in a simultaneous superposition. However, at my point of observation, my grandfather is determined to be deceased.”

He raised the corner of his mouth very faintly.

“It was an interesting idea. Well, I must get going.”

As he tried to move his steps, the woman quickly added words.

“If… it was interesting, could I be treated to just a glass of water or a cup of coffee?”

“Hmm… Yes. Since it was sufficiently interesting, a glass of beverage is possible.”

In that way, the middle-aged woman followed Geum Nae-yeong.

***

“Oh, Attorney. Did you return from the trial?”

As he entered the firm, Cha Ra-ri greeted Geum Nae-yeong warmly.

Hearing those words, the woman’s expression stiffened.

‘…What? A lawyer? Not a new recruit here? Sigh… no wonder his tone was stiff.’

While she was panicking, Geum Nae-yeong handed the woman over to Cha Ra-ri.

“This person here has a topic that combines science and philosophy.

Since she asked for a beverage, I think it would be fine to give her one.

And by the way, feng shui geomancy is also a study combining geography and totems, so you two will have an interdisciplinary conversation.”

At those words, Cha Ra-ri nodded.

‘I don’t know what it means… but since she’s a client anyway, it must be Attorney Geum’s signal to attract a lawsuit, right? Then it’s an immediate okay.’

Cha Ra-ri approached the woman with an energetic attitude and showed a smile.

“Oh, hello! Sister, your fashion style is really, how should I say… like an intellectual. Mmh… neat but somehow, without dressing up, that’s real sense.”

At those words, the woman’s pupils shook.

“Ah… yes, is that so…”

“Come this way. I will give you a cup of coffee.”

As the two sat in the consultation room, Cha Ra-ri’s sales began.

“Then Sister, what kind of field do you like from a scientific perspective?”

“Sc… Science? Uh… uh… that… by the way, miss, do you have a religion?”

Just in case, the woman tried changing her target from Geum Nae-yeong to Cha Ra-ri.

“Religion? Hmm… if I had to say, my religion is ‘cars’?”

“Cars? Is there a place that believes in such a thing?”

Cha Ra-ri laughed loudly and waved her hand.

“Oh, Sister! How naive. Cars, automobiles. Very expensive cars, I mean.

There is nothing in the world that is as reliably trustworthy as money. And money is something that yields real flavor when shown off noticeably.

It’s just that there is nothing like a car to show that off. An Hermez bag is 20 million won, but a car is in the hundreds of millions, right?”

“Then… do you drive a good car, miss?”

“Of course. Me, I am scheduled to drive a really good car soon. What do you drive, Sister?”

“Me… me? Well… the subway?”

“Oh, there is nothing with as high fatigue as public transportation.

Looking closely at you, Sister, you seem to have a long travel distance during the day… Because you travel like that, you have no energy in your body. Then where is your home?”

At Cha Ra-ri’s continuous questions, the woman gradually got sucked in.

“My home is… over in Suun-dong, Gangbuk-gu…”

Cha Ra-ri looked at the woman carefully and tilted her head.

“Wait, looking at your face, Sister… it doesn’t seem to be that direction?”

“Yes? What isn’t?”

“Now, in my view, looking at your body type and impression, you have a Su-eum constitution.

Even among the eight constitutions, for Su-eum, if you live in a place with strong yin energy, you can’t earn money. You must move quickly.”

“? ?”

“Of course. Don’t you get the feeling that you are constantly getting pushed around somewhere despite living diligently?

Even if you live busily all day long, you also get the thought that in the end, the only thing you can buy with your own money is not a luxury bag but just one cross bag.”

At Cha Ra-ri’s words, the woman smiled awkwardly and nodded her head.

“…That’s right. When I was young, although we weren’t wealthy, it was tolerable, but because I married poorly…”

“Exactly! I know as soon as I look. Then by any chance, do you have plans to move or thoughts of divorce?”

“Moving? I do. But that… whether the contract was written incorrectly, the house sale got tangled up and I can’t move out right now.”

“The contract was written incorrectly?”

“Yes. They say the building went under auction. Since I won’t recover a single penny of my jeonse deposit if I just leave, I am just bearing with it.”

Cha Ra-ri raised her eyebrows.

“Oh my, that’s not a big deal?”

“Yes? What is?”

“You know, that thing, is it leasehold registration? I heard we can leave if we do that. I heard our Office Manager saying it?”

“Is there… such a thing?”

The woman’s eyes went round.

“Yes, wait a moment.”

Cha Ra-ri jumped up from her seat and shouted toward the office side.

“Office Manager! This person has a real estate problem. It doesn’t seem like a big deal, please do a consultation for her.”

Ju Yong-hae set down the coffee cup he was drinking from and nodded.

“Really? Since there aren’t many people right now, we can do it right away. Please come into this consultation room.”

In that way, the woman was tossed to Ju Yong-hae again.

“What is the problem?”

The woman made an effort to explain the situation logically, and Ju Yong-hae listened silently and then nodded.

“Hmm… First of all, you must register the leasehold right immediately. If it was registered before the commencement of the auction, you will be included in the distribution targets even without a separate demand for distribution.

Otherwise, you must make a demand for distribution within the deadline for distribution demands. In this kind of case, when you registered is truly important.”

“Is that so? Then I must register first? I didn’t know that, so I went to temples here and there, prayed, held onto ancestors, and did all kinds of things…”

Hearing that, Ju Yong-hae raised the corner of his mouth slightly.

“You… have no ancestor luck on your face.”

“Yes? What does that mean?”

“I have a pretty good feel… your face… is a face to live by cheating others.

Your eyes are not calm and keep moving. No focus, either. We see such people as lacking in good faith.

On top of that, your lower face is weak, so the money you cheated out of others won’t stay quiet and will all leak out.”

“Yes…?”

“So don’t get free things from others. Live by giving unconditionally. Because yours is a face that goes completely broke the more you exploit others.”

“……”

Ju Yong-hae laughed, hoho, and added words.

“Don’t misunderstand. It was a remark made for fun.”

He took out a representation agreement from the desk.

“We will handle it on our own. First, let’s check immediately if the decision to commence the auction has been made.

Since your jeonse deposit is quite substantial, we will take immediate measures so you don’t lose it.”

The woman looked at the contract dumbfounded, and eventually picked up the pen.

“You can… sign here.”

In the quiet office, only the sound of signing with a ballpoint pen was clear.

Suddenly, a thought flashed through the woman’s head. Since entering here, everything had become blurry as if she were possessed by something.

However, the woman’s hand had already moved and finished signing before she knew it.

***

Late afternoon that day.

Having finished the day’s work and got off, Ju Yong-hae was tipping back soju glasses with Office Manager Yeom after a long time at a meat restaurant near Gyodae Station.

“Brother Ju, let’s order just two more servings. It’s somehow tantalizing.”

“Okay, okay. Excuse me! Two more servings of hangjeongsal.”

A moment later, the staff brought out pork rind along with the pork jowl.

“This is on the house. Please grill and eat it later after you’ve finished everything.”

“Oh, pork rind is delicious! Thank you.”

“One more bottle of soju, please!”

The two continued talking about this and that as they clinked their glasses.

“But are you not going to make Ha-yul study more? Isn’t she going to be a high school senior next year?”

“Yeah, that’s true… but the kid can’t get into it at all. And she has many things she wants to do.

I’m thinking of pushing her toward another direction besides studying. Nowadays, it’s not like everyone who studies well succeeds, either.”

Sizzle—clack.

The meat aroma spread savory-like at the sound of the pork jowl sizzling and cooking.

Office Manager Yeom dipped the well-grilled pork jowl deeply in soybean paste, put it in his mouth, and gulped down a glass of soju.

“Kyaa—truly delicious.”

Office Manager Yeom’s hand busily flipped the pork jowl once more.

“Come to think of it, even for us, the number of people coming to ask us to look at contracts for YouTubers or whatever has increased immensely.

Studying is good, but you can make a living with talent too. Looking at that, I think what you say, Brother Ju, is also correct.”

A brief silence flowed, and then Office Manager Ju Yong-hae smiled slightly.

“But Yeom. Are you really not going to get married?”

“Hey, talking about marriage again, spoiling the taste of alcohol.”

“No, it’s just because another year is passing like this. You have the age, but it’s not like you are lacking anywhere.”

“I thought so too. But that didn’t go as one wishes.”

Office Manager Ju examined Office Manager Yeom for a long time and tilted his head.

“Really… strange. Your physiognomy is quite decent, but strangely, women don’t get attracted to you. Did you act as a Japanese collaborator in your past life or what?”

“Hey, making a person a Japanese collaborator just because he can’t meet women? Hahahahah!”

The two burst into laughter and clinked their soju glasses.

It was then.

Buzz, buzz.

A vibration sound rang from the cell phone placed on the table.

“Brother Ju, it seems you have a call coming in?”

“Huh? A call?”

Ju Yong-hae looked at the cell phone screen.

“It’s an unknown number…”

He hesitated for a moment and then answered the phone.

“Yes, hello?”

In the meantime, Office Manager Yeom placed the pork rind onto the grill.

The savory smell of the pork rind sizzling and cooking spread.

“Where did you say you are? …Yes?”

Ju Yong-hae’s voice grew lower and lower, and his face stiffened.

Office Manager Yeom, who was watching his expression, stopped his chopsticks and tilted his head.

“Ah… yes… well, I understand. Then I will see you later.”

Click.

As soon as he hung up the phone, Ju Yong-hae did not say anything.

A strange tension welled up on his face, and he seemed lost in thought.

“What’s wrong? Is it a client? At this hour? Don’t tell me a document is missing?”

Office Manager Yeom asked with a laugh, but there was no answer. Only from the pork rind on the fire,

the crackling sound of oil splattering filled the silence.

After a moment, Ju Yong-hae spoke in a low voice.

“I… think I need to go somewhere.”

“Where? The pork rind is grilled just delicious now, eat and go.”

“Mmh… it’s near here. I think I just need to stop by for a moment. I’m sorry. I’ll tell you tomorrow.”

He quickly stood up from his seat and grabbed the bill.

“I will pay before I go, so eat it all, okay?”

Ju Yong-hae tapped Office Manager Yeom on the shoulder and headed straight outside. He looked as if he had lost his mind somewhere.

Left alone, Office Manager Yeom emptied his remaining soju glass and stared at the shrinking pork rind.

“…What on earth is it for him to be like that?”