Do-hari and I strolled down a lone road together, the sides of the road decorated with ornate iron fences and freshly kept flora behind the fences. Do-hari held her hands behind her back and glanced around while I admired the flora, my mind constantly thinking about Clover inside the Tree of Life.
Ahead, the sight of a mansion came into view through the branches of the beautiful Fig Trees that grew with the gardens. I looked ahead at the Bong Clan's home, noticing how privately yet lavishly they lived, my curiosity only growing at what their curse could be.
"We're here, my home..." Do-hari muttered, wiping her nervous hands upon her dress and cleared her throat, fixing her hair to make herself seem mrow confident. "Alright, let's go..."
I watched as Do-hari walked ahead with refined confidence and chuckled softly at her, following behind her in step and glanced at the home once again. It was three stories that seemed to have endless rooms inside, to the right was a large courtyard for events and gatherings, and the left side of the yard had another large building, its usage currently unknown.
The two of us entered the house, taking out shoes off at the entrance and began making our way to the spacious living room, the walls decorated with framed pictures and other artwork, shelves carrying family and Ascean pictures sitting against the walls in perfect alignment. The furniture also was lavish, the exterior being soft white material from a rare cotton dragon.
Dong-hee looked up from her phone while snacking on a bag a chips from the kitchen's bar counter, her eyes immediately widening in shock as she noticed me. She let out a shriek as she fell out of her seat onto the tiled floors, looking up and pointing at me in disbelief.
"You actually brought him home..?! What if Mama and Papa find out or even Nam-Sun?! Dorasseo-yo?!" Dong-hee exclaimed, dramatically panting and gripping her shirt as she brought herself back onto her feet.
"Gwichana! You're overreacting, plus Mama already had the dream and I'm simply making it come true so we can break this curse! I still don't know what the curse could be if Mama can still have Prophetic Dreams," Do-hari retorted, flicking her hand at her sister as she began to walk over to the couch, grabbing my hand and dragging me with her.
"Unbelievable! What about your children, Do-hari? Ae-Ri and Minsu haven't spent any time with you since Nam-Suk died in battle against Princess Athena! How do you think they would react to seeing a THIRD man walk into here to be their father?" Dong-hee asked, letting out a soft groan and rubbed her temples on her head.
"Aishh... seriously? You're really putting me in a hard situation here. It's only day two and you're already bringing him home. What does he have to offer other than being a Messiah Class Being?" Dong-hee asked, holding her hands out at me in protest.
"God... will you give it a break for one second? Why are you even against this? Do you want to be saved from your curse as well?" Do-hari asked, adjusting herself on the couch to look back at Dong-hee.
Dong-hee sighed heavily and wiped her face slowly with both hands, looking up at the ceiling with a soft groan. "Do-hari...you're gonna kill me one day, I swear. It was already bad enough that I have Gloria, I don't need another bad decision maker..."
I glanced between the two women and cleared my throat lightly, scratching the back of my head in the seemingly awkward moment. I looked back at Do-hari, watching as she faced forward at the blank TV screen ahead of her with her arms crossed, seemingly waiting for something to happen.
We sat in silence for a few moments extra, the sound of the ticking clock echoing through the house intermingling with the sounds of Dong-hee's stress eating in tbe kitchen. I glanced down at my phone at the time, seeing it was a tenth after five, my Yaoke activating to see outside the house.
"Samchon, can we play with you again today? It's Friday and we really wanna play games with you!" A young girl asked excitedly, happily tugging upon her uncle's coat while he searched for his house key.
"Ne...just let me get ready and cleaned up. Working a gym is harder than you'd expect," The uncle replied tiredly, placing his key inside the lock and unlocking the door.
"Yes! Minsu, let's get everything ready!" The young girl cheered, looking at her younger brother with a bright smile.
"Mmm!" Minsu nodded with an equally bright smile on his face.
My Yaoke deactivated and I turned off my phone screen and looked up, turning toward Do-hari and seeing her slightly tense face, knowing she had heard the front door unlock as well. For some reason, I felt my chest tightening as if I had grew slightly anxious as well, yet I was unable to understand the feeling.
The door swung open with the children running inside with excited giggles and their uncle trailing behind, all three of them entering the living room and stopping at the sight of Do-hari sitting on the couch with me next to her. Do-hari turned to look at the three of them, her face showing confidence yet her insides feeling as if they've bunched up like a group of cords.
"Ae-Ri, Minsu, go upstairs...I'll be behind shortly," The uncle said, gently pushing his nephew and niece toward the stairs.
Ae-Ri and Minsu hurried toward the stairs, both of them looking back at their mother and me, watching as their uncle approached us with a serious gaze on his face. Ae-Ri took her brother's hand, hurrying up the flight of stairs and toward their room and closed the door behind themselves.
"Nam-Sun," Do-hari began, standing up from the couch to face her older brother and kept her hands tightly at her side.
"Mwoyo? Nugu?" Nam-Sun asked, looking over at me and pointing at me, his gaze returning back to Do-hari. "This is the third guy since Nam-Suk, are we serious right now? Is this about Mama's dream? Her dream has been wrong twice before about these guys. Just give it up."
"Why? So I can continue living in grief and never move on?! I've been trapped like this for two years and I just want to move on, but everyday I keep seeing Nam-Suk's death!" Do-hari retorted emotionally, stomping her foot down and clenching her hands into fists.
Nam-Sun glanced over at me once again, pointing at me and scoffing lightly. "Hey, who are you and what do you want with Do-hari?"
"My name is Nox Winters, and truthfully I was dragged here by Do-hari and Ms. Baek," I answered honestly, looking up at Nam-Suk from the couch and shrugged my shoulders.
"Imo? Sungmo Baek? How do you know our aunt?" Nam-Sun asked, his suspicions only growing more.
"I work there truth be told. Look, I don't know why you're suspicious of me yet I do understand it. However, your mother's dream, this time, was not wrong," I said, looking ahead and closing my eyes with one leg crossed over the other.
Dong-hee gently bit her thumbnail with nervousness, seeing that I was beginning to get into my zone and knowing Nam-Sun didn't like any form of perceived disrespect. "Uhm...Hyeong!"
Nam-Sun held his hand out at Dong-hee, staring at me and scoffed lightly then walked over toward me. "You're in my home, and yet you haven't stood up to introduce yourself to me? Who do you think you are..?"
I opened my eyes to look up at Nam-Sun, staring into his eyes and smiled softly at him, standing up from the couch and giving him a polite bow. "I don't think I am anyone besides a man reciprocating energy. I don't mean to come off as rude...but you clearly show a lack of respect for your sister."
"Mwo?" Nam-Sun asked, gripping my jacket and forcing me to look at him.
"You have the ability to tell anyone's past just by touching them...Psychometry, but you can't use it anymore...because of this," I said, placing my finger upon his chest. "Your emotions and your heart...that's your curse am I right?"
Nam-Sun stood silent for a moment, slowly releasing me from his grip and let me go, lightly scoffing then glanced at Do-hari. She rose an eyebrow and lowered it, as if saying 'See?' to him and looked back at Dong-hee, who was equally as surprised.
"How do you know I have... Psychometry? Wait, how much do you know about us?" Nam-Sun asked, taking a cautious step back from me.
"Only the basics, that you're Ascean, you're cursed, and you're a pretty atypical family," I answered with a light shrug and a smile, slipping my hands into my pockets.
"Ahh, it seems that our main guest has finally arrived," An older woman spoke from the top of the stairs, catching all of our attentions.
Dong-hee stood up quickly at the sight of her mother and father making their way down the stairs then hurried to the living room. "Eomma, Appa! Don't get mad that Do-hari brought in another guy, I was just trying to—"
"Oh don't you worry your mind, Dong-hee~ Do-hari did exact what I told her to do, bringing home our saving grace," Mrs. Bong said with a welcoming smile at me, walking over to me and placing her hands upon my shoulders.
She studied me thoroughly from head to feet, comparing my physical appearance to the appearance she saw in her dream. Only seeing few confirmations, she nodded and pat my arms gently with maternal care, pleased to know that her dream was still accurate.
"It is you...you slightly match the description I saw in my dream, though I couldn't make out the face," Mrs. Bong said, taking a step back and smiled at me once more.
I gave her a bow with a smile of my own, pleased to be in her presence at last. "It's an honor to be in your humble abode, Mrs. Bong. I hear that you all are cursed, but don't know the extents of your curses?"
"It's been really hard on them recently with the curses and all, especially when the curses began to happen after Captain Nam-Suk's passing," Mr. Bong said with light grief in his tone, fixing his glasses upon his face with a saddened smile.
I glanced over at Mr. Bong, scanning him with my Spirit Sense and noticed he didn't carry any aura other than his own Spirit, yet...he was still cursed somehow. "You're a normal human, how are you cursed as well?"
"That's the thing, not even I can answer that. It's been a real struggle for the last two years, and it's only getting harder which is why we are absolutely grateful for you being here with our precious Do-hari," Mr. Bong said gratefully, holding his hand out toward me for hand shake.
I took his hand with gratitude, bowing respectfully as I shook his hand. "It is an honor to be accepted by you and your wife. I promise to be of much use to you all during my stay here, and I'll be sure to do whatever I can to break the curse."
Mrs. Bong sighed softly with a gentle smile on her face, crossing her arms as she looked at me. "Wow, he really reminds me of Nam-Suk, he was also extreme polite like you. I can tell we will get along well."
Dong-hee, Nam-Sun, and Do-hari all watched I got myself acquainted with their mother and father, the three of them listening on to our conversation about my past and history. Though I had just appeared at their home, I was already on good standing with Mrs and Mr. Bong, one thing that seemed to ease Do-hari's mind.
Ae-Ri and Minsu secretly watched from the top of the stairs, their gazes fixated upon me and their mother. Ae-Ri grew suspicious of me and my natural charisma while Minsu seemed to admire my gravitas, both children already forming different opinions of me faster than their aunt and uncle.
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The night had fell upon St. Goken, the Bong Clan and I all sitting together at the dining table for dinner, each of us enjoying Mr. Bong's special welcome meal for me. Upon the table was Mr. Bong's special Bong Tteokbokki, kimchi-jjigae, japchae, and Dong-hee's favorite Korean fried chicken.
Do-hari glanced around at the dinner table, noticing Ae-Ri and Minsu were missing from their seats, her smile slightly faltering as she looked for them. I pat Do-hari's shoulder then pointed at the kitchen's bar counter, revealing Ae-Ri and Minsu eating alone and watching videos together.
"Seriously..?" Do-hari sighed softly, standing up from her seat and cleared her throat. "Ae-Ri, Minsu! Come eat at the table, please!"
The two didn't answer their mother's call, infact ignoring her all together and turning up the video on their phone. Dong-hee inhaled sharply in reaction to their newly found defiance, picking up some kimchi with her chopsticks and plopped it in her mouth stressfully.
"Mmm," Nam-Sun cleared his throat, taking a bite out of his chicken and glancing away from the scene.
Mrs. Bong sat silently at the head of the table, silently listening to how Do-hari would handle the situation as she ate with elegance. Mr. Bong glanced between Do-hari and her children, understanding their defiance and silent protest, but also understood his own daughter's wishes to push forward.
Do-hari let out a soft groan and began to make her way toward them, but I gently took her hand and stopped her, causing her to look back at me with confusion. "Mwo..? What's wrong?"
"Actually, allow me to try. I'll introduce myself to them, I think they don't want to talk to you specifically," I said softly, giving her a warm and encouraging smile.
Do-hari mumbled under her breath at my blunt truth, letting out a deep sigh and making her way back into her seat, crossing her arms and looked over at me. "Geurae, hae."
I chuckled softly at her direct tone then stood up from my seat, all eyes at the table now on me. Each of them watched me make my way to the kitchen, Ae-Ri and Minsu both ignoring me and keeping their gaze upon Ae-Ri's phone.
"Annyeong," I began, waving my hand to get their attention, but they were tough to crack, their gazes never leaving the screen. I hummed softly and crossed my arms, thinking about how I could approach the situation. "I'll start by saying this, I don't love your mother."
"Liar," Ae-Ri immediately spoke up, pausing her video and looking up at me while pushing up her glasses. "Otherwise you wouldn't have came home with her like the other guys after Appa..!"
"Ahh, so you can speak to other people aside from Nam-Sun and Dong-hee? I was starting to think you didn't see me here," I said with a teasing tone, hearing Minsu giggle at my joke while Ae-Ri seemed to get more irritated.
"Wow...he actually got a response..?" Do-hari asked in disbelief, watching me interact with her children with a dumbfounded expression.
Nam-Sun pat his younger sister's shoulder with deep sympathy, gently squeezing her shoulder. "On the bright side, at least he said he didn't love you."
"He was obviously lying, jerk...Wait—" Do-hari began then froze, her face flushing into a deep red. "He likes me..?"
Mrs. Bong glanced at Do-hari with a light smile, setting her utensils down and standing up from her seat with a light yawn. "Aigoo...I'm getting quite sleepy and it's getting around that time again where my spells hit me. Dear, please take me upstairs."
Mr. Bong pushed his seat back before standing up, taking Mrs. Bong's hand and leading her upstairs. "Kids, I hope you can take care of the kitchen for me?"
"Yeah, we got it, Dad," Dong-hee muttered as she ate upon a piece of chicken, waving off her mom and dad as she watched me with her niece and nephew.
Ae-Ri scoffed softly at me and set her fork down before sitting up straight in her seat. "I don't know who you are, but no one will ever replace Appa! You are number three and will soon leave like the others!"
"Is that so? My instincts are telling me you play a big part in that...I can tell you're pretty smart, but I can guarantee you this. I have no intentions on replacing your father," I said, meeting Ae-Ri's gaze with a reassuring smile.
"Please...and how can we be so sure? After all, Sungmo Dong-hee's best friend is a swindler and a known scammer and Mama's last fling was a scammer as well," Ae-Ri replied with even more suspicion, her gaze hardening as she locked eyes with me.
I smiled at Ae-Ri's sassiness and her bluntness, impressed by how articulate she was at her young age but I didn't let her tests sway me off my path. "I'm guessing your issue with me is much deeper than being a romantic partner to your mother, but it involves your grandmother as well, correct?"
Ae-Ri huffed and glanced away from me, finally breaking eye contact and silently claiming defeat from my speculation. "What could you know? You're still here and that matters more than what you could ever say."
"You're right, I am here now...but I'm not only here for Do-hari. I'm here for Dong-hee, Nam-Sun, your grandparents, even you and your little brother. You all have a curse put upon you that I want to help lift," I said, leaning forward upon the counter with a reassuring smile.
Ae-Ri glanced at me then scoffed again, sitting back in her seat with her eyes meeting mine once more. "Really? That's impossible because the curse we have can't be broken normally. We're cursed with Lifestyle Disease."
"Samchon Nam-Sun has Alexithymia and can't use his Psychometry because he's too numb to even activate the power, Sungmo Dong-hee is overweight because she stress eats at any moment which blocks her ability to manifest her wings or even use her Wind Abilities," Ae-Ri continued, pointing over at Dong-hee.
"Uhm, I can hear you!" Dong-hee scoffed, leaning back in her seat with a dumbfounded expression on her face.
"Eomma has High Functioning Depression and she's a secret alcoholic. I can guarantee you that you met her during one of her runs didn't you? She runs to cleanse her Spirit, or what's left of it that's still present," Ae-Ri continued and looked back at her mother, her face slightly judgemental due to her challenges.
"Mama is doing the best she can with halmeoni's visions, even though...she has been really distant since Appa died..." Minsu said quietly, fidgeting with his fingers under the counter.
"And even Halmeoni's dreams, they are still inaccurate because she has insomnia and the only way she can sleep is through sleeping pills which makes her dreams incomplete thus inaccurate," Ae-Ri finished, letting out a huff after her deep rant about the family's curse.
I crossed my arms and digested every piece of information they gave me then closed my eyes to ponder upon it. Lifestyle Disease was a new one that I've never heard of, though Do-hari and Nam-Sun I could relate with since I've struggled with HFD and Alexithymia myself before joining Squad V.
I glanced over at the dining table where Do-hari, Nam-Sun, and Dong-hee watched the interaction, my mind beginning to wonder on how I could lift each of their curses. The Fallen placed such a simple, yet complex curse upon the family that even I didn't know where to start.
"See? Even you're stumped. It's better if you just run away now before you get yourself hurt," Ae-Ri said, getting up from her seat and retreated upstairs with her phone in one hand and Minsu's hand in her other.
I watched as Ae-Ri retreated and smirked at her, accepting her challenge and leaned against the counter. "That young lady is quite intelligent for her age...to be challenged by a child that's not my own. Heh... Yuvah, you are one hilarious person.."
The night continued forward, the night creatures of St. Goken all making their calls and enjoying the coolness of the air, a few birds migrating toward Grushia to avoid Bulan's low temperatures. As the birds flew along the sky, Luciel watched them pass by the window with a light smile on her face.
Su-Yun sat at her desk in her room, sipping on her juice while typing on two keyboards and working on putting in job applications for Kaguya's Academy, St. Goken Valkyria Institution. "Aaaaaand boom! Finally got through their stupid verifications and we can now register to be teachers!"
Luciel turned around at the sound of Su-Yun's exclamation and walked toward her desk, leaning against her chair and glancing down at the laptop screens on Su-Yun's desk. "Wow, you actually got through their walls and gateways?"
"It's honestly really easy! On my journey to try to get a job at Manaport, I used to have an Odd Gig as a commenter on streams, all I had to do was leave comments and got paid for each one," Su-Yun goaded, tooting her own horn for minor achievements.
"I guess that's a legit job? I mean, I couldn't get Nox to do an Odd Gig if it didn't have life or death attached to it," Luciel chuckled softly at her own joke then stood up straight and stretched her arms, yawning lightly then sat down on Su-Yun's bed.
Su-Yun turned around in her chair with a light giggle, slipping her hands between her thighs. "He sounds like a very confusing person. One hand he's this Superman for everyone then the next he's this lazy lion who doesn't want to do anything? He's so hard to grasp.."
"Well, that's my Nox for you. Even I have times where I can't seem to understand him, but he always understands me and that's what I love about him. He's misunderstood, and yet he'll still go out of his way to help others," Luciel hummed, nodding her head with a warm grin on her face as she looked down at her phone.
Su-Yun felt a tug at her heart, always wanting to know the feeling of having her own person to love and cherish, a soft exhale escaping her nose. She heard a chime from her laptops, quickly turning back around and clicking on a message sent by the St. Goken Institution Hiring Staff.
〘St. Goken Institution HR: Dear Luciel and Lee Su-Yun, we are happy to see your application to become teachers at our humble establishment! After careful consideration and positive feedback by our established Headmistress, Kaguya Yuta, we are excited to have you onboard with our staff...〙
That was all Su-Yun read before jumping out of her seat with a scream of excitement, startling Luciel and her parents. Mr. and Mrs. Lee rushed into Su-Yun's room with worry, noticing her jumping up and down with joy and laughing with absolute glee.
"We got the job! We're going to be Professors at St. Goken Institution!" Su-Yun cheered, dancing around her room with glee and hopped around.
Luciel gasped and cheered as well, the two girls laughing and hopping up and down while holding each other's hands. Su-Yun's parents let out a sigh of relief, happy seeing their daughter and her best friend celebrating such a victory after seven years of disappointment.
Mrs. Lee decided to host a celebration for the big success in Su-Yun's career, everyone moving the celebration over to the living room for games, food, and music. Mr. Lee began to help his wife set everything up, Luciel and Su-Yun getting the chance to sit down and enjoy themselves before their big first day.