A Forest flowing with Milk and Honey - Chapter 5.3

Creak, creak. The old wooden floor groaned with every step, adding to the unsettling atmosphere.

Everything about the shrine felt bizarre and unnerving. Feeling uncomfortable, Urim instinctively reached for Taeo’s sleeve.

“Are you really scared of this?” Taeo looked down at her, puzzled. He didn’t seem to share her unease, treating the shrine like nothing more than a poorly decorated playhouse.
“Who’s there?”

A sudden voice broke the silence. A young girl, maybe high school age, stood before them. Her eyes were closed, and she wore a bright saekdong jeogori, a traditional multicolored jacket that looked oddly cheap despite its vibrancy. As she approached, the old creaky floor was eerily silent under her feet.
“We’re here to see someone named Kang Dosa,” Taeo said, his eyes briefly flicking to the girl’s quiet steps.
Taeo had heard Kang Dosa was a striking woman with brightly dyed red hair, but this blind girl wasn’t who he had expected.

“My mother’s dead,” the girl said with a twisted smile, opening her eyes to reveal pale, pupil-less whites.

“I’m not like her. I don’t care much for money, but if you insist on paying a fee…” Her sightless eyes locked directly onto Urim.
“How about giving me your pretty eyes, sister?”
The girl’s pale eyes reminded Urim of the torn-lipped son gaksi she had encountered before. A chill ran down her spine, and her face turned pale.
“Is this how fortune tellers greet their clients?” Taeo asked, irritated by how easily Urim had been scared. He didn’t share her fear but sensed something strange about the air, heavy and suffocating like fog from the incense filling the room.

The girl giggled, her lips stretching into a wide grin.
“Don’t be mad. I was just teasing. I’ll take money instead,” she said, extending her hand. Now, she looked more like the fortune teller they had come to see. Taeo, who had expected nothing more than to be scammed today, handed her the bag without hesitation.

The bag was filled with crisp bills, but the girl barely glanced at it, tossing it aside like it held no importance.
She then sat cross-legged on the floor, her gaze lingering on Urim.

“Honey might drip from sweet treats, but who would dare covet something guarded by a mountain god…” she said, licking her lips. Her intense gaze on Urim, as if she were eyeing prey, made Urim stiffen with discomfort.

“Sit down,” the girl beckoned, her eyes never leaving Urim. Realizing there was no avoiding the situation, Urim bit her lip and sat down.
“Do you know what this is?” Urim asked, brushing her hair aside to reveal the two remaining petal-shaped marks on her neck. The girl nodded knowingly.
“It’s a peach blossom. Someone’s already staked their claim on you.”
“Claimed…?”
“The spirit gate has opened. You’re basically a walking corpse now. With your weak life force, you should’ve already been a plaything for spirits, but you’re lucky. You haven’t been fully taken yet, right?”

“The spirit gate? What do you mean taken?” Urim asked, her voice trembling.

The girl made a crude gesture, mimicking something obscene. “It means spirits are messing with you,” she said. Urim felt a wave of nausea.
Beside her, Taeo clenched his jaw, clearly trying to keep his temper in check. The girl, sensing his anger, glared back at him like a hissing cat.
“Explain that nonsense,” Taeo demanded, though he had a growing suspicion that she wasn’t lying.

“It’s not a nice story. What did you expect? Do you think pretty words are used when it comes to making something like me?” the girl sneered.
“What do you mean, something like you?”

“I’m a guitae—a child born from a human and a spirit.”

Her tone was sharp, and while her words sounded outlandish, they carried a certain unsettling truth.

“Don’t worry. You paid me, so I’ll tell you how to avoid giving birth to something like me,” she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

“Are you going to give us a charm?” Urim asked, hopeful.
The girl laughed out loud. “You’ve got a living charm right next to you. Do you really need something I make?”

“A living charm?”

The girl pointed to Taeo. “Him.”

Urim blinked in confusion. “The director?”

“Think about it. You’ve been plagued by strange, dangerous events, yet here you are, still alive. How do you think that’s possible with such a fragile fate?”
Taeo’s eyebrows twitched at the girl’s cryptic remarks.

“You were destined for misfortune, the kind we call the White Tiger’s Great Killing Fate. But here you are, alive, because you’ve got a living talisman by your side. This guy isn’t just a survivor—he’s defied death itself. That’s why you’re still safe.”

The girl let out a cackle. “So just stick close to him and… keep doing what you’re doing. That’s your only chance to survive!”

Her laughter echoed through the shrine, sending a shiver down Urim’s spine.

After she stopped laughing, the girl became dismissive, waving them away. “I’ve said what I needed to say. Now, get out,” she snapped, as if growing tired of their presence.

Taeo narrowed his eyes at her, clearly annoyed, but Urim gently pulled at his sleeve, trying to calm him. She looked back at the girl.
“What’s your name? I’m Urim, Baek Urim,” she said softly, concerned about leaving the girl alone in such an eerie place.

The girl hesitated for a moment, her expression softening as she sensed Urim’s genuine concern. Her lips parted slightly before she spoke.

“Your name is meant to attract the noble, but you should remember—don’t let yourself be fooled. It’s not spirits that protect the forest, but the mountain god.”

With that, the girl refused to give her own name and simply waved them off.

Urim leaned her forehead against the cool car window, the girl’s unsettling words echoing in her mind: just keep doing what you’re doing.
“Are you feeling sick?” Taeo asked, cracking the window open for fresh air.
“No, I’m okay.”

Even though she said she was fine, Taeo pulled over in a quiet rural area where a field of sunflowers bloomed. It seemed like a good place to rest, knowing Urim’s love for flowers.

“Director, take a picture of me!” Urim said with a bright smile, running toward the sunflower field.

Taeo, unfamiliar with the camera on his phone, turned it on and aimed it at her. Urim posed, tilting her head slightly as the sunflowers framed her face perfectly.

Click! The shutter sound echoed. It had been a while since Taeo’s phone had something new in its gallery.

“How does it look?”

“Yeah.”

Urim approached to check the photo. Though Taeo had taken only a single shot, the picture turned out quite well. Her small, delicate face wore a sweet smile as she looked directly at the camera.
Her light brown hair fluttered in the breeze, and her bright eyes, catching the sunlight, harmonized perfectly with the golden sunflowers around her.
“Send this picture to me, please,” Urim said, tugging Taeo’s arm with satisfaction. Taeo opened the chat app and sent the picture, stopping her from tugging further.

“I’ll take a picture of you too.”

“I’m fine.”

“But I want to take one.”

The truth was that Urim had been waiting for this moment. Who knows if she’d ever have another chance to capture a picture of Taeo standing in a sunflower field like this?

She grabbed Taeo’s phone and held it up in front of her. The camera zoomed out to fit Taeo in the frame. His casual outfit matched well with the surrounding sunflowers.

“Wow, you’re really tall, Taeo…”

The sunflowers were a little taller than Urim, but still much shorter than Taeo. Amused by her reaction, Taeo smirked. As Urim kept turning the camera to find the best angle, she accidentally pressed the shutter button.

Click! Click! Click! Click! Click! Click! Click! Click!

The endless sound of the shutter made Taeo look baffled.

“How many pictures are you taking?”

He stepped closer, blocking the phone and taking it out of her hands.

“But I wasn’t done yet!”

“You’ve probably taken at least 20 by now. That’s enough.”

Taeo looked both flustered and slightly embarrassed. Amused by the sight of his slightly flushed face, Urim tapped the screen a few times and sent the pictures to herself.
Still, the first shot was her favorite. Though he was only smiling faintly, it captured the relaxed and lazy charm that Taeo naturally exuded.
“Let’s take one together.”

Switching the camera to selfie mode, Urim leaned into Taeo’s arm and raised the camera. Despite not having short arms, it was hard to get the right angle because of how tall Taeo was. As Urim struggled to stretch her arm further, Taeo took the phone from her and awkwardly aimed it at them before pressing the button.

Click-click-click-click-click!

Taeo accidentally triggered the burst mode, leaving him staring at the screen in confusion. Beside him, Urim burst out laughing.

“Wow, these came out great!” she exclaimed.
It was the kind of photo where their expressions told the whole story. Taeo, with his usual cool demeanor, now looked softer and more approachable, his guard momentarily down. His relaxed smile paired perfectly with Urim’s wide grin.

Urim scrolled through the photos, deciding which one was the best. She figured she’d take her time choosing later when she could enjoy them more carefully.

Urim switched the camera to selfie mode and leaned against Taeo’s arm, raising the phone high. Despite not having short arms, she couldn’t quite get the angle right because of how tall Taeo was. Struggling to stretch her arm further, Taeo eventually took the phone from her, giving the screen an awkward glance before pressing the shutter button.

Click-click-click-click-click-click!

Without realizing it, Taeo had activated burst mode.
He stared dumbfounded at the phone while Urim burst out laughing beside him.

“Wow, the pictures came out great!”