Mudoo - Chapter 16

At that moment, something sharp and powerful began to seep out of Seula — an energy so intense that even Kang Tae-shin, who had more or less expected it, froze for a split second.

Seula raised one side of her mouth in a faint smirk and murmured, almost playfully,

“Caught me.”

At the same time, Kang Tae-shin bit down lightly on his lower lip. He knew instantly — for him and for her, this was not good.

That deep, murky grudge he’d faintly sensed in the back room — he could feel it now, pouring out of Seula.

There’s something else in there.

That’s for the malicious spirit unit, not his job.

He remembered the grim reaper’s brazen excuse for shrugging it off.

It hadn’t been an empty guess. It must have been that vengeful spirit’s doing — trapping Park Doona in that back room, pulling Seula there like a living medium.

Unlike ordinary ghosts that instinctively fled from him, spirits twisted by rage weren’t afraid of Kang Tae-shin. They hid their presence at will, stole human bodies — all to get closer to his power and push through the barriers around Cheonghaedong.

For them, Seula — so close to Kang Tae-shin — must have seemed like the perfect prey.

Seula brushed back a lock of hair that had fallen across her forehead. Her eyes gleamed, tinged with a reddish hue.

The stench that reeked off the vengeful spirit now coiled inside her was foul enough to make Kang Tae-shin’s brow twitch. He instinctively tried to widen the distance, but Seula looped both arms around his neck and pressed her forehead to his.

“How does it feel to live in a body that never ages, never dies?”

She smiled slyly, as if she’d peered right into his life. Kang Tae-shin’s expression turned cold as ice, but Seula went on, unfazed.

“Living, but not really alive — can’t die even if you want to… Tsk, how pitiful.”

“Doesn’t look like pity from where I’m standing.”

Kang Tae-shin narrowed his eyes. Seula’s grin stretched wider as she clung to him, her laughter curdling the air. It was so sharp and shrill that the window in the study rattled in its frame.

She laughed until her back bent nearly in half — then, all at once, her eyes flicked crimson, the sound cut off, and a cold hush filled the room, wrapping around Kang Tae-shin’s body.

Seula lowered her voice to a low, cutting whisper.

“Why do you think the peach tree that belongs in the heavens is planted in this yard?”

The instant the words left her mouth, she shoved him in the chest with surprising force and bolted for the door.

The unexpected push knocked Kang Tae-shin off balance for just a heartbeat. Then he lunged, grabbing her arm and yanking her back into his arms, locking her there.

“Funny, craving another man’s fruit — but you know you can’t pluck it without the owner’s say-so.”

Seula thrashed violently in his hold, so strong it was hard to believe this was the same body that had been bedridden just moments ago.

“Let me go!”

Her shout — more a scream — sliced through the air like a freshly sharpened blade.

“If I were going to let you go, I wouldn’t have grabbed you in the first place.”

He pinned both her wrists above her head and pressed her against the bookshelf. Seula glared up at him, her eyes brimming with murderous rage.

“Work through your grudges and move on. That’s how it’s supposed to be.”

He spoke through clenched teeth, the muscle in his jaw tight enough to show. Seula’s glare was venomous enough to kill.

“Move on? Don’t make me laugh. You think that’s possible for me?”

She knew. She knew spirits that tore up the order of this world couldn’t be laid to rest.

Seula jerked and twisted in his grip again. Her small, frail-looking body writhed with so much force that for a second, his chest clenched with pity — but he forced it down. He reminded himself: this wasn’t Seula.

The shelf behind her began to shake under the strain, then gave way. It collapsed backward with a deafening crash. Books scattered everywhere, shelves toppled one after the other — the study was chaos in seconds.

In the mess, Seula tore free, bolting for the door. Kang Tae-shin vaulted over the fallen shelves and gave chase.

What blocked the study door wasn’t Kang Tae-shin — it was a dog, about the size of Seula herself.

“You’ll need this, need this!”

Dong-gil, panting and out of breath, dropped a sword he’d been carrying from somewhere right at the doorway.

Seula froze for an instant at the unexpected obstacle. That was all Kang Tae-shin needed — he surged forward and snatched up the sheathed blade.

“Go straight to Pungwol-gak and bring Gangnim* here. Now.”
TL/N: *Characters who deal with ghosts, exorcism, or the dead.

Dong-gil let out one sharp, resounding bark in reply before bolting off across the yard like a shot.

Kang Tae-shin stood there for a moment, steadying his breath until the sound of Dong-gil’s paws faded into the night. Then he slowly turned back.

Seula was glaring up at him, rage rolling off her in waves, her eyes flicking between the looming figure of Kang Tae-shin and the sword now glinting in his hand.

“Seula — you were so startled the first time you saw a talking dog, remember?”

He gripped the hilt wrapped in crimson tassels, drawing the blade from its sheath. The edge gleamed cold and bright in the moonlight.

“And you — you’re just as surprised, aren’t you? Talking dogs, really that fascinating?”

Seula swept her long hair back with an annoyed flick and spat out a curse under her breath.

“Fvck… that goddamn mutt…”

The pajamas she wore clung damp against her skin, soaked through with sweat. Every breath came out in a faint, white puff. Her body was still burning with fever.

Every step Kang Tae-shin took toward her, Seula bit down harder on her lower lip and backed away. Finally, her heel caught on a warped floorboard — she stumbled and fell backward onto the ground.

He stood over her where she’d fallen, then climbed astride her, pinning her hips beneath his knees so she couldn’t move. He pressed the cold steel edge of the sword against his own palm.

“…”

Seula watched in silence, throat bobbing, as he sliced into his palm without so much as a blink. Bright bl00d welled up, dripping down to stain the blade.

“Got too much to do now — have to change your clothes, wipe off all this sweat, put the study back together…”

He lowered the bl00d-slick blade to the pale curve of her throat.

“I just had a nice hot soak too.”

“…”

“Now I’ll have to wash again.”

When the blade touched her neck, Seula’s eyes locked with his. Beneath her fluttering lashes, that eerie red glint slowly began to fade from her pupils.

“Ka— Kang Tae-shin…”

Her face went bone white. Her lashes quivered, wet with tears she was trying to hold back, her lips trembling like she might burst into sobs any second.

“W-what is this? A sword? Is that a sword?”

The foul stench was gone — only Seula’s faint, familiar scent lingered at the edge of his nose.

“Why are you doing this… Tae-shin…”

His eyebrow twitched. Was Seula really back — or was the spirit just mocking him again through her face?

Seula’s voice broke as she whimpered.

“Why… why me, again? Why does this keep happening to me?”

Cracks spread across Kang Tae-shin’s guarded expression — and the instant they did, a vivid red flickered back into her eyes. He felt the muscles in her body coil beneath him — he pressed the blade in deeper against her neck.

“Damn it. Almost fell for it.”

He muttered the words low through clenched teeth. Seula tilted her head back, lips curling into a cruel smile.

“Amusing.”

She laughed like she was genuinely enjoying this.

“With that sword, soaked in your bl00d — if you’d just stab me, I’d be gone in an instant. So why hesitate?”

Just as she said — the blade dripped steadily, but Kang Tae-shin neither struck nor withdrew. He simply hovered there, caught between action and inaction.

“You’re scared she’ll get hurt. Aren’t you?”

Seula sneered as she added the final jab. Kang Tae-shin’s dry lips pressed together tightly. Every word that spilled out of Seula’s mouth — in her voice, with her face — struck him like a slap. Maybe it was because they were all so painfully true.

“I’m giving you an out. Gangnim will be here any second. Better to slip away yourself than be dragged out in chains, looking pathetic. Don’t you think?”

“Some gift.”

Seula scoffed, mocking him outright, the corner of her mouth curling with contempt.

He could see exactly what she was trying to do — rattle him, push him. He forced down the anger, tamping the heat back into his chest.

Seula glanced down at the blade pressed to her neck, laughter still playing on her lips.

“Feels like we’ll meet again soon, doesn’t it? What do you think?”

She lifted a hand and brushed the back of it along his cheek. Her skin was still fever-hot, heat pouring off her in waves.

“Gangnim’s here! I, Gangnim, have arrived!”

A booming voice rang out past the gate, so loud it shook the silence.

“So dramatic.”

Kang Tae-shin’s eyes flicked away for half a second — just long enough. The moment he did, the spirit slipped out of Seula’s body. She slumped onto the cold wooden floor, unconscious.