Mudoo - Chapter 41

Part 5: Yeo-ok

The elder finally caused trouble again. As if it wasn’t enough that he kept bringing home pitiful souls to care for—now he was taking in a new shaman disciple.

Kang Tae-shin, drenched in sweat from cleaning up the rice bin that Dong-gil had ransacked, let out another deep sigh when he saw the shamanic ritual being set up in the courtyard.

“This ground’s about to collapse under all this nonsense.”

The elder came out into the yard, chuckling as he ruffled Tae-shin’s hair. He couldn’t see a thing, but somehow he always managed to find the top of Tae-shin’s head without fail.

“See? In the end, it’s always me cleaning up after your mutt’s mess!”

“Good deeds always come back to you,” the old man said with a smile.

“Yeah, well, most people who stack up bad karma still live like kings. So much for justice.”

“You never know. Maybe they’ll get a terrifying punishment in the afterlife. Or maybe they’ll be reborn somewhere rich, counting piles of gold. Gotta cross the Sando River to find out.”

“What use is gold after you’re dead?”

Just then, Dong-gil, who’d been hiding nearby and watching Tae-shin nervously, poked his head out. He looked like he was ready to ruin the ritual setup again.

Tae-shin stomped the ground, trying to scare him off.

“You little mutt! Get lost! Do you know how much this ritual costs?!”

“Hey now, Tae-shin,” the elder said, grabbing him by the collar to stop him.

“While the ritual is going on, take Dong-gil into the main house. It’ll get noisy, so make sure he doesn’t cause trouble.”

Tae-shin was annoyed, but there was no point arguing with the elder. He had no choice but to do as he was told.

These rituals were like festivals for the whole village. Especially when a well-known, supposedly gifted shaman was taking in a new disciple—people who didn’t even care about rituals would sneak peeks from behind the walls.

Tae-shin brought Dong-gil into the room and shut the door tightly. Dong-gil, clearly uncomfortable, started scratching at the closed door and whining.

“Could you just chill for once? Go lie down by the warm floor and take a nap or something.”

As the ritual began, the sound of drums thudded through the ground. Bells from the ritual tools rang constantly, and every now and then, Tae-shin could hear the elder and his new disciple shouting something.

With a sigh, Tae-shin sprawled out on the floor. Dong-gil waddled over and flopped down beside him, pressing his butt against Tae-shin’s side.

“Well, at least you know who feeds you, huh?”

Even though he was just a mutt they’d picked up off the street, after being scrubbed clean, fed daily, and given a warm place to sleep, Dong-gil had grown kind of endearing.

Sure, he still caused the occasional disaster, but he had brought life back to the once-lonely house.

Tae-shin stroked Dong-gil’s soft fur. It gleamed now, almost like he might be some fancy breed with a pedigree.

Dong-gil stretched out and rolled onto his back, showing off like he did in front of the elder.

“You think I’ll be nice to you just because you act cute?” Tae-shin muttered, rubbing Dong-gil’s warm, soft belly. Before long, his eyelids started to feel heavy.

By the time he woke up, the sun was already setting.

Still half-asleep, he rubbed his eyes and stepped out onto the wooden porch. There, he saw the elder sitting across from a girl in a silk outfit.

“You’re awake, Tae-shin.”

“Is the ritual over?”

Dong-gil, who’d followed him out of the room, trotted straight toward the girl and started sniffing her.

“Hi. You must be Dong-gil,” she said.

Her voice was crystal clear and pleasant, like jade marbles rolling in a silver bowl. As she scratched Dong-gil’s neck, they seemed to connect instantly.

Her hair was neatly swept back, and her skin was as pale and smooth as an egg white. Her features were as delicate and tidy as her voice—so perfect it made Tae-shin feel like he’d just lost his soul.

As he stood there awkwardly, clutching at his clothes, the girl finally looked at him.

“Hi. I’m Yeo-ok.”

She smiled so brightly, she looked like a fairy who’d come down from heaven. But no matter how angelic she seemed, she wasn’t going to soften his stubborn attitude.

Tae-shin sniffled, puffing up his chest.

“There’s a person standing right here, and you say hi to the mutt first? Wow, you’re really…!”

…But he couldn’t think of how to finish that sentence. Normally, he had no trouble speaking his mind, but something about her made him hold back.

As he fumbled for words, Yeo-ok covered her mouth and giggled out loud.

The elder, who’d been listening the whole time, chuckled and gently scolded him.

“Tae-shin, you were here first, so be kind to Yeo-ok. You’re about the same age—maybe you can be good companions.”

“First it was ‘be friends with the mutt,’ and now it’s ‘be friends with the girl’? Why not just tell me to be friends with you too?”

“He talks like that, but he’s got a kind heart. Don’t take it the wrong way, Yeo-ok.”

“I’m not offended. What’s the point of holding a grudge?” she said calmly.

Still, something about her rubbed Tae-shin the wrong way. Maybe it was the way she acted so composed and mature—just like him, but trying too hard to seem dignified.

When he tried to head out to clean the yard with Dong-gil, the mutt just sat down on her skirt and stared at him like, “You go do the work.”

“Hey, mutt. Aren’t you coming?”

“He has a name, you know. Why do you keep calling him ‘mutt’? Whether it’s a person or an animal, using their name brings good luck,” Yeo-ok shot back, petting Dong-gil.

Tae-shin turned red with embarrassment and stomped his feet as he headed out.

“Calling a mutt a mutt—what’s the big deal? A name, seriously…”

Most of the ritual mess had already been cleaned up by the other shamans, so there wasn’t much left for him to do. As he swept the yard with a broom, he mumbled the words he couldn’t say to her face.

“You want this?”

Yeo-ok followed him out and pulled a shiny apple from her sleeve, offering it to him. Tae-shin glanced between her face and the apple, hesitating.

“Didn’t you use this in the ritual?”

“Yup.”

“And I can still eat it?”

“Of course. Fruit from a ritual is called ‘blessing fruit.’ It’s good luck to eat it.”

Even though she said it was okay, Tae-shin cast a wary glance toward the house before taking a loud bite. The crisp, sweet-sour juice filled his mouth—it was delicious.

“Do you not like me or something?” Yeo-ok asked suddenly, leaning in.

He flinched and took a step back.

“Worried the new girl’s gonna take your place?”

“N-no! That’s not it…”

“So you’re just naturally rude, then? That’s even worse.”

“What about you? Judging people you just met—isn’t that worse?” he shot back, gripping the broom handle tightly.

Yeo-ok studied his face with such intensity that it felt like she could see right through him. He looked away, and she burst into a loud, carefree laugh.

“You’re right. You’re totally right. I shouldn’t judge people like that.”

Her wide smile was as innocent as a child’s.

“I’ll apologize. Since you already took a bite of the apple, I guess you’ve accepted it.”

Tae-shin, still dazed, looked down at the apple in his hand. Yeo-ok gave him a few pats on the back and slowly walked around the yard.

“I heard you don’t have any family either. Is that true?”

He hesitated before replying.

“I used to. They passed away. That’s why I’m alone now.”

“Then you must remember what your parents looked like?”

“Barely… but maybe a little.”

“I don’t remember anything. I don’t even know how I came into this world.”

Despite the sad words, Yeo-ok never stopped smiling. It felt like she had grieved for so long that the pain had already passed. Her face showed no trace of sorrow.

Watching her made Tae-shin feel silly for being so defensive. Compared to the calm and collected Yeo-ok, he still felt like a brat.

So he didn’t know what to say to her. If she’d been like Dong-gil—naive and clueless—he could’ve lectured her. But she felt more like the old man, someone who had already lived through much more than he had.

“You had the initiation, right? So you’re a shaman now?”

The words felt pointless even as he said them. Yeo-ok smiled and nodded.

“Yep.”

“So now you’ll go around healing people, like the elder?”

“I’ve still got a lot to learn. I’ll be tagging along for a while.”

Suddenly, Dong-gil came running out of the house, dashing around the yard in excitement. He raised a paw toward Yeo-ok, ran away, then ran back again. She laughed and chased after him.

She looked like a kid, laughing and playing like that.

He’d heard plenty of times that a shaman’s life was hard. Maybe it wasn’t true for everyone, but Yeo-ok was clearly heading down a path different from most. Watching her, Tae-shin couldn’t help but feel a small flicker of pity.