Mudoo - Chapter 61

Part 7: The Memory Collector

Tae-shin immediately caught the scent of her Mudoo. But from the look on his face, he had no idea what it was.

Seula quietly supplied,

“It’s Mudoo.”

Tae-shin tilted his head slightly, one eyebrow furrowing.

“You smell like Mudoo.”
“Humans can’t smell it. It’s a scent that attracts wandering spirits.”

That was what he had told her the first time they met, back before Hobun’s claim that Tae-shin had lost his memory. Now, Tae-shin’s half-lidded eyes were asking silently, ‘And what’s that supposed to mean?’

“Instead of pacing around in such a cramped room, why don’t you take a seat? We were just having a meal, it’d go nicely with some mung bean pancakes.”

Hobun gave Tae-shin a light push toward the table. He sat down right next to Seula without breaking eye contact with her.

His gaze was wary, observing this stranger before him, but there was also a flicker of curiosity and interest.

This was the last thing Seula had expected. Even if she came to Cheonghae-dong, the chances of running into Tae-shin were slim. And she had never imagined he’d look at her like this, stripped of his memories.

Turning away with difficulty, Seula picked up her spoon again, feeling a tight ache in her chest.

Did he really remember nothing? Not the days he’d spent with the blind shaman and Dong-gil… not the time he’d gone to get peach tree fruit to save Yeo-ok… not the hours they had shared together last winter?

Tae-shin was still watching her, and the side of her face prickled under his gaze.

“At this rate, you’re going to burn a hole through Seula’s face. Even I’m starting to feel uncomfortable just watching.”

Hobun’s teasing tone broke the stare, and Tae-shin finally looked away.

Seula tore off a piece of the mung bean pancake Tae-shin had brought and popped it into her mouth, only for her throat to tighten instantly. The lump of warmth swelling inside her wasn’t just food, it was emotion.

It had been so long since she’d tasted food he had cooked himself. Memories of sitting across from him at his home came rushing back.

When she finally managed to swallow and take a sip of water, Tae-shin frowned.

“If you don’t like it, you don’t have to force yourself.”

“No, that’s not it… it’s delicious.”

“Then why do you look like that?”

She couldn’t exactly admit that, even after storming out of his home on her own two feet, she had missed him unbearably.

“Because it’s too delicious. I’m… moved.”

“So, you know me?”

He ignored her answer entirely and asked in an even voice,

“Are you going to claim we were friends, too?”

Seula set her cup down and met his eyes cautiously. Friends? Their bond had been much deeper than that.

She knew his body, every inch hidden under his clothes. Which muscles were large or small, exactly where they rested. How big and hard the thing sleeping in his trousers was, the expression he wore when it filled her, the sounds he made, she had forgotten none of it.

Swallowing hard, she said quietly,

“Closer to… a subordinate relationship.”

It wasn’t wrong, they had been employer and employee, after all. Tae-shin’s eyes widened briefly in surprise before he scoffed.

“Of course, I must have treated you like a slave.”

“Why assume that? Maybe it was the other way around.”

“Losing my memory doesn’t mean I’ve turned into an idiot. I have zero intention of falling for your lies.”

“Not you, Tae-shin. Me—Woo Seula.”

“……”

“You used to call me ‘Seula.’ And you never treated me like a slave. If you had…”

She let the rest hang in the air.

“…I wouldn’t have stayed quietly.”

Her voice was firm enough to make Tae-shin’s expression harden. The tension between them was palpable; even Hobun and Dong-gil simply watched in silence.

***

“It’s late, it’s late. Too dangerous to go back now,” Hobun said as they stepped out of his house after dinner.

Dong-gil led the way down the narrow alley, glancing back at Seula. He clearly wanted her to stay at Tae-shin’s place—to talk, to vent all the frustrations that had piled up.

Seula smiled faintly.

“I have work in the morning, and Seoul isn’t that dangerous at this hour, Dong-gil.”

“Your old room is just as you left it, just as you left it. You could rest comfortably.”

“When did my home turn into a doghouse? And why are you bringing strangers into it without my permission?”

Tae-shin’s offhand remark made Dong-gil whirl around and growl.

“You don’t know anything, but your bad temper. You’ve kept that intact!”

“Sounds like I must have been living a pretty miserable life if even a dog looked down on me.”

“Not entirely wrong, not entirely wrong.”

Tae-shin’s arrogant tone made Dong-gil’s tail swish sharply as he retorted.

They emerged from the winding alley and found themselves at the gate. Cheonghae-ro 118beon-gil 4. The house Seula thought she’d never see again stood before her.

She bit her lip and took a deep breath. That was when Tae-shin turned to her.

“Want to come in?”

It was unexpected. His gaze held no emotion, just a faint sense that it would be improper to send a guest away so late.

“I won’t wait long. Decide in three seconds. Three… two… one…”

When Seula hesitated past the count, Tae-shin simply opened the gate and stepped inside. Dong-gil lingered at the threshold, watching her.

“Are you really going to just walk away, walk away?”

She couldn’t turn her back on those dark, pleading eyes. She wanted to know how he’d been without her… and why he’d ended up like this.

With a small sigh, Seula stepped over the threshold.

“Let’s go, then. But no matter what, don’t ever come back here again.”

She shook her head slightly, trying to erase the last words Tae-shin had said to her before.

***

Inside the courtyard, Seula looked around. Tae-shin’s house hadn’t changed, just as a hanok that had stood for over five hundred years wouldn’t change in half a year.

Her gaze stopped at the spot where the peach tree had been. On her first visit, its fruit had tempted her. Now, only a bare, ordinary tree with leafless branches remained.

“After Tae-shin met the King of the Underworld, that tree lost its powers, lost its powers,” Dong-gil explained, following her gaze.

Seula crouched to meet his eyes.

“That’s… a good thing, right?”

“It turned out just as Tae-shin wanted, just as he wanted.”

“Then it’s good.”

She smiled faintly, patting Dong-gil’s head. She didn’t know what Tae-shin had gone through, or what pain he had endured, to cut off his immortality, he had never told her.

Still, she could guess. An endless life? He might have wished to be thrown into hellfire instead.

***

“How much do you know about me?”

A shadow fell over her. Tae-shin stood with his arms crossed, looking down at her with suspicious eyes. Seula rose slowly.

“Right now? I know more about you than you know about yourself.”

“More than Dong-gil knows?”

“In some ways, yes.”

“In what ways?”

Her eyes traced his broad shoulders, the line of his neck, the sharp cut of his jaw and lips, until they met his gaze. He raised one brow slightly.

His face was still perfectly symmetrical, flawless. And staring into those guarded eyes made her lower belly grow heavy.

“That’s a secret.”

Tae-shin gave a short, amused laugh.

“You sound like someone I might have had a romance with.”

“Maybe you did.”

“Don’t play games.”

“You played more games with me than I ever did with you.”

He frowned, as if the very idea were absurd. The small crack in his expression pleased her, so she added one more blow.

“You used to come into my room every day, desperate to press your body against mine. Why pretend otherwise now? Ah… right. You really don’t remember. What a shame.”

Her slightly mocking tone made his lips tighten, and a faint heat flickered at the corners of his eyes.

Gently, he took her elbow and made her face him directly.

“Then why… when I woke up, you weren’t there?”