Chapter 15: The Last Imugi

It’s absurd to think the marking’s effectiveness increased just because I came a bit. This is exactly how people get sucked into cults.

My nipples, still sore from where Ahn Dae-young bit them, throbbed with a dull ache. The fabric of my shirt chafed, so I’d worn a t-shirt underneath, making everything feel stifling.

Is it really right to help? Do I actually want to save him? He acts like it’ll all be neatly over after we sleep together once.

Deep in thought, Jeong Eun-gyu brought the cup he’d set down to his lips—then his face crumpled. The latte, still more than half full, had somehow gone empty. Choryang licked the milk foam from his upper lip with a wicked tongue.

“Professor, do you like bitter things? Ouch—it’s bitter, bitter.”

My latte. That f*cking goblin bastard. Along with curses directed at Ahn Dae-young, they spilled from my lips.

Chocolate crunched between teeth before melting smoothly. Ahn Dae-young, alternating between bites of a whole slab of chocolate and sips of an iced chocolate drowned in chocolate syrup, held a cigarette in his hand.

A large TV, taking up half the wall, was broadcasting trivial news. A weather presenter in a neat two-piece suit gestured to the air, and a map with city names unfolded. Above Uiyang City, rain clouds were depicted for tomorrow.

“Is it going to rain?”

Kim Seok-ho, who had been typing away, poked his head out from behind the monitor and asked. Smoke curled from Ahn Dae-young’s mouth.

“Yeah.”

“The coming 25th is Christmas, isn’t it? Unfortunately, there’s no snow in the forecast, but apparently the biggest full moon of the year will rise. The time is 3:09 AM on the 25th. They say it’s been a while since we’ve had such a large full moon…”

“A full moon?”

He stood up and walked near the TV. His crossed arms were as thick as a bodybuilder’s. Ahn Dae-young stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray and exhaled the last puff of smoke.

“How kind of them to announce the D-day.”

“Boss… I’m honestly a bit nervous.”

“What’s there to be nervous about?”

“You suspect the Professor is an Imugi, don’t you?”

‘Suspect?’ He snorted and downed the iced chocolate. It looked so sweet it would make your teeth ache, but this was his second cup since coming to work. The boss liked chocolate, sure… But this much was excessive drinking.

Even Ahn Dae-young’s chocolate abuse made Kim Seok-ho anxious, and he kept glancing over. Iced chocolate with a side of chocolate? Wasn’t this proof that the Boss had a lot on his mind?

“Memory is funny. When the timing is right, it quickly transforms things in your head. The face is the same. And then, one by one, the history comes back.”

He broke off a piece of the chocolate slab and handed it. Ugh… too sweet. Ahn Dae-young lit a new cigarette.

“Ridiculous. After all that time running around and waiting, my target appears, and now I’m getting all sentimental.”

He pointed at Kim Seok-ho’s muscular chest with the hand holding the cigarette.

“…Couldn’t that be guilt? I’m only saying this because I haven’t suffered more myself, but… back then, you were sincere. You went to Dori-cheon every day even when this much work piled up. I think it’s guilt for not being able to protect the Imugi.”

“Hey.”

“Yes?”

“Write a novel.”

‘A novel?’ If only they’d met in secret, maybe he wouldn’t have been exiled to the human world. Who was it that went out partying openly, saying ‘f*ck other people’s opinions’? That’s why Byeonseong King caught him first, and that loose-lipped old man spread it all, until it reached the ears of Yeomra.

To be blunt, if the Imugi hadn’t gotten entangled with Ahn Dae-young back then, it might have ascended quietly. Who was it that stirred up that docile, hiding Imugi?

The origin of the Imugi is as follows: A pregnant serpent secretly stole and swallowed the sacred pearl that a dragon kept, bringing down heavenly punishment. Thus, it was called an Imugi, and for the crime of coveting the dragon’s pearl, it was bound tightly at the bottom of Dori-cheon Pond, unable to move. But the Eighth Hell’s King of Equality, taking pity, removed its sin and released it, telling it to live quietly.

This action caused a dispute among the Ten Kings, but Yeomra, angry at the noise, settled it by imprisoning the Imugi in Dori-cheon. Thus, the Imugi was bound to Dori-cheon and had to live hidden from others’ eyes.

In the meantime, the first Imugi laid eggs, a total of nine. Soon, nine Imugis, imbued with the energy of the sacred pearl, were born. With ten Imugis in total, the underworld became busy.

They must not ascend. Ascension involved an agreement with Heaven. They couldn’t just ascend on a whim; they had to give prior notice and receive approval before preparing to ascend.

But that only applied to purebloods; for Imugis, it was a different story. It contradicted the original terms. Because they were incomplete dragons. If care wasn’t taken, the long-maintained neutrality with Heaven might be broken by a new force.

‘What should we do?’

‘About what? Just kill them before they ascend. That’s all.’

So the underworld hatched a sinister plot. They began secretly eliminating the Imugis one by one. On the day when the mother, watching her children being slaughtered, hid the last surviving youngest at the bottom of the Dori-cheon Pond where she had been bound, she too was lost, and that youngest remained as the last Imugi in the world.

The water was lonely. Whenever the loneliness became unbearable, he lifted his head above the surface to see a brilliantly bright full moon. When the moonlight touched his wet hands, scales shimmered and sprouted. Thanks to the power of the sacred pearl, even though born from an egg, he lived in human form, but before the full moon, his true nature was helplessly exposed.

He lived in the pond for over nine hundred ninety years. Whenever he closed and opened his eyes, the dead brothers came to mind. So much time had passed that there was no shock anymore. But it was a massacre whose reason he could never grasp—why they had to die, why they were killed. The only certain thing was that they were evil.

I will never die. I will not be killed by them like my brothers.

One day, as he persevered stubbornly, the Imugi suddenly realized: he had to leave. He could no longer live in the water. Even if it meant getting his head cut off, he had to go to the Ten Kings and beg, or somehow cultivate the power to survive alone. He couldn’t live like this every day. At this rate, he would neither live nor die.

His eyes, which had slept at the bottom, opened, and as he swam up through the currents to the surface, before he could even take his first breath on land, he encountered an unexpected being.

‘What are you?’

A bright red sword was pointed at his neck. It was eerie, as if he could hear the screams of ghosts from the blade. It was terrifying, as if it would split him in two. As he stumbled back, about to splash back into the water, a strong arm wrapped around the Imugi’s waist. Even though he could speak, his lips trembled in fear. A cold gaze swept over the Imugi’s wet face.

That was the first meeting between the Young Prince and the Imugi.

They should never have met then. But it was inevitable.

“…”

Ahn Dae-young exhaled another puff of smoke, he didn’t know which number it was. When he was exiled to the human world, part of his memory was erased. Under the pretext of preventing a recurrence. So even when he sometimes dreamed of the Imugi, above the neck there were no features, like an egg.

But now he can see. Even though he only tried to see Professor Jeong’s past life, he got an unexpected harvest. Just now, he recalled the memory like a presentation, and he saw the forgotten face.

Mr. Jeong Eun-gyu. Your face.

Should I be glad for this harvest from just a taste? But if we had s*x, I’d remember everything. Though I doubt that gentleman would go that far.

“Boss. It’s phone number 10.”

Kim Seok-ho politely held out the phone, and he took it.

“Ahn Dae-young speaking.”

“Have you been well? It’s me. Assemblywoman Lee Jae-suk. I need your help.”

Assemblywoman Lee Jae-suk from the One Party. That’s what showed on the caller ID. Lately, there were many requests from members of the National Assembly. They frequently called, saying they needed to erase impure energies for next year’s elections. Most of the time, when he actually went out on the job, it turned out to be nothing, but since they had plenty of money and assets, it was profitable to take their requests.

“Location.”

His rudeness didn’t discriminate between clients. The funny thing was that the clients had gotten used to Ahn Dae-young’s attitude.

“You didn’t even say what you saw, and you’re asking for the location?”

“If you’re going to argue, I’ll hang up.”

“You’re still the same. Seyeon Hospital, VIP Ward, Room 3. That person hasn’t been breathing well for a while. Test results show nothing wrong, vitals all normal, but still.”

“I’ll go now.”

“Oh my. That fast?”

Without answering, Ahn Dae-young hung up, grabbed his coat, and left the office. As the door slammed shut, Kim Seok-ho belatedly ran out and shouted.

“Boss! At least tell me where you’re going!”

Ahn Dae-young looked up at Kim Seok-ho on the stairs and threw the phone #10. Kim Seok-ho barely caught it and sighed, rubbing his chest. He nearly broke the phone. As a result, the destination was skipped, but oh well.

“How is the hand tremor? Have you experienced any shaking since the surgery? The handwriting looks better than last time.”

“I took the medicine well and there’s no problem. It’s strange that my hand stopped shaking after trembling so much.”

Jeong Eun-gyu looked at the happily smiling patient and pulled his chair closer. The surgical site had healed well… and the numbers were normal. Nothing major wrong.

“The switch implanted in your chest is working fine. As I said before, no excessive exercise.”

“I’ve been walking diligently, but I get a bit out of breath.”

“You should walk slowly. Not fast, but like a stroll. Don’t exceed 30 minutes.”

“Got it. Thanks to you, Doctor, I feel like I’m flying these days.”

He was seeing the ninth outpatient after rounds. Believing that people should play where they live, Jeong Eun-gyu, who had slept in a daze, was so focused on his work that he lost track of time. His weakened stamina wouldn’t recover just from a few days of sleep, but thanks to sleeping and being teased at Ahn Dae-young’s place, his condition had improved a lot.

At least it was refreshing that those damn ghosts didn’t come near. If only the dokkaebi that appeared as soon as he opened the clinic door were gone, it would be close to perfect.

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