The Nature of Possession

425 – EP.15 Mirror Flower, Water, Moon

***

Kang In-ho and Chun-hyang faced each other. Their cold gazes exchanged as if their passionate love affair in the middle of the night was a lie.

In fact, it was only Kang In-ho who sent the enemy. Chunhyang was still looking up at Kang In-ho with eyes full of affection.

The candles cast shadows of two people on the wall. The swaying shadows represented Kang In-ho’s feelings.

“Please sit down.”

It was Chunhyang who broke the silence. She tapped the blanket twice with her white hands.

“…….”

Kang In-ho’s wary eyes showed no sign of relaxing easily.

Chunhyang looked at him with her still eyes and raised her hand. Kang Inho flinched at the action, and Chunhyang’s eyes narrowed for the first time.

“I don’t have many questions for you. It’s going to be a long story, so please have a seat.”

At the second suggestion, Kang In-ho slowly sat down on the floor. It must have been his own way of expressing his intention to stay as far away from Chunhyang as possible.

Kang In-ho swallowed his saliva several times, but his mouth wouldn’t open easily.

He opened and closed his mouth repeatedly.

“How did you know?”

So Chunhyang opened her mouth first.

“When I looked at the trees, I could only see the forest.”

Kang In-ho answered with difficulty.

“I like metaphors, but I wish you’d be a little more direct.”

“First of all, writing.”

When Kang In-ho answered, Chunhyang nodded slowly.

“I can’t read the writing here.”

He couldn’t read the room that was attached to the street.

How could someone who couldn’t read read the contents of the ledger containing Byun Hak-do’s infidelity and the letter from Chunhyang asking him to forget her?

“Are there any more?”

“Your wounds. There is not a single scar.”

Chunhyang was subjected to severe torture.

Even for a healthy man, recovery would take several weeks at the shortest, or even several months at the longest. However, Chunhyang left prison and headed straight to his house.

“I see. Do you have more?”

“The season. Spring is still continuing.”

It was spring when I came down from Hanyang to Namwon. Several months have passed, but spring is not over yet.

The flowers and trees on the street were always green, and the weather was always clear.

“also?”

“When Bangja fell and got up, you were the one who was closest to him.”

After waking up, Bangja couldn’t remember the conversation before she collapsed.

If someone had manipulated Bangja’s memory, the most likely suspect was Chunhyang.

“I see. Do you have more?”

“The flower garden behind the hill.”

“A field of flowers… are you talking about that?”

“For a moment, I saw a yellow flower covering the entire hill. If I’m not mistaken, it was a goldenrod.”

Chunhyang’s eyes narrowed.

“I heard somewhere that the golden-eyed plant has a hallucinogenic effect.”

Kang In-ho, who had told all the clues he had found, looked straight at Chunhyang.

What he meant was, “You’re not going to evade your responsibility now, are you?”

“That’s great.”

Of course, Chunhyang just smiled leisurely and praised him.

Kang In-ho’s eyes fluttered at her friendly yet confident attitude.

“But I’m a little disappointed. I wish you had found the clue somewhere else… For example… Your ears are sensitive.”

Chunhyang covered her mouth and laughed playfully.

“Are you kidding me…!”

When Kang In-ho was about to raise his voice at Chunhyang’s indifferent attitude, a sound was heard from outside the door.

***

“Your Majesty. Aren’t you sleeping?”

It was Bangja’s voice.

“Huh? Huh?”

When Kang In-ho was at a loss at the unexpected voice, Chun-hyang lifted her index finger and brought it to her lips.

As we held our breath for a moment, another voice was heard from outside.

“Why did you wake up so early?”

“Oh, Miss Chunhyang. I’m going to the back room for a moment.”

Chunhyang’s voice was heard from outside.

Kang In-ho looked back and forth between Chunhyang in front of him and the outside.

Chunhyang smiled brightly, perhaps because she found the sight of the man turning his head cute.

The conversation between Chunhyang and Bangja outside continued.

“Aren’t you going in, ma’am?”

“I’m going to go in now. You go in quickly and go to sleep too.”

“All right.”

There was a sound of a door opening. It was definitely the door to the room he was in, but the door did not open.

Soon, the sound of the door closing was heard, and Bangja’s footsteps seemed to be fading away.

Kang In-ho looked at Chunhyang sitting in front of him.

That smiling face still confused him.

There was a long, uncomfortable silence.

“Is there another Chunhyang other than you?”

Kang In-ho asked.

“Do you think I am acting like Chunhyang? Using the golden eye?”

“That could be true. I think it changed when the letter arrived… but maybe, even the letter was an illusion?”

“I was me from the beginning. There was no other Chunhyang.”

“I see… from the beginning… then I was hallucinating…”

“Your Majesty, I’m sorry to interrupt, but this is not a hallucination.”

Chunhyang cut him off.

“what?”

Kang In-ho asked back.

“This is just one of those phenomena that my talent has created.”

“The golden eye flower is a flower that I especially cherish because it resembles my pupils. The fragrance it possesses is also quite useful.”

Chunhyang smiled brightly.

“I am so glad that I can explain this to you, Your Majesty.”

“If you mix the scents of the goldenrod well… something like this is possible.”

When Chunhyang snapped her fingers again, the scenery in the room changed.

It was a familiar sight, seen many times somewhere, but it didn’t seem to fit here.

“I tried to recreate the space that often appeared in your memories.”

Kang In-ho’s mouth opened wide at the sight of his room, which was reminiscent of the Joseon Dynasty.

“This is one of my talents. It’s called ‘total hypnosis.'”

Chunhyang smiled brightly as if revealing a surprise gift.