1 The Ill-fated Encounter

300 years ago (1712)…

"What is it you wish, mortal?" The mother of the nine-tailed fox asked the village girl, as the storm brewed stronger in the distance and the sky darkened. The storm lurks near the girl's village, and she sniffles as she looks at the gods and goddesses.

"I wish to love your son for eternity," she wished as her tears streamed down her face, "It is the only thing I can ask for penance, Your Majesty. I beg you," she pleaded as the lightning struck the ground behind her, and the bellowing thunder envelopes the whole sky. The mother of the nine-tailed fox laughed connivingly as she stared down at the village girl.

"You wish to love my son? How selfless of you," the mother said in a disgusting tone, "And to ask for eternity? How shameless," she added.

"It is an act of promise, Your Majesty." The village girl appealed, "In exchange, my successors will do the same, so please... I beg you to end this nightmare," she begged the gods and goddesses as she was down on all fours.

"... Very well," the mother replied, and the storm immediately simmered down. The village girl looked up as she plastered a small smile, "But if you break this promise, I will make your life miserable." The mother was already in front of her and leaned down to whisper that to her.

"Yes, Your Majesty. I won't let you down," she sniveled as she answered.

"To make you eternal, I will transfer your soul to a new vessel every time you die. The new vessel will be your successor, and you will forget everything. My son will meet you when you reach your coming of age and your promise will automatically take effect, so remember my warning if you ever break them." The mother stood up and in a snap of a finger changed the life of the village girl.

300 years later (2012)...

"I renounce my wish!" The 18-year-old Shin Su Yeon yelled at the gods and goddesses, which angered the mother of the nine-tailed fox.

"You dare renounce your wish, mortal?!" The mother of the nine-tailed fox raised her tone, as her voice reverberated throughout the whole mountain.

"Your son never once loved me during my lifetime, and it is my right to renounce them!" Su Yeon condemned as her anger grew further, "300 years and I wasted my life just to be broken by your son, and this is the right thing to do to protect myself. But to think that you are angered by this? You seem to have a reason why you don't want me to renounce my wish," She pressed, which made the mother stunned by her action.

"You...!" The mother of the nine-tailed fox emphasized but was stopped when her son, Gwang Hyeon Woo appeared.

"Mother," he called her.

"Hyeon Woo," the mother said softly.

"Grant her wish," he said to her.

"But—" Hyeon Woo stopped his mother, so she composed herself and sighed as the rain stopped pouring, "Very well, what is your wish then, mortal?" She asked Su Yeon through gritted teeth.

"I wish to forget all of you and that I live my life normally," Su Yeon wished, the veins of Hyeon Woo's mother popped up but couldn't do anything about it as her son was beside her.

"... Wish granted." In a snap of a finger made Su Yeon forget about everything that just happened, she found herself soaking wet the next day and wondered if she hiked the mountains during inclement weather.

10 years later (2022)...

Su Yeon's POV

I'm standing afoot on the mountain again, I don't know the reason why I ended up traveling here, but it seems that I'm looking for answers I can't find. I also don't know what happened during my lifetime, but I seem to have been getting bad luck since the day I left this mountain. Did I get cursed while I was up there? I became frantic about it as I searched for my phone to call my shaman friend, Yang Mi-na. Well, she's not really a shaman, but her mother is. I just want to know what's up with me lately, I dialed her number and waited for her to pick up.

"Hello, this is Yang Mi-na speaking," she says on the other line, "Who is this?" She asked.

"You didn't save my number?" I shockingly asked, "We've been friends for over two decades and my number wasn't even in your phone's contacts?" I argued.

"Ah, it's just you." She replied, "What is it this time?" She asked me in a disinterested tone.

"Your debt for over two decades, Mi-na, I've come to ask for that." I bluffed and I heard her cough.

"Oh, it's you, Su Yeon!" She suddenly talked softly, "I was just kidding, you know? I saved your contacts," she laughed nervously on the other line.

"You're easy to talk to, Mi-na. I'm coming over," I said to her.

"What?—" Before she could even add another word, I hung up and walked down the mountain again to catch a bus to visit their temple. Once I was there, I saw Mi-na waving from the temple and I waved back at her, "Are you here to collect my debt?" She asked me.

"What?" I laughed at her question before shaking my head, "You already paid all of your debts, Mi-na, I just wanted myself to get a shaman reading by your mom." She cocked her head to the side when I mentioned that to her.

"But you're not a believer of this sort of thing, wouldn't this just be a waste of your time?" She questioned me and linked her arms with mine as we walked slowly towards the temple, "Why do you suddenly want to get a reading?" She continued.

"Well, it doesn't hurt to try, right?" I pointed it out to her, "Before that... guess what?" I asked her.

"What? You got fired immediately from your job?" Mi-na suddenly retorted.

"Wow, what a killjoy you are," I said to her as she laughed, "I just got a job in Gwang Industries!" I exclaimed happily, she stopped in her tracks as if surprised by the news then composed herself when she noticed me staring at her before squinting her eyes at me.

"Who did you trick this time?" She asked suspiciously.

"What? I haven't had schemes since..." I trailed off when a distant memory started playing in my head, I shook the thought away and looked at her, "Anyways, where's Auntie?" I asked her, but she didn't push it as well, to which I'm glad.

"She's waiting for you. Mom said it felt like you have questions," Mi-na told me.

"Huh, she felt that?" I asked in amusement.

"No, she overheard us talking for a moment."

"Oh," this earned a chuckle from me and Mi-na stopped when she saw her mother standing outside the temple.

"Play along, okay?" She asked as we approached her mother.

"Shin Su Yeon! I was waiting for you," she says and hugs me, "Come on in!" She invited me inside as some elderly people were just leaving.

"Mrs. Yang has accurate readings, don't you think so?" The elderly woman asked her fellow friends.

"Exactly! One day I asked her if my husband was hiding a secret from me, and she said he was having an affair. The next day, I caught that bastard and was indeed having an affair!" She says to her friends.

"Wow, she really did that?" I leaned in to whisper that to Mi-na.

"I wish, apparently, mom found out that that grandma's ex-husband was cheating on her because she saw them inside a karaoke room," Mi-na explained to me.

"Oh, that's rather funny." I stated, "But hey, at least she helped."

"I guess you could say that," she agreed and later stopped when we reached the temple.

"Here, take a seat, Su Yeon." Mrs. Yang suggested sitting in front, "I feel you want to have a reading about your luck," she mentioned immediately and I was quite surprised. I looked at Mi-na and she shrugged her shoulders.

"Yes, Auntie, I just want to know how unlucky I was for the last ten years." I addressed that to her.

"Is that so? Then, I want you to close the doors, Mi-na." Mrs. Yang commanded her daughter as she held a brass bell in her right hand, and then started chanting. I don't know what's happening but after a minute she stopped chiming the bell, and Mrs. Yang locked her eyes with me as if I had done something wrong.

"Mrs. Yang?" I called for her, and suddenly thunder was heard outside. I looked at Mi-na, "Is this still part of the play?" I asked nervously and she shook her head in disagreement.

"Mom? You're scaring Su Yeon," Mi-na called out to her mom.

"Han... Byeol..." Mrs. Yang said as if seething in anger.

"Excuse me? I don't understand you," I said to her.

"Han Byeol, you disgraced the gods and goddesses." Mrs. Yang said, "How's your miserable life?" She asked in anger.

"Uh, who are you?" I asked her, which was stupid, why would I ask her that?

"You need to remember me, Han Byeol... I was the one who granted you this life after all," she says, "I am..." Before she could even say her name Mrs. Yang passed out and Mi-na and I hurried over to wake her up.

"Mrs. Yang!" I called for her.

"Mom! Wake up!" Mi-na yelled at her mother before slapping her, Mrs. Yang immediately woke up and looked at us.

"Su Yeon, what did you do to anger the gods?" She asked me, "It's so scary," she said as she clutched her chest.

"I think you should go to work, Su Yeon." Mi-na says, "You're about to get late," she added and I looked at my watch and it was indeed true.

"I'm so sorry for ever asking, Mrs. Yang," I apologized as I hurried out of the temple, "Why is she calling me Han Byeol?" I said to myself out loud and bumped into someone.

"Watch where you're going," he says.

"Sorry," I said and bowed but I didn't look at him as I was too late already.

"You don't remember me, huh?" He questioned me, I stopped in my tracks and glanced at the guy.

"You must've mistook me for someone else, sir," I replied, who's that guy?

Mi-na's POV

"Mom, why do you have to scare Su Yeon like that?" I complained.

"What?" She looked at me then her eyes widened, "Oh, right, I guess I got a little overboard..." Mom trailed off before composing herself.

"You and your schemes never fade Mom." As I opened the doors again she then hurled a handful of red beans at me, "Mom!"

"What do you mean schemes? I've been a shaman my whole life, your grandmother was once a shaman as well!" She argued, "All of our female ancestors were shamans, so don't think our family didn't display all these statues for a show!" She added but before mom could even throw another handful of red beans at me, she stopped when she noticed someone behind me. I followed her gaze and a man stood in front of me.

Su Yeon's POV

I hurried to the bus station and fetched a ride when a bus showed up. While on my way there, I was suddenly reminded of the thunder earlier. I looked outside the window to see the sky, but it seemed to be a clear and sunny day. Why is there suddenly thunder? Is Mrs. Yang playing the thunder in the temple? Huh, I didn't even realize that one. Once the bus reached the station near Gwang Industries, I took a moment to catch my breath before glossing at the building. The brochure of this company sure intrigued me, but I don't know if I fit into this business. As I entered the luxurious building, I was met with an overwhelming amount of workers. This isn't a black company, right? I hope I don't find myself dead at the end of this shift. As I make my way to my station as the CEO's Secretary, some tasks are already left for me to do. If I remember correctly, almost all types of industries are built under this company's name. They must be one hell of a conglomerate family to hold this many companies. I started dialing the numbers of the people who wanted to meet the busy CEO, who, by the way, is always in another country discussing business matters with VIPs and Investors.

"Are you the new Secretary?" Someone questioned in front of my desk, I looked up and smiled.

"Yes, ma'am, how may I help you?" I inquired, "If you want to meet Mr. Gwang, you might want to make a reservation. He is currently out of the country discussing private matters with other companies," I told her.

"Oh, no, I'm asking about you." She clarified. I stood up and bowed at her.

"Oh! Yes, I am," I said to her, "Why do you ask, ma'am?" I asked her.

"I'm the former Secretary and this is the manual of what you need to do when Mr. Gwang isn't around," she said as she handed me a thin red manual, "And this is the manual of what you need to do when Mr. Gwang is around." She then handed me a thick blue manual.

"Thank you! This will be a great help!" I smiled at her and she nodded.

"It should be a great help," she says and leaned in to whisper, "Mr. Gwang isn't the type who slacks around, so you should always be doing something." I nod my head to her statement.

"Why are you resigning, though?" I asked her, she looked down and I saw a big bump on her belly. She's pregnant!

"I'm resigning because I'm settling down," she says, "Life sure has ways to create new bundles of joy." She mentioned and I smiled.

"Indeed," I replied with a smile and a ring interrupted our conversation.

"Oh! Don't let me stop your work, I'm gonna go now." She said and left, so I picked up the phone to answer it.

"This is Mr. Gwang's office, how may I help you?" I asked.

"Mr. Gwang will be in the office in about ten minutes. Wait outside the building to escort him," someone says on the other side of the phone and I somehow panicked. I picked up the manuals that were for Mr. Gwang and made my way outside the building. When I reached the entrance of the building, workers, and staff were already lining up to wait for the CEO. I took a quick sharp breath before standing beside the building's door, and exactly five minutes later a car pulls up and a chauffeur walks out to open the door. I couldn't quite get a good look at Mr. Gwang because he started walking fast to enter the building and I handed him some signed documents.

"Good morning, Mr. Gwang, here are the documents for yesterday's appeal." I handed him a manual as we were walking continuously. He took a glance at the document before handing it to one of his supervisors.

"Disregard this appeal, it's not even close to what I expected." He told the supervisor.

"Yes, Mr. Gwang." The supervisor replied as I handed another document, wow, is the appeal that bad?

"These are documents that need to be signed today, it concerns the safety of the newly built infrastructure at Gangnam," I stated as we reached the elevator. The supervisor, Mr. Gwang, and I were the only ones who hopped in. He glanced at the documents again as I handed him a fountain pen.

"Those people are like new to their work, so overly cautious." Mr. Gwang pointed out as he encircled some words, "They can't even write a formal letter." He mentioned before handing it back to me.

"The last document here is a notice from one of the investors in Seoul. They contacted the company earlier and told them you were still out of the country, shall I inform them of your arrival?" I handed him the document as he skimmed over it.

"Inform them in about five minutes, I have to take a rest before that." Mr. Gwang answered.

"Noted, Mr. Gwang." The ride on the elevator was suddenly quiet and the three of us were standing beside each other, then someone cleared their throat.

"I see that you are the new Secretary?" The supervisor asked all of a sudden, huh, even the guy noticed but this thick-headed skull doesn't seem to notice.

"Ah, yes, sir. I just started today but work seems to be going well for now," I replied with a smile, I got a good glance at Mr. Gwang while I was looking at his supervisor. Mr. Gwang is good-looking but I don't see the appeal, "The former Secretary just gave me a heads up about how things work here." This guy is too busy on his phone.

"Is that so? Then I guess you'll be having a field day now that Mr. Gwang is here." He loudly mentioned and laughed. The elevator door opened up and the supervisor walked out first.

"I can literally hear you two talking about me—" Mr. Gwang immediately stopped talking when he finally looked at me, although he looked kind of shocked to see me. The kind of shock where he drops his phone and pen as he examines me. I picked up his phone and pen and he was still looking at me when I gave it back, the elevator door closed again when we didn't step off. Does he know me?