Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 156

<156. The World Changes Amazingly>

At Rembrary’s question, Shin Jo-woon asked, “Really?” and looked in the rearview mirror.

“Does it sound weird?”

“Yes. It sounds like a thumping noise.”

“Why is that?”

“Shouldn’t we check it out?”

Rembrary asked, worried that the car might break down.

Of course, he was confident he’d be fine even if the car broke down, but it was best not to get hurt in the first place.

“It’s okay. Maybe something’s inside. Something rolling around. We can check it later.”

“What if it breaks down?”

“We’re going to scrap it anyway since it’s already clapped out.”

“I see.” Rembrary nodded and went back to scribbling with his pen.

Was he curious? While the car was stopped at a red light, Shin Jo-woon glanced at Rembrary’s sketchbook on his lap and asked.

“You’re not drawing me, are you?”

“You’re very self-aware.”

“It looks like an anchovy head to me. An anchovy head… on its side.”

“You have a good eye for detail.”

Shin Jo-woon gripped the steering wheel even tighter. Rembrary tapped his pen on the sketchbook and advised, “Relax your grip,” before starting to draw again.

He had never learned to drive, but he knew that if you gripped the steering wheel that tightly and turned it, your body would turn with it.

“Pig.”

“I’m not going to answer.”

“Isn’t that an answer?”

“…”

“I won’t tease you. Answer me.”

“I told you, I’m not going to answer.”

“Sing for me.”

“No.”

“I’m giving you a ride.”

“Should I rap for you?”

“No.”

After drawing five anchovies on the sketchbook, the car stopped. Rembrary put down his pen and looked up. A large silver building was visible through the window.

“Is that it?”

“Yeah.”

Rembrary unbuckled his seatbelt, opened the car door, tore a page from the sketchbook, got out of the car, and placed the paper on the seat where he had been sitting.

“It’s a thank you.”

Shin Jo-woon looked dumbfounded as he picked up the paper, then chuckled when he spotted a tiny Life [Rembrary’s deity form] and a sloth drawn at the very edge of the paper.

“What’s this? You and Tae-ri?”

“It’s Life and a sloth.”

‘What a strange person. He has a vivid imagination.’ Rembrary muttered to himself, closed the door with a satisfied expression, and hurried into the building.

Shin Jo-woon bit his lower lip as he looked down at the paper, then shook his head, placed the drawing on the passenger seat, and started the car again.

***

As he entered the building, a person at the lobby desk approached and asked what he was there for.

Rembrary compared the first floor of LLL Entertainment with the first floor of this place, then mentioned Song Seo-young and Jong-woo.

“Oh? You’re Woo Yeon-woo!”

The employee, who belatedly recognized Rembrary’s face, exclaimed in amazement.

“Just a moment.”

The employee quickly took out his phone and made a call, then put the phone back in his pocket after a moment and smiled.

“Song Seo-young’s manager said it’s okay for you to come up; the appointment is confirmed.”

“Which floor should I go to?”

“The fifth floor.”

Rembrary nodded, took a visitor’s card to wear around his neck, went inside the lobby, and got on the elevator.

A moment later, the elevator doors opened with a clunk. As he stepped out of the elevator, a person wearing glasses standing in front of the elevator next to his approached and called out, “Woo Yeon-woo!”

“What?”

When he looked over and asked, the person introduced himself as Song Seo-young’s manager and led the way. He opened the innermost door, and Song Seo-young was sitting at a large table there, drinking coffee.

Song Seo-young recognized Rembrary immediately and smiled brightly.

“So we meet like this. I’ve always been curious.”

“Hello.”

“I heard you’re a fan of mine? Is it true?”

Instead of answering, Rembrary held up his sketchbook and pen, showing off his thorough preparation, and Song Seo-young burst into laughter.

“I guess it’s true. Amazing. I’m a fan of Woo Yeon-woo too.”

“Can I get your autograph?”

“You can even get my phone number.”

There was a high chance that Jong-woo would try to erase that phone number, but Rembrary decided to get both the autograph and the phone number for now.

‘You need a lot of connections to proselytize [convert or attempt to convert (someone) from one religion, belief, or opinion to another].’ Song Seo-young was already proselytized by Dae-ju, but you never know. Maybe she’ll change her mind and try to leave the entertainment industry and the cult.

“Please sign here.”

Rembrary held out his sketchbook, and Song Seo-young quickly took it and began to sign skillfully. Then she wrote a short phrase as well.

While watching her, Rembrary cautiously tested Song Seo-young with the words he had prepared in advance.

“What’s your religion?”

“Pardon?”

Song Seo-young widened her eyes and looked up.

“Religion?”

“Yes. Religion.”

“Um… I don’t really have a religion. Why do you ask?”

“Just curious.”

“I see.”

Song Seo-young nodded and started writing something again.

After waiting for about three seconds, Rembrary asked again.

“Do you think people’s emotions can be controlled at will?”

Song Seo-young’s pen paused for a moment.

Song Seo-young’s manager, who had been watching happily as Song Seo-young and Rembrary exchanged compliments as fans, also flinched and looked at Rembrary.

‘Does he have something to hide?’ Rembrary felt slightly excited by their reactions and asked again.

“If there was a way to control emotions at will, would you want to have that method?”

Song Seo-young tapped the sketchbook with her pen and asked with a smile.

“Woo Yeon-woo.”

“Yes.”

“I am a fan of Woo Yeon-woo, but…”

“Yes.”

“My career is more important to me.”

“Pardon?”

“You’re also in the middle of your career, right, Woo Yeon-woo?”

“?”

“About five years from now. If you still feel the same way then, confess again.”

Song Seo-young smiled wryly as if she couldn’t help it, quickly finished signing the sketchbook, and handed it to Rembrary.

Rembrary accepted the sketchbook in a daze. Below the signature, it was written, ‘Always be strong, sloth ^^.’

Rembrary, still not grasping the situation, looked at the manager, who tapped Rembrary on the back.

“She’s just not in the mood for a relationship yet. With anyone.”

Only after getting one more autograph for Jong-woo did Rembrary realize that Song Seo-young had misunderstood something. After hearing about emotions and whatnot, she must have thought it was a kind of confession.

‘My expression was clumsy.’

Rembrary reproached himself inwardly. But it couldn’t be helped. Since the effect of the brush happened to be related to emotions, it was easy to get sidetracked into explaining things in that direction.

Still, Rembrary thought that Song Seo-young would be embarrassed if he corrected her, so he just let it go and left the building with only the signed sketchbook and pen.

‘Anyway, seeing how she reacted, it doesn’t seem like Song Seo-young is the one who stole the brush…’

Rembrary took out his phone and sent a text message to Dae-ju.

[Dae-ju.]

[Yes.]

[It doesn’t seem like Song Seo-young either.]

[Is that so.]

There was nothing else to reply to after this, so Rembrary called Sa Gam-jae. However, this grim reaper still didn’t answer the phone.

‘I have no idea what that guy is doing.’

Rembrary sighed and hesitated before calling Shin Jo-woon again.

***

Few people drove cars inside Sacheon Pass.

This was because car accidents often occurred due to steering wheel malfunctions as soon as people entered this area.

Broadcasting stations had come to investigate a few times, but all of the broadcasting vehicles ended up having accidents, so people avoided driving cars, motorcycles, or bicycles on this street as much as possible.

As a result, one car driving at a slow speed on Sacheon Street was bound to attract attention.

Regardless, the car entered confidently and stopped in front of an old, red-tiled house that the residents here were reluctant to even approach.

It was a house where it wasn’t even clear whether someone lived there or not; some said it used to be a shaman’s house, some said it was an abandoned temple, and some said it was a house where a crime had occurred. There were so many rumors that the truth was obscure.

The person who confidently parked the car in front of that building and got out was Shin Jo-woon. He opened the trunk and took out the dog he had brought, carrying it over his shoulder.

The ghosts wandering around the yard tilted their heads, wondering what it was, but Shin Jo-woon didn’t even flinch and went inside the building with the half-broken door.

He went straight up to the second floor, and a woman with her legs dangling over the rickety railing asked without turning her head.

“What brings you here?”

Strangely, the woman was dressed in a ceremonial robe complete with a jokduri [Korean traditional coronet worn by women for special occasions], but she wasn’t wearing shoes.

Shin Jo-woon placed the ‘dog’ he had brought next to the woman. Only then did the woman turn her head and click her tongue at the dog on the floor.

“You’re still doing this.”

“It’s a gift.”

“Who calls something like this a gift?”

“If you don’t like it, throw it away; if you do, raise it.”

The woman, whom Shin Jo-woon called ‘Saintess,’ clicked her tongue and shook her head, then straightened up from leaning against the railing.

“This won’t bring back the dead.”

“I know.”

Shin Jo-woon smiled and lightly kicked the dog he had placed on the ground.

“But it makes me feel better.”

The woman shook her head.

Outwardly, she seemed to dislike Shin Jo-woon’s behavior, a much more normal reaction than Shin Jo-woon’s.

However, the ‘dog’ that Shin Jo-woon had placed down trembled even more fearfully as it looked at the woman in the ceremonial robe.

Anyone who didn’t know the situation would find it strange, but there were no living people watching them here.

All those wandering around inside the building were ghosts embraced by the Saintess in the ceremonial robe, so there was no one to help the ‘dog.’

The woman – Hong-mo reached out and stroked the ‘dog’s’ head, asking.

“How is Nak-ru doing these days? He failed a few times and hasn’t shown his face around here.”

“A new Saint has appeared in the entertainment industry. He seemed to be targeting that person.”

“Those guys never change.”

Hong-mo clicked her tongue and asked again.

“What about you? Have you met the Saint who appeared in the entertainment industry?”

“Not really, I’m not interested.”

At that moment, a song with strange lyrics cut through the precarious atmosphere and rang from Shin Jo-woon’s pocket.

“What kind of lyrics are these?”

Hong-mo frowned at the lyrics, which were full of vicious curses.

“It’s my lover’s lover’s solo song.”

“You’re dating?”

Hong-mo asked happily, then belatedly realized that Shin Jo-woon’s answer was strange and asked again in surprise.

“Your lover has a lover? How many lovers does your lover have?”

Hong-mo was even more surprised to see that Shin Jo-woon’s expression was calm.

‘Has the world changed that much while I’ve been away?’ The world really changes quickly. Hong-mo lamented that the world had become more open while she was in seclusion, seeing Shin Jo-woon’s nonchalant demeanor.

Instead of answering, Shin Jo-woon opened his phone and immediately called out, “Pig.” This song only played when Woo Yeon-woo called, so he didn’t even need to look at who was calling.

“What?”

[Please give me a ride back to the dorm.]

“Have you already finished your business? What about your manager… who is it? The one in the swimsuit?”

[She’s not answering the phone.]

Shin Jo-woon clicked his tongue, said, “Wait there,” hung up the phone, and looked at Hong-mo. Hong-mo was still muttering, “Back in my day…” and lamenting the rapid changes in the world.

“Saintess. I’ll come back later.”

‘That guy has to pick up his lover’s lover too. What a pushover.’ Hong-mo clicked her tongue inwardly and waved her hand, telling him to leave quickly.

<156. The World Changes Amazingly> End