An Office Worker Is Good At Exorcism - Chapter 289

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 288
Part 6. I Don’t Think I Can Raise a Dog (3)
What greeted Sales Team 1 as they returned from sledding was the plume of steam rising from the cast-iron cauldron set up in the Courtyard.
“Huh? Ah, that must be it. The House Owner said they’d prepare something special for us.”
Gwak Young-ho, who had spoken with the House Owner earlier, patted his startled chest and brought the car to a stop. As the passengers disembarked, the owner standing in the Courtyard bowed in greeting.
“You’ve arrived quickly.”
“You must be the owner? This is our first time meeting. I’m Gwak Young-ho.”
While Gwak Young-ho shook hands with the Rural House owner, Namgoong Min-ah and Lee Jin-pyung swallowed hard repeatedly.
They’d expended energy sledding, but more than that, the aroma wafting from the cauldron was absolutely intoxicating.
“You must be hungry. Please, sit on the Wooden Platform. I’ll have this ready for you in just a moment.”
With such a delicious smell in the air, it was nearly impossible to sit still.
So when no one from Sales Team 1 sat down and they all clustered nearby instead, it happened.
Clang, whoooosh.
Steam billowed from the cauldron, and the opened shells of clams came into view.
“Wow! You mean there’s this much?”
“Most of it is shell, so there’s less meat than it appears.”
“What are you saying? There’s more than enough here for us to eat our fill. Amazing.”
It was steamed clams of various varieties.
The owner lifted the steaming rack from the cauldron with a flourish, and Sales Team 1 parted left and right to clear a path to the Wooden Platform.
As the steamed clams were placed on the Wooden Platform, releasing hot steam and an appetizing aroma, the owner removed his work gloves.
“Then I’ll head inside. Please, enjoy your meal. Just collect the shells in a bag and tidy them to one side.”
“Join us! Boss.”
“Yes, please eat with us.”
“There’s far too much.”
When everyone from Sales Team 1 insisted, the Factory Owner had no choice but to sit on the Wooden Platform.
“Ah, I’m truly sorry about this.”
“There’s nothing to apologize for. We couldn’t eat this much ourselves either.”
Gwak Young-ho glanced around, and with quick intuition, Kang Hyung-seok went into the Inner Room and returned with soju, beverages, and paper cups from the refrigerator.
“That’s our Kang Hyung-seok! Thanks!”
Pop!
Gwak Young-ho twisted open the soju and poured a cup for the Factory Owner.
“Care for a drink?”
“Ah, even alcohol… Thank you so much.”
“The food is excellent, isn’t it? The food. And the atmosphere too.”
Snow lay scattered about, and a cool breeze drifted across the Wooden Platform.
It was brimming with the charm only winter could offer, and the steamed clams—so appetizing just to look at—were piled high before us.
In such an atmosphere, how could one not drink? The Factory Owner sipped the soju in his paper cup with gratitude.
“Ahhh! Excellent, this is wonderful.”
“Have some appetizers too. Ah, we have smelt from yesterday—shall we make some fried smelt?”
As Kang Hyung-seok began to rise, Gwak Young-ho told him to stay seated and brought over the cooler containing the smelt.
He then spread the smelt across the frying pan, added oil, and placed it on the portable gas stove.
Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle, sizzle.
The savory aroma of hot oil and the crackling sound of frying smelt drifted pleasantly through the air.
“By the way, Factory Owner. We saw a dog in this area yesterday.”
As if suddenly remembering, Namgoong Min-ah’s words caused Kang Hyung-seok and Shin Jung-ah to pause mid-reach for the clams.
Fortunately, no one found it strange, and the Factory Owner swallowed the clam in his mouth before nodding toward Namgoong Min-ah.
“There are quite a few around here.”
“Really? Many of them?”
“Yes. Well, it’s a rural area, after all.”
Seeing Namgoong Min-ah’s expression fall, the Factory Owner shook his head with a look that suggested he regretted speaking.
“Usually people come and take them away.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. And….”
The Factory Owner trailed off, and that silence itself became another answer.
Namgoong Min-ah let out a small sigh of resignation, and Lee Jin-pyung wore a similar expression while pressing his lips firmly together.
That was when it happened.
“Do you happen to keep a dog yourself, Factory Owner?”
Kang Hyung-seok’s question drew the Factory Owner’s and everyone else’s attention.
“Why would you….”
“Most people don’t pay much attention to such things.”
As he spoke, Kang Hyung-seok glanced toward one corner of the Courtyard.
In the distance, two Malevolent Dog Spirits were playing with Baekseol.
“Yes. I’ve kept them for a long time. I still do.”
“…I see.”
“Do you keep dogs?”
“I don’t.”
Kang Hyung-seok answered with a slight smile, and the Factory Owner picked up a paper cup with a warm, amiable grin.
“If you get the chance, try keeping one. They give a lot of affection, and there’s great reward in it.”
The Factory Owner drained the remaining soju from his paper cup and reached for the clams.
Even though better options were available, the way he deliberately chose the most abundant and cheapest mussels revealed much about his character.
“In any case, since I’ve received so much love from them, I try my best to repay that debt.”
“A debt, you say…?”
“Such things exist.”
Though the Factory Owner answered while gauging Namgoong Min-ah’s reaction, Kang Hyung-seok could understand perfectly.
The bones of the dogs that had gathered in the Mountain.
It was this man who had gathered them.
Humans had abandoned the dogs, but it was also a human who had cared for their final resting place.
Clink.
Kang Hyung-seok picked up the soju bottle.
He grasped it with both hands and offered it to the Factory Owner, who was startled and quickly raised his paper cup with both hands.
Glug, glug, glug.
He would never understand.
Why Kang Hyung-seok was pouring him soju.
Or what lay behind the gesture.
“Thank you for your hard work.”
“Hm? Oh, yes.”
The Factory Owner accepted the soju without knowing what gratitude it represented, and I set the bottle back in its original place.
I hadn’t drunk a single drop, yet my mouth tasted bitter for some reason.
“There we are—all done!”
Gwak Young-ho, who had finished preparing the dorebanbangi, brought the skillet over, and Lee Jin-pyung and Namgoong Min-ah quickly cleared space.
When the dorebanbangi arrived, everyone let out exclamations of admiration.
“Wow, how did you season this?”
“I prepared the sauce last night. Please, Factory Owner, help yourself.”
“My goodness, thank you so much.”
In the warm atmosphere, people continued their meal, moving their glasses and chopsticks.
Meanwhile, I gazed down at Baekseol, who sat perched on Lee Jin-pyung’s lap.
She was looking toward the Mountain.
Her expressionless face remained fixed on the distant peaks, as though she were absorbed in deep thought.
***
Vroom.
The rural getaway ended like this.
There were two cars heading back home, and unlike when we’d arrived in the countryside, only Shin Jung-ah rode in my car.
It was Gwak Young-ho’s thoughtfulness—since our homes were in the same direction, he told us to head straight there.
“You must be exhausted. Try to get some rest.”
“Exhausted? You’re the one who’s exhausted, Chief Kang. What about me?”
Shin Jung-ah, sitting in the passenger seat with her legs crossed, spoke while checking her calendar on her phone.
The work was finished.
The Dog Spirit had found peace, and the bones had been carefully cleaned and packed in the trunk.
All that remained was to entrust the bones to Jo Un-su, the former Monk, on the way back, and everything would be resolved.
“Sigh.”
“Is something troubling you?”
“Just… we said the Factory Owner took care of the bones.”
“That’s right.”
“But I wonder if resentment still lingered despite that.”
There was someone who had looked after the remains.
Yet the bones’ owner could not release their hatred and became a Dog Spirit.
Shin Jung-ah seemed genuinely troubled by this.
“It must have been a very deep resentment then.”
“Well, even I would feel something if I were told my parents abandoned me.”
The remark was so absurd that despite the solemn atmosphere filling the car, I couldn’t help but let out a quiet laugh.
“What? Why are you smiling?”
“Oh, no reason. When I was young, I was once kicked out of the house.”
“You, Kang Manager…?”
“I don’t even remember why. I think I hid my homework during break and lied about it.”
Shin Jung-ah’s expression shifted as though she’d heard a fabrication—it was impossible to imagine the current Kang Hyung-seok doing such a thing.
“Anyway, I was so heartbroken back then. And terrified.”
“Well, you were just a child.”
“If a person could be so frightened in that brief moment, why would an animal be any different?”
The resentment must have been so profound that even the bones offered were forgotten.
And there was the matter of form as well.
By gathering the bones of resentful dogs in one place, what the Factory Owner had done—however well-intentioned—resembled a kind of isolation or Mugho.
The vengeful spirits clustered together would have merged and amplified into something far greater.
Yet who could blame the Factory Owner for it?
He had acted with good intentions, and he had simply done the best he could as an ordinary person.
“….”
Kang Hyung-seok breathed deeply through his nose with his lips sealed, and after the silence, he spoke.
“It might sound strange, but I found myself thinking Lee Jin-pyung Deputy Manager is remarkable.”
“He is remarkable. It seems like no easy task.”
Shin Jung-ah answered as though she shared the sentiment, and Kang Hyung-seok nodded with a bitter smile.
Lee Jin-pyung is a good person.
But regardless of what kind of person he is, he saw Baekseol through to the very end.
That alone is worthy of praise.
Vroom.
Silence filled the moving car.
Yet the air didn’t feel heavy.
“Ah, would you drop me off at the nearby Station?”
“Why?”
“You said you had somewhere else to go, right? Don’t worry about me—just go ahead and do what you need to.”
“I’m fine with it.”
“I’m fine with it too.”
Kang Hyung-seok confirmed Shin Jung-ah’s expression and pulled over at the nearby Station.
He let her out, then resumed driving, following the navigation’s directions to his destination.
Now alone in the car.
In the quiet vehicle, the dog bones loaded in the trunk rattled and shifted with a dull clatter.
Listening to that sound, Kang Hyung-seok murmured softly to himself.
“Are you satisfied?”
The Dog Spirit has departed, so there is no answer.
Yet Kang Hyung-seok continued speaking.
“I don’t think I’ll ever be able to keep a dog.”
The weight of a life is heavy.
The weight of Baekseol’s presence lingers beside her master, even though her life has ended.
And despite the Dog Spirit harboring such deep resentment toward humans, she ultimately heeded the words of Kang Hyung-seok—a human—and chose ascension to paradise.
Who was it that said it?
That dogs are fools.
That no matter how deeply wounded, they cannot instinctively abandon humans.
Kang Hyung-seok found that cruel.
“May you achieve enlightenment and be reborn in paradise.”
If you are reborn, may you meet a kind master.
If that displeases you, may you be born human instead.
May you receive in a good family the love you were denied in this life.
Clatter.
As if answering Kang Hyung-seok’s heart, the bones loaded in the trunk trembled and made a sound.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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