Shaman

Joy Lihuan opened her eyes to a white ceiling and a hard bed. She had blacked out completely this time. True to Murphy's Law, everything that could go wrong had gone wrong that day.

With a slow exhale, she pushed herself upright. Her vision swam for a moment before settling—and that was when she saw her.

The girl.

The same girl she had pulled out of danger before the world went dark.

The girl looked exhausted, her face stiff and worried. An IV line ran from a drip stand to Li Huan's wrist, the faint sting only now registering as clear fluid dripped steadily into her veins. A thin curtain separated them from the other patients, their muffled presence lingering just beyond it. There was no mistaking it—she was in a hospital.

"Pretty bad tumble you had there," a female voice said in Chinese, uncannily similar to Lihuan's own.

Lihuan looked up.

Standing before her was a figure almost identical in size, shape, and features—as if she were staring at her own reflection. The only difference was the woman's hair: it was silver instead of black, softly shimmering under the lights.

"You're not real." Li Huan mouthed the words in Korean as she steadied herself and stood.

"Not real," the voice answered in Chinese, leaning in to whisper. "Maybe. But… you can't ignore it. Wasn't it thrilling? Standing up for justice?"

Li Huan looked at the girl again as the scene began to take shape—how light her body felt, how quick her reflexes were.

"Seo Seol-hee ssi?" a timid voice asked. "Are you all right?"

Li Huan barely acknowledged it. She disconnected the IV drip and gathered her things, preparing to leave.

She stumbled a few steps as her body struggled to orient itself. The girl was suddenly there, catching her before she could fall.

"Are you all right?" she asked again.

Li Huan steadied herself as she stood, gesturing for the girl not to support her unsteady body.

"What's your name?" Li Huan finally asked.

"Shin… Hye… Jin."

"Shin Hyejin?"

Hyejin nodded softly.

"Were you the one who brought me here?"

Another gentle nod.

"So where exactly is here?"

Before Hyejin could answer, familiar Chinese and Korean characters caught Li Huan's eye. Jinhwa Group.

"Jinhwa Medical Center," Joy muttered, tensing. "I have to get out of here," she said, moving forward anxiously.

She switched on her phone—6:33 p.m.

"There's still time."

Li Huan felt a flicker of excitement at the thought of tonight's meeting. It would be the first time she'd shared a meal with her mother without family politics or suffocating schedules intruding. Despite her anger at her mother's recent coldness, she still missed the warmth she'd once known. This dinner wouldn't mend everything, but it could be a start.

"I need to leave now."

She pushed her legs faster, harder. She didn't care about the faint spells from earlier, and she certainly didn't want the hospital to notice her—otherwise, they might force her to stay, turning nothing into a mountain of complications. She knew if she missed this chance, seeing her mother again wouldn't come easily.

She stumbled, nearly falling again, but a hand caught her.

"Seolhee-ssi," Hyejin said, holding her firmly. "Are you sure you're alright?"

Joy turned to the concerned girl. "It's probably just low blood sugar. I'll be fine after a meal."

"Are you really sure you weren't hurt? Those punches were… powerful."

"I'm fine."

Joy steadied herself and started moving toward the exit, away from the emergency room.

"Fine," Hyejin said, conceding. "Let me at least help you with your bag." She bent to pick it up.

Joy only smiled as she marched forward, but her steps froze when her eyes landed on a familiar figure. It was her mother—the very person she was supposed to have dinner with at 8:00 p.m.

"Was she here to see me?" The question slipped softly from her lips.

"Shin Hyejin ssi, did you call anyone to inform them of my condition?"

"Unfortunately, no. I wanted to, but your phone was locked."

"Then… why is she here?" Joy asked, almost unconsciously. "Did the hospital tell her?"

She ducked slightly behind a curtain, watching her mother's direction carefully, trying not to be seen.

"Shin Hye ssi, can I ask you a favor?"

The girl nodded slightly.

"Could you follow that woman and tell me where she's going?" Joy said, pointing toward her mother.

Hyejin blinked, puzzled for a moment.

"She's my mother… it's nothing serious," Joy added quickly.

"Still…" Hyejin hesitated, thinking it over, before finally nodding in agreement.

"Here's my contact information," Joy said.

Shin Hyejin took the information with a slight bow, then followed Seo Haneul. Both of them stepped onto the elevator together, and once it disappeared, Joy took the next one, keeping her eyes on the floor numbers as they ticked by. Soon enough, a message came, giving her the information she had been waiting for.

Following Hyejin's directions, Joy found herself in the VIP area. Hyejin couldn't go any further, so Joy had to take it from there. Using her chaebol identity to her advantage, she quickly discovered the room her mother had gone to.

Through the door, she could see her mother—and a child lying inside. There was a third person as well, but just as she was about to confirm, her mother's head turned toward the small window on the door. Instinctively, Joy moved fast, sprinting toward the nearest elevator to reach the ground floor and make her exit.

"Who is that boy?" she muttered to herself.

She started dialing Hyejin's number, but before the ringing could register, her eyes caught another figure emerging from a different wing, heading toward the elevator.

"Is that Baek Se-ri?" she mouthed, glancing toward the wing she had come from. It was the psychology wing, where the psychiatrists of Jinhwa Medical Center were based.

She was about to call out when Hyejin answered her phone, making her miss her chance. Joy quickly asked Hyejin to meet her at the exit—she needed her help with something.

The appearance of Baek Se-ri was a surprise, but it calmed her drastically. She knew her story was fictional, and although it always felt like she was recording history rather than creating a fictional world, it was still a product of her own mind. Yet the appearance of Baek Se-ri in the latest chapter felt almost real, as if it were set in stone, making her imagination run wild. Perhaps there was a way she was tapping into a parallel world, noting down its events—and somehow Baek Se-ri had traveled there.

This feeling was further amplified by the character of Fei Xian, who, unlike the rest of the cast, seemed to have partial control over her own destiny, as if she were writing her own part of the story. Joy rationalized it by telling herself—like the strange voice that had followed her since she stepped into Korea—that this new development was just a psychological coping mechanism. After all, this project was her escape from the real world: a way to cope with her father's death, her mother's sudden coldness, and the drastic shift in her lifestyle—from the daughter of a middle-class family surrounded by friends to suddenly a princess of one of Korea's most powerful families, surrounded by no warmth.

"Maybe I should see a psychiatrist too," she muttered.

Joy let the thought linger. She had considered psychological counseling before, but she was scared of what that might mean.

"So that's Rouyan?" the male-turned-female voice spoke.

Joy didn't answer. Instead, she plugged in her AirPods and started playing her playlist of Evoque songs.

All she hoped for was that after whatever her mother was doing, she would make it to the promised dinner. She desperately needed that anchor.

Joy soon stepped out of Jinhwa Medical Center, her eyes landing on Hyejin. But as she did, her vision blurred for a moment, her skin suddenly turning to ice, and a tingling, electric-like vibration coursed through her bones. This was the second time she felt it that day.

The first time it happened was when she was saving Hyejin from some delinquents who were bullying her. At that moment, her body moved on its own. She wanted to ignore it, but when she learned that Hyejin was one of the Evoqed—a fan of the Evoque K-pop group—her body instinctively acted, applying martial skills she had never practiced. That's when the ominous male voice that had been speaking in her head mirrored her own, taking on a physical form: a perfect clone of Joy, dressed in a hanfu with silver hair.

"Was she about to take over again?" Joy thought, struggling with the overwhelming sensations.

Then, just as suddenly, it stopped.

Moments later, Joy was walking toward Hyejin.

"Is there anything you need, Seo Seol Hee-ssi?" Hyejin asked.

"Yes..." Joy paused for a moment, then continued, "Are you familiar with how the buses work?"

"What?" Hyejin asked, confused.

"The buses… do you know how they work? I'm not familiar with how they operate."

Hyejin's expression shifted from confusion to disbelief before she finally nodded.

"I do."

"Oh, great. Can you help me?"

"Of course, Seo Seol Hee-ssi," Hyejin said. "Let's head for the bus stop."

"Thank you. Oh, and one more thing…"

"Yes?"

"Can you call me Joy?"

"Joy?"

"Yes. From now on, we're friends, and my friends call me Joy."

"O-okay… Seo Seo—Joy s…unnie," Hyejin said, a complicated expression painting her face at the unfamiliar address.

Joy nodded, and the two walked toward the bus stop, with Hyejin guiding her through the system.

"...You have a T-card, yes?"

"Of course. While I'm unfamiliar with public transport, I do have one."

"Good. You can pay for the fare with it."

"Okay, but…" Joy retrieved the card. "It doesn't really have any money. I've never used it before."

"What?" Hyejin gasped, but quickly recovered. "I can help you reload it."

The two reached the bus stop. Joy dug into her bag and handed a wad of cash to Hyejin. "I hope this will be enough."

Hyejin was momentarily speechless but recovered quickly. "Unnie, wait for me, I'll go charge it up for you."

"Thank you," Joy said, taking a seat. Hyejin disappeared into the streets, heading for the nearest convenience store.

Joy sat there, contemplating the day's peculiar events, when the strange concoction of sensations returned, making her slightly irritated and mildly resistant.

"Do you need assistance?" a middle-aged woman asked, taking a seat next to Joy.

"Not really, ajumma. I'm just a little tired."

The woman a brunette, with a slender face and deep, penetrating eyes studied Joy for a moment. "Are you really sure you don't need help?"

"I am. Really."

The woman continued to stare as the strange, electric sensations within Joy intensified, making her body tremble slightly.

"This isn't something a hospital can fix... your voice I mean" the woman said simply. "So if you're thinking of returning for treatment, you'd better find another solution."

"How did you know of the voice or that I came from a hospital?" Joy asked.

"It's obvious," the woman replied, her voice thickened with gravity. "Child… if you don't resolve this 'illness,' bad things will happen."

"What do you mean?"

"I recognize your symptoms. It seems you are suffering from shinbyeong."

"Shinbyeong?"

"Yes. The spirits are telling me you have a calling. Your spirit sickness can only be resolved with a naerim gut."

Joy's eyes narrowed, a supercilious expression crossing her face. "Let me guess… and for a fee, you might be able to help. Ajumma, am I right?"

"Indeed," the woman said calmly.

Joy snapped, sarcasm dripping from her words. "Let me stop you right there, lady. I don't believe in whatever scam you're trying to pull. I may be young, but I'm not naive. Go fool another sucker, because I won't humor you."

The woman simply regarded her with a knowing look. She reached into her bag and placed something in Joy's hand.

"You cannot escape your destiny of becoming a mudang," she said. "Once you are ready, go to that address. I will help you perform the initiation."

Joy let out a dry chuckle, her eyes blurring for a moment. She checked the card before looking up to return it to the woman, but before she knew it, the woman was gone. She glanced at the card again, about to toss it, when Hyejin suddenly appeared. Unconsciously, Joy slipped the card into her purse along with the T-card as they waited for the bus to arrive. Her eyes felt a little watery—almost dry—so she blinked.

When she did, everything went dark for a second. Then she woke up at a table surrounded by members of the Seo family.

She was no longer in her school uniform but dressed beautifully in a formal black dress, adorned with a necklace and a jade bracelet—items she had owned but never worn. She could feel the lovely scent of a fancy perfume wafting from her.

Looking around, there were at least thirteen people at the table—three generations of the Seo family, all present.

Joy was in the middle of chewing when the shock of her sudden situation caused her to choke. Around her, she could hear the chatter of business deals, market trends, and discussions about how the Jinhwa Group was faring. It didn't seem like anyone had noticed her struggle—until she accidentally knocked over a glass. Then, the rest of the table finally looked her way.

Her mom quickly jumped into action, performing the Heimlich maneuver and causing chaos to ensure Joy's safety. With Seo Ha-neul helping her daughter, the lodged food pipe was cleared, and soon Joy could breathe again. Once Joy was safe, Ha-neul's expression shifted from worry to a cold, hard look. She began speaking in Chinese.

"Watch how you eat. Your food isn't going anywhere."

Joy, full of confusion, slowly pieced together what was happening and felt deeply hurt. This was supposed to be her time with her mom. But before she could say anything, other voices from the table started speaking.

"I suppose we shouldn't expect much from a commoner."

"She just wants attention. First she speaks Chinese, then she gobbles her food, and now this choking stunt. What an attention seeker."

"Enough," Seo Ha-neul spoke up in Korean. "The crisis has been resolved. Everyone can get back to eating."

Seeing the cold, unwelcoming atmosphere of the table, Joy slowly stood and walked toward the door. This was just like her first visit to Korea: everyone was cold and hostile, with no room for familial warmth.

"I am going out for fresh air," she said.

"Finally, some Korean," a male voice sneered. "Noona, you need to prepare her for the high life—otherwise, how would she survive with her husband?"

She didn't pay it any mind and just walked out. The night breeze within the estate was refreshing. The moon hung high in the sky, though the city lights diluted its beauty. She strolled for a while, trying to gather her thoughts. Was she having a psychological breakdown? She had just dissociated, hadn't she?

Although Joy wasn't a psychiatrist, she was familiar with psychology through her practice of writing. As a writer, you needed to have at least a little knowledge of everything, and psychology was not entirely outside her bounds. Still, she knew she needed to consult a psychiatrist—otherwise, the problem would only get worse.

She reached into her purse for her AirPods and phone to calm her shaken nerves. But just as she did, the business card of that peculiar woman slipped out. Joy remembered the conversation she had with her. Using her phone, she searched for the keywords the woman had mentioned—spirit sickness, mudang, gut. They were all related to shamanism.

Joy wasn't much of a believer in any type of religion or spiritual teaching. Sure, she knew of Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, and Hinduism—but only through interactions with a diverse group of people in the States and a desire to learn more for her writing. She looked into what spirit sickness was specifically. Though the descriptions were vague, the general outlines seemed to match her own experiences.

She thought about it for a while. Could she truly be suffering from such a strange sickness?

She pushed the thought to the back of her mind. First, she would look for a psychiatrist. If that failed… maybe she would consult the shaman. She memorized the address on the card.

Glancing at her phone, she saw it was 10:04 p.m. She sent Hyejin a quick message, just to make sure she had gotten home safely and hadn't done anything reckless during Joy's dissociation. The message was received and seen almost immediately, but there was no reply for a while.

"Did I… I should head back now," she muttered to herself. "It's been an exhausting day."