As Giju Wishes Chapter 6.6

“Do you think you could look at her like this even if you met your grandmother?”

Giju recalled himself from the past. How simple he had become, as if he were a real adult. Those times when the burden in his heart felt like nothing were certainly strange, but they were also a version of himself that he had wanted.

After a moment of silence, Giju spoke.

“…I think I could.”

Thinking of the apple mango lightened his heart.

“I think it’ll be okay.”

As long as he was with Choi Geon like this, he felt like anything would be okay.

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah.”

Giju was definitely not showing the instability he had on the train, but rather the same calm demeanor as before.

“Apple mangoes are delicious, I’ll give you that.”

Choi Geon put the sunglasses that were on top of his head back on. Now that he had his wits about him, it was really time to go back.

“When do you want to go to Baegyangsa Temple?”

“When I finish the apple mango.”

At his firm words, Choi Geon licked his lips as if regretting something.

“Damn it, I guess we can’t eat grilled short-rib patties….”

“Why not? We’ll eat after everything is over.”

This short and intense trip had instilled a certain resolve in Giju. It was similar to the fighting spirit of a hero on TV who could do anything.

“I wonder if it’ll end in the fall or in the winter.”

Choi Geon murmured with a faint smile. At those words, Giju habitually checked the divine being’s protection.

“The fall… in the fall.”

With those words that held his wish, Giju put all the few remaining pieces of apple mango into his mouth.

“Hey, you finished it all already?”

Choi Geon, having discovered it too late, took off his sunglasses and got angry, but Giju was already preparing to leave, chewing diligently. He was planning to rest a bit before moving, but this was a moment that drained all his energy.

“Forget it, let’s just go to Baegyangsa Temple.”

Choi Geon stood up from his seat and looked at Mudeungsan Mountain, visible far in the distance. He had a feeling that this wouldn’t be easy at all.

🔖⛩️📿

“If you walk for about 10 minutes, you’ll see Baegyangsa Temple.”

“Yes, thank you. Have a safe trip!”

Giju, who had greeted him energetically, got out of the taxi and readjusted his bag.

“There are some people here.”

Choi Geon, who had opened the can of soda he was holding, said while looking around. Even though it wasn’t the autumn foliage season, the parking lot was somewhat filled with cars.

“Not a huge crowd.”

Likewise, Giju was also looking around, a little nervous.

“Let’s go.”

As if conscious of Giju, Choi Geon soon gestured with his chin and started walking without any hesitation.

Step—

Step—

Giju’s slightly fast pace contained not anxiety, but an unavoidable worry. It was the worry of what kind of greeting he should give after showing up so suddenly. He was already prepared for her to be angry. His desire to save his friend was now akin to a wish.

“What if she’s not here?”

Choi Geon asked cynically after taking a sip of his canned drink.

“No. She’ll definitely be here.”

Giju did not doubt for a moment that his grandmother would be here. Because she was always prudent, she usually did not change her mind once she said something.

“There’s no such thing as ‘definitely,’ you criminal.”

Choi Geon did not jump to conclusions. He doubted that the person who had turned Shin Giju into a folding screen would help so easily, and he couldn’t be 100 percent sure of the information that she was here unless he saw it with his own eyes.

That wasn’t to say he had nothing to rely on. For some reason, he felt that if he squeezed Shaman Cheon, something would come out. His gut was telling him so. Therefore, it wasn’t bad to find out slowly. This was the same reason he had enjoyed the brief culinary trip.

Choi Geon wanted to know about Shin Giju in equal measure to how he could break his own curse, or perhaps even more so.

“There’s no such thing as ‘definitely,’ but faith is humanity’s most wise….”

Suddenly, Giju stopped walking and talking at the same time.

Whoosh—

The wind swept through the leaves overhead, enveloping them like a tunnel. Giju’s head followed the wind.

“Why’d you stop?”

“Just now, a very sacred energy….”

“It’s a temple, you think there isn’t a single ghost of a long-dead monk?”

Choi Geon muttered nonchalantly and shoved his hands into his pockets. However, he too found the cool breeze pleasant.

“Make a wish, Geon.”

Giju put his hands together in prayer and made a wish that had just come to mind. Choi Geon, who had been standing with a sullen expression, for some reason followed suit, casually putting his hands together and closing his eyes for a moment.

“Did you make one?”

“Yeah.”

“What did you wish for?”

Choi Geon glanced at Giju with suspicious eyes.

“Doesn’t talking about this stuff usually jinx your luck?”

“That’s a superstition. I wished for you to live to be 100. What about you?”

Giju revealed his wish first, even though he hadn’t been asked. At that, Choi Geon let out a smirk.

“Not telling ya.”

“What. Why won’t you tell me?”

“You said a mere 100 years. I’m going to be a cryogenically frozen human and live to be 2,000, so where do you get off jinxing it.”

At Choi Geon’s wish, Giju blinked his eyes silently and then spoke.

“You’d probably smell gamy.”

“Pfft! Cough.”

Choi Geon, who had been chugging his canned drink, spat it out and coughed.

“Of all the damn things you could say, cough.”

“If you leave pork in the freezer for too long, it gets a gamy smell. No matter how fresh the meat is, if you leave it in the freezer for a long time, it starts to smell. That’s why we use freshly caught, fresh meat for rituals, too.”

This was a truth based on experience.

“Ha… shit, then I’ll just pour soju on it to get rid of the smell!”

Now that he was in his element, his psycho tendencies seemed to be at their peak. Choi Geon told himself, You be the bigger person, then took the can, which still had some drink left, and emotionally slammed it into the trash can in front of them.

“But are you really not going to tell me?”

“Would you tell me if you were me, after I said you’d smell gamy? You really need to grow a conscience.”

At Choi Geon’s outburst, Giju made a disappointed face.

“You could just tell me….”

“Shut up and look ahead.”

Before they knew it, the entrance to Baegyangsa Temple was in sight. As they entered the temple grounds, the interior appeared quiet. The high mountain behind it stood as a sturdy support for Baegyangsa Temple. The neat energy of the temple was different from that of Jaeamsa Temple.

“It’s very different from Dobongsan Mountain.”

“Don’t you dare utter the ‘Do’ of Dobong in front of me. This is a warning.”

Even to Choi Geon, who didn’t have a very good impression of temples, this place was quite spacious and had a nice atmosphere. The problem was whether that person called a heavenly god was really here.

“Come here, Geon.”

Giju, who had been drawn somewhere, stopped in front of a certain Dharma hall. At the entrance, a wooden seated Buddha statue was the first to greet them. Taking out the lucky pouch he had hidden away, Giju took out the small amount of cash he had and put it into the donation box. Then he briefly put his hands together and paid his respects.

“Is that the entrance fee?”

The entrance fee for Baegyangsa Temple was free.

“Still, we should make an offering since we came.”

Watching Giju pay his respects, Choi Geon recalled the wish he had made earlier.

‘Please let Shin Giju eat well and live well for a thousand years so he can devote everything to me.’

The wish, made casually like a joke, was coincidentally similar in content to Shin Giju’s wish for him to live to be 100. That was the reason he had smiled. Of course, the part about sucking him dry to the bone was different.

“But how come there’s not a monk in sight, no, not even an eyebrow?”

Choi Geon muttered as he leaned against a wooden pillar and scanned the surroundings. At that, Giju, who was putting his lucky pouch into his pants pocket, also looked around. At any rate, there was no one inside this Geungnakbojeon Hall.

“You’re right. You’d think they’d be walking around….”

Thump—thump–-thump.

Just then, the faint sound of a wooden handbell being struck came from somewhere. The two, who made eye contact at the same time, immediately headed to the Daeungjeon Hall next to them. After climbing onto the stone foundation, they briefly observed the interior through the central door. Inside, an elderly couple who had just entered and a single monk were sitting alone.

“Wait here,”

“Let’s go in.”