Wicked Fox (Gumiho #1)(84)

“You don’t feed on the off chance it could hurt him. You came back to help him with his halmeoni. Isn’t that enough?”

“Nothing will ever be enough. Even if I had ten mouths to apologize, it wouldn’t be enough.” Miyoung pushed past Junu.

“Ya! You’re dripping,” Junu called after her.

She ignored him and stepped into her room. When he tried to follow, she slammed the door in his face. It was childish but it was satisfying. She peeled off her wet clothes, letting them fall with a plop, and wrapped herself in a robe.

She dropped onto her bed, slamming her head against the headboard. The pain was one more thing to pile onto the miserable day.

Junu was right. She hated that he so often was. Jihoon had her bead and therefore held a power over her. When he demanded she do something in just the right way, Miyoung felt a fire in her chest. And she was unable to deny his command.

She glanced toward the calendar hanging on her wall. Three weeks until the next full moon and a month until the hundredth day. A countdown had begun the night her mother had attacked Jihoon. The first night she didn’t feed. And with each full moon that passed and each time she chose not to feed, she grew weaker and weaker until she’d fade into nothing. She lifted her hand, almost expecting to see through it like a ghost. But other than being a bit paler, it was still there. For now.

Yena wasn’t the only one who’d been searching for an answer. Miyoung had visited her fair share of monks and shamans.

She’d come up with her own theories.

There was more than one reason she refused to feed. She believed if she made her bead weak enough, it could be removed from Jihoon on the hundredth day. Right before she faded away forever.

Miyoung wondered again what became of gumiho when they died. Did they really have souls? Or did they just cease to exist?

She had a month before she had to find out.





ISOLATION IS THE enemy of humanity. Loneliness a threat to empathy.

Perhaps this is how the gumiho grew up with hate in her heart. She had not yet taken on the name of Gu Yena. But what she called herself is inconsequential here.

Shunned by her family, she lived alone in a cottage high in the mountains. She fed on the energy of wayward travelers and planned how she would seek revenge on humanity.

As Seoul grew around the mountains that held shrines and temples, the city crept up the mountainsides.

One day she met a man. He had sharp eyes and rough hands. And he made her feel more beautiful than a thousand suitors confessing their love.

He made her regret her solitary lifestyle. He made her icy heart warm.

With him, she allowed herself to dream of a life free of the hatred she’d harbored for hundreds of years.

But for her, love meant uncertainty.

She’d lived for centuries and had learned that humans were not to be trusted with her secret. They would fear her or, worse, use it to manipulate her.

So she lied to the man about what she was. She considered it a small price to pay for love.

But love and lies do not mix well.





53





MIYOUNG HATED HOSPITALS. The ill and the dying seeped gi like a crack in a dam. And right now the temptation to take a taste was too great.

She kept her head lowered and walked down the hall, her footsteps a quick staccato.

“What are you doing here?”

Miyoung winced at the hard voice and lifted her eyes to meet Somin’s.

“I’m—” She broke off, unsure what was better, the truth or a lie. Somin’s eyes bore into her like she was waiting for Miyoung to reveal some nefarious plan.

“I asked her to come,” Jihoon said, walking up the hallway. “And you’re late.” He directed this statement to Miyoung.

“Why would you have her come here?” Somin asked.

“Somin-ah, you’re the one who told me to call her.”

Miyoung raised her brows in surprise.

The other girl cast a furious look at Jihoon and said in a harsh whisper, “I said to call her for closure.”

“I came back on my own,” Miyoung said, annoyed at being talked about like she wasn’t right there.

“Well, then, you can leave on your own. You’ve done it before.” Somin gave Miyoung a hard glare.

“Somin-ah, it’s getting late,” Jihoon said.

“So?” The girl crossed her arms stubbornly.

“I’m fine,” Jihoon said. “You said I needed closure. Let me get it on my own terms.”

This seemed to break through Somin’s stubbornness. “Call me if you need me.”

“Always.” Jihoon gave her a hug, and even though Miyoung knew better, she felt jealousy stab through her at the easy affection between the two friends.

Once she was gone, Jihoon gave Miyoung a raised brow, then walked into his halmeoni’s room.

She sighed. It seemed there would be no pleasantries traded, just right down to business.

The room was dark with the shades drawn. And the second bed was empty, though Miyoung was sure in the overcrowded hospital that wouldn’t last long.

Miyoung took out supplies that she’d purchased at a shaman shop. Not Nara’s, and to be honest, she wasn’t sure if this place had even been legit. But as she pulled out a yellow bujeok, it sparked against her skin.