A fortune-telling princess - Chapter 1

“Sia, your skin is perfectly moist today.”

Jihyun, who is in charge of makeup, exclaimed continuously.

She became more cautious as she touched the  face with the skin that seemed to drip with water just by tapping it.

“You’re probably the only one who stays up all night for more than a week and maintains this kind of skin.”

“I paid a lot of money for my skincare. If I can’t maintain this much, I should sue the skincare shop”

“That’s true!”

Jihyun smiled lightly. She insisted not to go to the skin shop every time saying it was too expensive, and then expressed his dissatisfaction again.

She was the top celebrity in Korea but did not enjoy spending money.

“By the way, Jihyun.”

“Yes?”

“You said you were raised by your grandmother when you were young.”

“…? That’s right.”

Jihyun tilted her head at Sia’s sudden question.

Why are we bringing up the stories we talked about at the old drinking party?

“When I was young, my parents were busy, so I stayed with my grandmother until I entered middle school.”

“When was the last time you contacted your grandmother?”

“Well… I think it’s been about two months?”

“Two months?”

“Yes, you have been very busy with the recent filming. Come to think of it, I haven’t been able to contact her for so long.“

Jihyun’s face was still full of doubt as she spoke out the answer.

It was extremely rare for the Sia to show interest in other people’s family affairs. No matter how long they’ve known each other, she never crossed a certain line.

To be honest, it was a little surprising that she remembered that she was raised by her grandmother.

“Cell phone?”

“Cell phone? Behind you… .”

“Yours, not mine.”

“Mine? Ah… … .”

Jihyun, who looked around quickly, let out a small sigh.

“I must have left it in the car.”

“Bring it.”

“Yes?”

“Bring your cell phone.”

“Now?”

“Yes.”

“We have to start filming soon… … .”

“I don’t care.”

“It’s not necessary right now, I can find my phone later.”

“Go now.”

“I have yet to finish my makeup… … .”

“I’ll take care of it.”

“But… … .”

“Hurry.”

It’s really weird. Jihyun, who was a little surprised at Sia’s determination as usual, ran towards the parking lot.

“Hyunsuk oppa.”

“Yes?”

Sia quietly called the manager who was standing, looking at her with eyes full of curiosity as much as Jihyun.

“Jihyun, find someone to fill her place for a few days.”

“Do you want Jihyun to leave?”

Manager Hyunsuk’s eyes widened at her sudden words.

“Temporarily.”

“Temporarily?”

“I think Jihyun won’t be able to work for a few days.”

“What do you mean all of a sudden?”

Instead of answering, Sia threw her gaze at Jihyun, who had already gone away. To be more precise, I looked at an old woman who was quietly following Jihyun.

The old woman who had been standing behind Jihyun from a while ago was looking at her with pitiful eyes.

I could immediately realize the grandmother’s identity by stroking Jihyun ‘s head and smiling happily together when she laughed.

‘Will a week be enough?’

Should I give her  some more time to calm down?

“Prepare a wreath, too.”

“Wreath? What wreath?”

“A wreath for the funeral.”

“What?”

Ignoring the manager who was surprised at the word funeral, Sia finished her makeup with skillfully.

 

* * *

 

“Grandma, did you see that I sent an expensive wreath?”

There is a saying in the entertainment industry.

“I also made the reliefs great.”

Celebrities and shamans have the same fate, and the two are very similar.

After returning home after a full week of local filming, Sia let out a small sigh.

The moment I took out a can of beer from the refrigerator to relieve fatigue and drink alone, I found the old woman standing behind the refrigerator door.

“You had a good funeral and you were buried in a sunny place.”

Ah… is it? Isn’t it a bit too much to say the ossuary* is a sunny place?

Anyway, why did the old women who had a funeral and cremation done all of a sudden came to see me?

Sia sighed inwardly and took the opened beer can to her mouth.

“If you don’t have anything, will you leave? I am tired now.”

I usually just ignore it, but since she’s the grandmother of a colleague I’ve been working with for over 4 years, I couldn’t be rude.

‘Really very slightly.’

I think it would have been better to pretend not to know. It’s mentally exhausting to deal with such a being when you’re tired.

[Our Jihyun… … .]

Then the grandmother, who was standing quietly looking at Sia, opened her mouth. As if to tell you that your life was not so smooth, her hands and face were full of wrinkles, and her gaze kept following her .

[Please take good care of Jihyun in the future.]

“… … .”

Are all grandmothers like that?

Seeing the old woman bowing her head very politely to a woman much younger than her with an incredibly kind smile, Sia took another sip of beer.

I suddenly remembered the words I heard from my manager, Hyunsuk, a few days ago.

 

‘The only person crying at the funeral was Jihyun.’

 

It was said that it was a spectacle to see Jihyun’s parents and other brothers fighting over the property left by her grandmother.

Even the guests who came to the funeral had to run away as they were fighting over who should get more money from the sale of the house and the small bank account balance.

‘Oh, it’s a waste of money.’

If I had known that people like that would take it, I wouldn’t have even helped.

[And can you do me a small favor?]

Sia, who was grumbling inwardly, looked up again at the words of the grandmother.

Sia, A top 25-year-old actor who is known not only in Korea but also throughout Asia.

She first started acting at the age of 14, and has established a solid position by hitting a jackpot in every work she chooses, regardless of genre.

‘Because I have a pretty face and I’m very good at acting.’

I want to say it frankly.

‘I can’t say I didn’t owe anything to them.’

The information they bring is very useful.

Sia,a special feature of her, the top actress representing Korea.

‘Yeah, I … .’

Can see ghosts.

* * *

 

“Jihyun.”

─ Yes, sister.

I made a video call to Jihyun.

As if she had suffered a lot because of her grandmother’s death, Sia kicked her tongue inwardly at the sight of Jihyun’s face, which had lost weight within a few days.

“Have I told you before?  I’m very interested in things like fortune-telling.”

─ Yes! You were the first to know that my grandmother passed away this time. At that time, my sister kept telling me to bring my cell phone, so I was very embarrassed. But this is… .

“Just… Your fortune on that day is not good.”

Of course, it’s a lie. I know nothing about fortune-telling.

However, I was just pretending to be interested in that kind of thing because I was trying to tell people what I learned through ghosts so that they could easily accept it.

“Sia, didn’t you say you go to church?”

Manager Hyunsuk, who was next to him, interrupted their conversation.

“Yeah, I do.”

No, I went.

“I am a baptized woman.”

At one time, I went to church very diligently to try to put this ghost-seeing eye to rest. I even got baptized.

‘The day I was baptized… .’

The ghosts quietly stopped walking around me as they stood around me and applauded me, saying congratulations.

After that, I went to a church and a temple, but there was nothing special about it.

“What does it have to do with looking at fortune-telling and church?”

“But it’s not that… … .”

“Never mind.”

Sia cut Hyunsuk’s words quickly, as if not to dig deep, and then looked at the phone again.

“Are you still at your Grandma’s house?”

Jihyun stayed alone at her grandmother’s house to organize her deceased grandmother’s luggage.

The other family members said they were busy and left immediately. It was to sell the house and land as quickly as possible.

You could have someone organize it, but Jihyun couldn’t do that. She didn’t want to throw away the precious things that her grandmother had used for a long time like garbage.

She asked Sia and her company for a few more days, and she was cleaning up her grandmother’s house alone.

─ I’m sorry. I need to come back soon … .

“Right. Come back fast. I don’t let other people touch my face.”

─ Yes!

Jihyun’s voice became brighter at Sia’s words to come quickly than to take a good rest and come slowly.

“Is there a persimmon tree on the east side of your grandmother’s house?”

After a while, Sia brought out the main topic of the phone call.

─ … … !

At those words, Jihyun’s mouth opened blankly.

─ Yes!

Of course there will be

─I don’t know if it’s east … .

East right.

─ Anyway! How did you know?

“Today, your fortune tells you that you will get great wealth from the eastern persimmon tree.”

─  Ash, money?

“You must dig under the persimmon tree .”

─ The land?

“Yes.”

─ Ah… okay… … .

The answer was lukewarm.

‘It must be ridiculous…‘

It is even stranger to believe these words straight out and follow them.

‘But that’s what it means to be human.’

Hearing this, it’s hard to completely ignore it.

Even when you hear it, you tend to feel like ‘maybe’.

‘If you can get great wealth,  What’s the big deal about digging the ground?’

Moreover, since Sia predicted that her grandmother passed away this time, it would be even more difficult to completely ignore her words.

“Then good luck.”

─ Yes,  sister.

After she had finished talking briefly, she immediately hung up the phone.

‘Is it over now?’

This is what Jihyun’s grandmother asked for last night.

 

[Tell her to dig under the persimmon tree.]

 

‘It must have been a pity.’

‘ Jihyun has taken care of all kinds of part-timers since childhood on behalf of her parents who spend all their money in business.

Could it be that Jihyun looked so pitiful in the eyes of her grandmother?

‘It sounds like a lot of money.’

It is said that the grandmother saved most of the money she earned while farming and buried it under the persimmon tree. As the granddaughter’s share, it was piled up in a large jar.

She already knew that after his death, Jihyun would have nothing to return to because of her greedy children after her death.

‘She said she wrote down a letter in advance.’

Did she even predict that she was going to die suddenly of a heart attack?

The Grandma had already written a letter to Jihyun a long time ago and put it in a jar.

[All the money in this jar is yours, so don’t feel burdened, just spend it comfortably for yourself.]

She’s not going to lose that money.

She’s not that naive or stupid.

‘Well, I don’t have to worry about that.’

I told her everything she told me to tell her, so I did everything I had to do.

“Hey, can you see such fortunes? What about me? How is my fortune today?”

Manager Hyunsuk, who was hanging around the side throughout the phone call with Jihyun, looked at Sia with expectation.

“… … .”

Sia stared at Hyunsuk without saying a word for a moment.

“I don’t know Hyunsuk oppa’s fortune, but Hye-eun, I know a little bit about her today’s fortune.”

“Hye-eun?”

When his wife’s name suddenly came out, Hyunsuk made a puzzled expression.

“Today, sister was also lucky.”

“Really?”

Believe it or not, Hyunsuk’s face brightened when I said that his wife had good fortune. “Should I even buy a lottery ticket?” He chuckled.

‘Your luck is to lose your fortune today…‘

It’s Sia, who had a conversation with Hye-eun, whom she’s close to, a while ago.

Recalling Hye-eun’s smirking voice saying that she had found the emergency fund that Hyunsuk had secretly hidden, Sia looked at Hyunsuk with a slightly pitiful look.

 

*an ossuary: a container or room in which the bones of dead people are placed.