Chapter 29
“What. The hell. Was that?” Grace said after they’d entered the stairwell.
“It had nothing to do with hell. At least not the kind of hell your era believes in,” Yuhwa said. She sounded so much like Hae, reminding Grace she was talking to another god.
“What is happening to Piper? Is it something that thing did to her? Or is it the smallpox?”
“Both,” Yuhwa said calmly, making her way down the stairs.
“What does that mean?” Grace jogged to catch up with the goddess’s longer strides.
“I had my suspicions already, but then you said the girl has smallpox.”
“What does that mean?” Grace asked.
“There are ancient beings that can give one smallpox.”
“You’re talking about those things at the carnival.”
“They’re sub-deities.”
“And they infect people by biting them?” Grace almost tripped on her own feet as she tried to keep up with Yuhwa.
“Yes, it seems to be their current mode.”
“Current mode?”
“They’re more feral than I remember. Like they came back wrong.” Yuhwa pushed through the door leading to the lobby. The moment they stepped into the bustle, an angry voice called Grace’s name. She looked up to see Hae storming toward them.
“Where have you been?” he demanded before noticing Yuhwa. His eyes narrowed. “I should have known you’d dragged her into something.”
“Me?” Yuhwa said, clearly offended. “I’m not the arrogant one who constantly makes trouble.”
“Not arrogance. Pride.”
“Even modern religions know that pride is a bad thing, Hae.” Yuhwa said his new nickname almost mockingly.
“I don’t have time for this, or for you to kidnap my human when there are unknown threats out there.” Hae took Grace’s wrist.
“Not unknown anymore. And she does not belong to you any more than she belongs to me.” Yuhwa captured Grace’s other arm.
“Um, I don’t belong to anyone.” She tried to pull away, but the two gods were far stronger than her. They glared at each other in challenge before Yuhwa rolled her eyes and lifted her hands in surrender.
“Fine, but this is not important,” Yuhwa said. “We’ve confirmed that they were sonnimne.”
Hae scoffed. “Impossible. Who summoned them? You?”
“Sonnimne?” Grace asked. “Doesn’t ‘sonnim’ mean ‘guest’?”
“Yes, and like a guest, they have to be invited.” Hae gave Yuhwa a pointed stare, like that was proof enough that she was wrong.
“What are they?” Grace asked.
“A type of lower god that can spread smallpox when angered,” Yuhwa said.
“But only a god can summon them,” Hae insisted.
“And all the gods are gone except you two,” Grace said.
“Are you sure?” Yuhwa asked with a raised brow.
“I give up,” Grace said. “What do you know that we don’t?”
“I read your webtoon.”
“My we— What?” Grace looked around to make sure no one was listening. But other than a few curious stares at Hae and Yuhwa, no one seemed to be paying the trio any mind.
Grace lowered her voice just in case. “How did you know?”
“I’ve been drawn to you since I returned. I figured you were important, so I observed for a few days.”
“You stalked her,” Hae said.
“Well, it was better than terrifying her and insisting she had the power to reach the celestial realm.”
Hae scowled at the accusation in Yuhwa’s tone.
“Okay, fine,” Grace cut in. “So you observed us and you heard us talking about Sun God?”
Yuhwa nodded. “And I read it. After all, it was written in our honor.”
Hae rolled his eyes, even though he’d made the exact same observation just days earlier.
“I noticed that you introduced a new character in the last episode.”
Grace thought back to her last post. It felt like so long since she’d published it, though it had been less than a week.
Hae and Yuhwa trying to go back home. They’d almost made it, but they’d failed because of Habaek, the vengeful water god.
And Grace finally understood what Yuhwa was implying.
“No, he can’t be back. I barely drew him. ”
“But he was in the story,” Yuhwa said. “He’s been referenced all throughout the webtoon from the very beginning. And now you’ve finally started to give him a form. Remember what Pepper said.”
“Piper,” Grace corrected.
“Yes, she said she saw a god.”
“But how?” Grace asked.
“The gods’ fire,” Hae said softly.
“The what?”
“It’s what the mortals called the visions that came with plague fever. It sometimes allowed them to see the gods more clearly.”
“Even speak to us at times,” Yuhwa interjected.
“So, you’re saying Piper has spoken to Habaek?” Grace shivered. She remembered how scared the other girl had been.
“If she was infected by the sonnimne, I think it makes sense that she’d experience the gods’ fire,” Yuhwa said.
“That doesn’t mean it’s Habaek,” Grace said.
“What other gods have you drawn?” Yuhwa asked, and guilt filled Grace’s throat like acidic bile.
“He just can’t be back,” Grace said weakly. Because if he was back because of Sun God, then all of this really was her fault.