Supernatural Investigation 101: Chronicles Of Nakashima Wakana

Sitting on her knees with clasped hands in the sitting room, Nakashima Wakana's gaze darts around in nervousness. A woman in a dark purple robe was sitting in front of her. Wakana knows this woman from the memories of Choi Minho and his elder brother. 

The teenage girl who lost her eyes years ago has grown into a slender woman with touches of time near the corners of her eyes and lips. 

"I wanted to meet you for a long time." Oh Soo-Mi said to her with a smile, "You are a beautiful lady, Miss Nakashima."

Wakana gapes at Choi Minho. What did she say? 

'I wanted to meet you for a long time.' She hears Choi Minho's voice in her head. 'You are a beautiful lady.'

"Oh." Wakana beams at Oh Soo-Mi. "Thank you, Oh-san, but you are way beautiful than I am."

'The language barrier is a pain in the arse.' Hano chimes in, 'Why can't everyone become a spirit like me? Nobody can speak my language but everyone can understand me.'

Oh Soo-Mi chortles. "But nobody can see you."

'Everyone can see the house.' Hano mutters. 'It's been a while since the travellers came to the mountain. You and I can't creep them out if there are none.'

Creep travellers out? Wakana pinches her lips together. Do people of this house like scaring other humans?

Choi Minho sniggers, covering his mouth. Wakana glares at him. He's still reading her mind.

"I can't help it." Choi Minho grins at her. "I am attuned to your mind. Your thoughts pop up in my head naturally."

'Doesn't it mean that he's been reading her mind so shamelessly that their brains are tune with each other?' Hano ponders. 'Minho, you peeping pervert! You like listening to women's dirty thoughts, right?'

That's right. Wakana opens her mouth wide. Her dirty thoughts… She turns her head toward Choi Minho who avoids her gaze. The faint blush on his face is enough for an answer. 

"You can't hear my dirty thoughts," She snaps at him. "No, you can't hear anything at all. Leave my mind alone."

"Can't help it." Choi Minho scratches the back of his head. "It's as natural as breathing."

'Isn't this new level of mind invasion?' Hano asks. 'Minho should be punished.'

"Wakana, why don't you read his emotions all the time?" Oh Soo-Mi suggests with a sly tone. "I am sure that you can break through his barrier and get tuned with his emotions."

"Sister-in-law, don't teach her bad things." Choi Minho warns her lightly. "Besides, if she wants to feel my emotions so much, she only has to ask now."

He turns his head toward Wakana and winks at her.

"..." 

This person is not an angel or a ghost. Wakana gnashes her teeth. He's a sly fox. Definitely a fox that needs to be skinned alive. 

Having heard her thoughts, Choi Minho lets out a cough. She's angry at him.

"Do you want me to read your future, Wakana?" Oh Soo-Mi puts her hand inside her sleeve and takes out a deck of tarot cards. "I might be old, but I am still useful."

"Sure, Oh-san." Wakana watches her make a tarot card spread with excitement in her eyes. From the memories, it's clear that Oh Soo-Mi can sense the future.

Choi Minho stares at Oh Soo-Mi with a complicated gaze. 

'There, she goes again.' Hano speaks bitterly, 'Soo-Mi, you never read my future.'

"After twenty or thirty years, you would be here." Oh Soo-Mi utters with a dull voice. "Your future is boring unless you decide to leave this house."

'If I leave, who will look after you?' Hano grumbles. 'Nobody knows my importance in this house.'

Oh Soo-Mi ignores the Hano's complaints and beckons Wakana to come closer. "After your awakening, I can't use my abilities on you because you are much powerful than I am. However, your future can be read. Pick up the first card."

"En." Wakana looks at the spread carefully and draws one card of it. When she turns the face of the card, she sees a lion and a woman. Is the woman killing the lion? Knitting her brows, she hands over the card to Oh Soo-Mi.

The woman runs her fingertips over the card and says, "The strength. It's not unusual. Your abilities are awakened. You feel that you have the strength to tame the predator in your heart."

Wakana blinks her eyes. That's so correct. 

"Pick up the next five cards." Oh Soo-Mi tells her solemnly, "Only pick the ones you are attracted to."

What she's attracted to? Wakana takes out five cards and gives them to Oh Soo-Mi without looking at the tarot card. It's not like she knows the meaning of the cards.

"What you want the most at this moment is…" Oh Soo-Mi presses her hand on the next card and sighs, "You are not clear-headed at the moment… pulled in two directions. You need to pause and understand what your heart wants the most. The enlightenment will come to you eventually."

Enlightenment? Is it nirvana? Wakana is not a religious person. What does she want though? She wants a lot of things -- a job, a house, control over her abilities, and sharing her happiness with her loved ones. She glances at Choi Minho. Some things shouldn't be questioned.

 "You are afraid that something will fall apart if you question the d.e.s.i.r.es of your heart." Oh Soo-Mi's words raise the hair on her skin. "The next card… Hmm…"

"What's wrong with the next card?" Wakana asks awkwardly. Oh Soo-Mi is too good. Is she truly not using her gifts on her?

"Tower." Oh Soo-Mi reveals the fourth card. "Change and pain are inevitable in your life, but you will come out of it if you stay strong."

The tower card is rather ominous. Wakana gives a side-long glance at Choi Minho who is thoughtfully gazing at Oh Soo-Mi. She uses this opportunity to probe his feelings. Her abilities are rather smooth now. In her mind, she senses a sponge-like barrier around him. He doesn't push her away. The barrier doesn't get dissolved either. Like a hot needle piercing a piece of cheese, she finds herself delving into him. 

If he can tell what she has been trying to do, he doesn't show it. His faint fear becomes clear to her. There's an anxious struggle inside him.

"The next card" -- Oh Soo-Mi takes the card between her index finger and middle finger -- "is the devil."

Distracted, Wakana pulls her sense away from Choi Minho. "W-What devil?"

"An addiction." Oh Soo-Mi states with a clear voice, "Do you often find yourself in a haze? It's not good for you. Whatever it is, it's going to hurt you a lot."

"I am not addicted to anything." Wakana defends herself, "I don't take drugs. Also, I drink moderately. I am a freaking vegan. I don't even eat dairy products."

And is there anyone she's addicted to?

"It could be an obsessive relationship or addiction to materialism." Oh Soo-Mi continues, "It may seem pure to you, but it's anything but pure."

She doesn't have any obsessive relationship. Her relationship with her family is good enough. Sei is also good. Then… She might be overly materialistic. "I understand, Oh-san."

"Lastly," Oh Soo-Mi says as she touches the final card. "The hermit. You will go through a period of loneliness. It doesn't mean that you would be physically alone. Sometimes, we are lonely even with people around us."

Overall, the reading is pretty bad. Wakana shakes away the ominous feelings prickling her c.h.e.s.t. She can't stop life from happening. Being prepared for it is the only way. 

'Minho is with you.' Hano's voice penetrates the silence. 'I am sure that he will continue to stalk you for eternity.'

"You aren't helping." Choi Minho glares at the ceiling. His impression is ruined because of this nosy spirit.

'I am only stating the truth.' Hano laughs. 'You used to talk about her to Soo-Mi all the time. Didn't you say that she's the most beautiful woman in the world? When you came back from hell, you said that you had a traumatic experience with a woman who wanted to eat her husband. You would never ever go for a woman who liked eating a lot. After finding Wakana, you were like… She loves to eat sweets a lot. Didn't you buy sweets all the time and left her it in her room like a god fairy?"

Wakana widens her mouth. Those sweets were from this guy?