Chapter 1

Prologue

He first heard 'that' rumor at a charity party he had been invited to by an acquaintance.

"What? A shaman?"

Greyson, who had been killing time making idle conversation with other party guests, unconsciously frowned as he asked. The man who had brought it up first took a sip of wine heavily mixed with drugs and giggled playfully.

"Yeah, I heard there was a fortune teller invited to Hayden's party who was quite interesting. Pretty accurate too? Everyone was amazed."

"Yeah right."

Greyson drank his wine with an indifferent expression as he listened to the story. Fortune telling? It was foolish to believe in such superstitions.

...Or that's not exactly what he meant. In fact, he had already visited countless fortune tellers and shamans. Probably about ten times more than the maximum number of fortune tellers an average person would meet in their lifetime. Greyson always asked them just one thing: where was his destined mate?

He had heard many things and paid considerable prices, yet here he remained. Destined mate? Just when he thought he had finally found them, they weren't the one, and when he thought he had found them again, they weren't either. After going through this process multiple times, Greyson no longer blindly believed their words. That's why even now, hearing about a new fortune teller, he remained unshaken and maintained a lukewarm attitude while listening somewhat carefully. Seeing Greyson's indifferent response, the man added awkwardly with a laugh.

"It's just for fun. Though, they made some ridiculous prediction to Keith that made him incredibly angry."

"To Keith? What prediction?"

When Greyson asked curiously at the unexpected name, the man answered casually.

"That he would face tremendous hardship soon. And if he wasn't careful then, he would regret it for the rest of his life."

"Like his business going bankrupt?"

Another man joked with a snicker. The other men also laughed in disbelief. The thought that Keith could go bankrupt - the world might end first, more than one person must have thought. The man who first brought up the topic spoke again.

"Who knows? They said he would lose something more important than money, but I don't know what it is. Keith got angry and left before hearing the rest."

"He's always been too quick-tempered."

"I would've left too if I heard something like that."

"Yeah, hearing bad predictions only ruins your mood."

As voices of agreement came from here and there, the topic soon changed. Greyson absently drank his wine and recalled.

It had been several years since Keith, who had been as much of a playboy as Greyson, had chosen to settle down through the seemingly impossible institution of marriage. Though it was a reality no one could believe, he hadn't looked at anyone else even once since getting married. If there was something so precious that would make such a Keith that angry, it must be Yeonwoo. Or perhaps his two lovely children.

What a fraud.

There was nothing more to consider. The idea that Yeonwoo would leave Keith's side was nonsense. Not to mention those children who could do nothing but chirp around.

He had found his soul mate. Much earlier than Greyson who was desperately yearning for one. Looking at that, God must be an incredibly biased being. While Keith had always mocked Greyson's desire, he was the one who found his mate. Greyson recalled with a frown. That bastard hadn't even gotten his fortune told once.

For that fortune teller to make such an ominous prediction to Keith, it was a miracle they made it back in one piece. They must have used up all their lifetime's luck at that moment.

If Hayden had brought them, they must have been vetted to some degree. Though it's not easy to spot frauds.

That was the extent of his impression of the new fortune teller. Greyson soon joined in on the trivial conversation, and the talk about the fortune teller was almost forgotten.

However, a month later, Greyson's attitude completely changed and he urgently contacted Hayden. Saying he needed the fortune teller's contact information.

Because he had learned that the fortune teller's warning about Keith had come true exactly, and he had found himself in an extremely difficult situation.

* * *

"Hmmmm..."

Greyson watched with a deeply furrowed brow as the middle-aged woman stared intently at the cards spread out on the table.

Quite some time seemed to have passed, but the fortune teller remained silent. Why is this taking so long? Is it difficult to say? Or can't she read the cards?

As distrust gradually spread and filled his eyes, the fortune teller finally straightened her back as if having made a decision.

"This is quite difficult."

At her meaningful first words, Greyson crossed his arms and stared intently at her face. Whether trying to avoid or ignore his piercing gaze, the fortune teller kept her eyes fixed on the cards as she slowly continued.

"Your destined mate... it's difficult. Very difficult..."

"So? Are you saying there isn't one?"

Greyson pressed her impatiently. The fortune teller, blinking in surprise for a moment, quickly cleared her throat.

"I didn't say there isn't one. But I can't say there is either..."

"Do you think I came all the way here for wordplay?"

Greyson asked the fortune teller who kept stalling, with a smile spread across his face. Despite this, the fortune teller could tell all too well that his mood had seriously twisted. After all, Greyson was releasing angry pheromones with his entire body.

"Of course not."

She quickly smiled and deflected the situation with years of experience.

"You've tried very hard to meet your mate until now. But you couldn't have met them. Because the time hasn't come yet..."

"And?"

Greyson pressed her without letting her stall any longer.

"When will that time come? Is it still far off? How much longer do I have to wait? Don't tell me it's an undertaker? Are they coming to clean my corpse after I die? Is that it?"

"Now, now, calm down."

Raising one hand as if restraining an excited fighting dog, the fortune teller spoke after a pause.

"It's not far off. You'll meet them soon. You might have even crossed paths once already."

"You're saying they were right in front of me and I didn't recognize them?"

Just as doubt was about to rise with a 'surely not', the fortune teller added.

"It might not have been a direct meeting. There are many encounters that pass by in life. In Buddhism, there's a saying that 'even brushing sleeves makes a connection'..."

Greyson frowned as he stared at her. Slowly crossing his arms and leaning back in his chair, his posture seemed to represent that he didn't have much patience left.

"So."

Greyson began slowly, contrary to his urgent feelings.

"How can I meet this person?"

The fortune teller picked up a stack of cards set aside and drew one of them. As Greyson stared at the card she placed on the table, she said.

"Fire."

"Fire?"

When he asked back with a frown, the fortune teller nodded and added explanation.

"Helping others, and I see fire."

"You mean a firefighter?"

"It could be, or it might not be."

She took a step back again after speaking so well until now.

"It could also mean that your mate will appear while you're helping others doing that work. Either way, the keyword is fire."

Greyson continued to look at her with furrowed brows. As if contemplating how much of this fortune teller's words he should believe.

"Is there nothing else?"

At Greyson's demand for more information, she drew another card to check before answering.

"It could be a woman, or it could be a man."

"Of course it would be."

Greyson sneered mercilessly before falling into thought for a moment, then narrowed his eyes and asked.

"What about the chest?"

"Pardon?"

When the fortune teller blinked in surprise at the sudden question, Greyson repeated.

"Can you see if they have a large chest, small chest, or no chest at all? Well? The chest."

"Ah... um... it's large."

After drawing and turning over a card, the fortune teller answered, and Greyson came to a clear conclusion.

"So it's a woman."

The fortune teller was surprised by this clever method of determining the gender, but then became puzzled. If so, why hadn't the gender been clearly shown in the earlier divination?