Nodus Tollens || Jung Jaehyun

Chapter 7: The Shaman

The shaman took out a cup of red beans, pouring it onto the flat surface between them. His fingers slid across the beans, picking it out and sliding from one side to the other one by one, something he had always done during their visits. "Alright, Jiwoo-sshi, what's troubling you?"

"Well, it's not like I have problems, but more of that my job now requires me to interact with the group I'm composing for starting today," Jiwoo explained, her hands tugging at her braided hair out of nervousness. "I know you've told me before to avoid the trainees and idols in my company, but Sooman-sshi wants me to..." The shaman hummed in reply, urging her to continue. "And, I don't know, I want this to work, too. Is there a charm or some ritual I should do so my group won't have bad luck in the future because of me?"

"Have you already interacted with the group? You have, haven't you?"

The girl let out a sound of awe. "Wow, you never fail to amaze me, Shaman-nim." The man laughed at her simple bewilderment. "But yes, I first ran into some of them a little over a week ago by my studio."

"Isn't your studio on the restricted seventh floor?"

"... It is."

"Oh, continue on then."

Jiwoo nodded, recollecting her thoughts. "And last weekend, I was in Paju when they filmed for NCT Life." Bit down lip, the brunette felt her heart swell with fear. "Do you think that was a bad idea? Will something horrible happen to them in the future?"

"Well, as you mentioned to me in our prior meetings, the effects were instantaneous when you interacted with SM's artists, correct?" The shaman questioned. Jiwoo nodded in response. "Well, anything significantly bad happen to the boys in the past week?"

"Not that I know of," she answered. "I'm currently in a group chat with all of them and this one other girl and they talk about a lot of things that happen during the day. Nothing to really note from that."

"You seem to have become very good friends with the boys already," Shaman Sanghyuk quipped with interest, earning a flustered composer. He continued to sort out through the beans, intently staring at them to figure out the answer for Jiwoo. "Hmm, how interesting."

"What is?"

"How about you? Has anything good happened to you recently, Jiwoo-sshi?"

The girl racked her brains for anything to come to mind. "Well, I just finished composing all the songs needed for NCT 127's album, so they're all ready for the boys to record with... Mmm, oh, Seokju-oppa had gotten me the SHINee sweater I wanted after so long on just a normal day!... I randomly found ₩5,000 in Paju... And I guess my sleeping schedule is almost normal now?"

The shaman nodded at this. "Those are very good things."

"Yeah. But what do those have to do with anything?"

"You don't have to worry about being around them."

Jiwoo blinked in surprise. "Oh?"

"All I could see is good things for you and the group. You seem to balance each other out like ying and yang. So, don't worry and do your job as you should," the man quirked with genuinely happiness for her.

"So I can hang out with NCT, then?"

"Of course you can, but do be cautious."

She scrambled up onto her feet, a flutter of joy evident in her expression. "I will, shaman-nim! You have no clue how giddy this makes me."

"I know you've been following my advice seriously so far, but I hope this gives you the opportunity to be more loose about things. I always felt a bit guilty for leading you down this path as young as you are," Sanghyuk uttered, running his hand over his balding head. "I think you're at a good place in life that you shouldn't have to worry too much on fortunes and bad luck, Jiwoo-sshi."