Chapter 12: The Final Task
"This is really annoying," Cherry sighed as she stood outside the small apartment. It was a five storey house with smaller units in it. Most people living there were either students or belong to the working class.
It was late at night. She could hear the people inside were concentrating on their own business. One student was wildly memorizing her chapter notes while in another apartment, two people were making lewd noises. Cherry scrunched up her nose, hearing the disgusting sounds.
The shaman's powers enhanced her hearing. She can hear almost everything in a ten meter radius. It was an unfortunate power since it made it difficult for her to sleep at night. Thankfully, no one lived next door to her apartment otherwise she would have ended up killing people out of sheer irritation.
Right now, she was on a mission. As a shaman, she takes frequent requests from people to solve their problems in return for money. Some people request her to give her good luck charms or read their fortunes. They even come for blessings.
Some, however, come with dangerous requests. There were times when people wanted to put others under curses. This is where Cherry put her investigative skills to use. Since she was prohibited from using her powers on an innocent person, she must make sure that whoever she curses, deserves his or her fate. If they are scums, she does not hesitate in destroying their lives. If they are innocent, she leaves them be although sometimes she redirects the curse on the client who hired her. It cheers up her mood.
The recent request was a little unsettling. She walked towards the gate. It magically opened to make way for her as she took elegant steps towards the cheap building.
"501 huh?" she commented. Her heels clanked as she walked towards her destination. For this mission, she chose a beige suit with a red scarf. Her hair was loose into delicate curls and her pencil heels were exclusive designer wear. Unlike her morning persona, she preferred to dress up in high end designer clothes at night. If she was going to have limited time as her real self, then might as well live with style.
Carrying her cane in her hands, she strutted towards unit 501. She rang the doorbell.
A middle aged man with a pot belly and balding head, opened the door. He was dressed up in a tight shirt and brand new leather pants which looked as if it would fall out any time.
Upon seeing her, his beady eyes lit up in lust.
"Jong Shibei?" Cherry asked.
"You must be the escort!" Shibei said gleefully. He was eyeing her delicate body. It was in perfect hourglass shape. She was a foot taller than him but he liked her well proportioned features. He was expecting some cheap looking whore but this one was a top class beauty.
This is my lucky day! He thought, smacking his lips.
"Come on in," he wheezed.
Cherry's eyes narrowed as she stepped into the small unit. It was a dirty place. Even though the other rooms were closed, she could smell a hint of dirty toilet and unwashed utensils. The walls were stained yellow and the floor felt mushy. There was another strange, pungent stench in the air. Cherry frowned.
"I've already paid through the app," the man said as he led her into the bedroom. There was only a bed and a stinky mattress on it. Even though the girl in front of him was elegant and classy, she was still a cheap escort to him. There was no need to clean the room.
"Strip," he ordered. To his surprise, the girl stood there, leering at him.
"You first," she said coolly.
"Hey, I paid for you!" the man protested. "You should obey me!"
Cherry let out a musical laughter. "I prefer to be on top," she mused. "I like my men tied up and begging for more."
She ran his can down his arm. "You see," she whispered seductively. "It's a turn on for me."
The man gulped. A delicate beauty like her was a pure seductress. He was so immersed in her words that without thinking, he began to strip until finally, he was only wearing his underwear. When he was about to take them off, Cherry stopped him.
"Lie down on the bed," she ordered. "Face up."
The man eagerly lied down. He expected her to climb atop him but to his surprise, she took out a few ropes and began to tie his limbs to the bedpost.
"What are you doing?" he frowned.
"Didn't I tell you?" she smiled. "I like my men all tied up? This is just the beginning dear. We'll be having a lot of fun tonight."
The man felt his rod getting harder at her words. His boner was rising every time he saw her. He could not wait to fuck her crazy but the girl looked as if she had a sadistic side. It was a turn on.
When she was done tying him up, Cherry looked down at him.
"Let's start already!" the man exclaimed. "I'm getting impatient."
Suddenly he felt a sharp jerk. His arms and legs were being pulled from all directions.
"What the-"
The bed was widening from all sides, pulling his limbs. At this rate, he will be split apart.
"Som Dojin," Cherry stated. "Age forty three. Occupation is a construction worker. On nineteenth March, you and your ex-wife had a fight. She wanted custody of your daughter but you wouldn't give her that. To avoid her, you've even changed your name and address. And since the twentieth of March, your daughter has gone missing."
"Who are you and why are you doing this?" the man spluttered. His arms were being pulled and he felt his stomach muscles widening.
"Where is she?" Cherry demanded in a cold tone. "Som Shiba. Where is your daughter?"
"She ran away!" Dojin claimed. "I swear I don't know!"
His limbs were being pulled harder. He let out a loud cry.
"Help!" he shouted. "Help!"
"No one can hear you," she said out loud. "Tell me where Shiba is and I may spare your life."
"I don't-"
"You have only fifteen seconds before you are completely ripped apart," Cherry said as she sat down on a chair and took out a magazine to read.
"She ran away!" Dojin claimed. "I swear!"
"Ten," Cherry began to count, flipping a page. "Nine."
"Shiba had a tendency to run away!"
"Eight. Seven. Six."
"Please spare me!" he begged. "I'll find her I swear!"
"Five. Four. Three…"
"I don't know!" he pleaded.
"Two…"
"In the closet!" he revealed. "The one in the kitchen."
"Was that so hard?" Cherry said sweetly. She stood up and headed for the kitchen. Dojin desperately tried to cut himself loose.
Cherry kicked the kitchen door open. It looked as if the place had not been used for months. The pungent smell from earlier was stronger. It would make anyone throw up.
But it did not affect Cherry. She walked straight towards a heavily padded closet and pointed her cane at it. The lock burst open. Moving the chains aside, she opened the closet.
Inside it, was the decaying corpse of an eleven year old girl. She was still wearing her school uniform.
"So the claim is true," she stated calmly. Suddenly, she turned around and just in time, grabbed the throat of the porky man who had snuck up on her.
Dojin's hand stopped in midair as he tried to hit her with a bat. It fell to the ground with a thud. His muscles would not move. The girl's eyes were emotionless but her grip on his throat was tightening.
"Som Dojin," Cherry said clearly. "Your ex-wife has hired me to place a curse on you. As punishment for killing your daughter, I am sentencing you to a thousand year penance. For the next centuries to come, you will be living in a never-ending loop. You will be confined to that bed, quartered limb to limb and restructured before the cycle begins again."
With that, she summoned the bed and pushed him onto it. Dojin watched helplessly as the chains rose from the ground and tied him to the bedposts again. Cherry calmly walked away as the man's screams thundered through the tiny house.
No one will hear him scream nor will they be able to see him throughout his whole punishment. She left the closet with the corpse deliberately open so that he looked at the body of his daughter as he gets ripped apart every minute before rejuvenating to repeat the cycle.
"Maybe I should take a hot bath when I get home," she thought loudly. With that, she locked the apartment behind her before disappearing into the darkness.
….
Cherry was in a good mood when she came out of the shower wearing a pair of pajamas and a t-shirt with Tweety Bird printed on it. The hot shower loosened her muscles and she turned on the TV. Her favorite drama was on-air and she was eager to know who the male lead's real mother was.
The characters on the TV were in the midst of an intense confrontation.
"Father, why didn't you tell me my real mother is alive?" the male lead, Cha Doyoon demanded.
"She was of a lowly status!" the father roared. "A filthy woman who was not worth our family. I pitied her but she seduced me and left you behind."
"Who was she?" Cha Doyoon asked. "At least tell me her name!"
The father looked at his son. "Her name was-"
A lous music interrupted Cherry's concentration. Someone was playing a guitar next door!
Irritated at the intrusion, Cherry got up. Even though the walls were soundproof, her hearing abilities were enhanced. Whoever the poor idiot was, he will face her wrath for interrupting her drama time.
"He's dead," she promised as she barged outside. Someone must have moved into the apartment next to hers since there were a bunch of boxes outside. The guitar player was still making noise. She slammed on the door.
"Is anyone in there?" she demanded, as she pounded on the door. The music stopped.
"Coming!" a deep voice came from the other side.
"Do you realize that there are people on this floor?" Cherry fumed. "Your terrible music is really-"
Suddenly, Cherry's voice broke. Her hand was trembling as she felt a slight scratching on it. In black ink, two names began to etch on her palm. She froze as she saw the names. It was the final task.
"Change the fates of Shin Jinhyun and Sung Yoona," she read slowly.
The door in front of her opened. In a slow motion, she looked up to see a familiar face. Those dark black eyes stared at her. Just like how they stared at her 500 years ago.
Standing in front of her was Shin Jinhyun, the reincarnation of the man she hates the most.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Tea_Tae
Tea_Tae How will Cherry finish the final task? Will Jinhyun and Cherry's pasts change their lives? What will happen when she completes the final task? What is the mystery of their previous life? Why did Cherry kill the crown Prince? And what secret was the Emperor hiding?
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