Desire Me If You Can Novel - Chapter 1

Please note: The stories, institutions, and characters appearing in this novel are fictitious and unrelated to actual events. Additionally, the ranking system of the fire department has been altered from reality to facilitate the reader’s understanding.

Prologue

It was at an acquaintance’s charity party that he first heard “the” rumor.

“What? A shaman?”

Grayson, who had been killing time exchanging idle chatter with the other party guests, frowned inadvertently as he asked back. The man who had broached the subject took a sip of wine, heavily laced with narcotics, and giggled mischievously.

“Yeah. Apparently, it was a fortune teller invited to Hayden’s party. They were actually quite entertaining. Surprisingly accurate, too. Everyone was amazed.”

“Is that so.”

Grayson drank his wine with a look of profound indifference. Fortune telling… believing in such superstitions was foolish.

…Not that he actually believed that.

In truth, he had already sought out countless fortune tellers and shamans. Likely ten times more than the average person would meet in an entire lifetime. And what Grayson asked them was always the same, singular question: Where is my fated partner?

He had heard many words and paid considerable prices, yet the result was always this mess. A fated partner? Just when he thought he had met them, he hadn’t. When he thought, surely this time, he was wrong again. Having gone through that process far too many times, Grayson no longer placed blind faith in their words.

That was why, even hearing about this new fortune teller now, he wasn’t easily swayed. He listened carefully enough, yet maintained a lukewarm, noncommittal attitude.

Perhaps finding Grayson’s cynical reaction embarrassing, the man laughed and added, “It’s just for fun, you know. Although, the guy did make a ridiculous prophecy to Keith, and that bastard got incredibly angry about it.”

“To Keith? What a prophecy?”

At the unexpected name, Grayson asked with genuine curiosity. The man replied dismissively.

“Something about a massive hardship coming his way sooner or later. They said if he isn’t careful, he’ll regret it for the rest of his life.”

“Like running his business into the ground?”

Another man in the group snickered, cracking a joke. The rest of the guys laughed, finding the idea absurd. Keith going bankrupt? It was more likely that the world would end first.

The man who first spoke opened his mouth again.

“Well, who knows? They said he’d lose something more important than money, but I don’t know what that would be. Keith got pissed off and stormed out before hearing the rest.”

“He’s always been impatient. Too impatient.”

“If I heard something like that, I would have felt like shit and left, too.”

“True. Hearing a bad prophecy just ruins the mood.”

Voices of agreement murmured from here and there before the topic shifted. Grayson sipped his wine indifferently, lost in thought.

It had already been several years since Keith, a rake who used to be just as much of a playboy as Grayson, had chosen the nonsensical institution of marriage and settled down. It was a reality no one could quite believe, yet he hadn’t strayed even once since tying the knot.

If there was something precious enough to make Keith so angry, it was likely Yeon-woo. Or perhaps his two adorable children.

A fraud, then.

There was nothing more to see. The idea of Yeon-woo leaving Keith’s side was nonsense. And the children, who had no ability to do anything but chirp like chicks, went without saying.

Keith had found the other half of his soul. Much earlier than Grayson, who craved it so desperately. Seeing that, God must truly be a tremendously petty existence. Keith had always mocked Grayson’s yearning, yet he was the one who found his mate.

Grayson recalled this with a scowl. That bastard hadn’t even consulted a common fortune teller once.

To deliver such an ominous prophecy to Keith… it was a miracle the fortune teller had walked away with their body intact. That man or woman must have used up a lifetime’s worth of luck right then and there.

If Hayden brought them in, they must have been vetted to some extent. Though, I suppose weeding out swindlers isn’t easy.

That was the extent of his thoughts on the new mystic. Grayson soon joined the trivial conversation, and the story of the fortune teller was nearly forgotten.

However, a month later, Grayson’s attitude changed completely. He contacted Hayden with urgent desperation, demanding the fortune teller’s contact information.

It was because he learned that the warning given to Keith had come true exactly as predicted, landing him in a terrible predicament.

“……”

Grayson watched with a deep furrow in his brow as the middle-aged woman stared intently at the cards spread out on the table with a grave expression. Quite a bit of time seemed to have passed, yet the fortune teller remained silent.

Why is this taking so long? Is it bad news? Or can she not read the cards?

Just as distrust began to spread and fill his eyes, the fortune teller finally straightened her back as if making a decision.

“This is… difficult.”

At her meaningful opening words, Grayson crossed his arms and stared piercingly at her face. Whether she was avoiding his sharp gaze or simply ignoring it, the fortune teller kept her eyes fixed on the cards as she spoke slowly.

“Your fated partner… it is difficult. Very difficult…”

“So? Are you saying they don’t exist?”

Unable to endure it, Grayson pressed her. The fortune teller blinked, seemingly startled, and hurriedly cleared her throat with an ahem.

“I didn’t say they don’t exist. But I cannot say they exist, either…”

“Do you think I came all the way here to play word games?”

Grayson asked the hesitation-filled fortune teller. A smile hovered over his entire face, yet the fortune teller could tell all too well that his mood was severely twisted.

Grayson was pouring out pheromones of pure rage with his entire body.

“Of course not.”

Relying on her years of experience, she quickly smiled to salvage the situation.

“You have tried very hard to meet your partner until now. But you would not have been able to meet them. It simply wasn’t the time yet, so…”

“So?”

Grayson wasted no more time and pressed her again.

“When is that time coming? Is it still far off? How much longer do I have to wait? Don’t tell me they’re a mortician? Are they going to come wipe down my corpse after I die? Is that it?”

“Now, now. Please calm down.”

Raising a hand as if to restrain an excited fighting dog, the fortune teller paused before speaking.

“It won’t be long. You will meet soon. You may have already brushed past them once.”

“They were right in front of my eyes and I didn’t recognize them?”

No way. Just as doubt began to rise, the fortune teller added.

“It may not have been a direct meeting. Many encounters brush past us in this world. In Buddhism, there is a saying that even the brushing of sleeves is fate…”

Grayson frowned, glaring at her. The way he leaned back in his chair with his arms crossed slowly suggested his patience was running on fumes.

“So.”

Contrary to his urgent heart, Grayson broke the silence slowly.

“How can I meet this partner?”

The fortune teller picked up the deck of cards stacked to one side and drew a single card. To Grayson, who was staring at the card placed on the table, she spoke.

“Fire.”

“Fire?”

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

“I see the act of helping others, and I see fire.”

“You mean a firefighter?”

“It could be, or maybe not.”

She, who had been speaking well enough until now, took a step back again.

“It could also mean that while you are doing such work helping others, your partner will appear. In any case, the keyword is fire.”

Grayson looked at her, his brow still furrowed. He looked as though he was debating just how much of this fortune teller’s words he should trust.

“Is there nothing else?”

At Grayson’s demand for more information, she took out another card, checked it, and answered.

“It could be a woman, or it could be a man.”

“Of course it could.”

Grayson retorted sarcastically without mercy, fell into thought for a moment, and then narrowed his eyes to ask:

“The chest?”

“Pardon?”

When the startled fortune teller blinked and asked back at the random question, Grayson spoke again.

“Can you see if the chest is big or small, or if there isn’t one at all? Well? The chest.”

“Uh… um… It’s big.”

Upon hearing the fortune teller’s answer after she flipped a card, Grayson came to a clear, decisive conclusion.

“It’s a woman.”

The fortune teller was startled by his trick to figure out the gender, but she soon felt puzzled. If so, then why did the previous divination clearly not specify a gender?