Chapter 186 - Spied

Eun Ha got out of the cab and studied Pearl's facade. The signpost was off, the streetlight lamps off. And at the top of the building, the backlit banner that Mrs. Song had paid so expensively, hoping to improve Pearl's visibility, could not be seen. 

Looking at the empty street that rainy Tuesday night, Eun Ha made sure that there were no humans around, and used her magic wand. 

"PLIMP!" she joked, making a sound effect on the magic effect. The street lamp above her head blinked a little, and turned on.

While studying in the books of Shin's library, Eun Ha had discovered that the schools of magic were divided by type, according to the techniques they taught.

Illusion, which created illusions from real objects and beings, was the technique responsible for hair and makeup or even police sirens. It created images and sounds convincing enough, but it didn't create matter. 

Interfering with real objects, building, repairing or damaging ordinary objects was known as the Art of Manipulation. Eun Ha had a natural talent for this art. It differed from Conjuration, the technique that allowed invoking real beings and objects to the desired location. 

Only the rare techniques of Instillation allowed to create magical objects, infusing magic energy on specially made objects. 

The Mesmerism school taught how to deceive and convince, functioning to different degrees as a charisma enhancer or even, profound hypnosis. Eun Ha was certain that it was with this school that the Devourer manipulated those people, through his trained wraiths.

Manipulating magical energy around you to cause events, without consuming it, as Eun Ha did, was the banned art of Disruption. It was as rare as the Elemental path, which only channeled pure magic as pure elemental energy, able to create the most potent forms of magic. It was necessary to master some aspect of Elemental magic to be an Instillator.

Eun ha was still a beginner, and had a lot to learn, but she knew enough now to try to fix Pearl's facade for tomorrow. Ye Rim deserved to do her last show with Pearl in perfect condition!

Turning to the side of the building, she saw the fire escape. Since Hong Gi had vacated all of the upper floors and the only thing working in the building was the Pearl, he didn't care at all about maintaining the external fire escape. But Eun Ha opened the rusty lock and took care to climb the dangerous steps, using a powerful flashlight created by her ephemeral magic.

'Aish, this useless mobster really wants to get Pearl out of here. It doesn't take long for Mrs. Song to have to give up that place. This building is attracting a lot of bad energy up here! ' she identified the pattern. The less time she stayed there, the better. The fairy didn't want to absorb low energy if she could help it.

Arriving on the terrace, Eun Ha saw the sign tilted to the side, and was quite torn. 

It was very unlucky. She had seen no other backlit banners of the same type fallen or damaged on her way to Pearl. 

"But look at this!" she mumbled to herself, pointing her flashlight at the floor. The site gathered soot, which had clear footprint marks in the mud that formed after the storm.

"Hm, I don't want to be Sherlock Holmes, but hunting with Shin kept my mind sharp. It wouldn't be likely that footprints would have survived a storm intact. Some people were there shortly after, and it was probably they who damaged the Pearl sign.

'No doubt it was Hong Gi's henchmen, trying to please his boss. But didn't they know that they shouldn't mess with Jung Eun Ha? ' taking her wand out of her pocket again, she focused on her spell. Putting that backlit banner in place and fixing it up would take a lot of magic, but Eun Ha was willing to test herself.

'Hng!' the magic started to be transferred to the object and the backlit metal frame slowly returned to the place, as if a film was rewinding. The support has been fixed and has become firm again. All the effort undertaken took her breath away! 

'Now, for my last trick ...!' she repaired the damaged vinyl panel, and in the end, she made the lights come on.

'TCHARAM!' she laughed, and took a picture to send to Ye Rim and Shin. She just didn't imagine that, just a few meters away, a wide-eyed human was watching in horror all the action on the terrace.

ººº

The following night, Ye Rim hung up the phone, and looked at Eun Ha, worried,

"I think Dae Won Oppa is avoiding me. When he answers my calls he is kind but evasive. I know he's upset, but I can never understand him. As I told you, he saw me and Jun Hyeon kissing and said he was worried about my career. But I don't know if I believed that much. Still, I want to thank him for everything he did. I bought a beautiful gift and I will always be grateful, but he's... avoiding me!"

"Well, maybe that's not it. Maybe he's too busy. Do you want me to ask him?"

"I know that I will meet him on HTN or in the studio, since he gave me his music. But I wish I didn't have any kind of misunderstanding between us. I have to think about how to do this."

Eun Ha agreed. They were in Pearl's dressing room, and from the morning, flowers and gifts arrived for Ye Rim's farewell. Ye Rim checked one by one, thrilled. Pearl and their customers and staff had been a part of her life, and she was sure she would miss them all.

Mrs. Song came in with two baskets of fruit, placing them on the dressing room sofa. It was Duk Mi's dressing room, but it was on loan to Ye Rim tonight.

"I don't know how it happened, but this morning I got a call from a guy named Ji Woong. This is that fighter, isn't he?"

Ye Rim nodded, puzzled, and Ms. Song continued,

"Well, he apologized for the day of the fight and said that his friends had collected money to help pay for the losses. He apologized for taking so long to collect a reasonable amount. They found that the handsome chaebol took on nothing. What should I do with it? After all, you paid what they owed! So that money is your rightfully!"

Ye Rim's eyes widened. Mrs. Song continued, handing over an envelope. "But surprise. Earlier today the handsome chaebol lawyer was here. It looks like he finally came back from the trip or wherever he was. And he brought a check, much less generous than the sports boys', by the way."

Eun Ha was surprised,

"Look at this, Ye Rim! It seems that everything started to work properly again! Everything that was stagnant, before our anniversary!"

"Aigoo," said Ms. Song, "What superstitious girls!"

"Wouldn't it be nice to look for a better place for Pearl?" suggested Eun Ha. After seeing the pitiful state of the building on the terrace, she imagined that much of the problem was the location. After all, as the name implied, Pearl was an old oyster hiding real jewels!

"After this renovation?! I would be crazy!" said Mrs. Song. Eun Ha still did not have good money to help Pearl, but she imagined that she and Ye Rim could offer a loan or make a good donation in the near future.

"Don't get too attached to that old shell, Mrs. Song! Don't forget that this is the shell of Nam Ye Rim, a future national star, and Duk Mi, the Trot Legend! First and only!"

"Ah, don't even tell me! I'm still shocked by it all! That bully left me thinking for years! And yesterday, after the show, when I questioned him, he told me the most absurd thing I have ever heard in my life!"

"WHAT?! What did he say?" the girls leaned forward, excited and thirsty for gossip about it.

"He said that ten years ago, he owed a huge sum to loan sharks, so he needed to 'disappear' from the country for a while. He got false doc.u.ments and went to Malaysia. After two years he returned to the country, and remained hidden from his moneylenders, who still wanted his head. So he accepted to live a 'simple' life as a failed singer who impersonated the real Duk Mi. Aigoo! I don't know if he's really telling the truth or if this is all his delusional mind! I can expect anything from that nutcase!"

"Well, if Seol Im already recognized him ..." Ye Rim could believe that Duk Mi was really the real Duk Mi. He always behaved as if he were a big star relegated to the shadows.

"Now that you're leaving me and we haven't found a replacement yet, I don't know if I could afford to lose Duk Mi. But this morning he gave an interview for a vlogger or whatever, and he is all pompous and full of himself!"

"Is he still running from loan sharks?" Eun Ha asked.

"If they still remember him, they will come when he starts showing up too much, I guess…" the ajuhmma shook her head. "But I need to think about one problem at a time, aigoo! And the problem now is that Ye Rim is leaving! In two hours she will do her last show in this house!"

Ye Rim stood up and hugged Pearl's owner with emotion,

"Don't be like this, my dear President Song! I will always be around! It's a promise!"