“Where did the fox bastard go?”
When he returned home, Shim Iyul was nowhere to be seen. Not only the annex but also the Sarangchae he checked just in case was empty.
‘Did he go to Hanseong’s house?’
Do I have to go catch him again? Eun Seonmyeong, who was about to take out his phone, frowned. Come to think of it, he no longer had justification to go catch Shim Iyul. It was because the damn heat cycle had ended.
No, there is justification. The Eun family’s Bongshin hanging out with a yosu is not acceptable. With that mindset, he called, but Ban Hanseong’s phone was of course off, and Shim Iyul didn’t connect.
“Why carry a phone you won’t answer?”
Eun Seonmyeong, who put down his phone irritably, let out a sigh.
‘Should I go to Hanseong’s house? By the way, I need to tell Seolju he can come back now.’
He sent Han Seolju to Ban Hanseong’s house because of the heat cycle. Since the heat cycle ended, he should tell him he can come back, but somehow he didn’t feel like it.
Eun Seonmyeong, who clicked his tongue, sat on the main hall porch and looked down at the yard.
“Was the house this big…”
The house strangely felt big. Not only that, it seemed exceptionally quiet. Actually, Eun Seonmyeong’s house was quiet enough that neighbors occasionally joked “I thought no one lived there.” The residents Eun Seonmyeong and Han Seolju were not originally noisy personalities. The only noise they made could be said to be when exercising or sparring. Ban Hanseong had a noisier personality compared to Eun Seonmyeong and Han Seolju, but at best he came maybe once a month. The reason he frequently came in and out recently was purely because of the fox bastard.
Anyway, the silence like deep mountains should be normal and familiar, but it was strangely unfamiliar and lonely.
‘Lonely?’
Haa, am I crazy? The feeling he had rarely experienced in thirty years of life was absurd. He only felt loneliness briefly when his mother passed away. Loneliness should be the emotion most distant from him.
No, the word most distant and unrelated would be love… right?
“Let’s pack.”
Eun Seonmyeong, who let out a hollow laugh at absurdly thinking of the word love out of the blue, stood up and entered the room. It was when he was taking out a backpack from the closet and packing guns, bullets, clothes, etc.
“Huh? The shoes…”
With noisy footsteps, the door opened with a creak.
“Hunter, you’re already back? Why are you back so early?”
At the voice filled with gladness, Eun Seonmyeong turned around.
The moment he faced the smiling face, the feeling that his chest had been cold disappeared. In an instant, it felt like the house was packed tightly and full.
“Where did you go leaving the house empty? Where’s Hanseong?”
Eun Seonmyeong, who had almost smiled along without realizing it, deliberately spoke more bluntly. The house feeling full just from one fox bastard – his mind was really going strange. He desperately needed the mountain’s energy. He strongly felt the need to wash away his mind’s demons.
“I went for a walk. The shaman went back.”
Ban Hanseong, who said he would warm up in the Sarangchae for a bit, left like a shot saying he should go after less than ten minutes. Saying something about how the drafts of a traditional Korean house didn’t suit his delicate body. Well, there was no reason to stay here with severe drafts when he had his own house that was toasty warm even rolling around in just underwear.
“Did you walk alone?”
“Of course alone. Do you walk in pairs?”
“What kind of walk in such cold weather?”
“There are times when you need cold wind, hunter. But what are you doing?”
It was on the way back after getting some cold air because being covered in the blanket full of the hunter’s scent was making his feelings strange again. Shim Iyul stared at Eun Seonmyeong’s bag and tilted his head.
Eun Seonmyeong, who checked inside the bag to see if he was missing anything, closed the zipper. Then he answered bluntly.
“I packed.”
“Why are you packing?”
“I’m going to Jirisan early tomorrow morning.”
“Jirisan?”
“Yeah. I’ll be there for about two days. Maybe three.”
“I’ll come with you too…”
“I’m going alone. Don’t think about following.”
“Is Jirisan yours? If I want to go, I’ll go – who are you to tell me not to follow?”
Eun Seonmyeong threw a bread bag at Shim Iyul. Where do you think you’re following?
“Just eat that and quietly guard the house.”
“You keep treating the noble Fire Fox like a dog? And I clearly want natural yeast fermented… Considering your sincerity in buying it, I’ll eat it well.”
The bread Eun Seonmyeong bought was regular white bread. Shim Iyul was muttering when he smiled broadly at Eun Seonmyeong quietly taking out a gun from his backpack. Then he took out a slice of bread and tore it lengthwise.
That bad hunter. I’ll fix that habit of taking out a gun first when things don’t go your way!
Shim Iyul’s eyes widened slightly as he put the bread in his mouth and chewed while only grumbling inwardly. It looks tasteless, but it’s unexpectedly delicious.
‘That’s strange. Why does everything that hunter gives me seem delicious?’
It was truly inexplicable. The coffee from before, and the bread too. How strange. Did he smear honey on his hands? Shim Iyul glanced at Eun Seonmyeong’s hands. He didn’t seem to have smeared honey, but they were big and handsome hands.
Shim Iyul, who felt cold and opened his eyes, sat up groggily. Looking to the side with eyes still full of sleepiness, it was empty as expected. Eun Seonmyeong seemed to have never even lain down to sleep in the first place. He said “I’m going to sleep first” around 11 o’clock and lay down alone, and judging from not feeling any warmth after that.
“What time is it?”
Forcing his eyes open that wouldn’t open well, he looked at the clock – it was 3 AM.
Did Eun Seonmyeong fall asleep in the study? Thinking that, when he went to the study, it was empty.
“Don’t tell me he already left?”
Shim Iyul, whose sleepiness completely vanished, muttered with furrowed brows. He closed his eyes quietly and checked if he could sense Eun Seonmyeong’s presence, and his lips pouted. As expected, there was no sign of Eun Seonmyeong anywhere in the house. He couldn’t sense his scent either. It seemed he had left for Jirisan.
“If this was the case, he should have said departing in the middle of the night instead of early morning.”
Shouldn’t early morning refer to around 6 or 7 o’clock? Running away in the middle of the night then lying about leaving in the morning. Really a displeasing hunter.
“Hmph, I’m more comfortable without him.”
Without the hunter watching me, it’s my world until he returns. I’m taking over this house.
Shim Iyul, who returned to the room and lay down, rolled briefly left and right on the bedding. Ah, comfortable. It was cramped with two people using a single-person bedding, but it feels so comfortable I could die. I should call ghosts freely and order delicious things freely. I’ll cover this house with yogi. Thinking of the hunter who would be shocked seeing the house with yogi flying everywhere when he returns makes me laugh uncontrollably. Shim Iyul, who was laughing alone holding his stomach as if he had lost his mind, suddenly hardened his face.
“Come to think of it, how absurd? Who is he to tell me not to think about following? Is Jirisan his?”
In the past, if there was a sacred mountain, there existed a mountain lord who protected that mountain. The mountain lords’ appearances were diverse. Sometimes a tiger, sometimes a person, sometimes a bird. Thus mountain lords lived as part of nature in the mountains in various forms, and when someone tried to harm the mountain, they would reveal their majesty. Sometimes when a human or animal appeared who moved the mountain lord’s heart, they would whimsically give them rewards.
Now there were no mountains protected by mountain lords. With the mountain’s masters disappearing, mountains became places anyone could enter and exit. Meaning, even the yosu Shim Iyul could go whenever he wanted.
“This is absurdly frustrating. What can you do when I’m going on my own feet?”
He wasn’t following the hunter. He was just going to see Jirisan. Jirisan was the mountain where mountain lords remained until the very last, so the energy was particularly sacred – a place he hadn’t visited many times. Even though hundreds of years had passed since the mountain lord disappeared, his heart felt uncomfortable for no reason. He had also heard that Jirisan’s mountain lord was particularly fierce and its sacredness was extraordinary.
“I should compare how different it is from Mount Seorak. Go hiking too. Winter hiking is a special delicacy.”
Shim Iyul, who muttered like an excuse even though no one asked, stood up. Then he grabbed only his wallet, phone, and dagger and left the house lightly. Coming out to the main road, he saw a passing taxi and caught it.
“Jirisan.”
“Pardon?”
The driver, who turned around thinking to at least see the face of the crazy customer asking to go to Jirisan at a time just past 3 AM, changed his mind after seeing Shim Iyul’s face.
“I just need to go to the Jirisan entrance, right?”
“Yes.”
“I’ll drive you safely.”
The taxi departed toward Jirisan. Shim Iyul leaned completely back, then turned on his phone in a cross-legged position. He saw missed calls left by Eun Seonmyeong. They came yesterday afternoon. He didn’t know because he hardly looked at his phone yesterday.
“Why did he call?”
“Pardon? What did you say?”
“I’m talking to myself.”
“Ah, yes. But why are you going to Jirisan at this hour?”
The driver, who had been glancing at the back seat through the rearview mirror the whole time waiting for timing to somehow strike up a conversation, attempted conversation as if he had caught an opportunity.
“I’m going hiking.”
“Ah, I see.”
When Shim Iyul, who found conversation with humans bothersome, closed his eyes, the driver was disappointed.
The taxi raced smoothly through the dark dawn road. After driving for about 4 hours, they arrived at Baengmudong. Shim Iyul paid by card and got out of the taxi. Though it was cold winter, quite a few people wanting to hike were visible, but instead of thinking about climbing the mountain, they gathered in small groups whispering. Regardless of what the humans were doing, when he was about to climb the mountain right away, a young man in hiking clothes approached.
“Did you come to hike?”
“…Yes.”
“I also came to see the winter mountain after a long time, but the villagers say it’s better not to go up now.”
“…?”
“Apparently there’s something in the mountain.”
“Something like what?”
“I don’t really know either. Anyway, there’s something strange so it’s better not to go up…”
“It’s Kkeongcheori.”
A voice cut off the man’s words. It was an old man with a bent back. The old man, wearing a so-called chestnut hat covering his ears and holding a cane, looked up at the mountain with an expression full of worry.
“You’ve been saying that, but what is this Kkeongcheori or tin can or whatever?”
The man in hiking clothes asked.
“It’s a wind monster that appears once in a while from long ago. If you get swept up in Kkeongcheori, you die. So if you value your life, just go back. When I was young, Kkeongcheori appeared too, and five adults lost their lives.”
Shim Iyul smiled briefly while looking at the old man’s face full of worry. As the old man said, Kkeongcheori was a type of yokai. It looked like a black thicket, and because it moved very fast with a body hard as iron, it looked like a gust of wind to human eyes. Kkeongcheori ate everything alive. It trapped humans or animals’ bodies inside its thicket-like body, instantly absorbed blood and flesh, and left only bones.
Naturally it would be an object of fear to humans, but Shim Iyul licked his lips at hearing the name Kkeongcheori. Because of Kasaeo, the fish that Kkeongcheori especially loved. Kasaeo, which looked like red silk fluttering at a glance, was a really hard-to-find fish, but the taste was incredibly good. It would probably be number one in taste among all fish that exist in this world. Kkeongcheori loved this Kasaeo like crazy and searched for it. So where there’s Kasaeo there will be Kkeongcheori, and if he found Kkeongcheori he could catch Kasaeo.
‘I should catch one and give it to the hunter.’
If priced, it would be at least ten million won per fish, but the hunter barely scraping by couldn’t have eaten it. Feeling excited at the thought of catching Kasaeo and showing off in front of Eun Seonmyeong, Shim Iyul lightly stepped forward.
“Hey, pretty young man!! I said you’ll die! Young people these days don’t know how precious life is.”
He heard the old man clicking his tongue from behind, but ignored it. He wasn’t one to be defeated by something like Kkeongcheori.
