He is a Fire Fox among the yosu, and his name is Shim Iyul. The reason he has a surname despite being a yosu is because his father was human.
Fire Foxes are special among the various yosu as they are the only ones capable of having offspring. While the instincts of other yosu are to grow stronger and survive, the instinct of Fire Foxes is mating in order to have descendants. Thus, Fire Foxes have heat cycles.
Since yosu cannot have children with each other, when a Fire Fox’s heat arrives, they bewitch humans and have relations with them. Shim Iyul’s mother also followed her instincts during her heat, seeking out and bewitching a human man, and thus Shim Iyul was born.
However, his mother was special in many ways even among the already-special Fire Foxes, one of which was that she truly fell in love with his human father. His father, though bewitched by his mother, also gave his heart to her even knowing she wasn’t human, and the two set up a household like any other ordinary humans and raised Shim Iyul.
Because Shim Iyul was half-yosu and half-human, his growth was slow, so they moved frequently to avoid arousing suspicion from those around them. They were desperately poor and often survived on roots and tree bark, but his childhood was, more or less, happy.
Until his mother and father were each brutally killed by their respective races.
“……!”
The moment he opened his eyes, Shim Iyul bolted upright and his body pitched forward.
“Kugh!”
A groan filled with pain flowed from his lips. The shoulder that the hunter’s exorcism bullet had grazed burned.
“Fucking bastard hunter.”
How did they find out I was hiding in Mount Seorak and come looking? They definitely came targeting me. It wasn’t a chance encounter while passing by.
Shim Iyul twisted his head to the side as far as it would go, groaning as he examined his shoulder where a bright red bullet mark remained, and muttered, “I see.” They must have tracked him down through the human he’d met a month ago.
“Should I have killed him?”
Of course, even without personally snuffing out his life, he’d die soon enough. Since he’d planted powerful yokai energy in his body, he’d wander through illusions day after day, unable to sleep or eat, pissing and shitting himself until he lost all vitality and died withered away.
Shim Iyul calculated the days and laughed coldly. Now he had at most two or three days left? He was briefly pleased imagining the human dying shriveled up like a mummy. But only for a moment. He frowned thinking about the hunter. There was no way the hunter would just leave that dying human alone, so he would have suppressed the yokai energy with spiritual energy. He’d breathe for an extra week to ten days beyond the calculation.
“That bastard hunter will try so hard to save him just because he’s the same species as a human, without even knowing what kind of bastard that human is. Stupid fucking hunter.”
Shim Iyul sneered coldly at the hunter and sat cross-legged. The pain in his shoulder was slowly fading. Shim Iyul’s wound recovery ability was already fast, and since it was just a graze it was this mild, but if he’d been hit directly, he would have been seriously injured or, in the worst case, killed. It was an exorcism bullet filled with tremendously strong spiritual energy.
“The Eun family, I suppose.”
As far as Shim Iyul knew, the only remaining hunter family currently was the Eun family. So that bastard’s surname must be Eun.
“……”
Shim Iyul had been tapping his knee with his index finger, lost in thought, when he suddenly began packing his belongings. He stuffed various medicinal herbs he’d gathered a few days ago and clothes into his backpack. He also carefully rolled the dagger he’d used when facing off against the hunter in old clothes and placed it deep in his backpack. Then he readily left the place he’d been living. It was just a roughly-built hut deep in the mountains where no people went anyway, so he had no attachment to it.
After descending the mountain, the place he sought out was Sokcho’s largest medicinal herb shop.
“Is old man Kang here?”
As he entered and asked for the shop’s owner, a middle-aged man who’d been organizing the interior widened his eyes. It was absurd for such a young punk to suddenly speak down to him and ask for his father, but since he seemed to be a customer, he responded politely.
“Father is currently out. But what brings you here?”
“When will he be back?”
“He said he’d return within an hour, so he should be back soon, but…… you look quite young……”
Just as the middle-aged man was about to point out that he should fix his rude way of speaking, an elderly man with completely white hair entered. It was old man Kang, whom Shim Iyul had been looking for.
“Where have you been?”
When he spoke, old man Kang turned to look at Shim Iyul, raised his eyebrows, and smiled as if pleased.
“Oh, who is this? It’s been a while. When did you come down from the mountain?”
“Just now.”
“Is it already time to come down? We shouldn’t do this here—come, come over here.”
Old man Kang led Shim Iyul to a small side room inside the shop. The room, where he sometimes took brief naps when tired and exchanged pleasantries with customers, was filled with the subtle scent of medicinal herbs. He personally made tea and served it to Shim Iyul. It was cinnamon tea.
“That fellow outside, is he your son?”
Shim Iyul asked while drinking the cinnamon tea.
“My eldest. He got forced into early retirement from his company two years ago and was lazing around at home, so I dragged him down here and told him to at least learn the shop business.”
“Seems he’s learned quite a bit. Enough for you to leave him in charge and step out.”
“He’s still far from it. At best, he’s just learned to walk. Anyway, what brings you here? Is that over?”
The “that” old man Kang mentioned was the heat cycle.
A Fire Fox’s heat continues until they mate. The period is also long—a full three years. Only after three years does the heat completely subside, and afterwards they’re fine for decades. That doesn’t mean the heat comes every day during the three-year heat cycle, though. It would persist for a few days, disappear, then suddenly start again a few days later, or a week later, sometimes not until a month had passed. There was no knowing when the heat would start, and when it came, pheromones that seduced partners were released and their strength dropped to half of normal, so they had no choice but to hide.
Of course, it was simple if they copulated. They wouldn’t have to suffer for years. He wasn’t ignorant of that fact. In the past, when his heat cycle came, he would simply resolve it by copulating with humans. But starting from about a hundred years ago, when his heat cycle began, Shim Iyul chose to just hide and endure it. Of course, it wasn’t easy. A Fire Fox’s heat cycle was difficult beyond what anyone who hadn’t experienced it could know. Suppressing the instinct carved into blood and flesh was as painful as pouring salt on raw wounds.
“It’s roughly coming to an end.”
It had been 2 years and 8 months since Shim Iyul hid deep in Mount Seorak. This heat cycle was almost over.
“You’ve lost a lot of weight.”
Unable to properly eat or sleep while suffering through heat, he’d lost quite a bit of weight as old man Kang said. Naturally his stamina had dropped, so he had no choice but to be desperate just to flee and avoid the hunter.
“I’m planning to go to Seoul. So I’d like you to buy this. I need travel expenses.”
Shim Iyul stated his business for visiting old man Kang. Then he pulled out something wrapped in newspaper from his backpack. When old man Kang received the newspaper and unwrapped it, various medicinal herbs emerged. Three reishi mushrooms, two roots of hundred-year ginseng, wild deodeok, and such. Old man Kang’s eyes sparkled when he discovered the hundred-year ginseng. He lifted the hundred-year ginseng extremely carefully, worried he might damage it, and examined it from all angles. The condition was quite good. Not a single fine root was cut. At this quality, he could get at least 200 million won per root.
“I’ll give you 150 million per root. I need to have something left over to eat too.”
“Fine. Just give me some of it in cash right away.”
Shim Iyul accepted without objection. He knew old man Kang was keeping quite a bit for himself, but he had no mind to argue. He was a merchant, not a charitable businessman. Of course, as befitting a merchant, he was somewhat greedy for money, but old man Kang was one of the rare decent humans among those Shim Iyul had met. Even knowing Shim Iyul was half-human and half-yosu, he treated him without reserve, and didn’t use their friendship as a weapon to be greedier than appropriate. Above all, he cherished Shim Iyul for never having been bewitched by him despite their long acquaintance.
“How much cash do you need?”
“A million won should do for now.”
Old man Kang took out a bundle of bills bound in million-won units from the safe in the corner of the room and handed it to Shim Iyul. There was also a card with it.
“I’ll put the remaining amount on this card, so use it.”
Shim Iyul nodded and received the cash and card, putting them away. After finishing the cinnamon tea and standing up, old man Kang also stood and asked curiously.
“By the way, why are you suddenly going to Seoul?”
“To meet a hunter.”
“Is that so? Going to meet a hunter…… wh-what?”
Shim Iyul patted the shoulder of old man Kang, who belatedly became startled and widened his eyes, and left the medicinal herb shop with light steps. He could feel old man Kang hurriedly chasing after him, but didn’t look back.
Just then, a passing taxi came into view, so Shim Iyul caught it and stated his destination.
“Let’s go to the express bus terminal.”
“Yes, I’ll get you there safe……”
The driver’s face, who had kindly smiled while checking the back seat through the rearview mirror, flushed. Shim Iyul, well aware of what effect his face and body scent had on humans, clicked his tongue.
“Aren’t you going to start?”
At the voice filled with coldness, the driver finally answered “S-sorry” and hurriedly departed.
***
Finding the Eun family’s house wasn’t difficult. The Eun family had been settled in the same place continuously since opening their family line. Though they may have renovated and repaired the house over the long years, they hadn’t moved the site.
“Good land.”
It was a site of bae-san-im-su, considered the most ideal house site. Of course, the water in front of the house was gone now, but the house built with Bukhan Mountain at its back was a yangtaek more than perfect for humans to live in.
Standing in front of the main gate with his arms crossed, Shim Iyul stared silently at the talisman, then readily jumped over the wall. Though there was a slight sense of rejection since it was a talisman that prevented the intrusion of evil things, either because it had been put up long ago and its effectiveness had weakened, or it wasn’t unbearable.
Having crossed over the gate, Shim Iyul moved without hesitation. The hunter’s scent reverberated from various places. He sought out the place with the strongest scent and entered the interior.
The inside of the house was eerily quiet. 8 PM. Though it wasn’t yet time to go to bed, there was no sign of people, as if it were deep in the mountains at dawn. Even though he walked boldly as if in his own home returned to after a long time, yet with footsteps kept as quiet as possible, creaking noises rose from the old wooden floor.
A sensitive hunter should have rushed out several times by now, but it was strange that there was still no reaction.
Later, he didn’t even think about keeping quiet and walked making as much creaking noise as he wanted. When he stood in front of a door that appeared to be a bedroom, faint moans could be heard from inside. Shim Iyul opened the sliding door. When he entered, he could see the hunter lying on thick bedding. He was lying flat on his back, not wearing a single thread, sweating cold sweat and suffering.
“As expected, a pervert.”
For a grown man to be lying there with his lower body hanging out. How indecent.
Shim Iyul’s gaze, as he clicked his tongue, swept over the hunter’s lower body. Quite, considerably robust. For a moment his vision swayed and his body scent grew thicker. Perhaps because he was faced with a naked human, the heat he thought had ended seemed to stir. And at the same time, murderous intent rose.
Yosu (요수/妖獸) is a Korean term that means:
“Supernatural beast” or “Demon beast”
Breaking down the hanja/Chinese characters:
- 妖 (yo) = supernatural, bewitching, mysterious, demonic
- 獸 (su) = beast, animal
