Around midnight, Eun Seonmyeong, who had departed from Seoul, stopped at a rest area midway and caught about three hours of sleep. The original plan was to leave home around 5 AM. But watching Shim Iyul sleeping on his bedding, under his blanket, made his mind restless for some reason, so he ended up leaving right away.
Confirming it was approaching 5 AM, Eun Seonmyeong got out of the car and rolled his stiff neck. The dawn wind was ice-cold. His body trembled involuntarily, so he got a cup of hot coffee from the vending machine and drank it.
“If I arrive, it’ll be around 7?”
He only needed to drive about two more hours, so it seemed he’d arrive around 7.
I should have breakfast with soup and rice before starting the mountain climb.
Eun Seonmyeong crumpled the empty cup, threw it in the trash, and got in the car. Before departing, he left a message for Han Seolju: [Currently heading to Jirisan. I’ll contact you when I return to Seoul.]
As for Shim Iyul… there’s no need to contact him.
After briefly contemplating, Eun Seonmyeong tossed his phone onto the passenger seat and departed. At the 24-hour soup and rice restaurant he always stopped at when coming to Jirisan, he heard talk about the Kkeongcheori.
“It seems a Kkeongcheori has appeared, this is terrible. It would be bad if people who came hiking got swept up in it and died or got injured.”
“But is that story about the monster called Kkeongcheori or whatever actually true?”
“Of course it’s true. When I was young, my grandfather told me. He said to never approach places where black windstorms blow.”
Listening to the conversation between two middle-aged men who appeared to be local residents, Eun Seonmyeong sighed.
‘Why the hell does it have to appear now of all times?’
A Kkeongcheori wandering in search of Gasaeo doesn’t stay in one place for long. It goes somewhere else in three or four days. If he’d known this, he would have come after the curse ended.
“Damn it.”
Should he just ignore it? Pretend he didn’t hear? He wasn’t even commissioned for this. Dealing with a Kkeongcheori is simple, but annoying.
While eating the remaining soup and rice and pondering, Eun Seonmyeong concluded: ‘If it appears before my eyes, I’ll eliminate it, but I won’t go out of my way to find it.’ There’s no need to go through trouble for work that doesn’t pay.
After finishing his meal, Eun Seonmyeong parked his car at the Jirisan entrance parking lot and began climbing slowly. Perhaps the village residents were discouraging hikers—there seemed to be fewer people than usual. Thinking this was fortunate, Eun Seonmyeong was walking toward the Mountain Spirit Rock when he abruptly stopped.
“Fox… scent?”
A fox scent carried on the wind. Was he even experiencing phantom scents now? He let out a hollow laugh and resumed walking, but only briefly.
“It doesn’t seem like a phantom scent?”
The familiar smell was definitely Shim Iyul’s. The Fire Fox scent that had been making his heart flutter and his body heat up at some point. It wasn’t a phantom, but real. He hastily pulled out his compass—the needle was spinning madly.
“That fox bastard!”
Did he really follow me?
Eun Seonmyeong ran toward where the barely stopped needle was pointing. Passing the hiking trail and entering an area without people, a windstorm blew in, making his body sway. Pulling out his Glock 19 from his coat, Eun Seonmyeong pushed through the strong wind head-on.
After advancing for a while, he saw Shim Iyul running around like crazy near a small waterfall and pond.
The sight of Shim Iyul smiling and throwing daggers at the Kkeongcheori moving so fast that even Eun Seonmyeong’s eyes—with dynamic visual acuity several times better than an ordinary human’s—could barely follow it… honestly looked insane.
Eun Seonmyeong stopped helplessly, breathing heavily. Come to think of it, there was no reason to rush over. To divide them by rank, the Kkeongcheori was mid-level and Shim Iyul was high-level. It meant they were no match from the start. For Shim Iyul, a Kkeongcheori could be dealt with using just one hand.
“The Gasaeo is this Fire Fox-nim’s!”
Cackling, Shim Iyul threw his dagger at the Kkeongcheori’s core. As the dagger filled with yogi pierced the Kkeongcheori’s core, a piercing screech—*Geueoeoek*—echoed throughout Jirisan. Mountain birds flew up all at once with a flutter, and he could sense mountain beasts scurrying to hide. The Kkeongcheori’s body dissipated and the windstorm disappeared.
Retrieving his dagger, Shim Iyul snorted while arranging his hair that had been disheveled by the wind.
“Acting so annoying. I almost came after the Kkeongcheori ate all the Gasaeo…. H-Hunter?”
Where the Kkeongcheori had disappeared, Eun Seonmyeong stood with a look of disappointment.
“What are you doing?”
Eun Seonmyeong took a step toward Shim Iyul.
“I didn’t follow you. I heard about the Kkeongcheori and came to catch Gasaeo.”
Shim Iyul said while subtly avoiding Eun Seonmyeong’s gaze. He absolutely didn’t follow him—he just came to see what Jirisan was like these days, but for some reason felt awkward.
“……”
“You’ve never eaten Gasaeo, right? It’s delicious. Should I catch some for you?”
Toward Shim Iyul who was clearly feigning ignorance despite obviously having followed him, Eun Seonmyeong let out a big sigh. He came to avoid the fox, but the fox came first and was waiting. Only sighs came out.
“……”
While Eun Seonmyeong pondered what to do with that fox bastard, Shim Iyul approached the pond saying, “I’ll let you taste how delicious Gasaeo fish are.” Thanks to the Kkeongcheori having swept through once, several bone fragments were visible around the pond. The water surface was still churning roughly, and chunks of surface ice the Kkeongcheori had shattered were floating here and there. Shim Iyul clicked his tongue. The Kkeongcheori hunted by using wind to flip the pond water up to the bottom and pull in the fish. Naturally, the fish would still be in a panic and hiding. Gasaeo were already timid, died easily, and lived deep underwater, making them very tricky fish to catch—thanks to the Kkeongcheori, they seemed much harder to catch.
‘Still, it wouldn’t make sense if this Fire Fox-nim couldn’t catch a few fish.’
Since he’d have to enter the water directly to catch them, he was about to take off his clothes when Eun Seonmyeong approached and grabbed Shim Iyul’s wrist.
“Why?”
“It’s fine. I’ll catch them.”
“I’ll catch them for you.”
“Don’t you know how cold a winter pond is? A frail yosu who worries about catching a cold every day—don’t even think about lying sick and bothering me, just step back.”
Speaking bluntly and pushing Shim Iyul back, Eun Seonmyeong stripped down to just his underwear and jumped into the pond. With a loud splash, water sprayed up. Shim Iyul squatted by the pond’s edge. Then while peering into the water, he muttered incredulously.
“Calling who frail?”
A human, no less.
Although he did exaggerate a bit because he disliked the cold, he was a yosu. He didn’t catch colds like humans did.
Though he’d been treated as a weak yosu by a frail hunter, he didn’t feel particularly bad. For some reason, it felt like his heart was being tickled. Shim Iyul muttered “I was going to catch them for you” while staring intently at the water surface.
Eun Seonmyeong didn’t come up for quite a while. His lung capacity is pretty impressive, he thought admiringly. Then later, thinking ‘D-did he die?’ he jumped up in alarm and was taking a stance to dive into the water when—a head suddenly popped up above the water surface.
“Damn, you scared me!”
He didn’t come up for so long I thought he’d become a water ghost.
“Is your heart the size of a pebble? What’s there to be scared of? Don’t go around saying you’re a yosu.”
Shaking his head at the shouting Shim Iyul, Eun Seonmyeong came out of the water. In his hands were several flopping Gasaeo. Shim Iyul fixed his gaze on Eun Seonmyeong’s forearm gripping the Gasaeo that fluttered like red silk. The muscles that had tensed up while controlling his strength were clearly defined. Unconsciously swallowing and raising his head a bit more, he saw a chest with water dripping off it. Perhaps frozen from the cold, the nipples stood erect.
‘I want to bite them….’
Thinking blankly, Shim Iyul flinched and quickly shook his head.
‘I’m crazy, completely crazy. Wanting to bite them—the heat is over!’
Shim Iyul scolded himself internally while struggling to turn his gaze away.
Eun Seonmyeong looked at Shim Iyul squatting and muttering to himself, thinking ‘That fox bastard, what’s wrong with him?’ then pulled out a plastic bag from his bag that he’d brought to carry trash. He put the Gasaeo in it, filled it with pond water, and tied the opening.
‘It’s damn cold.’
The weather had been extremely harsh even down the mountain. The cold in the mountains couldn’t compare to down below. The water was horribly cold. It was practically freezer-level. The deeper he dove, the more it felt like his heart would stop. Shim Iyul was about to jump into that kind of water, which was absurd.
‘Who is he trying to bother by jumping in himself? Really, so reckless.’
Feeling his body freeze instantly, Eun Seonmyeong approached Shim Iyul, who was still muttering something to himself.
“Why aren’t you taking it?”
Hearing the blunt voice, Shim Iyul raised his head. Then he saw Eun Seonmyeong holding out the plastic bag with Gasaeo in it. Shim Iyul’s eyes, as he took it reflexively, saw Eun Seonmyeong’s lower body. The wet underwear clung tightly, making the shape and size of the center obscenely clear. Shim Iyul unconsciously licked his lips. It wasn’t even the first or second time he’d seen it, but today the hunter’s thing looked particularly enticing……
“I’m crazy!!!”
Shim Iyul jumped up and shouted so loudly the mountain rang.
“From what I can see, you don’t seem quite sane either.”
Shaking his head, Eun Seonmyeong pulled out a towel from his bag and roughly dried his body. Then even though he hurriedly put his clothes back on, the chill didn’t dissipate. Tensing his body that kept trembling and shaking, Eun Seonmyeong said:
“Let’s go.”
“Hunter, what about me? I think I’ve really awakened to it.”
To a new pleasure.
Eun Seonmyeong grabbed the nape of the neck of Shim Iyul, who was looking up tearfully saying “This is troublesome,” and began walking with long strides.
“Where are we going?”
“The shelter.”
“Leave this behind!”
Eun Seonmyeong released Shim Iyul’s nape. While grumbling about being treated like luggage all the time, Shim Iyul stumbled when his foot caught on something. Eun Seonmyeong sighed openly.
“Can’t you walk properly? If you roll down, I’m not taking responsibility.”
When Shim Iyul smiled awkwardly, having not walked properly because he’d been lost in thought for a moment, Eun Seonmyeong frowned and held out his hand.
“……?”
“Hold it. Don’t blame me if you fall.”
If you scrape your skin from falling, you’ll make a fuss saying it’s my fault and to take responsibility, so it’s better to just let you hold on.
“You think this Fire Fox would fall on a mere mountain path? The mountain is like my front yard.”
Snorting, Shim Iyul lightly grasped Eun Seonmyeong’s fingertips.
“Then why are you holding on?”
“So you won’t be embarrassed.”
Shim Iyul’s earlobes turned slightly red as he answered shamelessly.
‘Why is it so hot?’
Eun Seonmyeong’s hand was cold. It seemed his body had frozen from staying in the water for a long time catching Gasaeo. Yet he couldn’t understand why it felt like all the blood in his body was heating up, as if walking while holding flames.
