“Thank you!”
“What’s there to be thankful for? I just had to pass through here and you were blocking me!”
“Wow, the food all looks really delicious too. This is the first time something smells this good!”
“E-even if you flatter me like that, I won’t give you more!”
“I’ll eat well!”
At my praise, the bear wrinkled his face fiercely and yelled, but also cleared his throat with a cough. Everything really looked delicious. There were so many foods I was seeing for the first time in my life. Bihyeon who sat next to me put a spoon in my hand and placed a meat side dish on it as if telling me to eat quickly. Meat and fish… It was a feast like what we’d see at village celebrations.
“Why is one bite so small?”
As I ate rice and meat until my cheeks were bursting, the bear wrinkled his face as if displeased. Then he sat across from me, deboned the fish and placed only the flesh on an empty plate, then smoothly pushed it in front of me.
“Are you giving this to me?”
“I just deboned it, eat it or don’t!”
“Yes, thank you. Because Bear-nim is giving it to me, it’ll definitely be more delicious.”
“Such a small thing… Hah, really.”
At my words, the bear whose mouth corners were twitching turned his head sharply. Even so, his hands kept deboning fish.
“Are humans always like this? The way you talk is… like a herbivore!”
“Wow, it’s delicious.”
I was about to say that herbivores are fierce too, but the deboned flesh melted in my mouth and I was impressed. The bear whose hands were trembling took a deep breath.
“If humans are like this… they might be a bit cute…”
Bihyeon who shrugged his shoulders also placed other meat on top of my rice. With kind eyes as if telling me to eat quickly. I smiled brightly and ate the meat and rice voraciously, and eventually finished all the rice the bear gave me. Huh, I didn’t mean to eat this much. As I opened my eyes wide looking at the empty bowl, Bihyeon chuckled. The bear next to me was also smiling with proud eyes.
“Pack some snacks together too. This child has to leave soon.”
“What do young humans like?”
“I don’t know either.”
Bihyeon and the bear simultaneously looked at me.
“I eat everything.”
I just eat well whatever is given to me. I blinked my eyes and smiled awkwardly in embarrassment. The bear clenched his fist, then jumped up and worked hard to make something. When I tried to clean up what I ate, Bihyeon stared at me intently. As if curious about what I was doing, his eyes even sparkled. I squirmed and stacked up the bowls I ate from neatly, then looked under the chair. Hmm, it’s high… I looked back and forth between the plates and the ground, then made eye contact with Bihyeon.
“Please help me, Bihyeon-nim.”
“What should I help with?”
“I’m scared to go down alone… Please put me down.”
“Okay.”
Bihyeon lifted me up and put me down. I held the plates and ran quickly to the bear and handed over the bowls. And when I went back again to organize other things, this time even the bear stared at me intently. It was as if he was observing. I stood on my tiptoes and trembled while fumbling to organize the bowl closest to my hand on the table.
“It’s unsafe, so you just stay there, human!”
“My name is Hanyoon.”
“Why are you giving your name so easily?”
“I thought you called me that because you didn’t know my name… Please call me Yoon.”
“You…!”
The bear who laughed “Ha!” as if at a loss for words pushed me back, then tapped his own forehead. The bear who sighed “Whew” pushed me lightly toward Bihyeon.
“You’re in the way, so go outside with Bihyeon-nim. I’ll bring it when it’s ready.”
I was still going to say I’d help until the end before leaving. If I hadn’t been picked up by Bihyeon and forced to go out. I blinked my eyes and looked up to see him say with a serious face.
“That child is the leader here, so let’s listen.”
“Okay…”
We went out like that and Bihyeon who sat me on the wooden floor sat next to me.
“Don’t be too upset. His way of expressing himself is originally a bit rough.”
“Yes, I wasn’t upset because it seemed like that.”
“You already knew?”
“Yes! Unlike his words, Bear-nim’s eyes were so kind.”
When I answered like that, he raised his mouth corners. When the two of us sat like that for a long time without conversation. Actually, after eating, I was dozing off leaning on his arm. Suddenly Bihyeon carefully tapped me awake. The bear came out from the kitchen holding something wrapped in a wrapping cloth. It was a bit too big for me to carry alone.
“Wow… Can I really take all this? Really just a little would be enough…”
Really, just enough for my mom and dad to eat would be fine. Ah, adults eat a lot, so maybe it needs to be this much?
“What’s a withered thing like you trying to refuse? Take it!”
“Hyeonwoong, watch your words.”
“What’s wrong with what I said! It’s true. Being so small and withered, what could you do.”
The bear who packed food for me and snorted shook his hand roughly. It seemed like he was saying goodbye. I smiled brightly, came down from the wooden floor, and bowed politely.
“I’ll be going, Bear-nim!”
“Call me Hyeonwoong-nim!”
“Yes, Hyeonwoong-nim.”
When I turned around, Bihyeon holding the luggage looked at me. His kind eyes were saying let’s go now. I wanted to stay a bit longer, but if it got later the sun would set, and then my parents would worry. I quickly ran to him and held his hand. He paused for just a brief moment, then gently clasped my hand back. Like that, we crossed through the door. In front of the door, I could see the place where we always met. That place where if you go down just a bit, you can see the village right away.
“I’ll be going.”
“Okay. It looks like it’ll be clear tomorrow.”
“Yes, see you tomorrow, Bihyeon-nim!”
I smiled brightly and raised my arm high to wave my hand. After going down the mountain, I struggled just a little carrying the heavy luggage alone and sneaking in, but fortunately I wasn’t caught by anyone. I handed over what I was carrying to Mom who was waiting at home. Mom unwrapped the cloth right there and looked at me with surprised eyes.
“Baby. What is this?”
“That golden-haired hyung… Bihyeon-nim packed it for Mom and Dad to eat! I went to Bihyeon-nim’s house and ate there.”
“I see… That hyung’s name is Bihyeon-nim.”
Mom seemed to have already noticed that Bihyeon-nim was a deity. It was a truly strange face. Trembling eyes that didn’t know whether to be happy or what to do about this. Mom who looked at the food and worried for a long time said quietly.
“…Baby, it would be good to keep what happened today a secret.”
“From Dad too?”
“Only our family knows, and it’s all a secret from others. Understand?”
“Yes.”
Looking at Mom with a serious face, I also answered with a serious face. I absolutely must not do what my always generous mom told me firmly not to do with this face. Because it had never been good after disobeying Mom’s words. When I answered, only then did Mom smile kindly and hug me tightly.
“It’s a nice day today, shall we go out together and wait for Dad?”
“Yes!”
I held Mom’s hand and left the house. I walked slowly and looked around. Today as well, the village was quiet. As the sun set, even those who had been outside all went into their houses and shut their doors tightly. As children disappeared, it felt like the village’s vitality was disappearing. It was so quiet that people passing through our village said they thought it was a ghost village.
‘As the village becomes strange, Aunt seems to be becoming strange along with it.’
Certainly in my memory, Aunt was a wonderful person who smiled kindly at me and always said she would protect us. I waved my hand at Dad who was coming from far away. Dad who had tired eyes but smiled brightly when he saw me ran over. I held Dad and Mom’s hands and headed home. In the village streets, there seemed to be such an ominous energy flowing that even I could feel it, but I deliberately ignored it. Because if something happens, Aunt will surely notice and inform the villagers. She surely will.
* * *
After a long time, my stomach was full, so I hugged Mom and Dad and fell sound asleep. I even dreamed of playing together with our family and Bihyeon-nim, so it was really nice… But when I woke up, the outside was unusually noisy. When I opened the door, all the villagers had come out and they all had complicated faces. The grandfather from the house across ran to me, shushed me, and pushed my shoulder.
“A young thing shouldn’t see this kind of thing. Go inside quickly!”
“J-just a moment, Grandfather.”
Because I was curious about what was happening, I resisted with my body and looked at where people were crowded. In the middle, I could see the next-door auntie holding Yeongsun and wailing. In front of her stood Aunt wearing shaman’s clothes saying something. The grandfather from across yelled loudly for me to go inside quickly, so I couldn’t properly hear what she was saying, but roughly looking at the situation, it seemed Yeongsun had finally departed to heaven.
“Did the deity leave?”
That was when it happened. A voice loud enough for me to hear popped out and the surroundings became cold.
“All the children dying too, and if the deity is angry because divine power has fallen…”
Cold gazes turned toward Aunt. Aunt who bit her lips tightly glared around with wide eyes. I couldn’t know what happened after that. Because in the end, Dad who discovered me pushed me into the house together with the grandfather.
‘Even Yeongsun…’
Now in the village, including me, only three children remained. Moreover, the remaining two were very young twins living in the house across. Those two were even younger children than me, and they used to play with me often before.
The uncle and auntie living there used to give me food right away, saying I played well with the children… I sat by the door and listened carefully outside. I wanted to hear what the villagers were saying, but the sounds were mixed so I couldn’t hear any of them. I lowered my head. I wanted to go meet Bihyeon-nim, but today seemed impossible.
* * *
A week passed. During that time, the village that already had no vitality seemed to sink even more gloomily after sending off Yeongsun. At Mom’s words that it would be good to stay inside for a while, I could only leave the house several days after sending off Yeongsun. But I couldn’t climb the mountain right away. Because after sending off Yeongsun, Aunt who had become more sensitive started walking around near our house day and night.
