“Hyung, hyung.”
Yugeon drowsily opened his eyes at the sound of someone waking him. Today, instead of the ceiling, he saw his little brother’s face.
“What, hey…?”
Confused about whether this was a dream or reality, Yugeon forced his closing eyes back open and asked. Migeon grabbed Yugeon’s arm and pulled.
“Hyung, get up.”
Yugeon sat up as if being dragged. Wondering what on earth this situation was about, he checked the time on the wall clock, rubbed his eyes, and was stretching when Migeon asked.
“Hyung, what did you do yesterday?”
Yugeon, who had paused with both arms raised, pretended to be nonchalant as he lowered his arms and asked back.
“Do what?”
“You didn’t go out last night, hyung.”
“……”
“What did you do?”
“I didn’t do anything. It’s not like the Imugi calls me every time. Maybe it just didn’t call me.”
“There’s no way that…”
“What do you mean there’s no way? Are you the Imugi’s psychological spokesperson or something? And if I don’t go out, isn’t it good for you too since you can sleep well?”
“……”
“You know… haven’t you been treating me a bit rough since I decided to stay on the island? Last time you messed up the soles of my feet, and today you’re interrogating me like this. You may be my little brother, but wherever I go and whatever I do, you don’t have the right to interfere or control. Fix that attitude.”
When Yugeon warned him in a firm voice, Migeon seemed deliberately flustered, then soon bowed his head and apologized.
“Sorry… I didn’t mean to…”
Though he had deliberately spoken harshly to hide the fact that he’d been to the Dragon Pond with Jaeyeong, seeing his little brother apologize so dejectedly made him feel unnecessarily sorry again.
“Ahem, well, it’s fine as long as you know.”
Feeling awkward, Yugeon cleared his throat unnecessarily and was about to get up from his spot when he let out a single scream and collapsed with a thud.
“Ugh!”
“H-hyung?”
His legs were incredibly sore.
Yugeon keenly realized his lack of exercise. To have muscle soreness just from climbing a mountain. Thanks to that, he had to endure his little brother’s suspicious gaze.
All the way to the store, Migeon looked at Yugeon walking like a newborn fawn with narrowed eyes. And when they arrived at the store, he left for work with a lukewarm face that said there was much to say but he’d let it go since there was only suspicion without evidence.
Yugeon saw off his little brother who turned away without much to say, breaking out in cold sweat, and opened the store.
“Did I stay on the island to live under my little brother’s watchful eye… Geez, seriously.”
A lament came out naturally. Grumbling, Yugeon was sitting down at the register when he involuntarily screamed.
When he bent his legs to sit on the chair, his thighs and calves felt like they were going to burst. Trembling, Yugeon barely managed to sit on the chair and massaged his thighs while tears welled up.
“I really need to exercise.”
Even adding up the commute time to and from the store every day, it probably only amounted to about 20 minutes. He was thinking about whether he should walk a bit after lunch to aid digestion when the store door opened and Jaeyeong rushed in urgently.
“L-Lee Yugeon…!”
“Hey! You, yesterday…!”
When Jaeyeong, who had suddenly disappeared yesterday, showed up, Yugeon also urgently tried to stand up but ended up groaning and collapsing onto the counter. Startled by that sight, Jaeyeong approached.
“What? Why, what’s wrong?”
“I have… muscle soreness…”
“……”
“Are you okay?”
“…Yeah.”
“Damn it…”
Grumbling, Yugeon barely managed to straighten up and asked.
“Anyway, what happened to you yesterday? You said you’d wait but suddenly disappeared.”
“S-sorry. I definitely tried to wait, but when I came to, I was at home… D-did anything happen?”
“Nothing happened to me, but you were at home?”
“Yeah… Um, the Imugi… did you meet it?”
“Huh? Yeah. I met it.”
When Yugeon agreed as if it were nothing, Jaeyeong was shocked.
“You met it?”
“? Why are you so surprised?”
“No… because you met the Imugi, of course…”
“No, is it really that surprising that I met the Imugi on an island where the Imugi lives? You guys must have seen it once or twice too.”
“What? No.”
Jaeyeong even waved his hands in denial.
“No?”
“The Imugi doesn’t show itself easily. We don’t deliberately go up to the Dragon Pond either. We might upset it if we run into it…”
“Really? That’s strange… I’ve seen it twice since coming to the island?”
“What?”
“Yesterday and the day after I arrived on the island.”
When Yugeon even folded his fingers to show him, Jaeyeong’s face turned pale.
“Are you sure nothing really happened to you?”
“I told you nothing happened. It just said incomprehensible things and left.”
“What did it say?”
“I don’t know, it told me to call it.”
“Call it? Why?”
“I don’t know either.”
“……”
“But why did it appear to me twice? Is it because I’m a sacrifice?”
“To say that… I haven’t seen the Imugi either, nor did the kid who came after us.”
“Ah… I heard from Geon-ah that the Imugi didn’t appear at all 7 years ago?”
“Yeah.”
“Um, then isn’t it possible that the Imugi didn’t appear at all during my time either?”
“They said there was thunder, lightning, and heavy rain on the night you were offered as a sacrifice.”
“?”
“When a sacrifice is offered… there’s supposed to be a severe thunderstorm. But 7 years ago, there was no thunderstorm. The child who actually came back unharmed also said the Imugi didn’t appear.”
“Thunderstorm…”
There were times when he would hear the sound of rain and thunder like auditory hallucinations. Could it be related to that?
“Um, do you… have no memory at all of when you were offered as a sacrifice?”
Yugeon looked at Jaeyeong silently, then nodded.
“…Yeah.”
He wanted to know too. What exactly happened that day. Why the Imugi let him live.
No, why does the Imugi want sacrifices in the first place?
“Um, who… decides the sacrifice? Seeing how you were switched with me, it doesn’t seem like the Imugi decides.”
“I know that the islanders decide.”
“What happens if we don’t offer a sacrifice?”
“I’m not sure about that… Some of the adults say a curse will befall the island…”
“A curse… Even so, human sacrifice in this day and age… It’s truly shocking.”
“…Right.”
“By any chance… can you tell me who the sacrifice after us was? I’d like to talk to them.”
“It’s Jeongyeon. Lee Jeong…”
Before Jaeyeong could finish, the store door opened with a loud sound. Startled, Yugeon and Jaeyeong turned around to see Lee Junghyeok and Lee Yerim standing at the store entrance with frightening faces.
“Why are you here?”
Yerim asked in a voice stiff with tension. At the same time, Jaeyeong flinched, and
“Didn’t I tell you never to come around here again?”
In an instant, Junghyeok, who had approached, barked fiercely and grabbed Jaeyeong by the collar and dragged him out.
“Wait…!”
Shocked, Yugeon tried to grab Jaeyeong, but Yerim blocked the way.
“Are you okay?”
“Huh?”
Yerim’s eyes quickly scanned Yugeon’s body.
“Did Jaeyeong bother you?”
“What? What are you talking about… It’s not like that!”
Yugeon answered urgently while checking on Junghyeok and Jaeyeong behind Yerim. Junghyeok dragged Jaeyeong along, then slammed him to the ground and started kicking him with curses. Jaeyeong covered his face with his arms, curled up his body, and screamed frantically.
Horrified, Yugeon pushed Yerim aside, ran out of the store, and started trying to stop Junghyeok.
“Stop! Stop it!”
At the unexpected interference, Junghyeok checked on Yugeon, then looked at Yerim. Then Yerim approached and held Yugeon back.
“Yugeon, let’s go inside.”
Yugeon shook off Yerim’s hand and blocked Junghyeok’s way.
“I said stop it, Junghyeok! He didn’t do anything wrong!”
“What?”
“We were just talking! Just talking! He never bothered me, and I was never bothered!”
“What could he possibly have to talk to you about?”
“How can he buy something without talking to me!”
“…Huh?”
“Am I a vending machine? A vending machine where you put in money, press a button, and it automatically dispenses?”
“Uh…?”
“It was just a normal conversation between people buying and selling things, but what kind of violence is this, barging in out of nowhere!”
“……”
Junghyeok, seemingly at a loss for words, glanced at Jaeyeong. Jaeyeong was glaring at Junghyeok with his teeth clenched and his face a mess.
“…I guess I misunderstood. Last time too, he was lurking around the store looking for you.”
At Junghyeok’s words, Yugeon looked at Jaeyeong as if deliberately surprised. Jaeyeong had his head down, rubbing the corner of his mouth, perhaps his lip had split.
“Even so, if there’s an issue, it’s something to resolve with me, not for you to get involved and use violence like this.”
“…You’re right, I’m sorry.”
Junghyeok apologized as if ashamed and bowed his head deeply. That sight somehow reminded him of his little brother this morning, making him feel inexplicably bad.
“Yugeon… Junghyeok was just worried about you…”
“I know, I know…”
Yugeon couldn’t continue and bit his lower lip for a moment. Jaeyeong was innocent, and Junghyeok had done this for him, so it was difficult to rashly take anyone’s side. But Jaeyeong must have suffered many unfair incidents like this.
“Today… since you’re the one in the wrong, apologize to Jaeyeong and let’s end it.”
At Yugeon’s words, Jaeyeong, Junghyeok, and Yerim all looked at Yugeon with wide eyes.
“What? Apologize to who?”
Junghyeok asked incredulously. Yugeon said, “You beat someone up indiscriminately, so you should at least apologize,” and turned around to extend his hand to Jaeyeong. Jaeyeong glanced at Junghyeok and Yerim once, then grabbed Yugeon’s hand and stood up.
Junghyeok seemed at a loss for words and exchanged glances with Yerim. Yerim also looked quite flustered.
