WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

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◈ Escaping the Mystery Hotel ◈

Episode 426: A Family of Distinction (2)

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- Han Ga-in

The Management Bureau.

A secret organization that dealt with demons, cultists, ghosts, monsters, and other threats to civilization.

The word “secret” felt a little pointless when an ordinary middle schooler knew it existed, but all most people knew was that an organization called the Management Bureau existed.

“I heard about it on TV sometimes...”

“What did they say?”

“They're people who deal with demons, ghosts, monsters, things like that-”

Before I could finish, Great-Grandfather chuckled and waved a hand.

“Kiddo. Listen carefully to what this old man tells you.”

“Yes.”

“Normally, if you went around spreading talk like this, it'd be a fine way to get your neck chopped off. But look, how old do you think I am?”

“... I heard you're nearly ninety.”

“Do you think I'd start worrying about my neck at this age?”

“...”

“Ga-in. When I was young, I did all sorts of things with the Management Bureau people. I rode trains day and night and poked at writhing lumps of flesh underground in a cold country. Hawaii, you know Hawaii, right?”

“Yes.”

“I even went all the way to Hawaii and talked to a three-headed giant.”

“...”

“Sounds like a lie, doesn't it?”

“No. Were you a Management Bureau agent?”

“An agent... Well, something like that. My harshest memories come from my time with the Management Bureau, but my most entertaining memories come from there too. If I hadn't worked there, would I have had any idea just how bizarre the world was, even at this age?”

Great-Grandfather chuckled again, then brought up something else.

“Kiddo. Do you like scary stories?”

“No.”

“Then I definitely have to tell you one.”

“...”

“When I was little, my father got hold of a strange jar from Japan.”

“Japan?”

“Whether he got it in Japan or a Japanese person brought it to Joseon, even I can't remember that clearly.”

“Ah, I understand.”

“The Japanese person who gave him the jar said that if he kept it safe, the family would prosper, the crops would thrive, women would bear healthy, strapping sons one after another, and the sons would have clear paths into official posts.”

It sounded like the kind of superstition often attached to golden toads.

“Did your father, my great-great-grandfather, believe that?”

“It wasn't so much that he believed it. He just thought, ‘I suppose that's how it is,’ put it in the storage shed, and forgot about it. Your house has quite a few things like that too, doesn't it?”

“It does.”

“But strangely enough, from that day on, everything in the family started to work itself out, unspooling like noodles. I can't give examples one by one, but simply put, our land tripled within three years.”

After getting a mysterious jar from Japan, their wealth tripled in three years.

Hearing such a bizarre story, a thought naturally came to mind.

“That's strange. But...”

“But?”

“...”

“Goodness! If you're going to say something, finish it!”

“W-wouldn't something like that usually come with a terrible price? Like my great-great-grandfather dying because of the jar?”

“...”

Great-Grandfather's expression suddenly hardened.

“... Great-Grandfather?”

“A price... A price... That's right. Nothing in this world is free. If there was a god or demon in that jar, it'd surely have something it wanted.”

“...”

“Kiddo, you have a younger sister, don't you?”

“My sister? Hee-gang?”

“Her name was Han Hee-gang?”

“Of course. You remember my name, right?”

“Goodness! Are you scolding me because my memory has holes in it?”

“N-no, that's not it.”

“Look. I have three sons and two daughters. Fourteen grandchildren, and great-grandchildren... Goodness! I've even lost track of how many there are.”

“...”

“Do you think you could remember them all?”

“That makes sense.”

Listening to him, I could understand what he meant.

Honestly, wasn't it impressive enough that someone nearly ninety could still speak so clearly and walk around without trouble?

“Is your sister Hee-gang well-behaved?”

“Yes.”

“Is she kind? Cute?”

“Of course.”

“She's the apple of your eye, right?”

“Uh... I think it'd hurt if you put her in your eye.”

“...”

“...”

“Ahem! What I mean is, do you love your sister very much?”

“I do.”

“Kiddo. Love is meaningless if it ends with words.”

“What?”

Love meant nothing if it ended with words.

Why was he suddenly saying something like this?

“How much you love someone isn't determined by whether you say ‘I love you’ a hundred or a thousand times. It's determined by how much you can truly give them.”

The extent of love wasn't measured by the number of times it was said, but by how much you could actually give.

“How much does your father, my grandson Min-seok, love you? You can explain that by the money he spent raising you. People are creatures that cost money just by breathing.”

My parents' love could be explained by the money they spent raising me?

“From the formula you drank while crying after you came out of your mother's belly to the meals you eat every day, all of that is love.”

“D-don't you think that's a strange standard?”

“Strange? What's strange about it?”

“The more money someone makes, the more they can spend on their children. Rich parents don't necessarily love their children more than parents who aren't as well-off.”

Great-Grandfather gave a slight nod and elaborated.

“What you say is right too, Ga-in. But this old man isn't talking about the absolute amount. I'm talking about how precious it is.”

“How precious it is?”

“The money poor parents spend may be small in absolute terms, but wouldn't that money be very precious to them?”

“Ah, I understand.”

Once he explained it further, I could understand.

“Now then, summarize what this old man said.”

“How much I love someone depends on how much of what I have that's precious I can give them?”

“Wonderful!”

“...”

“Wonderful! Are you an elementary school student?”

“I'm in my first year of middle school.”

“Smart. Who do you take after? Me, right?”

“...”

Honestly, it wasn't something worthy of such loud praise.

“Then, kiddo. What is the most precious thing you have?”

The most precious thing I had?

“My life?”

“Haha! That's right. A person's life is the most precious thing. You can't buy it with money, and you only get one in your whole life, so what could be more precious?”

“Right.”

“Then what's the most precious thing after your life?”

“Uh...”

“Isn't there something similar? Something you can't buy with money, and only get one of in your whole life.”

Something almost as precious as life.

Something I couldn't buy with money and only had one of for my entire life.

“... My body?”

“Wonderful! Everyone, come see! A genius who could smack Einstein upside the head five times has been born!”

Why was he acting like this?

“Great-Grandfather! I-I got it right, didn't I?”

“Of course. Your body. Your body is the most precious thing a person has after their life. In truth, it's almost as precious as life itself.”

“Yes...”

The old storage shed fell quiet for a moment.

I thought I could finally escape this unhinged old man.

Then Great-Grandfather looked straight at me.

“Kiddo.”

“Yes?”

“You said you love your sister, right?”

It was the subject he'd brought up at the beginning.

“Of course.”

“Do you love her enough to give her your body?”

“...”

This was where the long conversation I'd had with him had been leading.

I loved my sister.

Love was proven by giving someone what was precious to me.

Among the precious things I had, my body was foremost.

Therefore, the ultimate form of love was love that could give even one's body.

“... I love her, but I don't think I love her enough to give her my body.”

“Of course not. Everyone's like that.”

“...”

“That's... what people are.”

“...”

“Ga-in.”

“Yes?”

“This old man once saw love that could give even one's body.”

What did that even mean?

I stared at Great-Grandfather in confusion, but instead of answering, he waved me off and told me to return to the hanok.

* * *

When I returned to the hanok, the phone was ringing loudly.

“What? You're coming back tomorrow?”

Because of Great-Grandfather's whim, all the adults had gone to pick tea leaves together, but they said they would stay another day before returning.

They added all kinds of excuses, saying there had suddenly been heavy rain and that there was a problem with the car. Even to a middle schooler like me, they sounded like excuses.

Sure enough, once the call ended, Attorney Park, who was nearby, gave a wry smile.

“It seems there weren't as many tea leaves as expected.”

“What?”

“You may not understand yet, Ga-in, but nothing in the world comes easy. If city people could spend one day rolling around in a tea field and get results right away, that'd be strange.”

“...”

Were they planning to combine tomorrow's tea leaves with today's and insist that they had picked them all today?

All I could do was laugh helplessly. It didn't make me angry at the adults all over again.

Great-Grandfather was paying ten million won per kilogram. They had to work themselves to death.

Thanks to that, I spent the entire afternoon suffering in the bamboo forest with the energetic children.

* * *

Late at night.

Through a haze, I heard strange people talking.

「Here again. It'll stop here again this time, won't it?」

「Wasn't Ga-in supposed to be just an ordinary high school student outside?」

「He probably thought so himself. Who knows? Maybe Seung-yeop and Song-i too...」

「Agh! Everyone shut up! The important thing is Ga-in-」

Strangely, every voice filled me with longing and joy.

.

.

.

--- Snap!

I woke to the violent pain of something strangling me!

Footnotes:

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