WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Chen
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◈ Incarnation of the Malevolent Star ◈
Chapter 104: Part 1 - Whispers of the Dark Brother (104)
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#104.
The country boy Jo Onik kept the production crew of Baekdu Travels, Hallasan Journal satisfied for two whole days.
When the cast split into teams for hide-and-seek against the backdrop of the old Songryeong Jo family residence, Onik, acting as the wildcard, played the role of a high-scoring target whose discovery would guarantee victory.
The captains of the two teams were the seekers.
The other members hid throughout the old house and had to avoid the opposing team's captain until the time limit ran out.
The Truffle Candy members sang to let everyone know how much time they had to hide.
“Tag♪ Elastic-band jumping♬ Leapfrog♪ Stone-target game, hide-and-seek♬”
Because the broadcasting station had settled the music licensing issue beforehand, the secondhand rookie idols got to sing a song that was not their own on television for the first time in their lives.
The cheerful four-part harmony that had echoed through the old house over a jaunty guitar accompaniment suddenly stopped.
The two team captains set out to search and immediately came upon an absurd sight.
“...What is that?”
What they found was a country boy crouching conspicuously in the middle of the daecheong hall.
More precisely, it was the silhouette of a boy covered from head to toe in a thin silk quilt.
It was another scene that would have the broadcast subtitles covered in question marks.
The two seekers turned toward Producer Kwak as one.
“Excuse me, Producer. Isn't that Onik?”
“That's obviously Onik. Doesn't that mean the game is over? Who found him first? Do we both count as winners?”
This situation had been the extraordinary country boy's quick thinking.
Producer Kwak, whom the boy had tipped off beforehand, smiled mysteriously and shook their head.
“What you two found is only something ‘presumed’ to be student Onik. Since student Onik himself has not yet revealed his appearance, the hide-and-seek game is not over either.”
“What the...?”
The seekers looked dumbfounded again, but when they tried to argue, they could not find anything to say.
“...Now that I hear it, that makes sense. I can't refute it.”
“I'm annoyed. That person gets more irritating the longer this goes on.”
For now, the two seekers tried to unwrap Onik's package.
They did not know how that devil of a producer would judge the result, but there was no reason to ignore the game-ending ticket right in front of them.
Removing the wrapping looked very easy.
In reality, it was not.
Roll, roll, roll, roll!
As the seekers approached to grab him, Onik rolled away from the two men like a ball.
Even while covered by a quilt, he moved with such perfect evasive skill that it seemed as though he could see clearly outside it.
“...Huh?”
“What was that just now...?”
The two adults trying to catch the boy both wore blank expressions.
His sudden acceleration, speed, and nimble changes in direction were almost like the movements of a character whose physics engine had broken.
After that, the two seekers had to make every effort to catch the rolling boy.
His bizarre speed, changes of direction, and supernatural sense for things that could be killed made the two adults grab at empty air again and again.
“Whoa!”
One seeker barely caught a folded edge of the quilt, then landed hard on his backside with a loud crash.
They should have realized it earlier from the boy's initial acceleration, which surpassed that of an electric scooter. The rolling country boy was far stronger than they had imagined.
On top of that, he used an extraordinary technique that turned the force of the person grabbing him against them, giving himself even more spring. There was no way for the seeker to hold on.
The fallen seeker rubbed his backside with a face half full of pain and half full of resentment.
“Wow. What kind of strength does this kid have...?”
The two seekers spent more than half the time limit trying to catch the rolling Onik, creating plenty of unplanned slapstick footage.
“Got him! I got him!”
“Hyung! Hold tight! You can't let go this time!”
Though it was winter, the two men were dripping with sweat. They had even forgotten that they were on opposing teams and worked together.
They thought all they had to do now was remove the quilt.
But that was not the case.
According to a rule established by game developers from the neighboring country across the sea who possessed dark souls, every hidden boss needed a second phase.
Hidden boss Jo Onik's second phase was simple but powerful.
He simply held onto the quilt and endured.
The two adults groaned as they used every bit of strength they had to pull, but the quilt wrapped around him like a caterpillar showed no sign of coming off.
“Pant, pant... Why... won't this... come off...?”
“Shouldn't it at least... tear... or something...?”
Why would it tear?
The silk quilt Onik had wrapped around himself and gripped tightly was made of thick, heavyweight silk.
It only looked thin because it had no filling, but the silk outer fabric itself was quite thick for silk.
Contrary to what most people thought, silk thread was an incredibly strong textile.
Its tensile strength could rival aluminum alloy or mild steel of the same thickness.
Its tear resistance was also exceptionally high.
Unlike aluminum or mild steel, it also had elasticity. Two adult men pulling with all their strength could never tear heavyweight silk.
And two healthy adult men pulling with all their strength could not overcome the power of Jo Onik, the middle school student possessed of monstrous strength.
“Pfft...! Kgh...!”
“Onik! Did you just laugh in there? You laughed, didn't you?”
“...”
“You did laugh! Hey, you! We're serious right now! Is it enough that you're having fun all by yourself?!”
As they struggled and wrestled without gaining anything while the remaining time dwindled away, one of the seekers finally surrendered.
“Argh, I can't do this anymore! I'm going to look for the others!”
The remaining seeker, on the other hand, placed his hopes on the possibility that Onik was tired.
There was not much time left, so he thought that possibility was more likely.
After all, the country boy had endured the pulling force of two healthy adults who were sweating heavily.
He could not see inside the quilt, but surely the boy had to be soaked in sweat as well.
With such hopeful thoughts running through his mind, the seeker left alone clutched the folded edge of the quilt in both hands and strained until his face turned red.
“Onik! Please! Help your hyung out! I can't eat bugs again!”
But a hidden boss must never show mercy.
Had a Korean game developer not said something similar?
“If a game is too easy, it isn't fun.” (Feat. Mabinogi.)
The adult who had burned up every last bit of hope until the end finally heard the producer announce that time was up and collapsed like ashes.
The other seeker, who had left partway through, found one person just before the end and earned one point. The result was decided by a single point.
“We won! We won! We don't have to take the punishment!”
As the winning team gathered in the daecheong hall and cheered, Onik poked his face out from the quilt and smiled brightly at the seeker from the losing team.
“I'm sorry the quilt didn't tear! Silk is really strong, right? This is Hamchang silk, the pride of our province! It's premium silk that weak city people could never tear!”
It was product placement that would surely satisfy the provincial assembly members and the publicity team of the provincial government's Regional Extinction Response Task Force, which had sponsored the filming.
The seeker on the losing team looked at the country boy's face, dry and fresh without a single drop of sweat, and let out a hollow laugh.
“How is this hide-and-seek...?”
Producer Kwak chuckled. They had not enjoyed a shoot this much in quite a while.
Onik continued to satisfy the crew and Producer Kwak while preparing dinner and again after a night had passed, when he prepared breakfast.
“This is ridiculous. You said we were getting dessert, so why are bread and cake coming out of an iron cauldron...?”
“And it tastes good too...”
“What is this flavor? What did you put in it that makes it so refreshing?”
The winning team was bewildered in its own way.
“Again? Bugs again?!”
“Argh! You said it was spicy fish stew! That's a frog! Why are you making stew with frogs?!”
“Why is the boiled chicken green?! When you're making chicken soup, chicken is enough! What are the centipedes for?!”
“What is this now?! Don't tell me you marinated whole larvae in soy sauce?! Do people eat things like this here?!”
The losing team, meanwhile, could not hide its shock.
The country boy, wearing his grandfather's Saemaeul Movement cap, scolded the adults again.
“Fried crickets are delicious! Try them before you say anything! They taste a little like fried tiny shrimp!
“Just like flower grubs, these crickets are high-protein nutritional food approved by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety!”
“What is wrong with frogs? Do you know how expensive an ingredient they are? The frogs in that spicy stew alone cost 160,000 won!
“I only used females with plump meat, so they were more expensive! Do you know how much trouble it was to clean them?!”
“Centipedes are at their most nutritious right now! They've been eating hard before hibernation, and they haven't used it all up yet!
“And it's difficult to catch centipedes when it's cold like this. If you put them up for sale, even a small one can cost five or six thousand won! The big ones can sell for over ten thousand won!”
“The ones marinated in soy sauce aren't larvae, they're pickles!
“They're the roots of a plant called Chinese artichoke! When you pickle them, they're crunchy, sweet, and salty, so they're really tasty!
“They're good for your health too! I heard they can help prevent dementia and stop fat from building up in your liver!”
Whenever the cast members taking the punishment let out cries of horror, Producer Kwak Yeong-seop and the rest of the crew smiled broadly.
‘If the punishment is too harsh, viewers frown and think it's gone too far... But Onik keeps showing how deliciously he eats it. So it never really feels excessive.
‘And it's nice that he fills the audio with innocent comments while scolding them.’
After filming was completely over, Producer Kwak offered Onik a handshake.
“Student Jo Onik, you worked very hard over these two days. Thanks to your efforts, we had a very satisfying shoot.
“We'll have to see once it airs, but I think the viewers' response will be good too. You exceeded our expectations in every way.”
“You're welcome! I had fun too!”
Onik took the producer's hand, shook it up and down enthusiastically, then quickly let go.
Physical contact with someone he did not hold dear was still burdensome to him.
Producer Kwak gave the country boy a gentle smile as Onik met their gaze for a moment, then quietly looked away.
“I hope we'll see each other often in the future. You'll surely become much more successful as a television personality than you are now.”
From a producer's perspective, they could not help but covet a blue-chip prospect like the country boy Jo Onik.
Onik's abilities were one thing, but youth was an enormous advantage.
There was not a producer of a major variety program who did not worry about the aging of their cast.
‘Still, it would be difficult to bring him in as a regular member. Maybe the best I can do is have him appear as an occasional guest whenever I need him.’
Terrestrial broadcasters were a setting sun for now.
Even in the popular music industry, where broadcasters still held enormous influence, more and more creators and singers were establishing themselves through internet broadcasts alone instead of going through terrestrial television.
Therefore, terrestrial broadcasting did not hold such great appeal for an independent streamer with Onik's level of potential.
If they had only been dealing with a smart child who knew nothing about this industry, they might have been able to lure him in through the tricks of a bad adult.
But behind the boy stood Legal Hunter, an even worse adult.
He was controlling the producer of Candybox, so Producer Kwak's bad tricks would have difficulty working.
(In truth, the producer who served as the figurehead of the subsidiary label Candybox still had no direct obligation to work for Legal Hunter's corporation.
But that was true in name only.
The people at Truffle Candy's original agency had no idea about the Candybox producer's extra work.)
On top of that, there was the wall of the stubborn old man who valued his grandson's studies.
“Thank you for the praise! Let's play together again next time!”
Receiving praise, Onik grinned from ear to ear and lightly tapped the ground with the tips of his shoes.
Looking at this country boy, the producer thought that over the coming year, this innocent child's growth would reach a level no one could easily predict.
#
Before January was over, Onik filmed two more cooking variety programs.
One was a terrestrial broadcasting program called Set My Table!, and the other was a seasonal OTT program called The Traveling Cafeteria.
As their names suggested, the two programs had distinct characteristics.
First, Set My Table! was a cooking competition program in which contestants prepared meals for a small number of panelists and judges.
They first asked the panelists what categories of food they wanted to eat. Then, within a fixed budget, the contestants freely shopped for ingredients and set the table.
The Traveling Cafeteria, meanwhile, selected its filming location through applications from companies, institutions, and other groups.
Unlike Set My Table!, this program was defined by large-scale cooking and meal-service competitions.
Although its name included the word cafeteria, it was not a program that had to be conducted in a workplace cafeteria format.
This was because the category of eligible outside groups included social welfare organizations.
Whether the program was held as a workplace cafeteria for employees of a small or medium-sized company or as a free meal service for people in need, it also allowed service to local residents.
It was a program design that took into account how many cafeterias were open to outsiders as well.
If there was one thing the two very different programs had in common, it was the budget restriction imposed on the contestants.
After understanding the formats of both programs, Onik came away with this thought.
‘People these days must really be having a hard time financially...’
Changes in terrestrial television programs reflected changes in the times.
These days, every time he watched the news in the morning or evening, he heard about the era of high prices.
He heard so often that grocery prices were in crisis that it felt like part of everyday life.
That was why cooking variety shows were popular these days.
They appealed strongly to people who wanted to cook for themselves because eating out had become expensive.
Set My Table! was designed so viewers could immerse themselves in the contestants' experiences from the ingredient-shopping stage.
Ordinary ingredients that ordinary people might buy.
Modest grocery budgets that ordinary people might use.
Dishes ordinary people could try making.
Onik appeared on the show and received praise for presenting Polish-style steamed cabbage rolls, gołąbki.
The cabbage rolls filled with a mixture of meat and rice were simple and delicious, making both the panelists and judges smile.
“The name was gołąbki, right? Student Onik's ingredient preparation is so fast and flashy, but when you look only at the process, it's quite simple.
“Viewers should be able to make it themselves as long as they put in a little time.”
“Yes, that's why I chose this dish! Rice, onions, garlic, salt, sugar, and Dashida seasoning powder are things people already have at home, right?
“If you only prepare pork and tomato sauce separately, you can eat something different!”
“We've just received a viewer message. They say they have everything else at home, but unfortunately they don't have tomato sauce.
“They say tomato sauce doesn't seem to be an ingredient people normally keep at home. What do you think, student Onik?”
“Oh, is that so? Tomato sauce seems like a common ingredient...
“If you don't have tomato sauce, you can season it with Dashida stock, leftover kimchi juice, and red pepper powder, then simmer it down!
“Then it becomes kimchi cabbage rolls! It's still delicious!”
“Oh-ho.”
“Or you can season it with soy sauce and oligosaccharide syrup, then eat it sweet and salty, a little like braised short-rib sauce!
“Since there's rice and meat inside, either way goes well with it!”
“Ha ha. I see. Could you show us? Just the part where you make the seasoning, so the viewers can follow along.”
“Yes! It's quick! You just mix it in the right proportions! I'll season it for the tastes of people who put in exactly the specified amount of water when they cook ramen!”
On this program, the panelists and judges chose Onik as the winner.
He had reduced the ingredient costs by using minced meat, and he earned extra points because the dish could be cooked in a large batch and reheated easily.
Gołąbki actually tasted better after waiting for the seasoning to soak through than when eaten immediately after cooking.
It was also nutritionally balanced, so it was judged suitable as a lunchbox dish for busy office workers with thin wallets.
Next, Onik appeared on The Traveling Cafeteria and won there as well.
Onik astonished people by making dragon beard noodles through dazzling hand-pulling.
The extraordinary boy's speed at pulling noodles was closer to that of a machine than a person. The same was true of his stamina and precision.
Even while doing this difficult work, the boy did not shed a single drop of sweat and kept smiling brightly.
“I make dragon beard noodles like this, but other cafeterias following this recipe can just use ordinary noodles!”
These Chinese hand-pulled noodles, called dragon beard noodles because they resemble a dragon's whiskers, were famous for being thin enough to pass through the eye of a needle.
He also made three types of mixed-noodle sauce and two types of broth, avoiding a monotonous menu.
The people receiving meals could choose what they liked.
For toppings, he prepared freeze-dried pollock fish balls and meatballs.
When Onik kneaded a large amount of mixture, the Truffle Candy members, who had appeared as unpaid cooking assistants, tore off little pieces, rolled them into balls, and dropped them into boiling water in heaps.
“When you process dried pollock into shredded pollock, powder inevitably comes out!
“If you search online, you can find stores that gather and sell just this powder, and it's really cheap!”
Here too, Onik reduced costs by using inexpensive ingredients.
“But it's an incredibly high-protein food! You could almost call it a natural protein supplement!
“The problem is that it can be inconvenient to eat, but if you make it into fish balls like this, it's fine! It's easy to eat, tasty, and not difficult to make!”
For the meatballs, he used ground meat.
It contained a little soy protein, but it was a quality ingredient with more than 80 percent beef.
It was also very cheap for beef.
Finally, he made simple side dishes from cabbage, cucumber, and garlic chives.
Onik's cooking captured price, nutrition, taste, variety, and even visual flair in the cooking process. The opposing team, led by a famous chef, had no choice but to acknowledge defeat.
The Traveling Cafeteria awarded extra points for feeding more people more deliciously and more fully within the fixed budget.
In terms of head count, the key was to feed those who had to be fed first, then see how many additional guests could be accepted.
(If one person received two servings, it counted as having served two portions.)
Taste scores were determined by averaging the ratings of everyone who ate. Fullness and nutritional balance were scored separately.
The opposing chef, who readily acknowledged defeat, smiled and spoke to Onik after filming ended.
“You're truly amazing. Dragon beard noodles aren't something you can make after practicing for just a day or two. How long have you been practicing?
“I can't tell you how impressed I was watching you pull noodles for two straight hours. I've worked in Chinese cuisine for more than thirty years, and I've never seen anyone pull noodles like you do.”
“Um, thank you for the praise. The tofu nao and red-braised tofu you made were also really good, Chef! I especially thought the red-braised tofu made with soft tofu was amazing!”
“Really?”
“Yes! It was a dish where the soft tofu could have broken apart at any moment, ruining both its appearance and texture, but even while cooking it in large quantities, you preserved its shape so carefully.
“I learned a lot while watching you make it!”
“Oh my. While you were pulling noodles and doing all those other things, you still had time to watch and learn from me? Student Onik, aren't you too amazing?”
“Ahaha... I'm sorry for secretly learning from you. But I thought it would be so good for Grandpa and the elders in the village.
“A lot of the elders in the village don't have teeth.”
“Hey, I'm not scolding you for secretly learning. Hmm, no. Still, learning is learning, so how about paying tuition?”
“Tuition?”
“I do personal broadcasts too, so let's do a joint stream together sometime. You can appear on my broadcast.
“Or I can appear on yours. It would be even better if we did both.”
“Wow! A joint stream! Then let's do both!”
“Deal! No taking it back later, all right?”
“Yes! It's a promise!”
“Ha ha ha. Shall we exchange contact information, then?”
“Okay!”
The famous Chinese cuisine chef, who had become acquainted with the promising young child, left the filming location looking satisfied.
Everything seemed to have ended well.
But Sera knew that was not true.
She had sensed something strange from Onik during filming.
‘Onik is hiding something again and pretending he's fine. What is it this time? What could have made him uncomfortable during the shoot?’
#
Sera always paid attention to the kind country boy.
When he was happy, she was happy too. When he was troubled, she was troubled as well.
Sera wanted the kind boy who had saved her to become happier than anyone else.
She also thought she would be glad if she could add even a little to his happiness.
That was why she could quickly notice changes in Onik's feelings that her younger sisters had failed to see.
On their way back after filming, the exhausted younger sisters had fallen fast asleep in the car with their heads resting against one another. Sera whispered to the boy looking out the window.
“Onik. Did something happen? You've looked troubled for a while now.”
“Uh...”
“Don't say it's nothing. If you say it's nothing, noona will be sad like before. I'll be sad, depressed, hurt, and start crying. Waa.”
The boy gave an awkward smile.
“Oh... Please don't do that. It's hard to hide anything from you, Noona. How do you see right through my feelings like that? You're just like my teacher.”
“...Really? Am I like Eun-jeong unni?”
“Yes. Teacher has been seeing through me too much lately, so it's difficult. She cares about me a lot.
“I'm grateful and happy, but it's a little burdensome too.”
Onik scratched his head awkwardly and let out a deep sigh.
“When I was serving the meals earlier, there were three people who gave me that feeling. That's why I was worried.”
“By that feeling... you don't mean what I think you mean, do you?”
“Yes. That feeling.”
It meant that among the people who had received meals, three were seriously considering suicide.
The group that had invited The Traveling Cafeteria that day had not been a company, but a social welfare foundation.
Therefore, every person who had come for the first round of meal service belonged to a socially and economically vulnerable group.
“I was worried, but I didn't know what I could do.
“The people waiting for meals were lined up for a long way, and I couldn't just stop cooking and filming whenever I wanted...
“Before I could do anything, they'd all eaten and left... That's why I kept thinking about it.”
“Ah...”
“I thought about asking the foundation staff and the broadcasting station staff after filming was over.
“But I realized I couldn't. It's not like they'd tell me just because I asked, right?”
“That's true... It's personal information. If they carelessly revealed it and those people complained, they'd have legal responsibility.”
“The foundation staff might not know those three people's details in the first place.
“A free meal service isn't a place where only the same people come every time, right?”
“Yeah...”
To find out their details, they would first have to look at the original footage held by the broadcaster.
If they did not identify them while watching the footage, how could they point out and discuss people whose faces they had first seen that day?
That alone was difficult, but obtaining specific personal information would be an even greater obstacle.
As Sera had said, it was a sensitive matter involving personal information.
If the issue grew into an accusation that the broadcaster had leaked personal information without permission, it would be impossible to handle.
(Something Korean corporations may not realize is that personal information is supposed to be valuable. No joke. Any objection makes you Chinese.)
Onik clicked his tongue with a troubled expression.
“Even if I got an answer, it would be a problem. From their perspective, a child they'd never seen before would suddenly be trying to feel them out. It wouldn't be strange if they got angry.”
“That could definitely happen.”
Sera agreed with the boy.
“If they're considering suicide, they're probably under a lot of psychological pressure. They may be filled with resentment.
“They might feel like taking their anger out on anyone...”
Thinking that someone driven to the edge of life must have a kind heart was textbook underdogma.
Humans were animals that could become more wicked precisely because they were weak.
In a world where people lived entangled with one another, strength was needed even to uphold morality.
The weak found it difficult to summon that strength because they were weak.
Still, it was comforting to know that there were many weak people who made the effort and preserved their character.
If he could help such people, it would bring overflowing joy and fulfillment to Onik, who believed himself to be a bad child.
“So our Onik became gloomy because he couldn't help people who looked like they might die?”
“...Um, when you put it that way, I feel a little embarrassed.”
“But it's true, right?”
“If you really want to put it that way, I suppose it is...”
“What a kind boy.”
Sera smiled gently and stroked the boy's head.
Then she spoke to the boy, who squirmed with half embarrassment and half discomfort.
“You know, I think problems like that will naturally be resolved once Onik becomes much, much more famous than he is now.”
“Why?”
“The subscribers who receive invitations through Let's Play with Onik! and come to our village.
“They and Onik are strangers who have never met in their lives, but they already feel very close to Onik, right?
“They have built that closeness one-sidedly through watching your broadcasts.”
“That is... true?”
Both of them naturally passed over the fact that Sera had called the aging village deep in the lonely mountains “our village.”
“Make everyone in our country feel that closeness. Become much more famous and popular than you are now.
“Then even people you've never met won't think Onik is joking when you say you want to help them. They'll gladly accept it because they like Onik.”
“Oh.”
“Wouldn't more people naturally come to help Onik then? Onik might even create something like a suicide counseling center or a welfare foundation.
“And the more stories spread about Onik helping people, the more people will ask Onik for help.”
Even as she said this, Sera felt worried.
‘Then more people with bad intentions will approach him too.’
Such people would surely appear.
People who did not desperately need help but wanted to depend on him, or people who were not satisfied with the help they received and wanted to gain more by receiving even greater help.
Or people who had suffered hardships and developed illness in their hearts might cause trouble.
‘I’m worried Onik will be hurt by people like that...’
Sera hoped she could help Onik when that happened.
Before Sera, who did not show her worries, Onik brought a piece of an old conversation into the present.
“So the solution is once again Jo Onik, the Strongest in the World?”
It was half a joke. Sera laughed softly.
“That’s right. Jo Onik, the Strongest in the World.”
A warm and gentle feeling filled the vehicle as it drove down the quiet road.
#
Contrary to Sera's words, Kim Ju-won, the student rider at high risk of suicide who needed Onik's help, felt more and more despair at Onik's fame, which continued to rise ever more steeply.
‘How's a piece of shit like me supposed to approach a kid as amazing as him...?’
Since Christmas Eve, when the senile old Santa Claus had neglected his duties, even the last of Ju-won's hard-won self-respect had been shattered.
His parents had trampled on “entertainer,” the psychological defense mechanism that had protected him.
Even though his parents were the ones who had planted that defense mechanism in him.
Ju-won had always experienced nothing but failure in the relationships his parents demanded of him.
His parents' idea of success and Ju-won's idea of success did not match in many ways.
Ju-won's parents were people who considered it a form of success for their only child to serve as an errand boy for “higher-ranking friends.”
Those parents had stated it as though it were a fact.
Onik was someone he had to treat as more important than his friends at the riding center.
That difference in status gave Ju-won despair and helplessness.
‘How am I supposed to fix this?’
In his desperation, Ju-won made fake KakaoTalk conversations and deceived his parents.
But this shallow lie was bound to be exposed someday.
Onik's contact information was not even saved in Ju-won's phone. It was unclear when Onik would visit the International Equestrian Center again. And even if he did come, Ju-won did not have the confidence to speak to him.
The moment Onik appeared at the riding center, the “good friend candidates” there would welcome him enthusiastically and surround him.
How could Ju-won, as he was now, break through that wall of people?
Even if he endured their ridicule and mockery and pushed his way through, what was he supposed to say to Onik?
Under extreme stress, Ju-won became gripped by stronger suicidal urges every day.
He wanted to end all his pain, even if it meant ending his life...
It was in the middle of this that Onik visited the riding center again.
Footnotes:
“Any objection makes you Chinese” is a Korean online joke used as a hyperbolic way of declaring a point indisputable.
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