WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Chen
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◈ Incarnation of the Malevolent Star ◈
Chapter 106: Part 1 - Whispers of the Dark Brother (106)
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#106.
Contrary to what city people generally believed, roosters did not crow only at daybreak.
The dawn sky before sunrise was merely one of many things that stirred a rooster's instinct to crow.
These pseudo-dinosaurs, which were actually dinosaurs if one looked into it, possessed precise internal clocks. They crowed when an extraordinary country boy went to bed, when the darkness of night was at its deepest, and when the sky before dawn had only just begun to turn blue.
They also crowed to call hens over after finding especially delicious food, to establish the pecking order with other roosters, to protect their territory, and to show off their masculinity to the hens.
So there was nothing strange about Ju-won, who slept more than a certain country boy, waking to the cries of those noisy beasts.
“...”
Ju-won opened his eyes to a rooster's cock-a-doodle-doo and blinked several times at the unfamiliar ceiling.
Then he checked the time on his phone.
「06:51」
After turning off the screen and sitting up, Ju-won stared blankly into space.
‘Why am I here?’
He was not asking because he did not know. He knew. It simply did not feel real.
It was still winter, and the sun had not yet risen.
Other than the occasional crow of a rooster, bark of a dog, or chirp of a bird, the lower wing of the Songryeong Jo Clan Old House was perfectly quiet.
The fixed paper window at the center of the sliding door was softly tinted with the deep blue of the dawn sky.
Sitting quietly amid that peaceful silence, which somehow made him feel more awake, Ju-won thought of the con artist boy who had brought him here almost as though kidnapping him.
‘What on earth was he thinking...?’
His thoughts returned to the riding center, on the day his lies had been exposed.
#
Onik was quick to notice things, and his mind worked quickly.
By readily going along with the relationship Ju-won had fabricated, Onik encouraged Ju-won's mother to say more and more.
“Really? Is there anything else? Anything older brother said about me? I want to know!”
Ju-won's mother fell for the con artist boy's prompting without the slightest resistance.
If she had approached the boy with any wariness, she might have noticed a little unnaturalness in his behavior.
But why would Ju-won's mother be wary of him?
To her, he was simply a precious child she dearly wanted to become close to.
Whatever the conversation was about, she was satisfied as long as it continued in a warm and friendly atmosphere.
Ju-won merely stood there like a folding screen.
He looked back and forth between his mother, who was happily chatting away, and the con artist boy, with grim thoughts and anxious eyes.
Inevitably, he watched the con artist boy more closely.
At first, Ju-won had suspected this.
‘Is he doing this to bully me or screw me over?’
The good-friend candidates at the riding center often behaved similarly in front of Ju-won's mother.
「Of course! We all get along well with Ju-won! Right, Ju-won?」
Kwon Yu-bin, the student rider whose short hair suited them so well, had asked with a sweet smile in their eyes.
Ju-won had felt terribly miserable when he had no choice but to nod obediently.
The good-friend candidates, including Yu-bin, acted so warmly toward Ju-won's mother for only one reason. They wanted to keep Kim Ju-won, their multipurpose gofer, functioning, and manage his withdrawal limit.
Having gone through that, Ju-won could not help looking at Onik with tight-chested anxiety and suspicion.
He wondered if Onik had caught the scent of an easy mark and wanted to use him as a multipurpose gofer, a toy, someone to mock, and an ATM, just like the other good-friend candidates.
But Onik was different.
“Wow! You've really watched a lot of my broadcasts! I'm so happy you say you're a fan!”
Once the con artist boy had learned as much as he could from Ju-won's mother, he made a strange request that avoided every one of Ju-won's dark expectations.
“Ma'am! Then, may I invite Ju-won to my house?”
“Hm? Our Ju-won?”
“Yes! If you've watched my broadcasts, you know I often invite all sorts of people to my home and my village, right?”
“Yes. That's true.”
“I think I'd be happy if Ju-won, who is very, very close to me, came too! There's still plenty of winter break left, so if possible, for a long time!”
“Uh...”
“We won't only play together! I'm studying high-school material in advance, so it would be fine for us to study together too!”
In truth, Onik could earn quite good scores even if he took the college entrance exam right then.
Rather than studying together, Ju-won was at a level where he ought to learn from Onik.
“And Boss will help Ju-won get to the riding center for now!
It isn't hard to take him to the downtown terminal where the express buses stop!
They'd only have to make a small detour on the way out and back when they go hunting every day!”
“...”
“If it's all right, will you allow it? Please!”
Ju-won's mother stammered for a moment, unable to get her bearings after the precious boy's unexpected request.
Before long, though, her eyes gleamed.
She had realized this was an opportunity she must never miss.
‘Wait. If we send Ju-won there and they provide his food and lodging... that means Ju-won might appear on this child's broadcasts?
The broadcasts the entire family of Chairman Hwang watches so faithfully!’
It was an opportunity not only for her inadequate son to become closer to the precious boy Jo Onik, but also to gain a larger and more direct benefit.
One had to seize such opportunities the moment they came.
Afraid Onik might change his mind, Ju-won's mother smiled brightly and nodded in haste.
“Of course! I will allow it!”
“M-Mom?”
For Ju-won, who had been standing there like a folding screen, it was an utterly bewildering turn of events.
But Ju-won's mother did not even turn to look at her son, who was sputtering and creaking along.
Neither did Onik.
Again, Onik was fairly quick to notice things.
The many lies Ju-won had told his mother.
Ju-won's timid appearance as he had stood by like an extra all along.
And finally, his mother's attitude of truly treating Ju-won like an extra.
The last was especially important.
They said that language accounted for only seven percent of human communication.
The attitude Ju-won's mother showed gave Onik, who kept stealing glances at her, the other ninety-three percent of the information.
‘This person definitely isn't a good mother...’
As he neatly fit the clues together in his head, Onik had already decided that Ju-won's opinion would not matter in a situation like this.
Based on that judgment, Onik made up his mind.
‘First, I'll kidnap him!
It's too soon to decide exactly why this older brother is considering suicide, but if I get him out of the environment he's in now, things should become at least a little better no matter what!
And if he's nearby, it'll be easier for me to watch over him!’
Thus, Ju-won's mother and Onik sped through their conversation, leaving out the person concerned.
“How about it? Shall I send him tomorrow? Would that work?”
“Tomorrow? That's fine! The sooner, the better for me! Thank you for allowing it!”
“No need to thank me! I should be the one thanking you for being friends with Ju-won.
But you said it would be better if Ju-won stayed a long time, right? How long exactly? A week?”
“Um, would it be all right if he stayed until the end of break?”
“Oh my... That long?”
“Would that not be possible?”
“It is possible! But, um, Elder Jo Jeong-ho? Jo Jeong-ho, was it? I don't know whether I remember your grandfather's name correctly.”
“That’s right! My grandfather's surname is Jo, and his given name is Jeong-ho!”
“I see. Anyway, would it not be too much trouble for your grandfather if Ju-won stayed at your home for so long?”
“It’s fine! I do all the cooking and laundry anyway! These days, the Truffle Candy sisters, especially Sister Sera, often come help too!
Also, receiving guests is the duty of the head family! Grandfather wouldn't dislike having one guest stay with us!”
“Is that so?”
“Yes! If I tell him Ju-won is my friend, he'll probably be happy instead! As you know, there are no students in our village except me!”
“In that case, this auntie wants to ask you a favor instead.
Even though you're younger, if Ju-won spends time with a kind and clever child like you, there will be many things for him to learn.”
“Thank you for the compliment! And thank you for allowing it!”
“Hehe. All right, then. Around what time should I bring him tomorrow?
Since I'll be going anyway, I think it would only be proper for me to greet your grandfather.”
“Ah, you'll come in person? Then the time is...”
Leaving out the person concerned, the two of them beat both the drum and the janggu, laughing happily as they settled every detail of Ju-won's journey to the mountain village.
Without asking Ju-won's opinion even once.
That was how a high-school equestrian athlete, who had been on the verge of suicide, was kidnapped by a con artist country boy in a rural village. Not kidnapped, of course.
#
Creak.
When Ju-won stepped through the papered sliding door, the cold dawn air of a mountain village in late winter greeted him.
The sudden drop in temperature made him shiver, and he pulled his coat collar closed.
Even so, he thought the freshness, so unlike the air of a great city, felt pleasant.
‘Breakfast... Onik said to eat at the Candy Box Café.’
When Onik had taken Ju-won to his room in the servants’ quarters the night before, he had grinned as though he were terribly happy and rattled off the words at a rush.
「You can sleep here from now on! I prepared the bedding beforehand, so please use it! The bathroom and toilet for the servants’ quarters are over there!
As for breakfast, um, my family eats early, so it’ll probably be hard to eat with us! So sleep as much as you like, wake up late, and go to the Guest Rest Pavilion Café!」
The only thing Ju-won had done since arriving in the village yesterday was get swept into the welcoming atmosphere with a bewildered, “Uh, uh,” then eat and spend time with everyone until late.
(Though he had supposedly spent time with them, Ju-won had been an outsider throughout.)
The gathering welcoming Ju-won had been full of warm people whom he had previously seen only through a screen.
Village elders who had come out half from curiosity and half from delight after hearing Onik had brought a friend.
Onik's grandfather, Elder Jo Jeong-ho.
Legal Hunter and his wife.
The members of Truffle Candy and English teacher Lee Eun-jeong.
Pastor Kim from the Three-Way Intersection Restaurant Church.
And, most importantly, the con artist country boy himself.
With so many people there, Ju-won spent most of the time only shifting his eyes awkwardly.
He had hardly found a chance to ask Onik anything.
Since he and Onik were not really close, he could not comfortably join in their laughter and chatter either.
(Legal Hunter had also seemed, somehow, a little less welcoming.)
The village elders, who did not know the circumstances, laughed when they saw how shy Ju-won was.
「Oh dear. This one is much shyer than our Onik.」
「Make yourself comfortable... If you're Onik's friend... you're not a stranger...」
「Hm? You're full? If you're full, it's time for snacks. Should I roast chestnuts on the brazier for you? Or crack you some walnuts?
If you'd rather have fruit, we have strawberries. There's a cake Onik made in the refrigerator too.」
With the atmosphere like that, Ju-won was given almost no opportunity to speak with Onik alone.
So only when night had deepened and he was being shown to his room could Ju-won finally ask Onik something.
Why he had forcibly brought him to this village.
「You... What are you, exactly?」
「What do you mean?」
「Don't pretend you don't know. You know what I'm asking.」
Following the boy, whose light footsteps pattered ahead, with heavy steps of his own, Ju-won had asked that confused question after much thought and hesitation.
His hesitation had lasted a long time, but once he began, the words trapped inside him came stumbling out.
「Why... Why did you say that to my mother...? Why did you say we were close...?
You and I are really nothing to each other... You must have noticed... that I lied to my mother...」
「Of course I noticed.」
「Then why didn't you say it was a lie...? Why did you lie too and bring me here? What reason did you have...?
Looking at it, it doesn't seem like you're doing this because you want to play with me...」
His questioning tone was blunt.
But his shaking voice had no strength. His last words were less a guess than a hope.
He hoped the con artist boy did not dislike him and was not carefully trying to screw him over.
The country boy glanced slightly to the side, clasped his hands behind his back like his grandfather did, and answered brazenly.
「Is it a problem that we aren't close?」
「Is that not a problem?」
「It isn't a problem if we don't make it one. Because we can become close from now on! We only have to make all the lies you told into something that isn't a lie.」
「...Ha.」
「Um, well, I haven't decided yet how close we'll become!」
「What kind of strange thing is that to say?」
「Um, it's because I don't really know what kind of person you are yet, older brother.」
「...」
「But even if you aren't a very good person, we can still become a little close! That's why I invited you!」
「What nonsense...」
「It's not nonsense! It makes sense! You weak city person, don't argue with the words of Jo Onik, the strongest in town! Your life force is too low for you to argue with me!」
「...Life force?」
Ju-won questioned the word, which did not fit the context at all, but Onik only smiled brightly.
「You have a lot you want to ask me, right? I have a lot I want to ask you too!
But we have plenty of time, so let's slowly talk about the deeper things from now on! After your HP and status ailments recover!」
「...」
「Then have good dreams! Bye!」
Onik unilaterally ended their first-night conversation after the kidnapping, left Ju-won behind, and walked away with light steps.
He hummed a cheerful trot tune, as if something had put him in a wonderful mood.
Ju-won was left alone before the wooden porch of the servants’ quarters, and his heart was still confused.
But he was not as anxious as he had been when he first arrived in this village.
#
From the first day he had kidnapped Ju-won to the warm mountain village, Onik became certain of something.
Though he had done it without a plan and forced the matter through, his choice had been right.
‘That older brother is much farther away from death now. I'm so happy. Environmental separation really does work well!’
Onik took a great interest in people at risk of taking their own lives.
He had long ago decided that, in order to become even a little less bad, he would spend the rest of his life helping such people.
It was a resolution the extraordinary boy had built very firmly inside his heart.
So he had studied many things related to it.
It was study meant to save more people who might die.
Environmental separation was a method that could save a person suffering from suicidal impulses with a very high probability.
If someone was considering suicide, the cause was usually closely linked to their living environment.
Thus, separating the person from their previous living environment meant physically distancing them from what prompted their suicide.
Furthermore, suicide as an actual act was most often committed when some event or trigger suddenly produced a powerful impulse.
Therefore, it was important to bring people at high risk of suicide into an environment where dark impulses were unlikely to suddenly rise up.
If that was done, even if their average level of depression remained unchanged, the chance of someone dying right then became very small.
Onik's reckless kidnapping act had been an improvised response based on that knowledge.
Achievements gained through careful planning certainly felt good.
But success achieved through improvisation felt even better.
It felt especially good because, after fretting inside, wondering what to do, he had saved a person's life at the very edge of the line.
‘I saved another person's life.’
He had not saved Ju-won completely yet, but it was fair to say he had crossed the greatest hurdle.
The frightening boy had taken another step toward becoming a less bad child.
To go on living while enduring his inborn abnormality and self-hatred, he would have to take many, many more steps in the future... but that did not lessen the meaning of the step he had taken this time.
The path the boy had decided to walk, lonely because he was frightening, was one where every step remained a precious value and memory.
Onik felt a warm sense of fulfillment fill his chest.
It was a fulfillment that would not be broken, so long as Ju-won was not a truly bad person.
Footnotes:
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