WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Chen
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Incarnation of the Malevolent Star ◈
Chapter 107: Part 1 - Whispers of the Dark Brother (107)
──────
#107.
The first morning after a high school student was kidnapped, though not quite kidnapped, to a remote mountain village.
After washing his face, shampooing and drying his hair, the kidnapping victim dressed warmly and left the Songryeong Jo Clan Old House.
The path to the Guest Rest Pavilion for breakfast was very quiet.
He still did not know his way around very well, but there was no danger of getting lost.
Wooden signs with brush-written directions stood along the stone walls, while signposts in the same handwriting marked every fork in the road.
They had been put up out of consideration for the growing number of outside visitors.
Walking alone with both hands in his pockets, white breath spilling from his mouth, the kidnapped high school student suddenly looked up at the sky.
The indigo sky was beginning to glow reddish from the edge where it met the eastern ridge.
One lonely morning star still remained in that sky.
‘It’s peaceful...’
Walking through the quiet of early morning, listening to the sounds of nature, had an effect much like meditation.
It settled tangled thoughts and helped a person find emotional stability.
Moreover, the human brain tended to become especially active when exploring unfamiliar places.
Neural development was stimulated, while endorphin and dopamine levels rose.
That was one reason Onik had specifically arranged for the kidnapping victim to eat breakfast at the Guest Rest Pavilion.
Onik had truly studied a great deal.
“...Ah.”
Ju-won kept stopping as he walked.
Unfamiliar yet strangely familiar places kept appearing before him.
Places the kidnapped high school student had only ever glimpsed through a screen.
Scenery seen only in photographs and videos could never replace the experience of going there in person, seeing it, and feeling it.
Ju-won felt his breathing grow slightly faster.
His heart was pounding too. It was the thrill of a traveler beholding a beautiful, mysterious hidden landscape.
Objectively speaking, the sight before him was only that of an ordinary rural village.
But this village was a place that a high school student, unable even to lock his bedroom door at home, had yearned for with desperate thirst.
“...”
Ju-won impulsively changed direction.
The hunger in his heart was greater than the hunger in his body.
His hungry heart was asking him to walk the winding route.
So that a high school student from a dark world could feel, even a little more vividly, that he had crossed into a bright and beautiful other world beyond the small screen of a smartphone.
#
“Ding-a-ling-♪”
The door of the Guest Rest Pavilion Café opened, and the little decorative bell hanging from it gave a clear chime.
Cold outdoor air briefly flowed into the warm interior, where warmth had gathered around a cast-iron stove.
It was cold, but fresh and pleasant.
Eun-jeong had been sitting at a table near the stove, preparing materials for a field trip.
When the fresh breeze lightly stirred her hair as it passed, she raised her eyes and looked toward the entrance.
There stood the kidnapped high school student, Kim Ju-won, cautiously looking over the room as he came inside.
‘You can tell at a glance that he’s withdrawn. I felt it yesterday too... This is different from simply being shy around strangers.’
There had been a one-day gap between Ju-won’s mother accepting Onik’s request at the riding arena and Ju-won actually arriving in the village.
During that day, Onik had explained the situation to people around him and asked for their help.
How much he revealed varied from person to person.
For some people, he explained only that an older friend he knew seemed to have been very depressed lately, and that he wanted to help him feel better.
Everyone except Eun-jeong and Sera fell into that category.
It was nothing new for the kind-hearted country boy to bring people worn down by life here and comfort them, so most people simply nodded in understanding.
One of those people, Mina, embarrassed Onik with teasing praise.
“Onik! Stop being so nice! It’s not good for someone to be too nice!”
Legal Hunter, on the other hand, reacted with some unease.
“No, Onik. Since when was Kim Ju-won someone close enough to call an older friend? Nothing happened after you saved him at that riding arena, did it?”
The bad adult kept pressing until Onik’s face showed his discomfort. Then his wife, who had been watching beside him, smacked him sharply on the back and told him to cut it out. He fell silent, crestfallen.
After that, Onik separately told Sera and Eun-jeong more of the circumstances.
Even so, he did not need to say much.
“Um, to put it simply, I had a feeling.”
Sera and Eun-jeong knew what Onik’s intuition meant.
It had already been over three months since Truffle Candy began staying in the aging mountain village.
Nearly the same amount of time had passed since the day Onik fainted and collapsed in front of Eun-jeong.
During that time, Sera and Eun-jeong had grown very close.
It was because the twenty-three-year-old idol had earnestly approached the schoolteacher, who often came to the village to rest.
The idol’s efforts were clumsy, but that clumsiness made her sincerity and openness all the clearer. It let people see the purity of her goodwill.
It was purity much like that of children.
Eun-jeong liked that purity.
She also liked how dearly Sera cared for Onik.
United by their shared affection for Onik, the two quickly became close.
To Sera, Eun-jeong was someone she admired and envied.
One day, Sera honestly confessed those feelings.
“I envy you, Unni. You’re the person Onik treasures most after his grandfather... No, maybe he treasures you as much as his grandfather.”
“...Does Onik really feel that way?”
“I can just see it. Do you know how much Onik’s face softens whenever he talks about you?
It’s the expression of someone who trusts and relies on you deeply.”
Hearing that made Eun-jeong’s heart feel strangely ticklish.
It would be a lie to say she had not known her beloved student’s true feelings, but hearing them from someone else was bound to feel different.
“...Someday, I want to become someone like you to Onik too.
So that when Onik is having a hard time someday, I can give him strength. Just as he did for me.”
Eun-jeong had sincerely encouraged that wish, which the twenty-three-year-old idol had shared with a little embarrassment, with a gentle smile.
A good person who cherished her student, and whom her student could sincerely trust and rely on.
The more people like that there were, the better.
Eun-jeong had also heard why Sera treasured her student so deeply.
It was a secret story Sera had never told anyone except Eun-jeong.
“Onik saved my life.”
Sera spoke of the time when she thought about suicide several times a day.
And of how the perceptive country boy had seen through her condition.
“He said he had a feeling. He said he sensed it from the first time he saw me. That he knew at first sight I was having very bad thoughts...”
“Was that so?”
“Yes. You have no idea how shocked I was when Onik bluntly asked if I was thinking about suicide.
I can still vividly remember how my heart pounded then.”
The comfort Onik had given Sera felt warm even to Eun-jeong as she listened.
The part where he spoke about life through the stars in the night sky especially stayed with her.
All she had to do was get out of there.
If she came out, the night sky and the stars would always be there.
They were always there, but people simply did not come out and look at them.
Sera remembered every word Onik had said to her.
Even now, after so much time had passed, she went over them again and again, every other day.
They were moments she wanted to keep whole in her memory until the day she died.
The ambitions Onik had shared with Sera moved Lee Eun-jeong deeply as a teacher.
“I’m going to use this feeling to find people who want to die.
Like now, I’ll meet viewers from my channel. I’ll always look around among the people near me, and I’ll look again when I’m walking down the road too.”
“I’ll find them, listen to why they want to die, comfort them, and help as much as I can.
If someone who would have left this world by their own hand gains the strength to live again, it will be something very joyful and meaningful to me.”
“So I’m going to walk that path.”
“In the life I live from now on, I’m going to place other people’s lives inside it. Like bookmarks.”
Eun-jeong also learned that Onik had hated “shameless murderers” for a long time.
Bad people who drove others to suicide while believing they themselves had done nothing wrong.
Her most precious student had already been troubled by the reality that such people rarely received punishment equal to what they had done.
Thus, teacher Lee Eun-jeong came to understand the student who had saved her life even more deeply.
She felt conflicted about it.
She was glad to know her student better, but as his teacher, she could not help feeling ashamed.
‘I thought I knew everything there was to know about Onik... I was mistaken. He was a much more mature child than I thought.’
At the same time, she felt even more proud of him.
He had saved someone else who might otherwise have died besides Eun-jeong herself. How could that not be admirable?
To Eun-jeong, Sera offered her thanks.
“I’m grateful to you too, Unni.”
“To me? Why?”
“What do you mean, why? If you hadn’t taught and guided him so well, there might not be such a kind Onik now.
Then I might not have received help from him either. The fact that I’m alive is partly thanks to you too.”
“No, not really... It’s just that Onik was already a kind child...”
“Thank you sincerely, Unni.”
“Um...”
Caught off guard by the thanks, Eun-jeong fumbled awkwardly in embarrassment. It made Sera smile softly.
Eun-jeong’s way of avoiding her eyes and fidgeting with her fingers looked exactly like Onik.
People who cherished one another tended to grow alike.
In any case, that was why Eun-jeong trusted the intuition of her beloved student.
It was only natural that she too would help someone her student wished to help.
It was something she had to do, and something she wanted to do.
Eun-jeong hoped.
‘May more and more people’s lives be placed beautifully and meaningfully into Onik’s life as bookmarks...’
If the kidnapped high school student Kim Ju-won became one of those bookmarks, it would bring Eun-jeong great joy.
#
Ju-won entered the café Candy Box and awkwardly stood before the counter.
On the unattended counter sat a handwritten menu and a bell for calling staff.
It was the sort of bell people who had attended school long ago often remembered as a teacher’s desk bell.
A few lines of instructions caught his eye beneath it.
“If there is no one at the counter, please ring the bell!”
“When a village elder is minding the counter, it may take them some time to come out after hearing the bell. If no one comes right away, please wait patiently, then ring it again!”
Cute little boxes of handmade candy were displayed in front of it.
“Please take only one per person! :)”
Ju-won knew about these handmade candies. Several videos of Truffle Candy’s members making them had been uploaded to their secondary channel.
The members sometimes made candy while interacting with viewers live.
There were many flavors, but the most eye-catching was truffle lemon candy made with both truffle oil and lemon juice.
‘Does this... actually taste good...?’
As the child of a fairly wealthy family, Ju-won had eaten dishes containing truffles from time to time.
They had not been bad experiences, but he questioned whether truffles’ distinct scent could really suit candy.
As for the habanero apple candy Sorin had made, containing 0.5 percent habanero pepper powder, he did not even want to try it.
What on earth had that older sister been thinking when she made such a culinary monstrosity...?
(A short video of Sorin feeding this candy to Mina, followed by Mina letting out a guttural shriek, was uploaded to the secondary channel under the title “Sounds an Idol Must Never Make.”
Mina, who was always firmly committed to maintaining idol-like behavior, had demanded that they take it down. But she was ignored by majority vote.
Mina blamed Sera, who smiled as she cast an abstention vote. She had not expected anything from Sorin or Yesul in the first place.)
When he looked at the menu next, various items were written in rounded, compact handwriting.
The meals with Onik’s name in them stood out.
“Jo Onik’s Handmade Black Forest Ham Hummus Sandwich, Loaded with Ham
(A high-protein healthy meal! Strongly recommended by Sera! Spread can be changed!)”
“Jo Onik’s Handmade Boneless Ham Basil Pesto Sandwich
(This one is high-protein too! Confidently recommended by Sorin and Yesul! If you prefer moist and tender ham, choose this one! You may change the spread however you like!)”
“Limited Menu: Chicken Porridge Cooked in a Cauldron with a Chicken Onik Slaughtered Himself
(Highly praised by the village elders! So soft it goes down easily even without teeth!)”
They were menus that subscribers of Onik Uncle and the Hapless Chief could not help being tempted by.
(Let us not ask why a café sells chicken porridge.)
At that thought, Ju-won flinched.
‘Wait. Subscribers...?’
The Guest Rest Pavilion and Guest Lodging Pavilion had still been in a closed beta period on Christmas Eve, but that was no longer the case.
All administrative procedures for officially using the buildings had been completed in mid-January.
In other words, the people using this place were highly likely to be subscribers of Onik Uncle and the Hapless Chief.
And not just any subscribers. These were people devoted enough to travel all the way to this remote mountain village.
Meeting such enthusiastic fans was something Ju-won very much wanted to avoid.
His heart began to pound.
It felt as though the peace he had been drunk on until moments ago had suddenly been swept away.
The unfamiliar man and woman seated at the bar table by the window seemed to recognize him and glance his way too...
A gentle voice woke Ju-won’s consciousness as it threatened to sink deep into darkness.
“Excuse me, you’re Ju-won, right? Did you sleep well last night?”
“Uh... Pardon?”
“Hello. Good morning.”
Ju-won turned and saw the schoolteacher lightly waving to him with a gentle smile.
The mere presence of someone smiling at you could change your mood.
And the Eun-jeong Ju-won had seen on broadcasts was certainly not the sort of cruel person who would hide malice behind a smile.
“Uh, um, hello?”
To Ju-won, who answered in a flustered rush like someone newly awakened from a nightmare, the teacher asked kindly, “Did you come for breakfast?”
“What? Ah, yes! I came to eat. Onik told me to come here yesterday...”
“I see. You’ve been standing there absentmindedly for a while. If it’s difficult to choose, would you like me to recommend something?”
“Uh, recommend... Yes, yes. Please recommend something.”
“Then would you like to have a hummus sandwich with cream soup? They go together quite well.
And the hummus was made by Onik and me. I’m not saying this just because I made it, but it turned out delicious.”
“Hummus sandwich and cream soup... Thank you. I’ll have that.”
Ju-won nodded earnestly and rang the bell at the counter.
Then he was startled.
Eun-jeong had risen from her seat and entered behind the counter with complete ease.
“Teacher? Why are you...?”
Eun-jeong answered with smiling eyes.
“Today was originally the day Elder Hwang Jeong-sun was supposed to cover the morning shift, but they had something to do and stepped out for a while.
So I’m watching the counter in their place until they return.”
“No, um...”
“Please wait just a moment. I’ll wash my hands and come right out.”
“Y-yes...”
Ju-won blankly watched Eun-jeong tie up her hair and put on an apron.
She was clearly a young teacher who had not married yet, but Eun-jeong carried an atmosphere like that of a caring mother.
...It was a kind of tenderness the kidnapped high school student had never felt from his own mother.
The faint scent that brushed past him also felt warm like a spring breeze, and Ju-won blinked quickly.
For some reason, he felt as though he might cry a little.
It was not an unpleasant feeling.
Eun-jeong did not need long to prepare the meal after washing her hands.
She only had to lightly toast the bread and assemble the ingredients that had already been prepared, while the finished soup was stored in a large warmer.
Eun-jeong placed the food and utensils on a tray and set it on the counter.
“Here. Enjoy your meal.”
After hesitating, Ju-won took out the friendship-fee payment card from the card holder on his smartphone.
The card was in his mother’s name, so he could not register it in a mobile payment app.
“Could you... charge this, please...?”
Eun-jeong’s eyes widened.
“Charge you? What charge?”
The teacher’s response startled Ju-won again.
“Um... This is a café, and I ordered a meal, so of course I should pay...?”
“Hehe.”
At Ju-won’s dazed words, Eun-jeong covered her mouth and laughed softly.
“What are you talking about...? You came here as Onik’s friend. Who invites a friend over and does not feed them?”
“...”
“Ah, now that I think about it, there are people who do. I hear Swedes are like that. Could our Ju-won actually be Swedish?”
“No... I’m Korean...”
“Right? You’re Korean, aren’t you? And Onik is Korean too. Then you should put that card away, shouldn’t you?”
“Yes... Because I’m not Swedish...”
“Hehe... That’s right. Take it before it gets cold.”
Ju-won found the courage to go along with the joke at the end, and the response was not bad.
He felt as though he might smile, so he bowed deeply to hide his expression.
It was not that he wanted to hide it. It was simply an ingrained habit.
At home, people questioned him about why he was smiling whenever he smiled.
(In fairness to the Swedes, Koreans were not exactly in a position to mock them.
During the Saemangeum Jamboree, some children had reportedly been given only one serving of cup noodles and a few bags of snacks for twenty-four hours.
It was an incident that made old man Jo Jeong-ho lament that the nation had lost all decency.
Thanks to the Saemangeum Jamboree, South Korea’s national dignity had fallen to a level comparable to that of the northern barbarians of Europe. Anyone who objects may take it up with former Minister of Gender Equality and Family Ms. Kim.)
The kidnapped high school student became a little more accustomed to the rules of the other world into which he had been brought.
In the process, the fact that Ju-won was Onik’s friend naturally reached the ears of the other customers.
That was another reason Onik had recommended breakfast at the café for Ju-won.
Footnotes:
Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried
