BBS (12)

Translator: Wan ED/PR: Personal Ghost

 
⟨Chapter 12⟩
 
 

“Wait a moment. Who is going to eat? I’m not even a bit hungry…”

“Huh, that’s excellent!”

Everyone was startled. At a certain moment, the middle-aged dokkaebi entered the kitchen without a sound. He suddenly grabbed Yu Dan, rejoicing.

“It’s excellent that you say you have enough energy. Because even though it doesn’t look like that, my wrists and waist are in a worse condition these days. If you help me, your stomach will go empty, and you will be able to eat the very delicious dinner. Here, it will only take a moment.”

As if rumors about dokkaebi’s great strength were true, even though he grabbed lightly, the power was amazing. Yu Dan was dragged without a chance to rebel.

The place they arrived at was a side yard of the store.

The atmosphere in this yard was completely from the front or backyard. On the one side there was piled up firewood and several farming instruments. Then there was a jangdokdae[1] and a well. When Do-ssi opened the outer wooden door, Yu Dan saw stairs.

“There is even a basement?”

“Of course, of course. This is everyone’s treasure warehouse.”

Before even descending all the way down, a musty smell of wood assaulted his nose. The old basement was full of boxes.

“We have to take out everything from here outside.”

“Everything here?”

He turned around, and bumped into one of them with a ‘thud’.

“Careful! Everything here is a genuine rarity! They’re only treasures that I wouldn’t be able to sell no matter the price you offered! It will be a big trouble if they break!”

By the way, wasn’t he forcibly dragged here? He got offended straight away.

“Then I’m going.”

“Tsk. Then so be it. There is no way a precious young master-nim will help this old and pitiful dokkaebi, right? Aack! My wrists!”

The dokkaebi’s sorrowful voice rang out in the basement. It felt as if that never-ending echo would break his head.

“Got it! Got it! I have to move them here, right?”

“Wait! You can’t put it down so roughly! Wasn’t there a sound of something breaking a moment ago? I’ll check on it. Luckily, it didn’t break…Eeeak! The chest over there is about to fall! You can’t pile three of them!”

“Why is it so complicated! Then you can do it alone!”

“Aaack! My waist! No way, was it the sound of my waist breaking a moment ago? Aack! I’m going to die!”

He was really about to go out this time, no matter what Do-ssi was going to do or not, but the moment his feet were about to take a step on the stairs, he suddenly recalled some words.

Generous mindset.

As Baek Ran was a yokai, he would be naturally inclined to take a yokai’s standpoint. Even if he said the old times were good, there was completely no reason to bother with what he said.

But even though he said it to himself, as expected, he was annoyed by that attitude. There were degrees to ignoring other people. It’s not that he couldn’t do it, it was that he didn’t want to.

Yu Dan turned around.

“Is this matter really so important?”

“Naturally so! If this warehouse isn’t properly organized, I’ll be taught a hard lesson by the sister. How scary it is! I have a nightmare every day recently because of that.”

“Dokkaebi themselves are nightmares, what kind of nightmare are you dreaming?”

“You have no idea. It’s like this. Just lots of shamans, monks and taoists come and… I hate to even think about. Anyone, are you going to help me?”

“You said only two boxes can be stacked up?”

“Correct! No, not this way! Here and there! No, no! There and there! Wait! You have to be careful when you place them down!”

Yu Dan regretted it straight away.

As expected, he should have just climbed up and left.

Those things weren’t ordinary boxes. Some were extremely heavy, some creaked as if screaming, some opened on their own and hit him in the face. When he looked inside of them, they were full of strange antiques.

After he struggled for several hours while listening to Do-ssi, and finally managed to take them all out to the yard. With no part of his limbs that didn’t hurt and starving, he returned to the kitchen.

After the door opened, the smell of pasta wafted over.

It seemed that the serpent yokai has truly done well. Even though unfamiliar, it smelled delicious. Chaeu lightly waved at him.

“You’re hungry, correct? Please come in!”

As Chaeseol was tired of waiting, she was laying face down on the table. She quickly got up when Heuk-yo entered holding a tray.

She put the plates of steaming pasta in front of Chaeu and Chaeseol one after one. When Heuk-yo at last put the plate in front of Yu Dan.

They looked at it blankly.

His plate was full of white rice balls. Chaeseol and Chaeu were startled.

“Nunim, that seems to be a bit too much. That’s a joke, correct? Right?”

“Can’t be! Unnie! You can’t feed him like this! The wounds will remain for the rest of his life!”

However, the one surprised more than anyone else was Heuk-yo herself. She stared at the rice balls with a dumbstruck expression.

“How did it happen? I surely made enough noodles. Older brother said that punk worked diligently for his meal, so I planned to give him plenty, even if I detest him so much. For what kind of reason did it happen…?”

She stared at her own hands as if she couldn’t trust them.

“Truly! It wasn’t my intention! I just thought about that human punk and unknowingly ended up making rice balls in the rice cooker to feed him!”

“Can’t you say it? Just recognize it! You hate feeding me!”

“No! That’s not it!”

The two were squabbling, but Chaeu suddenly made an ‘ah’ sound and mumbled:

“Young master-nim, I guess You’ll have to walk a lot today.”

“What? What kind of nonsense is that?”

“Heuk-yo nonim has good instincts. Her meals are never wrong. She clearly senses something and made rice balls for a person, who is going on a long journey, correct”

“How can it be? Where would I be going on this hour? I’m going home straight away.”

“If so, You should be careful.”

Chaeu smirked. Yu Dan was so creeped out, he spoke:

“What is it for? I’m going home! Even without it, it was hard to be shoved around by that dokkaebi to his heart’s content! That’s too much!”

“Why are you like this?”

Heuk-yo glared.

“I just did as I felt. And there is no guarantee it was fully correct. Here, don’t bother and eat a lot. In case you walk a lot.”

Then she brought a pot and filled his plate with pasta like a mountain, and she was even smiling. It was a very small smile, but seeing that smile for the first time on her usually cold face was like a spring breeze.

She was very happy.

Yu Dan was angry, but because he was hungry in the first place, he stared eating. It was delicious. Because of it, he was even angrier.

He thought while eating diligently.

He will just eat all of that and go home no matter what.

He turned down the proposition to drink tea before going, and stood up. Yu Dan left Banwoldang like that.

The Pagoda Tree Street was shrouded in darkness. The light leaking from the store illuminated the shoulders of people walking in the group of two or three. Shadows swayed above old objects like masks or fans.

Perhaps because of the yokai’s ominous comments, the night was strange.

Yu Dan walked staring only forward. The bus stop was visible on the other side. If he rode a bus, he should be safe, right? He started to walk faster.

But at that movement.

“Excuse me…”

He heard a voice carefully calling out from behind him.

Don’t look behind. Pretend you didn’t hear.

When he kept walking, someone called out again.

“Excuse me. That’s a big trouble. Thou has dokkaebi stuck to Thee.” [2]

What?

He unintentionally ended up turning around.

Seeing the other party, Yu Dan was surprised.

On the road of lined up stores, there was suddenly a short man, dressed like an old warrior, standing.

An extra actor from a historical drama? Was something being shot here? After staring with all his heart, he smiled widely.

“Looking now, ‘tis a young master, eh? Profound apologies. In fact, saying that dokkaebi is stuck was a lie. Because it seemed that ‘twas the only way to make Thee look back, I deceived young master with a lie. As the situation is too urgent, I beg Thee pardon.”

While apologizing with a gentle face, he swiftly grabbed Yu Dan’s arm.

“Please help me. I have to quickly go back to young lady, but know not the way. Please bring me to Her.”

What the hell was that? What was that old-fashioned way of speaking?

That short warrior, who seemed to jump out of a historical drama, was blocking the middle of the road and acting in such a flashy way, but the passing people didn’t give him even a glance. They just skimmed past him as if there was nothing there.

As if their eyes couldn’t see him.

That’s right. It wasn’t a human.

The moment his thoughts got to this point, his hair stood on its end. On the other hand, it was absurd.

He didn’t feel evil energy from this warrior. He was really asking for help. Even if he wasn’t human, shouldn’t he help him and guide him?

“No! You’re just lost, right? Go on your own! I’m tired right now!”

Yu Dan refused the warrior and turned around. However, he kept following him.

“Please don’t doth and help me a bit. Isn’t it getting dark? Isn’t night coming? Young lady would be trembling alone. Isn’t it pitiful? Don’t thee have compassion?”

“What pitiful is pitiful? The world is ruled by the laws of the jungle.”

“Thou truly is a cold-hearted young master, eh? I came this far, it can’t be helped. I’ll keep following young master until Thee helps me.”

So he stuck very closely to his back.

“Where art Thee going so hastily at this late hour? Art Thee going to some good pavilion to tilt the wine cups with friends? If Thee dances and sings to wine too much at young age, Thy health will be ruined. But looking close, Thy face says Thee don’t have too many friends…”

Even when he tried to walk faster, it was useless. He was truly persistent in following him.

“Even so, ‘tis difficult. According to Confucius-nim… Virtuous person is not lonely… That’s a problem, but when talking about virtuous to young master…”

It felt as if his head was turning dizzy when he listened to the old-fashioned blabbing coming from just behind him. He took out and used headphones, but the warrior’s voice cut through the music and clearly echoed inside of his head.

He couldn’t endure it any longer and stopped walking.

“No way, are you thinking of following me all the way to my home?”

“Ah, Thou art on the way to Thy home? I shall go to young master’s home then. Because there is nowhere else to go.”

The warrior replied with a wide smile.

Yu Dan was at a loss for words.

“What nowhere to go?! Stop wandering like this and go back to your original place!”

“Well said. The very place I have to be is by the young lady’s side. As such, before I find the young lady, I can do nothing but wander aimlessly. I also do not want to cause the young master trouble, but alas, I cannot do without my duty.”

The look in warrior’s eyes was so sincere, it was terrible. But they also contained a firm resolve. It seemed that he had no thought of ever letting go before his wish was granted.

“Is that really so important?”

“What? Protecting young lady? Is that not natural? ‘tis more important than my breathing. But why art Thee asking? Art Thee going to help?”

Before he even replied, the warrior’s face brightened.

“Thank Thee, young master! Truly thank Thee!”

“When did I say I’m going to help?”

“I know Thee. Young master of such bright and benevolent mind would never abandon a person in trouble!”

“Noisy! Clearly answer my question! If I get you there, will you leave? You won’t be chasing me around anymore?”

“Naturally. If I return to the young lady, I’ll keep by the young lady’s side to protect Her the moment onward.”

“Where does that woman you call young lady live?”

“In that direction.”

The warrior pointed towards west-north.

“Where exactly?”

After being asked like this, he shook his head with an innocent face.

“I do not know that.”

“Distance?”

“That I also know not. Because everything is too queer, I can’t find the way at all. Since the time I last came out, how this world has changed so much? I know nothing but where young lady’s energy can be felt.”

“So you’re saying that we will have to just blindly walk around?”

“How can we do it if not by walking?”

The warrior tilted his head.

“Art Thee saying to ride a cart? Isn’t walking faster than finding a cart at this hour? We have to arrive before the new day shines.”

Then he swiftly jumped the stairs leading up to the park. He was as fast as a flying arrow.

“Make haste, young master. Why art Thee so slow? Please urge Thy steps a bit more. Young lady is waiting. Let’s hurry, young master!”
His head buzzed. Yu Dan sighed and climbed the long stairs.

“Got it. Because I got it, going a bit slowly…”

His grumpy words stopped.

He saw the back of the warrior who abruptly stopped on the top of the stairs.

The city unfolded under his feet.

Numerous lights blended and sparkled in the thick darkness. Looking from such a high place, it looked like an enormous jewel containing a mysterious brilliance.

“What is that my eyes see?”

The warrior was amazed.

“The district puts moonlight to shame, huh…”

He squinted his eyes and looked up into the sky. Looking up, the white moon was quietly hanging in the cloudless night sky.

“In the world I knew, the brightest was the light of this moon. Especially when that great moon rose, it chased away the darkness from every corner of the world.”

The face of the warrior under the moonlight looked heartrending.

“Young lady is scared of darkness. Even at dusk, She couldn’t come out from Her room out of fear. If by chance the candle would go out, She would tremble and stiffen in the darkness, unable to make the slightest move. So because of Her fear of darkness, I promised to become the moonlight and protect young lady.”

He slowly bowed his head and then turned to look at Yu Dan with a slight smile.

“That’s such a very old tale.”

“…”

“Awake or sleeping, I only live with this promise in my heart. Even when the time passed in a blink, I never forgot the young lady. I want to see the young lady very much.”

And he suddenly started to descend with big strides.

“Can we hurry just a little more? Please.”

While he took a moment to take a breath, he went down the stairs in the instant. Straight in front of eight lane road.

“Wait!”

Yu Dan jumped to run down, while panting. He barely caught the warrior just a hair breadth away from the rushing past car. The warrior’s eyes went round.

“What was that wicked sparkling beast that passed just a moment ago?”

“Car!”

“Car?”

“Yeah! A kind of… a cart!”

“Where is a horse[3]? How does it run without a horse?”

“If you look at it with your mind’s eye, it will show up. Anyhow, because it’s a road only for this kind of carts to use, we have to go this way.”

“Ah, alright.”

The warrior followed him promptly.

“Thank Thee for that a moment ago. If faced with that wicked cart without a horse, my body would turn into powder. As expected, my eyes were not wrong. Thou truly art an outstanding young master, eh?”

“No.”

“What no is no? Alas, thinking about it, what is Thy name?”

“Yu Dan.”

“It’s a young master Yu, eh? I don’t recognize Thy attire, what work Thee does?”

“Student.”

It was difficult to even breathe, so why did he have to make him talk so much? It was absurd that a thing that wasn’t even human was trying to do others’ census.

“Indeed. As Thou art a young scholar, Thy steps are slow. Consider, young master Yu. Between writing and reading, Thee can’t forget about training the body. They say in a healthy body, there is a healthy mind. Since old days great people yield both the sword and pen. In time free from writing and reading, ride a horse and shoot a bow. How about hunting in the mountains?”

“Then I would be arrested.”

“What Thee said? I didn’t hear. Come quick!”

The warrior, who ended up going a great distance ahead at some point, waved his hand.
 

*~*~*
 

[1] jangdokdae — an outside platform where jars and pots are placed.

[2] “Excuse me. That’s a big trouble. Thou has dokkaebi stuck to Thee.” — he is using an old-fashion way of speaking, so I’ll do my best to present it, but as I’m terrible at semi-old English, please excuse my lacking presentation.

[3] horse — to be precise ‘oxen or horses’.
 

Translator’s note: *the books that he ran away from at the beginning, staring at the young scholar Yu Dan.*
 

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