Chapter 208

<Luck (5)>

With the support of Hong Ki-jun and Yoo Se-ra, they are enjoying privileges that no one else in the world has received. The world is already looking at them with tinted glasses, so it’s embarrassing to even call themselves victims.

Jin Hyuk, still catching his breath, spoke clearly.

“This time, it’s better to have just enough noise to not be too loud. Even if it’s for the athletes, the egg should hatch slowly.”

If you crack a hard egg suddenly, the world inside will just die.

If it’s exposed to noise and pollution and disappears, how shocking would it be for the young dreamers who only had their eyes on that world? Like Park Ji-beom or the guys I met during the princess training camp, friends who only know sports.

Whoever is in the federation, whatever they do, I don’t care.

I don’t intend to blame them, nor do I wish for them to change.

Jin Hyuk is just one of the ordinary people who can’t understand the rigid administration.

‘They must lack will. Or maybe they’re in a position that doesn’t match their abilities.’

Min Yong-rak, holding his chin, nodded. It seemed like he knew what to say.

“There are many competitions ahead, and if we keep clashing and conflicting like this, we’ll only end up hurting each other.”

“That’s true. The federation will be criticized for prioritizing outdated regulations over athletes…”

SI Sports will be accused of ignoring the country.

Criticism of the federation will be limited to some and short-lived. That’s just how public opinion works.

However, the possibility of the Sain Sports Foundation being buried forever cannot be ignored. There’s no guarantee that the criticism won’t spread to the Sain Group.

Jin Hyuk didn’t want things to get noisy in a bad way either.

He just hoped his demands would be accepted.

“Don’t push for free participation, just take action after the competition ends.”

“What if we don’t push?”

“If we don’t participate in this competition at all, rumors will gain strength.”

“That makes sense. We can just leak it to a few reporters, right?”

Whew-.

Jin Hyuk, who had been catching his breath, smiled faintly.

As in the past, we’re on the same wavelength.

In the past, I thought it was due to his experience as a former overseas branch manager, but it seems like a natural talent. He’s not cunning enough to be called a strategist, but he’s a decent advisor.

‘We’ll just leak the rumor that the federation and athletes are out of sync…’

Is there anything else we need? Are we missing any pieces? But that should be enough. There’s no weapon as powerful as being known to the world.

Just revising regulations that seem to exist more for the federation than the athletes should be satisfying enough.

‘Well, if it doesn’t work out, I can just quit being an athlete. Someone will benefit.’

I desperately want to fit into the world as a human, but that world is literally the human world, not limited to the small sports community. It’s fortunate that Jin Hyuk and Yoo Se-ra’s goals align. It would be troublesome if companions had different intentions.

Finally, after organizing his thoughts, he nodded.

“Let’s proceed as planned.”

“Okay.”

Jin Hyuk changed the topic while looking at the empty bear cage.

“By the way, don’t you know, Mr. Min?”

“I don’t know SSS’s internal secrets either.”

Where are these people being called to? They’ve been leaving their positions frequently for months. They come back for a day or two, then disappear again, sometimes for 3-4 days, sometimes for over a week.

“But at least the minimum number of people stay, so it’s fine, right?”

“It’s not about safety, I’m just curious.”

Moon Seok-il didn’t say anything either.

The only answer he got was that they were often away for training.

Even Jin Hyuk, who dislikes speculation, can’t help but guess their movements.

Perhaps they’re moving to prevent past accidents from happening to Hong Ki-jun. Given the quiet media without any special incidents, it’s a reasonable assumption.

Sometimes, seeing personnel being pulled from the side, it seems like Hong Ki-jun is secretly pushing something, like New Boss.

Anyway, I don’t know where they’re going, but I know where they’re staying. It’s been months since the beloved SSS uncles have been around, and I feel a bit lonely.

“I feel like I’ve become a Nakdong River duck egg…”

“Me too. Playing only with Jin-nam hyung, my way of speaking is getting weird.”

On Saturday, while swimming with Lee Dong-ho and taking a break, Yoo Jin chimed in.

“I know that. Duck eggs are delicious when boiled.”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

But how should I explain this?

As Jin Hyuk scratched his head, Yoo Jin clapped her hands.

“Ah, right! Speaking of eggs, I have something to show you!”

It seems like today’s workout ends here.

***

On a sunny afternoon in late April.

Jin Hyuk, who finished his workout early, was guarding the living room.

“Eung-a, eung-a-. Daddy’s a fool-ool-ool-.”

Holding Jeong Won-i, who was whining in his sleep.

Yoo Jin told him to wait without moving.

Jeong Won-i, who had two bowls of lunch and a beef porridge snack, had made his diaper heavy.

Jin Hyuk changed the diaper and cleaned the baby with water.

Jeong Won-i, feeling refreshed but drowsy, wiggled his limbs in his brother’s arms.

“Sleepy- sleepy-. Our baby-.”

Rocking his upper body side to side, comforting his nearly two-year-old brother, Yoo Jin appeared with something.

“Oppa, here it is.”

“Hmm…”

What is this?

Jin Hyuk’s eyes widened as he saw the object Yoo Jin brought from the utility room.

In the old days, rural mothers would carry straw or towels rolled up on their heads when going to the fields. Some called it a ‘ttwae,’ but anyway, the towel Yoo Jin brought was rolled up like that.

And on top of it.

“Yoo Jin, where did you get that?”

A small egg resembling a turquoise? Jade? Something blue.

Its shape and size were similar to a quail egg. Maybe a bit bigger…

“Yesterday, with Jang Gun-i, Hong-shi, Cheon-ma, Gwang-ma, Geon-ma- huff huff-.”

With so many dogs, it was exhausting to name them all, so Yoo Jin stuck out her tongue like Jang Gun-i.

“We went to the reservoir and found it.”

“I see…”

So, you went to the reservoir with the dogs and found an egg.

“Oppa, you know what… Yesterday, something happened…”

Placing the rolled-up towel in front of her oppa, Yoo Jin knelt down and began recounting yesterday’s adventure.

*

The spring wind blows not only into adults’ hearts but also into children’s. When the lungs are filled with spring wind, it’s natural to use physical strength as a catalyst to oxidize it. After school, Son Yoo-jin set out on an adventure alone. Though with five dogs as escorts, it’s hard to call it a pure single-player game.

She walked along the wide cosmos path beside the bus road.

The path she used to take, carried by her dad or holding her oppa’s hand.

“Geon-ma, the cosmos are still babies. In autumn, they’ll grow this tall and bloom.”

She didn’t forget to educate Geon-ma, who was sniffing the tender cosmos leaves.

Meeting the forest where her oppa meditated, she followed the forest path down to the reservoir.

It’s the path her oppa runs every day, climbing Gu-bong Mountain.

“Ugh, ticks are scary.”

Though it’s still April, the early summer heralds, the furry friends, had taken over the leaves.

But she couldn’t turn back now. Leading the way confidently, following Jang Gun-i, who seemed to know the path well.

“Jang Gun-a, oppa said he’ll take me to Gu-bong Mountain next year.”

Hehehek-?

Jang Gun-i, glancing back briefly, tilted his head and walked ahead again.

As the downhill ended and flat ground appeared, the forest path ended, revealing neatly squared rice fields. Prepared flat for planting and filled with water, the fields reflected the sky like a giant mirror.

“Kyaa-! So many clouds in the fields! The clouds are moving!”

Sitting on a large rock that had guarded the field path since before Son Yoo-jin was born, she shared dried fish with the dogs. A bit fishy for Yoo-jin’s taste, but a must-have for adventures.

“Should’ve grilled it? Chomp chomp.”

Reaching the reservoir, the wind carrying the scent of water messed up her bangs.

“Wow! So much water!”

It had been two seasons since her last visit in late autumn.

The water plants and reeds, withered by the autumn wind and melted by the water, were now in full bloom, showing off their green life.

A strange sight caught her large eyes, which reflected the sky and water.

“Jang Gun-a, what’s that?”

Hek?

Jang Gun-i just tilted his head, looking where Yoo-jin pointed.

In the reeds, where brown and green blended perfectly, a large bird was holding a jewel in its beak. At first glance, it resembled a hawk, but its body was white except for its wings, and its beak and eyes resembled a seagull. What it held wasn’t a jewel but a turquoise egg.

“Uh-? Hey!”

Son Yoo-jin shouted.

Though she learned to leave nature as it is, this seemed like an exception.

The large bird was trying to swallow the egg.

Whether it’s the mother, aunt, or whoever, swallowing an egg!

What crime did the unborn chick commit!

“Don’t eat it!”

Kyaaaaaak-!

The reeds shook violently as if a typhoon had hit.

Woof! Woof woof!

Following Yoo-jin’s shout, Jang Gun-i barked fiercely.

Flap! Splash!

Startled by the sudden intruder, the bird dropped the egg and flew away.

*

Jin Hyuk listened to his sister’s story with a serious expression.

Worried if his sister had done something wrong.

“Yoo-jin, you didn’t do anything wrong.”

She’s a good kid.

Even though she feels guilty, she confesses to her oppa.

Well, it might feel bad to interfere with the natural ecosystem, but isn’t Yoo-jin also part of nature? From Jin Hyuk’s perspective, Yoo-jin was just there at the right time and acted according to her conscience. So what if she intervened a bit? She’s not a documentary director.

“You said Yoo-jin brought it after it fell into the water?”

“I told Hong-shi to bring it. Oppa said not to go into the water because it’s dangerous.”

“You did well not to go in.”

Patting Yoo-jin’s head, Jin Hyuk examined the egg closely.

Its color was similar to a cuckoo’s egg, but smaller.

‘It’s not a cuckoo’s egg.’

The one trying to swallow it must be a cuckoo.

From Yoo-jin’s description and the bird’s behavior, he couldn’t think of any other suspect. The water rail only stirs the fields, not stealing other birds’ eggs.

Jin Hyuk’s dad, a countryman in Seoul, used to take young Jin Hyuk around the neighborhood, telling stories like a tour guide, including one about cuckoos.

Cuckoos lay eggs between April, when spring is in full swing, and June, when it starts to get hot. Even now, you can hear cuckoos all day long throughout the neighborhood.

Cuckoos are cunning, laying eggs in other birds’ nests, shifting the burden of hatching and raising to others. In the process, they swallow the existing eggs to match the number and avoid suspicion from the host. Jin Hyuk remembers hearing this story from his dad when he was ten, while going to the fields.

“Oppa, what kind of egg is this?”

“Probably a bunting’s egg.”

Encouraged by her oppa’s comfort rather than scolding, Yoo-jin turned her attention to the egg.

As far as Jin Hyuk knows, the only bird in this neighborhood that lays small, plain turquoise eggs is the bunting.

“Not a sparrow’s egg? There were sparrows flying around.”

“It’s probably a bunting. They look like sparrows.”

But what should we do with this?

We can’t put it back.

There are too many nests, and even if we return it, the mother might abandon the nest if she smells humans, leaving the other eggs.

“Is it alive?”

He held the egg up to the living room window, letting sunlight through.

Not that it would reveal the inside.

“Hmm… I can’t tell.”

“It’s alive. Its heart is beating.”

“Oh, really?”

If Yoo-jin says so, then it must be true.

She can even tell her oppa’s heartbeat on the bus, so who else to trust?

Should I sneak it into the chicken coop or try to hatch it like Edison?

Holding the sleeping Jeong Won-i with one hand and the egg with the other, he fell into deep thought.

“What if I carry it around?”

“What if it breaks?”

Clumsy Yoo-jin carrying the egg to school?

It’s a miracle if she doesn’t accidentally swallow it, forgetting it’s the egg she saved from the cuckoo.

Last time, she went to the kitchen to get milk for her oppa and came back with milk on her mouth, holding an empty cup.

“Oppa, what if we ask the hens? They’re good at hatching eggs.”

“I thought of that, but I’m worried about the Ogye chickens.”

The current leader is Duck Johnson Jr., 23 or 24 years old. Anyway, those Duck Johnson guys won’t just leave it alone. They even crack and eat their own eggs and catch mice and snakes, so there’s no guarantee the egg will be safe.

“Ah, if even oppa doesn’t know, let’s ask Wooj-cat. Our Haengun-i might not hatch.”

“Its name is Haengun-i?”

Naming a bird that hasn’t even hatched yet, Yoo-jin is something else.

“Yeah, yeah. I just thought of it. It’s blue, so I thought it was a bluebird. Haengun’s bluebird. And, well, we found it luckily. So, Haengun-i.”

“That’s a good name. I hope this egg brings you luck.”

It’s an egg that will bring luck to our Yoo-jin, so we can’t just let it rot!

Carefully placing Jeong Won-i on the blanket, he crawled to where the phone was.