Chapter 68

#68 <The Great Fortune of Protection (3)>

***

“Dad, there’s an old man living alone in the neighborhood.”

Jin-hyeok told his dad about Cheon Gil-ryong after arriving home.

When he left Cheon Gil-ryong’s house, he subtly observed that the old man didn’t seem to be struggling. Garlic and dried pollack hung from the eaves, and through the half-open gate, he caught a glimpse of some precious ingredients. Still, he wanted to help in some way.

In a neighborhood with vast land but not many people, even Son Kwang-yeon knew about Cheon Gil-ryong.

“People like that have strong pride, so I’ll ask the village head if there’s anything we can do to help. Adding what they need is the real way to help. Ughhh-.”

Son Kwang-yeon lay on the living room floor, twisting his back. His serious tone didn’t match his clumsy movements, but since he couldn’t reach the painful spot, there was nothing else he could do.

Thinking his dad was doing yoga, Jin-hyeok was impressed.

Clean. Such a straightforward decision. And his dad always keeps his word. Now, Jin-hyeok just had to keep his promise. He thought he’d catch more gobies this fall.

‘To do that, I should buy a new spinning rod.’

Exciting. I’ll buy an expensive one. Bamboo rods stimulate a man’s analog sensibilities, but sensibilities don’t catch fish. As Jin-hyeok excitedly welcomed the shopping spirit, Hong Ki-jun interrupted his excitement.

“Why do you call him ‘Dad’?”

Adults are like this. They ask without hesitation, even about trivial things, just to satisfy their curiosity. Well, it was a curious issue. Other rural kids called their fathers ‘Dad’ by the time they were in upper elementary school.

Normally, he would have answered with “Just because,” but now Hong Ki-jun was the one handling Jin-hyeok’s 40 million won. He thought he needed to be a bit kinder.

Money really is the best.

“I just like calling him that.”

Maybe it’s a compensation for the days he couldn’t call him that.

He knew no words could explain it.

But then Hong Ki-jun asked an unexpected question.

“What will you call me?”

Come to think of it, they hadn’t decided on a title or called each other anything specific before.

What do people usually call in such cases? Hey? Mr. Hong? The neighborhood adults usually say, “Hey, look here.”

‘Calling him ‘Boss’ suits my taste.’

Jin-hyeok, whose social skills stopped growing at nine. His body was that of a child, but his mind was middle-aged, so even after returning to the past, he didn’t develop further. Calling his friends’ parents ‘Uncle’ or ‘Auntie’ was enough.

‘It seems like he wants to be called something different.’

Uncle? No, he’s my 40 million won. Uncle? Do people usually call him that?

But Jin-hyeok knew Hong Ki-jun’s tendencies. He enjoyed subtle special treatment more than outright flattery.

Jin-hyeok struggled to find an answer.

“Father······.”

“Hahahahahaha!”

That seemed to be the right answer.

Hong Ki-jun even clapped his hands in delight.

Even if I were reborn, life is still hard. And the saying that you never know about people is true. Who would have thought the great Son Jin-hyeok would be buttering someone up.

Yoo Se-ra, who was watching from the kitchen, threw the bean sprouts she was trimming and ran over. It was exactly like little Hong Soo-jung’s behavior.

“Jin-hyeok! What about me? What about me?”

Why are they like this, seriously.

***

The moon was bright as the full moon approached.

Early in the morning, Jin-hyeok woke up and sat on his bed, admiring the round moon illuminating the room. The icy blue light passed through his retina and optic nerve, making even his heart ache.

‘Still, it’s beautiful.’

Perhaps it was because he felt too light, making it hard to fall asleep early. Last night, he ran more than usual and did twice as many pull-ups and jump ropes.

Yoo Se-ra, excited to hear “Mom,” kept offering makgeolli, making it uncomfortable to stay at home. Hong Ki-jun and Yoo Se-ra kept toasting and finished all the makgeolli.

‘Should I listen to some music?’

Click-.

He pressed the play button on the cassette player on the bedside table. Hong Ki-jun brought it, saying it was the latest, top-of-the-line mini component from Sain Electronics, with two cassette slots and a CD player.

Of course, it had auto-reverse, so there was no need to flip the tape.

‘Listening to music and relaxing, what a life.’

A song by the Australian band Air Supply started playing.

The piano intro, which felt like flying above the clouds in a clear sky, made his heart flutter.

Sitting on the bed listening to music, his lips naturally curled up.

‘The more I think about it, the more amazing it is.’

In his past life, his first media player was an MP3 player he bought after being discharged from the military. But this time, even when living in a mud house, he lay on his mom’s lap listening to the radio and songs on cassette.

And a mini component at that. It was the first time Jin-hyeok had used such a thing.

‘Should I fiddle with it?’

Since he couldn’t sleep, he was curious about various things.

He quickly shook his head. Hong Ki-jun had gifted him a 386 computer and programming books along with the latest Sain Electronics product. It was fun, but sitting for long periods made him antsy. In the past, he could sit all day without a problem, but now, after getting used to more active tasks, it seemed like a side effect.

“But I don’t know how to leave you-.”

As he softly sang along and turned his eyes to the window.

Jin-hyeok’s eyes widened, and a chill ran down his spine.

‘What’s that!’

It was a shadow.

At a distance impossible for the human eye to discern, Jin-hyeok glared at the dark shadow with sharp eyes.

On a moonlit night when even dogs didn’t bark, a shadow appeared in a place with no houses. Its movements were swift and decisive, not even looking around. The shadow disappeared back to where it came from.

To Jin-hyeok, it seemed like a prearranged action.

Following with his eyes, he saw a dark forest where the shadow disappeared.

At that moment, only one word came to Jin-hyeok’s mind.

‘Spy!’

During the full moon’s high tide, the tidal flats turn into deep seas. The army built outposts and used TOD for night surveillance, but monitoring the winding west coast with battalion strength was nearly impossible.

There’s a story from before Jin-hyeok was born.

It happened in a distant village, where the village head’s head disappeared overnight. The story is still famous in the neighborhood.

The son of a man who worked as a farmhand under a landlord went north right after the Korean War armistice. Unable to forget the humiliation and hardship his father endured, he returned during the full moon tide with a high-performance boat and cut off the old landlord’s neck with a sickle.

– “But how did they know it was him?”

– “How would I know? It was a full moon, so it was bright. The landlord’s son saw him carrying a blood-dripping bundle while returning from a social gathering. He thought he was drunk and seeing things, so he let it go. The next day, when they found the landlord’s head missing, they realized what had happened.”

Back when they lived in a mud house, Jin-hyeok remembered trembling while hugging his mom as Jo Il-hun told the story. Even though there was no reason for a spy to come, spies were scarier than ghosts to ordinary people.

‘No way a spy would come to our village!’

You might say it’s not the time for spies, but the town square and entrance still have signs saying “Surrender and find the light.”

Moreover, if they were active where the family’s house was clearly visible, it would be unsettling.

He quickly changed clothes.

He couldn’t recklessly report a spy with uncertain information, so he planned to find at least some clues.

Click-.

“Eek-!”

He almost stepped on Yoo Jin, who was sleeping like a frog in front of the door. But thanks to that, he calmed down and regained his composure.

What a strange sibling. Whether he woke up in the morning or in the middle of the night, she was always sleeping there.

As always, Jin-hyeok laid his sister on the bed and covered her with a blanket.

He flew down the stairs like a flying squirrel to avoid making noise.

It only took a few seconds to move to the front door, put on his shoes, and step into the yard.

Woof-.

“Shh-. Don’t follow.”

Jang Gun-i, who had happily gotten up, lay back down with a disappointed look.

It couldn’t be helped. Jang Gun-i would be helpful in tracking, but who knows what danger might be waiting.

Swish-.

He concentrated his weight on the balls of his feet to minimize noise and footprints. He ran on tiptoe, crouching as much as possible, just like in night infiltration training.

‘Was it called a drop point?’

He definitely learned that during his military service.

A place where spies hide necessary items or use as a contact point.

With the sea forming deep inland, it was the perfect time for a rendezvous. If a suspicious person moved as if trained and prearranged at this late hour, it was likely a drop point.

‘If I search, I’ll find evidence.’

How much was the reward?

The heart of the secularly reborn Jin-hyeok started beating fast for no reason.

He moved like the wind, choosing only the shadowy ridges. He felt like someone might be watching, and it actually felt like someone was.

He arrived where the shadow had lingered and quickly disappeared.

There was a rock the size of a small jar.

Wow-, he couldn’t help but admire. Even to Jin-hyeok, it was an amazing location.

At the intersection of two fields and two rice paddies, there was a small pond. Five steps east from the pond was the rock.

‘Must be their rule for choosing drop points.’

If he moved the rock, there would be a small hole, and inside, a square can. Jin-hyeok thought of the reward and national security as he controlled his breathing.

‘Soo-jung will become famous.’

It was a chance to become the most famous middle school student.

Grunt-. With effort, the heavy rock moved with a vibration.

‘What? Why is there nothing?’

When he moved the rock, two earthworms wriggled, and three small black bugs with pincer-like tails scurried away. A few pale roots, deprived of sunlight, struggled to survive in the brown soil.

But this wasn’t the Son Jin-hyeok to give up.

Jin-hyeok began tracking where the shadow had disappeared.

He moved as stealthily as possible, following the shadow’s path.

‘Looks like combat boots.’

He didn’t know if spies wore combat boots, but the footprints on the ridge weren’t from shoes or sneakers.

His disappointed heart started beating fast again.

Moving cautiously, trying not to make a sound, he followed the footprints.

‘Sigh-, I’m screwed.’

The forest where the shadow disappeared had too many fallen leaves.

The moonlight didn’t reach, so he couldn’t see any traces on the leaves.

He couldn’t just barge in. If a bullet came from an unseen place, it would be trouble. No matter how confident he was in hand-to-hand combat, against a highly trained agent armed with a gun, he couldn’t guarantee victory.

‘They can hit targets just by hearing footsteps with their eyes closed.’

There was no guarantee a spy was hiding in the forest.

The sound of insects interfered with his hearing, but if someone was hiding in the forest, there should be some disturbance, and it should be detectable. But the forest was quiet. The quiet made his courage shrink.

‘Let’s be realistic.’

He had no choice but to plan for next time.

Pondering how to catch the spy, Jin-hyeok followed the darkness back. Feeling like eyes were watching him from all directions, his ears twitched.

Returning to his room like a thief, Yoo Jin was sound asleep, and Michael Bolton’s song was playing from the mini component.

‘At least I got some night exercise.’

Tsk-.

Jin-hyeok stared at the drop point for a long time, unable to sleep.

Peeking through the curtains.

‘I should ask Dad for a telescope.’

A telescope that works well at night must be expensive.

Thump thump-.

Getting excited about owning an expensive telescope while facing a spy.

Life keeps getting harder.