Chapter 78

# 78 < Inkyum Inkyum (4) >

***

Wild animals, who must always be wary of humans, have something innate like a chronic disease. It was fear. That’s why they would run away at the sound of human footsteps and avoid places that smelled of humans. So, after contact with humans, wild animals would often fall ill as if they had caught a disease they had no immunity to, withering away or refusing to eat until they died.

But after overeating hallucinogenic mushrooms and getting a boost of energy, they had a close encounter with humans. The wild boar, exhausted and regaining its senses, was shocked to realize that the one hugging it was a human. It was a shock that turned its world upside down. Suffocation was suffocation, and shock was shock.

You could call it a shock-induced death.

‘Is it really dead?’

Jin Hyuk checked the boar’s breathing once more.

That’s when it happened.

Grrr-.

Jang Gun-i approached the boar and sniffed it.

“What are you doing, Jang Gun-i?”

Thinking the sensitive dog had sensed something…

Jang Gun-i, as if entranced, licked the boar’s nose and snout.

Seeing a dog lick something is a common sight you can see 24/7, so Jin Hyuk felt relieved.

‘Phew, I was nervous.’

Jang Gun-i seemed to have confirmed the death sentence. He even greedily licked the foamy bubbles flowing from the boar’s nostrils and mouth. Despite Jin Hyuk’s attempts to pull him away, he kept lunging at it.

“Jang Gun-i, stop it.”

Grrr-.

Is this dog crazy? He’s barked before since coming to the past, but never bared his teeth so fiercely.

Grrr-clack-clack-clack-!

The sound of teeth clashing was so scary that Jin Hyuk stopped trying to intervene.

Anyway.

‘If my little sister wants to eat it, what can I do?’

Jin Hyuk picked up Yoo Jin and held her securely with his strong arm. With his other hand, he grabbed the boar’s hind leg. It was quite heavy, but with the strength in his back, shoulders, and arms, he managed to drag it. He thought about carrying it on his back but decided against it for hygiene reasons.

Heheheh-.

Jang Gun-i, having licked the boar’s foamy mouth and with bloodshot eyes, wagged his tail happily.

At this moment, the fact that he could lift the heavy boar wasn’t important.

‘What a mess.’

His shirt and T-shirt were torn by the boar’s tusks, and one of his sneakers had its sole ripped off, constantly slipping off his foot. With every step, the shoe flopped around.

The pitiful state of his appearance was uncomfortable, but there was something else bothering him.

Heheheh-.

Jang Gun-i had climbed onto the boar, wagging his tail with a happy expression. It looked like a triumphant general returning from battle. The name “Jang Gun-i” (General Jang) seemed fitting for him.

“Ugh!”

He vented his frustration by exerting his strength. His forearms trembled from the effort of handling the boar. Even when the boar got caught on tree roots or rocks, he managed to pull it through with a grunt. Somehow, he dragged it all the way to the bus road.

As they left the shaded forest, the bright autumn afternoon sun greeted the siblings.

‘Ha, what do I do with this?’

It’s not like he couldn’t handle it, but he had no experience preparing a boar. He had managed to prepare a chicken with his mom’s help, but a boar? Ah, thinking of chickens reminded him of Chicken Johnson. That guy had contributed greatly to Jin Hyuk’s stamina and his dad’s energy.

That summer, both his dad and Hong Ki-jun were feeling weak, so they had to catch Chicken Johnson for nourishment. His mom wanted to do it, but Jin Hyuk couldn’t bear to see her do such a tough job, so he did it himself. It was heartbreaking, but there was no other choice. They boiled it in a cauldron for six hours.

‘It was delicious.’

It wouldn’t have been possible without the help of Choi Jang-hwan, the all-around farmer.

‘Right. Mr. Choi could probably handle a boar too.’

After some thought, Jin Hyuk headed to Choi Mi-kyung’s house. During neighborhood gatherings or feasts, Choi Jang-hwan would bring a pig in a sack on a tractor and prepare it himself. So, a wild boar should be no problem for him. It’s something only possible in the countryside.

The sedan parked since morning was still there, with two men sleeping in the back seat. Taking a nap in the car during the Chuseok holiday… And two men were sitting on a nearby rock.

‘Are they still watching our house?’

He thought they were here to check the land, but they seemed to be staring at one spot. The spot they were intently watching was Jin Hyuk’s three-story house.

Thud-thud-thud-thud-.

As he dragged the boar with a heavy sound, the men in the car woke up startled and looked outside. The men who had been slacking off also scrutinized Jin Hyuk closely.

Jin Hyuk, like a typical rural middle schooler, walked past them nonchalantly. His clothes were torn, one arm holding his little sister, the other dragging a boar. A perfectly ordinary rural teenager.

Jin Hyuk’s poker face wavered for a moment as he glanced at the men.

‘They’re like ghosts.’

They smelled different from ordinary people. If asked how he knew, Jin Hyuk couldn’t explain. It was just a feeling, with his hair standing on end, pores opening, and his scalp heating up.

When he faced the bloodshot-eyed boar, his neck and ears tingled. Now, looking at these men, the back of his head felt prickly.

‘Is this what it feels like to see a ghost on a moonlit night?’

Their indifferent gazes said it all. Even as he carried a child and dragged a boar, they showed no surprise or curiosity. Their calm, lazy eyes only made Jin Hyuk more nervous.

‘Something’s definitely off.’

He needed to find out. Before his parents returned.

Bad premonitions are rarely wrong.

“Hello-.”

Yoo Jin greeted the suspicious men with a bright smile, tightening her grip around her brother’s neck.

***

Moon Seok-il was stunned by the unbelievable sight. His friend was the same, and the two younger brothers resting in the car reacted similarly.

‘What… is that?’

He had seen a wild boar drag a man by the pants leg before. It was during training in Cheorwon, Gangwon-do. He had to maintain his composure and struck the boar’s neck with a sword to save the man.

But here was a young man dragging a wild boar.

‘Is he a soldier?’

During training in Hwacheon, they hunted wild boars to supplement their calorie intake. When transporting a boar, they usually tied its legs to an iron pipe and carried it on their shoulders, then loaded it onto a truck… No, that’s not the point. A boar of that size must weigh close to 200kg.

The young man, judging by his hairstyle, might be a soldier on leave. He was tall and sturdy. The young man, who looked almost too young, was effortlessly carrying the heavy boar without breaking a sweat.

Thud-thud-thud-.

Moon Seok-il couldn’t close his mouth until the boar was out of sight.

Still in shock, his voice was weak, and his eyes remained dazed.

“Saeng-tae…”

“What…”

“That guy came from that house, right?”

“Right.”

“But why is he going that way?”

“How should I know…”

“Is he the younger brother?”

“He looks similar, but…”

Both were in a daze, barely able to answer Moon Seok-il’s questions. Their voices were drowsy, as if they were about to fall asleep.

Moon Seok-il’s lips were dry, and his throat felt parched.

“Is he our junior?”

“…He must be a junior.”

It would be disrespectful to address him casually. The friend called Saeng-tae moved his lips.

If there’s an agent with such strength, even if he’s a distant junior, it’s proper to use honorifics.

He gently tapped Moon Seok-il’s arm.

“Did we take on the wrong mission?”

“It seems so, but he’s not the target.”

“If we mess with that junior, we might not even have bones left. He’s so strong.”

“There are four of us. Do we rely on strength for the mission?”

Even as he said that, Moon Seok-il’s voice was filled with helplessness.

Moon Seok-il shook his head hard to regain his composure and took a deep breath. He slowly nodded, recalling the mission. He looked over his comrades again. They were the elite of the elite.

“They won’t be away from home for long, right?”

“Right. Country chickens don’t wander after sunset. They’ll be back soon.”

Then we’ll act.

***

“Ahhhh!”

Chaos erupted at Choi Mi-kyung’s house.

Neighbors had gathered to watch Choi Tae-yang’s wrestling match during the holiday when Choi Mi-kyung screamed at the sight of the wild boar. Everyone came out to the porch and scrutinized Jin Hyuk from head to toe.

“Oh my! What happened to you, Jin Hyuk! Did you roll down the mountain?”

“No.”

The boar tore it. But Yoo Jin and Jang Gun-i are fine.

He did roll, but not in the way they thought, so it wasn’t a lie.

“Sir, can you take care of this…”

“What? What is this? Did you bring it from the mountain?”

Only then did Choi Jang-hwan notice the boar and was shocked. His startled cry brought out other residents who hadn’t been visible before, all crowding around to see the boar.

“I went to pick chestnuts on the back mountain.”

“If you eat something that’s been dead for a long time, you’ll get sick.”

It had only been dead for 15 minutes.

Choi Jang-hwan examined the boar. Jo Il-hun, the expert, also inspected it with a cigarette dangling from his mouth and narrowed eyes. The nose and mouth were wet, the body still warm, and rigor mortis hadn’t set in. He pressed it with a lighter, and it gave way.

“Brother, this hasn’t been dead long. The blood hasn’t even clotted yet.”

Choi Jang-hwan nodded in agreement, resting his chin on his hand.

“Hmm. It’s fresh. Did you carry this all by yourself, Jin Hyuk?”

“No, well…”

He didn’t carry it, but he did bring it alone. How to explain this? There was no good way, so Jin Hyuk vaguely pointed to the mountain and the bean field, waving his hand like a maestro out of sync.

“Please share it with the neighbors. Goodbye.”

“Jin Hyuk, what should we do with it?”

Choi Jang-hwan’s voice followed Jin Hyuk as he hurriedly left.

He brought it because his little sister wanted to eat it, but he didn’t really want to eat a wild animal. What to do?

After some thought, he met Yoo Jin’s pleading gaze.

With so many adults watching, Yoo Jin couldn’t say it outright, but she shook her brother’s hand gently, clearly not wanting to give up on the boar.

“Umm- umm-.”

Yoo Jin made a whining sound she usually didn’t, quietly so only her brother could hear.

Ah, Yoo Jin really loves meat. How could he ignore those pitiful eyes?

“Just a few ribs…”

As Jin Hyuk answered in a low voice, Jo Il-hun jumped up.

“What do you mean, ribs! You should give him a whole hind leg!”

“The hind leg? The front leg and belly are the tastiest!”

“No, no! Really, just a little. I’ll go now!”

“Alright! I’ll prepare it so well you won’t even smell it. Come back in the evening!”

Leaving Jo Il-hun, who called himself “brother” despite being older than Jin Hyuk’s dad, Jin Hyuk carried Yoo Jin and headed home.

The murmurs of Choi Jang-hwan and Jo Il-hun followed him.

“Can we eat this?”

“Even deer are edible, but wild boar is better.”

“But why did it die?”

“Probably ate poisonous mushrooms. There’s powder all over its snout. Why is this side clean, like someone licked it?”

“Do wild boars die from eating poisonous mushrooms?”

“Of course. It’s poison. Look, it’s dead like this.”

It sounded like a joke, but Jo Il-hun’s serious expression said otherwise.

“If we eat this, will we die?”

“Ha! Come on. Brother Jo is talking nonsense again. This is a rare delicacy. Just remove the guts, and the rest is edible.”

“But do wild boars even come around here?”

“Who knows? It came here and died. For people, home is where they live, but for animals, it’s where they die.”

Jin Hyuk thought Jo Il-hun’s words made sense. Once, if it weren’t for his parents’ graves, he wouldn’t have considered this place home, preferring Seoul instead.

“Hahaha, what a world. Did our Tae-yang become a wrestling champion, and the heavens dropped this?”

Choi Jang-hwan’s words made Jin Hyuk feel a bit resentful. If Tae-yang became a champion, a cow would fall from the sky.

He almost became a laughingstock after all that hard work catching the boar, only for someone to suggest it was a gift from heaven. No way he could agree with that.