This World is too Cruel to Men – Chapter 44

As I was bewildered by the unexpected ambush, a grumbling voice came from right beside me.

“What, are you some kind of local punk?”

“Just because I said that one little thing, you treat me like a punk? You’re the one acting like a punk here!”

“What are you talking about? Your tone just screamed ‘Hey, it looks like a good vibe here…’ and that’s what made you the very definition of a punk!”

“What does that even mean?”

“Ah, maybe it’s not well-known here.”

“No, I mean, what does it mean?”

“It exists, it does.”

Yeah, that makes sense.

I briefly wondered ‘Could it be…?’, but it really couldn’t be.

If I flinched at something that trivial, I wouldn’t be having this mental struggle to begin with.

“And you should make some sense. What’s a couple anyway?”

“What doesn’t make sense about that?”

“Come on, doesn’t it seem a bit off? If she’s been dumbfounded this whole time, why hasn’t she said anything?”

That’s not quite the case.

Anyway, it seems that their common sense just evaporates in situations like this…

It’s not the first time, and since this happens all the time, it got to the point where I couldn’t help but suspect they were pretending not to know.

Well, their expressions said otherwise.

“And who doesn’t see you trying to sneak snacks in while drawing attention like that?”

“Did I get caught?”

“Yep, you did. Put it back quickly while I’m still being nice.”

“Come on, can’t I at least have one snack?!”

“Are you a child? Take your tantrums somewhere else. Just put it back.”

“Ugh… so petty.”

“Or should I reduce the amount of meat?”

“I’ll put it back right away…”

Honestly, it was kind of silly, but I couldn’t help but snicker at Dogun’s back as he sulked around.

Sure, there were a few attempts to waste our somewhat limited budget along the way, but Dogun successfully managed to save it.

*

“Looks like you didn’t buy much, but it’s surprisingly a lot, huh?”

“Despite the looks, it’s enough to last us three days. So, it has to be a lot.”

These are the things I took from home that seemed a bit awkward to buy new; had I just brought clothes, we would’ve ended up with one more bag.

Of course, that would have meant spending even more money.

“So, how much do we have left?”

“Well, I saw earlier that we had enough left for bus fare home, plus half a chicken per person.”

“What?! Even after buying this much, we still have that much left?”

“That’s the power of this brother here. Got it? If you understand, just honor it.”

“So, are we ordering chicken?!”

“Well… we have the money, so technically, there’s nothing wrong with it, but… I’m not sure if there are stores that deliver to the campsite.”

If this felt even slightly urban, I wouldn’t have worried at all.

In this day and age, you could get deliveries to parks if you asked nicely.

‘But here…’

The only two things you could find anywhere are churches and chicken restaurants, so as rural as it is, chicken places are everywhere, but… aren’t campsites usually located in secluded areas?

That means we’re in the outskirts of the countryside, and there’s a strong possibility that not even a convenience store or supermarket exists nearby.

What that means is, if we decide to order chicken, we’d actually be placing the order from a spot that’s near the center of town.

But will they really deliver?

Well… they probably will.

If we order about ten pieces, they’d want to fulfill it just to keep us from not ordering.

But with the money we have left, we could manage three or four pieces, but ten would be pushing it.

‘And even if we order that much…’

Who’s going to eat it all…?

So when they started shining their eyes at the mention of chicken, it was hard for me to give them an easy answer.

“Or could we just go back into the mart and buy a chicken to fry for chicken?”

“Who’s going to fry the chicken?”

I genuinely wondered why everyone was looking at me like I was asking the obvious.

“Me?”

“I mean, no, we believe you can handle this, Dogun.”

Oh, come on…

“If that’s the case, you might as well tell me to bring the entire fridge along.”

As I listened, what?

Fry the chicken?

“Oh, frying chicken is just a matter of dipping the chicken in a quick batter and frying it in oil, right?”

Well, technically, it isn’t entirely wrong…

“So wouldn’t it just involve buying breading and chicken?”

Of course, that’s not the case.

“Excuse me, teachers? Uh… if it’s made like that, it’s not chicken; it’s just chicken fried with batter.”

“Fried chicken is fried chicken.”

“No, doing it like that won’t give you the flavor you want!”

“Isn’t it unknown until you try?”

“Right, right.”

But why do they only unleash this daring spirit in places like this?

I understand wanting to try something new with the excitement of camping, but my honest hope is that they don’t channel that energy into cooking.

Other fields are roughly the same, but in cooking, a beginner’s fresh attempts usually lead to failures.

Isn’t that why we mockingly call it a memorization subject?

We say it because, unless you follow the recipe, it typically leads to disaster.

“Sorry to interrupt your point, but there exists something called chicken powder.”

“So can’t we just buy that instead of regular breading?”

“Who would sell that…”

Were it a big mart, it might be possible, but would a little local mart like this stock something like that?

Anyway, whenever chicken or pizza comes up, it seems like their eyes glaze over…

Were they that resentful about not being allowed to buy snacks that they decided they had to eat chicken, even if it meant cooking it themselves?

In the midst of this little squabble, a silver van that reminded me of a Starlex from a past life pulled up and stopped in front of us, the passenger window rolling down to reveal a thick dialect that enveloped us.

“What’s up? Is that you, Jinho? Wow… you’ve grown a lot since I last saw you.”

“Auntie?”

“Yep. You’ve worked through the cold to get here, huh? Oh, but forget that! Get in quickly; everyone looks freezing with red noses.”

It seemed Jinho’s auntie was the type who enjoyed taking care of others.

She glanced at what we bought in the mart and immediately suggested bringing some side dishes since we clearly couldn’t eat just rice without anything else.

And that wasn’t all?

There was also an unexpected gift prepared.

The unexpected gift was none other than beef.

‘Wait a sec, does this mean…’

We could definitely manage two barbecues now, right?

I didn’t know how much beef she had brought, but from what she was saying, it seemed like a quantity sufficient for six people.

“Beef? You should’ve just sent it separately by delivery, why did you bring it when these kids are around…”

Of course, there were also moments where I wasn’t above giving a betrayal-like ‘shut it’ to the kid making useless comments.

“Hey, delicious things are meant to be shared with friends, right? Why not?”

“That’s right, that’s right.”

“But, um, Auntie…”

“Yes?”

“Is there a store near the campsite?”

“A store? Ah, a convenience store? There’s one about 20 minutes down the road from the entrance of the campsite.”

’20 minutes…’

That distance is a bit tricky.

To be honest, if we wanted to go, it’s not impossible, but just the thought of actually going feels a little bothersome, if you get what I mean.

“What about anything other than the convenience store?”

“Anything other? Let me think…”

Fortunately, it wasn’t just a convenience store, there was also a chicken restaurant that delivers deep into the campsite.

I heard they serve the old-style fried chicken, and rumor has it, it’s pretty tasty.

“The skin’s crispy, and the meat has a subtle spicy kick; if you crack open a can of beer beside it, oh…”

Listening to it made me crave some beer too.

So, without realizing it, I swallowed hard…

“Why? Should I order some chicken for you?”

I politely declined that offer.

It wasn’t like we were out of money, and since they had already bought us beef, asking for them to order chicken too felt a bit… wrong.

While I gathered more information about the campsite, we drove up along the winding rural road, and suddenly, the landscape outside the window began to change.

Up until just a moment ago, it felt like pure, raw countryside, but now it was more like something processed and polished.

“We’re almost there.”

And at the end of that road stood the pension… which was far better than I had expected.

Did Jinho really call this place five-star?

“Oh…”

“Wow…”

“What do you think? Pretty nice, right?”

Honestly, I thought he was exaggerating to draw us in, but could it really not be?

Thanks to that, he looked even less annoying, strutting around like it was his home.

I mean, getting to stay for free in a place this nice would hardly warrant a simple bow of appreciation.

“I call dibs on the first-floor room!”

“I’ll take the second floor!”

“But you know, while choosing rooms and sightseeing is nice… shouldn’t we go see that auntie? She said she would take out the grill and to come get it.”

“Oh…”

Now that I think about it, she did say that.

“Didn’t she say it would be enough for two people?”

“Yeah, I think so.”

If two people are enough, it’d be a bit much for all of us to swarm her, so we decided to draw straws for the unlucky duo.

We planned to choose simply by playing Rock-Paper-Scissors…

‘No way, what the hell…’

Did that really just happen?

Were they plotting something behind my back?

How is it that everyone except me could pull ‘rock’?!

Feeling suspicions rapidly grow in me, soon the second member was decided.

And the second member was none other than…

“What? Is it you too?”

“…”

“Ugh…”

The person who seemed so frustrated about losing at Rock-Paper-Scissors, pouting and sulking as they walked toward me, was Yoonseo.