Episode 33
After yawning, Hanin tilted her head and asked,
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
Joon-wan thought to himself,
‘She’s a completely different creature. She’s only in human form because she needs to blend in with the human world.’
She had lived for over a thousand years and would likely live even longer than him. Their encounter would probably be a mere blip in her long life.
‘She’s not like me.’
The thought made him feel uneasy, but he couldn’t understand why.
‘Of course, we’ll have to part ways if things go well, right?’
It would be for the best, for both of them.
It was like someone moving to a faraway country for a better opportunity, like his brother, who was emigrating for a research position.
‘Come to think of it, my brother is leaving soon.’
He had completely forgotten about his brother’s invitation for dinner.
He hadn’t even expressed any sadness or asked him to visit often when he heard about his brother’s emigration. After all, it was his brother’s life, and this was his own.
But why did he feel this pang of sadness at the thought of Hanin leaving someday?
‘Even though I sincerely want her to become a dragon.’
Why was he suddenly feeling so down?
The strange feeling lingered as he returned home. He was undoubtedly sincere in his desire to help Hanin, who had fallen from the heavens, become a dragon again.
‘I truly want to help her ascend.’
But the thought of this experience becoming a distant memory, a mere anecdote about the time he encountered a dragon, Imugi, or Gangcheol, made him feel both nauseous and irritated.
‘It feels like… acid reflux.’
He couldn’t understand why he felt so suffocated and restless.
That night, he sat in the living room for a long time, trying to soothe his churning stomach after putting Hanin to bed.
He saw his reflection in the dark window, his expression unfamiliar and unsettling.
‘What’s different?’
The fact that his brother was emigrating soon, and the possibility of Hanin ascending to the heavens in the near future.
Logically, it would be a bigger problem if she couldn’t ascend. He could manage for a month or two, but… what about a year? Two years?
‘How long can I hide her from the world?’
It was his fault she was here, and he could take responsibility for her, but this wasn’t the world of “The Fairy and the Woodcutter” or “The Snail Bride.”
Living with an unidentified woman who had seemingly fallen from the sky…
It was an impossible situation, both for his conservative self and for the people around him.
‘I’ve grown attached to her. I need to end this quickly. I have to.’
He had almost been caught by his brother recently.
He clutched his chest, feeling a wave of nausea. He opened a bottle of whiskey he had received as a gift but had never opened.
‘My brother… he has his own life. We can still stay in touch even if he moves far away. It’s not like we’re parting forever.’
Snore, huff… Snore, huff…
‘But if Hanin ascends to the heavens, I won’t have any way to contact her.’
Snore.
‘Not that I intend to contact her, but it’s different, knowing I could if I wanted to. I guess even if she stays here, I wouldn’t have any way to contact her if she leaves or disappears… but that’s not the problem…’
The whiskey was strong. He swirled the ice in his glass, listening to the loud snoring coming from the distance.
He narrowed his eyes.
‘She’s sleeping soundly. So soundly.’
Of course, she was exhausted after using so much power… but he felt a sense of injustice, seeing her so peaceful while he was consumed by anxiety.
***
The next morning, a news report titled “Anomalous Phenomenon Caused by Climate Change?” aired. The owners of the orchard, whose trees had suddenly borne fruit after being damaged by the flood, and the farmers whose rice paddies had miraculously recovered, were interviewed, their expressions bewildered.
Joon-wan had no classes that day. He had canceled all his broadcast appearances, so he had some free time.
“Want to eat out?”
He decided to treat Hanin to some meat and took her to the city center. He stopped abruptly in front of a store.
‘Right.’
It was a mobile phone store.
‘I need to buy her a phone.’
She might not be able to use it properly, but it would be good for her to have one, just in case. It would allow them to stay connected, even if she was far away.
‘I’ll buy it.’
Perhaps last night’s experience had influenced him. He quickly rationalized his decision and took Hanin’s hand.
“What’s this?”
She asked. He pulled out his phone from his pocket.
“Everyone in the dramas has one of these, right?”
“…”
“You can use it to call other people who have one, and…”
He stopped himself, realizing it would be a lengthy explanation.
“Don’t you want one?”
“Yes!”
She really did seem to want one. She looked like an exclamation mark had appeared above her head.
He took her hand and entered the store, adding another line to his account and buying her the latest model.
He could have bought her any basic phone, but he had chosen the most expensive one because he couldn’t resist her eager expression.
The phone was activated that day.
“You like it that much?”
“Yes, I was curious! It appears on TV all the time.”
She was beaming, fiddling with the phone like a toy, as they arrived at the restaurant.
“But how do you use it?”
“I’ll teach you when we get home.”
He let her play with the phone for a while, then took it from her when the food arrived and saved his number. He showed her how to answer a call.
“This is how you answer when I call. Got it?”
“…”
She stared at him, holding the phone to her ear.
“Can you hear me?”
“Yes.”
She remained silent for a while, then asked, still holding the phone to her ear,
“I’ve been wondering, why are you being so kind to me?”
Joon-wan froze.
“I appreciate it, but you don’t have to go to such lengths.”
She continued, her voice coming through the phone.
“I’m already indebted to you for feeding me, sheltering me, and trying to find a way for me to become a dragon again.”
It was an innocent question, a genuine curiosity.
“But why are you doing more than that?”
“…”
“From your perspective, I’m a creature who caused harm to your town with a careless word and is now scrambling to fix it, am I not?”
Her expression was filled with concern.
“Even if I regain my powers and ascend to the heavens… you don’t seem to want anything from me… and yet you’re being so kind…”
“…”
“I’m grateful. I truly am… but I’m worried about you. You seem like a pushover, in human terms.”
Her words shocked him.
“Do you treat other humans like this?”
It wasn’t because she had called him a pushover. He had just realized something.
He had never been this kind to anyone before, human or otherwise.
***
I had been worried for a while, long before he bought me the phone.
‘Is this fool a hogu(pushover)?’
“Ho” (虎) for tiger, “gu” (口) for mouth.
I had learned that word from television. That’s what they called people like him, naive and kind, easily exploited.
‘At first, I wanted to bite him to death…’
My first impression of him hadn’t been favorable.
He dared to call me an earthworm, a dragon attempting to ascend to the heavens. He kidnapped me and treated me like a real earthworm for days.
Honestly… honestly… if it weren’t for the need to accumulate merits, I would have bitten him without hesitation…
‘Didn’t I already bite him a few times? When I was an earthworm?’
Anyway, I had initially thought, ‘He wronged me, so it’s only right that he feeds, clothes, and shelters me. Of course it is.’
‘He should be serving and worshipping me, after what he did.’
But now?
‘Do I… deserve all this?’
I felt guilty.
The humans who had offered me sacrifices in the past had all desired something from me, and I had gladly granted their wishes.
‘But I have no power to repay him now.’
But this human, Min Joon-wan, kept giving without asking for anything in return.
‘I have some shame and pride, you know.’
The more time passed, the more awkward I felt. It became even worse after I lost my powers as a Jiryong and, to add insult to injury, became a Gangcheol.
‘What am I to do? I have no power to grant wishes anymore.’
I wasn’t even a dragon anymore, I had no Yeouiju, and I had flooded his town.
‘Oh dear, while I was enjoying myself, exploring the human world, a real disaster has unfolded…’
I realized my mistake when I saw the flooded river for the first time after becoming a Gangcheol.
‘This is not the time to be idle, blaming others.’
I had a deep affection for this land, even though humans had forgotten me.
I didn’t need their offerings. I just… wanted to live among them.
‘There’s a real crisis because of me.’
That was why I hadn’t ascended to the heavens…
‘If I had known this would happen, I would have ascended sooner.’
My heart ached, seeing the devastation caused by the flood.
‘What should I do?’
Perhaps the human was right.
‘Maybe it’s a good thing I became a Gangcheol, able to dry up water.’
I felt a burning sensation throughout my body when I unleashed my suppressed power, as if I had swallowed a fireball.
Anyway, I had become more contemplative after my recent experiences.
‘I’m sorry. I’m sorry I can’t do anything for you, even though you’ve done so much for me.’
He was the cause of this mess, but as a former dragon, I felt ashamed to be receiving so much help without being able to offer anything in return.
‘Once this crisis is over, I want to become a dragon again and regain the power to ascend to the heavens.’
That desire grew stronger within me.
‘And with that power, I want to grant your wish, whatever it may be.’
I wanted to be helpful to the human who prayed for me to ascend, to become a dragon and a god again.
‘But what is your wish?’
Developing a new drug? Bitcoin? Mining for gold? Was that still his wish?
And there was one more thing I was curious about.