Episode 36
About a month, just one month, it took for Hanin to master not only phone calls but also text messages with image attachments, and even video calls.
“I want to eat this, what’s it called?”
As soon as she learned how to use these new tools, pictures of food, seemingly taken from television screens, flooded Joon-wan’s phone every day.
‘It’s good that she’s using them well, it is. But…’
He was at the supermarket, buying ice cream, tteokbokki, pizza, and hot dogs, fulfilling Hanin’s latest requests sent via a barrage of text messages during his class. He suddenly wondered,
Did she see him as a mere delivery app?
‘Well, I don’t mind.’
He didn’t dislike being treated like that, and he certainly didn’t mind buying her things.
“You seem like a pushover.”
But her words from earlier lingered in his mind.
He sat in the driver’s seat after finishing his shopping. The aroma of the packaged food on the passenger seat filled the car.
‘Am I really a pushover?’
He glanced at the passenger seat, then back at the road, repeating the action several times.
‘Am I?’
A year ago, he would have denied it vehemently. Now, he wasn’t so sure.
‘Sigh…’
He couldn’t even argue with himself anymore.
Of course, this pushover phase was temporary, that’s why he could handle it.
‘She’ll be gone once she ascends to the heavens, so I want to treat her well while I still can.’
Even temporary foster pets were missed after they found their forever homes.
‘That’s it. Hanin is more than a cat, and if she leaves, I’ll never see her again.’
He was being kind because their separation was inevitable.
‘It can’t be helped.’
His strange sadness had been fleeting. After the rain stopped, and Hanin became a Gangcheol, very little had actually changed in his life.
‘Well…’
Except for the three or four nights a week he spent secretly helping with flood relief efforts, like a thief in the night, and Hanin’s increased appetite.
‘Oh, right, I got a new credit card because of that.’
He had recently applied for a specific credit card required for a membership at a large supermarket.
‘I also bought three large humidifiers.’
His apartment, once perfectly climate-controlled, had become drier than before she moved in, so he had bought several large humidifiers.
‘Maybe I should get a cooking certificate during the break.’
His cooking skills, which hadn’t improved much in the ten years since he started living alone, had reached a near-professional level in the past few months.
That was all.
‘Nothing has changed.’
Nothing had really changed, right?
His phone rang as he was about to enter the apartment complex.
[Joon-wan, are you almost home?]
It was Hanin.
“Why?”
[Well, I… hmm.]
“Did you think of something you want to eat? What is it?”
He turned the car around, heading back towards the city center.
Two months had passed since that night on the mountain, when he had encountered a giant earthworm. He had completely adapted to the situation, perhaps too perfectly.
Munch, munch, munch, munch.
She really did eat a lot. He returned home with a bag of cream buns, her latest request, and watched her devour them, as if in a trance.
‘She eats with such gusto.’
He had always had a poor appetite. He would skip meals when he was busy, and only when he realized he hadn’t eaten anything all day would he grab a sandwich and continue working.
‘How can she enjoy eating so much?’
And if even that was too much effort, he would just drink a glass of water and go to bed.
‘They say mukbang is popular among young people these days. Is this what it feels like?’
Hanin frowned, sensing his gaze.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“You make eating look so enjoyable.”
He replied honestly. She tilted her head.
“Then why don’t you eat?”
“I’m full just by watching you.”
He said, then, without thinking, he stroked her hair. He was startled by his own action.
“…?”
She could have been offended, but perhaps because she wasn’t human, she didn’t react, just blinked at him.
“That was delicious… but I feel like I have a tapeworm in my stomach these days. I’m always so hungry.”
She said, frowning, after finishing her meal.
“I wasn’t like this before, but I’m getting hungrier.”
“What’s wrong with that?”
“Hmm, I guess so? I just feel like I’m eating too much.”
She did eat a lot compared to an average person, but she wasn’t human, after all.
And she had been working hard lately. Farmers ate hearty meals and snacks to fuel their labor. He attributed her increased appetite to her efforts.
“Oh, but there hasn’t been much flood relief work lately. Shouldn’t we be going out tonight?”
She asked, as if suddenly remembering something.
“…”
He had no answer. He just smiled, his lips pressed together.
‘Hmm…’
What could he say?
‘Your efforts have attracted too much attention…’
The incident with the rapidly receding river and the miraculously fast recovery of the flooded areas had sparked concerns about sinkholes, leading to the dispatch of national disaster relief teams to various cities. And the phenomenon of fruit trees and rice paddies bearing fruit twice a year had attracted media attention to Yongdam City.
‘And… there’s nothing left to do.’
He couldn’t tell her the truth, knowing how disappointed she would be.
Thankfully, most of the damage in the city had been repaired. But he had another problem.
‘What excuse should I come up with now?’
He had persuaded her, who had been on the verge of suicide, by claiming that she had become a Gangcheol to help with flood relief and would become a dragon again once it was over.
That was why they had been secretly traveling around the city, village by village, helping with the recovery efforts.
But…
Perhaps blessed by the heavens, the weather had been clear and sunny lately. And thanks to the combined efforts of the military and civilian volunteers, there were no more flooded areas, though some minor tasks remained.
It would have been best if the disaster had never happened, but Hanin had worked diligently, drying up the floodwaters like wiping a spill with a dry cloth.
And now… what?
‘What am I going to do…’
The flood relief efforts were over. But Hanin was still a Gangcheol.
‘I promised her she would become a dragon again…’
He bit his lip, worried about her reaction. She might even threaten to kill herself again.
“…”
She stared at him, her expression blank. He racked his brain for a distraction.
“Want to… watch a movie?”
“Sure!”
He felt guilty, terribly guilty.
***
How would Hanin react if she had to remain a Gangcheol?
He couldn’t focus on the movie playing on the screen.
‘Why did I believe she would become a dragon again, even though I made it all up?’
He had somehow convinced himself of his own lie.
‘How could I have thought it would be so easy?’
The lie that the heavens would be moved by her efforts, restore her to her dragon form, and allow her to ascend.
‘What should I do if she has to stay a Gangcheol forever?’
Crunch, crunch, crunch.
He glanced at her, drawn by the sound of munching. She was enjoying her popcorn, her face lit up. The sight made his heart ache.
‘Sigh…’
He had not only hidden the fairy’s feathered robe, he had burned it.
The woodcutter in the “Fairy and the Woodcutter” folktale had at least taken responsibility, even if it wasn’t the right thing to do. But this wasn’t a matter of wanting to avoid responsibility, it was a situation where he couldn’t.
‘A mere century.’
Even if he dedicated his entire life to taking care of her, it would only be a hundred years, or less.
‘But this dragon’s time scale is a thousand years.’
When that time passed, he would be dead, and she would still be a Gangcheol. Forever.
“Why the long face? Was the movie that boring?”
Hanin asked as they left the theater.
“No, it was fun.”
He replied listlessly.
“Then why are you making that face, like you just bit into something sour?”
“Well… I’m just tired lately.”
“Hmm, is that so?”
She tilted her head, then said sympathetically, “You must be exhausted from all the work you’re doing for me.”
He was doomed. His lie would be exposed soon.
Around that time, two messages reached him.
“I arrived in Korea three days ago after a long journey from Germany. I’ve been so busy that I haven’t had a chance to contact you until now.”
One was an email, and the other was a text message. The former was a long-awaited reply, and the latter was an update on a forgotten promise.
“Are you still interested in that Gangcheol creature? You said you wanted to write a paper about it?”
He read the email first.
“I’ll gather some materials for you, so contact me when you’re free and come visit me. My door is always open.”
It was a reply from Professor Myung, one of his mentors and a leading expert on Korean monsters.
“Are you still fighting with Mother? I know you have your own thoughts, but don’t be too stubborn. She’s more sensitive than she appears, you know that.”
And the other message was from Joon-hyeok.
“I’m all packed and leaving next week. Come to Seoul before I go. Let’s see each other one last time.”
He flinched, reading his brother’s message.
‘Next week?’
Had time really flown by that quickly? He was startled and called his brother immediately.
“Brother, it’s Joon-wan. You’re leaving already?”
[Already? Do you even realize how much time has passed? I’m hurt, you know.]
Joon-hyeok’s voice was laced with genuine sadness.
“So, when are you free?”
[I’m free all the time now. But I can’t go far because I have things to take care of every day, so you come here.]
He scheduled a meeting with his brother after emailing Professor Myung. They decided to meet at his brother’s house.