Chapter 87

"Look around. I'll go get some necessary things from the house over there."

"Okay."

Tae-un left Soram and went back alone to the main house along the path they had come.

Since the location of the house was so remote, although he had stayed out many times, it was the first time he had brought a friend, so his parents seemed quite excited―of course, only Tae-un could notice that change―. He had asked them to buy ingredients together when they went grocery shopping in advance, but they had already finished cooking and packing everything.

In his hands were a hot pot with soup, side dish containers, and plates with various pancakes. His mother explained that she had also put things like acorn jelly salad, which could be eaten cold, in the annex refrigerator in advance. Lastly, she added a request to feed the pale friend a lot of this and that.

"He is indeed pale. I will do that."

As Tae-un walked back to the annex with his hands full, something clung to his legs. It was the lively puppy from earlier. As if it had spread the rumor to its siblings that he was a harmless person despite his size, two other puppies that looked exactly like it were timidly standing over there.

Tae-un put down the side dish container, sat on the floor, and scratched the puppy's chin. The puppy closed its eyes in a figure eight shape and made a pleasant sound.

"I'm counting on you too."

Arf.

"He seems to have a weakness for young people and small animals."

He took out a meatball from the plate of pancakes, crumbled it with his hand, and held it out. As the puppy began to eat excitedly, the other two approached. The three of them pressed their noses against Tae-un's palm and ate the pieces of meatball.

"If you come up this path later, I'll give you more."

Having fed them enough bribes, Tae-un got up again and headed towards the annex.

The two-day vacation he had finally obtained after repeated persuasion. Because they had wasted so much time stuck on the highway, there wasn't much time left now. Tae-un's feet, which had been walking a little faster, finally lifted off the ground as a white light gathered.

He floated up and quickly approached the annex. Looking back, it seemed like it would be interesting if one of the doors of the annex was missing.

Thud, thud, thud.

However, instead of a broken door, what greeted Tae-un was a sound of mystery. He put the food he had brought in the kitchen and went to where the sound was coming from. It was the small room used as a storage. He wondered why Soram had gone in there of all places, not the intact large room or the rooftop with a pavilion, but that unpredictable behavior was just like him.

As he approached the storage room, he saw Soram squatting on the narrow floor. At his feet lay an old guitar. Soram, who didn't know how to play the guitar, was plucking it as if it were a gayageum (Korean zither).

Hearing the footsteps, he turned his head.

"Han Tae-un, is this yours?"

"I played it for a bit in middle and high school."

"I see..."

Thud. One string vibrated, pushed by his fingertips. The sound of the loose guitar strings, which had not been used for a long time, was somewhat dull.

Next to Soram was an open black guitar case. It must have been in the inner corner, but how did he find it again?

Tae-un came and sat facing Soram on the opposite side. Then he rummaged through the guitar case and found a tuner. Fortunately, it still worked fine after some time had passed.

"Wait a moment."

He attached the tuner to the guitar head and tuned it by plucking it like Soram, as if playing a gayageum with only his hands on the guitar placed between them. The sound became much clearer than before.

"Now it will sound properly. Play with it."

"What do you mean play with it? I don't know how to play at all."

In the front pocket of the guitar case, there were also a few sheets of faded sheet music. The sheet music, which showed much more traces of time than the guitar, were all songs released before the 2000s.

"Those are from somewhere else, so they're all old songs, and the relatively recent ones will be in a separate file."

"I don't like any songs released in the last 10 years. I prefer old songs."

<Hot Goodbye>, <I Will Love You>, <To You>. While looking at the titles that evoked familiar nostalgia, Soram picked up a sheet of music.

"Play this for me."

What he handed over was a song that would be among the old songs collected in the sheet music.

<The Magic Castle>.

"It's been at least 7 years since I put down the guitar."

"Still."

During the long persuasion before the holiday, Tae-un had made similar promises that he would do everything Soram wanted if he came to Guncheon, so he had no choice but to take the guitar. Soram spread out the faded sheet music in front of Tae-un, who was getting into position.

Tae-un pressed a few chords with a hazy expression. After plucking the melody a few times, he slowly began to play.

The intro that probably the majority of Koreans knew flowed out. A tall castle, the black night that had fallen upon it, a sky dimly lit by stars alone without moonlight. It was a melody that evoked such a scene.

[Past the magic castle and over the swamps,

I see you far away inside darkness' cave.

Now hold onto my hand.

Can't you feel our bodies rising?]

[See the lyrics and video here.]

The guitar sound continued to the end, stumbling a bit at the harmony parts. Soram was sitting with his knees together, looking at him with an expression that was hard to tell what he was thinking. Under his lowered eyelashes, his gaze lingered on the two hands moving on the guitar for a long time.

The performance was rather smooth, but it ended at a level where it was difficult to give a very high score. Still, Tae-un stubbornly played until the last note.

"I enjoyed it."

Palms clapped together. Tae-un also put the guitar back in the case, saying he probably couldn't do more than one song. The guitar was put away in a corner of the storage room again, and Soram watched it for a while before coming out.

"I'll set the table right away."

"Is there anything I can help with?"

"No. It's done quickly because they prepared everything."

Sit down. Tae-un pointed to the sofa. However, Soram only sat there for a very short time before getting up again.

The sound of him rustling around the house was heard for a while, and then it became quiet at some point. Turning down the gas a little and looking out, Soram had gone out to the terrace and was looking outside while smoking a cigarette. Seeing him not armed with a stiff suit, an inexplicable impatience arose.

He knew it was a needless worry. Even if a rift burst open right here in the house, the one who could handle it more skillfully was Soram. Yet, he couldn't help but keep an eye on him.

Time had already passed to early evening. The only excuse to call Soram in seemed to be that the meal was ready. Tae-un went back to the kitchen and turned up the heat again.

In the meantime, he didn't notice that Soram, who had been looking around, had slipped down under the railing.

"Han Tae-un. Open the door for me."

Just as Tae-un was about to come out after looking around the storage room to find the disappeared Soram, he heard a voice.

Outside the front door stood Soram, who was unable to turn the doorknob. In one arm, he was holding a large bottle of infused liquor, and in the other arm, two puppies were nestled.

"When I went down there, some old man suddenly gave me this. He said it was wild something, but I forgot. He told us to eat it together and nourish our bodies."

"...Ah. I think I know who it is."

Tae-un took the bottle of infused liquor with roots as thick as forearms in it.

"These little ones tried to follow me, but they were panting and struggling as they climbed up the hill."

"I see."

"Can I bring them in?"

"Just wipe their paws."

Tae-un took out wet wipes and lifted the black bean-like paws to wipe off the dirt. As soon as he put them down on the floor, the puppies started wandering around inside, sniffing. Watching Soram follow them with his eyes, Tae-un felt the effect of the bribe.

"How did you find the other house? It must not be very visible."

"I just followed the path and it appeared."

"Did you fly?"

"No. I walked."

Answering, Soram took a picture of a puppy lying on its back with a pink belly exposed. And he sent it to Ayoung. An incomprehensible message arrived from Ayoung, saying [Ahhh I'm going crazy, Sigor-jab puppy ㅠㅠㅠㅠ]. Pondering the meaning of that, he gave an additional answer to Tae-un's question.

"There are a lot of trees and the path is winding, but I felt like this direction was the right way."

Maybe it was because he was a 1st-grade that he had such a good sense. Usually, even if people drove here, they would lose their way and wander around the narrow paths between the rice fields and houses. Since Soram could fly in the sky, he might have quickly become familiar with the geography.

Tae-un looked at Soram sitting next to the puppies and moved the prepared food to that side by setting the table next to him.

* * *

Chuseok special TV debate. While sitting in the living room after the meal, the channel abruptly stopped on that boring program where politicians fought without knives because someone they knew appeared there. It was none other than Deputy Director Kwon Jung-oh.

Soram sank deep into the sofa and watched the screen.

"That old man is doing his hobby again."

"Hobby?"

"Periodically beating up members of the National Assembly, regardless of whether they're from the ruling party or the opposition. Deputy Director-nim always says that the main enemy of civil servants is the National Assembly members."

"Wasn't his original inclination towards the ruling party?"

"Yeah. But when he awakened as a 2nd-grade, they tried to push him into the headquarters and use him, so he turned against them. He was already enemies with the opposition side."

And during his time as a judge, how much he must have gritted his teeth at the National Assembly members, like the fate of all civil servants.

However, as soon as he stepped down from the position of Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, he became a position where no one could threaten his livelihood. Even now, with a few words, he had already turned several faces the color of dirt.

In addition to the ruling and opposition party lawmakers, the program also invited people who had set foot in politics at least once. So Soram's father, who was not a current member of the National Assembly, was one of the panelists sitting around. It seemed he was already aiming for a comeback.

Also, as the opposition party, they would think that the only person who could stand up to the deputy director was Jin Sung-tae. Because he was the father of Soram, the most famous active 1st-grade hunter. Of course, the reality was not like that.

Former Assemblyman Jin Sung-tae grabbed the microphone.

―The Rift Phenomenon Management Headquarters, ah, of course, it's an organization that has a very special meaning to me as well. But shouldn't you also consider the hearts of the people? I'm saying you should open up to some extent, like the superheroes in other countries, not just revealing it in the spring like a drug.

―If the bill related to suing for defamatory malicious comments towards hunters was even half of that foreign country's, we would have done it long ago. I don't know what the members of the National Assembly are doing.

Deputy Director immediately countered those words. And he showed a slight sneer.

―There's one guy who gets cursed out vigorously every time without revealing anything, you must know him very well.

―Excuse me? What did you just say about our Soram, who is fighting on the front lines?

―Ah, so Jin Soram was your son. Right. I see that kid every day without going home, so I thought he was my grandson.

"I hate both of them."

Ugh. Soram shook his head vigorously.

―Anyway! Even now, when I think of Soram, who can't enjoy the holiday and is waiting tensely at the headquarters for when a rift will burst...!

―What are you talking about? That kid went to hang out at his friend Han Tae-un's place.

―...

―He went to Guncheon.