This Place Is Korea Itself
A mountain somewhere in South Chungcheong Province.
Thwack!
I made my way up along the mountain path. Rachel followed diligently behind me.
"Where are we going?"
"You'll know when we get there."
"Why a mountain all of a sudden…?"
It was a hike. A hobby old men loved, one I hadn't particularly cared for myself in the past.
But once you get a bit older…
You start craving nature. Or more precisely, your body starts craving it. The same way healthy food starts to appeal. Fast food just sits heavy in your stomach now—you can't eat it anymore.
"Running out of stamina?"
"Not enough to warrant concern."
"Then we're good."
"But a little…"
"Hm?"
Young Rachel might not enjoy this yet. At a glance, she looked every bit the princess.
She does physical training, though.
Born into a prestigious family. She wouldn't neglect self-management. That said, there were still weak points.
Scratch.
She scratched her pale arm. The red, swollen mark wasn't from any spanking I'd given her.
"Bug bite."
"It's not dangerous… right?"
"Korea doesn't have those kinds of creatures."
Overseas, sure. Every country has a bug or disease or two you have to watch out for.
Korea's a clean zone.
No venomous spiders, barely any predators. As long as you don't go hunting for poisonous mushrooms to eat, you're safe.
Scratch.
Even so, dislike was dislike. She touched the bitten spot, her expression showing how much it bothered her.
"Want me to spray some medicine?"
"You have medicine?"
"Insect repellent you spray on your body."
"Spray it. Hurry!"
"I'll spray it, so take off your clothes."
"?!"
I'd expected something like this. I shook the repellent I'd prepared in advance, half-threatening her.
What are you gonna do about it? What can you even do?
A thirsty person digs the well. After some back-and-forth, Rachel surrendered.
Rustle~!
She took off her clothes. Skin so white and clear you could see the veins beneath was revealed.
"Before anyone comes, hurry…"
"It's fine. Almost no one takes this route."
"Just spray it already!"
Out in the open with not even a single partition. She chose not getting bitten by bugs over her shame.
Ssshh—!
I sprayed every part of her body, taking my time to appreciate the view. No matter when I looked, her figure was utterly perfect.
She's coolly ignoring it.
If she got embarrassed for no reason, I'd be the only one having fun. She seemed to be trying to brush it off without reacting.
"Open your eyes."
"You're done, right?"
"Yeah."
"But… where are my clothes?"
When she opened her eyes, they were gone. The clothes she'd clearly set on the grass. She looked around frantically. Then fixed me with a glare of pure certainty.
"You’re such a stupid idiot!"
Spilled water. As I strode ahead into the distance, she spat curses and came chasing after me furiously.
She got so worked up her mother tongue slipped out.
An angry her was truly charming. Sometimes I wanted to provoke her on purpose.
"Give me my clothes back right now!"
"Got any proof they're with me?"
"Just you wait. I won't forgive you."
I'd folded them neatly and tucked them into my bag. While spraying the bug repellent. She ground her teeth. Even though we'd already seen everything of each other, outdoor play still seemed a bit early.
An elf can take a forest bath now and then.
A naked white beauty. If anyone spotted her, the legend of seeing an elf in the mountains would be passed down.
"What if we run into someone like this…?"
"I told you that won't happen."
"It's easy for you to say when it's not you!"
"Hey now."
"!!"
I draped an arm over Rachel's shoulder. Forcibly moved the arms covering her chest. Upright walking. A gait that should be natural for humans felt incredibly awkward.
Her nipples are standing straight up.
In contrast, her soft breasts swayed. Sweat trailing down her smooth skin made me want to lick it.
"This place."
"Hm?"
"It's a beautiful mountain. The nature is well preserved."
"Right?"
She seemed to have gotten used to the forest bathing. She had the leisure now to take in the surrounding scenery. An ordinary mountain. People who only lived in cities often found themselves moved by just that natural sight.
It's also why we came this far.
We climbed a little more. Since we weren't going all the way to the peak, we reached the destination soon enough.
"Temple! There's a temple over there!"
"That's why we came."
"I've always wanted to visit a Korean temple at least once…"
"Dressed like that?"
"Ah."
A temple. A Korean Buddhist temple, that is. Oddly enough, they were always tucked deep into the mountains.
As if there's such a thing as coincidence in this world.
I left the naked woman and went inside. It wasn't a famous temple, so it didn't feel particularly grand.
"Monk, your face is full of worry."
"That's my line."
"Namu Amitabha."
The history was well preserved. A temple built during the Goryeo Dynasty when Buddhism flourished. That old. When I first came, it wouldn't have been strange if it collapsed any day.
"The donor's offerings have brought peace to all living beings."
"That too must be the Buddha's will."
"Namu Avalokitesvara."
Offerings. I'd donated. Traditional renovations had restored its old appearance. Through that connection, we'd gotten to know each other. Well enough to banter with the head monk.
There's the tax savings too.
It counted as a designated donation. Donations to religious organizations could get you tax deductions.
"A donation? You made a donation?"
She couldn't believe it. The naked woman had put her clothes back on and entered the temple.
"I can do that much."
"You, a psychopath who only thinks of himself?"
"Isn't that going a bit far?"
Some outdated misunderstanding still lingered. Rachel was suspicious of my intentions.
Well, she's not wrong.
A pure donation. I wasn't the type with so much free time that I'd do something like that. If it was just for tax savings, there were plenty of other ways. The reason I'd chosen this temple among so many…
Creak—!
Guided by the monk, we entered the main hall. True to an old temple, it had a single swinging door.
"I'll bring some tea."
The head monk pressed his palms together and left us some time alone. Rachel poured out her curiosity.
"What's the purpose here?"
"You'll know in a little while."
"Know what?"
"Everything."
It was understandable to be puzzled. The purpose of the donation, the reason for coming here, the answers to her questions.
Creak—!
The monk returned with the answer. He set down a ceramic teacup and teapot on a tray.
"Does the bodhisattva take tea?"
"He's asking if you'll drink water steeped with wood."
"I can speak Korean."
The monk seemed a bit flustered. Being so rural, Western devotees rarely visited.
The contents too.
The teapot. He poured a little into the cups. A fresh fir scent rose from the clear, transparent liquid. I held the teacup with both hands and sipped. Rachel watched me and the monk and mimicked the etiquette.
Cough! Cough!
Didn't suit her palate, apparently. She was committing the irreverent act of coughing inside the main hall.
"The aroma is nice."
"It is the Buddha's grace."
"But isn't this alcohol?"
"It is the Buddha's grace."
The head monk wore a benevolent smile. Rachel blinked her mouth open and shut in disbelief.
Because he's a religious man.
Protestant pastors have a principle of abstinence. Buddhist monks live even more detached lives. And yet they drink? Even if times have changed, it might be hard to understand.
"This is tea."
"Tea… Tea?"
"We steeped the leaves and branches of a tree in water, so how could this not be tea?"
"That monk is just being stubborn."
"Religious people are like that."
Christians drink wine saying it's not alcohol but the blood of Jesus. No reason monks couldn't do the same.
Just think of it as tea while you drink it.
Alcohol and tea use similar ingredients. Alcohol just forms depending on the method.
Gulp!
That's why the name was Golden Snow Tea. A secret liquor passed down in the Korean monastic community.
"The taste is pretty good."
"Yeah?"
"Clear and refreshing pine. Is this the essence of the tree? It holds a primitive sweetness. In this one cup is the forest of Korea."
"You're drunk."
A distilled spirit made from fir resin. The taste was exactly as Rachel had described in her tasting.
A bit like Sol's Eye times five hundred.
Similar feel to foreign gin. But it had a depth that gin lacked. One of the reasons I'd decided to donate to this temple. Being monks' liquor, it was hard to get.
"So that the donor may enjoy refined pleasures without lack, I've packed a full box generously."
"This too must be the Buddha's will."
"Namu Avalokitesvara."
I accepted a box of Golden Snow Tea. A precious liquor you couldn't buy on the market even with money.
It's so damn good.
Mix it with tonic water and you've got a K-gin and tonic. I'd taught the head monk, and he said the taste was killer—these days they mixed gin and tonics at the temple.
"This is truly ridiculous. Making alcohol at a temple."
"Weihenstephan Brewery was made by monks too, you know?"
"That's… well, but still."
Monks have private lives too. Not an area for ordinary people to meddle in. Rachel accepted that part, but…
"So in the end, what's here?"
She could have other questions. No, I'd made it clear from the start. Why I was investing in Korea.
But when the scale gets this big…
I had no choice but to answer big too. That's why we'd come all the way to a temple deep in the mountains.
"This temple?"
"Yeah."
"What meaning could a temple possibly have…?"
"Because this place is Korea itself."
"?!"
Not widely known, but temples are Korean history itself. The only cultural heritage that was preserved.
The Korean Peninsula had a lot of wars.
Anything built on flat land mostly burned or was plundered. Only the temples in the mountains survived.
"Korean history is full of turmoil. You don't even need to go back to the Middle Ages—just look at modern and contemporary history and it's brilliant."
"That's true… Even as an American, I studied the Korean War."
It had been the stage for major wars several times. Each time, the entire nation rose up and somehow held the line.
You might think, what's the big deal?
From a Korean person's perspective, that is. But looking at world history, it's an extremely unique case.
"India, China, Southeast Asia. Looking purely at the numbers, they're attractive investment destinations."
"Population, resources, geopolitical position—they're highly rated for growth potential."
"But there are no people in those numbers."
"People…?"
A common mistake advanced-country investors make. They evaluate a country based only on the indicators that show up in statistics.
Culture, history, national character. Leaving out the most important things.
If you don't know the past, you can't know the future.