The Crows

"Haa... I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠really have nothing to do."

After the red fox capture, I was stuck rolling around on the sofa again, bored out of my mind—and from the morning, no less. The foxes we'd taken had finished their training in no time and were already being fussed over by customers at the café, so there was nothing left for me to do. So-eun was off at kindergarten on top of that, which left me with even less.

Unable to stand it any longer, I picked up my phone and started a Mutube live.

The second I went live, people flooded in and the viewer count shot up in bursts. They were scattered all over the world, sure, but I was past fifty million subscribers, so a surge like that was only natural. Meaning to answer greetings pouring in from every language, I lifted a hand without bothering to get up off the sofa.

"Good afternoon. Though somewhere out there, I suppose, it might be the middle of the night. Or early morning."

The chat scrolled up in a rush all over again.

Comments from people who'd nailed exactly why I'd gone live slid past, and I got to my feet with an awkward look on my face.

"Wow, how did you know? I really turned it on because I had nothing to do."

I gave the donation an awkward little laugh. Was it really that obvious on my face how bored I was?

"Anyway! The reason I turned the stream on today is—!"

"To take your recommendations on what I should do today!"

"Hahahaha!"

I did my best to ignore the donation and fixed my attention on the rest of the chat.

I studied the chat, then nodded at one line in particular.

"A few of you are bringing up Sebok."

"Yeah. Sebok's doing well, from what I hear. Getting along with his dad, too."

Sehee's mother was the lead producer on our editing team, so there was no way I wouldn't have heard. At any rate, with the day's plan settled, I started scrolling through Outstar at once. Ever since Sebok, my inbox had been full of people talking about their own pets.

I passed over all sorts of useless DMs, checking this and that, until one of them caught my eye.

"Terrorized by crows? That's strange."

Thanks to Yubu, who kept the local crows as his underlings, the idea of being terrorized by crows didn't make any sense to me. And then another donation burst onto the screen.

"Is that really you?"

Startled by the sudden donation, I asked right back—and the answer didn't come through the Mutube chat. It came through the phone in my hand. A reply had landed in my Outstar DMs.

"Oh... I didn't expect to meet the person from the story like this."

I genuinely hadn't thought the one behind the message would be sitting in the audience. The viewers welcomed them at once.

I got a number through DM on the spot and put a call through to the person behind the story.

The voice on the other end belonged to a young woman. The moment the call connected she broke into squeals, insisting she was a fan and spilling over with every delighted exclamation she could fit. I waited a moment for her to settle, then got to the point.

At my question, she sent a video and photos through Outstar DM right away. The video looked like CCTV: a woman passing along the street, set upon by a little over ten crows, flailing this way ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and that until she somehow managed to get away. The photo showed the very outfit that woman had been wearing—in a miserable state, torn all over and fouled with pale, filthy smears.

The viewers who'd just seen the video and the photos—the proof—reacted with open shock. Fair enough. It wasn't one or two birds. They'd watched someone get attacked by what looked like ten crows. Who wouldn't be startled?

The Yes, incredibly! she shot back was thick with sincerity.

Since she was in Busan too, I decided we might as well meet at once. I'd turned the stream on because I had nothing to do anyway, so meeting her now was the better call. I let Noona know I'd be stepping out for a bit, headed straight over, and found the woman behind the story waiting.

"Hello! I'm Oh Yunji—I sent you that message! I'm a fan!"

"Good to meet you."

Meeting Oh Yunji, I got half swept into fan service before I knew it. Photos, an autograph, the whole thing. Only after that could we actually talk.

"Is there anything that makes you suspect why the crows are doing this?"

"I have no idea. They just come charging the second they see me... I really want to know why, too. If I go somewhere else, the crows don't attack. It's only here that they go after me."

"They don't do it in other areas?"

"Nope. Only in the alley where my house is. Even now we're a little ways from home, right? There's a crow right over there, and it isn't so much as looking at me."

I looked where she was pointing. A single crow was glancing around for something to eat. Its eyes flicked this way now and then, but it showed no sign at all of going after Oh Yunji.

"You're right. Then shall we try that alley? Fastest way to sort this out is to ask the crow itself."

I headed straight for the alley where she lived, Oh Yunji beside me. The moment we turned into it, the crows rose into the sky.

"Eek!"

She took one look, shivered all over, and ducked behind my back.

"Die, you enemy!"

They didn't care in the slightest that she was hiding. They moved at once to attack her. Needless to say, I had no intention of standing there and watching.

"Caw!"

The instant that ever-reliable magic word left my mouth, the crows plunging toward us tumbled straight to the ground. Close to ten of them rolled across the pavement and locked stiff where they lay. I walked up to the frozen birds and snatched one.

"Hey. Why are you trying to attack her?"

At the question it tried to bolt, but there was no getting away while I had it clenched tight. In the end it gave up thrashing and slowly opened its beak.

"That human destroyed my nest and all my eggs! This is revenge."

"Destroyed your nest and eggs?"

"Yes! That human did it!"

I turned to Oh Yunji at once. She'd already calmed, watching the crows sprawled on the ground, so there was no problem talking.

"The crows say you smashed their nest and their eggs, Yunji... What's going on?"

"I never did anything like that! I'm not a psycho. Why would I smash a crow's nest?"

"Hmm..."

Her insistence that she was innocent left me no choice but to think it over. The knot didn't stay tied for long.

"Ah...! Now that I think about it, there was a drunk woman back then wearing ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the exact same outfit ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I have!"

"Sorry? A drunk woman?"

"Yes. Thinking about it, the crows started attacking me after that. I still remember, because she was wearing the same clothes as mine."

The same outfit as some drunk... I could more or less put it together.

"Hey. The one who smashed your nest and eggs—was she staggering all over the place?"

"Yes! She was reeling this way and that, then she shook the tree and smashed the nest and the eggs flat!"

"Ah..."

At the crow's outburst, I understood what had happened.

"Yunji. You wore those clothes after that, didn't you? The same ones as that drunk woman."

"Um... yes. They're one of my favorite outfits, so I wore them..."

"I think that's why. The crows didn't remember a face. They remembered the clothes. That drunk couldn't keep herself upright and destroyed the nest and the eggs, and the crows who remembered it went after you."

"Th-that could really be it!"

At that, Oh Yunji's face shifted, as if something had just clicked.

"At first they attacked because they remembered the clothes, but along the way they memorized your face. After that, I think they went after you specifically."

"Yes! After I wore that outfit, they targeted only me, relentlessly!"

Yunji clapped, delighted to finally have a reason. A moment later, though, she wilted again.

"What am I supposed to do? If you're right, they don't remember the clothes—they remember me. Do I have to move?"

"Don't worry. I'm here, aren't I?"

I said it brimming with confidence. Oh Yunji looked moved, and the chat exploded.

"Now, now. Nothing to worry about."

Still full of confidence, I gathered the crows on the ground into one spot.

"I'll get straight to the point. That person you've been attacking is not the one who destroyed your nest and eggs. She's a completely different person who just happened to be wearing the same clothes."

"What is that supposed to mean!"

At my words the crows began to murmur among themselves, looking as if it had never once occurred to them that they might have been wrong.

"You know humans wear clothes, right? They aren't covered in feathers or fur the way you and other animals are."

"We know that."

"That's the thing. It looks like everyone wears something different, but plenty of people wear the exact same thing. Did the one who wrecked your nest back then look the same as her?"

"...They might be a little different. I think that human's hair was shorter then. So we really did make a mistake?"

The crows thought it over for a moment, then admitted they'd been wrong. They fluttered over to Oh Yunji and lowered themselves in front of her, as if to apologize.

"Give each of them a stroke. That's their way of saying they're sorry."

Oh Yunji petted the crows as I asked, and only then did they come back around me. I looked them over and took out what I'd brought along.

"I understand well enough why you felt you had no choice. You'd just lost your nest, and your eggs on top of it. Of course you needed someone to take it out on."

"Exactly."

"Right. But you can't keep attacking this person like that. Calling it a trade is a bit of a stretch, but I'll leave you with enough to eat for a while."

I set out the food I'd prepared in advance, the kind Yubu's subordinates loved. There was plenty for them to eat their fill for a good long stretch—enough to last through rebuilding a nest, laying eggs, and seeing them hatch. The crows seemed to find the compensation entirely to their liking. They gathered up what I'd given them and whirled away.

"They won't be attacking you anymore, Yunji."

"I'm so glad."

She was so happy that a single tear slipped out. I watched her for a moment, then turned back to the camera.

With that brief warning finished, I ended the stream and headed home. Oh Yunji, the woman behind the story, was satisfied, and I'd filled the time well enough. Today, too, had been a success.