Survival and Hunting
The yard was thick with overgrown vines, but stepping stones laid along the path made coming and going no real trouble.
Yeon-woo checked the interior of the house first.
Of course the advance team and the camera crew already looked everything over, but still…
He walked through the rooms, tapping the floors here and there. Nothing seemed wrong.
Good. At least the floorboards haven’t rotted.
In an old wooden house like this, if the supporting beams went soft, the floor could heave or sink until gaps opened wide enough to swallow a leg whole. Dust could be swept and wiped; structural safety came first.
Just then An Jun-ho, who had come running the moment he heard the devil instructor’s voice, followed Yeon-woo inside. Yeon-woo pointed toward the back of the house.
“Jun-ho hyung.”
“Yeah?”
“Remember when we shot the variety show last time—there was a vegetable patch out back? Could you check if any of the plants that grew wild are still edible?”
An Jun-ho nodded and headed around behind the house.
Meanwhile Son Jin-uk and Han So-hyun, who had come in after them, wandered the yard lost in memory.
“So-hyun. Look at that.”
“Whoa! Isn’t that the fire pit sunbae built back then?”
Where Han So-hyun pointed stood the brick hearth they had stacked years ago. Three years of wind and rain, plus a thick tangle of weeds and vines, had left only the rough shape; it no longer looked usable. Still, finding a trace of the old shoot felt strangely wonderful.
After finishing his check of the house, Yeon-woo stepped outside and asked Joo Hyun-seok PD,
“There’s nothing left of the dishes or household tools. The production team’s providing the basics, right?”
“Of course. We’ll give you brand-new essentials.”
Yeon-woo nodded, then asked the most important question.
“What about the fish traps?”
“Open the old shed over there—you’ll find traps inside.”
“Nice. Hearing ‘fish traps’ makes me think of the octopus Yeon-woo caught last time.”
Yeon-woo scratched his head at Han So-hyun’s words.
“The octopus walked into the trap on its own, though…”
“Well, octopuses have lots of legs. Made it easier to climb in.”
“……?”
Leaving Han So-hyun’s random chatter behind, Yeon-woo headed for the shed.
Creeeak—
The door opened with a sound that suggested it might snap at any second. Inside, just as the crew had said, various tools sat packed in burlap sacks.
“Hyung, noona—come over here. Looks like we need to sort this stuff together.”
“Okay!”
Han So-hyun and An Jun-ho took charge of cleaning the house and organizing the tools, while Son Jin-uk carried bricks stacked in one corner of the yard and began rebuilding the hearth.
“Wow, having done it once before really speeds things up.”
Just as he said, the work went quickly. A circular brick fire pit was already taking shape.
At least we’ll be able to cook dinner over a fire. Problem is, we don’t have anything to cook with.
Even when they had arrived at Gunsan Port the sky had already been turning orange; now the sun was setting in earnest and the crew had begun switching on lights.
Yeon-woo watched the others hard at their tasks, then picked up a fish trap.
“I’m going to set a couple of traps before it gets any darker.”
“Got it!”
As he left with the traps, Yeon-woo looked at Joo Hyun-seok PD.
“PD-nim. Honestly, we’ve got almost nothing to eat. At least give us some ramen?”
“We already gave you rice.”
“Ramen.”
“…There’s a vegetable patch out back with some edible greens, you know.”
An elderly woman who lived nearby had tended the empty plot while working her own garden, simply because she hated seeing good soil go to waste. They had permission to take whatever they wanted, and the production had even paid her a proper fee.
Yeon-woo shook his head regardless.
“Ramen.”
He stared the PD down with the unyielding air of a loan shark come to collect, and Joo Hyun-seok wavered.
“Fine. We’ll give you ramen.”
But Yeon-woo wasn’t finished.
“Four packs.”
“What is this, a satirical comedy? Why are you like this?”
“Four packs.”
Faced with that bamboo-straight resolve, the PD finally nodded in defeat.
“…All right. Four.”
“You can hand them over right now, yes?”
“…….”
Having successfully extracted the ramen from the production team, Yeon-woo gave a satisfied nod and headed out with the traps.
It’s already getting dark. Even if I set them now, nothing’s going to be caught before dinner. And even though I haven’t checked the whole garden, it’s winter—there won’t be many edible vegetables left.
Tonight’s dinner would almost certainly be ramen.
Four people, so three packs should be enough. I’ll keep one for something else.
If Manager Kim Min-su had heard that thought—boiling only three packs for four people—he would have leapt to his feet in protest. Smiling to himself, Yeon-woo made for the shore near the house.
Last time the spot I used caught octopus and worked pretty well. I’ll set them there again.
He returned to the exact point where he had dropped traps before.
“Around here…?”
A rock jutting out of the water jogged his memory—he had tied the trap to it and lowered it into the crevice.
Back then I used leftover bread from the rest stop as bait.
Yeon-woo rummaged in his coat and pulled out a square package wrapped in orange plastic—the very ramen he had just wrung from the PD.
“Raw ramen makes decent bait too.”
He tore open the packet, pocketed the soup powder, and stuffed the dry noodles into the trap. Then he carefully lifted it and cast it into the sea.
“Please let something big enough to eat crawl in…”
If the trap filled with undersized creatures he would have to release them all—a complete waste.
After setting the trap he wandered the shoreline with nothing better to do, feeling a little empty-handed.
If this were a mountain I could at least hunt a wild boar…
He scratched his head, staring blankly at the water, then tilted his head. It was low tide; the exposed sandbar might hold a few clams worth gathering. While scanning the ground he caught a sudden shasha-shak—something darting across the mud.
Yeon-woo turned to the cameraman beside him.
“Director.”
“Yes?”
“Shine the light over that way!”
The cameraman swung the camera light in the direction Yeon-woo indicated.
“I don’t see anything.”
While the cameraman was still frowning, Yeon-woo exploded forward like lightning. He stripped off his coat mid-sprint and lunged with both hands.
In the tiny pocket of mudflat left by the receding tide, the creature sensed him coming and scrambled to escape on its legs.
Where do you think you’re going!
Yeon-woo read its path and shot his right hand out like a thunderbolt. The creature saw the hand descending, abruptly changed direction, and threw its weight into a sharp turn.
Changing course? Not a chance!
Yeon-woo adjusted his strike mid-motion, flowing through a series of unpredictable techniques, and snagged the fleeing body cleanly. In the same breath he wrapped it in the coat he had just shed.
“What did you catch?!”
The cameraman shouted as he ran after him, but Yeon-woo simply reached out again, snatched a second one, and bundled both tightly inside the coat like a makeshift sack.
Two of them.
“Seriously, what is it?!”
Yeon-woo grinned with pure triumph.
“The ultimate topping for ramen.”
Inside the wrapped coat he could feel plump, well-fleshed blue crabs thrashing.
Blue-crab season on the West Sea peaks in October. The college entrance exams had just ended, so they were a little past prime, yet the sea still held plenty of them—big, meaty specimens with full claws.
On the way back he also picked up a large whelk at the edge of the mudflat. It was big enough to cover three finger joints; it would deepen the ramen broth beautifully.
Honestly, just cleaning a couple of crabs and dropping them in is already game over for ramen.
Yeon-woo strode through the gate like a general returning in triumph. The place had been a near-ruin, but while he was hunting on the mudflat Son Jin-uk had finished the hearth and Han So-hyun and An Jun-ho had cleaned the house thoroughly enough to make it livable.
Son Jin-uk raised a hand when he saw Yeon-woo coming.
“Hey, traps set okay?”
Then he tilted his head.
“Why do you look like that? Coat off, pants covered in mud…”
The crab chase had left Yeon-woo looking rough. Luckily he had packed spare clothes and shoes.
Without a word he grinned, fetched a rubber basin from the shed, and unwrapped the coat, tipping its contents into the tub.
“Figured I’d grab something while I was out.”
At the mention of a catch, Han So-hyun and An Jun-ho came bursting out of the house. The entire production crew, Joo Hyun-seok included, stirred with interest.
“What is it, what is it? What’d you catch?”
Han So-hyun jammed her feet into shoes any which way and hurried over. When she saw what was thrashing in the basin her mouth fell open.
“Whoa! Blue crabs! They’re huge!”
“Tonight’s dinner is seafood ramen flavored with crab.”
They cleaned the crabs carefully and boiled them hard in a cauldron with the ramen seasoning. Once the shells turned bright red they added the noodles and cooked everything to perfection. The finished dish looked every bit as good as anything from a famous seafood-ramen shop on Jeju Island.
“This is the real deal. Open fire, iron pot, freshly caught crabs, ramen—eating it in the yard on a late-autumn night. Everything’s perfect. Man, if I could have a shot of soju with Senior Cheol-min right now…”
Yeon-woo, ladling ramen into bowls, shook his head at Son Jin-uk’s words.
“Jin-uk hyung, you’re turning into more of a booze hound every day.”
“Seriously! Sunbae, keep drinking like that and you’ll drop dead.”
Under the dual scolding Son Jin-uk protested with an injured look.
“Ahem—I only drink once or twice a week. I’m a celebrity with a schedule too, you know.”
Meanwhile the crew members were practically drooling over the visual of the crab ramen. Yeon-woo pointed toward the car parked in the alley.
“Hey now—I saw the trunk earlier. You’ve got pork belly and plenty of other food for the staff. Don’t stand there salivating at ours.”
“Ahem, when exactly did you see that?”
“Pork belly?! Why don’t we get any?”
At Han So-hyun’s sulky complaint, Joo Hyun-seok hastily changed the subject.
“Well, you’ll have that tomorrow. Did you know a special guest is arriving tomorrow?”
“A guest?”
This was news even to Yeon-woo. The first people who sprang to mind were fellow actors from Saebyeol Entertainment.
But we’ve got so many actors under the company now… Who’s coming?