Chapter 56
Chapter 56
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 56
Chapter Title: Joker Captain (3)
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No sooner had they returned from the fields than the rain came pouring down.
Jin-hyuk sat on the porch of the mud house with Jo Seol-chan, watching the downpour.
'Whoa, it's really coming down hard.'
The yard of the mud house was relatively low-lying and rarely trodden, so the ground was soft.
The rain hammered so fiercely that furrows quickly formed, and yellowish puddles sprang up. It was impossible to see ahead through the sheets of water.
The roar of the rain was so loud they had to shout even when talking right next to each other.
Shwaaaaa-!
"Seol-chan! What do you wanna do when the rain stops?!"
"What?! I can't hear ya-!"
The carefully laid plans went up in smoke. No way they could collect water shield from the reservoir now that it was churning with water, or play in the swollen stream amid the torrent.
They needed Plan B.
"When the rain stops-!"
Rumble-!
Even thunder joined in, disrupting their conversation.
He gave up talking and flopped down on the porch. Jin-hyuk's gaze fell on the swallow's nest under the eaves.
'Is it because of the heavy rain? Even the swallows are staying home.'
He'd had a plan for indoor strength training on rainy days, but Jin-hyuk quickly revised it in his head. No matter how he thought about it, it didn't seem like it'd make a memorable experience for Jo Seol-chan.
'Maybe watch some videos?'
The living room cabinet held a fair number of videotapes. Thanks to Chairman Hong Gi-jun, who sent new releases whenever they hit distribution—his dad loved watching movies and listening to music.
'The ones in the master bedroom are kinda... suspicious.'
His parents' room had videos without titles or covers. Probably hormones at play, but he was occasionally curious about what they were. He spent so much time exercising and went to bed early that it kept his curiosity in check, thankfully.
"Seol-."
Jin-hyuk's mouth fell open as he was about to suggest videos.
Jo Seol-chan had sprawled out on the porch and fallen asleep.
Snoooore-.
To sleep through this downpour— what a kid.
White noise had its limits; it sounded like the middle of a battlefield right now, yet he was snoring away.
'Guess he's not sensitive to it.'
Maybe Jo Seol-chan's laid-back personality let him live without veering off course or getting hurt too much. Or perhaps he'd become that way from frequent wounds life threw at him.
Jin-hyuk fetched bedding from the master room, propped a pillow under his head, and covered him with a blanket so he could sleep soundly.
'If even this becomes a memory for you.'
He'd told Chairman Hong Gi-jun he'd do anything he could. That was Jin-hyuk's dream of living ordinarily. Some things would be easy, some hard. It wasn't like only the tough, rare things others couldn't do held meaning and value. All time was precious.
'This moment won't come back.'
Shin Woo-seong and Lee Seung-hoon were in his class and always together because he tutored them. They hung out at the wrestling gym sometimes and shared lunches. Being on the sports team, they had training camps during breaks, so he didn't see them much anyway, but he kept up with his old friends without neglect.
'Right now, being a good friend to Seol-chan is something I can do.'
Jin-hyuk moved to the kitchen and poured a basin of water into the cauldron.
He flipped a soup bowl upside down inside. He didn't know why, but Mom did it that way.
Now he just needed to add corn proportional to the number of people.
'Yu-jin one, Mom one, General two, Seol-chan two, Dad eats a lot so three. I eat light, so twelve...'
Jin-hyuk's hands busied counting corn cobs.
He added firewood and kindling, then struck a match.
Even though it was damp from disuse, as always, it sparked a big, brilliant flame in Jin-hyuk's hands.
*
Fortunately, the rain stopped before dusk settled in.
Jin-hyuk cut four bamboo poles to about two meters each. They were so thin that slicing with a sickle was easier than sawing.
Jo Seol-chan, who had trailed behind munching boiled corn, blinked in surprise.
"Whatcha doin'?"
"Gonna catch some catfish."
Jin-hyuk planned to be a good friend and give Jo Seol-chan memories. Not easy common fish like crucians or pond loaches, but something rarer. The downpour had helped pivot the plan nicely.
'Sometimes spending leisure without a goal is fine too.'
Whoaaa-, Jo Seol-chan let out an awed reaction.
"I've seen catfish once or twice, but never caught one. You?"
"Nope. First time for me too."
Jin-hyuk had never seen a live catfish either.
It was just the method explained by know-it-all Jo Il-heon.
On cloudy days or after rain, when the reservoir dam turned muddy, you could catch catfish there.
Streams had small ones called baby catfish, but in flowing water, fishing lines wouldn't work; you needed traps. In Gangwon and North Korea areas, they called baby catfish mountain catfish, he'd said.
Jin-hyuk absorbed every tale Jo Il-heon spun like old folklore.
"Sounds fun! Are they tasty?"
"Dunno."
Jin-hyuk hadn't tried catfish either.
'But I've had crucian carp.'
When he brought some home, Mom made spicy stew or steamed them— the gochujang-based dishes were spicy-sweet and quite good. Grilled crucian with scales scraped off, salted, over charcoal or briquettes was nice too.
"Let's give it a shot anyway."
Catch first, then decide.
People worried about cooking before even catching—prepping spicy stew ingredients for a fishing trip. Then striking out and buying fish at market, he'd heard.
He tied fishing line to the trimmed pole tips and attached pond loach hooks.
Simple rig—no sinker or float.
"Let's get bait."
No need to go far.
Sweeping the pond edge by the yard with a net got plenty of loaches and shrimp for bait.
He took only thumb-sized ones, released the rest.
Carrying four two-meter rods and a tin of bait, the two friends headed down the road from the house. Better than the reservoir over the bus road and hill—the canal farther ahead seemed good. Worried about getting wet maybe, General—who loved tagging along with Jin-hyuk—stayed in his doghouse, just rolling his eyes.
"This a river?"
"It's a canal, but a big one like a reservoir."
Even if Grandma farmed, Jo Seol-chan lived near the township. No paddy farming, no reason to visit countryside, so calling a 5-to-20-meter-wide canal a river made sense.
'Without the dialect, he'd be a total city bumpkin.'
Where to fish? At the reservoir, it'd be the stone embankment. Canal bank was sloped and slippery—rain made it riskier. After scanning, Jin-hyuk decided.
"From the bridge."
"Y-yeah."
Jin-hyuk lightly threaded loaches and shrimp onto the hooks. Key was keeping bait alive. Jo Seol-chan peeked and copied.
Like a student seeking praise, he held up his baited hook.
"Like this?"
"Yeah, good job."
The wriggling bait looked fresh even on the hook.
Jin-hyuk demonstrated the next step.
"Do it like this."
Adjust line so bait moved on surface, hold the rod. Or prop handle on ground, weigh with stone or foot—arms tire holding long.
Wasps, mosquitoes buzzed annoyingly, but ignore pests or you couldn't live countryside.
Smack! Smack!
The friends swatted necks, cheeks, calves while focusing on fishing.
Watching loaches thrash on surface, Jo Seol-chan murmured wistfully.
"Nice. Never done this before."
Jin-hyuk's lips curved at his friend's reaction.
As adults, he'd met Lee Seung-hoon and Shin Woo-seong for beers but not leisure like this. Grown-ups had their own lives.
Fishing with Dad was fun, but time with a peer was a fresh experience. Maybe school days were best for making friend memories.
"Yeah. Feels good."
Ribbit- Ribbit-.
About ten minutes later, as footsteps faded, bullfrogs croaked everywhere. Echoes bouncing off banks and water hammered eardrums.
"Where'd those come from? Sound scary loud."
Probably imported from Japan. About twenty years ago.
Brought for food but flopped, so shop owners dumped 'em, spread like that.
"Noisy now, but they'll quiet down someday."
"Think so?"
"Yep. This country's got its own masters now."
Jo Seol-chan nodded, figuring it made sense from a smart kid.
Jin-hyuk, visiting hometown on leave with tent, often lost sleep to bullfrogs. But year by year, croaks faded, vanished.
'Cats, raccoons, weasels, otters, herons.'
And predators like mudskippers ate tadpoles, culling numbers.
As Jin-hyuk recalled,
Splash-!
A fish struck the thrashing bait fiercely.
"Eek-!"
Not bobber-watching like crucian fishing—this was spotting the swallow direct. Looked monstrous, like a water beast emerged. Totally got Jo Seol-chan's freakout.
Jin-hyuk startled too.
'Almost jumped.'
Anyway, Jo Il-heon's method worked amazingly.
After rain on cloudy days, muddy water made breathing, hunting hard—fish surfaced. Nocturnal predators hiding in holes/cracks by day got active too.
"Whoa-!"
"Seol-chan! Relax arms! Just hold steady."
Muddy surface bubbled like hot chocolate—decent size.
Jo Seol-chan eased as instructed, using rod flex max. Thought it'd snap, but bamboo bent supple, tiring the catfish. Bend like reed beats oak?
'Amazing.'
Jin-hyuk marveled inwardly. Not glass rod or carbon high-tech—just frail bamboo withstood catfish power. Ancestors' natural wisdom awed.
Then, crack—the rod broke. Tough bamboo, just pulled in.
"Keep line taut!"
Jin-hyuk dropped his rod, pulled line by hand helping.
Hooked catfish spun in air, wriggling. Strong fish, but no match for Jin-hyuk's strength.
"Haha! Huge!"
"Whoa-, Seol-chan jackpot."
"Jackpot? What's that?"
"Ahaha-, means awesome."
Buddha-like Jin-hyuk openly admired the size.
First-time fisher Jo Seol-chan plopped down, stunned. Did I catch this? Fist-sized head tapering body, long whiskers by mouth.
Scary like monster catfish from Frog King Bulging Eyes.
"Over forty centimeters?"
"Yeah."
Jin-hyuk measured with handspan.
Slender to tail tip, neared fifty centimeters.
"But Jin-hyuk, rod broke—what now?"
Jo Seol-chan looked sorry, but no worry.
Brought extras knowing, disposable rods anyway.
He grabbed spare intact one.
Meanwhile, Jin-hyuk snapped reeds.
"What's that for?"
"Forgot container for fish."
Didn't expect actual catch. Muttered quietly.
Couldn't help village trust in Jo Il-heon.
Anyway.
Leave catfish on ground, might flop back to water.
Jin-hyuk threaded reed through gills out mouth.
"Easier to carry."
"Yeah, cool."
Couldn't thrash with reed.
Put skewered fish in puddle temporarily.
Jo Seol-chan savored thrill, clenching-unclenching fists.
"Whew-! Body like electric shock."
Really zinged—grinning wide.
Genuine joy lit his face; Jin-hyuk felt proud.
"But Jin-hyuk."
"Yeah?"
"Where's your rod?"
"......"
Jin-hyuk, mesmerized by first catfish, scanned surface turning head.
His rod, set down while friend reeled,
"Over there......"
Floated leisurely far off.
Jo Seol-chan's eyes bulged following finger.
"Movin' fast? Like got motor."
Two friends stared dumbfounded at fish-driven rod.
"What fish took that?"
"Dunno......"
Shrimp bait, maybe crucian. Power suggested mudskipper.
Watching rod whip every way, they giggled uncontrollably.
"Heehee- funny."
"Heh-heh-."
Woof! Woof!
Barking echoed over reddening surface.
General's booming barks trumpeted like water striders skipping.