Chapter 92
Chapter 92
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 92
Chapter Title: Fate Woven by Chance
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Yu-jin ate everything like a champ, which was unusual for a kid her age.
She devoured even the catfish and sea squirts that Jin-hyuk hated, polishing them off in a flash.
"Mom! Sea squirts pleeease~."
"We're out of sea squirts right now."
"Then catfish pleeease~."
"Oppa didn't catch any, so we don't have catfish."
"Oh yeah? Oppa! Catch some catfish for me~."
Jin-hyuk hadn't even gotten a good look at the ones he'd luckily snagged with Jo Seol-chan.
"It's not like you can just catch them whenever you want."
"Why not?"
"Well..."
A five-year-old had him at a loss for words.
Jin-hyuk was grateful he was still a student. Otherwise, Yu-jin's puppy-dog eyes would've melted him, and he'd have been shanghaied into becoming a fisherman.
Yu-jin loved all kinds of seafood, but especially octopus and blue crabs. Han Yu-young had worried it might be picky eating, but Yu Se-ra assured her it was good food for kids with high metabolisms, so she made sure to prepare it whenever she could.
One Sunday afternoon, while looking at a picture book, Yu-jin spotted an octopus and started drooling.
"Mommy, Yu-jin wants octopus."
"Octopus?"
Now that summer was over, they'd have to go to the town market to buy any. Han Yu-young dreaded heading into the cramped town center. She only went out for family meals or outings when her son insisted, and even then, she avoided it for fear of running into someone she didn't want to see—she always chose other areas instead. She could ask her husband, but he was swamped with work lately.
With a sliver of hope, she picked up the receiver.
"Oh, really? You went octopus hunting?"
She called around to the neighbors in An Village to see if anyone had caught octopus that day. Several households said they had. With the long days and hot sun this year, the mud octopus season was dragging on, they added.
"I'll go grab some from Seong-chan's place."
No way was Jin-hyuk going to sit idly by when his little sister wanted something. He already handled most of the errands anyway, and the moment his mom started making calls, he'd assumed it was on him.
Jin-hyuk tied his sneakers, slung on a small backpack, and hopped on his bike.
The smart dog General just woofed once in farewell as Jin-hyuk pedaled off—he never followed.
'I barely remembered Seong-chan at all. But since I didn't transfer schools this time, we run into each other more often.'
In his previous life, he'd been a forgotten friend from early childhood. Even with different middle school classes, there were only about 400 first-years, and they were from the same hometown—they should've crossed paths by chance if they had.
The well-paved road let him speed there on his bike, arriving at the Yuk house in ten minutes flat.
"Seong-chan didn't go to church?"
"Ee, they don't give snacks to middle schoolers neither."
Looks like snacks were just for the elementary kids. Back in elementary school, before he'd started skipping lunch, Yuk Seong-chan had been the one bowing his head deep in prayer. Jin-hyuk had pegged him as devout since he went every Sunday, but apparently not.
"I thought you were a pious churchgoer, Seong-chan."
"Aw shucks, me pious? Prayin' ain't my strong suit neither. I used to pray before bed at night, but one day it started scarin' me."
Jin-hyuk's eyes went wide at the unexpected answer.
"Scared? Why?"
Yuk Seong-chan spread his arms like a cross, closed his eyes, and put on a benevolent smile. But then his face twisted into a goofy grin.
"Jesus might show up. Heh heh heek~."
Bleeeh~.
Jin-hyuk shared a rare silly laugh with his friend. Seong-chan could've been a comedian, he thought.
As they joked around, Yuk Young-gu emerged from the gate in his going-out clothes.
"Hello, sir. Got about ten octopuses to sell?"
"Ee, yup. Jin-hyuk's here. Hey, Seong-chan! Give him a good heap o' octopus. Me and yer ma are headin' to the town station. Sell off the rest o' these big 'uns to the truck comin' soon. Those damn scammin' bastards won't even give us shit for dud shells—gonna drag 'em in~."
"Yes, Dad."
Yuk Young-gu clapped the much-taller Jin-hyuk on the back with a grin and headed to his 125cc scooter. His steps were light and jaunty.
Jin-hyuk watched him go and spotted something tied to the back seat with ropes.
'What the heck?'
Two wooden planks braced on either side to keep it steady. It didn't take long to place it from memory.
Rust-eaten and red, about a foot long, with fins on the tail.
'High-explosive shell?'
Judging by the size, probably a 60mm HE round. Jin-hyuk recalled the specs in a flash. Lethal radius of 27 meters, right?
Taking something like that on a scooter to the station?
Even if it wouldn't go off without the right conditions, accidents didn't stick to common sense.
"Hey—!"
"Jin-hyuk, here."
Vroom-vroom-vroom~.
It happened almost simultaneously. He'd reached out to call Yuk Young-gu back, just as Seong-chan handed over the octopus. Too late—Yuk Young-gu was already 20 meters away.
It looked stable enough. Sitting pretty on the sturdy scooter's suspension, maybe it wasn't planning to blow.
Still, safety meant checking twice, thrice, endlessly. Jin-hyuk knew he had to stop him. But the scooter was already cresting an iron pipe crossing the road.
Rural roads had those pipes to protect irrigation hoses running across. The hoses fed the fields, safe even for cars to drive over, sometimes concreted on top.
They doubled as speed bumps...
And could set off high-explosives like this one.
Thump—whoosh.
The sound hit, and Jin-hyuk grabbed Seong-chan's collar, hurling them both out the gate. Without his superhuman senses, it'd have been impossible. He saw the shell launch from the scooter, hurtling straight at him—grabbed the collar, rolled, all in a split second. That's when Jin-hyuk realized.
'It wasn't a dud!'
Where'd Seong-chan's dad pick that up? Why was unused ordnance in the village? If it were just a dud, the uncle would've been toast. How'd he even find the damn thing? He couldn't die here on a routine errand.
'I've got too much to do.'
Help Dad's business, train Lee Seung-hoon and Shin Woo-seong in wrestling, tutor their studies. Fix up Yeom Byung-taek and Jo Seol-chan's form, get Chae Gyu-ho into the science high school. Mun Seok-il had tons lined up once he recovered.
No heroic resolve—just pure instinct as the moment dragged on.
The Yuk house gate wasn't flanked by plain walls. One side was a shed for farm tools, the other for grain storage. The gate sat recessed over a meter into the wall from the outer fence. That setup accidentally shielded them from the blast.
BOOOOM~!
The sky roared, the ground shook.
Crack—wood splintered. Crumble—weak cinder blocks gave way. The gate and one shed wall collapsed in a heap. Rice sacks burst, spilling grains everywhere.
"Aaaaahhh!"
Seong-chan clamped his hands over his ears and wailed.
Jin-hyuk's ears rang, but he checked the rolling boy first.
"Hey! Seong-chan! Take your hands off!"
"Aaaaahhh!"
Thankfully no other wounds, but blood trickled from his ears.
Yuk Young-gu came sprinting back, eyes bulging, scooter toppled.
"Uncle! Call 119!"
Yuk Young-gu glanced dazedly at his son, then bolted through the debris into the house at Jin-hyuk's shout.
Far off, an ambulance wailed out of the village.
A live fish truck pulling into the village edged aside, and the ambulance sped past without slowing.
"It ain't me, you fools. I plan to live to 100."
Cheon Gil-ryong muttered as he watched the chaos.
Hawaiian shirt, pipe in mouth, fanning himself nonstop.
"Lordy, Chuseok's long gone—why's it still this hot?"
Heading inside, he irritably snapped his fan shut.
Then bellowed at the bamboo grove.
"I didn't say a word! I didn't know neither!"
The rustling bamboo fell silent. After glaring it down, Cheon Gil-ryong finally stepped inside. With the grove quiet, the flapping colorful banners drooped.
"Strange fella. Sensed me like a ghost and saved my hide."
A breeze whispered from the bamboo.
Knowing its meaning, Cheon Gil-ryong screeched again.
"Quit fightin' and get along, you lot!"
Lowly spirits and grim reapers bickered daily. Ghosts fought ghosts, reapers argued who'd died earlier, who'd guided more souls, comparing seniority.
As Cheon Gil-ryong entered his house, he overheard the virgin ghost nagging the dream ghost. "Hey, senior, don't live like that."
"Dead folks got no 'life' to live."
Despite his scolding, the virgin ghost kept at it—no hitting on her, she hated ugly ghosts.
The bamboo grove went dead quiet the moment he entered the room.
"Undead with no hunger, but cravin' attention..."
Cheon Gil-ryong tsked, laid his head on the wooden pillow, and flopped down.
Chattering for attention only when someone's around—ghosts or people, same deal.
"Seong-chan, can you hear me?"
"Ughhh—bleeech."
Yuk Seong-chan dry-heaved.
The paramedic soothing Yuk Young-gu had a warm, rustic drawl.
"He'll be fine, sir. Eardrums busted, that's why he's dizzy."
"Y-yeah. Right."
Yuk Young-gu stroked his son's face, tears streaming.
Chatting with the driver up front, the paramedic still monitored Seong-chan and comforted the dad.
"He's young—regenerates good. These days, surgery fixes it right up."
"Yeah, yeah. Lord, I damn near killed my boy like an idiot."
Yuk Young-gu wiped tears with his pot-lid fist. How the hell did those bastards mismanage ammo to let this happen?
Jin-hyuk's ears weren't ringing, no dizziness. He heard every word clearly.
"I'll hold it."
He took the gauze from Yuk Young-gu's trembling hands—too shaky from emotion—and pressed it to Seong-chan's ear.
If he hadn't gone for octopus, would Seong-chan have been fine? Or did he save him? Jin-hyuk's mind swirled.
Then Yuk Young-gu, bawling, leaned his head on Jin-hyuk's shoulder.
"Sniff-hoo-hoo~."
Face contorted, he rubbed Jin-hyuk's back hard, calluses like elephant hide palpable through the shirt.
No words needed—Jin-hyuk got it. Gratitude.
"We lived 'cause o' you."
Heart steady now, Yuk Young-gu finally spoke.
When he'd whirled at the boom, Jin-hyuk cradling his son on the ground was burned into his mind.
The ambulance bypassed the town hospital, heading straight for Beomsan Medical Center.
"You'll be okay, Seong-chan."
Jin-hyuk held the gauze to Seong-chan's ears with both hands until the paramedics took over.
Good—the bleeding had stopped.
He recalled a brief newspaper article from his past life.
«Middle schooler killed in mortar shell blast. Suspected lost ordnance from coastal unit during rainy season.»
Jin-hyuk had delivered that paper too. But survival had buried the details—who, when. Isolated, he'd tuned out the world. All he remembered was the hot fall day, sprint-walk-sprint deliveries like now.
'Was that Seong-chan?'
Hard to say, but his autistic school days had been that detached.
Remembering it while riding with Seong-chan—coincidence?
No telling. He just hoped not to see that article this life.
Grandma's words surfaced.
- "Look at that—I ain't caught neither our Jin-hyuk nor Young-gu's boy. That shaman geezer said I'd live long if I did midwifery, so I been doin' it."
Ah, so Seong-chan's dad was Young-gu.
Adults with few kids around weren't called by name easily. Parents went by their kids'. Only old bachelor Jo Il-heon got called by his.
If Grandma was right, what a wild coincidence.
But coincidences pile up into fate, don't they?
The ambulance slowed; the paramedic raised his voice.
"Medical center's here!"
Jin-hyuk gripped the stretcher tight as they moved Seong-chan, keeping it steady.
Someone watched him from afar.