Friends? (4): The Hunter's Resolve
Yang Chunya had looked after her granddaughter Hong Siyeon ever since the girl was little.
It was simple.
Her son and daughter-in-law had died in an accident.
That was why she had taken in Hong Siyeon and Hong Suyeon and raised them under her own wing.
That was also why she knew.
Hong Siyeon possessed a natural charm.
Even without trying, countless people would fall for her.
Her face was beautiful, too.
So Yang Chunya worried.
That worry turned into vigilance the day her granddaughter nearly got kidnapped.
At first she thought it was one of her enemies, but when she realized it was just some deranged criminal who had become obsessed with her looks, she understood the true danger.
Still, she could not bring herself to hurt this lovely child.
After searching for a solution, she made one suggestion.
Change your hair and eye color.
This society called South Korea rejected anything that felt different.
So what about red hair and golden eyes?
In a country overflowing with black hair, wouldn’t that stand out as especially foreign?
The result was that her worries eased, at least a little.
Of course, she had to pull a few strings here and there, but for her beloved granddaughter, how could she not do even that much?
Even so, the charm Hong Siyeon possessed remained dangerously potent.
Yet.
There was a man who did not fall for that charm?
“Hah.”
Yang Chunya closed her eyes.
She let out a small sigh.
“I’ve seen a man like that before, long ago.”
“Huh? Really?”
“Yes. Your grandfather was exactly like that.”
“Whoa…”
“It brings back memories.”
The day she had punched that woman from the next village, Heeja, right in the face and claimed him for herself.
Even while they were dating, there had been no shortage of bitches trying to steal her husband.
No, even after they married, it was the same.
“Did Grandpa cheat?”
“No. That man was steadfast.”
Once they started dating and even after they married, he never once looked at another woman.
Still, plenty of rivals had targeted him, and every time, Yang Chunya’s fiery fists had to move.
“Heh. I was quite young back then, too.”
And passionate.
Hong Siyeon found herself smiling at the sight of her grandmother blushing and looking embarrassed.
“Anyway, if there’s a man like that, you’d better hold on to him.”
“I want to, but he doesn’t budge at all.”
“Really? That actually makes me like him more. Yes, a real man should be like that.”
Yang Chunya nodded repeatedly, saying her own husband had been the same.
“But what does he do?”
“He’s the new outside director we just brought into the company. I already sent you the report.”
“Hm? Ahhh. You mean the one who helped get rid of that bastard Jang Guhwan.”
Recalling the report she had received, she nodded.
“Tell him I’d like to have a meal together sometime.”
***
“How’s everyone doing today?”
Another chaotic day.
Because he only accepted ten people a day, the chat window and donation messages exploded nonstop.
“Gu Wonjang. You say you want to quit because the work is shit? That’s not a good choice. If you walk out now, you won’t find another job easily.”
He gave advice to a friend who had gotten a job but was now torn about whether to quit because his immediate superior was a bastard.
“Hang in there a little longer. And try putting whatever’s in your superior’s drawer on the department head’s desk. Your superior will be the one getting fired instead.”
There was evidence in the deputy’s drawer that he had been embezzling company funds.
That would be enough to free Gu Wonjang from the pressure he felt.
“What? Right now at the hop bar, some suspicious-looking minors are hanging around deciding whether to come in? Don’t let them in. They’re minors. They forged their IDs, so call the police right away.”
A thirty-day suspension would be too harsh for a fifty-year-old man running a hop bar after retirement.
Especially when those kids would be the ones causing the trouble.
So he gave that advice.
“Ah. And…”
Small stories, but important to the people involved.
While he was solving them one by one, one line in the chat caught his eye.
Fine dining?
He didn’t know much about high-end restaurants.
Still, he looked at the man’s future.
“Hey. You’re going to be on TV, you know?”
“Yeah. If a broadcasting station contacts you, accept it no matter what. That’s the path to turning your life around.”
The man had worked at a three-Michelin-star restaurant before returning to Korea and opening his own fine dining place.
Running it hadn’t been easy.
He had managed somehow, but when he was about to give up, the call came.
From Netflix.
After winning there, he succeeded big in both broadcasting and cooking.
But what if he closed his own restaurant and joined another instead?
The TV appearance would fall through, and he would live out his days that way before passing on.
Come to think of it, broadcasting…
Wasn’t it about time for the drama filming to start?
-Ring ring!!
It was PD Jang Woogyeong.
He had said he would contact him when filming time came, so it must be ready now.
“Hello?”
“Hello, Mr. Kang!”
“Yes. Have you been well?”
“Yes! Yes! The filming date is coming up soon!”
“I see. Where should I go?”
“I’ll come pick you up myself!”
He said there were no buses going up the mountain, so they should go together.
If the main PD was escorting him, there wouldn’t be any issues.
The filming date was… the day after tomorrow.
He would keep his schedule clear.
.
.
.
Two days later.
He arrived at the filming site.
Maybe because the set was deep in the mountains, it was bustling.
Or was every filming site like this?
“Get the cameras ready!!”
“Are the actors all set!?”
“What are you doing!! Trying to ruin the shoot!?”
Staff members shouting and running around everywhere.
Supporting actors in costume preparing for their scenes.
Even the lead actors were having serious discussions with the assistant directors.
“Where are the hunters?”
“They’re over there.”
Among the gathered people, five men were holding guns.
Their equipment looked good and their guns were in proper condition, so he figured they were reliable enough.
Still, since lives were on the line, he decided to take a quick look.
Among the five was an old man with a blunt face.
Despite his snow-white hair and beard, his sturdy build didn’t lose to any young man.
This man.
This man was the one who would catch the wild boar.
“Hello.”
“Hello there.”
“You a hunter too?”
Maybe there was some competitive spirit among hunters.
They didn’t seem to have greeted each other at all.
“Haha. I’m here through a connection with the director.”
“Hmph. That so?”
“We’ve got connections too, in a way.”
“Usually when filming in mountains like this, they don’t bother gathering hunters like us.”
“By the way, how good are your skills? I caught two wild boars last month.”
“Two boars? That’s nothing. I’ve caught a tiger.”
“Come on, old man. This isn’t the Joseon era. Where are you going to find wild tigers in Korea…”
Like fishermen, the hunters started bragging about the game they had caught.
But only one of them stayed silent.
The old man who would catch the wild boar today, Elder Gwak Seong, simply fiddled with his gun without saying much.
“What about you, sir? Caught anything?”
“What’s so special about a hunter catching vermin?”
After clearing his throat, he looked around.
Then, with his usual blunt expression, he pulled out some jerky from his pocket and held it out.
“Eat.”
“Oh. Thank you.”
It tasted like homemade jerky.
One bite and the flavor was incredible.
“This is really good.”
“Hmph. A real hunter should at least know how to cook something like this with the game he catches.”
The blunt old man spoke as if it were nothing.
Even so, he gave him a little more of the jerky he had brought.
He accepted it gratefully.
The other hunters also offered nuts and dried squid.
“If only we had some beer with this.”
“Kuh~! Should we go grab a drink after this?”
While the hunter uncles chuckled and chatted, a man who looked like an assistant director approached.
“Oh dear. You’ve all worked hard. Must be tiring waiting around, right?”
“Nothing tiring about it.”
“But… with all this noise, will a wild boar even show up?”
He seemed embarrassed about calling the hunters and tossed out the remark.
At that, the hunters answered firmly.
“It’ll come. It will.”
“I don’t know about the old days, but these days it’s no joke.”
“They come down even when people are around, and they show up in town a lot too.”
“When filming in the mountains, especially places where wild boars might appear like this, it’s safer to have hunters like us around.”
“The best case is if they don’t come at all.”
At their cold assessment, the assistant director looked flustered.
He had only said it out of embarrassment, hoping nothing would happen, but everyone was so serious.
“Filming starts now!!”
A shout rang out.
When the assistant director headed to the filming area, the hunters stood up as well.
They must have felt it was time to start watching the surroundings.
“You are…”
“I’m not a hunter, after all.”
He would just watch from here.
With that, the hunters left and he observed the filming.
Since it was a fusion historical drama, everyone was wearing flowing hanbok.
Running away in those clothes wouldn’t be easy…
-Squeeeal!!
At that moment, a fierce cry came from the hill.
A wild boar.
Its eyes had flipped after spotting the male lead in red clothes, and it was charging madly.
“Kyaaak!!”
“R-run away!!”
“Aaaagh!!”
Everyone expected a disaster.
But one of the hunters here remained calmer than anyone.
-Bang!!
A single gunshot echoed across the set.
The shot fired into the air was enough to make even the charging boar tremble in fear and flee.
“I’ll track it and catch it.”
“Uh… yes.”
The blunt white-haired elder.
Gwak Seong spoke calmly and headed up the mountain.
Maybe because of that composure?
The frozen atmosphere on set gradually began to shift.
“Wow… that’s so cool.”
A few people seemed to have fallen for that macho display.
.
.
.
The filming went smoothly.
The captured wild boar wasn’t eaten by the staff; the hunters took it away.
“Thank you all so much for your hard work.”
PD Jang Woogyeong bowed repeatedly.
If not for the hunters, the shoot would have ended in disaster.
“And you as well, sir… really, truly…”
“Haha. I’m glad everything worked out. Now it’s smooth sailing, so don’t worry and just focus on filming.”
“Yes!! Thank you!”
His future had changed.
His wife’s surgery had gone well.
The PD who would make the drama a success and stage a grand return.
Everyone connected to this incident would be satisfied.
“Elder.”
“Hm?”
He approached the old man who was putting away his gun.
And held out a card.
“What am I supposed to do with this?”
“Would you like to flip it over?”
The old man gave him a sullen look before silently turning the card over.
People around them watched with interest.
“You have a grandson, don’t you.”
“…How do you know that?”
A dangerous gaze landed on him.
Even so, he did not back down.
“Your grandson… might die soon.”
He could not ignore the future of an old man who would lose his beloved grandson to a random assault, then shoot the culprit dead before taking his own life.