WIRHIHWS 02

Episode 2

Lee Yoon watched from afar as Yoon Yeon Woo got into a taxi and drove away.

“Even if I won the lottery, I’d take the bus, not the train,” he had said.

“Ugh, how am I supposed to live now? This is so boring.”

The taxi was already gone, having disappeared so far into the distance that it was no longer visible. With a sigh, Yi Yun returned to the dormitory.
The room felt emptier than he had expected.

Yoon Yeon Woo hadn’t had much luggage, so until just a moment ago, the emptiness hadn’t been noticeable.
He realized just how much space a person’s presence could fill.

“What a shame.”

A strange sense of loneliness washed over him, like a child leaving their parents’ side to become independent.
Just then.

Ding!

Father: Come home now, Yun

“Seriously… the timing is unbelievable.”

Lee Yoon stared intently at his father’s text message.
Lee Yoon father was the chairman of Chilseong Group, a conglomerate representing South Korea.
For him to call Lee Yoon back meant…

Snapping back to his senses, he called someone.

“Yeah, Yuna.”

“Boss, I mean, Uncle.”

“Yeah. What’s up?”

The person on the line was the owner of the factory where Lee Yoon currently worked.
To be precise, his uncle.
It was a secret even his closest friend, Yoon Yeon-woo, didn’t know.

“I think I need to go to Father.”

“I see. You’re going earlier than expected.”

“Yes, it seems that way.”

In truth, Lee Yoon had entered the factory on his father’s orders.
Although he had intended to go to a decent university and receive a good education, his father had insisted that before university, he should work in a factory, receive a military service exemption, and learn the work directly from the laborers. Reluctantly, he had taken the job.
At first, he hated it, but over the past few years, he had come to understand the hardships of the workers who toiled for the company’s sake.
He saw with his own eyes how hard they worked, sweating and striving.
Thanks to that, he had also formed good connections.

He had gained enough experience over the years and had pondered deeply on many things.
His military service exemption period was over, and now it was time to return.

“Alright, I understand. Give a proper farewell to the people you worked with and tie up loose ends. They’ll probably miss you. If you need it, I’ll lend you the company card, so make sure to say your goodbyes properly.”

The first greeting and the last farewell are the means by which people remember you.
They must be kind and good for you to be remembered as a good person. And that memory will serve you well in the future.
Especially for someone destined for a high position, they must appear as a good person in the eyes of the weaker laborers.

“Yes, thank you.”

With that, he ended the call.
He took one last look around.

The empty dormitory.
As he gazed at the hollow interior.

“Brother let’s meet again sometime. Thanks for making the last few years fun.”

Sigh.

Lee Yoon laughed.
Where there are goodbyes, there are also meetings.
Next time, instead of getting treated to beef, I’ll treat you to beef.
With that thought, he packed his belongings.

On Monday, after resigning and heading back to his hometown.
He felt somewhat lighter, yet also strangely wistful.
This feeling… it felt familiar, like he’d felt it somewhere before.

‘It reminds me of when I was discharged from the military.’

That was exactly it.
The regret of parting ways with comrades he had shared hardships with for a year and a half.
Even now, with nostalgia tinting the memory, military life had been truly tough.
The faces of the officers he served with, the somber expressions of the juniors who had to endure the remaining time.
Their faces as he saw them for the last time, the platoon sergeant’s joke about how civilian life is harder so he should just re-enlist as a professional sergeant or second lieutenant.
The operations officer who played along, Captain Jung who joked with him, Lieutenant Lee who told him never to re-enlist.
All those memories surged up.

“Well… everyone will work hard even without me.”

An organization doesn’t falter just because one person leaves.
Especially in this factory’s case, it would run just fine without Yoon Yeon-woo.

Feeling this way meant he had given and received a lot here.

‘I should have been kinder to the people I disliked.’
‘I should have repaid the people who were kind to me more.’
‘Would there have been less conflict if I had listened better?’

These regrets, and the gratitude for the kindness he received.
Still, he had done well, so he had no regrets.

“Ah, the bus is here.”

Arriving at the terminal, it was 10 minutes before the bus departure.
He hurriedly ran to boarding gate number 9.

[Seoul -> Haenam]
[Estimated Time: 6 hours.]

Seeing the boarding gate, Yoon Yeon-woo let out a sigh of relief and slowly boarded the bus.
Perhaps because it was headed to Haenam, there weren’t many people.
Mostly grandmothers and grandfathers returning from visiting their children’s homes.
They carried various bundles in their hands, and families gathered in front of the bus.
A child who seemed to be a granddaughter cried, calling for her grandmother not to go.
The sight was pitiful yet cute.
It also reminded him of his parents.

‘I should buy them something delicious.’

He was the filial son who, right after discharge, came up to Seoul saying he’d make money and hadn’t gone back down for years.
What other filial son was there like him?
By the time his parents grew old and weak like that grandmother and grandfather, it would be too late to be filial.
So he should start being filial now, however he can.
He won the lottery, so he has plenty to spare, right?
Well, anyway.

“Hey, I’m coming down to Haenam.”

He contacted his friends in Haenam.
He didn’t contact his parents separately.
If he told them he was coming, they’d probably rush to make something, and that would be tiring for them.
Also, he wanted to see their surprised faces.
Ah, but maybe this was another act of being a secretly filial son?

Click.

His closest friend, Jang Hoe-cheon, answered the phone.

“Huh? What brings you down here, country boy? You should come up to Seoul to see the sights! You’re always the one telling me to come up.”

“No, you’re right. When would a country boy like me ever come up to Seoul again?”

“?”

“Anyway, I’m coming down.”

“You’re a country boy by birth too, you country boy! Anyway, why are you coming? Did you finally cause trouble and get fired?”

“Who talks like a maniac who cuts off people’s heads? Your words are scary.”

“?”

“Speak properly. It’s not ‘people’s heads,’ it’s ‘hair dressing.’ And I’m not a ‘maniac,’ I’m a ‘hair, dresser.'”

“Is ‘hair’ also ‘rock’?”

“Do you want me to make it ‘Rock’?”

The trivial banter between friends continued.
It was always like this.
Telling icy, lame jokes or finding ways to pick on each other.
It was a very rude behavior, possible only because they knew each other so well.

“So why are you coming?”

“I got fired.”

“……Seriously?”

The hairdresser Jang Hoe-cheon seemed momentarily flustered, clamping his mouth shut.
Uh, um, ah? Oh.
He made sounds as if practicing pronunciation.

“Just kidding, I quit.”

“Why?”

“Well, you know, after discharge, I just worked, and now I want to rest a bit.”

He was tired, and now that he’d won the lottery, he didn’t need to work anymore.
Besides, it’s not Seoul but Haenam; 2.7 billion won is enough for him and his parents to play and eat for the rest of their lives.
Still, he had no intention of telling anyone other than his parents about winning the lottery.
He could tell his friend, but if word got around through others, it might lead to unnecessary trouble.
Especially in the countryside, the speed at which rumors spread is beyond imagination.

“Well, okay. Come on down. It’s your choice, so I can’t tell you what to do. Yeah, see you later.”

“Okay.”

“And let’s have a drink this weekend; it’s been a while. I’ll buy the good side dishes. You contact the other guys.”

With those words, the call ended.
After that, he called the other guys before the bus departed.

On the bus to Haenam.
Outside the window, mountains and grassy fields stretched endlessly.
Cars also raced past, overtaking the bus as if in a race.

‘I have quite a bit of time left. What should I do?’

Others might find the empty time boring.
It might be peculiar, but Yoon Yeon-woo liked the time spent on buses or subways.
Because this was time when he could do anything, as long as he wasn’t bothering others.
He could sleep listening to music, or catch up on webtoons or web novels he had fallen behind on.
He could do things he was usually too busy for.

So he chose to catch up on web novels.
Reading web novels had become a hobby he recently grew fond of.
Among them, Yoon Yeon-woo particularly liked healing stories.

Because work was hard and life was exhausting, he naturally sought out stories that healed his heart.

‘Ah, so cute!’

A healing story set in another world, featuring a blue hatchling perched on its owner’s head, going As I read
Imagining it messing up the owner’s hair happily after getting a treat, the dark stains in his heart seemed to slowly fade away.

Like that, he read one episode, two episodes.
Around the 25th episode, equivalent to one volume.
Yoon Yeon-woo felt his eyelids growing heavy.

‘Sleepy…’

Even though he had only been reading for about two hours.
He was already starting to feel drowsy.

‘Should I read more or sleep?’

On his usual days off, it felt like his free time was being stolen.
He would resist sleep by injecting caffeine, trying to catch up on webtoons and web novels.
But now he had time to spare.
He was a bit curious about what happened next, but since he was sleepy, sleeping was also a good option.
Yoon Yeon-woo surrendered his consciousness to the gradually heavy eyelids and the fading stream of awareness.

“Whoosh~ You’re awake~!”
“A human, ham! A human!”

“Hmm……”

Yoon Yeon-woo opened his eyes at the cute sounds coming from around him.
It sounded somehow like animal cries, yet also like human speech.
Simultaneously, it felt like a whisper in his ear.

“Where is this……?”

“The human opened their eyes, ham!”

Right in front of him, a giant hamster with light green fur was staring with wide eyes.
It was different from a normal hamster; it was a bit big. Well, a lot…
Next to it, a pink rabbit was shyly covering its eyes with its ears.
Beyond them, at least hundreds of colorful animals of all kinds were staring intently at Yoon Yeon-woo.
All of them had looks as if they were seeing something wondrous.

Moreover, the surrounding scenery was a near-ideal, beautiful natural landscape.
A vast plain, covered in green grass and trees.
In the distance, high mountains were visible, and large clouds floated in the sky.
The blowing wind was strangely sweet, and the air was incredibly refreshing.
But… the scenery seemed familiar somehow.

“Huh~. You’re awake~.”

Among them, the most peculiarly shaped one.
A creature that looked like cotton candy, at least not resembling an animal, floated in the air and attached itself to Yoon Yeon-woo.
He momentarily wondered if it might melt from human warmth, but the creature that landed on his head didn’t melt.

“Warm~.”

“Who are you……?”

Such mysterious animals.
A turtle standing on two legs on the ground, striking a pose.
A parrot with a tuft of hair sticking up, flames burning on its head.

Scenes that could never be seen in reality, like a dream.
Thinking it must be a dream, Yoon Yeon-woo asked the animals.

“Huh? We are~. Spirits~.”

The white creature on his head spoke.

“Spirits……?”

It must be a dream.
At the preposterous words, Yoon Yeon-woo concluded.
This scenery made no sense unless it was a dream.