WIRHIHWS 08

Episode 8

The explanation was brief.
Yet her expression wasn’t good.
Hearing the explanation, my heart felt uneasy.

“So the attributes… are born from the reason for death. The children without attributes died natural deaths?”
“Yes…”

The reason why spirits could create things like fire or water.
It was all too simple.

Because they died in accidents.
If they drowned, they could use water when they became spirits.
If they burned to death, they could create fire.
The reason was truly horrifying.

It might be a blessing to lose their memories.
At least they wouldn’t have to feel the horrific tragedy of their death.

I turned my gaze.
I made eye contact with Hayang.

“Then… Hayang, you died because of water?”

For a moment, my heart ached.
Long ago, Yoon Yeon-woo, along with his pet dog, went to a riverside with his family when sudden heavy rain caused them to be swept away by the river.
The dog he had back then died, and due to the accident, he lost that memory. Even now, that memory never resurfaced.
That memory overlapped with Hayang.

“Huh~? Don’t know~. Might have been like that~. But don’t remember~.”

Bright smile.
Hayang smiled.
That smile was so harmless.
That’s why my heart stung, zing zing, and ached.

“But~. It wasn’t hard~.”

Ahem.
As if performing that action, an arm(?) from the cotton candy creature popped out and touched my side.
Then it tilted its head as if to say, huh? Not it?

“I have no attribute-ham! I lived an ordinary life and died-ham!”

From the side, Kongkong-i approached.
And whining, he grabbed the hem of Yoon Yeon-woo’s pants.

“For your size, you’re quite spoiled, aren’t you?”

Honestly, until just before listening to the explanation, the feeling of them being cute was strong.
I didn’t harbor other emotions towards them to that degree.
Just pitied them, perhaps?

But hearing the story and realizing again that these beings had died, my heart felt tender.
They all grew up loved abundantly under wonderful, beautiful owners, and shared their deaths.
If that were the case, I wouldn’t have felt this way.

Not all of them ended their lives with happiness.
Surely there were children who left happily, but not all were like that.

“No-ham! But human’s embrace is good-ham!”

Kongkong jumped, jumped, jumped up and down while holding the pant leg.
I picked him up.
I hugged him to my chest so he wouldn’t get hurt.
Then Kongkong-i hugged Yoon Yeon-woo with his fluffy arms and legs.
It was warm and soft.
Simultaneously, my heart swelled.

“Good-ham!”
“Yeon-woo~. Me too~.”

Kongkong-i, smiling brightly.
I patted his back.

“It’s a good sight.”

Watching that scene, Yeon smiled faintly.
I answered her.

“I’ll definitely give you my answer by tomorrow.”

My heart was already drawn to the spirits.
But still, a choice like this shouldn’t be made in one go.
It would be too late to regret it later as the wrong choice.

“Yes, I’ll be waiting.”

Bright smile.
Yeon smiled.
With that smile, only after spending a while patting Kongkong-i and White was I able to leave the Spirit Realm.
Afterwards, I could see other spirits who seemed regretful and several spirits who were somewhat wary.
As many people exist, it seems spirits aren’t endlessly fond of all humans either.

Leaving the Spirit Realm and the country house, I got on my bicycle.

“Time has already passed like this.”

Unbeknownst to me, the high sun was setting, and orange-tinged white clouds hung high in the sky.
A sigh of admiration flowed out at the sight of the sunset.
Working at the factory, overtime was much more common than leaving on time.
Seeing the sunset, having chased only the faintly glowing moonlight after the sun had long set every day, felt quite nice.
Seeing that orange sun, having a drink would be quite nice too.

Ring—!
My phone rang.

“Oh, I had a call from Hoecheon.”

The notification’s sender was Jang Hoe-cheon..
Looking at the call time, it was right when I had just entered the Spirit Realm.
Having seen all sorts of extraordinary scenes, I really didn’t realize time had passed so quickly.

“It seems signals don’t reach the Spirit Realm, huh?”

Thinking about it, that’s obvious.
Strictly speaking, it’s on Korean land, but the Spirit Realm isn’t Korea.
It’s an entirely different space.

“They were cute…”

The giant green hamster, Kongkong.
White, like cotton candy.
And the other spirits watching them with various looks in their eyes.
All of them were equally cute and new.
That’s why I was even more worried.
It’s only natural.

“…Can I really do this well?”

Managing lives is a bigger deal than one might think.
It might be easier than an adult raising a newborn, but spirits are mystical beings that have exchanged with countless human souls.

They are beings who have already received love once.
Can someone like me give them love that would satisfy them?
Would I just cause confusion for the spirits?

Naturally, such worries were inevitable.
Because life is precious and special.
If I hadn’t known that, I wouldn’t have agonized so much.

“Haha. I really don’t know.”

Can I really do this well?
Can I win the spirits’ hearts?
Can I satisfy them?
Etc., various worries rose in my mind.

Still, I didn’t dislike that.
Rather, it was enjoyable.

Until now, due to the pet I lost in childhood, something like trauma was engraved in me.
When I tried to touch animals, my hand would hesitate.
Seeing their eyes for no reason, my hands and feet would tremble.

As if…

‘It feels like I killed it.’

No, strictly speaking, I did kill it. If only I had listened back then, that child wouldn’t have disappeared.

Sometimes that thought crossed my mind.
If I went back to the past, wouldn’t I make a different choice?

It’s not because of the large lottery sum I received.
Of course, the lottery is good. A fact I have to acknowledge, but even if I hadn’t received this lottery, if I had been asked to manage the spirits, I would have deeply pondered just like now.

But.

The spirits were touchable.
Like touching an animal, they were extremely warm and soft.
I wanted to touch them again.
The desire to meet that child again blossomed.

“Sigh…”

Couldn’t I, even a little, repay the mistake I made in childhood now?
Couldn’t I now find that child and hold it in my arms?

A dream-like thing that seemed forever out of reach.
That opportunity has come.
There’s no reason to refuse, right?
Still, I should think it over.
Because a single choice might become a trauma that pierces through life.

‘First, let’s go home.’

While lost in thought, before I knew it, night had fallen.
The orange sky darkened, and a spectacle entirely different from the city unfolded.
I rode my bicycle along the road.

Chorus!
A quiet space where not even cars passed.
Changing gears, I sped up.
Above the sky, countless scattered stars twinkled brightly.

Using the sparsely placed high streetlights as markers, whirr! I increased my speed even more.
A night ride impossible in the city. A bit dangerous, but today, it felt okay to run a bit. Just a bicycle, not a motorcycle or sports car, but the sense of speed was considerable.
Enough to refreshingly forget the fog of worries filling my head.
You know that feeling, right? The way feels long going, but feels short coming back.

Before I knew it, when I came to my senses, Yoon Yeonwoo was in front of his parents’ house.

“Ugh!”

The pain of momentarily pushing away my worries rose in my thighs.
Instantly, a pained sound escaped my lips.
Because I had pedaled non-stop. My thighs were pumped to the point they might burst, perhaps because of that.
Feeling that pain, I returned home.
The bicycle ride after so long was satisfying.

Sizzle!
Splash!

When I returned home, my parents weren’t back yet.
Father was still out, and mother hadn’t returned from work.
So, I was making something for my parents, who must have been busy and tired today.
Delicious food eases the fatigue accumulated that day.

“Hmm hmm hmm~.”

When living in the company dormitory, except for lunch, meals weren’t provided.
Instead, they gave meal allowances, so people at the company usually ordered delivery.
But Yoon Yeon-woo didn’t order; he cooked for himself.

“For dinner, it’s stir-fried pork with loads of chopped scallions.”

Honestly, I wasn’t interested in cooking at first.
But not long after joining the company, my senior at the time, who was my trainer, called me once.
Worried about Yoon Yeon-woo, who started working at the factory at a young age, that brother made a feast so delicious I still remember the taste. He even prepared side dishes for Yoon Yeon-woo once every two weeks.

I think my interest in cooking started then.
Because the affection I received then was so very special.
When I was struggling and exhausted, about to break under the waves of society,
the hand quietly extended to ask if I was okay was so unexpectedly warm.

After that, I learned various cooking methods following that brother.
That brother hadn’t worked in a restaurant or had a chef’s license.
It was more like sharing the life skills he accumulated while living, for survival.
That’s why even more warmth was imbued in those skills.

“I wonder how he’s doing…”

One day, that brother quit the factory.
I heard he moved to a really good place.
I think he’s in a fairly high position at that company now.
After that, we lost contact, so I don’t know.

“But it’s a relief he’s doing well.”

Chuckle, with that smile, sizzle!
I tossed the stir-fried pork, heavily coated in red seasoning, with a flick of my wrist.
A wooden spatula would be fine, but following the brother words, “Cooking is about flair!”, I tossed it with a wrist flick.

Sizzle!
The seasoning and meat mixed in the pan, emitting a savory aroma as they cooked.
Then, the seasoning at the outer edges of the frying pan slowly bubbled and began to burn.
I scraped and mixed them back with the original seasoning.

– Yeon-woo. If it’s not burnt black, it’s okay to eat.

That’s what I learned from that brother.

They say there are carcinogenic components, but after hearing it’s fine if you don’t eat burnt food until your stomach explodes every day, I stopped worrying.

– For a real man(?), that’s a luxury.

As trivial memories surfaced, a smile hung on my lips.
I wanted to see that brother again after so long.
But that was difficult.
I’ve come down to Haenam, and I don’t know where he is.

Sizzle pop!
Before I knew it, the meat was cooked, producing an appetizing color.
Just seeing the meat made me want to drink soju.

– It’s done, I tell ya!

“It’s done.”

Spicy-sweet, tender pork belly stir-fry completed.
Just finished, white steam billowing out profusely.
Now I can just eat it profusely with white rice.

Slurp.
The moment I tried to pick up a piece to check if the seasoning was right and take a bite!

Ring ring!

[You have a call from the troublemaker.]

The phone rang right on cue.

“He really has an uncanny sense of timing when it comes to eating.”

I answered the call.