She was no different from a beast

Chapter 1

—–CROW—– 

When did it start?

“Haah, Team Leader Kim. That son of a bitch.”

This boring life.

Getting off work barely past 10 PM, my situation felt truly pathetic.

That son of a bitch. No.  Just last week he said it had to be done by next month, and now he’s flipping out saying it needs to be done by tomorrow.

Thanks to him, I ended up working overtime, which wasn’t even in the plan.

I wasn’t always someone so worn down by exhaustion that I just cursed.

I used to be a vibrant guy, laughing and joking around with my friends, pulling pranks, and sometimes even trying or planning unimaginable things.

In my teens, I got along well with my friends even though they often called me a crazy fool, a clown, and all sorts of strange nicknames.

I spent my days having fun, showing everything about myself without hesitation.

‘How did I become such a boring adult?’

The childhood me who seemed like he’d never change, the harmless but wild me, changed within the cold and harsh reality.

Instead of delusions, eccentricity, drive, and cheerfulness, I became a boring guy preoccupied with handling tasks at hand, appeasing others, and trying not to stand out.

Sighing, I quickened my heavy steps towards home…

*Honk!!!*

“Aaaaaargh!!!!”

“……??”

What the… Fuck.

What was that?

Common sense dictates that only cars drive on roads.

Yeah. Even though I was a bit of a crazy fool back in the day, and now a salaryman working in a nonsensical, exploitative company, I still have that much common sense.

But why is there… something that shouldn’t be in the city, running around on the road?

A creature whose cries resemble the screams of a drunk man, an animal that anyone who’s been in the military has either seen or heard of.

An endangered species, also designated as a pest, the proud protected wild species, the urban outlaw, a water deer.

Wow.  What a rare sight on my way home. Haha.

As someone who commutes on foot, it doesn’t really affect me. It’s just a rare source of dopamine, a bit of interesting fodder… but let’s offer condolences to the water deer that brought a small joy to this shitty commute.

It’ll probably crash into some poor driver’s car and die together anyway… right?

‘……?’

“Aaaaaargh!!!!”

The water deer twisted and turned its body to the rhythm of car horns, dodging cars as if performing a frantic tap dance.

What the. How is it dodging so well?

That little bastard. Its reflexes are insane.

The way it zigzags, nimbly changing directions and avoiding oncoming cars, shows it’s not its first rodeo.

Is this what it takes to survive in this late-night cityscape and run on the road?

Well, I’ve got a new story to tell my friends or colleagues when we drink.

While enjoying the thrilling performance of the water deer with such small but happy thoughts… I made eye contact with it.

When the traffic light turned red and the cars stopped, the creature stopped too, and its black eyes, looking around, landed on me.

“Aaaaaargh!!!!”

Why?

Normally, shouldn’t people scream like that and run away in this kind of situation?

Or maybe collapse from fear?

But I’m not scared or nervous.

Thump-thump.

A forgotten excitement.

Freedom. Passion. Fun. Joy.

The remnants of the past I once held onto until I fell asleep, now forgotten, warmed my heart.

The water deer’s cries, which I had just considered noisy and ear-piercing screams, felt like they were scolding me.

Was this boring life what I wanted?

Clenching my fists at the thick, sharp sound hitting my ears.

I felt ashamed of myself.

That’s right. This wasn’t the life I wanted.

I wanted to live freely, always laughing, cheerfully… without caring about other people’s gazes, and having fun!!!

As I threw the bag in my right hand, the water deer nodded and ran towards me.

I ran towards the water deer too.

My body, which had felt heavy just moments ago, so tired that I wanted to sleep as soon as I got home, felt as light as a feather.

“Thank you!! Water Deer Man!!!!”

“Aaaaaargh!!!!”

The moment we reached out and embraced each other, leaping with all our might just a short distance apart, I realized that my gray life, bound by the constraints and shackles of reality and adult circumstances, was ending.

…Six years have passed since then.

“Haaam~ Our daughter. Already awake… Kyaaaak!! W-What is all this?!”

“Mom! Look! I dug these up from the mountain over there!!”

I opened my eyes to find myself having successfully achieved everyone’s bucket list item: retrying life.

When I was a baby, I cried, slept, drank mommy’s milk, slept, pooped, and slept… I just slept whenever I could, but maybe it was because of the bad habit I developed in my 20s as an office worker, sleeping only three hours a day before going to work?

I went to bed at 8 o’clock yesterday, and I woke up in the middle of the night.

My body felt so light and I was in top condition, so I went for a morning jog and a walk to the mountain about 30 minutes away.

And while I was at it, like a wild child inheriting the spirit of the water deer, I brought back some natural treasures as trophies! Ahem!

I carefully dug out pine mushrooms buried among the fallen pine needles with my cute little hands.

Huh? You ask if the mountain has an owner? No way! I own this mountain! Huh?! For six years!

I was born and raised here, a local!

Don’t you know that?!

I left the small ones to grow stronger and only picked the long, thick ones.

But it felt like a waste to bring only mushrooms, so I picked some red, sweet goumi berries too!

Maybe it’s because my body is still small and light? Climbing trees wasn’t that difficult!

“Hehe. How is it? Did I do well?! The grandpa with dentures at the supermarket said~ that pine mushrooms, these are very expensive and good for you… Ouch!!”

“Again, again!! You went outside again at night?! I can’t stand it! Really!!”

*Crack!!*

An intense impact, like my skull being crushed!!

Ugh!! My brain, my brain!! My brain is being crushed!!

As soon as my mom’s knuckle sandwich landed on my head, I rolled around on the floor… and she sighed, looking at me.

“I know it doesn’t hurt, so stop pretending.”

“Hehe. Okay.”

Well, as Mom said, it didn’t hurt at all.

No, really.  I don’t know if my physicality resembles a water deer, but Mom’s nuclear knuckle sandwich felt like a water balloon.

Smiling bashfully, I got up and looked up at her, covered in dust and grime, and she looked down at me with a complex expression…

Hmm, well, it’s natural for parents to worry when their little daughter goes on automatic hunting trips every dawn.

It’s 2008 now, where I live as Mom… Suyeon’s daughter.

There aren’t any laws for children yet, like the Child Protection Act or the Minsik Law, and CCTVs are rare in the countryside.

If you imagine a pretty and cute daughter being defiled by a bad adult… Oh boy.  It would tear a parent’s heart apart.

‘But I could win a fight against a tractor.’

This is from experience.

During the day, I was playing alone and found a stray cat friend, and we were playing tag (one-sidedly).  The grandpa who lives on that hill was driving his tractor, and I was afraid my cat friend would get hit, so I blocked it with my body, and it stopped.

The old man’s expression was priceless.

I heard he was so startled that he didn’t even have time to hit the brakes.

Anyway, there’s no adult who could take me on, even if I can wrestle with a tractor… could there be?

“Please, Yuna.  It’s dangerous at night, there might be dangerous people, so can you please not go outside?”

“Hehe! If there are any bad adults, I can punish them!!”

I’ll just kick them in the balls and make them explode!

Wow!  Castration surgeon, Han Yuna! But I’m an unlicensed doctor?!

“…….”

Mom couldn’t refute my words.

Because I’m really the kind of girl who would do that! Ahem!

I can beat the men in the next village at arm wrestling! Huh?!

And I sparred with and caught a bad boar that was raiding the grandma’s field who lives a bit further away!

I’m called Hercules among the villagers!

“But I don’t want to make you worry, Mom… so I won’t go out at night.”

“Okay. Yes. Our daughter. Good girl. Good girl.”

Even though I decided to live freely and cheerfully, I don’t want to live a burning, unfilial life that upsets my parents.

At my answer, she finally smiled and stroked my head…

“Shall we wash up? You have a lot of dirt in your hair.”

“Yes! I’ll go wash up! What’s for breakfast?”

“Your favorite sausage and kimchi fried rice!”

“Wow~ Mom’s the best! I’ll go wash up quickly!!”

Ah, I can’t resist Mom’s kimchi fried rice.

The sourness of the perfectly ripened kimchi permeates every grain of rice, and the occasional corn kernel that pops up when you least expect it… *drools*!

“Makes my mouth water!!”

“Oh, no. Yuna? Where did you learn that kind of talk….”

“I learned it from Dad! Dad always says that before he sleeps with you!”

“……Huh?”

Of course, Dad never said that.

It’s true that they’re still as lovey-dovey and passionate as newlyweds, but would he really say something like that?

As I was shampooing my hair in the bathroom, I could hear Mom yelling at Dad.

Hehe. Dad.  Endure the weight of being the head of the household!

It’s definitely not because I couldn’t get married or have a relationship in my past life.

Yeah. It’s just for the sake of a harmonious family.

It’s definitely not because I’m so jealous of Dad, who married someone like Mom, a sexy alpha female with big boobs who looks too young for her age, that I’m trying to ruin his life.

…Probably?

—–CROW—–