She was no different from a beast

Chapter 5

—–CROW—– 

After finishing winterizing the house, sticking bubble wrap or newspaper on the windows, and helping with various necessary tasks like making pickled vegetables and *kimchi*, winter finally arrived.

Icy sea winds fiercely whipped around the island, and waves, rising with white spray, crashed against the shore with a roar like a whale’s cry.

The forest, having shed all its leaves, welcomed winter.

The lingering red hues at the tips of the branches glowed faintly, like a final farewell to the bygone autumn, a nostalgic reminiscence.

Looking at the slender, leafless branches swaying, the events of the year came flooding back.

Scouring the dawn-lit mountains like a water deer, gathering pine mushrooms and goumi berries.

Carrying baskets on my back, venturing out with the grandpas to forage for pumpkin greens.

In the summer, when I felt awkward about always receiving treats from Grandpa with the supermarket, I climbed the mountain to pick small but plump raspberries, or wild grapes, smaller than cultivated ones, but with an intense sourness.

There was also a time when I picked a bunch of inedible mushrooms and the grandpas had to teach me which ones were safe to eat.

Ulleungdo used to be a peaceful place with no large mammals, but then a wild boar appeared, whether it swam from the mainland or was released after being captured, I don’t know.

I remember giving that nasty pig, who dared to covet the precious cucumbers meant for summer *kongguksu* or *umukgasari*, a water deer power lariat, wrestling with it, and finishing it off with a shoulder throw.

Now, it’s been rehabilitated into a docile pet, no longer threatening the elderly by coming down to the village, just meekly accepting food and showing off its tricks.

But since this village has a 6-year-old, two-legged water deer senior, a wild boar raised comfortably on the mainland wouldn’t dare raise its head and act tough.

Didn’t the community center staff get surprised when they saw the only four-legged youngster in our village in early autumn?

According to Grandpa with the supermarket, there was even talk at the community center about bringing a female boar from the mainland so the two could start a family.

Besides that… I also climbed Turtle Rock barehanded, and right before winter came, I went diving at Gajaegul Rock and had a fish party with Dad.

So many things happened.

Winter in Ulleungdo is a time to rest.

I heard it’s a season of quiet waiting, using what we’ve saved and cherished, to welcome the new year.

Dad also stays inside like a homebody because it’s so cold outside.

*Whooosh.*

“It’s definitely a bit chilly.”

I stood alone on the road in the quiet, yet cozy and warm streets of Tonggumi, watching the rough waves.

It’s funny when I think about it.

I was never this relaxed in my past life.

I could play like a crazy fool at school, but I’d been plagued by studies since I was 8 years old, caught in the private education craze.

Maybe the reason I enjoyed acting wild and not caring about what others thought… was because I wanted to relieve stress.

I spent my teens studying for over ten years, and when I entered university, I was overjoyed, caught in the illusion that I could finally live freely and have fun without caring about what others thought.

But freedom comes with its own set of responsibilities and the ability to handle them.

The 20-year-old university student, independent for the first time, lacked the ability to earn money for freedom.

Would I be able to earn money at work after graduating and enjoy my free time?

Not a chance. Straight into the military.

After being discharged, I became an ordinary, boring adult, working like everyone else, collapsing from exhaustion after work, or drinking on Friday nights.  There was no time to play.

I lived day by day, busy just making ends meet, even though I was supposedly running towards a future, having lost my purpose.

‘I have to go to elementary school soon…’

I’ll probably go to the city when I become an adult.

The day will surely come when I have to leave this warm haven of mine.

I’m not sure when, but… that day will definitely come.

Honestly, I want to live here forever, harmoniously, with the elderly, Mom, and Dad.

It might be a child’s whim, no, it might be because I have the experience of swaying like a reed in the cold, harsh, and competitive society, colder and harsher than this fierce winter wind, that I don’t want to let go of this warmth.

“But this is my second life.”

If I’ve decided to live freely, doing what I want, having fun, and not caring about what others think, then I should live that way.

Who am I? Huh?  I’m Tonggumi’s Hercules, a second-lifer with the ultimate TS body and the aggressive spirit of a water deer.

“It’s a bit sad that I lost my dick, though.”

Well, it’s not bad if I think of it as an equivalent exchange for my second life.

I put my hand inside my pants and fumbled inside my panties… pulling out the crumpled, warm wad of bills I received from the grandpas a few days ago.

500,000 won in total.

The money I earned in two days helping with roof repairs.

‘Seed money for my freedom.’

Five years from now, something will appear around this time, and it will be my first stepping stone and wings.

At its first appearance, it was dismissed by the public as a fleeting trend that would soon disappear, but it held immense value and potential.

If I want to live freely like a water deer in human society, I need the ability to do so.

“… “

“I crave spicy fish stew.”

I carefully tucked my precious seed money into the inner pocket of my thick coat, hid it well in a corner of the road, warmed up with some stretching, stepped onto the road railing, and threw myself into the fiercely crashing waves.

“Aaaaaargh!!”

The young water deer, who doesn’t need to leave the haven yet, doesn’t have to worry about how to survive in the harsh, dog-eat-dog world of the future.

It’s enough to just enjoy this moment, living in the present.

As expected of a water deer, the outlaw of the Korean Peninsula, who doesn’t even sleep in winter.

“Waaaaah!!”

“Please!!  Stop!! Doing dangerous things!!”

Whether it’s winter, spring, summer, or fall, I followed the call of the beast within me, jumped into the sea, and caught oysters, which are good for stamina, chewy and savory octopus, and rockfish.

Since I was submerged in the salty, cold seawater, my hair and entire body were sticky and stiff.

Mom screamed when she saw the ingredients for spicy fish stew stuffed inside my clothes because I didn’t bring a basket, and then she spanked me.

*Smack!!  Smaaack!!*

My pants and panties came down, and she smacked my plump bottom.  I flailed my arms and legs, putting on a dramatic show, but!!

“Honey. Yuna doesn’t look like she’s in pain.”

“…”

Damn. He noticed.

Dad’s words, as he stared down at me sitting on the dining chair, receiving my punishment, made my fake tears disappear.

No, really, it doesn’t hurt.

“Our daughter. Remember that time she came home with a sea urchin stuck to her butt? Mom’s hand can’t possibly hurt her.”

“I didn’t even know it was stuck there!”

“…How could you not know that?”

It’s unfair. I really didn’t know.

My butt is bulletproof.  The spines were stuck in there, but it didn’t hurt at all. I only found out when I got home and Mom screamed after seeing my butt.

After hearing the story of the water deer daughter and the sea urchin from Mom and Dad, the elderly were in a panic, saying I needed to go to the hospital because sea urchin spines are poisonous.

So, early the next morning, we went to the clinic in Dodong in Dad’s car…

– She’s perfectly fine.

– Yes?

– There are no puncture wounds… oh, there are a few, but they’re not swollen, and the skin isn’t broken.

– ??

It was an experience that proved the nonsense true: if you’re lightly pricked by sea urchin spines, it doesn’t hurt, and the poison doesn’t spread.

Fortunately, the sea urchins that hitched a ride on my butt to tour the island went happily to the afterlife, becoming a delicious and savory bibimbap with their innards~ clap clap.

“Think about it, honey. She beat a boar, a sea urchin, and in spring, she caught all the bees with her bare hands and brought back an entire beehive.”

Can you even call it a scolding if you spank a child like that?

“…”

Mom sighed, rubbing her forehead, as if recalling my achievements this year.

At the same time, she couldn’t deny Dad’s words and quietly nodded.

No, excuse me?  It doesn’t have to hurt to be considered a scolding, does it?  Huh? That’s an outdated way of thinking!!

Surprisingly, 2008 was indeed an outdated time.

Back then, corporal punishment was considered the best discipline method, and it was common to be hit on the hands, feet, or butt with a wooden stick at school, in the name of “love’s whip.”

It was an outdated time when some teachers even swung hockey sticks or pipes with full force.

If a child crosses the line, doesn’t value their life, and acts recklessly, a spanking or a knuckle sandwich is… hmm.

It’s proof of Suyeon’s motherly love and top 0.1% personality, unable to severely discipline her daughter due to overflowing affection and love… but…

From the perspective of parents with kindergarten-aged children at that time, they would have criticized Mom for not being strict enough and said that children raised by such parents would cause trouble later.

“E-Even so… I don’t like seeing Yuna in too much pain.”

“That’s true. Our child has a lot of energy, but she doesn’t cause trouble.”

“Is… that so?”

“Yes! Mom! I haven’t caused any trouble!!”

“Except for almost breaking a tractor, she hasn’t caused any trouble.”

“…”

No. The tractor is a bit…

I was frustrated, but I couldn’t argue.

—–CROW—–