I Became A Married Man in Another World
Chapter 7
007 In the Mountain Cabin
The middle-aged woman spoke fussily, pointing to a bundle set aside in one corner, and then opened it to show the contents.
Inside the cloth bag made of worn fabric were flour and various miscellaneous items.
The middle-aged woman mimed carrying the luggage on her back and then pointed at the woman and the child again.
Judging by the repeated hand gestures, she seemed to be telling him to take the luggage and the women with him.
It appeared they didn’t live here; their home was somewhere else. Perhaps this was simply a meeting place for the matchmaking. Then again, this place looked unfit for human habitation.
“….”
To be married to the woman, taught how to hunt, and even given the necessities for living—it seemed they intended for him to bury his bones in this village.
The young woman gripped the child’s hand tightly, hesitating before taking a step closer to Kim Joo-hwan.
Her frightened eyes looked up at him briefly before hiding behind her eyelids again. Her long eyelashes cast small shadows on her pale skin.
‘This woman is my bride.’
The moment that thought crossed his mind, his heart, which had been fine until a moment ago, suddenly began to race. Thump-thump—it felt as though his heart were malfunctioning.
“Whoa.”
He muttered unconsciously and covered his face with his palms. His face and his entire body felt hot. Even without looking in a mirror, he knew he was as red as a piece of iron heated in a fire.
He had a family.
Something that hadn’t felt real until just a moment ago was finally taking shape and approaching him.
It wasn’t that he had never been in love. He had fallen in love before and had been in deep relationships with women.
However, every time, those women would drift away, saying, [I think you’re dating me because you want a family, not because you love me.]
What they said might have been true. He had wanted a family to be by his side. That was why his wish had been for a rabbit-like bride and a mongoose-like daughter. But everyone told him that was wrong—that it was strange to love someone just because you wanted a family.
‘But here, that isn’t strange.’
Before love, before getting to know the other person, they had become a family.
That was okay. It wasn’t an unusual occurrence here. No one would say it was wrong or that such a family wasn’t valid. It was okay to become a family first, just as one is born into one.
‘I have a wife and a daughter now. I have a family.’
He had been alone from middle school until he turned thirty. But now, there were people he was allowed to be with, people he was permitted to stay beside. He would have a daily life where he woke up at night to find someone next to him.
They say the human heart is like a reed, and it truly seemed so. The urge to kill Santa if he ever saw him again vanished in an instant.
There was nothing precious to him back on Earth anyway. He had lived his life as a solitary person. Perhaps coming here was for the best. It might even be something to be grateful for.
“….”
Santa, I want to kill you, but thank you.
*
After that, things moved quickly.
Kim Joo-hwan tied the opening of the bundle with a long rope and hoisted it onto his shoulder.
It was quite heavy, but it wasn’t particularly difficult for Kim Joo-hwan. His body had been tempered by manual labor since his middle and high school days, so he had the knack for it. It was easier than eating a meal.
It was amusing to see the men’s eyes go round when Kim Joo-hwan easily shouldered the load.
The old Hunter and two village men took charge of guiding the way. The fact that two men were accompanying them was likely for surveillance.
The men led the way, and Kim Joo-hwan followed behind them.
The woman and the child were at the very back. The woman followed hurriedly, holding the child’s hand.
Both were so small and thin. It was as if a face, hands, and feet had been attached to dry twigs.
“….”
He had to get used to this world as soon as possible. He wanted to learn hunting and farming quickly so he could feed these gaunt people until they were full. He was now the head of a household.
Lost in these thoughts, his pace must have quickened unconsciously. The woman and child following behind grew a bit distant. Kim Joo-hwan stopped for a moment to wait for them.
Perhaps because she was short, the woman’s stride was slow. It was likely because of the significant difference in leg length. Naturally, the child was even slower.
The people walked diligently without rest, but Kim Joo-hwan had to stop several times. This was despite him walking slowly.
He wanted to just scoop them up and carry them, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it because they seemed so terrified. Even if he got just a little closer, their movements became as stiff as robots.
When the men leading the way said something to the woman and child, their faces turned pale. Perhaps because they were wary of Kim Joo-hwan, the men’s tone was quiet, but the content must not have been good. Panting, the woman pulled the child’s hand and walked at a near run.
He really needed to get used to this world quickly. Since he didn’t know the language, he couldn’t even protect or reassure the woman and the child. He felt the weight of what it meant to be an incompetent human being.
Their destination seemed to be the mountain he had seen from the village.
After exiting the village’s outer wall and walking for a long time along a path cluttered with grass and stones, the forest began.
They passed through a forest path filled with trees that soared high into the sky. Before he knew it, the ground had risen slightly.
It still felt like level ground, but when he looked back, the village sat slightly below.
It seemed they had struggled even in the forest, but once they entered the mountain, the woman and child grew even slower.
First of all, the men’s pace was too fast. If Kim Joo-hwan hadn’t been walking slowly, they wouldn’t have slowed down even a little.
The faces of the panting woman and child were flushed red, as if they might explode at any moment.
‘This won’t do.’
Kim Joo-hwan stopped walking and waited a moment for the woman and child.
As the distance closed, the child’s face contorted as if she were about to cry. She seemed scared of him. Did she think he might yell at her? Her eyes, nose, and mouth, clustered in the center like a mongoose, crumpled up.
‘Cute.’
How strange. Children are cute whether they are pretty or ugly. Even with that “ugly” face right before crying, the child was adorable.
Knowing it wouldn’t be understood, Kim Joo-hwan lowered himself to look them in the eye and spoke.
“I’ll carry you for a bit. Don’t be scared.”
“###.”
Regardless of how she interpreted his words, the woman, her face pale, bowed her head repeatedly and said something. It seemed to mean she was sorry or that she had done something wrong.
A thin whimpering sound began to leak from the child’s mouth. He really had to learn the language first.
Since words didn’t work, he had no choice. To avoid scaring them too much, Kim Joo-hwan slowly reached out his arms and wrapped one around each of them.
As his arm touched their hips, he pulled them slightly toward him. The woman and child lost their balance for a moment and, in their fluster, leaned into Kim Joo-hwan.
To keep from falling backward, they had no choice but to grab Kim Joo-hwan’s neck. With awkward movements, the two clung to his neck. While maintaining his balance to ensure they wouldn’t fall, Kim Joo-hwan stood up in one smooth motion.
“##!”
The child let out a small scream in surprise. She seemed startled by the sudden height. The woman remained frozen, unable even to scream.
“Hold on tight.”
After saying that, Kim Joo-hwan strode forward. Even if he spoke, the meaning didn’t get through. Still, out of concern, he spoke to them several times.
Perhaps sensing from his tone that he wasn’t angry, the child’s whimpering gradually subsided.
The woman and child sat perched on his thick arms, but he could barely feel their weight. He really had to learn to hunt quickly. He had to feed them plenty of meat.
The old Hunter and the men whispered among themselves, watching with curious eyes. Just like on Earth, carrying people like this in the street seemed to look strange.
But it didn’t matter. This wasn’t Earth. There was no need to worry about the eyes of others. He wasn’t from here. He felt like a newlywed couple who, while they couldn’t do it in Korea, had no reservations about physical affection at a travel destination.
“….”
Well, maybe that wasn’t it. Perhaps he shouldn’t live with that kind of mindset. He was now someone who belonged to this world too.
Thinking that, Kim Joo-hwan realized he was quite excited. He wasn’t his usual self. He felt the same way he did as a child when his mother gave him a delicious piece of candy.
The scent of skin wafting from the woman and the child felt like sunshine. It smelled like happiness.
Looking at the woman and child, who were wearing clothes as worn-out as his own, Kim Joo-hwan made a silent vow once more.
Let’s hunt and farm quickly to earn money.
Maybe there’s some manual labor around here somewhere to make money.
I’ll feed them delicious food, dress them in pretty clothes, and pour all my love into them.
As he walked with those thoughts, they had moved quite deep into the mountains before he knew it.
The old Hunter, walking along the narrow forest path, stopped and looked back.
“## #####.”
The old man said something and pointed ahead with his finger. Following his gaze, a cabin appeared.
‘Is that the house where I’ll be living?’
On a small patch of level ground stood a wooden house, with a small shed-like structure attached to the right. The wooden house wasn’t that large, but it wasn’t too small either. It looked just right for the three of them to live in.
The shed was designed to be locked by placing a piece of wood across the door from the outside. It seemed to be a space for storing food or necessary items.
Next to the shed was an area with only a roof and no walls. Seeing a few stray branches scattered there, it appeared to be the place for storing firewood.
But there was no actual firewood. Only a hollow, empty space sat there like an eyesore.
With the weather this cold, they would freeze to death without firewood. He might be able to endure it somehow, but it would be hard for the woman and the child.
‘I’ll have to find firewood right away.’
It seemed there wasn’t just one or two things to do. If he wanted to find firewood and prepare something to eat before nightfall, he had to hurry starting now.
As they drew closer, the house was in worse shape than he had expected.
Perhaps because it hadn’t been properly maintained for a long time, there were small holes here and there, and one window was missing, blocked off with old leather instead.
The house itself appeared old. There were rotten spots in several places.
Setting the woman and child down, he opened the cabin door, and a grating sound rang out as loud as a ghost’s wail. The door itself was also a problem.
‘Is there even a single part that’s intact?’
The inside was even more disastrous. There were traces of mice gnawing in every corner, and part of the floor had given way. It seemed the wood had rotted, causing the floor to sink.
Even if he overlooked things that looked like mouse droppings here and there, having a dead mouse was a bit much.
In one corner, a bit of straw was spread out, perhaps used as a bed, but it was so sparse that one would touch the floor upon sitting, and most of it was crumbled into bits.
No, before that, could one even sleep where there was only straw? Shouldn’t there at least be a single sheet of cloth to lie on?
That wasn’t the only problem. In the space that appeared to be the kitchen, there was a small table, but that was it. There were no chairs. No dishes, no food. It was perfectly and utterly empty.
If the middle-aged woman hadn’t packed some food, they would have had to starve from today.
While Kim Joo-hwan was looking around the house, the men, who had been watching him for a moment, signaled that they were leaving.
The old Hunter made a circular shape above his head and then mimed someone walking with his fingers. Then he pointed at the cabin.
He seemed to mean he would return when the sun rose tomorrow.
“I understand, thank you,” he said in Korean, bowing his head to show his gratitude, and the men left with smiles.
Once the men were all gone, the woman and child began to move around the house.
They went toward the kitchen and ran toward where the straw was.
The woman reached her hands under the straw, rummaging around to check something.
Then she paced back and forth, circling all four corners, until finally, tears began to fall.
“….”
Even without a word, even without understanding the language, he knew.
As the child looked back and forth between the table and the empty space in confusion, and the woman looked at the bare walls and the splintered wood on the floor, weeping, Kim Joo-hwan could tell.
‘This house wasn’t originally this empty.’
It seemed someone had taken every single item that was originally there, and had even split all the wooden furniture to take away as firewood or something similar.
The woman ran outside crying and headed for the shed next to the house.
Kim Joo-hwan followed quietly behind her.
When the woman lifted the wooden bar latch on the shed door and swung it wide open, an empty space met their eyes.
“#### ##.”
The woman collapsed onto the floor and began to wail.
