Chapter Text
Once there was a young boy named Daehwi who lived in a small village in Korea. He was the village’s pride and joy as not only was he the cutest 16-year old youth in the village, he was also the smartest. Daehwi had lost his father a few years back and he now lived with his mother in a pretty cottage not far from the village high school.
Everyone adored Daehwi since aside from being sweet, he was also polite and thoughtful especially to the elders. One day, on a visit to old Mr. and Mrs. Hwang who just came back from vacationing with their married daughter and her family in Seoul, Daehwi was given a beautiful red jacket.
“I immediately thought of you and bought it with the intent of giving it to you,” Mrs. Hwang said, cutting off the protests of young Daehwi who was overcome with guilt and gratitude of receiving something that was obviously expensive, if the branded logo on the jacket’s pocket was anything to go by.
Daehwi still protested that he couldn’t accept something expensive and not give anything in return, even if he did bring some of his mother’s special kimchi at her behest. Mr. Hwang just chuckled and said, “Now, now child. Just give me and my wife a kiss and we’ll treat the matter as settled.”
And so Daehwi got a beautiful red jacket which also became his favorite since it went well with his fair skin and highlighted his light brown hair. Everyone also noticed and gave him compliments whenever they saw him wearing this jacket. Many of the neighbors started giving him the nickname “Little Red Otter” combining the color of his favorite jacket and the pet name he had since he was a toddler.
Life in a small village is normally uneventful and Little Red Otter was content with how things were…for the most part. He was a bright and attractive young boy and some of the well-meaning neighbors started dropping hints at Daehwi’s mother. Each of them offering a daughter or a niece, sometimes, even their sons as a potential in-law in a supposedly lighthearted manner but with a hint of seriousness. Daehwi usually just laughs it off whenever his mother teases him about it.
It was during an unusually warm day in autumn that news spread in the village that Old Founder Bae’s grandson was coming back to his ancestral home with his wife and youngest son in tow. It was the only thing that was talked about in the streets, in the shops, and even among Little Red Otter’s classmates.
“Ah, I forgot. You moved here when Founder Bae’s son already left for the city. That’s why you don’t know,” Jihoon, one of his friends, nodded understandingly after he had eagerly retold the gossip to Daehwi and was only met with a blank stare.
Daehwi pouted, “Actually, I do know Old Founder Bae. His statue is right in the middle of the village park!”
Jihoon just laughed, “Don’t get offended and don’t pout, Otter! That makes you cute and I’m supposed to be cuter than you!” And before Daehwi could protest about it, he hurriedly explained, “But you don’t know why everyone’s agog about this more than the usual.” He leaned conspiratorially towards Daehwi and confided in whispered tones, “I overheard umma and aunt Sungwoon talking the other day and---”
“Park Jihoon! Are you seriously telling me that you eavesdropped on---”
“Shh! Do you want to know or what?” Jihoon admonished him and seeing Daehwi musing over the matter and finally grunting in agreement after a few seconds, he continued grinning, “So it seems that Founder Bae’s youngest son was something of a black sheep. His father expected that after graduating from University, he’ll come back home and help his older sister with, you know, the family business and tending to village concerns.”
“Eh? But I thought I heard umma say that appa told her stories about Bae haraboji teaching him how to ride a bike when he was young?”
Jihoon just flicked a dismissive hand, “Oh, he could be nice if he wanted to be. Halmoni also said something about Bae haraboji being a charming but frippery fellow. I think she had a crush on him but anyway, back to the story. So supposedly, Bae haraboji didn’t finish his degree and ran off with one his friend’s sisters. His friend’s family was just an ordinary family living in Seoul and very conservative so apparently, it caused a huge uproar on both sides. Founder Bae’s wife wanted someone socially equal for her son and well, the other side didn’t want a disobedient man for their son-in-law obviously.”
“So what happened?” In spite of himself and his stand on eavesdropping, Daehwi was now curious.
“Both families disowned them!” Jihoon emphasized this by striking his palms together, “The wife died young and they only had one son. They say that Bae haraboji for all his faults raised his son single-handedly. But that didn’t stop him from pursuing women and keeping down a steady job I heard.”
“So is that why his son’s family is finally moving back here? For the inheritance?” Daehwi knew, as did everyone in the village, that Old Founder Bae had divided his possessions equally between his daughter and his grandson except for Bae Hall which was to pass on to the oldest living male member of the family. Old Founder Bae had actually outlived his own son for a few more years before passing on.
“But I wonder why didn’t they come sooner? Founder Bae died what, years and years ago?” Then he gasped, “Then that would mean his grandson was probably just in his teens when Bae haraboji died. He must have had a difficult time,” he said sympathetically.
Jihoon just snorted, “Save your pity. Remember what I told you about his mother’s family? Well even if she ran off with his father, she was by all accounts a nice girl and it seems that her son took after her. So he didn’t suffer from poverty if that’s what you’re thinking. Bae haraboji never brought his son here but his sister doted on her nephew and visited them often. She was also the one who convinced Founder Bae to pay for his grandson’s schooling. I think Founder Bae was actually able to attend his wedding and saw his eldest great-grandson at least once before he died.”
Daehwi now frowned in confusion, “Well now okay, so that’s actually a family story that ended well so why all this excitement? Is it because no one has seen the Bae family for years?”
Jihoon chuckled and smirked. Daehwi hated that smirk.
“Nah, Bae ahjussi actually visited before with his family. Correction, with his wife and oldest son,” Jihoon was now positively humming with the excitement of his news, “This is the good part. It seems Bae ahjussi wants everyone to know that his family is permanently moving here. He wants everyone to believe that the reason is because his aunt is now very old and his cousins have been pestering him that he owes it to the family name to take his place in the village.”
“Um, okay? Isn’t that logical?”
Jihoon just snorted, “On the outside it is, but that’s exactly what umma and sungmo were gossiping about. It seems that Bae ahjussi’s oldest son took after him but his youngest son though? Hehehe, he took after Bae haraboji. He already got kicked out from about a handful of schools so Bae ahjussi wants to bring him here. He hopes that his youngest son could get away from whatever bad influence the city has on him.”
Daehwi wanted to ask more but their teacher came in at that moment and he was left wondering about the Bae family. Everyone knew them of course since Old Founder Bae got his name for “founding” the village. Most of the land where the village stands initially belonged to his family. The Bae family was involved in the wool business with almost half of the lands being grassland and where their sheep grazed. The other half was the woodsy part and that was basically like the backyard of Bae Hall. Daehwi had only seen glimpses of the manor whenever he visited his father’s aunt who lived near there. She was also a widow and her husband used to work inside the Hall grounds. They were given a nice little cottage near the manor to live in and she had refused his mother’s invitation to live with them when she was widowed, preferring the relative quiet of their cottage’s location. She doted on Daehwi however as she had no children of her own and was actually the one who first called him “my baby otter.”
After their classes, Jihoon and his other friend Woojin invited him to hang out with them but Daehwi had to sadly turn them down since his grand-aunt was feeling poorly the other day when he visited and he wanted to check on her.
“Next time guys. I need to visit wang-gomo. Umma said she still lacked appetite yesterday and I might be able to convince her to actually follow her doctor’s orders.”
His friends nodded understandingly since they were familiar with Grandmother Lee’s stubbornness. They parted at the school gates and Daehwi walked the few blocks to his home. His mother had not yet come home from work but she had left a basket of side dishes and samgyetang presumably for Daehwi to bring. He changed to fresh clothes and since it had become chilly, he wore his favorite red jacket.
“Ah, there’s our Little Red Otter,” greeted the uncle who owned the small grocery store just across the street. “Visiting your grand-aunt? How is she?”
Daehwi bowed, “Yes, ahjussi. Thankfully she has no fever but her appetite still hasn’t returned. The doctor told her to rest but umma said she caught wang-gomo gardening yesterday.”
The uncle chuckled, “Bless her but she really is a stubborn, old woman. Give her my regards and here.” Daehwi thanked the shopkeeper as he took the large melon that was offered.
The way to his grand-aunt’s house was far if one went by the paved road but was only a good stroll away if one cut directly through the woods. Daehwi was used to visiting his grand-aunt through this path and met kindly and familiar faces who were also used to seeing him go that way.
The houses grew fewer and fewer as he neared the edge of the woods but Daehwi was not afraid. The woods was extensive but not uninhabited by people. His grand-aunt lived there for one as well as some of the employees of the Bae family. Some chose to live in the village but some, like his grand-aunt, preferred the peacefulness of the woods and the proximity to the Hall.
Daehwi walked on the familiar trail and he hummed in tune with the chirping of the birds that greeted him as he entered deeper into the trees. He suddenly remembered his conversation about the Bae family with Jihoon earlier and wondered again what the youngest son was like.
He had memories of his father recounting stories of him and his friends playing inside the Hall grounds when they were little. That was when the family still opened the house to everyone during Foundation Day. Daehwi supposed this was before Old Founder Bae and his son had a falling out because ever since he could remember, Foundation Day was celebrated at the village center square.
“I wonder where they lived in Seoul,” Daehwi mused to himself as he settled the basket he was holding on his other arm. He was almost on the trail path nearest the Hall. “Probably in Gangnam?” Daehwi had been born in Seoul and lived in the northern district but after his father died, his mother packed up and took her son to live in his father’s hometown. She could have stayed on in Seoul or went back to her hometown in Incheon but Daehwi had guessed she wanted to be in the place which her husband loved and grew up in.
Daehwi was lost in his thoughts and was only brought back to the present when he almost tripped over a small rock. He giggled and straightened up even as he mentally scolded himself, making sure that the contents of the basket didn’t jostle about. He then took notice of his surroundings and realized that he had already passed the manor. Well technically, one could still see the rooftops of the large house through the space in the trees but he had already passed the forking trail which would have led to the back gates of the house.
He started to walk again and would have to continued to hum when he suddenly realized that it had become eerily quiet. There were no birds to hear, in fact, he couldn’t even hear the usual rustle of the grass signaling the scurrying of various small animals.
Then he started to remember something else that his father had laughingly told his mother about Bae haraboji. Something that he had meant to ask Jihoon before their teacher came.
His father recounted that his grandfather had told him stories about how before the village grew, the woods was overrun by wolves. As more and more people came to settle down in the village and raised sheep, the wolves were hunted down. Most of the wolves left to the mountains but a few had remained. The sheep farmers and most of the villagers wanted to exterminate them but some of the people felt that it had been unfair to take what had been the wolves’ original territory. So a compromise was made that no wolf was to be hunted unless they went out of the woods to kill the sheep grazing out on the fields. His father had said that there were rumors that Bae haraboji had been a good boy but his personality changed one day after he went riding out in the woods.
He changed because he had been bitten by a wolf.
Daehwi knew that his father had been joking about it and while he heard stories about sightings of wolves in the woods, it was usually in the more denser parts of the woods, not in the well-trodden path that he was taking.
While this should have comforted him, the unusual silence made him pause. It also didn’t help that he now felt the hairs rising at the back of his neck and the feeling of being watched. Panic was starting to rise in his throat.
Oh my God! Should I run? Should I scream? I can feel it behind me! What if---
“You’re trespassing.”
The bored sounding voice was like a bucket of water to his senses. He quickly turned around and was treated to the sight of the most handsome boy he had ever seen.
With also the sourest expression he had ever seen in all his life.
Daehwi blinked. The sour expression changed to one of surprise but was immediately transformed to one of studied boredom.
The boy was dressed in all black and carelessly leaning against a tree. His dark brown hair parted in the middle and brushed up a little showing his forehead. Daehwi wondered how could someone have a face that small but with very distinct features.
“Oh I’m sorry, hi!” Daehwi greeted politely with a bow, “I’m on my way to visit a relative.”
He wasn’t sure but he thought he saw a slight flicker of interest in the boy’s eyes. Then the boy smirked so Daehwi thought he had just imagined it.
“Did the pretty, little lamb lost his way? This is private property. As I said, you’re trespassing. ”
Daehwi ignored the derisive tone and just smiled, “Well actually, I’m not. You see even though the Bae family owns most of these woods, they marked these trails as right of way and anything that is outside the manor gates as free for the villagers to roam around.” He had a feeling that he was talking to the much awaited member of the Bae family and while he didn’t like his attitude, there was no reason for him to be also rude.
The boy just grunted and he flicked one more look at Daehwi before he averted his face and continued mockingly, “Is that so? Just make sure to keep to the trail then.”
“I never stray from the marked paths.” Daehwi said defensively with a pout.
The boy looked at him once more and Daehwi didn’t quite like the grin he saw on the other’s face. “You’d do well to do that. I heard there are wolves here. One could easily eat you up.”
Daehwi knew that he was now trying to scare him and chastised himself from actually imagining that same scenario earlier. So he just bowed again and was about to leave but the boy suddenly asked, “Do you usually walk this way?” Then the boy hurriedly added, “Not that I’m interested to know. I just don’t want to be surprised by strangers roaming around our grounds.”
Daehwi forced himself to say evenly, “I’m sorry but you might see me here again. My grand-aunt lives in one of the cottages on that side and I visit her often. But don’t worry, I’ll make sure to walk through this part as fast as I can so you won’t be bothered.” And without waiting for a reply, he turned quickly and left with speedy steps, almost going for a run.
By the time he caught sight of his grand-aunt’s house, Daehwi was back to his usual good humor. Nothing bothered him for long but it had been the first time that he came close to being angry at someone. So that was the troublesome son, wasn’t he? Well if his attitude earlier was any indication, then Daehwi wasn’t surprised.
He did call you pretty, a small voice in his head reminded him and Daehwi was appalled to feel himself blushing. He didn’t think he could be such a shallow person. Handsome or not, young Bae’s attitude left much to be desired.
“Wang-gomo! I’m here!” Daehwi called out even as he knocked on the cottage’s door.
“Aww, it’s my baby otter. Just come on inside, dear.”
Daehwi paused in the hallway to take off his shoes then put down the basket he was carrying beside another one on the kitchen table. The cottage was small but neat and tidy. There was only one bedroom and he could see his grand-aunt sitting up on the bed from the open door.
“I heard from umma that you’ve been a bad patient.” Daehwi said fondly as he placed a kiss on top of the old woman’s head.
His grand-aunt just snorted even as she returned the hug that the boy gave her, “Nonsense! I’m already well and gardening is actually therapeutic. I read that somewhere.”
Daehwi sat down on the side of the bed and his grand-aunt lost no time in asking him about what he did in school. He was happy to oblige her but a part of his brain kept drifting back to his encounter with the Bae boy.
As he finished telling his grand-aunt the many regards he received from the neighbors regarding her health, he suddenly asked, “By the way, wang-gomo. There’s another basket outside? Did one of your neighbors visit you?”
The old lady smiled with a twinkle in her eye, “Ah, that’s what I wanted to tell you. I had visitors earlier.”
Daehwi felt a sense of foreboding, “Who were they?” he asked innocently.
His grand-aunt however looked taken aback. “What? I would have thought you could easily guess.” Then she added wryly, “Considering that the whole village talked of nothing else.”
Daehwi remained silent however but his grand-aunt didn’t notice anything amiss and leaned forward a little to say excitedly, “The whole Bae family was here! And oh my child, you should have seen them. Though you probably will soon. Two handsome boys, Jonghyun and Jinyoung! It was my first time to see Ju-in-nim and his wife was very kind.”
Bae Jinyoung. Well at least Daehwi now knew the boy’s name.
His grand-aunt continued on and Daehwi thought alarmingly if he should stop her since the over-excitement couldn’t be good for her. But he was really curious to know about the family (even if he couldn’t admit it to himself) and as he saw the sparkle in the woman’s eyes and color bloom in her cheeks which had been pale the last few days, he let her ramble on.
“---and the young mistress was very thoughtful. You could see she comes from a very good family. Not that Eunwoo do-ryeo-nim’s wife wasn’t. She was a good girl even if her family wasn’t wealthy.”
Daehwi’s ears perked up at the mention of the Senior Bae’s name. He hastily interrupted his aunt, “Wang-gomo, you must have been around the same age as Bae haraboji, right? What was he like?”
His aunt paused and seemed to smile mysteriously. She leaned back on her pillows and sighed a little. “Ah, Eunwoo do-ryeo-nim was the black sheep. Or actually, a wolf you might say,” Daehwi was surprised to hear his grand-aunt suddenly giggle like a schoolgirl. “I remember having a crush on him. But that wasn’t anything significant since every girl in the village had one too.”
Daehwi tried to stop from rolling his eyes. So it’s true that Jihoon’s grandmother had been one of them too. “He was handsome, very handsome. And wild. So wild!” Then his aunt straightened herself up again and took one of Daehwi’s hands. “I won’t pretend that you don’t know, my child. You’re a very smart boy and I know how people talk.”
She continued as her grand-nephew remained silent, “You must have heard that Ju-in-nim has brought his youngest son here because he was starting to resemble his grandfather’s ways. He and his wife had told me this in confidence and I didn’t have the heart to tell them that probably the whole village already knows about it. I couldn’t tell Ju-in-nim that his attempt to throw sand in their eyes is all for naught.” She gave a soft laugh, “Ah well, even if he didn’t say anything, one look at Jinyoung do-ryeo-nim’s face would make people talk.”
Daehwi couldn’t stop himself this time, “Wh- why is that?”
His grand-aunt smiled at him. “Jinyoung do-ryeo-nim is the spitting image of his grandfather! I was quite shocked when I saw him. Had the same smirk too. Ah, I was all in a flutter at him reminding me of Eunwoo.” Then Daehwi was chagrined as his grand-aunt looked at him meaningfully and patted his hand, “Your mother was telling me how some of the neighbors are starting to pair you up with their children. She tells me you haven’t shown any interest yet except for your former tutor.”
And with that enigmatic, certainly unconnected remark, she now went on to describe Jonghyun, the eldest son.
Daehwi half-listened as his grand-aunt told him that Jonghyun resembled his father who took after his mother, not just in looks but also in temperament. He was relieved that his grand-aunt didn’t know that he already met Jinyoung earlier and much as he wanted to deny it, he did think the boy attractive…that is until he opened his mouth.
Daehwi hadn’t said it directly but he knew that his mother and his grand-aunt had an inkling that he wasn’t interested in girls. He actually had a puppy crush on his male tutor if that didn’t say something. Probably some of their closest neighbors knew his preference too hence, the half-meant invitations to introduce him to their sons.
He stayed until his grand-aunt finished everything that his mother prepared for their dinner. Before leaving, he washed up everything in the sink and made sure his grand-aunt was tucked in with a few magazines she was fond of reading.
Dusk had already settled in as he made his way back through the forest path. There was only a quarter crescent in the sky but Daehwi knew that once it got darker, the Hall’s woodskeeper would be switching on the outdoor lights. It wasn’t that many but it was enough to illuminate the marked trail that led from the tenants’ houses to the edge of the woods back to the village.
His heart started to pound as he neared once more the spot where he met Jinyoung. Much as he told himself that he was happy at not meeting the boy again, he couldn’t deny that small spark of disappointment that caused him to punch his pillow uncharacteristically as he laid down to sleep that night.
TBC--