NOVEL NEXT Chapter 2 - 002.
002.
“Who’s there?”
Minseo jolted up at the unfamiliar voice, his upper body springing upright.
A sleeping bag…
Sunlight filters into a military green tent.
‘Ah…’
Right. He had camped out in his grandmother’s yard last night.
“Who are you?! Why are you on someone else’s property like that?!”
The angry voice drew closer.
Minseo hurriedly slipped out of the sleeping bag and stepped outside the tent—only to find a tall, broad-framed, stern-looking elderly man standing before him.
Eyes.
A piercing gaze was directed straight at him.
Minseo reflexively shut his eyes tightly and lowered his head.
His pounding heart felt like it might be heard from outside.
“What are you, a homeless guy?”
“Oh my! Uncle Sangcheol? It’s been so long!”
At the sound of a familiar voice, Minseo, who had been silently bowing under the elder’s scrutiny, slowly lifted his head.
Mom?
It looked like his mom had rushed over, unable to sit still from worry.
“Eh? Sunju, is that you? Omija’s daughter, Kim Sunju?”
The old man, who had been on high alert, looked startled upon seeing her.
“And this one…?”
Still eyeing Minseo with suspicion.
“Oh dear, look at me. This is my son. Minseo. Lee Minseo.”
I bowed awkwardly to the old man, trying to avoid his intense gaze.
He looked between my mom and me, then burst out laughing and patted my shoulder with his rough hands.
Strong as an ox. What the… why is he hitting me?
“Omija’s grandson? Good! Very good.”
I had no idea what was “good,” but the old man praised me and turned to my mom.
“So then?”
“Oh, yes… we just dropped by after a long time. And really, thank you, as always.”
“No need to thank me. I just pick up some trash here and there.”
“No, after I got sick, you were the one managing the place… I kept making excuses about being busy and didn’t come. I’m really sorry.”
After her surgery, Mom hadn’t been able to visit Nabeegol, even though she used to come once or twice a year to check on the house.
The same went for me, back when I was a Hunter.
It was just… excuses about being busy.
“Young folks have their own lives. If they’re doing their best where they are, that’s good enough. I’ve got time to spare, so I stop by when I can.”
With a bashful cough, Grandpa Sangcheol told us to let him know if we needed anything and then walked away.
“……”
Once he was gone, Mom spun around to face me with glaring eyes.
“Son.”
Her voice was scary.
I couldn’t bring myself to meet her gaze and dropped my head again.
“Do you have any idea how worried I was?”
“……”
When I didn’t answer, she seemed like she wanted to say more but stopped.
Silence settled in.
The warm breeze of early autumn passed between Minseo and his mother, Kim Sunju.
She looked at her son, sitting silently.
His gaunt face, the result of injury and sudden retirement, pained her.
Her nose stung, and she quickly wiped her eyes without him noticing.
Just thinking about what he must be feeling made her heart ache.
But she knew she had to stay strong—her stability would be his strength.
“Let’s go, son. Are you really planning to live here or something?”
She joked in a light tone, trying to lift the mood, but Minseo didn’t reply.
“…No way?”
“Mom, do you remember the little spring over there? The water used to be so cold.”
It’s all dried up now, though…
Sunju, who had been wearing a worried expression, smiled faintly at his words.
She’d long forgotten it, but the memories came back as if she had seen it yesterday.
“Of course I remember. Your grandma planted so many flowers around it—it was like a secret garden.”
“I ate all those flowers, remember?”
“Hahaha! You really did. You were such a quirky kid.”
Both Kim Sunju and Lee Minseo smiled fondly.
Minseo had plucked and eaten all the flowers his grandmother had lovingly grown.
It had been a mischievous attempt to find the sweet nectar hidden in the petals.
“She yelled, ‘Thief!’ and grabbed her broom. Who steals flowers, of all things?”
“Yeah, that was so like Grandma.”
Sunju could still vividly recall the sight. A naughty little boy, fast asleep, surrounded by plucked flowers.
She looked up at her now-grown son’s face and flinched.
“Mom… I just want to rest a bit.”
‘Is it really that hard, son?’
His eyes, dim and lifeless, were unbearably hollow.
All she could do was nod quietly.
.
.
.
I barely managed to convince Mom not to insist I fix up the house before moving in.
You think you can just move in and start living? You need gas, electricity, the boiler, the water—there’s so much to prepare.
And the place’s been empty for ages! You need to clean, replace the flooring—it’s not livable right now.
I’m not saying don’t live here. Just… at least prepare it properly first. Why are you being so stubborn?
She wasn’t wrong.
Everything she said was right.
‘I don’t even know why I’m being like this.’
Minseo let out a hollow chuckle and stroked his chin.
It was obvious at a glance that the house wasn’t in livable condition.
So why?
People don’t always make decisions based on logic or reasoning.
He didn’t understand why he was being so irrationally stubborn.
With that thought, Minseo pulled out the old photo he had tucked away.
A warm, glowing scene captured within.
It would be rough and clumsy, but… he wanted to do it himself.
‘The location really is nice.’
A quiet piece of land nestled at the foot of the mountain. A cozy house with a spacious yard.
A small stream flowed nearby from the mountain, not much more than a trickle, but still.
The best part was the lack of nearby houses.
That meant fewer people. He liked that the most.
‘But… what am I supposed to do?’
What do I want to do?
He had a vague feeling, but no idea where to start.
No, wait—did he even want to do anything?
His thoughts tangled. Looking around with a heavy heart, he found no clear answers.
Hands in his back pockets, he slowly wandered around the yard.
‘The swing chair’s gone.’
Not that he remembered how long ago it had been.
The once-glimmering kimchi jars were caked in dust, their shine long gone.
And…
‘This spring… is it really dead?’
Nothing was like it used to be.
Not the house. Not himself.
He crouched down and touched the spring’s dry bed. It was bone dry.
Surprisingly hard, too.
He looked around—maybe water was trickling from somewhere?
But there were no signs. Not even a faint trace of dampness.
‘Strange little spring.’
On a whim, he fetched a small garden spade from the shed and jabbed at the ground.
No luck.
Just a jolt of pain up his wrist.
‘Is this stone?’
He brushed the ground and jabbed again, but it wasn’t stone. Just… hard as one.
A little garden trowel wouldn’t cut it.
At least he was physically strong, having once been a powerful Hunter, though his mana core was now broken and unusable.
He tried again with strength.
Still nothing.
‘Am I giving up already?’
He had barely scratched at it for a few minutes. Couldn’t stop now.
An irrational sense of stubbornness bubbled up.
He could fix this. There had to be a way.
If a spade wouldn’t work, he’d find something else.
He took off his gloves and decided to visit the hardware store.
Just as he stepped outside, he felt a prickling at the back of his neck.
Like someone was watching him.
He turned abruptly—
But of course, no one was there.
‘Just my imagination. Let’s hurry.’
[……is watching your actions.]
A faint flicker of light blinked from the dried spring.