BWLHF 01

Chapter 1

Rattle-rattle-rattle—

A red four-wheel-drive jeep tore through the silence of the forest, its engine roaring as it climbed the steep slope between dense thickets of evergreen shrubs.

The jeep finally came to a stop in front of a mountain cabin buried beneath piles of fallen leaves and branches. The man in the driver’s seat opened the door and stepped out. After looking around once to make sure everything was safe, he unloaded the supplies packed into the trunk and transferred them onto a cart.

Twenty kilograms of rice and mixed grains, dried noodles and tomato sauce, oatmeal that could be turned into porridge simply by adding hot water, all kinds of canned food and dried jerky, various root vegetables packed into fertilizer sacks. He even carefully stacked several jars of honey that looked as though they had been aged for quite some time.

Once everything was loaded onto the cart, the man left it in front of the cabin and looked up.

“Hey. We’re here.”

Another man, who had been sitting in the passenger seat wearing a mask, had fallen sound asleep during that short while.

Knock, knock.

When the man tapped on the window, the sleeping passenger jolted awake. Looking somewhat embarrassed, he grabbed the bag in his arms and climbed out of the vehicle.

“Don’t you get carsick? You sleep pretty well in a shaking car.”

“Heh… I’m sorry. I didn’t sleep very well last night…”

“What are you apologizing for? I’m just doing my job.”

The man shrugged indifferently before gathering the remaining luggage and unlocking the cabin door.

The interior was only about thirty-three square meters. Once the various mysterious white cloths scattered around the place were pulled away, old furniture and appliances were revealed.

The cabin owner opened the rough wooden plywood shelves, brushed away some of the dust, and began placing the three months’ worth of necessities he had brought from the car into various corners of the cabin.

“So, what’s the deal? As far as I know, young people these days deliberately go to places like this to film vlogs and whatnot. Are you doing something like that too?”

“Ah, yes. Uh, that’s right.”

The young man had been struggling for quite some time with a sack that the cabin owner had easily lifted with one hand. Eventually, he gave up on carrying it over his shoulder and dragged it inside instead.

Even that proved difficult. The sack caught on the threshold, and the young man grunted and strained until the cabin owner casually nudged the end of the sack toward him with his foot.

“If you’re going to live alone in the mountains, you should at least be able to carry something like this.”

“I know. You picked it up so easily that I thought it would be lighter…”

The young man gave an awkward smile, scratching through his graphite-black hair before wiping the sweat from his forehead.

“I’ve put all the food away. The blankets and medical supplies are in this cupboard. I’ve connected the electricity too, so just plug things in and use them. But be careful—there’s a fire hazard, so keep your head on straight. If something doesn’t work, just flip the breaker off and back on.”

The cabin owner, whose chin was covered in a thick beard, explained the things his guest needed to know before slipping the old padlock into his pocket.

Should I really just leave him here?

He had accepted the long-term booking without asking too many questions. People who stayed in these mountains usually came for only a day or two, so this was the first long-term guest he’d had in nearly half a year.

Yet this young man, who was about the same age as his own son, had shown up deep in the forest carrying nothing more than a backpack, as if he were going on a casual outing to a park. He had casually handed over a large sum of money and asked the owner to prepare everything he would need.

The cabin owner had expected someone young to be more meticulous and energetic than an older man like himself.

Instead, the pale-skinned young man looked as though he had never seen sunlight in his entire life. Just going back and forth from the car to the cabin several times had left him panting for breath.

And whether he was a celebrity or something else, he had kept a mask over his face the entire time.

“By the way, this place is pretty deep in the mountains, so your cell phone might not get a signal. Have you been in the military? If not, this might be a little unfamiliar to you. There’s a TRS here, basically like a one-to-one walkie-talkie. If anything happens, contact me through this. For reference, I keep my days and nights switched around, so you can call me at night too. I’ll answer.”

“Thank you. You’ve gone through a lot of trouble because of me, but I don’t really have anything to give you.”

The cabin owner accepted the instant coffee that was offered to him and drank it, pursing his lips with an uneasy expression.

“Does your nose normally bleed that much? Are you sure you don’t need to see a doctor?”

“Oh, no, of course not. That was really just bad timing.”

“Doesn’t seem like it to me…”

While they had been climbing the mountain road, the jeep had unexpectedly jolted after getting caught on a tree stump. The cabin owner had bumped his head slightly against the ceiling and turned to look beside him.

He had been absolutely horrified to see his young passenger suddenly pouring blood from his nose over his mask.

“Didn’t you urgently ask me to pull over? Then you told me to open the window… Anyone looking at you would’ve thought you had some serious illness.”

“I was worried the seat would get stained. And the window… I’d gotten a little hot after all that commotion.”

The cabin owner admitted that he had considered turning the jeep around and heading to the hospital if necessary, since the mysterious young man had repeatedly asked him to stop and had spent the entire journey holding his nose shut.

The young man gave an awkward smile and politely apologized for worrying him.

Of course, the cabin owner still wasn’t completely reassured.

“Anyway, I’ll come by once every two weeks. Until then, stay safe.”

“Yes. Thank you for letting me stay here.”

“Oh, right. What was your name again? Sorry. I keep forgetting things as I get older.”

“Ah, my name? My name is…”

The cabin owner pulled out his phone.

The walkie-talkie was one thing, but he figured it would be better to at least know the name of a guest who was going to be staying for such a long time.

The young man hesitated slightly, his eyes darting around. Then, he awkwardly lifted the corners of his lips.

“Moon… Moon Young-in.”

“Moon Young-in. Moon Young-in.”

The man rolled the name around in his mouth for a moment, then pulled his lips into a strangely satisfied smile.

“That’s quite a name. What do you call it? Ah, pretty. Just call me Mr. Lee. What’s the point of knowing the name of some old cabin owner, anyway? Anyway, before I head down, is there anything else you want to ask?”

“Um…”

Young-in clasped his hands politely, looking somewhat apologetic.

“If possible, I’d prefer it if we communicated only through the radio.”

“Only through the radio? Why?”

“Well… if another person appears in the video, it breaks the flow. Still, if it’s something urgent, you’re the owner, so of course you can come if you need to…”

“I’m sorry.”

Young-in bowed deeply.

The man let out a hearty laugh.

“Well, all right. You seem like some kind of artist, so I suppose an old man like me shouldn’t get in your way. I’ll try my best. But you can’t bring anyone else here without permission, okay? We get a lot of people who rent the place for one person and then suddenly show up with five or six people, make a complete mess, and run off. I’m very sensitive about that. If you do it, I’ll kick you out immediately.”

“Yes. It’s just me. I won’t bring anyone.”

Although he was relieved to hear that Young-in would be alone, the cabin owner still seemed worried. He couldn’t bring himself to leave for quite some time, eventually giving Young-in a light pat on the shoulder.

“All right, then, Young-in. Let’s see each other again safe and sound when our contract is over.”

Before getting into his car, Mr. Lee carried over five dozen pairs of cotton work gloves and handed them to Young-in.

There was plenty of firewood, so Young-in wouldn’t have to chop any himself. But the owner warned him that if he didn’t know how dangerous the mountains could be and carelessly handled things, he might end up dead from tetanus in no time.

So he told him to make sure he wore the gloves whenever necessary.

Grrr—

The jeep drove away with a loud roar of its exhaust.

Once it disappeared, the man who had introduced himself as Young-in quietly turned around and slowly surveyed the place where he would be staying.

The small cabin stood among tall trees stretching toward the sky. It looked safe enough to withstand even a sudden natural disaster, and sturdy enough that even an attack by a wild animal wouldn’t easily bring it down.

Under the eaves, young birds that had built their nest before Young-in’s arrival chirped among themselves. Along the vines climbing the stairs, small bean pods had grown in clusters.

At first glance, the cabin looked somewhat messy, but a closer look revealed countless traces of the owner’s affection scattered throughout the place.

Young-in stepped forward, crunching dry branches beneath his feet, and slowly removed his mask.

His skin was snow-white and clear. Beneath his high, straight nose were neatly closed lips. The face that had been hidden behind that tiny piece of cloth was flawless and impeccably composed.

Only after everyone else had disappeared did Young-in finally take a deep breath.

He slowly opened his eyes and gave a bitter, apologetic smile.

“…It’s such a nice place to live.”

Too nice to die.

For a long while, Young-in watched the movement of the clouds drifting across the sky.

Eventually, he turned back toward the cabin and quietly closed the door.

It was just past noon.

The exhaustion he had been holding back all this time came crashing over him like a tidal wave.

Young-in immediately collapsed onto the bed and fell into a deep sleep.

Forget filming a vlog.

His breathing was so faint that anyone listening might have believed he had already died.

It was the only sound filling the cabin.