BWLHF 04

Chapter 4

The detectives investigating an illegal organ trafficking operation raided a warehouse and discovered Young-in tied to an operating table.

The illegal blood-collection bags they had used were much smaller than standard blood-transfusion packs, but perhaps it was sheer luck that Young-in had managed to remain alive after being abandoned there.

Or perhaps the drugs he had been injected with at the research institute had caused his blood to clot abnormally quickly, barely preventing him from bleeding to death.

After finally being transferred to an isolation ward at a hospital, Young-in underwent several more examinations before he was allowed to return to society.

Just as the quack doctor had said, he was given a terminal diagnosis: he had only three months left to live.

“Ah… this is exhausting…”

Just as the organ traffickers had said, his worthless, rotten body was in far worse condition than he had expected.

He had lost more than fifteen kilograms, and his muscle strength had deteriorated to the level of a kindergarten child. Even carrying a small backpack left him struggling.

Without any stamina, manual labor was obviously impossible.

His mind had also become sluggish from drug poisoning, making it difficult even to sit in front of a computer.

Most importantly, the fact that he could infect other people meant that working together with anyone was out of the question.

At least he no longer had any debt, so he didn’t have to worry about how he would survive immediately.

Though, well…

All he had left was a little over four million won in cash.

He would sometimes laugh bitterly at himself, thinking about how difficult it was to earn someone else’s money, only to be hit by the absurdity of his own miserable life.

What had he done after that?

They said that when people don’t have much time left to live, they often bought themselves one more nice meal because they felt bad about all the hardships they’d endured, or traveled to places they had never been.

And sometimes, while doing so, they unexpectedly got better without even realizing it.

But Young-in didn’t spend much time thinking about it.

He simply began packing his things.

Being told that he had at most three months left with such a frail body was hardly different from being told that he could die tomorrow if he had bad luck.

He might suddenly die while sitting on a bus.

He might be standing in line at a supermarket, get shoved by someone, hit his head against the counter, and die.

He didn’t want to become so frightened of accidentally dying that he jumped from a building, threw himself into the Han River, or hanged himself.

They said witnessing someone commit suicide right in front of them could be deeply traumatic for rescue workers.

How could he do something like that to them?

Besides, there were CCTV cameras everywhere these days. If he even tried going up to a rooftop alone, someone would notice almost immediately and rush over to stop him.

If they knew my body was filled with viruses, they definitely wouldn’t be able to do that.

Thinking about it that way, Young-in began to want to spend his final days somewhere quiet and let his life come to a natural end.

Was that too extreme?

Perhaps.

But his fate had already been decided.

Even if he was going to die, he wanted to spend whatever time he had left living entirely for himself.

The small, cozy cabin he had come to was the perfect place for Moon Young-in, who was on the verge of turning twenty-seven, to bring his life to an end.

Few people came here.

The communications signal was unreliable.

And there were plenty of wild animals in the mountains.

A mountain animal can eat me if I feel like I’m about to die.

Of course, only if I really feel like I’m about to die.

If wild animals ate his corpse, he would actually be grateful.

But if he happened to die inside the cabin, he would need to leave enough money to compensate the cabin owner, Mr. Lee, for the psychological trauma, as well as cover his funeral expenses.

He had even prepared an envelope for Mr. Lee in advance for that very purpose.

Now he was ready to die.

And yet, once he actually arrived at the cabin alone, every hour, every minute, every second suddenly seemed unbearably precious.

He even found himself wishing that every day could remain this peaceful.

That was all.

“Come to think of it… how far down was the stream from here?”

After finishing his thoughts, Young-in narrowed his eyes and stretched his neck toward the bottom of the mountain.

For some reason, the water supply had been cut off early that morning.

No matter how much he twisted the faucet, all he could hear was the stiff metallic squeak.

Not even a thin stream of water came out.

Not a single drop.

So he immediately contacted Mr. Lee through the radio.

“Oh, right. I forgot the city said they’d shut off the water for a few days because of some pipe repairs.”

The man spoke so casually that it sounded as though he were talking about someone else’s problem.

He said the repairs wouldn’t be finished until tomorrow and suggested that Young-in make do with the water that had already been provided for half a day.

Then he let out a hearty laugh.

He told me everything I could possibly need was here.

Despite Mr. Lee’s confident assurances, Young-in’s very first day of life at the cabin had already turned into a mess.

Fortunately, he had three or four bottles of drinking water stored away, so he didn’t have to worry about quenching his thirst.

But not having enough water to wash himself irritated Young-in’s unusually clean habits.

He hadn’t originally been someone who showered this frequently, but two years at the research institute had completely changed him.

Young-in picked up an old bucket sitting in the corner and remembered the small stream he had spotted on the way up the mountain in the jeep.

Apparently, there was a fairly large valley not far away, and the water flowing from it eventually reached the lower stream.

The moment he opened the door, a chill rushed toward him.

Young-in pulled his bright red scarf up to the tip of his nose.

The air tickled his nostrils, carrying the moist scent of grass mixed with the fresh, green smell of new vegetation.

Spring really must be just around the corner.

Will I get to see the flowers bloom this year?

Young-in kept his eyes lowered toward his feet as he walked toward the stream.

Perhaps if he was lucky enough to live a little longer, he might even make it to the beginning of summer.

It was a rather fleeting hope, but since it didn’t cost him anything, he decided he was free to imagine it.

“Wow.”

As he approached the stream, he could still see patches of snow that hadn’t melted, tucked between the shaded rocks.

The mountains really do have all four seasons.

Carefully stepping across the rounded stones worn smooth by the rushing water, Young-in made his way to the edge of the stream and crouched down.

He scooped up only as much water as he could carry in one go and repeatedly lifted and lowered the bucket, testing its weight.

He was definitely far too weak to be considered a healthy adult man.

Eventually, when the bucket was about half full, Young-in gripped the handle firmly and raised his head.

“…?”

Perhaps it was because he had come out so early in the morning.

For some reason, he kept getting the impression that a patch of snow near the stream was twitching.

The little mound of snow was about the size of Young-in’s palm.

He scooped up water once and looked back.

Wiggle.

He scooped up another bucketful and looked back again.

Wiggle.

The third time he turned around, the little mound moved again.

This time, it didn’t even seem to be trying to hide its movements.

It trembled violently.

Eventually, Young-in put down the bucket and approached it.

The moment he saw what was actually lying in front of him, his body went rigid.

It wasn’t a mound of snow.

It was a rabbit.

A baby rabbit.

Its fur was as white as snow, and its eyes were black, as though someone had flicked tiny drops of ink into them.

Why is there a rabbit here…?

Didn’t rabbits hibernate during winter?

Ah, maybe not.

Was that just something from fairy tales? Did real rabbits simply wander around during winter too?

He didn’t know.

Anyway, why wasn’t it running away even though a human was approaching?

Young-in took another step forward out of curiosity.

And then an unexpected sight filled his vision.

“W-What is this?”

A tiny steel trap, several times larger than the rabbit’s entire body, had clamped tightly around its little foot.

The serrated metal jaws had bitten deeply into its delicate skin.

Every time the rabbit moved, the trap dug even deeper.

Who said animals couldn’t cry?

Tears streamed from the baby rabbit’s pitch-black eyes.

Its snow-white fur was soaked with blood, and it let out a faint, trembling cry.

Young-in immediately threw down the bucket and crouched beside it.

“W-What do I do? Ah, this… How do I get this off? Hey, little one, I’m sorry. Just wait a second…”

The thick metal trap had clamped so tightly around its leg that there didn’t seem to be any way to pull it free.

The rabbit should have panicked at being touched by a human, but it apparently didn’t even have enough strength left to struggle.

There are still people who hunt animals this barbarically?

Judging from its size, the trap had probably been intended for a larger animal than a rabbit.

Unfortunately, though, the creatures that ended up caught in traps like this were always harmless young animals.

“Hang on. I’ll figure out a way somehow…”

Young-in pressed his lips together tightly and reached out his hand.