KIBM Ch 1

The car broke down.

In the middle of a country road where all you could see were rice paddies and fields. After a stormy week, I had finally managed to calm myself, but now, of all things, I had a flat tire.

Truly, nothing was going right.

Thump!

“Damn it.”

Kicking the flat tire only hurt my foot.

“…Ha!”

Bosung exhaled roughly towards the sky.

He had lived a life without obstacles. He had never sighed as much as he had recently. But lately, it felt like someone was deliberately messing with his life.

As if mocking him, saying, “Thought your life would be a smooth ride?” throwing only frustrating and absurd situations his way.

In times like these, I must remain composed. Problems are meant to be solved, and I’m someone capable of solving them.

Having collected himself, Bosung took out his cell phone.

He immediately explained the situation.

After relaying his approximate location, the operator’s embarrassed voice came through.

—What do we do, sir? There are no service vehicles in that area…

“What?”

His voice rose involuntarily.

The calmness he had struggled to achieve was once again shattered.

—I’m so sorry, sir. We’ll try to find someone as quickly as possible…

In short, it meant they could arrive tonight at the earliest, or tomorrow morning at the latest.

Can this even be called an “emergency roadside service?” The question rose to his throat, but he swallowed it down. Wasting energy on something with an obvious outcome was a loss, and more than anything, he didn’t want to be immortalized in a call recording as a difficult customer.

“Hooh—!”

He hung up the phone with a heavy sigh.

At this point, he was resigned to his fate.

Bosung looked around with a vacant gaze.

[Welcome to Chondeok Village.]

“Welcome my foot.”

A shabby sign stood in the middle of nowhere. Next to it was a bus stop.

Bosung immediately searched for a route.

About twenty minutes to his destination, <Unhaeng Village>.

There was exactly one bus that went there directly.

There was no reason to hesitate.

Taking the bus was more efficient than waiting for roadside assistance.

Bosung put the car key in the console box.

No one would steal his broken-down car, and even if they did, catching them in the countryside, where every movement was tracked, was only a matter of time.

Bosung tossed the papers and materials from his thin briefcase into the back seat and stuffed his wallet and other necessities inside it.

Just as he closed the car door with a disgruntled look, holding the now-bulging briefcase,

Screeech—

A rugged SUV passed Bosung’s car and plunged into the ditch.

Crash!

It happened in an instant.

Startled, Bosung checked the side of his car. Fortunately, it was unscathed.

How could anyone drive like that and end up in a ditch on a straight road?

To Bosung, it was an utterly incomprehensible accident.

They’ll get out on their own.

Even though it was called a ditch, it was more like a slightly raised curb.

It was just a loud noise, no different from a minor fender bender.

After glancing at the car and about to move on, Bosung stopped after a few steps.

It was strange.

“……”

There was no sign of life from the crashed car.

By now, they should be clutching their neck and getting out of the car, but there wasn’t even the slightest movement.

Did they pass out?

Bosung ruffled the back of his hair.

Exiled to this place, stuck with a flat tire, and now I have to worry about the safety of some driver stuck in a ditch. What kind of bullshit—

Damn it.

Contrary to his inner turmoil, his feet were moving towards the car in the ditch.

Bosung knocked on the window of the crashed vehicle.

Knock. Knock.

There was no response from within the darkly tinted car.

“Hello?”

Knock, knock.

“Are you alright?”

A moment later, a faint voice responded.

“…Yes, for now.”

It was a woman.

If you’re okay, you’re okay. What does “for now” mean?

In any case, since she could communicate, it seemed there was no major problem.

“Then…”

Having confirmed she was safe, Bosung turned to leave without delay.

“…Excuse me!”

The woman called out urgently.

“Could you open the door? It’s stuck.”

He felt like he’d gotten tangled up in something unnecessarily bothersome.

Swallowing a silent sigh, Bosung placed one foot on the sloping embankment.

Weeds covered half his shoe.

Frowning, he pulled the door handle forcefully.

Clank!

The old door opened with a loud noise.

“Ha, thank you.”

The woman’s voice became clearer as the door opened.

She spoke in a bright voice.

“It must be broken. It wouldn’t open from the inside.”

He wasn’t interested in the details.

His current concern was the dirt on the tip of his shoe.

Bosung flicked his foot to remove the dirt.

Splash.

At the sudden sound of water, Bosung’s eyes widened.

The woman, wearing white sneakers, stepped out of the ditch and walked up without hesitation. It was the easiest route, but also the dirtiest.

If it were Bosung, he would have climbed out through the weeds, even if it was inconvenient.

Leaving wet footprints, she stopped directly in front of him.

“You saved me.”

She was holding something like a white bundle close to her chest.

Her eyes were the same color as her hair.

A deep, light brown.

Are her pupils large…? Strangely, their gazes locked.

“If it weren’t for you, I would have been trapped in the car.”

The woman began to ramble on about things he hadn’t asked about.

His gaze shifted to the woman’s mouth as she spoke.

Judging by the color of her teeth, they weren’t veneers, but they were very straight and a pleasingly moderate size. More than anything, the corners of her mouth naturally curved upwards.

It doesn’t look like she’s had surgery on the corners of her mouth.

Unaware that Bosung’s occupational hazard was acting up, the woman continued talking incessantly.

“The car shook and suddenly plunged into the ditch, and my phone died too! I was so scared.”

The woman paused. At that moment, she came to her senses.

For a brief moment, she had felt strangely dazed.

Bosung muttered, looking at the bundle in the woman’s arms with a disapproving look.

“Someone with a baby shouldn’t be driving like that…”

“A baby?”

The woman suddenly burst out laughing.

Is she crazy? he wondered.

Because of her laughter, he had the illusion that the baby in the bundle was also shaking.

But, is it really a baby?

Just as he was staring at the bundle suspiciously,

Flutter!

The white bundle swelled up enormously.

“…Ugh! Shit!”

Bosung instinctively raised his arms to guard himself.

What was inside the bundle wasn’t a baby.

Flap, flap, flap!

“Gasp!”

Feathers scattered everywhere.

Sharp pupils in piercing eyes. A pointed beak and menacing flapping wings.

The woman hurriedly grabbed a white cloth and threw it over the creature.

Thump-thump.

His heart was racing.

His heart, which had never pounded for a woman, was beating wildly in front of a large bird.

The woman said with an apologetic expression.

“I’m sorry. Did I scare you? It’s an owl.”

An owl? That was even more unbelievable than her carrying a baby.

“So you’re saying, you brought this ferocious bird of prey out like it’s some kind of pet bird?”

“I didn’t bring it out, but…”

“Do you have a permit?”

As his startled heart calmed down, all that remained was awkwardness and embarrassment.

To think I’d curse in front of a bird and act like a scaredy-cat. I think I even backed away shamefully.

“……”

The woman stared intently at Bosung, as if she could see through his thoughts.

“Still, ‘shit’ is pretty mild. Most people are really shocked when they see it in person. You’re quite brave.”

As if that’s something to be proud of…!

Forget it. Bosung put his hands in his pockets, turned his head, and suppressed a sigh.

The woman, seemingly apologetic, spoke to him softly.

“Are you new to this town? I haven’t seen you…”

Pat, pat!

Bosung brushed off his pants.

It was a silent signal not to talk to him further.

Fortunately, she seemed to get the hint and closed her mouth.

Rattle, rattle, rattle—

Just then, a bus approached from afar, kicking up dust.

It had faded license plates and looked less like a relic and more like an artifact.

The bus stopped precisely in front of them, and the woman boarded first.

“Aren’t you getting on?”

“Mind your own business and go.”

“This is the only bus…”

Bosung waved his hand dismissively at the woman as if to tell her to go ahead.

“Hey, young man! Didn’t you hear?”

As the woman disappeared, the bus driver appeared.

“There are no more buses here! You’ll have to wait over an hour for the next one! Just get on!”

“Ha… forget it…”

Clatter!

At that moment, the bus window opened, and a few middle-aged women poked their heads out.

“I’m busy, young man! Get on quickly!”

“That’s right, hurry up and get on! There are plenty of seats, why aren’t you getting on?”

Everyone on the bus was looking at Bosung.

Get on, hurry up and get on. Get on!

Everyone was united in pressuring Bosung to board.

The driver also showed no signs of leaving.

What is this situation…

He was so dumbfounded that he couldn’t speak.

Honk!

Honking the horn, the driver shouted as if giving him one last chance.

“Hurry up and get on!”

Thud.

Bosung finally stepped onto the bus’s footplate.

It wasn’t just because of the driver and the villagers’ insistence.

It was simply that the thought of wasting time if he missed the bus had triumphed over his reluctance to board.

“Should’ve just gotten on earlier.”

The driver shrugged and shouted in a loud voice.

“Bus departing! Everyone find a seat and hold on tight! Let’s go!”

Vroom—

The old bus struggled along the unpaved road.

Bosung, his energy completely drained after just a few tens of minutes, stared blankly out the window.

The dark tunnel ahead seemed to symbolize his future.