Lunatic Chapter 5

Chapter 5.

After staring at their grave for a while, I shifted my gaze to Berry’s, right beside it. About ten years ago, Berry had been a puppy born to a stray dog. For some reason, Berry had wandered the mountain alone until my uncle found her, and from then on, she became family.

“Berry…”

Judging by the blood caked around her mouth, it looked like Berry had died fighting bravely to protect my fathers. I was proud—and sorry.

Berry didn’t even follow me around much, but every night she’d climb onto my bed and sleep at my feet. That started after I was little and fell off the bed one night, crying my eyes out. Since then, Berry had seen me not as her master, but as a younger sibling she had to protect. I missed that arrogance.

“Berry, thank you… for everything.”

The final farewells were over. There was no longer any reason for me to stay in this village.

I was planning to head to the cabin deeper in the mountains. I intended to stay there and slowly decide what to do next—whether to prepare myself thoroughly and descend the mountain, or remain there until the day I died.

Every now and then, my uncle would descend the mountain to find things the general store man couldn’t provide. When I was little, I would cling to my uncle’s pants and beg him to take me with him. But not once did he ever take me down the mountain.

[Yeon-woo. You must never leave this mountain. It’s dangerous. A small girl like you wouldn’t last even half a day down there.]

[Only bad people live below. Promise me. Promise you’ll never go down the mountain.]

Whenever I threw a tantrum, my fathers would convince me with a terrifying expression they never showed otherwise. Their brainwashing had been effective—those men who were everything to me. I came to fear what lay below. Even though I longed to avenge them, the thought of descending the mountain still filled me with dread.

I looked back at the abandoned village with a thin stream of smoke rising. Barkley was grilling venison. The smell of meat, faintly carried by the wind, reached me, but instead of making me hungry, it turned my stomach.

“That crazy bastard. Let’s never meet again.”

The distance from the village to the mountain cabin was considerable. With the sun already dipping, I was sure it would be pitch dark before I arrived.

But as I turned my back on the village and began to walk, I didn’t hesitate for even a moment. I’d rather spend a night alone in the wild than stay one more second with that lunatic.

The forest was dangerous, especially at night. Wild boars, wolves, bears—not to mention stray dogs and venomous snakes. Even though I was familiar with the terrain, darkness made it easy to lose my way, and that alone was dangerous enough.

I paused, panting heavily, and looked up at the sky. The sun had just touched the ridge. The other side of the mountain was already dim.

I needed to find a tree to spend the night in before it got darker. It wouldn’t help against bears or snakes, but it was the best way to avoid animals that couldn’t climb.

As I kept walking, I suddenly stopped when I saw a blue ribbon tied around a tree.

“A trap…”

It was a marker my uncle used. Though it was hidden from view now, beneath the tree would be a spiked trap, lying in wait with its jaws wide open for prey. I considered collecting the trap for a moment, but decided to leave it. It was heavy—and if I was lucky, Barkley might step on it.

I skirted around the marked tree. But I hadn’t gone ten steps before I screamed and collapsed.

The moment I stepped on something, there was a clicking sound, and it sank down—followed immediately by a searing pain as something clamped tightly around my ankle.

“Ahhh!”

My scream echoed loudly through the once-quiet forest. Birds that had been waiting for nightfall in their treetop nests flapped into the sky in a frenzy of wings.

“Ah… it hurts…”

The trap hidden beneath a pile of dry twigs had sunk its sharp metal teeth into my ankle. Fortunately—if you could call it that—it wasn’t a large trap meant for bears or boars, but a smaller one for foxes or rabbits.

The pain was so intense I thought I might scream again, so I clamped my mouth shut with both hands. Please, let Barkley not have heard me…

I looked at my ankle, where the teeth of the trap had sunk in. It didn’t seem like my bone was broken, but the sharp steel had pierced deep into my flesh. Seeing it made the pain feel twice as bad.

“Why the hell is this even here?!”

I looked around, checking for any of my uncle’s trap markers. But the one I’d seen earlier was the only one nearby. There was no way my uncle would set a trap this far from its marker. He always placed the traps directly beneath the marked trees.

“Who the… Ah, that son of a bitch!”

I realized immediately who the culprit was. No one else in these mountains would do something like this—only Barkley. I cursed him a few more times, wiped the tears that had spilled from the pain, and picked up a nearby branch.

“Please…”

I wedged the stick between the trap’s jaws and tried to pry it open, but the branch snapped pathetically with almost no resistance.

“Please!”

I threw the broken stick aside and grabbed another, trying again. No matter how many I tried, the result was the same. Even gathering several twigs together didn’t help. Frantically, I scanned the ground for something thicker and sturdier, but all I could find were the same thin branches used to conceal the trap. It was intentional. I could feel Barkley’s malice in every detail, and it made my skin crawl.

In less than an hour, the sun would be gone, and night would fall completely. I was stuck in a trap, unable to move. There was no way to avoid the predators that might be drawn by the scent of blood.

“…I can’t die like this.”

There had been times I wanted to die at Barkley’s hands—but not now. Not like this. I didn’t want to die such a pointless death. The instinct to survive—so suddenly awakened—was now screaming inside me.

Carefully, I slid my fingers between the trap’s teeth and took a deep breath.

“Haa… I can do this. I can do this.”

Clenching my jaw, I gave it everything I had, trying to pull the trap’s jaws apart. Slowly, they began to open.

“Just a little more, just a little more!”

I thought I could free my foot if I pried it open just a little further. But hope turned quickly into despair. My grip slipped, and the trap snapped shut again.

“Ahhh!”

The jaws clamped down even deeper into my flesh than before. I screamed from the unbearable pain, trembling and crying uncontrollably.

Then I heard it—a rustle behind me.

I froze. Slowly, I turned my head.

Barkley was standing there, grinning down at me.

I glared up at him, trying to hide my fear. But with tears still brimming in my eyes, it was clear I wasn’t intimidating him. He stepped closer, his grin widening.

“I moved it just in case. You really never stray from my expectations, do you, Yeonwoo?”

“…You bastard.”

“Worked out, didn’t it? If you hadn’t stepped into the trap, I was planning to twist your ankle myself.”

“Are you even human?”

“Is anyone truly human in this world? Everyone lives like this.”

Barkley crouched down and effortlessly pried open the trap with the metal rod he’d brought. As soon as the jaws opened, I yanked my foot free and, without hesitation, slapped him hard across the face. The smack rang out loud, and his head whipped to the side.

“Do I look like an animal to you? Am I your prey?!”

Barkley remained still with his head turned. Not because of the pain—he looked like he was deciding how best to kill me.

“You… you’re insane. You’re a lunatic.”

I said it seriously, like someone calmly diagnosing a sickness. Slowly, Barkley turned his head back toward me. I expected him to look angry, offended, something. But instead, he blinked wide-eyed like an innocent child—completely unfazed.

“What else was I supposed to do? If I left you alone, you would’ve run away, right? Isn’t that true?”

“You… you set a trap… for a person…”

“Do you really think asking you nicely not to run would’ve worked?”

I clenched my jaw, glaring at him. We were speaking the same language, but it was like we weren’t having a conversation at all. No, Barkley wasn’t just unreasonable—he was like one of those aliens my uncle used to talk about. Something completely beyond reason or empathy.

“Ah! What the hell are you doing?!”

Without warning, Barkley hoisted me onto his shoulder. I cried out in shock, and the pain in my ankle exploded again. Groaning, I stopped struggling and instead beat my fists against his back.

“Let me go! Put me down!”

“If you don’t treat it soon, it’ll get infected. Want to lose your ankle?”

“Shut up. I’ll take care of it myself!”

“Honestly, I’d be fine if you ended up without an ankle.”

He must’ve memorized the mountain path, because his strides were confident as he carried me back toward the village. His long, steady steps retraced the way I had come in mere moments. My vision, upside-down and bobbing with his movements, began to blur.

I can’t… I can’t lose consciousness…

I fought to stay awake, but soon my strength gave out. I slumped over his shoulder and blacked out.

* * *

When I first started menstruating, as per nature’s course, my fathers began pestering me constantly about finding a good husband. I heard their lectures so often I could recite them in my sleep.

[Yeonwoo. You must marry a good man—someone who’ll love and cherish you deeply.]

[Do I really have to marry a man? Can’t I just live like this?]

[A husband’s love and a parent’s love are different. I want you to live a happy life, protected and loved by your husband.]

The nagging about finding a good man only grew worse with each passing year. Lately, my two fathers had even started discussing it seriously between themselves.

[We can’t leave Yeonwoo alone forever. If something were to happen to us…]

[I think it’s time I went down the mountain again. It won’t be hard to find a boy around Yeonwoo’s age… but finding a good one will be the hard part.]

[We were foolish. When we came up the mountain, we should’ve brought someone for Yeonwoo and raised him ourselves. Boys her age now are probably all violent and cruel.]

[Youngwoong, don’t worry so much. Even in a broken world, there are still good people out there. Someone kind who will love and cherish our Yeonwoo.]

Late at night, I used to eavesdrop on these heartfelt conversations through the crack in the door. But back then, I couldn’t understand their concern. To me, my fathers were enough. I didn’t need anyone else.

[Daewoong will be here in a few days… maybe then… he and Yeonwoo…]

[Yeah… if it’s him, then…]

Their voices faded, drifting away through the sliver of light under the door. I chased after their fading tones, trying to hold on to the voices I missed so dearly. But no matter how far I reached, they stayed just out of grasp. Eventually, even their faint silhouettes vanished like a dot on the horizon, and the sorrow swelled up in my chest.