Koala 2

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Chapter 7

The next day…

Jae Jin had a taxi drop him off at the main land. He decided to tour the grounds on foot to get a better feel of the area.

He compared the land with the old pictures his photographer had provided for him and saw no resemblance. The land was well cared for, not abandoned and filled with weeds as the photo pictured. He was having second thoughts about selling the place now.

Suddenly, Jae Jin realized he had been involved in a gang too long. He knew from the moment he had stepped onto the land, someone had been following him.

The tall grass was swaying at an unnatural angle and his sharp ears detected muffled laughter. It must be the little monster of Pusan.

A wooden arrow swooshed by Jae Jin, nearly grazing his ear. Jae Jin moved in time to avoid it from hitting him. He turned towards the direction where it came from but was greeted with another arrow.

This time Jae Jin deflected the arrow, knocking it aside. A scream of exasperation came from the field and another arrow was shot. Jae Jin caught it with one hand this time.

“WHOA…”

The legendary monster of Pusan revealed himself. It was a child of no more than five. He came out staring at Jae Jin wide-eyed. He pointed a shaking finger at Jae Jin and started to speak, his voice filling with awe and respect.

“Wow… you caught that with your bare hands!”

Jae Jin looked at the little kid, a feeling of deja vu sweeping over him. He felt as though he had met this kid before but couldn’t place his finger on it.

The child bore an uncanny resemblance to someone he knew but he wasn’t able to tell. He paused to think for a few moments and it suddenly hit him.

The kid looked just like him!

The hair, the bone structure, and that tiny little mole on his chin. Every small feature of that kid bore resemblance to him.

“Hellooo… ahjusee? Can I have my arrow back?”

Jae Jin snapped out of his trance and looked at the child once more. He glanced at the nicely hand carven arrow in his hand and gave the kid an amused grin.

“Are you the child that scared my men away when they tried to inspect this property?”

“Hmph! So what if I am? It’s my home. They have no right to trespass.”

“Sorry, kid. I own this land. They weren’t trespassing.”

“You can’t own this land! My family lives on it!”

Jae Jin sighed, wondering how to explain it to the boy. He hadn’t planned to evict the tenants yet since he hasn’t decided whether or not to sell the land.

“I bought this land already. Your family is just renting it from me.”

“Boo hoo…”

The child started bawling loudly and Jae started to bend down to meet the little boy at eye level. He brought the boy closer to him for a comforting hug.

When Jae Jin had let his guard down, Jae Jung began to attack.

“Take that, dumbass!”

‘Ornery little brat.’

Jae Jin muttered that silent thought to himself. Obviously the boy was a good actor but Jae Jin was much too quick for him. He twisted the little boy’s arm around his back before he was able to stab Jae Jin with his bow.

“Don’t you have a dad to teach you some manners?”

Jae Jung stared at Jae Jin, his eyes welling with hot tears. His throat started to constrict, making it hard for him to speak.

Jae Jin stared at the boy, suddenly feeling remorseful for his harsh words. He could tell that this time his tears were real.

“Um, I don’t have a daddy. Duckie lives with my mom. She said he’s my daddy but he said he’s my uncle. So I don’t know…”

Jae Jin kept silent, not knowing what to say to Jae Jung. Stepfamilies were formed all around the world and Jae Jung was obviously too young to understand what it meant.

“Don’t worry, kiddo. In time, you’ll learn about stepfamilies.”

“What’s a stepfamily?”

Jae Jin let him go and Jae Jung flashed him a wide grin with two of his front teeth missing. Jae Jin started to smile back at him and was about to answer until a female voice interrupted them.

“Jae Jung, supper time! Where are you?”

The woman’s voice sounded achingly familiar to Jae Jin. He looked towards the direction her voice came from but her figure was hidden beyond the tall grass.

“Well ahjusee, I have to go now. That’s my mommy calling me. Will I see you tomorrow?”

Jae Jin felt a kinship with the little boy. His name also called out to him. He wanted to know more about Jae Jung but in the past few years, he taught himself not to attach to anything.

“Your name is Jae Jung?”

“Uh huh. My mommy named me that.”

“Well, I don’t know if I’ll be here tomorrow, Jae Jung but I’ll be hanging around here for a while.”

“Okay! Maybe I’ll look for you tonight! Bye!”

Jae Jung waved Jae Jin goodbye and ran off into the distance. Jae Jin watched him go and saw a woman’s silhouette on the other side of the field.

Her profile looked familiar but he was starting to think that his mind must have worked too hard all day long and it was making him see things.

Jae Jin stared off into the distance at the sun. It was starting to set and it seemed to be smiling at him. A strange thought passed through his mind.

‘If only Si Eun and I were still together, we’d probably have a child around Jae Jung’s age…’

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