05 A New Life

"Let's all come here! I'm going to tell you an interesting story of a gumiho who loves the heart of a young girl."

The middle-aged man shouted for people to come to him to listen to his story about the gumiho, the Nine-Tailed Fox figure that returned to the conversation of the citizens. A lot of people came to listen to the man's story. And among the many adults who gathered, there was a little boy about eight years old who stood in the front row. The boy looked very enthusiastic to immediately hear the story of the gumiho.

"Well! I'll start my story about gumiho. This time I will tell you about the gumiho who really likes the heart of a beautiful girl. Are you ready to hear it?"

The people who gathered there compactly shouted 'ready', including the little boy who was in the front row. He was the only child who wanted to hear the gumiho's story.

"I'll start."

***

"Chan-a! Jung Soo Chan!" shouted a beautiful woman.

The beautiful woman is Lee Myeong, who has now changed her face and name to Lee Myeong Hee. Hundreds of years have passed since the incident, during which time she lived in the forest and would go out once a month to look for beautiful girls. But not infrequently she will stay out there to see the life of Kang Yi Seok's reincarnation. The man she had loved for hundreds of years had reincarnated several times, but she could only see the man's life from afar.

"Jung Soo Chan!"

Myeong Hee keeps shouting out the name of Soo Chan who is her own son from her marriage from Yi Seok's current reincarnation named Jung Yong Cha. She married him eleven years ago and gave birth to her first child nine years ago. Myeong Hee lost her son while she was busy bargaining prices with a merchant. He didn't pay much attention to his son until he suddenly disappeared.

Myeong Hee asks everyone, telling her how her son looks, but no one sees him. His eyes began to glaze over, he was completely confused and also frightened because the only child he had just disappeared.

"Soo Chan-a, where are you?" She looked around her, sharpened her eyesight, hoping that she could find the figure of her son. Nope, too many people going there.

"Mom!"

The call from the boy made Myeong Hee turn to the source of the sound. He immediately ran over to the boy who was none other than his son-Jung Soo Chan. "Soo Chan-a! Where have you been?" Myeong Hee hugged her beloved son.

"I'm sorry, Mom. I was interested to hear the man's story there," Soo Chan replied as he took off his mother's arms.

"What did the man tell you about?" Myeong Hee asked curiously.

"Gumiho," said Soo Chan.

"Gumiho?" Myeong Hee asked to make sure and then answered with a nod of Soo Chan's head. With a smile on Myeong Hee's face, she rubbed the top of her son's head. "You shouldn't listen to stories like that Chan-a."

"I know, but i'm curious. So i listened to the man's story, but not until it was finished, " Soo Chan explained.

"Let's go home. Your father would've been waiting for us."

***

The scorching rays of the sun up there did not make Jung Yong Cha stop for a moment from his job of making a small house for dogs. The man remained eager to work on the tiny house while occasionally glancing at the puppy who was sleeping sweetly on the terrace of the House. A smile fell on his face when the brown-haired puppy got up and changed his position to sitting. The little dog named Geom watched his master busy making a home for him to take shelter.

"Geom-a, do you like your house?" asked Yong Cha who turned out to be responded with a small gongongan Geom. He laughed when the question was answered by the adorable dog. Soon he stopped his work and approached Geom.

Yong Cha held the dog and picked it up, as if playing with a child. "You are an adorable child," he said, making Geom's tiny tail sway in delight.

"What about me? Am i cute too, Dad?"

The question Soo Chan asks, who has just arrived home, makes Yong Cha lower the dog and smile at the child. "Of course you're adorable too, Soo Chan-a."

"What about me?" This time it was Myeong Hee who asked with a smile towards her husband.

"You're so pretty," Yong Cha replied, making Myeong Hee blush. "By the way, what did you buy?"

"We bought a watermelon," Soo Chan replied excitedly. The boy was now petting the Geom he was petting. "In addition, i had time to worry mom."

"Worried? Why is that?" Yong Cha looked surprised by what the boy had just said. He looked at his wife for the answer.

"I lost him while i was busy bargaining," Myeong Hee replies as she leaves her husband and son. She went to the kitchen behind her house.

"Jung Soo Chan!"

Soo Chan who hears his father calling his name in a tone that goes up half an octave immediately falls silent. He even immediately lowered Geom from his lap and stood facing his father. Suddenly he was sorry that he had said that, he should not have told the incident earlier.

"Jung Soo Chan, didn't i tell you not to part with your mother?" asked Yong Cha to make Soo Chen lower his head.

"I'm sorry, Dad. I was interested in the story told by a storyteller," replied Soo Chan who was still bowing his head.

"What story did the narrator tell?"

"Gumiho."

"Gumiho?"

Soo Chan nodded his head. "He said a few years ago there was a murder case against girls. The narrator said that the gumiho had---"

"Stop," said Yong Cha, cutting off the boy's story. "Soo Chan-a. Can you hear a story like that?"

Soo Chan shook his head.

"Why?"

"Because it's not a story suitable for a child like me."

"That's right. Then why did you hear that?"

Soo Chan was silent with both eyes starting to glaze over.

"There is no need to discuss anymore. Soo Chan didn't listen to the story until the end, he only heard the first story," said Myeong Hee, who had returned from the kitchen and brought pieces of watermelon. "In hot weather like this watermelon is the right thing to eat."

Yong Cha sighed and pinched the child's cheek furiously. "Don't repeat that next time, okay?"

Soo Chan just nodded his head in response.

***

Candlelight still lit up the two rooms in Jung Yong Cha's residence. The candlelit room belongs to Yong Cha and Myeong Hee of course. Both of them are still awake by doing their respective activities. Yong Cha is busy reading a book, while Myeong Hee is busy sewing the boy's torn clothes, but they are still good to wear.

"By the way, Honey," Yong Cha said breaking the half-hour silence.

"What is it?" ask Myeong Hee without stopping her sewing.

"Mom and dad want to invite us to dinner tomorrow, can you?" asked Yong Cha who finally managed to stop the wife's activities and made the woman turn to him with a smile adorning her beautiful face.

"Of course i can, Honey," Myeong Hee's reply made Yong Cha smile as well. "Then tomorrow we will leave in the afternoon."

***

Soo Chan looks excited because he will go to his grandmother and grandfather's house to fulfill the invitation of his father's parents. The boy does have a very close relationship with his grandparents, especially lately the intensity of meetings between grandchildren and grandparents has been fairly rare because of the busyness of Yong Cha. That's why Soo Chan looks so excited to meet his grandparents.

"Where are you going this afternoon, Mr. Yong Cha?"

The question asked by a man made Yong Cha immediately put up a body in front of his wife. The man who just asked was Park Dong Soo one of the men who used to be very crazy about Myeong Hee, even always chasing her to make Myeong Hee his second wife.

Seeing Yong Cha directly put up a body to protect Myeong Hee, made the man laugh, feeling it was very funny but actually very offensive to him. "Jung Yong Ch-ssi what are you doing? I just asked to say hello," he said.

Yong Cha gives a sharp look to Dong Soo who seems to still want his wife. What a shameless man.

"Alright, I'll go. Let's just say we never cross paths, Jung Yong Cha-ssi."After saying that Dong Soo really left with a quiet grunt that he intended for Yong Cha.

"Who was that guy?" ask Soo Chan out of curiosity.

"No one," Yong Cha replied with a smile on his face and gently pinched Soo Chan's cheek.

***

Laughter was heard in one of the rooms in a gibang tonight. The room is currently occupied by Park Dong Soo and some of his co-workers. The noble men who were not young were enjoying the food and drinks available, as well as the appearance of a gisaeng who danced to the accompaniment of gayageum musical instruments.

"I met Myeong Hee earlier, " Dong Soo said, turning the conversation around.

"Really? Is she still pretty?" Kim Jung In asked in a tone that sounded like a drunk person.

"She's even prettier than before," Dong Soo sipped his drink poured by a gisaeng, "if only she had accepted my proposal, now i'm happy with her. But she chose to live with such a poor man."

"It's only natural that Myeong Hee prefers Jung Yong Cha. The man is still very young and handsome, even though his fortune is not as big as yours, Sir," commented Sae Wol, a gisaeng sitting next to Dong Soo. "If I were in Myeong Hee's position, I would definitely prefer a man with great wealth over a man who only has a handsome face."

Suddenly the comment from the gisaeng made Dong Soo and his colleagues laugh with satisfaction, even though it actually didn't need to be laughed at because it wasn't funny at all.

"Look, Sae Wol just turned out to prefer me over Yong Cha," Dong Soo said. "I'm not going to give up on that woman."

Dong Soo refills his Cup with his drink after which he immediately gulps down the alcoholic drink. His face is very showing if he really will try to get the figure of Lee Myeong.