They say that all humans have a fixed destiny from birth. He wondered who would believe in such nonsense, but there was someone very close by.

“This is your grandfather’s last wish before he dies, Eunhyuk.”

Even his grandfather, who had been as ferocious as a saber-toothed tiger all his life, could not overcome the winds and diseases of time.

With the news that it would be impossible to remove the tumor from his head, the doctors cautiously gave him a time limit.

Three months at least. Half a year at most.

“That’s when I’ll be sorry I didn’t cling to Soonok. If I meet her before I die and close my eyes, I won’t have any more wishes.”

His grandfather declared that before he died, his last wish would be to see his first love and he would close his eyes.

He handed his grandson a note with an address and said, “The only love I ever had, and the only love I ever will have. Bring the one and only love of my life, Soon-ok, before I close my eyes.”

It was hard to comprehend.

Eunhyuk didn’t understand why his grandfather would ask him to do such a cumbersome thing. It was like he was testing him. His grandfather could have easily hired someone to bring her before his eyes, or he could have gone to meet his first love in person.

“If you’re not going to listen to your grandfather, you might as well give up on inheriting my fortune. Don’t bother trying to run the company, I’ll give away my entire fortune and die. Or, I’ll give it to Soonok and die.”

Before Eunhyuk could say anything else, his grandfather laid down a condition that left him speechless.

He didn’t care who ran the company or how it was run; he was going to achieve his last wish, even if it meant leaving his only direct descendent in this world without a penny of his wealth.

“You’re unfair, old man. Who said I wouldn’t go? You’re acting like I’m trash.”

On a dry, early winter day when the air seemed to crackle, Eunhyuk made a visit to an unexpected place.

[1-1 Bonjuri, Chungcheongnam-do]

Somewhere on the border of the Gyeonggi and Chungcheongnam provinces, Bonjuri is a place he has never heard of before.

The road stops at the entrance to the village, and Eunhyuk is forced to walk, cursing the entire path.

He was trudging up a steep hill and his irritation was rising with even the slightest breeze. The sky was dark and dreary, even though it was midday. The ferocity made Eunhyuk look up at the sky.

He inwardly sighed as he looked up at the cloudy sky to see it was going to rain at any minute.

The smell of wet wood and fertilizer wafting in from somewhere made his stomach churn. If he knew it was going to be this rugged, he would have at least worn better shoes.

As he walked up, there was no end in sight. His coat kept getting snagged on by overhanging branches. Finally, the irritable Eunhyuk took off his coat and held it in his hands.

“What the hell? How is it possible that people live in a place like this?”

He grumbled as he made his way down the ridge-like slipe to a stance bridge over a stream. It finally started to make sense.

He looked around, thinking there must be a village in the middle of these mountains, but there wasn’t.

There was only one house to greet him.

No matter how much he looked around, he only saw the house in front of him.

Although he appeared calm, the atmosphere of the isolated home made Eunhyuk nervous.

Brushing back his disheveled bangs, Eunhyuk stared at the thatched-roof house that looked like something out of a folktale.

As he approached the house, which appeared to be too old to be inhabited, he pulled the crumpled note out of his pocket. On a log that could barely be called a gate, he saw a number that looked like it would’ve had to be chiseled on with magic.

“Well, it’s the same.”

Sure enough, it was the house his grandfather had told him to visit.

‘Damn it.’

He couldn’t tell if it was a chimney or a flue, but judging by the smoke billowing into the darkening sky, there were people inside.

His eyes fell to the ground as he tried to assess the situation.

His shoes, now covered in mud, had begun to stick to the dirt.

Eunhyuk tried to rub the sole against the log, but the sticky mud wouldn’t easily come off.

“This sucks, man.”

They were a limited-edition pair of shoes he bought in Italy. To ruin it like this, well, they weren’t supposed to get dirty.

“Can I help you?”

Just then, a woman appeared out of nowhere and asked, checking out the uninvited guest.

The woman, who must have been in her twenties, was wary of Eunhyuk’s visit.

After taking a long look at his black suit and shoes, she suddenly became polite, realizing something.

“Oh, you must have heard about my grandmother. The funeral ended a while ago…”

“Funeral?”

Eunhyuk’s face crumbled at the unexpected news he received after dropping in for a visit.

“I buried her a week ago at the back mountain cemetery and just now…”

The woman’s eyes suddenly turned red.

“Your grandmother died?”

“I thought you knew? But I guess not, then…”

The woman’s eyes narrowed in suspicion, trying to see what was the issue.

It was a disaster. If he had known, he wouldn’t have come all the way out into the middle of nowhere. He didn’t care about the woman’s feelings about losing her grandmother. Eunhyuk was only annoyed that he had taken a meaningless excursion.

“If you don’t mind me asking, how did you know my grandmother?”

Taking a slow and deep breath, the woman swallowed her depression and asked him about his relationship with Soonok.

She was quite curious about the connection between the old woman and the young man.

Since the beginning of the conversation, the color of the dark clouds hanging overhead had darkened. Then, it started to harshly pour down.

“Ah, it’s started to pour. Come inside first.”

She retrieved a worn-out umbrella from under the floor and held it above him as he strode up to her. With no fear, she invited a stranger into her house, with a pure and clear face.

It was kindness that wasn’t pleasant to Eunhyuk at all.

********

Although it was in the name of sheltering from the rain, the shabby room was no different from the outside. Eunhyuk was strongly offended.

The strong, musty odor was almost numbing his sense of smell.

“Please stay here for a while,” she requested in a gentle voice.

She left the room unattended for some time but returned with yukgaejang and gobongbap.

“You came all the way here, but this is all I can serve you right now. I’m sorry.”

Sitting down on her knees, the polite woman began with her name, even though he didn’t ask.

“I’m Kang Hyewon. I was lucky enough to get a job as a production worker in a big factory, but I was unfairly fired as soon as my probationary period was over. On my way back home, I got a call from Mr. Lee saying that my grandmother had passed away.”

i read online that when translating korean names to english it is better to not hyphenate it to show it is one name… idk if it’s true or not so lmk if its better to put a hyphen like “hye-won” or “eun-hyuk” or to leave it as is

Kofi