Episode 003
My father’s wife, my step-aunt, tapped her straw against the glass, and it wobbled nervously.
“Look at all the trouble caused… your grandmother sold land, your mother struggled, you even dragged someone busy like Executive Seo into this. And now, do you know who will pay for your hospital bills? Me. I will.”
Her quiet words stabbed at my heart.
“Who caused all this pain?” I whispered to myself.
“You did. Because you were sick.”
I bit my lip to stop from crying. It wasn’t fair, but she was right. All the bad things happened because of my sickness. So, in short, the thing I hated most in the world was being sick. Honestly, living as Ba-duki (my second-life identity) was easier than dealing with being sick.
I made a promise to myself.
“I’ll just survive until I’m nineteen!”
For now, I was a little paper-like servant in the Yu household. But in a few years, I could earn my own rewards like the other servants. Work hard, save money, and when my pockets were full, I’d leave the Yu family.
I’d endure everything until I turned nineteen. I could do it—I survived tough times in my previous life too.
But when I turned twenty, I wanted to see the world. I wanted to feel the wind, see the rivers, and live freely, just like the water flowing below my feet or the wind brushing my shoulders. That thought made surviving the next few years easier.
“So first… let’s survive until nineteen!”
I jumped up, grabbed my shoes, and ran barefoot. Life in this reincarnation was harsh, but I was slowly adapting.
Then… it happened. That day.
That event turned my second life upside down.
Lucky days were rare in my second life, and that day was the unluckiest of all.
That morning, I was picking mushrooms on a straw mat, following Aunt Yuk’s orders.
A shadow sneaked toward me.
“Ba-duki! Ba-duki!”
It was Yoo-won, the Yu family’s little master.
I didn’t like Mistress, Master Jang, or Aunt Yuk—but Yoo-won was the worst. He inherited Master Jang’s big body and Mistress’s terrible temper, and he constantly thought about one thing: bothering me.
Today, he brought something to tease me.
“Look! Honey snacks! Aren’t they tasty?”
He placed a plate in front of me. The honey-covered fried rice cakes shone, dripping sweet honey. My mouth watered, but I knew Yoo-won would never actually share anything. So I turned my head away.
“Hmph! I don’t like it at all!” I said, forcing myself.
“Really? You really don’t want it?”
That rotten kid. I wanted to scream, “Eat it all yourself, you greedy brat!” But I couldn’t. My five-year-old body betrayed me—my nose twitched at the sweet smell, and my mouth watered uncontrollably.
Yoo-won held a piece of the snack in front of my mouth.
“Close your eyes and open wide! Here it comes!”
“Ugh!”
Before I could eat it, he flicked my forehead!
“Wahhh!” I fell backward, hitting my bottom on the ground.
“Hahaha!” Yoo-won laughed, clapping my head.
This had to be proof that humans are inherently bad! I got nothing—no snack, just a smacked forehead—and I shouted in frustration.
“You little brat!” I wanted to say more but held back.
Yoo-won scrunched his fat little forehead.
“Say ‘Young Master’ properly! Or ‘Young Lord’! Repeat after me! So, Jang, Ju, Nim!”
Then he just ate the snacks in front of me, licking them all.
“Quick! Say it and I’ll give you some!”
“Young Master, my foot,” I muttered and dusted myself off.
“You little devil,” I whispered.
“Say it! Young Master!”
“Ugh! I’m not saying it, you brat!”
Yoo-won snorted and kicked over the straw mat where I had gathered mushrooms. They flew everywhere.
I stared in shock as that little devil shoved me hard, and I tumbled backward, screaming.
“Wahhh!”
He laughed and ran off, leaving me to gather the mushrooms again.
Then Aunt Yuk called me loudly from the kitchen.
“Ba-duki!”
Sigh… How could life as a five-year-old be this hard?
I had to hurry, or Aunt Yuk would make it even worse. I got up, grabbing the mushrooms, but my legs were wobbly.
I was small and weak, thrown into this world as a sick child, used to goat milk and little food. My legs were floppy, my tongue short, and Yoo-won loved teasing me.
I hated it. I worried I’d end up sick again like in my previous life.
Still, I dragged my weak legs toward Aunt Yuk, who scolded me.
“Look at how you walk! Did you gather all the mushrooms?”
“Yes… oh.”
Actually, Yoo-won had scattered them.
Ignoring her, I got the big basket she threw at me.
“Go to the river and scale the fish!”
“Yes, yes.”
“One answer only!”
“Yes, ma’am.”
I grabbed the basket and ran off.
“Ugh, it’s heavy!”
Outside, I saw a huge carp inside the basket—almost as big as me.
Why was all this weight put on a five-year-old?
“Damn it, those brats,” I muttered, walking to the river.
But with my weak legs on the rocky riverbank, I slipped and fell.
“Argh!”
My palms and knees hurt, and tears welled up. I ignored the carp and checked my scraped knees—they weren’t bleeding, but bruises were forming.
I sniffled, held back my tears, and picked up the heavy fish. My five-year-old body moved slowly toward the shallow water.
But someone was already there.
A mysterious little boy had arrived first.
