episode_0003

Ray, who was sewing a tattered piece of clothing with his skilled hands, suddenly puts the clothing and needle down on the table.

‘Is it okay to be this at ease?’

It wasn’t necessarily because he still had the sense of time of a modern person who was busy living inside, but in reality, Ray’s life, which turned 12 this year, was quite smooth. It seemed that this newly born world was not a harsh place that even a child would have to endure.

Ray, who had been secretly frightened based on the fragmentary knowledge about the Middle Ages that he had found in the history books of the place where he lived, was relieved. Boys and girls of similar ages gathered in a spacious room in the village to learn letters, history, and culture.

After class, I learned small housework, how to make clothes, how to embroider, etc. from my father and the village elders. When I got tired of it and heard the noise of children outside, my father would always shrug his shoulders and let Ray go out and play.

The boy, who was truly enjoying and healing the innocent world of childhood after decades, sometimes thought of the family he had left behind in his past life, but he thought it was still difficult for him to understand with his own head how he could remember things from his past life and how everything had happened, so he let his worries go a little and decided to truly see, hear, and enjoy this world.

” Ray, are you home? Let’s go fishing! ”

A familiar voice of Latia is heard outside the house. Ray jumps up from his seat and runs out into the yard. Latia greets him, carrying a bucket at his side and a net in one hand.

” What’s the bait? ”

Latia said, handing the net to Ray.

” There must still be some wheat left in the village storehouse. ”

The feeling of the sounds of f and r, which were difficult to pronounce in his previous life, flowing out of his mouth with ease always made Ray shrug his shoulders. Although there is no grain in this world that is exactly like wheat, the way he naturally used the word for grain that is made into flour and used for cooking made him feel like he had foreign language skills.

Ray’s vocabulary became outstanding for a twelve-year-old boy, as he tirelessly searched for and read almost every book in the village.

He reached the front of the village warehouse, unlocked the door, and opened the latch. Ray pushed hard against the warehouse door, but it only made a creaking sound and wouldn’t open.

“Whoa… I think there’s something behind the door.”

Ray wipes the sweat from his forehead and mutters.

” Get out of the way, I’ll do it. ”

Then, Latia pushed the door open with all her might and strode into the warehouse. She jumped up and grabbed a sack of sesame seeds from a high shelf that she remembered having climbed up by stepping on two wooden boxes last summer. Ray awkwardly watched her as she scratched the red rust on the hinges of the warehouse door with her fingernails.

It seems that Ray once again thinks that his race is special, seeing how his legs and arms have grown so long that he was clearly taller until last year. Unfortunately for Ray, now that the two boys and girls are entering puberty, their physical differences will really become apparent.

“…Why? Not this one? ”

“Why are you staring at me like that?” said Latia, looking through the contents of the bag.

” No, that’s right. Let’s go quickly before the breakfast disappears. ”

After responding like this, Ray leaves Latia behind and runs to the riverbank first, carrying the net. Latia, holding a sack of sesame seeds in one hand and a bucket in the other, closes the warehouse door in no time and continues to jump with her long legs, reaching the riverbank before Ray, who loses strength in the middle, climbs up on a rock, puts down her things, and waves to him.

” Heh.. heh.. I should exercise.. It’s been so long since I exercised since college.. ”

Ray muttered as he trudged toward the river. It was true that he had been living a life far from exercise since he started struggling at his desk to jump into the job market, but that was then, and now he was a completely new young boy. Running was just a physical limitation.

As I was catching my breath by putting down my net on the riverbank, I noticed Latia washing her face in the river.

” Phew, wow… It’s really cool. You come here too! ”

Latia said, pushing back her short, wet blonde hair. Ray, who had seen Latia’s face longer than his wife’s, could not help but know her intentions.

” No, if you come near me again I’ll spray water on you. ”

And it is located far away from the water.

” Then how do you catch fish? ”

Latia, who was immersed in water up to her ankles, responds while splashing around. When Ray, who had caught his breath at those words, approached the river hesitantly with the net in hand, Latia remained quiet with her hands behind her back.

” Don’t do anything, do you think I’m just thinking about harassing you all the time? ”

” Yeah, ”

Latia was about to place the crayfish she had found while drinking water on Ray’s back when she stopped in her tracks at his short, decisive answer.

Then, either having a realization or simply feeling a little childish, he tosses the crayfish he is holding behind his back.

” Let’s start with the sesame seed cake! ”

Latia put her hand into the bag and took out a handful of bait. She took a small amount and shared it with Ray, then walked briskly to a deeper place, dipped both hands in the water, and stirred them. The water around where Latia had dipped her hands turned a little cloudy, and fish began to gather, one by one.

I excitedly dipped the net into the water and tried to pull it out with all my might, but the fish, which were thrashing around on the net, splashing water in all directions, immediately jumped out of the net and went back into the river.

” If you try to do it so hastily, you won’t catch a single one, right? ”

Ray, who had brought a bucket behind Latia, who was looking embarrassed, lifted it up. Ray soaked a handful of sesame seeds in water, made a ball, and spread it on the bottom of the bucket. Then he gently tilted the bucket to the side and slowly lowered it into the river. Then, one by one, the fish moved toward the bucket.

” Now! Upload it now!! ”

Latia, who had been watching the scene with bated breath, offers some advice. However, Ray simply ignores it and carefully takes a step back, turning the bucket here and there. The fish gather beautifully as if they are mesmerized by the movement and begin to swim towards the bucket. Then, when he lifts the bucket as if pushing it in the opposite direction, he sees quite a number of fish swimming around in the bucket.

Ray is proud and Latia is happy as if it were her own business. Then, they find a hollow a little way from the river and release the fish there. They play in the water without realizing how much time has passed, and it seems like they are both hungry.

Ray and Latia, who always ate steamed buns, cut them in half and shared them with a side of root vegetables like radish from their bundle. Although it tasted bland to modern people’s taste, Ray ate it obediently, thinking that things like salt would be precious in this day and age.

” Will I go down if I eat all of this? ”

” Is that so? Oh, Ray, your mom is coming today. I heard from my mom. ”

Latia quickly finished one and took out a second piece of bread and said. Ray’s mother drove a carriage in a city a little way from the village. She traveled around the country and sometimes returned to her hometown when she had saved up some money.

Although Ray didn’t feel as close to his mother as he did to his mother in his previous life, he felt a sense of kinship with her as his goose father, and whenever his mother came home, Ray would happily spend time with her.

” Really? You’re not lying again, are you?? ”

” What the…? You think I lie all the time…, LOL…!! ”

Latia, who was getting angry at Ray who was suspicious and insisting on her innocence, turned around in surprise when Ray started taking off his wet clothes. She was just trying to change her clothes because they were getting lukewarm from the sun and she was feeling uncomfortable.

“Why?”

“Uh… Mom told me not to watch the boy change his clothes.”

‘That’s right.’

Ray took out the dry spare clothes he had brought with him for lunch and mentally clapped his hands as he changed into them. He thought that maybe he had been inconsiderate, thinking that if he thought about the customs of the world in reverse, that would be how it would turn out.

“But I saw it before.”

“That’s what I did back then because I was young… , but not anymore.”

“Are you an adult now?”

Ray responds with a sly smile to Latia, who still looks like a child.

“You’ll be an adult soon!”

“Okay, okay, I’m done changing clothes, let’s go down.”

Latia, carrying a half-empty sack of sesame seeds on her back and a bucket with fish flapping around, goes down. When she tried to lift one, it was heavier than she thought, and she almost tripped. Then, Latia tells her to hurry and follow her and starts walking ahead. When she reaches the village and Ray’s house is barely visible, she sees a welcoming face in the distance.

“My son!!! How long has it been since you said that?”

Ray’s mother, still in her groom’s uniform, rolled up her sleeves and waved her arms at her son. Latia, who was walking in front, straightened her back a little at the sight. When Ray put down the net and ran to his mother, she hugged him with both hands and lifted him up to 2 meters in the air to greet him. Ray’s mother had a body like that of a player you’d only see at a women’s volleyball game. The women in the village were all large, but she stood out. Ray’s mother, who had been hugging him and kissing his cheeks, noticed Latia standing next to him, tense and tense.

“My son… I’m sad, he’s already leaving you.”

Ray’s mom, who made the same expression in her past life when she first saw the picture of her daughter holding hands with James at their Canadian school.

“Hey, hurry up and drop the kid off and come in.”

In the yard, Ray’s father answered while accepting Latia’s luggage, who was very nervous. Ray began to get a general sense of what was going on after looking back and forth between Latia, who was standing up straight as if she would break while tapping her feet on the floor due to nervousness, and his mother, who was exchanging glances with suspicious eyes.