(Episode 2) Chapter 8

Fate
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“This is too difficult.” Jaesuk stated and Kwangsoo saw people approaching as he turned around.

“Hey, look.” He pointed out and everyone turned to look at two strangers approaching.

“Hello there. Nice to meet you.” The older stranger greeted them and they greeted him back. He shook everyone’s hands.

“How did you…” Jaesuk was about to ask him how they knew people were there but he was cut off by the man.

“What are you doing?” 

“Well, we are just…” Jaesuk didn’t know if he should tell the man or not.

“I’m Mr. Joo from Tamla Daily News.” The older gentleman introduced himself.

“Oh, you’re a journalist.” Jaewook stated and the man confirmed.

“I’m from Seoul and…” The younger man started to say but Minyoung cut him off.

“He is the person that I met yesterday. I told you back in the car.” She shared.

“I told you, you would meet him again.” Sunmi whisper- unnie.

“You got his number?” Kwangsoo asked her.

“No, she didn’t get it.” The man said.

“I tried to get his number, but he disappeared without giving it to me.” Minyoung recounted.

“Do you have a girlfriend?” Kwangsoo asked the man.

“No, that’s not it. The truth is, it’s my first time in Jeju Island. I didn’t know the direction well, so I was wondering where I should start looking.” The man explained.

“Then why did you leave so suddenly?” Minyoung asked him.

“I just went my way.” The guy stated.

“Oh, I see. I guess it wasn’t meant to be.” Minyoung stated.

“You are really obsessive.” Kwangsoo .

“Unnie, you can still ask for it later.” Sunmi whispered to her and Minyoung just blushed.

“What is that?” Suro, the journalist, just noticed the skeleton laying there and he stepped back and pointed to it.

“Is that a dead body?” Jonghyun, Minyoung’s mystery man, asked.

“Well, we found him.” Jaesuk explained to the two newcomers.

“Did you kill him just now?” Suro asked them and Sunmi giggled while everyone else denied it.

“No!”

“He’s already a skeleton.” Jaesuk pointed out.

“How did you know to find him here?” Suro asked.

“Well, the director said that there are treasures hidden here and there, and he asked us to find it. That’s why we are here.” Jaesuk explained.

“The truth is, I’m here to find it too.” Suro admitted.

“Oh, really?” Jaesuk asked.

“Last year, a colleague of mine participated in the treasure hunt. I’m not here as a journalist  today, but I’m here to look for it too.” Suro declared.

“The truth is I wanted to participate in the treasure hunt last year, but something happened, so I decided to participate this year.” Jonghyun shared as well.

“Let’s look for it together. What have you guys found so far?” Suro asked them. Jaesuk was the one who kept them up to speed, explaining what they had found. Suro took a look at the verse on the chest.

“You might not know well since you just got here.” Jaesuk mentioned.

“Oh, I think I know what this means.” Suro said as he finished reading the clue.

“What is it?”

“What does it mean?” Questions were thrown around.

“The Chinese character that is used for ‘life’ is incorrect. It means ‘bright’.” He pointed out.

“What lives in Jeju?” He asked out loud, thinking to himself.

“Pigs?” Jaewook supplied.

“Pigs. It’s the black pig.” Suro stated.

“How did you get that from the character ‘life’?” Jaesuk asked him.

“It’s the character for ‘bright’. It’s the moon. So, pig and moon. It has to be Dot Oreum. Then, the Darangswi Oreum? The Darangswi Oreum’s crater looks like that of the moon, so it’s called Wollangbong. Then it;s between those since it said that they face one another.” Suro concluded.

“Facing one another!” Jongmin seconded and Suro got an idea.

“Maze Park!” Suro shared.

“Maze Park?” Someone asked.

“I saw a red candlestick there once.” Suro recalled.

“There is something like that there?” Kwangsoo asked.

“Yes!” Suro confirmed.

“I’ve been to the Maze Park once.” Jongmin shared.

“It’s easier than I thought.” Suro bragged.

“I think it might be something else. The red candlestick, I was thinking of a lighthouse.” Jonghyun shared.

“I thought so as well.” Jaesuk seconded.

“So which lighthouse should we go to in Jeju Island? There is more than one.” Jaewook asked.

“I think there are about 4,000 lighthouses.” Suro stated.

“If we look at the map here, the lighthouses are indicated.” Jonghyun said as he unrolled a piece of paper he was holding.

“Really?” Jaesuk asked as he took a look.

“Let’s check our location, and find the ones that are close.” Jonghyun suggested.

“Then, a group can go to the lighthouse, and the other can go to Maze Park.” Jaesuk suggested.

“We can split up. I have a car.” Suro offered.

“This guy… I’m not certain, but I’m a little suspicious of him, so I will go with him.” Jaesuk said as he gestured to Suro.

“Let’s hurry up. We are running out of time.” Jaesuk told them.

“I’ll call it in on the way.” Minyoung offered, pertaining to the skeleton they found.

“Let’s keep in contact.” Jongmin said.

“We’ll call you.” Sunmi told the other team.

“Lighthouse team, wait.” Jonghyun called out as he looked at the clue in the chest again. Sehun, Sejeong, Sunmi, Jongmin, and Jaewook came back.

“I was wondering whether to mention this earlier, and I’m not so sure if this is right. Do you happen to know what paja is?” Jonghyun asked them.

“Paja is when you break up the Chinese characters into its , right?” Sunmi verified.

“Right. The paja for ‘life’ is the character for cow and one. The paja for ‘bright’ is the character for day and moon.  What comes to your mind when you think of ‘cow’ in Jeju Island?” Jonghyun asked them.

“Udo!” Sejeong said.

“Correct. Udo is here.” Jonghyun said as he pointed to a spot on the map.

“If that’s Udo, doesn’t it make you think of Seongsan Ilchulbong? It’s also called Sunrise Peak.” Sunmi added.

“They are close.” Jonghyun stated, looking at the map.

“Didn’t it say it was below something? Below the candlestick?” Jongmin asked.

“Below the life that faces one another.” Sejeong clarified.

“Look at this. See what it says.” Jonghyun pointed to a spot on the map between Udo and Seongsan Ilchulbong.

“Hado.” Everyone said together.

“The Chinese character ‘Ha’ means ‘below’. That must be the place! Is there a lighthouse nearby?” Sunmi asked.

“It has a red lighthouse. Hado.” Jonghyun informed them.

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myungsoodaehyun36 #1
Chapter 48: Would there be a book 2? I'm really interested to read it! 😊
ParkAiris5 #2
Chapter 29: Update please
brownie2020 #3
Chapter 24: Please update this book! I really love it and I want to know what’s next! 🥺