Chapter 2
Sowol looked down at the baby in his arms.
The little thing was so small and soft that he was terrified she might get hurt if he applied even a bit of strength.
Even so, he couldn’t just keep holding her while she was covered in poop.
“This is a problem. I need to wash her, but……”
How do you wash a baby? Do you just wash her gently like you would a dog or a cat?
However, he had never washed a dog or a cat either.
The only thing Sowol had ever washed was a radish of a similar size.
“Waaah……!”
“Right, right. Just wait a moment.”
Sowol, who had been pondering, took off the baby’s diaper for a moment, then covered it back up.
The terrible stench automatically made him grimace.
“Ugh.”
Pinching his nose, he put water on the stove.
He also pulled out all the clean cloths he had.
Selecting the softest cloth among them, Sowol soaked it in lukewarm water and began to wipe the baby’s body.
However, as he wiped away the filth, something strange caught his eye.
There was a bluish smudge on the baby’s bottom.
Flustered, Sowol gently rubbed the smudge.
However, the smudge did not rub off.
Rather, its color intensified like a spot.
Was she hit by someone?
Where on a tiny thing the size of a palm was there even a place to hit?
Sowol threw down the cloth, flipped the baby over, and examined her closely.
Spots that seemed like they would only be found on a corpse afflicted with poison were spread all over her lower back.
Sowol’s complexion turned pale.
Poison.
Someone used poison on the baby.
* * *
“Gasp, gasp……!”
Sowol wiped away the sweat obscuring his vision as he sprinted across the village.
In the past, it was a distance he would have covered in a single bound, but his body, having lost its internal energy, creaked heavily with every step.
However, there was no time to delay.
Because there was no telling how long the baby’s small body could hold out.
On the pure white snowfield, Sowol’s footprints were stamped in dotted trails.
Before long, the physician’s sign came into view in the distance.
Squeezing out his last remaining strength to sprint forward, he pounded on the main gate just like that.
Thump, thump, thump!
Thump, thump, thump!
As he pounded so hard the door seemed like it would break, a blunt voice was heard from inside.
“Who is it in the middle of the night?”
“Old man, please open the door!”
“Mr. Yeon? What’s going on?”
“It’s an emergency! The baby has been poisoned!”
Sowol shouted urgently.
After a moment, the sound of the latch unfastening was heard, and the gate opened.
Physician Heo, who looked as if he had just gotten out of bed, gestured to him.
“What baby? Come in first.”
Physician Heo brought Sowol inside and had him sit beside a warm stove.
Then, he meticulously examined the baby handed to him.
Sowol watched that scene with bated breath.
“How is she?”
“Be quiet.”
“Is it too late? Could it be……”
“Be quiet.”
Silencing Sowol, Physician Heo narrowed his brows and flipped the baby over.
Under the lamp, the bluish spots on her lower back were clearly revealed.
“Hah……”
Physician Heo groaned softly and pulled back his hands.
Returning the baby to Sowol, he put water on the stove.
Sowol couldn’t hold back any longer and asked.
“If you use medicine, can she live?”
“There’s no need to use medicine.”
“What do you mean……. Are you saying it’s already too late?”
Physician Heo shook his head and brought out two teacups.
“This isn’t poison; it’s a mark left from Yeomra kicking her.”
Sowol blinked blankly.
A mark left from Yeomra kicking her?
He understood every single word, but combined together, he couldn’t make out what it meant.
“What did you say?”
“Don’t the ancients say so? If children dawdle when coming to the living world, Yeomra kicks their bottom to send them out.”
“What on earth does that mean?”
“It means she was like this from birth. All newborn babies are like this. It disappears as they grow, so there is nothing to worry about.”
Mouthing silently, Sowol asked again.
“So, you’re saying babies originally have bluish marks?”
“I said yes. You’ve grown old, but you’ve never seen a newborn baby, have you?”
Chuckling heartily, Physician Heo poured tea and set it down in front of Sowol.
“Have a cup before you go. Warm tea is best for a startled heart.”
Sowol looked down at the baby with a dazed expression, only lifting the cup after the tea had cooled a bit.
The cooled tea had no flavor whatsoever.
* * *
On the way back to the inn.
Sowol walked slowly while holding the baby.
It was a stroke of immense good fortune that the baby was perfectly fine, but before he even had time to feel relieved, worries came rushing in.
“This is a problem. What do I do with this kid……”
Sowol’s expression darkened.
Taking her back to Beopgong, he lacked the confidence to make the trip while keeping the baby alive.
On the other hand, dumping her on someone else, there was no one to entrust her to.
In the end, the conclusion came out that Sowol had to take care of her.
There was no choice. He just had to tackle it head-on for now.
The moment he made up his mind, the small body in his arms wriggled.
As he lowered his head, the baby had her eyes half-open.
Whether her focus was aligned was unknown, but she seemed to be looking at Sowol’s face.
“What are you looking at like that?”
Instead of answering, the baby smacking her lips.
Sowol unconsciously let out a chuckle.
Despite her entire body being all wrinkled, it was simply fascinating that she was moving around as if she too were a person.
Even so, his steps grew cautious.
He avoided jagged stones beneath his feet and exerted strength in his arms so the baby wouldn’t be shaken.
Walking like that, before he knew it, the baby in his arms had fallen asleep.
Sowol looked down at that face for a moment before opening the door to the inn.
The white-haired boy who had been hiding in the corner of the inn, Baekya, poked his head out.
“Did the bad monk go away?”
Sowol chuckled softly.
“Yeah. He left.”
Only then did Baekya’s hunched shoulders uncurl.
It had been a dozen or so years that Baekya had lived together with Sowol.
In that time, it wasn’t as if he had seen Beopgong only once or twice, yet Baekya was still afraid of him.
Because he had stopped growing of his own accord, even if outwardly he looked like a sixteen-year-old boy, inside he was much younger.
Baekya, who was approaching with a relieved face, opened his eyes wide upon seeing the baby cradled in Sowol’s arms.
“Hyung-nim, did you give birth to a baby?”
“As if. The bad monk dumped her on us and left.”
“Can I touch the baby?”
“Not right now. Later when she wakes up.”
Answering, Sowol set the sleeping baby down in a basket.
Baekya’s eyes sparkled bright as he peered into the basket.
Somehow, he had an excited expression.
Sowol looked at Baekya.
Could Baekya take care of the baby instead of Sowol?
“Hyung-nim, let’s give the baby sweets too.”
“Baekya, you mustn’t give sweets to the baby. She has no teeth, so she can’t chew.”
“What about rice cakes?”
“She can’t eat rice cakes either. Babies can only drink milk.”
Sowol gave up immediately.
If he left her to Baekya, it seemed like the baby wouldn’t survive three days.
Letting out a sigh, he fell into deep thought once more.
He had to feed the baby something when she woke up, but…… where on earth was he supposed to get milk?
Come to think of it, he felt like there was a bit of goat’s milk left in the kitchen.
“Baekya, keep a good eye on the baby. Call Hyung-nim if she wakes up.”
“Okay.”
Entrusting the basket to Baekya, Sowol headed to the kitchen.
On one side of the kitchen, about half a jar of goat’s milk remained.
Sowol took out the jar and brought his nose close. Fortunately, there was no sour smell.
He placed a small pot on the stove and poured in the goat’s milk.
While the goat’s milk was warming up, he also pulled out a clean cloth.
In the meantime, the baby who woke up burst into tears.
“Waaah!”
“Hyung-nim, the baby is crying!”
Startled, Baekya urgently called Sowol.
Holding the pot, Sowol came out to the main hall where guests dined.
The baby was crying with both tiny fists tightly clenched.
“Are you hungry? Here, drink.”
Quickly soaking the cloth in goat’s milk and feeding it to her, she sucked on it effortlessly, smacking her lips.
Fascinated by that sight, Sowol watched the baby for a long while.
Before long, having eaten her fill, the baby yawned.
Clearing away the wet cloth, Sowol picked up the baby.
From what he heard from Physician Heo, after feeding milk, one had to burp her.
He began gently patting the baby’s back.
Pat. Pat.
However, the baby showed no response.
Sowol narrowed his brows.
Should I pat harder?
He increased the intensity a little.
Pat. Pat.
Still, there was no response.
Then, just a little harder……
“Blegh!”
……I shouldn’t do that, it seems.
The goat’s milk the baby threw up flowed down Sowol’s shoulder.
Sowol swallowed a dry laugh.
Baekya, who had been watching restlessly, quickly offered a clean cloth.
Sowol carefully wiped the baby’s mouth first.
Then, as he gently stroked her back down, the baby smacked her lips and smoothly closed her eyes.
Gazing fixedly at the sleeping baby, Baekya asked.
“Do babies sleep right after eating?”
“Hyung-nim doesn’t know well either, but it seems so.”
Answering, Sowol soon set his mind at ease.
If so, he just had to feed her well and put her to sleep well.
A month or so would pass by quickly.
Sowol thought so. Naively.
