Correction Chapter 125 - Side Story 1

Sometimes when walking down a path, he would stop at the beautiful cry of a small bird and look up at it perched on a low branch. He watched as the small bird, beautifully showing itself off to the world, would look at him, stop its crying, and then fly away into the sky. He thought then. That such a tiny, small creature did not suit him.

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“Mister Shin!”

At the cute voice unique to a child, Jungmin turned around while walking down the path. A little girl with her hair prettily braided ran over with a bright smile and threw herself into Jungmin’s arms.

“Akini, I told you that you shouldn’t run yet.”

“Oops! That’s right!”

A few months ago, this small child had gone out to help her mother with work and fell into a pit, injuring her leg. Because it was a small village, there was no hospital, let alone proper medicine, so the child suffered in pain for days. Just when the villagers had concluded that her leg would have to be amputated, by a stroke of great luck, the volunteer medical team, including Jungmin, arrived in this village, and the matter was resolved with just a cast.

After that, this little young lady would run up and hug Jungmin like a puppy whenever she saw him.

“Are you on your way to the hospital?”

“Yes, you too, right?”

“Yes! Let’s go together!”

“Should I hold you?”

“But I’m heavy.”

Jungmin smiled and held the child in his two arms. Heavy… Because she couldn’t eat properly, the child, despite being 10 years old, had the build of a 7-year-old, and her weight was also like a feather.

“Princesses aren’t heavy.”

“Hehe.”

The child hugged Jungmin tightly and waved to her mother, who was on her way to work. The Omega woman, who looked rather old and thin for her age, bowed repeatedly to Jungmin in thanks and walked away unsteadily. Watching her, Jungmin felt pathetic for having come to this place with such a light heart.

He had volunteered here merely as a stepping stone for his return to work. Until he arrived in this village called Oyu-gi in the middle of nowhere, he hadn’t known it was such a deprived place. In this village, which lacked not only medical facilities but even proper houses, Omegas lived as mere tools for childbirth and as slaves.

Most of the Alphas left this village to work elsewhere, so they would barely return to the village once a month, if at all. Even then, whatever they did for a month, what they brought back as wages was just enough mixed grains and emergency crops for a family to live on for less than a week.

When Jungmin first saw that, he was so shocked he couldn’t think at all. What was even more shocking was that their Omegas and children considered themselves grateful to the Alphas and revered them, and that night, the entire village was filled with the moans of Omegas.

After observing for several months, he concluded that they only returned to the village during the Omegas’ heat cycles or their own ruts. Should he consider it a relief that at least they were all imprinted, so they didn’t fool around outside?

“Mister, my father is coming soon.”

“Oh, is he?”

“He said he’s going to bring even more potatoes and corn this time than last time. And he said he’s going to buy me clothes too!”

Akini had been wearing the same clothes for months. Even those were short in the sleeves and pants cuffs and were so worn out they looked like they would rip at the slightest touch. He wanted to give this child proper clothes before winter came, but there was a limit to the supplies that could be brought in right now, so bringing in urgent medical equipment was the priority, and daily necessities were being postponed day after day.

“I hope they’re pretty clothes.”

“Yes!”

Jungmin stroked the child’s hair and hugged her tightly. After walking like that for about 15 minutes, the temporary hospital they arrived at was a shabby structure of just five shipping containers stacked and connected, embarrassing to even call a hospital. Nevertheless, three skilled doctors and five nurses had come and were treating the villagers with one heart.

Jungmin took the child to the orthopedic surgeon and entered his own office. At the entrance, people complaining of unusual symptoms were already eagerly waiting for Jungmin.

“Did you carry Akini here again today?”

The nurse asked, looking at Jungmin’s dirtied clothes. Jungmin smiled and changed his clothes.

“Mister Shin, you really do like children.”

“Haha, not really.”

It was true. He had never properly held or played with his cute little nephews. There was the fact that he didn’t feel any affection for the children who were carbon copies of Youngmin, but the honest truth was that he didn’t know how to handle them, so he just watched from a distance. As a result, he could feel that his nephews also found him difficult, leading to an even more awkward relationship, but thanks to Akini, he felt he could at least be the first to strike up a conversation when he went back to Korea now.

“Oh, I think the suppressants will arrive tomorrow.”

“Haa, that’s a relief.”

“It really is. No, really, what is up with the Alphas here? How strong must their sperm be…”

The nurse trailed off, but Jungmin was thinking the exact same thing, so he laughed awkwardly. When an Alpha visited once a month, the Omegas of childbearing age in this village would invariably get pregnant. There was even an Omega who got pregnant again just three months after giving birth. In this village, the Omegas’ bellies grew bigger by the day, and eventually, their bodies would break down, leaving them unable to get pregnant anymore.

As a result, an average family had over five children, and poverty was accelerating.

The Alphas who should have been responsible neglected their families under the pretext of earning money, and the Omegas shouldered all the responsibility, their backs bent from giving birth and raising children. There was a psychiatrist among the doctors who came with them, and he said that almost all the Omegas complained of extreme suffering and wanted to escape their current situation. They even wished, in extreme cases, that their heat cycles would stop coming, even if it meant having their wombs removed… But that was impossible. There were religious issues in this country, so it was obvious they would face great trouble if they did something like that.

So, the solution they came up with was suppressants. Of course, they had suppressants here too, but their effect was minimal, and contraception didn’t seem to work well either. Suppressants could only be used by minors, unmarried individuals, and couples who had given birth to at least one child—it was a country with a screwed-up law that you couldn’t use suppressants after getting married until you had a child. So, after much thought, Jungmin asked Kim Joohwan for help, and he readily agreed to the request.

‘I can just get the payment for the suppressants from you, right, sunbae?’

he had added, with a line that sounded like a sleazy old man’s.

Anyway, he hadn’t heard from Kim Joohwan for two days. The guy who used to call or text so much it was annoying every day had suddenly gone quiet, which made him wonder if something was wrong, but then he thought, he’s not a child, and he’s the type to take care of himself better than anyone, so what’s there to worry about. But as time went on, he started to get a little concerned.

It seemed he would have to try calling Kim Joohwan after work today.

“I’ll start seeing patients.”

As Jungmin sat down, the nurse let the patients in one by one. Among them were quite a few who were old and physically uncomfortable, needing help to move. Even though he had treated many patients over the three months he had been here, the line of those waiting for treatment still seemed endless.

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“Please call the next patient.”

“Mister Shin, please take a break.”

At the nurse’s words, Jungmin looked at the clock. It was already 3 p.m. When had the time passed like that.

“You haven’t even had lunch.”

“A patient gave me some earlier, so I’m eating it now, see?”

When Jungmin held up a piece of dry bread and waved it, the nurse sighed.

“That’s not lunch.”

“It’s alright.”

“You’re a real workaholic. You must have heard that a lot back in Korea, right?”

“Haha.”

Jungmin gave an awkward laugh and took a bite of the hard bread. The nurse kept telling him from the side that he couldn’t just eat that, but it couldn’t be helped. This was really the only thing to eat here.

“Mister Shin!!”

A voice calling for Jungmin was heard from outside. It was a doctor who was also volunteering. Sensing that it was an urgent situation, Jungmin hurried outside.

“What is it, Mister Park.”

“Look over there. Over there!”

Where he pointed, several trucks could be seen kicking up dust as they sped toward them. There were more than five large trucks, the likes of which were never seen in this neighborhood, visible at a glance.

“Are they coming here now?”

“It seems so?”

For such large trucks to be coming here… it could only mean one thing. The supplies they had requested. But even so, the scale was enormous. It couldn’t possibly be this much. At most, it should have been an amount that could be loaded onto a 1-ton truck… Jungmin stared blankly at the trucks. The letters written on the trucks were not unfamiliar. Jungmin unconsciously furrowed his brow and tried to read the words clearly.

“Kal… Kal Front…”

Thinking he might have seen it wrong, he rubbed his eyes and looked again. Thanks to the trucks getting closer, he could see more clearly. It was indeed Karl Front.