The Precious Baby of the Bandit Leader Chapter 74

When I was very young.

 

From the moment we first met, the Chief knew that a situation like this would arise because of me.

 

He took me in even though he knew everything. Braving fierce opposition.

 

“To look after a young child who has been abandoned and is dying right before your eyes is the right thing to do.”

 

“That is the life worthy of a human being that I and all of you were taught, and it is the most basic moral duty.” 

 

“This child saved me. She is saving all of you.”

 

When I heard those words.

 

I knew instinctively. That I would never be able to forget this person in front of me for the rest of my life.

 

Because among the countless people who turned away, you were the only one who reached out a hand to me. 

 

So, in truth… I might have expected it. 

 

That he alone would never give up on me even in a situation like this. Because the Chief is that kind of person.

 

Because he is the person with the greatest capacity for tolerance I have ever seen in my life.

 

But… because he is such a person, I thought I could no longer stay by his side.

 

“…..”

 

Hearing my words, the Chief merely stared at me with trembling eyes.

 

Swoosh. I reached out my hand.

 

And placed it on the Chief’s cheek.

 

“Dad. And.”

 

Sitting in the cave, listening to the sound of rain, I thought of the words I wanted to say to the Chief.

 

The kind of words that would have been nice to say before leaving.

 

Among them, the words I wanted to say the most were.

 

“Thank you for cherishing me.”

 

“…..”

 

Yes. I wasn’t curious about how much my Dad ‘loves me’.

 

Because actually, I already knew.

 

How much affection he had given me all this time.

 

How could I not know?

 

There are things in the world that you can know without necessarily putting them into words.

 

Actions, gazes… everything felt from the time spent together.

 

It wasn’t just the Chief.

 

Although I can’t tell anyone, I am someone who remembers all the time spent in the mountain stronghold, from when I was a newborn baby until now.

 

I turned my body and looked at the family members here.

 

‘Eating, chatting, and laughing with them… learning things one by one.’

 

They were all engraved in me as excessively fulfilling memories.

 

“Uncles, and Aunts, too.”

 

When I cautiously opened my mouth, they flinched and pulled their shoulders in. 

 

After staring at them quietly, I gathered my hands at my navel and bowed my head in greeting.

 

“Thank you.”

 

“….”

 

As if nothing had happened, I quickly raised my head and smiled brightly.

 

“I thought I was a really happy kid because this place is my home, and I could be together with everyone.”

 

Finally, I turned around. Then, I trotted over to Jeon Bongjin, who was watching me intently in the silence. 

 

“Hello. I’m Seolyeong.”

 

I greeted him politely too. Soon, putting a very earnest feeling into my words, I said.

 

“I’m thorry for making you go through this when you’ve come all this way. But I want to athk just one favor. Would that be okay?”

 

“…What is it?”

 

“I’m Seolyeong. Dad gave me that name because it means to shine brightly upon the eyes. So after this place became my home, I also always hoped it would be a bright and happy place.”

 

For the past five years.

 

Living in the mountain stronghold, I heard countless stories and everyone’s individual circumstances.

 

After waking up in the morning to train, and then spending a hectic day studying.

 

When people sat around one by one in the grand plaza where a campfire was lit, the stories would begin.

 

Uncles who were heavily drunk would cry, laugh, and dance.

 

Sometimes they would lift me up high and give me a piggyback ride, or tickle me.

 

Then, as the night deepened, they would start sharing their stories one by one.

 

What kind of lives they lived before coming here, and with what goal they ended up coming all the way here.

 

“My wife passed away so pointlessly like that. And then I had nowhere to go.”

 

“They framed me as a thief. Those damn b*stards!”

 

“I shouldn’t have loved him… but I, I kept that man in my heart. So you see, they tried to beat me to death, so I ran away!”

 

At some point, I realized.

 

That every single person gathered here was someone who had been hurt.

 

The mountain stronghold was a sanctuary for people who had been hurt and had gone into hiding.

 

And, that was the same for me too.

 

So.

 

“I want the people living here, my whole family, to all be happy. So…”

 

I genuinely hoped they would win their fight.

 

I hoped that everyone’s wounds would heal, and they would finally be able to move forward anew.

 

Taking a breath to try and speak clearly, I mustered up my courage and genuinely asked a favor of Jeon Bongjin.

 

“Please don’t leave this place because of me. Please help the Uncles, Aunts, and Dad whom I love.”

 

Now it was truly the end.

 

The words I wanted to say upon returning to the stronghold.

 

I stood listlessly like a prisoner awaiting a verdict, staring blankly at the ground again.

 

Silence flowed in that state.

 

And right then.

 

Thud—!

 

I looked back at the sudden loud noise.

 

The Four Ddong uncles, who were standing behind Gaon, were kneeling towards me.

 

“We’re sorry! Yeong-ah!”

 

“We’re really sorry!”

 

“It was our fault!”

 

They offered their apologies to me while shedding tears profusely.

 

“Forgive us!”

 

“I’m sorry!”

 

Then, several of the bandits also started kneeling or bowing their heads to offer their apologies to me.

 

‘Wh-what happened?’

 

While I was at a loss for what to do in the bewildering situation.

 

Someone hugged my back tightly.

 

It was the Chief, who had remained silent the whole time and waited for me to finish speaking. I bit my lip tightly at the warm heat.

 

“You must have been very upset.”

 

The Chief’s voice was trembling helplessly.

 

“My daughter…”

 

I wanted to look back, but because he was hugging me so tightly that I couldn’t move an inch, I couldn’t make any attempt to do so.

 

“For making you say these words, I am—we are—the ones who are sorry.”

 

I opened my eyes wide and gently looked around at everyone.

 

Hic. Everywhere, family members were covering their mouths. I saw people whose eyes had turned red.

 

Slip. The Chief slowly let me go.

 

Only then did I look back at the Chief. Facing each other, the Chief quietly spoke again.

 

“But… Yeong-ah. Even so, you must not try to leave in this manner. Do you know how, how worried I was?”

 

“But I just…”

 

“I understand your feelings perfectly well. I am not trying to blame you. However… I want you to know this one thing.”

 

The Chief seemed to choose his words for a moment before suddenly blurting out.

 

“This father knows that you are a smart and precocious child for your age. But even so, there is no need to be an adult.”

 

“…..”

 

“Act like a child a little bit. If you don’t like something, say you don’t like it. If you are sad, say you are sad. Please… don’t struggle alone. Every time you struggle alone like that, I…”

 

The Chief hung his head and trailed off for a moment.

 

And, he carefully held my small hand. His hand was trembling faintly.

 

“It… hurts my heart very much.”

 

I looked at the Chief with trembling eyes.

 

‘The Chief hurts…?’

 

I hurt him?

 

Not once had I ever thought of myself as an existence that could hurt or wound someone.

 

Because I had never met someone who cared for me that deeply.

 

Just a moment ago, no matter what he said, my mind was set on simply leaving again.

 

But…

 

The moment I heard the Chief’s words.

 

“Dad, you hurt…?”

 

It felt as though my heart had dropped with a thud.

 

When I looked up at him with wide eyes in shock and asked, the Chief nodded his head.

 

“Yes, Yeong. If you leave, your father will be very, very sad.”

 

Thump. My heart dropped once more. 

 

“I will hurt so much that it will not heal even after a long time has passed.”

 

“I, I don’t want that…!”

 

Without realizing it, I squeezed his hand back.

 

As if desperately trying to stop him, saying he shouldn’t do that.

 

Then the Chief smiled quietly.

 

“Then, if you truly acted that way out of concern for this father… do not leave and continue to stay here.”

 

The Chief stroked my head with his large hand. With a delicate touch, as if handling a very precious treasure.

 

And.

 

“Because I too love you to the extent that I would not trade you for anything in the world.”