Chapter 15: Ja-Ho

“Master Ja-Ho!”

“Master Ja-Ho! What might bring you to this-”

“It was too noisy here, so I came out to check what the commotion was all about. What is going on?”

“It is nothing that should concern you, Master Ja-Ho. It’s just that there is a human who came to our door. We will chase him out shortly.”

 

The two fox soldiers began licking Ja-Ho’s boots as if violet haired fox with white tail was their king. Noticing the change in the fox soldiers’ behavior, the guy draw near handsome young fox who was called Ja-Ho on his knees and lowered his forehead to the ground.

 

“Please, help my bride! My bride is a fox, but he does not have a fox bead because he is too weak!! He is going to die without it. Please save my bride!”

 

The guy grabbed onto Ja-Ho’s trouser as he wailed.

Seeing the guy’s behavior, the fox soldiers became alarmed. They snatched the guy’s hand away from Ja-Ho and brought the guy further away.

 

“D..do you know who he is?! How dare you lay your hand on Master Ja-Ho!!”

“Your bride is a fox?”

 

Ja-Ho questioned the guy and the fox soldiers urged the guy to answer by kicking him lightly. The guy loosened his hold on Ho-Chi and revealed the sleeping Ho-Chi for Ja-Ho to see.

 

“Yes, please look carefully! He is a fox!”

“Please don’t mind, Master Ja-Ho. It is a nature of law for weaklings to die out. This should not take up Master Ja-Ho’s precious time.”

 

One of the fox soldier spoke and as soon as he finished his sentence, with a pop, the fox soldier disappeared.

The remaining fox soldier shivered in fear like a leaf shook by a wind and collapsed onto his knees.

 

“Yes, indeed, he is a fox. Even though he smells like a human, it is certain that he is a fox.”

 

Without knowing what exactly had happened, to Ja-Ho’s words, the guy’s face brightened with joy.

 

“However, it is impossible that he is your bride. How could a mere human be married to a fox, it is unheard of.”

 

Listening to Ja-Ho, the guy slumped his shoulders.

The guy looked down on Ho-Chi’s face and could not say anything to Ja-Ho.

 

“Foxes are meant to be with foxes and humans are meant to be with humans. How can you be unreasonable and think that he can be your bride?”

 

Even though Ja-Ho spoke in a quiet and calming voice, his words entered the guy‘s conscious and piled heavily in the guy’s heart.

 

“Ah, maybe your fox was after your life energy. Kek, he possessed you.”

“That is not true!!!”

 

The guy shouted.

With reddened eye rims that were gathering tears, the guy stifled a cry and shouted at Ja-Ho with all his might.

 

“That was not the case! My bride is not that kind of fox!! My bride is a kind fox!! Even though he was kidnapped by me, even though he was cursed by people, even though he must have been hurt…he never complained or said anything bad about anyone…he is a kindest fox…”

 

That is when down came the shower with heavy sound of rain.

Doesn’t wish to get Ho-Chi wet, the guy hurriedly wrapped Ho-Chi’s body with the fur and covered Ho-Chi with his body.

Ja-Ho did not cover himself from the shower as he watched the guy and Ho-Chi.

 

“Bring that fox inside.”

“Y, Yes!”

 

Receiving Ja-Ho’s order, the fox solider approached the guy.

With shocked expression, the guy looked up at Ja-Ho.

 

“R, really? Are you going to …save my bride?”

“…Yes, I will.”

 

The guy jumped up from the ground, Ho-Chi still in his embrace. His face was bright.

The fox solider approached the guy, intending to snatch Ho-Chi away from the guy’s arms.

The guy stepped back, shocked.

 

“Wha-!”

“I will only let the fox in.”

 

Ja-Ho stated.

The rain continued to pour.

 

“This is the territory of foxes. I can not dare let a human dirty the land. If you wish to save the fox then hand him over to me.”

“…Only…my bride…”

 

The guy studied his bride’s face for a while.

A few rain drops fell from the guy’s face to Ho-Chi’s when the guy crouched over Ho-Chi.

Because the guy walked without washing himself for weeks, the rain drops fell on Ho-Chi’s face was dirty. The dirty rain drops created dirty patterns on Ho-Chi’s clean face.

 

Looking at the dirty rain drops, the guy made up his mind and handed Ho-Chi’s sleeping form over to the fox soldier next to him.

Not aware of the guy’s longing eyes, the fox soldier hastily went into the palace through the front door with Ho-Chi in his arms.

The fox soldier did not give the guy any chance to say goodbye.

 

Seeing that Ja-Ho was about to go into the palace as well, the guy shouted.

 

“Please, save him!! Please please. You have to!! You have to save my bride!!!”

 

With a heavy thud, the front gate closed.

The heavy shower that looked like it was pouring out of a bucket, stopped. It was as if it never rained.

Over the palace, a beautiful rainbow appeared.

 

It was as if all was just a dream.

 

The guy looked up at the palace in front of him.

Not wanting to forget the warmth of his bride lingering in his hands, the guy made a fist as he stood there.

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TN: Thank you for waiting. It feels refreshing to translate this story after getting used to different writing style. I would say the author of ‘The Story of a Small Fox Who Has a Star’ uses shorter sentence with much poetic story flow. I liked that when the guy made up his mind watching the dirty rain drop on Ho-Chi’s face. There can be so many interpretation on what the dirty rain drop might be a metaphor of. I hope I did the writing justice. Thank you for reading!