Cock-a-doodle-doo! Cock-a-doodle-doo!
If I’m hearing rooster sounds, that means there’s a rooster nearby, right? The thought of eating chicken woke me up instantly. But ugh…it was only Hyejeong’s alarm ringtone.
“This bitch.”
I was this close to pulling her hair out, but just then, I heard Byung-hoon gasp.
“Whoa!!!”
“What’s he excited about now?”
I climbed out of my bed and headed over to where Byung-hoon was standing. It wasn’t just me. The other cast members and even the staff were approaching him with curious expressions on their faces.
When we got there, the show producer let out a scream as well, along with the staff members. All the cameras were pointed at the shocking sight. In other words, they finally saw the alligator. The alligator I had caught.
“Oh my god! Oh my god! It’s an alligator! Aaah!” Byung-hoon kept screaming. Has he never seen an alligator before?
“Ugh, what’s the big deal?”
I immediately turned around and headed back to our shelter. Hopefully, by the time I wake up again, they will have figured out how to cook the animal.
“But why does this alligator look so limp?” Byung-hoon asked.
Unfortunately for him, the only person who knew the answer was me. And I…had already fallen back asleep.
***
I woke up again. I checked the time and saw I had gotten one more hour of shut-eye.
“Ah….”
I sat up and looked around. Hye-jeong was still sleeping, and I could see the four guys sitting around a campfire. With the dead alligator. They seemed to be having a serious conversation…I upped my hearing so I could eavesdrop.
“How did the alligator get here?”
“Maybe the owner lives nearby.”
“Then…should we put it back?”
“But…sigh…it looks so good…”
“But seriously, why does it look so…weak?”
“It looks like someone beat it to death.”
“They probably used an instrument of some sort,” Sung-hwan said. He examined the alligator, sounding more and more sure that it was a heavy instrument of some sort. He then added, “My guess is they used a pipe.”
“If they were going to kill it, they could’ve just done a quick job of it. Why overkill?”
“Maybe that’s just how they do it around here? But who’s the owner?”
They kept going on and on about the potential owner. So, I finally approached them.
“You guys can eat it if you want.”
“Huh?”
All four of them turned to stare at me, looking very confused. After all, as far as they know, I wasn’t the owner, so how should I know?
“I found it over there,” I said, gesturing off in the distance. Nonetheless, the men still looked confused. Did they not understand me?
“Where?” Byung-hoon asked.
“Over there. Like really~ far away.”
“Oh….”
“Anyways, you can eat it. There’s no owner or anything.”
“How do you know for sure…”
“When I found it, it was already dead. I guess it lost its way after leaving the riverbank.”
At that, everyone gave a nod of understanding. Only Sung-hwan wasn’t easily satisfied.
“Then who beat the alligator?” he asked, looking at me. Clearly, he wasn’t buying my explanation.
“Maybe it managed to run away from whoever did it.”
“Oh.”
That seemed to be an acceptable reply for Sung-hwan, who finally nodded himself.
“Then we can eat it, right? Finders keepers, losers weepers.” Ji-chun pointed out.
We all nodded at that. The interpreter said something to the guide, and the guide said something back. With a nod, the interpreter came back to us.
“You can eat it. It belongs to whoever found it last.”
“Then let’s dig in!” Byung-hoon said. Our faces brightened up not long after.
Then the interpreter suddenly added, “But remember, alligators have no reason to come this far.”
“Then how did it get here?” everyone asked me.
“How should I know?” I said with a shrug.
And so, the origin of the alligator remained a mystery as we all began to eagerly prepare to eat the meat. It was just a regular-sized alligator, but there was plenty of meat on the bones. So, we ended up donating some of it to a village nearby.
***
At the moment, I was out looking for fruit with Hye-jeong.
“Did anything happen?” Hye-jeong asked, looking concerned.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“Your arm. Did you get bitten?”
“Why would I get bitten?”
“That’s what Mr. Lee said. He said you got bitten by an alligator.”
“Really?”
I shrugged, making my face look pleasantly confused.
“That’s weird…Mr. Lee’s predictions have always come true in the past…”
“I guess his luck finally ran out,” I said with a smile.
Then again, it was pretty amazing. After all, I did get bitten, just like he said. Of course, that was the alligator’s mistake, but still.
“Tell him to quit spreading bullshit and mind his own business.”
“….”
“Actually no. Tell him to use his talents to buy a lottery ticket.”
“He says he doesn’t know them.”
“Then, he’s a liar. What kind of fortune teller doesn’t know that?”
“Still, you shouldn’t laugh. He’s never been wrong. Even I am surprised by him.”
“I’m surprised by people who can’t guess this stuff as well.”
“Well, anyways…it’s good that you’re okay.”
With that, Hye-jeong turned away and began to head in another direction.
Wait…did she just express concern for me? Well, that was…nice.
“Hye-jeong, you can’t go that way!”
“I have to pee!”
“Oh, alright.”
While Hye-jeong relieved herself, I looked around to see if I could find anything edible. My eyes fell on a fallen tree in the distance. Maybe there’s something there.
“Isn’t that where we got those coconuts?”
I headed over towards the tree. All of a sudden, I heard Hye-jeong let out a scream. I immediately turned back around and ran in her direction.
“What the-”
My eyes fell on a strange sight. There was a snake with its tongue hanging out. Not only that, it was flicking its tongue towards Hye-jeong’s butt. Wow, what a pervert. Hye-jeong was stuck in her position, unable to move. She probably thinks the snake will bite her if she moves. Anyways, while we’re on the topic, I must say, her butt is pretty cute.
“Sian…sniff…sniff…”
Hye-jeong looked at me with sad puppy eyes. I gestured at her, silently telling her not to worry. I approached the snake. He didn’t even notice me, continuing to flick its tongue at Hye-jeong’s butt.
“This little brat.”
I stepped on the snake. Its jaws snapped open in surprise as I immediately grabbed its tongue and pulled. The snake then instantly died in my hands.
“Yes! Score!”
“Did…did you get it?”
Hye-jeong looked over her shoulder as I held up the dead snake for her to see. She freaked out and tried to back away, her butt falling on her own mess.
“Make sure to wash your butt.”
***
Hye-jeong and I returned to the campsite with some coconuts, as well as the snake I’d caught. But…no one was there. We were the only ones to return.
“Where is everyone?” I asked the lobster head producer. The main producer had followed the hunting group. The one I was currently talking to was a new guy. He kind of looked like a lobster.
“They’re still out hunting,” the lobster head said in a tired manner. He looked exhausted. Has he been watching porn all night or something?
“What are they hunting?” Hye-jeong asked. I told her to wash her butt, but she still hadn’t. She didn’t forget, did she?
“Eel.”
“Eel?” Hye-jeong repeated.
The lobster head nodded.
“There’s a large pond that connects to the river. They’re catching eel there. They’re as big as my arm.”
The lobster head producer showed off his muscles. They weren’t that big. In other words, that meant the eels were average sized, right?
“I guess they’re small.”
“No, they’re really big. Do you want to see?” the lobster head asked. Only to me, it looked he was more curious and was just trying to use us as an excuse to go. But then again, I was curious too.
“Let’s go.”
“Okay,” the lobster head said, looking much more awake as he led us towards the lake. We followed after him.
After about twenty minutes, we saw the four guys. Three of them were arm deep in the pond, while another one stretched out on the bank.
“Huh? Yeon-min. What are you doing here?” the main producer asked the lobster head. So, the lobster head’s name was Yeon-min, meaning regret. It quite suited him.
“Sian and Hye-jeong wanted to come,” the lobster head replied, readily using us as an excuse.
“Oh, I see.”
Suddenly, the producer smiled. He always does that when he sees me and Hye-jeong. Of course, it wasn’t just him. All the male staff members brightened up the moment they met eyes with us. The female staff members seemed excited to see me too.
Anyways, we approached the men.
“Hey, guys.”
But they didn’t answer back. Three of them were too busy trying to catch the eel. The last one was sleeping on the edge of the lake.
So I walked over and very gently, I shouted, “Hi!”
The three men jumped and stared, while the one who had been sleeping bolted right up. After the initial second of shock, all four of them seemed happy to see us.
“Hey. When did you guys get here?”
“Just now,” I said. The water came up to their thighs, and it was very wide. Also, in the distance, I could see where it connected with the river.
“You guys look like you’re having fun.”
“Ugh, shut up. We haven’t even caught one. They’re so fast. Slippery as well,” Byung-hoon said with a shake of his head. That made me even more curious. Just how hard could it be that even Byung-hoon was having trouble?
“Can I join?”
“Uh…sure…but…they bite. It might be scary,” Byung-hoon said, sounding skeptical.
“Okay,” I said casually.
I rolled my pants up to my thighs, exposing my thighs to the cool breeze. All the men stared, looking very dazed. Everyone, that is, except Ji-chun. From the look on his face, he may as well have been staring at a rock. That’s probably how he saw all women.
Just as I was about to step into the water, the lobster head producer approached me.
“Sian! You need gloves!”
“Oh, thank you.”
I took the gloves and put them on. Finally, I stepped into the pond.
“Fuck!” I suddenly shouted. The staff members all looked me, startled.
“Oh, sorry! It’s just really cold…hahaha…”
I stretched out my arms. Alright. Let’s do this. Let’s see just what it was that allowed them to remain out of reach for two whole hours. But just then, one of the eels bit me on my Achilles heel.
