With the boarding and the freight loading yet to be finished, the ship would not be ready to sail until dawn the next morning. Ahn Yong Kyu left the square and walked down toward the open cafe near the customs house. Having ordered a drink, he sat on a chair watching this unfamiliar city with a detached mind.
Out of the sea of camouflage uniforms worn by the departing soldiers, a white dress fluttering in the wind was gradually approaching. The woman was wearing sunglasses, but one still could tell she was a beauty. Yong Kyu almost waved his hand and called out to her, but turned around instead. The woman stepped in between the sidewalk tables and walked about peeking in here and there along the line of sunshade umbrellas. Yong Kyu heard her voice from behind.
“So you’ve been sitting here?”
“How have you been?”
Hae Jong removed her sunglasses. “You know, I’ve been looking for you for quite a while.”
“Looking for me?” Yong Kyu replied absentmindedly.
“You’re too much. I tried to contact you several times, but you didn’t call me back.”
“Your house is. .”
“I’m at the Thanh Thanh. It’s not the same room as before, though. I came out here to send some baggage back home, and as long as I’m here I thought I would ask a favor of you.”
“Baggage? But you don’t have a transit allowance, do you?”
“Ah, I got an allowance from the captain,” Hae Jong said lightheartedly. Then she took out a small gift-wrapped box from her handbag and placed it on the table.
“Here’s a souvenir.”
“What is it?”
“A watch. A cheap one.”
Yong Kyu took it quietly. Then, in an indifferent tone, he said, “Aren’t you going home?”
Hae Jong shook her head. “No, not me. But I am planning to leave here in a few days.”
“Where to?”
“I’ll go to Hong Kong. Sister Lin asked me to.”
“You made a lot of money, didn’t you?”
“A wee bit, only enough to open a small pub.”
“How’s Major Pham?”
She hung her head. Then without looking up, she said, “I was a little shocked. I’m all right now, though. The investigation is still underway, but since they’re all in the same boat, I suppose there’ll be a demotion and transfer, something along those lines.”
Hae Jong dabbed her eyes with a handkerchief and then held up her hand again.
“His younger brother. . was a very gentle young man. .”
Yong Kyu looked back in the direction of the pier, where the military band had struck up another tune. The flags in the hands of the schoolgirls were fluttering in the breeze. Hae Jong spoke.
“The favor I have to ask is this. You see, I’ve already shipped the baggage. This is the consignment number and that is the bill of lading. When you land in Pusan, I’d like you to have a forwarding company deliver the things to this address. Here’s the money. That’s all.”
“Sure, I’ll do that.”
Yong Kyu took from her a piece of paper on which was written some address in Uijeongbu where Hae Jong’s mother and younger siblings were living.
“Good-bye.”
Hae Jong got up. Yong Kyu nodded. The review ceremony seemed to have begun, for the anthems of the allies had changed to a march. Yong Kyu put money on the table and got to his feet. Across the street, he saw the fluttering train of a white skirt vanishing into the crowd. He walked back toward the ship. The thought of going somewhere and drinking until dawn no longer seemed attractive. He did not want to run into any of the faces he had known in Vietnam.