“It’s not too serious, but I came home after I read your letter. What nonsense you wrote! You sounded as if you didn’t want to see me ever again. I really shouldn’t have made an effort to see you.” Deok-gi avoided Pil-sun’s name.
Byeong-hwa let out a snort but seemed to be preoccupied with something.
“What’s going on? Did something good happen to you?”
“Why?” asked Byeong-hwa, smoothing down his hair.
“Your hair is neat, you’re wearing a suit I haven’t seen before, and it looks as if you might have even used some face cream!”
“Yes, I’ve used some all right. But what do you mean by a suit you’ve never seen? Are you implying that I bought it at a secondhand store?”
“Where did you get the money for the face cream?”
“Come on, why would anyone ask something like that?”
“Excuse me, Mr. Handsome!” he said to his friend in Japanese but then switched back to Korean. “I wish I had time to raise a toast to you, but I’d better go home now. I’m sorry I can’t stay longer.” Deok-gi made a motion to leave, without even having sat down. Although Byeong-hwa had no intention of holding him back, he urged him to linger for a minute.
Deok-gi had the feeling that Byeong-hwa had drifted far away from him, both in his feelings and in his attitude toward him. Deok-gi felt awkward, like a person meeting a friend for the first time in decades, one with whom he had studied under the same teacher. What has happened? Deok-gi had never seen Byeong-hwa so confident, probably because he now had a little money in his pocket, but his distant, distracted manner was inexplicable. The Byeong-hwa he had known was basically calm despite his constant grumbling. When a penniless person suddenly gets hold of some money, he frequently will take on an aloof pose, more than most affluent people. Still, this was not what Deok-gi sensed in Byeong-hwa. He seemed agitated. Gyeong-ae came out and didn’t offer so much as a greeting to Byeong-hwa. A moment later, however, Deok-gi caught them exchanging glances. He sensed a difference here, too. Byeong-hwa’s restlessness could be explained by his being in love, but was the money coming from Gyeong-ae? Deok-gi was tempted to attribute everything to Byeong-hwa’s falling in love with Gyeong-ae.
If this were true, Deok-gi would be in an absurd situation. It was one thing to read about it in Kyoto in a joking letter and quite another to witness it. It was obvious that the two had grown close, and it made him ill at ease. But he knew there was nothing he could do if they liked each other. When Deok-gi considered his father — not to mention Gyeong-ae’s daughter — he didn’t know what to think. Perhaps it would be best for Deok-gi to turn a blind eye, to simply avoid being present when the two were together.
Conversation between Deok-gi and Byeong-hwa was strained, and it appeared that Byeong-hwa had actually come to the bar because he had something to discuss with Gyeong-ae. Deok-gi rose and said, “Come and visit me tomorrow if you can.”
“All right. I’ll come if I have time.” Byeong-hwa’s response sounded halfhearted. In the past, he would have replied earnestly, promising to come around at a certain time. Was it because Byeong-hwa was no longer short of change? In dismay, Deok-gi grinned sardonically.
Safe
The next day, Deok-gi’s grandfather was admitted to the University Hospital. Deok-gi and his father were against the old man’s hospitalization since his illness didn’t call for surgery. The doctor appeared to share their doubts. The Suwon woman was more enthusiastic about the move, while the patient himself, though not entirely pleased with the idea, was of the opinion that it might be helpful.
Deok-gi and his father couldn’t oppose it, though they were anxious about dragging the barely breathing old man to the hospital in such cold weather, and afraid that he might die there, away from home. The Suwon woman hurried home from the hospital and described to Deok-gi’s wife what it was like there, with a sugary smile on her face. The lines deeply etched on her forehead for the past three months had disappeared.
“Why don’t you go and see him sometime tomorrow morning?” she suggested.
“Yes, I will.”
“As long as you’re out of the house, take the opportunity to visit your parents and offer them a bow before New Year’s.”
Deok-gi’s wife found the Suwon woman disgusting and wondered how she could change so suddenly now that her husband was out of the way. Still, the young woman couldn’t object to the suggestion of visiting her parents.
Seeing the main room suddenly bright again enlivened the Suwon woman’s face. Even her body seemed lighter. She picked up a broom and a mop, which she’d never done before, and gave the room a good cleaning.
“It is so much better for him there than in this gloomy room. Everything’s so clean and quiet, and the room is kept warm with a burning steam stove, and pretty young women come and go,” she explained to no one in particular.
The maidservant giggled and asked what use pretty young women were for an old patient. She was as happy as her mistress. But Deok-gi’s wife couldn’t help but furrow her brow, for it was clear what the Suwon woman and the servant had in mind.
The Suwon woman went on to say, “I think he’s going to get better there in spite of himself. We wouldn’t have been able to prepare food for New Year’s while he was sick, so it’d be ideal if he gets better soon. That way, we can have a big feast before the fifteenth of the month.”
Later that evening, the family gathered in the main room and ate dinner. The Suwon woman aside, the others in the house felt they could breathe again, as if a heavy burden had been lifted, and it truly seemed that the gloomy atmosphere had been dispelled. But how could the Suwon woman whirl around the house so, how could she act as if an aching tooth had been pulled out? One might think she’d dance for joy, not at the news that her husband might get better and come home before the first full moon of the year, but rather if the ritual wailing for the dead drifted out of the house and mourning lamps were hung at the gate.
After dinner, the Suwon woman went out with the maidservant in tow, saying she was on her way to the hospital. Around midnight, she came home with Deok-gi, leaving Chang-hun and a servant behind to keep an eye on the old man. Deok-gi had intended to remain overnight at the hospital, but there wasn’t enough space for him to stay. According to him, the Suwon woman had arrived at the hospital around ten o’clock, though she’d left home at seven.
“Where had she been?” asked Deok-gi’s wife.
“How would I know?” said Deok-gi. Clerk Choe had arrived at the hospital thirty minutes before the Suwon woman, and it looked like they had been busy hatching a plot or two.
At dawn, Deok-gi rushed back to the hospital; the Suwon woman soon followed him, saying that she’d return before breakfast. Before leaving, she said to Deok-gi’s wife, “You’d better hurry up if you want to visit your parents. Clear away breakfast and get ready as soon as you can before I come home.”
Deok-gi’s wife began to make preparations for the outing, though she found the Suwon woman’s sudden generosity suspect.
When the Suwon woman returned, she prompted Deok-gi’s wife to take her leave right away, reminding her that she might not have enough time to visit her parents. “Your husband had his breakfast at the hospital. Hurry up. I heard your grandfather might have an operation this evening or tomorrow.” Then she added, “With your grandfather not home, it doesn’t look like we’ll be able to hold the New Year’s ancestral ceremony. I wouldn’t mind if you returned from your parents’ house after the New Year’s celebration. Ask your husband how he feels about it when you see him at the hospital.”