Deok-gi sat briefly by the bed before beckoning Pil-sun to the corridor. Deok-gi lit a cigarette and spoke slowly. “You haven’t heard from Kim, have you?”
“Not yet. Why? Has something happened?”
“They searched the house a while ago.”
“What? The store?”
“They were looking for Gyeong-ae. She had gone out to take a bath, but your mother told them that she had gone home. Someone is still waiting there. Won-sam was waiting outside when I got there and told me what was going on, and your mother gave me a signal with her eyes, so I pretended that I was a costumer and bought some fruit. Otherwise, I don’t know how long I would have been detained.”
“Then my mother can’t come, can she?” Pil-sun was anxious about what would happen at the hospital if she went home and was held there, and her mother was not allowed to leave, either. She still couldn’t entrust the store to her mother, who knew only that a pack of Pigeons was ten jeon and Maekos five jeon. She didn’t even know how much she should ask for Haetaes.
“Shall I go and make a phone call?”
“To ask your mother to come?”
“I can’t leave here until she arrives,” said Pil-sun as she headed downstairs. After a while, she came back accompanied by a man in a Western suit. Deok-gi immediately understood the nature of the visit.
Pil-sun seemed flustered; she shot a quick warning glance to Deok-gi.
Studying the stranger’s face, Deok-gi could see that the man wasn’t there to take Pil-sun away, but his heart was still pounding.
The man doffed his hat and said, “You must be Mr. Jo Deok-gi.” He grinned unpleasantly while remaining perfectly polite.
Whatever the detective inwardly thought of Deok-gi, he bowed deeply, though to his seasoned eye, Deok-gi, clad in a student uniform with gold buttons, couldn’t possibly amount to much; yet, he was the Jo family heir.
“I was told that you’d be here. I’m sorry, but will you please come with me?”
“What is this all about? Is it because I gave Kim Byeong-hwa some money?” Deok-gi laughed and added, “Let’s go. But why make life difficult for someone who’s trying to clean up his act and support himself?”
“I don’t think this is anything serious. We just need to get some information because a few guys are making some noise.” The detective had underestimated Deok-gi — the young man was unexpectedly firm and confident.
Pil-sun handed Deok-gi’s hat to him, whispering, “They’ve taken Gyeong-ae. The detectives are still there.”
Several of them must be surrounding the store, Deok-gi thought. The news gave Deok-gi a jolt.
“Can you stay here? Did your mother say she’d come?” Deok-gi asked as he followed the detective out.
“She can’t. I’ll wait here.” Resigned, Pil-sun watched him disappear, wondering whether or not she’d see him again.
If Pi-hyeok’s plot were exposed, she’d be taken away, too. But perhaps things hadn’t gotten that bad yet. Pil-sun thought she wouldn’t mind being taken to the police, along with everyone else. Nothing frightened her except her mother being left all alone. She knew that Deok-gi was innocent, and even if he weren’t allowed home this evening, he’d be released soon enough, perhaps with Byeong-hwa.
Once she had regained her calm, Pil-sun sat down in the hospital room, which was dark enough to make her feel drowsy, when her mother rushed in.
“Mother! They let you leave?” Pil-sun ran to her.
“Go quickly. I asked Won-sam to keep an eye on the store. Neither of us knows how to make a phone call — ”
“Has the detective left?”
“Yes, just now. Where’s Mr. Jo?”
“They took him from here.”
“That’s terrible. He will have another sleepless night.” She spoke of Deok-gi as if he were her own son. Stroking the blanket now draped over her husband, she asked quietly, “And how can we repay him?”
Pil-sun went back to the store. People were constantly coming and going. Their prices were lower than most of other stores and they were generous with their portions, even if it amounted to only a few extra stalks of green onions. Their circle of customers was growing.
Whenever there was a lull, Pil-sun leaned against the doorframe and gazed listlessly at the mountains in the distance.
When she spotted Deok-gi arriving in a rickshaw, her heart leapt. If she didn’t have to worry about what he might think of her, she would have run out and grasped his hand.
“They asked me to give them proof that I had given Byeong-hwa a thousand won. I had to take a detective home and then go back to the police station.”
“What did you show them?”
“I happened to have a check drawn in the amount of a thousand won dated two days before my grandfather’s death, so I gave them that.” Pil-sun was relieved.
“Even so, they refused to release Byeong-hwa and Gyeong-ae, so I stopped by Gyeong-ae’s house to fetch a quilt and warm clothes, but the police wouldn’t allow them in. Gyeong-ae’s mother is still waiting there. Maybe they’ll be released soon.”
Deok-gi called out to Won-sam, “Is there a beef-soup restaurant around here? I haven’t eaten yet.”
“You haven’t eaten! We have some rice but nothing to go with it.” Pil-sun was at a loss. “I can’t believe they dragged you all over town and didn’t even give you a moment to sit down for dinner.”
As Won-sam was stepping out, he remembered Pil-sun. “You haven’t eaten yet, either. Should I order for two?”
“I don’t want anything. I don’t feel like eating.”
“Then order for three people, Won-sam. You should eat, too.”
“No, thank you, sir. I already ate.”
After Won-sam left, Pil-sun went to the kitchen and set a tray. She brought it out and put it aside in a corner, to await the soup.
“I don’t know what to say,” Pil-sun said, as she stood by the stove with her head bowed.
“Why?”
“I had no idea that you went to such trouble, going from one place to another without pausing to have dinner. I was actually upset that you didn’t phone me. It was wrong of me to be angry with you.”
“Not at all! It wasn’t wrong of you. I knew that you’d be anxious waiting all by yourself, but I thought I could come sooner. I’m sorry.”
“Your apologizing makes me feel even worse. You’ve had such bad luck since yesterday, all because of us.”
“Please don’t mention it.” Deok-gi was touched by this young woman’s unadorned, frank words. No one would ever guess that she had worked at a rubber factory until recently. He wished she could always retain her natural innocence.
Deok-gi hesitated a moment before asking, “Do you have any idea how Byeong-hwa was able to buy the store?” He feared his question might have come too abruptly, but it was what he most wanted to know.
“I don’t know. Did someone say something?” The look on her face told him that it was a difficult subject for her.
“No. I haven’t heard anything except that that man Jang Hun made a terrible scene. Byeong-hwa asked me to pretend I supplied a thousand won in seed money. The whole thing is suspicious any way you look at it.”
Deok-gi waited for Pil-sun’s reply, but she hesitated, wondering whether she should reveal everything she knew. Won-sam’s arrival with the beef soup put their conversation on hold.
Pil-sun asked Deok-gi to go sit in the back room and took the tray to him. Her cheeks burned at the thought that Gyeong-ae must have served Byeong-hwa in this manner the night before.
“Bring your soup, too, so that we can eat together.”
“No, thank you. I’ll eat later.”
“The soup is getting cold. Come on, eat here at the stove.” Won-sam put a bowl of soup on the stove.