ACJY C79

A disjointed conversation began. The dry spell was the first thing to come up, followed mainly by farming talk, like how someone’s peppers had gotten anthracnose and were ruined, and how another family had started growing organic cabbage. Taeheun, who had no interest or knowledge in the subject anyway, just smoked his cigarette quietly.

Then, as always, the conversation flowed to money. Someone’s comment about the high price of fertilizer was the starting point. Everyone sighed at the stories of ever-increasing bank debt and interest, and how someone’s land had eventually been taken over for failing to pay it back. When someone mentioned that another person had given up farming and gone to the city, there were exclamations of envy rather than concern.

“I hear Namchon-ri is all abuzz with development these days.”

It was Choi Gicheol who brought up Namchon-ri out of the blue.

“In Namchon-ri? What’s there to see to be developing it?”

“Is a factory being built or something?”

“No, not that, but apparently the village chief there has a hometown senior who’s got some money. I don’t know how they roped him in, but they’re supposedly building a retirement community or something.”

“A retirement community? That again? Don’t you know about the one in Seojeon-ri four or five years ago? They made a huge fuss about building one there and then went completely bankrupt.”

“Hey, come on, brother. That was because of the IMF crisis. Still, the people who sold their land made a killing.”

The Seojeon-ri retirement community was a place Taeheun knew of. It looked more like a pension, but in any case, the hideout he had stayed in for 16 days must have been right there. Feeling a strange sense of familiarity, he was about to chime in when they exchanged glances among themselves. Their behavior was suspicious.

“By the way, Manager Kim, how long are you staying?”

The Big Brother, who was at the receiving end of the glances, asked with an exaggerated gesture.

“Well. Nothing’s been decided yet.”

“Didn’t you say you were on vacation?”

“Yes. Well. That’s right.”

Taeheun was sparing with his words. From the looks of it, what they were curious about wasn’t his vacation.

“Hey, Manager Kim. I hear you’ve been looking at land in your spare time? They say that’s why you’re hanging out with Gibeom.”

It was obvious whose mouth that had come from. When he looked at Choi Gicheol, he feigned ignorance with a cough.

“Hey, we have a piece of land that’s just sitting idle at my house. Want to go take a look? It’s not that great of a piece of land, but it’s not completely worthless either.”

“You, you conscienceless bastard. Are you trying to sell that piece of crap because you have nothing else to sell? Hey, Manager Kim. I’m not just saying this because it’s my family’s, but the location of our family burial ground is fantastic. You know, that, what is it, baesanimsu? It’s in a place just like that. There are already people lining up to buy it.”

One by one, they gathered around, talking about the land they had lying dormant at their homes. It was land that anyone could tell was worthless, land that was being left idle because it was of no use, but their intention was to sell it somehow and get a lump sum of money. That must have been why they brought up Namchon-ri.

Taeheun, unlike his usual self, responded enthusiastically. Just call me anytime. What’s so hard about going to see it? Let’s go right now. He spouted words he didn’t mean. He had been wondering how to get back at them for only working the man, and he thought they had fallen right into his trap. He figured he could use the land as an excuse to get them to treat him to meals, act all high and mighty, and make them sweat a little.

The Eagle Five Brothers and Choi Gicheol were thrilled with Taeheun’s reaction. They acted as friendly as if they were childhood friends and started mentioning the so-called ‘good places.’ The senior members, who didn’t know the real reason Taeheun was staying in Dongjam-ri, were eager to go to those ‘good places’ right away, expanding their territory not just to the town but to the nearby city. They seemed ready to go all the way to Seoul.

The man, as always, did not join the conversation. He wasn’t the one getting paid, but he busied himself, finding things to do in advance. Even when surrounded by the senior members of the Youth Association, Taeheun’s gaze followed the man, but the man, indifferent, never once looked back.

They chattered on meaninglessly for a long time. They had almost finished their cigarettes and had said what they wanted to say, so the atmosphere for work slowly began to form.

“I’ll contact you soon.”

The Big Brother slapped Taeheun on the back.

“Yes. I’ll look forward to it.”

Taeheun gave a wink and put out his cigarette.

The work began again. It was time to connect the pipes that would be used for the ceiling. While several people held the pillars, one person had to climb an aluminum ladder and tie the pipes tightly with wire and cable ties. As if it were a matter of course, the man went up.

“Whenever there’s work to be done, Mr. Gibeom does it all.”

Taeheun grumbled, but even the man didn’t respond.

Might as well die than suffer.

Taeheun squeezed in between the senior members and held the ladder the man had climbed, looking up with an anxious heart.

Because he had taken off his shirt, the man’s slender stomach and waist were fully exposed as he worked with his arms raised. He couldn’t help but see it, even if he didn’t want to. Every time the man exerted himself, his rib cage rose and his waist narrowed, and for some reason, he felt like he could wrap an arm around it. I want to hold him. The thought made him breathless. He swallowed hard.

“Move!”

The Big Brother commanded. At that sound, Taeheun returned to reality.

Move, move. At the Big Brother’s shout, everyone moved in perfect unison. As the work picked up speed, there was no time to savor the man’s body. And so, they practically rebuilt the left sty, and of course, it took all day. Just when he thought they would be done as the sun was setting, they said they were going to work on the right sty now. The Big Brother instructed that they couldn’t just leave it, it felt unsettling.

Dinner, at least, was jjajangmyeon. Two of the senior members took a truck to a Chinese restaurant and brought back takeout themselves. For all that work, there was no tangsuyuk. Only Mr. Kim, who had gotten a new sty built for the price of cup noodles and jjajangmyeon, had hit the jackpot.

By the time they got back to the community center, it was well past 9 PM. The senior members of the Youth Association, as if they weren’t tired at all, insisted on having a glass of soju. The man never knew how to refuse a drink, so he thought he would naturally tag along.

“You guys go ahead. I have to go pick up Jihye.”

The man looked extremely apologetic, as if he had committed some great sin.

“Right. Who else will take care of Jihye but you? Good thinking.”

The Big Brother said magnanimously. None of the senior members, including the Youth Association President, tried to hold the man back.

“Manager Kim is coming with us, right?”

He asked naturally, as if going to a ‘good place’ and having a glass of soju were two separate things.

“Let’s do it next time, brothers. Let’s go together, Mr. Gibeom. My body feels all stiff, I think I’m coming down with something.”

Taeheun feigned illness and refused. At that, they all made a fuss and held onto Taeheun.

“Hey, Manager Kim! Why is a bachelor with no wife trying to leave so early?”

“Yeah, come with us. Once you go, you’ll think you made the right choice in coming along.”

“What body aches? We have a secret that will make you feel better than new, even if you’re seriously ill, so just trust us.”

They wiggled their pinky fingers and gave him openly lecherous smiles.

And here they were saying let’s just have some soju. Fuck.

So this is why the man had bowed out on his own. He had made an excuse about Jihye, which was unusual for him, so he thought he was really worried about his child, but that wasn’t it. He knew where they were going and had made a preemptive move.

However, no matter how he looked at it, it didn’t feel like the man was willingly excluding himself from that gathering. The gestures, the glances, the way the senior members of the Youth Association spoke, it was all familiar. It was exactly what Taeheun had seen from his own family. The things they used when they were family by blood but openly excluded and subtly ostracized him.

Taeheun scowled.

“Is today the only day? Let’s do it next time. I’m leaving, brothers.”

He spoke with a firmness that bordered on heartless, then got into the man’s truck without a backward glance. While the senior members of the Youth Association were in a state of confusion, the man started the truck.

Unlike the calm man, Taeheun was in a foul mood. He was seething, as if he had been the one wronged.

“I wonder if the supermarket is closed?”

At Taeheun’s question, the man glanced back.

“Let’s have a can of beer, just the two of us.”

The man gave a barely perceptible nod and stopped by the supermarket before going to Sojin’s place.

The sign was off, but a small incandescent bulb was lit above the sliding door entrance. Like any other rural supermarket, it seemed the old woman who owned the place lived in a room attached to the store.

Sure enough, when the man knocked on the door, the old woman came out.

“What brings Jihye’s dad here at this hour?”

The old woman greeted the man with a big yawn. She was happy to see Taeheun standing behind him.

“I’d like to buy some beer.”

“Come on in. You don’t need any snacks? We just got a whole new shipment of goods yesterday.”

The display shelves didn’t look much different from the last time he had seen them, but he let it be.

He bought four cans of beer and added some snacks like squid and peanuts. After paying for the items, they got back in the truck.

“Um, Mr. Taeheun.”

For a change, the man spoke up. He was secretly hoping for what he was about to say.

“The senior members think very highly of you, Mr. Taeheun.”

What the.

The excitement fizzled out.

“Me? Why?”

He asked, uninterested.

“They said you’re a good worker and have a good personality. Gicheol hyungnim even said the story you told at the drinking party was so funny that he wants to hear it again.”

The man was happy that Taeheun had been praised by the senior members, as if it were his own accomplishment. Without even knowing what the story he had told Choi Gicheol was, he added that he should tell it to him next time.

“You’d faint if you heard it, Mr. Gibeom.”

Taeheun muttered.

It wasn’t what he had been hoping for, but he was still grateful that the man had spoken first.

Taeheun, to lighten the mood and shake off his gloomy feelings, brought up their plans for the upcoming weekend outing.

“Has it been that long already?”

The man, who seemed to have completely forgotten, had a hint of panic in his voice as he asked. He added apologetically, ‘I’ve just been so out of it.’ He wasn’t at all disappointed, as he knew he had been busy.

“Of course. It’s been ages since we went to the stream. I’ve been thinking about it ever since the senior members mentioned Namchon-ri earlier. About going on an outing with just you and me, Mr. Gibeom.”

He gave a wink with one eye.

“You remember I said we should go see a movie on the way back from Namchon-ri, right? That Gladiator movie.”

“Yes. I remember.”

The man answered, somewhat curtly.

“Let’s have popcorn and squid, too.”

“Yes. Sounds good.”

Only then did the man smile brightly. It seemed he was more excited about the popcorn and squid than the movie.

Taeheun, too, had been more interested in the snacks than the movie when he was a kid. For that damn popcorn, even though he was the one earning the money, his mother would only buy the big one for his older brother and make him share the small one with his younger sister. He was so resentful that he always bought the large popcorn at the movie theater and never shared it, not even with his girlfriend. He would eat it all by himself, even if it meant throwing the rest away.

“Let’s each get our own popcorn. A large one.”

“Yes.”

“I wonder if they have butter-grilled squid here too?”

“They have that?”

The man glanced back.

“They do. I’ve only had it once at Everland. I don’t know if they only sell it there or if everyone does, but there was a machine that grilled squid in butter. Maybe that’s why, but it was incredibly savory and tender.”

Unable to imagine it, the man tilted his head and smiled with a somewhat dazed expression. He looked so innocent that his heart swelled.

“Let’s take Jihye to Everland soon. We can ride the rides and eat butter-grilled squid.”

The words slipped out without him realizing.

“Yes. Let’s do that.”

The man answered shyly.

“Jihye would love that.”

“And you wouldn’t, Mr. Gibeom?”

“Of course I would.”

“Me too!”

Taeheun, happy to see the man smile, foolishly smiled along.

He didn’t worry at all. As long as the man and his child could be happy, he felt like he could do anything. The consequences would be his to bear, and he was confident he could handle them. At the very least, he wouldn’t run away.

Until yesterday, the thought of himself not being by the man and his child’s side had made him sad and hopeless, but with a change of mindset, it somehow became enjoyable.

What was there to be sad about when the two of them were happy?

Meeting the man had turned him into an optimist, something he never thought he’d be.

Taeheun smiled brightly.