BFRS 6

At my words, the man’s eyes wavered for a moment.

“If you knew your home address, I would give you car fare, but you said you can’t remember anything at all. Perhaps something will come to you if you stay here for a while.”

It was a tidbit of knowledge I had learned from watching dramas. Was this what they called short-term amnesia? Considering he had grabbed my throat to defend himself even though he couldn’t remember anything, it seemed like he would recover soon. I was worried he might get in the way of my work, but I had no other choice for now. I figured it would be fine if I warned him not to go near the warehouse and got up earlier than usual to finish my work.

The man still seemed a little confused by my words, but he nodded. If it was true that he had lost his memory, he would not even be sure of his relationship with me. For him, there was little else he could do but go along with what I said.

“Then I’ll be in your care for the time being.”

“Yes, of course.”

The man, who had given a short nod, raised one eyebrow, but that was all.

“Mr. Kim Mooyoung.”

“Yes.”

After we finished talking, I was about to go back to the greenhouse when the man stopped me. The man sat on the wooden porch and watched me put on arm protectors, a hat, and sneakers.

“You said you’re a flower farmer.”

“Yes.”

“By yourself?”

“Yes.”

“Do you have any other employees.”

“I don’t.”

The man’s gaze turned toward the distant greenhouses. From the wooden porch, the greenhouses and the parking lot were in plain sight. After scanning the greenhouses with his eyes, the man spoke again.

“Shall I help you?”

“No.”

For some reason, my foot wouldn’t go into my sneaker today. The man closed his mouth again.

“It’s easier for me to do it alone. And you don’t know how to do it, do you.”

“…I suppose that’s true.”

Sometimes, Chairman Jang would bring his subordinates and push them to help me. They were all big, but every single one of them was useless. I could only sigh as I watched them sit awkwardly, not knowing what to do with their large frames. This man wasn’t as fleshy as Chairman Jang’s subordinates, so he seemed like he’d be good at squatting, but I had no intention of accepting his help.

The village chief had also asked if the greenhouses weren’t a bit too large for me to handle alone, but I had gotten used to it after doing it for a long time. Unlike in the past, the equipment was so good these days that there was nothing difficult about it as long as I paid a little attention. Explaining the order or the process one by one to a beginner was, for me, a waste of time.

“Stay here. And don’t go to the back of the house.”

“What’s back there?”

“It’s a warehouse, but I have a lot of my things in there. There’s farm equipment, too.”

“I understand. Go on, I’ll see you later.”

I stopped on my way down and glanced back for a moment. The man was standing and watching me.

“Yes. See you later.”

I answered the man, who was asking with his eyes why I had stopped and looked back, and then started walking again.

Go on, I’ll see you later.

It was the first time I had ever heard those words in my life.

Thanks to getting a lot of work done in the morning, there was nothing left that required a lot of effort. I left the peonies alone and tidied up one of the ridges again. I had neglected the withered, drooping flowers for months, and now they finally had a use.

I had to plant the flowers to send to Chairman Jang. He said white chrysanthemums, right? It seemed they would be used for a wreath to be sent to a funeral. That man would have many occasions to go to funerals and to send flowers. For the most part, the flowers I sent were used for the funerals of rival factions or the police who had harassed him. I asked him if that was really okay, but Chairman Jang just laughed. He was a vicious one. That was the kind of man he was.

Where he used the flowers or to whom he gave them was none of my business anyway. In any case, he was a top client who had given me work for a long time. I was simply doing my job to meet his expectations.

I pulled out the dried-out stems and tossed them in a corner. The soil had just the right amount of moisture; it was in perfect condition. By the way, did I have any chrysanthemum seeds? Chrysanthemums were a consistently popular variety, so I usually kept them in stock, but I had been so busy the last few days that I forgot to check.

“Haaa.”

Should I just till the soil once and sow the seeds tomorrow? It was a bother to go back and forth multiple times.

Suddenly, I thought of the man back at the house. The man who lost his memory, the man who choked me, the man who told me he’d see me later. Is that what it was like to lose one’s memory? How on earth did he get dragged all the way here? An ordinary person wouldn’t be able to handle that man.

More than that, I couldn’t fathom how the person who tried to kill the man had intended to do it. His clothes were a bit dirty, but there were no signs of bleeding. He wasn’t complaining of any particular pain, which ruled out a poisoning attempt, and seeing how he ate his meal normally, his internal organs were undamaged as well.

Had some new method of murder been invented without my knowledge? Do things like that follow trends? Chairman Jang was the same as ever, though; maybe he preferred the classic methods.

I came back up after clearing two furrows I hadn’t been using. It didn’t feel like I did much, but quite a bit of time had passed. I was feeling a little hungry for no reason. It seemed it was because I hadn’t eaten breakfast. I thought about going back and making some instant noodles for a simple meal.

“Are you finished with your work?”

I ran into the man on my way back. He was walking from the side path next to the house. As I looked back and forth between the main gate and the man, he seemed to notice my gaze and added.

“I just went for a short walk. To get to know the area.”

“Ohh, yes.”

The man seemed to have a very calm personality. If he had lost his memory, it would be natural to be shocked and flustered, but I couldn’t read any such signs from him. Was it okay for him to be away from home for so long? What was his job? I was curious, even though I knew he wouldn’t know if I asked.

“I’m going to have instant noodles, would you like some?”

“That sounds good.”

I had asked out of courtesy, but the man’s reply was that he would eat too. I thought he didn’t have much of an appetite since he hadn’t eaten properly earlier, so this was unexpected. I took out six packets of instant noodles, considering the amount the man would eat. As I took out a pot and filled it with water, I felt the man, who was entering the kitchen, pause for a moment.

“How many packets of instant noodles are you making.”

“Five.”

“Yes. Three for me, and two for you.”

I usually ate five, but my throat hurt, so I had just decided to eat less than usual. When I went into the bathroom to wash my face this morning, I had stared at my reflection in the mirror for a moment. The handprint on my neck was darker than I had thought. I felt a slight pain whenever I swallowed, more so than usual, so I was trying not to talk too much.

“…”

“Is that too much?”

Are two packets too much? It seems his appetite is even smaller than I thought. I was about to put one back when the man spoke.

“It’s not enough.”

My eyes met the man’s. He held up two fingers.

“Two more.”

“Two more.”

“Yes.”

I guess he must… really like instant noodles.

I was going to cook seven, but I just cooked eight instead. It’s better to have leftovers than not enough, I figured. I also whisked and added a generous amount of eggs. I didn’t have a pot big enough for all eight packets of instant noodles, so I had to cook them in separate pots, which filled up the entire dinner table.

“Here you go, chopsticks.”

The man took the chopsticks and a small serving bowl with a reluctant expression.

“You can eat what’s in that pot. I cooked eight packets altogether.”

“…Yes.”

“Ah, kimchi.”

“I’ll get it.”

Just as I was about to scoop some noodles and eat, I remembered I hadn’t taken out the kimchi. I was getting into position to stand up, but the man was faster than me. I told him it was in the refrigerator, and the man silently went and brought out the kimchi container. The kimchi was a gift from Grandma Choi. She had a generous hand, so she would always make a ton of kimchi to give to her children on kimchi-making day, and she would also give me some, saying there was too much left over for her and her husband to eat.

I would make one container I received from Grandma last for a very long time. Since I was the only one eating it, one container was not nearly insufficient.

The man really ate the instant noodles well. I was worried there might be leftovers, but it was a needless concern. The man ate as if he had never had instant noodles before in his life.

“Would you like some more?”

“I’m fine.”

“It’s okay if you have more, I can cook another one.”

“…Then just a little.”

When I offered the pot to the man who had been declining, he hesitated for a moment before using his chopsticks to take some noodles from my pot. He polished that off at a very high speed as well. When I told him there was leftover rice he could mix in, he hesitated, then shook his head.

“There’s still dinner time, after all.”

So he was planning to eat dinner too. I thought he was a small eater, but I guess not? He ate so little earlier, but now he ate more than five packets of instant noodles, and on top of that, he was planning to eat dinner. It was a mystery I couldn’t figure out.

I did the dishes. The man volunteered, saying he would do them, but I felt uncomfortable entrusting house chores to someone I had just met. Instead, the man wiped down and cleared the dinner table.

After finishing the cleanup, I went to the warehouse to look for the chrysanthemum seeds. Fortunately, there was a sufficient amount to send to Chairman Jang. While I was at it, I counted the other seeds, fertilizer, and nutrient supplements. It looked like I would have to go into town later to buy and stock up on a few more things.

“Is there anything I can help you with.”

The man, who had been sitting on the wooden porch the whole time, spoke to me. While I was moving about inside and outside the house, the man sat on the porch and watched what I was doing. Why does he keep asking to help? When I just stared blankly without answering right away, he stood up from his spot as if he was ready to do something immediately.

“Are you feeling alright?”

“I’m fine.”

“You shouldn’t overdo it if you’re not feeling well. You kept passing out yesterday, you know. Does your head not hurt?”

At my words, the man’s expression hardened. He blinked slowly, then slowly opened his mouth.

“I think my head might hurt a little.”

“Then just rest. It’s fine for you to lie down.”

“…Yes.”

I left the man and went on my way again. He didn’t go into a room but stayed seated on the wooden porch, but I didn’t say anything more about him going inside. After all, it could be frustrating to just lie in a room all day. That much, I could understand.

While I tended to the flowers planted outdoors following the ones in the greenhouse, the man did not leave the wooden porch. He would occasionally stand up to stretch his arms or tilt his neck from side to side, but he stayed in his spot. As I squatted down to pull weeds, the back of my head prickled. In the direction I felt the gaze, the man was sitting there. When our eyes met, he would give a light smile. I would nod in response, but the man showed no particular reaction.

The wooden porch and the flower bed were quite far apart, but I had good eyesight. Unlike me, who could see the man’s features clearly, the man would probably only be able to tell that I had turned my head. That was why I could see the look in the man’s eyes as he watched me.

The man’s eyes held an unnameable emotion. Whenever I collected a corpse with stiffened limbs, the eyes of a person on the verge of death were generally filled with terror. At the same time, there was an indescribable eeriness. Different from the eyes of a living person, it was a ghastliness that only one who has already lost their function as an organic being could possess.

The man’s gaze gave me that same feeling. However, those eyes were slightly different from the eyes of the dead who had lost their souls. The man’s eyes were piercing and alive. But I couldn’t understand why that man was looking at me like that.