#20

“Shit.”

Tae-heun rummaged through the living room drawers and found a diary with phone numbers written in it. The cover was so worn out it was almost falling apart, like snake skin.

“Today is the day for the Chamoe Jo family…”

The man wrote down the phone numbers in the directory just as they were noted on the calendar. Unlike the calendar, he had properly written down the full names in the notebook, and next to each name, he noted the specific crops that family specialized in—if it was Chamoe, he wrote Chamoe; if it was pear, he wrote pear; if it was watermelon, he wrote watermelon. Even among the Jo family, some grew Chamoe, some cultivated rice, and some did both. There were so many Jo families that it felt like a Jo clan village.

Anyway, he pressed the number for the Chamoe Jo family one by one.

“What the hell are you doing since morning?”

He grumbled while waiting for the other party to pick up.

After a long wait, he finally heard a voice say, “Hello.” The old man’s voice sounded groggy, as if he had just woken up.

“Hello. This is the home of Yoon Ki-beom. Is Ki-beom there?”

Who?

“Ki-beom, I mean Ji-hye’s father. Yoon. Ji. Hye. I heard there’s a Chamoe harvest in the greenhouse today.”

Ah, Ji-hye’s father. Yes, he should be working right now. But who are you?

The old man asked with concern, not even knowing who was on the other end of the line.

“Oh, I’m a close friend of Ji-hye’s father. I’m sorry, but could you pass the phone to him if he’s nearby?”

Why, is something wrong with Ji-hye?

The caller, not knowing who he was speaking to, asked worriedly.

“No, it’s nothing like that. I just have something to say.”

I see. Then I’ll call the greenhouse. I’ll give you the number.

Saying this, he recited the greenhouse’s number.

As he tried to add the number to his diary, he noticed a small number written under the Chamoe Jo family. It was written in tiny letters, but it was the same number he had just been given. He thought it would be loose, but it was surprisingly meticulous.

Tae-heun chuckled and dialed the greenhouse. The man was panting as if he had just run over.

“Ki-beom, I can’t go outside because of the damn dogs. What should I do?”

He pretended to be scared, even though he could go out if he wanted to. The man took a moment to catch his breath. After a while, he replied, “Our dogs don’t bite.”

“That’s what you think, but those little bastards were about to jump on the porch.”

They don’t bite…

“I’m scared!”

Tae-heun shouted. The man fell silent again. A loud trot medley could be heard over the receiver. After a moment, the man spoke again.

Just wait for three hours. I’ll finish work, have lunch, and then come home.

It was absurd. Shouldn’t he be saying he would come right after finishing work, even if he couldn’t come immediately? But the man confidently announced he would have lunch first.

“Do I really have to wait three hours?”

I can’t leave in between. We’re short on hands.

“Then skip lunch and come. Let’s eat together.”

The man was silent again. The silence stretched on.

…Yes.

The reply that came back was incredibly simple. Without even a typical farewell like “Take care, see you soon,” the call ended. Tae-heun stared at the receiver and let out a hollow laugh.

Three hours. It was already boring. He lay flat on the living room floor, staring at the ceiling, then turned his head. He could see the bedroom the man used. He was curious about the room that had been left open all day yesterday.

He swam across the floor, pushing himself with his belly towards the man’s room. He wondered where the TV was, and it turned out to be in the man’s room. The master bedroom, twice the size of the storage room Tae-heun used, was large but just as monotonous.

Aside from a large mother-of-pearl cabinet that filled one wall, there was hardly any furniture. The TV was placed on a plastic crate, not even a proper stand. The bamboo mat on the floor was patched together with green tape, just like in Tae-heun’s room, and the blankets and comforters piled in the corner looked like they would smell like an old man. The mother-of-pearl cabinet and other items were far too old-fashioned for a young man.

Tae-heun left the master bedroom and explored the child’s room. While he seemed like a roughneck, the room was entirely pink. Starting with the floral curtains hung in the window, the blankets and comforters were also pink, but unlike the man’s, they were mostly new.

The small desk was cluttered with pink stationery. On the bookshelf, six volumes of the Harry Potter series, which Tae-heun recognized by title, were lined up. Four of them were yellowed and tattered, while the other two looked new and clean.

There were no posters of idol singers or actors typically found in a girl’s room on the walls; instead, a daily schedule drawn with a marker was posted. The child’s wake-up time was as early as the father’s. The heart symbol next to Taekwondo academy indicated that the child must really enjoy it.

If the man’s room looked like time had stopped and regressed, the child’s room was full of life. The man was dedicating all his time to the child. Perhaps this was why the child, who had nothing, was so brazenly confident and lively.

For no reason, he felt a twist in his heart. If his parents, or at least one of them, had shown him this kind of affection, would his life have changed? At thirty-one, he felt pathetic for still craving his parents’ love.

After leaving the child’s room, Tae-heun opened the sliding door just a crack and stretched his long legs through the gap. The barking dogs were quiet.

Are they hiding and watching me, waiting to attack? It seemed plausible. Didn’t they say dogs were smarter than you think? He whistled and clapped his hands. Not a single dog or even a rat was in sight. Not even under the porch.

This was the perfect opportunity to escape the house. He couldn’t let this chance slip away. He quickly bent down to put on his beach sandals. But suddenly, everything felt bothersome. Like a toy with a dead battery, he felt his energy drain away. The man who had just been making phone calls and exploring the man and child’s rooms was nowhere to be found. Once his body felt lethargic, no matter how hard he tried, it wouldn’t move.

He stared blankly at the front gate and the wall. Tae-heun dozed off. This time, dreams didn’t evade him. Unreal events and real past experiences mixed randomly.

“The balsam flowers are so pretty,” said the mother of the two-story house while watering the flowerbed. “Right? They were dying, but they perk up as soon as you touch them.” The father praised the wife while pulling out weeds. “I should dye my nails soon,” the mother said, glancing at Tae-heun. Tae-heun opened his palm. The pale palm began to be stained with pink flower petals.

He remained stuck there until the blazing sun turned his face red.

He was jolted awake by the sound of a truck stopping. Soon, the front gate opened, and a man in a black t-shirt, with a towel around his neck, walked in.

“The damn dogs are gone.”

Tae-heun, who had been sitting blankly on the porch, immediately said this upon seeing the man. The man flinched in surprise. It seemed he was slightly taken aback, as if he didn’t expect Tae-heun to speak. What a funny man.

“They were definitely here, but now they’re gone.”

He added as an excuse. The man then responded a beat late, “Ah…”

“…They must have gone out to play.”

“Excuse me? What?”

He raised his voice without realizing it, astonished.

“Over there, there’s a hole. They don’t go out much these days, but they must have gone out.”

The man pointed to the left wall while facing the house. Upon closer inspection, there was a cement-colored small door hidden behind the weeds. Below it, there was a hole big enough for the dogs to come and go.

“This leads to the vegetable garden.”

He hadn’t even realized it was a garden because of the thick weeds.

“But your face… Are you feeling unwell?”

The man asked with concern.

“Oh… No. I just went for a walk after a long time, and this happened.”

He replied, clearing his throat to loosen his tight voice.

“Well, it’s not that hot yet, but still, try not to wander around during the day. There’s no one living here, so if you collapse, no one will report it.”

The man advised as he strode towards the small door. After opening the door, which was lower than his height, he bent slightly and shouted outside.

“Man-su, Mu-gang! What are you doing over there? Aren’t you hot?”

He heard the sound of paws pattering from afar, and soon the dogs rushed in through the door. Barking excitedly, they wagged their tails as they jumped up at the man.

“It’s hot, so play inside. Don’t go out there. Look, it’s a thief weed.”

The man scolded the dogs in his usual gentle voice. He caught the restless dogs and removed the thief weed from them. The yellow dog, which had been tangled up with the man, approached the water bowl and started drinking with a splashing sound. The man looked at the yellow dog with a worried expression, saying, “That must be lukewarm.”

Tae-heun wiped his flushed face with his palm. His skin stung. He had been baking in the sun for hours in the midday heat of over 30 degrees, so he should be grateful that his skin hadn’t peeled off.

“Aren’t you hungry? Let’s go eat.”

Tae-heun said. He had no appetite, but he wanted to get out of this house right away. He was afraid he would become lethargic again, like earlier.

“…Let me wash up first.”

The man said this but didn’t get up; instead, he took his time petting the dogs. Just when Tae-heun thought it would get dark soon, the man threw off his outer shirt onto the porch and went to the faucet to wash his face and rinse his hair. He let the tap water splash onto his bare torso. His jeans were stained dark in several places.