#27

Tae-heun felt a rush of heat to his face. The reason the man was blushing was not just because he was shy; it was because he had been overly confident just yesterday. It wasn’t exactly a pleasant thing to know that the dark-skinned man liked him, but it still made him feel a bit proud.

He glared at the man for no reason.

“Why don’t you ask me what I’m going to do?”

He asked, as if to pick a fight with the man who was carrying a sack of feed into the storage room.

“…Ah….”

“Well, whatever. You’re just a guest here, right?”

“No, that’s not it….”

There were no further words. Only after the man set the sack down did he ask, “What are you doing today?”

“It’s not like I’m going to bow down and receive your orders. Are you really curious?”

“Yes. Director.”

“If you keep calling me Director, I’ll start calling you Boss.”

“I’m sorry.…Well, Tae…heun, lunch and dinner.”

“I’ll take care of lunch myself, so don’t worry about it. If you don’t have plans, let’s have dinner in town. It would be a shame to only enjoy it with Ji-hye.”

At Tae-heun’s words, Ji-hye’s eyes widened.

“Are you going to town, Dad?”

The child ran over and asked. The face looking up at him was flushed. What was so special about going to town that made her act like this?

“Dad, you should eat pizza with me!”

“No, I won’t.”

“We’re just going to play together. You can play with Uncle Yong-jun and the sisters.”

Tae-heun interrupted the man’s words and answered instead.

The child shot a glare at Tae-heun.

“You won’t let me join.”

“Cheh. Even if you let me, I won’t go!”

The child shouted and kicked the front door open, storming out.

The man stood awkwardly for a moment, then tried to leave without saying anything.

“Why are you so quiet? Aren’t you going to have dinner with us?”

“I will eat, but do we really have to go all the way to town? The timing is a bit awkward.”

The man replied in a troubled tone.

“What time will you finish work?”

“At 7.”

“Why does it take so long? People really have no conscience.”

Tae-heun grumbled.

Just because he finished at 7 didn’t mean they could meet right away. If he was asked to come to town at that time, it would be well past 8. In the meantime, the child would return home, and then she would be left alone. It was only natural for the man to be worried.

“Then I’ll buy beer and chicken in town, so could you make some spicy whelk salad, Ki-beom? It would be amazing to eat together.”

“Yes.”

Only then did a smile appear on the man’s face.

“Dad, Dad! Don’t go!!”

The child shouted.

“Don’t you need anything? Since you’re going to town, I can get it for you.”

“I don’t need anything.”

“Think a bit before you speak, seriously.”

The man pretended to think, then said ‘I don’t need anything’ in just a few seconds.

“Better to die than to suffer. If you think of something you need, leave a voice message.”

“Yes.”

“Do you know my phone number?”

“…….”

“I knew it. Just go out, I have a business card in the car, so I’ll give it to you.”

Tae-heun stepped out with the man through the front gate.

The child waiting in front of the truck greeted the man. When the man opened the truck door, she jumped in eagerly. The man also settled into the driver’s seat and started the engine. Tae-heun took out a business card from the Benz and handed it through the driver’s window.

“Don’t throw it away just because you think you won’t need to call.”

“…Yes.”

“You’re good at responding. See you later. Ji-hye, you too.”

The child crossed her arms and nodded with a pouty face. There were plenty of reasons to sulk anyway.

“Have a good trip to town.”

The man said.

“Are you going to town, Uncle?”

The child, who had been ignoring him, quickly turned her head and asked.

“Why? Do you need something?”

“No.”

“If you do, just say it. I’ll buy it for you.”

“I don’t need anything!”

“Think a bit before you speak.”

Like father, like daughter.

“Why are you asking when you don’t need anything?”

“Just because.”

“You learned that from your father.”

As Tae-heun grumbled, the child stuck out her tongue.

“That’s not how it works.”

The man scolded the child with words that didn’t seem to have any effect.

“Just go. At this rate, you’ll be up all night.”

Tae-heun tapped the truck lightly with his palm. The vehicle slowly backed up. After one forward and backward motion, the man turned the truck around. The truck disappeared down the narrow, rough road.

Standing in a place where all he could see were fields and crooked paths, he felt unreal as he saw himself sending someone off. Perhaps it was because he had been cooped up for so long, but he couldn’t believe that his living radius had changed 180 degrees in just two days.

For no reason, his lips twitched. Realizing he had awkwardly kicked a stone because he was embarrassed, he withdrew his foot.

As he entered the yard, the dogs were surprisingly calm upon seeing Tae-heun. They didn’t wag their tails in greeting, but at least it meant they recognized him as someone who lived there. The mutts were quite smart.

The man, who had packed the child’s lunch and prepared breakfast that morning, had already placed the clothes Tae-heun had taken off yesterday in front of the door. Sniffing, he could smell them. They must have been washed with the same detergent from the factory, but somehow the man’s laundry had a pleasant scent. It was quite strange, he thought, as he carelessly tossed the clothes into the room and got ready to go out.

Just as he was about to leave the house, he remembered to lock the door, something the man hadn’t done. As he opened and closed the sliding door, it clicked shut at some point. Just doing that made sweat bead on his forehead.

Only a pair of jeans was hanging limply on the yard’s clothesline. It seemed they had been left there to dry. Just to be sure, he reached out to touch them, and they felt dry enough to take down. He could have just left them, but it bothered him. After pacing back and forth a few times, he finally decided to take the jeans down. He folded them neatly and placed them on the porch.

After getting up, washing up, eating, and meeting the man and child, he returned to the room and dawdled, yet it was only 6:30. Tae-heun, who hadn’t realized it was this early because it was as bright as day, recalled the saying about the early bird and strolled leisurely upwards.

The alley, once overgrown with weeds, had been tidied up. The gentle slope had suddenly steepened as before and turned at a 90-degree angle. Taking a big step, a path appeared where there had once been grass. The cut grass was laid to the left of the alley.

The rusty, half-collapsed front gate had been replaced with a new one. It was a dark-colored iron gate that blended in. Oddly, a small flower pot was placed in front of the gate. Was this a moving gift of some sort? Tae-heun picked up the flower pot with one hand and grabbed the key underneath it.

As soon as he opened the gate and stepped inside, he whistled. The house was so old that no matter how much he mowed the grass and repaired the collapsed areas, it still looked old, but at least the impression of it being a dilapidated house had completely disappeared. The newly applied white paper on the sliding door stood out.

The worn porch had been covered with similarly colored wooden planks. The house, which was haphazardly woven with wood here and there, was, as the boss had said, livable right away.

He pulled on the latch attached to the door, but it wouldn’t open. Was it just for decoration? Tae-heun pulled harder, fearing he might break the door, and then headed to the kitchen. The kitchen was also neat. There was a fireplace and a metal pot that he wondered if he would ever use in his lifetime. As soon as he opened the door at the back of the kitchen, a mountain appeared. Just taking two steps forward, there was a cliff below. Why didn’t someone warn him? He carefully turned back, calming his startled heart.

There was a back door that led into the room. It was the same sliding door as the front, and there was no latch. Pushing the door inward, it opened smoothly.

The room, which had once been overgrown with weeds, was now clean and tidy. Thanks to the newly applied wallpaper and flooring, the atmosphere had completely changed. There was even bedding prepared on top of the blanket chest, making it suitable to live there right away—if it weren’t for that black plastic.

The sliding door in front was thoroughly blocked with black plastic to prevent light from seeping through. They had even reinforced it with wooden planks in an X shape to keep it from being opened. With a nonchalant expression, he kicked the small generator placed right below the door.

He opened the old blanket chest, which he couldn’t tell if it was originally there or brought in, and found documents organized by year. On the desk were a desk lamp, a beige landline phone, a fax machine, a bundle of legal pads, and a laptop neatly lined up. The laptop was the same model Tae-heun had used, and it even had a cute Go-Stop game installed. The basket next to the desk was filled with floppy disks. It was more than enough for work—except for the lack of tea and coffee.

Once he finished his work, he thought he would head to town to buy what he needed, inhaling the fresh air that flowed in through the open back door. Looking at the painfully blue forest, he even felt a sense of tranquility as if he were in a secluded hermitage. He had a silly thought that his working environment had improved thanks to the betrayal he had risked his life for.

The work took longer than expected. Still, there was plenty of time before the man returned. He drove to town, bought supplies for the upper house, and headed to the mart. On the way, he spotted a stationery store. Suddenly, the man’s old diary came to mind. Almost in a trance, he walked in and picked up a fairly nice leather diary. Not wanting to seem too obvious by only buying for the man, he also bought a notebook and school supplies for the child.

Had he been too leisurely?

As he gathered chicken, beer, and canned whelk and entered the beginning of Dongjam-ri, it was already 7 o’clock.

The car rattled loudly as it sped down the country road. The closer he got to the man’s house, the more his lips curled up.

Tae-heun would mostly be the one talking, and the man would probably only respond to questions, blushing. Even though they hadn’t spent enough time to know each other well, there was a certain expectation. Even the rough and narrow country road felt cozy.

When he left the house earlier, it had been dark, but now light was spilling out from the man’s house. The truck was nowhere to be seen. So what was the source of that light? Narrowing his eyes, he parked the car right in front of the wall. With his nerves on edge, he hurriedly gathered his things and pushed the front gate open.

Creak, creak—the sound of the dogs eating could be heard.