#98

Tae-heun wandered around the neighborhood until the agricultural cooperative opened, then withdrew some money and went to the livestock cooperative to buy Hanwoo beef for the man and the child. It was enough to feed the uninvited guest, Detective Oh, as well. Since there was an abundance of wrapping vegetables, she skipped that and picked up mushrooms, garlic, green chili peppers, and fresh wasabi. And what else was there? Beer; you can’t have meat without alcohol.

Then she chuckled to herself, recalling the disastrous date from the night before that almost ended in beer. In conclusion, thanks to the beer, she had built a Great Wall, so this was a pass. If it weren’t the height of summer, she would have bought clams too, but she only looked at them, fearing a stomach upset. The payment was made with the cash withdrawn from the check card she received from them. Having used high-quality labor like herself for free all night, she felt entitled to this much pay.

Tae-heun was unnecessarily conscious of the gazes of those she passed. For some reason, it felt like the people in this neighborhood knew everything about the man and her relationship. “Look, there’s Yoon Ki-beom’s husband. He’s so handsome. His body is great. I heard he has a big one too.” Whenever the ladies gathered in threes and fives looked at her, it felt like they were whispering like this.

There’s a limit to self-consciousness. What a madman.

A smile lingered on her lips.

The groceries in her hand felt heavy. But thinking of the man’s debt made her heart feel heavy too. Since Tae-heun had been playing with money her whole life, solving the man’s problems was no big deal. The problem was how to explain how she came to know that fact. If there were any mail, she could say she guessed, but for now, she could never know unless the man told her directly.

Should she suggest they check each other’s bank accounts since they were so close?

Damn it. She scratched her eyebrow.

As she stepped onto the main road to catch a taxi, she spotted a newly opened hamburger shop. It wasn’t a famous franchise, but the moment she saw the word “hamburger,” she craved it. Nothing beats a hamburger for a hangover cure.

Thinking about hangover cures reminded her of the man who had drunk more than anyone else yesterday. Did he have a hangover with ramen again? She hoped he had made some dried pollack soup, but with neither the child nor Tae-heun around, it was surely ramen. It bothered her to think of him having a hangover alone with just a hamburger. She could just buy him one too. So she walked into the shop.

Tae-heun was the first customer. She ordered a hamburger set and added one more item. It wasn’t bad for a small town. After finishing all the fries, she bought a set for the man as well. Feeling like she couldn’t delay any longer, she hurriedly got into a taxi. Her heart raced madly at the thought of seeing the man.

As soon as she arrived home, she put the groceries in the refrigerator, took a shower, and changed into work clothes. In the afternoon, she planned to help the man work in the orchard. Detective Oh would easily find out where she was if he wanted to. He could either wait at home or come looking for her if he was really in a hurry.

By then, the man had already cleaned and done the laundry before leaving. Looking at the clothes hanging in the yard, Tae-heun was impressed. The dogs that used to bark at her now wagged their tails, seemingly deciding to play before it got any hotter, and they disappeared through the dog door into the garden.

It was peaceful. Tae-heun stood in the yard, looking around at the somewhat shabby house. While it might seem lacking to others, the man and the child living here were sufficiently happy. Although it wasn’t intended, she had unwittingly hitchhiked on the happiness they had built together. So now it was time to pay the fare. There was no place to retreat.

She got into the Benz parked in front of the gate and headed to the village hall with the hamburger for the man. However, for some reason, the hall was quiet. Had everyone gone for a snack? But the elderly people who usually sat in the shade of the hall chatting or playing Go were nowhere to be seen, and there wasn’t a single person at the bus stop.

The inside of the hall was empty too. The second floor was just as quiet. The youth association office was completely locked. She hadn’t heard anything about an event today. Tae-heun tilted her head in confusion.

She found the spare key under a flower pot and opened the youth association office door. It was cool inside, as if Choi Gi-cheol had just been there. The computer was still on. He had left the porn site open before disappearing, which was unlike him, as he usually turned off the monitor thoroughly when going out.

Detective Park had done the same, so had Choi Gi-cheol, it seemed.

Tae-heun narrowed her brows and placed the paper bag containing the hamburger on the table.

Unintentionally pulling an all-nighter, Tae-heun collapsed onto the sofa. She intended to take a quick nap, but the sound of an ambulance jolted her awake. She burst out of the office and ran down the stairs. The ambulance was entering the back alley of the hall. A police car followed closely behind.

Tae-heun entered the alley after the two vehicles. At the end of the winding path, where barely one car could pass, people had gathered. She wondered where all the townspeople had gone; now she knew.

The ambulance’s siren blared continuously, and occasional wails could be heard. There were gasps of sympathy, whispered conversations, and even curses. It was chaotic. Since everyone was short, the situation was clearly visible from Tae-heun’s perspective.

In the yard lay a man in his early sixties, covered in vomit. She recognized him. It was Mr. Lee from the back alley. He was the one who had been grabbed by the collar by Tae-heun when he had treated her and the man like hired hands over just half a sack of beans or red beans.

Two paramedics were administering first aid to Mr. Lee, while a woman who appeared to be his wife wailed beside him, beating the ground. An elderly woman, likely Mr. Lee’s mother, was receiving massages from the neighborhood ladies, nearly fainting.

On one side of the yard, a man who seemed to be Mr. Lee’s brother or relative was grabbing the village chief by the collar and cursing. Even as his father was being humiliated, his son, Choi Gi-cheol, could do nothing but watch nervously.

And among the onlookers was the man. Tae-heun waved at him happily, but he only looked down at the ground. He didn’t even notice she had arrived. She tried to push through the crowd to get closer to him. But she was pushed back by the next person who appeared: Kwon Il-taek.

“Oh my, Chairman! I didn’t do anything like that. It’s true! That bastard ate the pesticide himself!!”

As soon as the village chief saw the chairman, he shouted at the top of his lungs. The color returned to Choi Gi-cheol’s face, who had been fidgeting nervously.

“What, you bastard!! That Lee bastard has a loose mouth!”

The man holding the village chief by the collar raised his fist as if he would hit him at any moment. A police officer who had been blocking the crowd intervened.

“Calm down, everyone. Why are you acting like this?”

He shouted at the onlookers, “Everyone, please disperse!” But no one moved.

“Alright, everyone. Let’s go back. The paramedics and police are working here, so don’t interfere unnecessarily. Hurry up.”

Kwon Il-taek spoke in his deep voice, trying to calm them down. But given the situation, no one showed any signs of moving. He sighed and said, “Please listen to me,” but it didn’t help much. He shook his head and walked toward Mr. Lee, who was receiving first aid.

“Oh my, Chairman, what about our Jeong-hoon’s father! What are we going to do about our poor husband?”

Mr. Lee’s wife, who had been sitting in the yard and wailing, grabbed Kwon Il-taek’s pant leg as he approached. Her sudden action caused Kwon Il-taek to lose his balance and fall beside Mr. Lee’s wife. In an instant, Kwon Il-taek’s previously gentle expression changed. His eyes glinted with malice. As he glared at Mr. Lee’s wife with fierce eyes, the woman who had been crying beside her husband froze.

Seeing Kwon Il-taek fall, the townspeople each sighed, calling out, “Chairman!”

“Jeong-hoon’s mother, you must maintain your composure, especially at a time like this. What is this? I almost died myself!”

He brought up death over something as trivial as falling. As Kwon Il-taek scolded her, the residents’ gazes, which had been sympathetic toward Mr. Lee’s wife, changed in an instant, just as he had. They began to point fingers and click their tongues. Someone shouted, “Is that woman crazy?” and another said, “That woman is going to kill someone.”

Tae-heun clicked her tongue. It was Kwon Il-taek who was crazy, and it was Kwon Il-taek who was dangerous, yet they couldn’t see that. She felt sorry for how brainwashed they were by Kwon Il-taek, but at the same time, it was pathetic that a grown adult couldn’t manage their own affairs and relied entirely on one person. She wanted to get the man out of that crowd quickly.

As Kwon Il-taek reached out to get up, a crowd rushed over, each extending their hands. It felt as if a miracle would happen if they held his hand. It was bizarre to the point of being grotesque.

Taking advantage of the chaos, Tae-heun approached the man. He was staring at Kwon Il-taek with his mouth open. She couldn’t tell if he was shocked by Kwon Il-taek’s fall or if he was taken aback by his duplicitous nature. When she placed her hand on his back and stroked it, the startled man twisted his body. He looked at Tae-heun as if she were a stranger.

“Oh. Tae-heun.”

He finally recognized her.

“Are you okay?”

Tae-heun asked. The man didn’t respond. He just stood there like a wooden statue, staring at Kwon Il-taek, who was being helped up by someone.

Soon, Mr. Lee was carried out on a stretcher. Mr. Lee’s mother, who was on the verge of fainting, was taken along, and the ambulance, making a loud noise, retraced its path. Only then did the police call over the village chief, the man who had been holding him, and Mr. Lee’s wife. Naturally, Kwon Il-taek was included.

“Let’s go inside and talk.”

As Kwon Il-taek spoke, aware of the onlookers, the police finally said, “Sure, Chairman,” and took the three of them inside the house. Still, no one in the yard moved. They stood around the house, straining to hear even the slightest sound.

“That village chief is the culprit. That rat should have been chased out.”

Someone started cursing the village chief. Soon, everyone joined in, criticizing him.

“They said he ate pesticide while talking to the village chief, right?”

“Ten years ago, he did the same thing; he’s truly malicious.”

“Now that he’s gotten money, he doesn’t even show his face in village matters.”

“With a guy like that as the village chief, this is what the village has come to.”

“Because of that bastard, everything is going to hell, it’s all going to hell.”

People openly criticized Choi Gi-cheol, the village chief’s son and youth association president, right in front of him.

“Damn it, you elected him when it was good for you, and now you’re making a fuss!”

Unable to hold back, Choi Gi-cheol shouted. The people who had been cursing just moments ago couldn’t refute him.

“And did you see my father, who was poisoned by Jong-pil’s pesticide? Damn it, did you see it!! He ate it himself!!”

Choi Gi-cheol pointed at what he could see. He screamed, “Aaaah!” and thrashed about. The townspeople, who had been so vocal, suddenly fell silent, retreating in fear.

“Damn it!!”

That was the last thing the youth association president said before leaving Mr. Lee’s house.

Before Choi Gi-cheol had even completely disappeared, the villagers began pointing fingers at him from behind. It was a spectacle. Even amidst the uproar, the man stood still, his expression frozen, making it impossible to tell what he was thinking.

“Let’s go, Ki-beom. Standing here won’t do any good; it’ll just complicate your mind.”

Tae-heun pretended to comfort the man and gently pushed him, finally managing to leave Mr. Lee’s house together.

“Let’s go to the hall and have a glass of water.”

The man remained silent. Still, he didn’t refuse Tae-heun’s suggestion. He moved his feet in the direction she led him.