While driving to District B, Ire couldn’t take his eyes off the rapidly passing scenery outside the window. The driver was Lieutenant Park, who was always by Kim Ha-yoon’s side. Kim Ha-yoon had ordered him to safely take Ire to District B.
As soon as the car stopped in front of the house, Ire immediately opened the door and got out.
“I’ll pick you up at this time tomorrow.”
“Understood.”
“Don’t cause any trouble.”
Ire roughly knew what Lieutenant Park meant by trouble.
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
No sooner had he finished speaking than Lieutenant Park turned the car around and went back the way he came. People came out one by one, peering at the military jeep.
“I heard you went to District A, and you look even better. How is it there? Much better than here, right?”
“It’s all the same. You know how much those guys care about your background. Besides, the military is a conservative group, so how much worse would it be?”
“Why do you talk like that? Ire, I heard you know someone important there. So, I was wondering, could you do something for our Si-woo? I don’t even want him to be a soldier. Cleaning or anything is fine. Huh?”
“Brother, what power does he have to grant such a request?”
“Get out of the way. I have something to say too.”
“Move! I was here first!”
While people were surrounding him, the door opened and his younger sibling came outside. “Brother!” he shouted, running to hug him, so Ire lifted the child up. As he walked past the gathered people and into the house, he could hear them whispering behind his back.
“Look at him showing off. He just got lucky to be chosen.”
“I can hear you.”
“Let him hear. Frankly, we’ve done things for them, so he shouldn’t act like this.”
“What did you do for them?”
“Has everyone forgotten? We let those homeless beggars live here. They should know how to repay the favor.”
He almost said something but stopped himself. He knew how bad the territorial disputes were when they first settled here. Matteo went from house to house doing chores, and Ire also often fulfilled their requests without Matteo knowing, trying to be mindful of them. But to say it like that.
He closed the door and went inside, where his younger siblings ran out one by one to greet Ire. In the meantime, the household had become more prosperous, and the children’s faces were plump, their eyes sparkling. The youngest brought a drawing he had made to show him, and the others were busy telling him what had happened in the meantime.
Then Anna came out of the laundry room, calming the children.
“You must be tired from your trip. I heard you collapsed; are you okay?”
She looked genuinely concerned.
“I’ll make you a delicious meal, so rest well before you go.”
“Thank you…”
“How’s the training? Is it manageable?”
“It’s so-so…”
“Actually, I used to be in the military too.”
He was a little surprised by her words. Judging by her tone and actions, a job teaching children seemed more suitable than the military.
“I gave up halfway. It wasn’t for me.”
Her family had been working for the government for generations, she said. More precisely, for Kim Ha-yoon’s family. Her father had assisted Kim Ha-yoon’s father for a long time, as had her two older brothers, and she also worked directly under Kim Ha-yoon, she said.
It suddenly occurred to him that this woman might know Kim Ha-yoon better than anyone else. But thinking that the conversations exchanged here would be reported verbatim, he couldn’t easily ask any questions.
“Don’t you have anything you’re curious about?”
Ire shook his head at Anna’s words.
“Feel free to tell me if you ever have any questions or concerns. As someone who’s been around the block, I’ll help you as much as I can.”
Her smiling face was pretty. Her tone was kind, and she was a warm person. The kind of person any man of her age would feel attracted to at least once. Then, he suddenly became worried. There were quite a few bad guys here, and he was concerned that they might pick a fight with her for no reason.
As soon as she heard that, Anna smiled, showing her teeth.
“Oh, you didn’t know? I’m good at fighting. I’m a black belt, you know. Want to see?”
She made a fist and took a stance, then smiled brightly. Every time she smiled, dimples appeared, and even that felt lovely.
Did Matteo think the same way…?
For a moment, he felt pathetic for having such a bad thought and shook his head. Matteo was a man too, and he had sacrificed himself for them so far, so he should congratulate him if he found someone he liked, he told himself, trying to steel his heart, but he was doing it again.
When he tried to help with dinner, Anna pushed him away.
She told him to rest well since he had come home after a long time.
Ire headed to Matteo’s room. In that room, which no one used now, there was a hidden attic. He pulled down the ladder and climbed up, and the sound of creaking wood echoed. The narrow attic had been unused for a long time, and dust had accumulated in layers.
He sorted through the piled-up items one by one, looking at them. There were old books and toys that the children had used, and many notebooks. As he opened and looked through the notebooks one by one, a photo fell to the floor.
Ire, who was picking up the photo, looked at it with a heavy expression. The old photo showed Father Joseph and Sister Agape smiling against the backdrop of the church. And next to them were Matteo and a young Ire in his arms.
With a hopeful heart, he carefully looked at Matteo’s left hand, but the back of his hand was not properly visible. Disappointed, he was looking for another photo when the downstairs became noisy. At the sound of someone calling, “Ire!” he quickly hid the photo in his arms and organized the boxes.
He heard the sound of someone climbing up the ladder, and soon Gangsan suddenly poked his face out from the floor.
“What are you doing here!”
Ire moved on his knees to the front of the stairs.
“How did you know?”
“The rumor that you came is all over the place. They say you came in a military truck? You little rascal. Congratulations. Everyone’s dying of envy. How jealous would they be that the guy they used to ignore has returned in such style!”
Gangsan was even more excited than he was. It was amazing that the reaction was better when he came in a military jeep than when he came in Kim Ha-yoon’s flashy sedan. After coming down from the attic, he carefully sealed the entrance.
Then, after leaving a message with Anna that he would be going out for a while, he took Gangsan outside.
“That woman, is she your Stepmother?”
Ire frowned at the sudden question.
“What nonsense are you talking about?”
He sighed and denied it. When he said that she was someone to take care of the children while Matteo was hospitalized, Gangsan looked disappointed.
“So, she’ll leave when Matteo comes back? She used to make me delicious things sometimes.”
Ire watched Gangsan’s expression. Kim Ha-yoon had promised to move them to District A, and if it happened as he said, there wouldn’t be many days left to see Gangsan. He should tell him in advance before that happens… He’ll be very disappointed… But the good thing is that the guys who were bullying him are gone. Some human killed them all. Should he be grateful?
Thinking that, he moved to a secluded place and took out the photo.
“Remember this?”
Gangsan nodded when he saw the photo. At the time, Gangsan lived near the church and often came to visit. Then, the church caught fire and they left as if fleeing, settling here and reuniting. Gangsan’s eyes were filled with longing as he looked at the photo.
“The Father and Sister were so young. You were really cute too.”
“Do you remember Matteo too?”
“Of course. He played with me a lot.”
“Then what about his finger? Do you remember his finger too? Did he have a tattoo?”
Gangsan rolled his eyes back and forth. Hmm- Hmm- He seemed to be searching his memory, then squatted down on the floor after a while, picked up a sharp stone, and repeatedly drew and erased. Not this, not this either, is it this? No, not this either.
Finally, he rested his chin on his hand and drew two lines.
II
“It looks something like this…”
“What is it?”
“I don’t know.”
The two sat side by side, pondering the drawing.
“Is it 11?”
“Maybe. Maybe not.”
“Is it important? You can just ask Matteo directly.”
Ire shook his head. It’s not important. I just suddenly thought of it. After looking at it for a while, he got up and erased the drawing with his foot. If Gangsan remembers, it must be true. Compared to Ire, he remembered things from his childhood in relatively more detail.
“Don’t tell anyone that I asked.”
“Okay. My lips are sealed.”
The two talked like that and then returned home. After dinner, Gangsan went back, and Ire helped Anna clean up and prepare to wash and put the children to bed. Then, after lying down on his bed for the first time in a long time, he felt strange.
How long had he been tossing and turning? He fell asleep for a moment, but then a smoky smell stung the tip of his nose. He opened his eyes and sat up abruptly. Smoke was seeping in through the crack in the door.
Ire hurriedly woke up the children and ran outside.
The living room was already full of smoke, and he couldn’t see properly.
Hearing the commotion, Anna also came out in a hurry.
“Oh my god! How did this happen?”
“It looks like there’s a fire outside. Wake up the children!”
He tried to open the door, but it wouldn’t budge. Looking out the window, he saw red flames blazing. The children started crying, and Ire kicked the door. Bang- Bang- How many times had he done that? The front door opened, and he calmed the children and sent them out one by one through the gap.
After confirming that all the children were out, Ire brought a blanket and desperately tried to put out the fire on the outer wall. There wasn’t enough water, and there was no way there would be a fire extinguisher. Anna also helped Ire after evacuating the children.
No matter how much sand they scooped and sprinkled, it was impossible to put out the soaring flames. With a hollow expression, he looked at the house and slumped down in his place. He could hear people murmuring. They came out one by one, but no one helped.