#105

Mr. Lee from the back village has died. Just the other day, I heard that his condition had improved, but he passed away on Wednesday. It was exactly three days after he ingested the pesticide.

Tae-heun was playing Go-Stop with the elders in the village hall’s lounge. The news was delivered by Hyun-sook, the secretary of the women’s association. She said the funeral would be held at Mr. Lee’s house. She urged everyone to come by in the evening to eat something before leaving, and with that, she hurried out of the hall with the other members.

“Oh dear, what a shame. A person with such a bright future has left us. If someone is to die, it should be us instead.”

“He was such a diligent person.”

“Diligent, indeed. There was no son more filial than him.”

The elders, in their late 70s to mid-80s, lamented the death of Mr. Lee, who had just entered his sixties.

Tae-heun recalled Mr. Lee, who had only scolded him and his father while treating them like servants for just half a sack of beans. He found the baseless praise of diligence absurd, but after all, the man was dead.

“Oh dear, how will Jong-pil’s mother live now?”

“How will she pay for the medical bills?”

“Weren’t the children studying in the city?”

“That’s right. There will only be more expenses in the future. What will they do?”

The conversation about the deceased was brief, and everyone was more concerned about Mr. Lee’s remaining family.

Mr. Lee had ingested the pesticide due to financial troubles. No one spoke openly about it, but everyone knew the underlying circumstances. Mr. Lee had invested all his savings in Kwon Il-taek’s business and had not received a single penny back for three years. Yet, like others in the village, he never questioned Kwon Il-taek. No, he couldn’t. Instead, he had been constantly visiting the village head, who acted as Kwon Il-taek’s henchman. But the slippery village head skillfully avoided meeting him.

Driven to desperation, Mr. Lee devised a plan to use his cousin living near the village head’s house. He pretended to have something to give the village head and lured him out. The village head, unsuspecting, went to the house where Mr. Lee was waiting.

Mr. Lee had no intention of getting angry from the start. He pleaded with the village head to help him get back at least some of the money he had invested with Kwon Il-taek. Naturally, the village head pretended not to hear. Starting with, “Why are you telling me this?” he mocked Mr. Lee, saying, “You’re not a fool, but it’s your fault for trusting the chairman and investing all your savings.” The conversation escalated into a heated argument, with finger-pointing and raised voices. In the midst of it, Mr. Lee lost his temper and ingested the pesticide. No one knew if he truly intended to die. Perhaps he was just unlucky.

Tae-heun understood that Mr. Lee’s death was just the beginning. Everyone was unaware of how serious the situation was, and thus they were venting their frustrations on the village head.

What would happen if Kwon Il-taek declared bankruptcy? If they realized that his promise to return some of the investment was just empty words, and that they would all end up on the streets, how would they react? Would they still just harass the village head? Would anyone dare to confront the ‘chairman’ they revered so much? He was curious.

By the way, the man would soon hear this news. He was worried about how shocked he would be. Even though he had only seen Mr. Lee collapse after ingesting the pesticide, the man had been in a daze. He regretted not being able to be there for him during such a time.

Normally, the two would be working together in the fields, but they were currently apart. Tae-heun had things to do, and there was no way around it. The man could have felt hurt by this unilateral decision, but he showed no signs of it. He simply said he understood.

The man had low expectations and gave up quickly. Tae-heun felt bitter because he understood the reason behind the man’s behavior all too well. Tae-heun also had a tendency to give up and not show any signs when faced with things he couldn’t control.

But soon, that way of life would come to an end. No, she wanted to end it for sure. Once this matter was settled, and if she and the man could build a family with their heads held high, they would be able to rely on each other and live together. Tae-heun held onto a small hope.

By the way, the man still didn’t know that Tae-heun had received various bills and reminders, including utility bills, from Kwon Il-taek’s wife. On the same day, Tae-heun had gone to the agricultural cooperative to pay the overdue bills, including putting out the immediate fire.

Did he notice the new bottle of sweet rice drink in the refrigerator? He seemed too preoccupied for that. The man acted as if he had pulled an all-nighter, often forgetting things and flustered, to the point that even the child wondered why their father was acting that way. He seemed to be missing a few screws. At first, she thought it was because of Officer Oh, but even after he left, the man remained the same. The only thing left was Mr. Lee. It seemed that the shock from Mr. Lee’s incident had affected Tae-heun’s thoughts more than she realized.

Tae-heun felt like she was living with a ticking time bomb. She couldn’t keep hiding the fact that she had secretly investigated the man’s financial situation and even helped resolve some of his debts. Waiting for him to find out on his own was also a form of deception. If the man, already weakened by Mr. Lee’s incident, were to find out about it later, how would he react? It was completely unpredictable, and honestly, it scared her.

That said, it was also awkward to confess right away. For now, Tae-heun was busy taking care of her own matters. She ultimately decided to have a serious conversation once things settled down a bit.

“Manager Kim, hurry up and deal the cards. What are you doing?”

At the elders’ urging, Tae-heun returned to reality. She busily shuffled the Go-Stop cards.

After playing Go-Stop with the elders until around 10:30 AM, she headed to town. After parking her car in the public parking lot, she walked to the Lucky Motel. As soon as the signal turned green, her phone vibrated. A text message had come in. She had an appointment.

As usual, she first stopped by room 501. There was something unfamiliar on the bed. It was a black hard briefcase with a lock. She couldn’t help but smile at the helper’s taste, reminiscent of a 007 movie.

On top of the bag was the key to room 401. Tae-heun took the key, put it in her pocket, and entered the password for the bag. Click, with a cheerful sound, the bag opened. Inside was a laptop that Tae-heun would use in the future. Since she wouldn’t be using the laptop right away, she locked the briefcase and quietly placed it under the bed before leaving the room.

Using the emergency stairs, she entered room 401. The room looked completely unchanged, but when she opened the closet, her eyes widened. The closet was filled with equipment and clothes that the helper had brought.

Anyone would think it was for a real 007 shoot.

As she examined the various styles of clothes and wigs prepared for disguises, Tae-heun shook her head.

On the bed was a note along with the hiking clothes and backpack she was supposed to wear today. As soon as she read the note, she burned it with a lighter.

The hiking bag was filled with real hiking gear. Of course, underneath were the clothes she would change into and a small bag to match. In the side pocket were snacks like chocolate bars and a water bottle, while the opposite pocket held a portable Walkman labeled “My My.” The old Walkman, which looked like it had been used for at least six or seven years, was empty.

Tae-heun took her time disguising herself as a hiker. She thought sticking on a fake beard was a bit over the top, so she just darkened her skin tone. With a shabby hat on her head and a large hiking bag slung over her shoulder, she bent her back and walked in a way that made her look like a tall, unremarkable man in his mid-30s. It was the first time she had disguised herself to this extent, and even she found it quite satisfactory.

With that, she headed to the intercity bus terminal. She boarded a bus to Icheon. The bus was hot, but since it was a weekday, there weren’t many people, making it bearable.

After about an hour, the bus announced its arrival at the Icheon terminal. Outside of the area around Hyundai Electronics, Icheon was mostly fields.

It was lunchtime. Employees in work uniforms who didn’t use the company cafeteria were wandering around looking for restaurants. Tae-heun blended in with them and headed to a fairly large restaurant. The restaurant had no particular decor, but the food was plentiful for the price. Given the time, it was packed with customers.

There, Tae-heun met two companions. They were real middle-aged men who looked at least ten years older than her.

“Oh my, how many years has it been?”

“Brother, it’s been a while.”

“You look the same. How’s your mother doing?”

“Yes, brother. You look the same too. How’s sister-in-law?”

“Of course. By the way, this is my colleague from work. Say hello. This is my favorite junior.”

They sat down and exchanged the kind of conversation that old friends would have after a long time apart.

In reality, it was the first time she had met these men. It was a curious combination. One was tall and thin, nearly 190 cm, while the other was excessively short and chubby. They looked like a comedy duo. Naturally, the two attracted everyone’s attention, and because of that, Tae-heun’s presence completely faded away.

Where did they find such men? She was impressed by the helper’s abilities. And she admired the meticulousness of how he handled things.

It could have been done easily. For example, sending someone to deliver items. But that would only matter if everything went smoothly; if that person were exposed, the hideout would be compromised. So the helper had deliberately created this cumbersome situation. The two men would have no idea about Tae-heun’s true identity, where she lived, or even her hideout.

The three ordered a mixed rice dish with soju and began to converse. Tae-heun mostly listened, only chiming in occasionally, while the other two chatted non-stop. During the conversation, the tall man pulled out a map. It was a typical action for hiking enthusiasts.

Pointing to various places on the map, they exchanged very ordinary and mundane conversations about the mountain’s terrain. However, the map had no markings at all. There wasn’t even any information that would indicate where it was. Only numbers indicating latitude and longitude and contour lines filled the surface.

“Anyway, this place is the best, so you have to go. Got it?”

Naturally, the map ended up in Tae-heun’s hands.

“By the way, this is a trot medley. I stopped by a rest area on the way back from Sokrisan and thought of you as soon as I saw this.”

The tall man handed Tae-heun two tapes this time. They were the kind of trot medley tapes commonly found at rest areas or on carts.

“I was just thinking of buying one since there aren’t any good songs these days. Thank you, brother.”

Tae-heun took out her My My and inserted one of the tapes in front of them.

She put one earphone in and pressed the play button. For nearly a minute, real trot music flowed out. Then suddenly, the music cut off, followed by static noise, and someone’s voice began to be heard. It was a familiar voice. The conversation that followed was far from nostalgic.

“The song is nice.”

Tae-heun pressed the stop button and removed the earphone, smiling at them.

“By the way, I brought this magazine imported from our company for you to try. It’s been a hit to the point where we can’t keep it in stock.”

The short man proudly handed over a magazine. The cover featured a naked woman striking a sultry pose. It was a level of content that made one wonder if such magazines could even be imported to Korea.

“Oh, brother, why would you bring something like this? How embarrassing.”

As Tae-heun pretended to shudder, the tall man forcibly opened her hiking bag and stuffed the magazine inside.

“Stop acting all high and mighty. Just take it!”

Along with that, two keys, a pager, and a new cell phone were also included. His dexterity was extraordinary.

“This is really nice.”

“Read it and then say that.”

“Once you take it off, they’re all the same.”

He pretended to flip through a magazine. With wide eyes, he whistled.

“Look at that, it’s like his mouth is going to split open. Don’t you dare contact me for more, you punk.”

The tall man winked, showing off. Tae-heun pretended to give in and closed his bag.

“Thank you, brother. Please accept a drink from me.”

Tae-heun poured a drink for the short man.

The three of them, as if they had made a pact, placed their mobile phones on the table and shared three bottles of soju with their stir-fried dish. When it was time to leave, the short man collected the phone that Tae-heun had been using. It was as smooth as flowing water. The three of them parted ways in a flurry, acting like hikers returning from a dawn trek in front of the restaurant. It was a meeting that lasted just over an hour, short if you think about it, but long in its own way.