A whole day passed helping out at Younghwa-dang. From ingredient preparation to dishwashing. Mrs. Cheon's absence was particularly felt that evening. The food smell had killed her appetite. In the end, she barely ate before leaving the table.
There was quite a distance from the main hall to the small guest house. Sa-hee walked while observing the changing seasonal scenery. A short walk in the fresh air seemed like a good idea. Although her ankles ached from walking all day, she could endure it for a brief moment.
Just as Sa-hee turned to leave the house, her pocket vibrated several times. When she took out her phone, there were messages waiting.
[Writer Yeon Sa-hee]
[I have good news]
[(emoticon)]
A brown bear character waved from the screen. Sa-hee pressed the call button without hesitation.
"What is it?"
─ Hey. How cold of you to ask what's up without even saying hello. I'm almost at your place.
"Huh?"
─ I can see you! Hanging up now!
Looking up, she saw a bright red sports car approaching from not far away. That flashy entrance never got less jarring no matter how many times she saw it. Sa-hee stood still. Soon, a man with a friendly face got out of the car with a bright smile.
Kim Ju-hwan was Sa-hee's college classmate. He was a year older than Sa-hee but had gotten friendly with everyone during orientation. Having spent his childhood abroad, he cringed at the idea of being called "oppa" or "hyung." He was so outgoing that he couldn't stand to see anyone left out.
It was largely thanks to Ju-hwan that Sa-hee, who had always been awkward at socializing, had an active college life.
"Hey, Yeon Sa-hee, why do you look like a starved mouse?"
"We're busy with guests."
"Even you?"
"I have to earn my keep."
"How much could you possibly eat? Picky as you are."
"What's the good news?"
Sa-hee changed the subject, casually ignoring his nagging that treated her like a troublesome little sister. Kim Ju-hwan grinned as if he'd expected this.
"So impatient. Wait a minute."
Ju-hwan opened his briefcase and pulled out an envelope.
"This."
"What is it?"
"Can't you tell? It's a letter of recommendation for overseas universities."
"...What do you mean."
"Just read it first. Read it and give me an answer by two weeks from now."
The envelope was practically shoved into Sa-hee's arms. As Sa-hee reflexively took hold of it, Ju-hwan grinned.
"I didn't just give it to you, I gave it to Yu-jung and Philip too. You're the esteemed Writer Yeon Sa-hee, so let's not start with the weak excuses right away."
"Who's making weak excuses..."
"Hey, Yeon Sa-hee. Who do you think kept you fed during college, huh?"
Ju-hwan raised his voice confrontationally.
Here's the English translation of the continuation:
While classmates who were five or six years older would just quietly smile, he always talked as if he had raised all his peers himself. Despite claiming to be uncomfortable with hierarchical relationships, he had no qualms about using cringe-worthy terms like "babies, babies" just because he was one year older.
Sa-hee shook her head in disgust.
"I was an adult, I could feed myself."
"Anyway! The conditions aren't bad at all, so read it. It's a position where you just need to show up, with nothing to worry about. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Living abroad would be better for you than staying in Korea."
"..."
"I'm going now?"
She agreed that overseas would be better than Korea for living with her leg. But a position where you just need to show up? Where in the world does such a thing exist?
When Sa-hee glared at him silently, Ju-hwan chose to flee. As she tried to grab his shirt sleeve while chasing him, Ju-hwan suddenly hesitated, looking in another direction.
"Hm?"
Sa-hee's head turned following Ju-hwan's gaze.
It was Director Jeong Taeon.
Before Ju-hwan could even lift his head to confirm the identity of the tall man, Sa-hee had already flinched and pulled away her hand, making Ju-hwan look at her with strange eyes. Sa-hee quickly composed her expression, gave a perfunctory nod to the man, and then forcefully pulled Ju-hwan away.
"Let's finish talking in the car."
"I told you I have nothing more to say to Yeon Sa-hee! Really! Why are young people these days so disrespectful to their elders? You're stretching out my clothes, stretching them out!"
"Kim Ju-hwan!"
"I'm going! Love you!"
Ju-hwan quickly shook off Sa-hee's hand and made a run for it. Fearing Sa-hee might chase him, he hastily closed the car door and started the engine. As Sa-hee watched the car leave with its loud exhaust noise, she bit her lower lip hard.
At the same time, she felt someone's gaze. When she unconsciously looked up, she found herself being stared at intently. Taeon was leaning against the wall, smoking while looking at her.
His eyes were unreadable. Only the earlier commotion seemed particularly loud in the chilly silence. Her face suddenly flushed at the thought of being caught acting childishly, arguing and shouting.
Sa-hee straightened the crumpled envelope in her hand. She felt drained and no longer had any desire to take a walk. Just as she was about to awkwardly say goodbye, Director Jeong Taeon beat her to it.
With a flick, the man lightly tapped off his cigarette ash with his long fingers, and turned his back on her like a spectator who had lost interest in the show.
Only the quiet scent of cigarette smoke remained where he had stood. Sa-hee deliberately shook her head and pushed through the main gate.
Did she even have the right to feel uncomfortable?
He was Younghwa-dang's precious guest. A very precious guest who would be nothing in her life.
* * *
Back in her room, Sa-hee opened the envelope Ju-hwan had left.
Inside were a recommendation letter from her college professor and information about a scholarship program from the arts foundation run by Ju-hwan's father.
"At this point..."
Sa-hee quietly looked at the documents on her desk, then lifted her head toward the drawings on the wall.
Even while majoring in fine arts, she never hoped it would become her profession. Rather, those four years were spent fully devoted to it precisely because it was a dream meant to burn briefly.
In fact, after graduating from college and returning to her hometown, Sa-hee took a completely different path. Though it was an unexpected direction, she figured the wind must have its reasons for guiding her there. Anyway, she was still living while drawing, so that wasn't bad in itself.
Sa-hee sighed while pressing her temples.
She had been planning to leave this house soon anyway. She was thinking of finishing this deadline and then going up to Seoul to look around, but now she unexpectedly had another option to consider.
"Hey, Sa-hee. It's me."
Just then, Uncle Bang knocked from beyond the door. Sa-hee got up and opened it. Uncle Bang, dressed up in a bright blue shirt with his hair styled with mousse, sat on the wooden floor and grinned at her.
"Stop smiling."
"Such a prickly girl. Here, eat this. I bought it on my way back from my date. I heard you skipped dinner."
"What is it?"
"Hot dogs. From the market."
"You went to the market with your girlfriend?"
"Hey! Your uncle isn't that kind of man. I just stopped by after dropping her off."
Uncle Bang gestured toward the space beside him, signaling her to sit. Sa-hee reluctantly sat down about a hand's width away from Uncle Bang. Opening the light blue plastic bag released the savory smell of oil.
Sa-hee grabbed the wooden stick and pulled out the hot dog. Uncle Bang found the ketchup deep in the plastic bag and zigzagged it over the hot dog. Her stomach had been empty since lunch, so it was about time it gave out.
As Sa-hee bit into the end of the hot dog, she looked at Uncle Bang. A thick gold necklace she'd never seen before glinted on his neck.
"What's with that necklace?"
"This? Fashion."
"Oh please."
"What? Don't women like this?"
"Your girlfriend must really love you, Uncle Bang."
"You think so?"
"That's not a good thing."
Regardless, Uncle Bang stood up and danced, wiggling even his hips. Sa-hee giggled and took another bite of her hot dog.
"I heard you're going to the ancestral graves tomorrow?"
"Yeah."
"Oh boy, that place is completely rough terrain. Even when that family's eldest son died, everyone was sweating bullets trying to climb up there. That's when I really felt that nature is the truly fair god. Whether you're from a wealthy family or not, everyone was pale and trembling, but couldn't say anything because they were mindful of Chairman Jeong."
Nine years ago on that day, Sa-hee was on a train headed to Seoul. Uncle Bang and Mrs. Cheon had felt so sorry that they couldn't take her because they were short-handed for serving the Jeong family.
She remembers it was an unusually cold winter. Sa-hee vaguely recalled the line of black vehicles she saw entering as she left Younghwa-dang on her way to the train station.
...Would he, Director Jeong Taeon, have been among them?
"Meanwhile, the Three Vipers climbed the mountain without their faces changing one bit."
"...What's that?"
Here's the English translation of the continuation:
"Our Lady Shaman, Chairman Jeong of Jeong Group, and Director Jeong Taeon. These three. Successful people really are different. If you stab those three, poison would flow out instead of blood. Back then, Director Jeong Taeon was a student studying in America, but I had a gut feeling right then that he would inherit Jeong Group."
Uncle Bang lifted his chin proudly, as if his prediction had been spot on. While he joked about gaining mystical powers like a dog that learns poetry after three years at a Confucian school, Sa-hee chewed and swallowed her hot dog.
Thinking that perhaps if she had left even one day later nine years ago, she might have met him then.
"Uncle, go wash up and sleep."
"Huh? No can do."
"Do you have something to do?"
"There's no LTE signal there. I need to stay on the phone all night so my girlfriend doesn't get angry."
"That's disgusting."
Sa-hee bent her knees and stood up. Uncle Bang chuckled and crumpled up the plastic bag as he rose from the wooden floor. He stretched and looked around the yard once before adding with his usual good humor.
"Ah, we should clean this up when we have time. What kind of state is this yard in? Ghosts will come out. Sa-hee, pulling another all-nighter today?"
"Yeah."
"The hot dog was good, right?"
"It was."
"Lady Shaman didn't catch you, right?"
Finally confessing the true purpose of his warm and crispy bribe. Sa-hee nodded vaguely and waved her hand in the air. Uncle Bang grinned as if finally relieved of a burden.