Jeong Jin Wu thought that Yun Hee and her friend were taking his presentation unnecessarily seriously. He fanned out the pages of his essay, proceeded again with an authoritative voice, and managed to return to the mental state of academia. Jeong Jin Wu’s topic was so specialized that he was not able to explore areas beyond marriage laws and funeral rites in history. He felt as if a white fog covered the podium, causing him to lose focus on his paper. The audience was traveling with Jeong Jin Wu through the long history of marriage. None of the heroes in his talk were alive, but they were the ones who had changed the face of history and society’s outlook on marriage.
As soon as Jeong Jin Wu finished reading from his essay, the audience applauded in sincere appreciation for his hard work in preparing this talk. He stepped down from the podium like a professional with experience giving talks at these types of colloquia. His heart beat rapidly, and he could not seem to contain his elation.
The audience members exited the conference hall like a herd of cattle.
Jeong Jin Wu was overwhelmed with joy and could not come down from his state of excitement. As he remained standing on the stage, the two women approached him. Yun Hee smiled brightly at Jeong Jin Wu.
“Congratulations on presenting your senior thesis,” said Yun Hee.
“Don’t spare me your criticisms. Hit me directly and quickly,” said Jeong Jin Wu.
“There’s nowhere to hit. I honestly learned something from your talk,” Yun Hee said. “Oh, I almost forgot to introduce you two. This is my comrade Han Eun Ok.”
Jeong Jin Wu greeted Eun Ok and gazed into her eyes.
Yoon Hee continued, “Comrade Eun Ok is majoring in biology through the long-distance education program. She’s here for only a couple of days. She came up from her hometown in Yeonsudeok.”
“Is that right?” said Jeong Jin Wu with keen interest. “You’ve come a long way to be here. Yeonsudeok is about, what, seventy miles away, right?”
Yun Hee bemusedly stared at Jeong Jin Wu, who was acting overtly genteel toward Eun Ok.
“But you know,” Yun Hee interrupted, “Comrade Eun Ok has a few remarks about your thesis, Comrade Jin Wu.”
“Oh, does she? Please, tell me,” said Jeong Jin Wu.
Eun Ok blushed. She looked at Jeong Jin Wu and then quickly averted her eyes.
“No,” said Eun Ok. “I really don’t have an opinion. Comrade Yun Hee is just—”
“They say if you have any advice to give, don’t withhold it,” interrupted Jeong Jin Wu.
“I think your thesis was well written,” Eun Ok said reassuringly.
Yun Hee grabbed her friend’s arm and said, “My goodness, dear. You were muttering something during the talk. If you have nothing to say, then let’s go.”
“I’m sorry,” Eun Ok replied, directed at both Yun Hee and Jeong Jin Wu.
The two women walked out of the conference hall.
Jeong Jin Wu did not have a moment to think about Eun Ok that evening. After his talk, he had to attend a meeting to discuss and evaluate another comrade’s thesis. However, the next day at the University Park, Jeong Jin Wu inadvertently ran into Eun Ok.
It was a brisk autumn morning. Jeong Jin Wu was taking a stroll on the University Park trail. He enjoyed the serenity of the park and the refreshing air. He had come out of his dormitory with a book under his arm, but he was so captivated by the morning atmosphere that he tilted his head back and walked leisurely, appreciating the simple wonders of nature.
As the fog hidden among the trees slowly dissipated, a ray of morning sunlight traversed the vast forest of tall deciduous trees and verdurous pine trees. The kaleidoscopic hues of the luminous autumn leaves were sublime. In the stillness, the sound of falling leaves resembled a fledgling spreading its wings in preparation for an ascent. A thick blanket of golden leaves covered the trail. A rich, natural aroma from foliage steeped in the damp soil and the fragrance of dried leaves permeated the entire park. A young bird woke from its sleep, flew over Jeong Jin Wu’s head, and then vanished beyond the tree line.
Jeong Jin Wu saw Eun Ok sitting on a bench under a large oak tree. She was reading a book and scrupulously underlining in it, absorbed in her own world and oblivious to her natural surroundings.
Jeong Jin Wu approached her without even thinking about whether he would be intruding on her reading.
Eun Ok lifted her head and was alarmed by the presence of another person. As soon as Eun Ok realized it was Jeong Jin Wu, she blushed. But the surprise in her eyes was mixed with a warm invitation.
“May I sit?”
“Please,” responded Eun Ok. She tried to clear some of the leaves off the bench, but Jeong Jin Wu sat down without wasting a moment.
The two hesitated, and instead of speaking, listened to the ambient sounds of the park.
Jeong Jin Wu broke the silence. “Yesterday, you had some remarks about my thesis, right? Would you share them with me?”
Eun Ok did not respond and tried to keep her eyes from meeting Jeong Jin Wu’s.
“Please, anything,” Jeong Jin Wu urged.
“What can a biology student say about a legal thesis?”
Eun Ok was no longer blushing and returned to the serious expression she had worn during the talk.
“In any event, I want to hear what you have to say,” said Jeong Jin Wu in a modest but obstinate manner.
Eun Ok put her book down and twirled a leaf that had just fallen from the tree. Innumerable golden leaves sprinkled the landscape as the wind blew them off their swaying branches. Birds that had woken up from their deep slumber chirped lazily. In the misty maroon morning, golden rays of sunlight penetrated between the tree branches, and the silver fog that had covered the trees slowly crawled up to the treetops and vanished in the blue sky.
Eun Ok finally gave in and spoke. “My father was a member of the People’s Justice Association, so I read many of his books at home out of sheer interest. I just read whatever I could get a hold of in his library, which would explain my limited knowledge of the law. So there’s really nothing that I can say about your talk.”
Eun Ok looked at Jeong Jin Wu and smiled like a schoolgirl, coy and innocent. “But if you insist. After listening to your senior thesis—”
Her voice became incrementally more serious and contemplative. “I guess I don’t have to tell you about how well you did, based on the thunderous applause that you received last night. What I wanted to add was that your thesis was not filled with legal jargon, but you tried to reveal some of the historical problems that we need to be aware of. I learned a lot from you. It may have been better, though, if you accentuated its relation to law a bit more.”
Eun Ok continued by saying that historians had already researched the general idea of marriage in relation to the problem of the family in the past century, particularly regarding the social aspects of reproduction, changes in economics, and marriage. She suggested that a study of the ethical relationship between psychological and historical aspects would have made Jeong Jin Wu’s argument stronger. Eun Ok added that by trying to reveal all the problems in human history, Jeong Jin Wu’s analysis was a simple generalization. Instead of reiterating past contradictory problems and discussing issues beyond the relationship between ethics and morals, a psychological analysis of married couples would encourage the people of this nation to improve and strengthen their own marriages and families.
“Since you’re considering the history of marriage from the point of view of the law, don’t you think it’s that much more important to examine it from the psychoanalytical perspective? Don’t you think it’s the people’s ceaseless renewal of the mind, effort, and struggle that create tradition, lifestyle, and customs, the things that the law cannot disregard?” Eun Ok stopped, fearing she had spoken too honestly about his paper.