Jeong Jin Wu changed from his wet clothes to dry ones and helped Ho Nam get out of his clothes. Ho Nam’s undergarments were also soaked. Jeong Jin Wu filled the bathtub with hot water from the kiln and meticulously cleaned the boy’s body.
Jeong Jin Wu also had a son, but he had grown up and was currently serving in the military so there were no children’s clothes to offer the child. He had Ho Nam sit by the warmest area of the heated floor and covered him with a thick blanket.
After taking some cold medicine, Ho Nam sat cozily under the blanket and sipped on hot water. Jeong Jin Wu went into the kitchen to prepare dinner and checked on the boy frequently. He saw large beads of sweat rolling down the boy’s face. Ho Nam’s temperature had subsided. It appeared that the child was recovering, which relieved Jeong Jin Wu.
He went down to the bookstore that occupied the building’s ground level and made a phone call. The supervisor of the Gang An Machine Factory told Jeong Jin Wu that Seok Chun had not yet left work. Jeong Jin Wu gave the supervisor his address and told him to have Seok Chun stop by his house after work.
It rained violently.
Jeong Jin Wu climbed the stairs slowly, his heart heavy. He would have to prepare his own meals again and manage the makeshift greenhouse in the master bedroom again. He would have to control the humidity and the temperature of the greenhouse, water the vegetables, and prune them whenever necessary. He would also have to record the growth and development of the vegetables. Eun Ok had not written, “Take care of the greenhouse” on the little note that she had left, but he knew what she meant. “There are already signs of frost” also meant for him to keep the windows closed and take extra care of the vegetables at home.
Whenever Eun Ok would go on these research trips, she would leave Jeong Jin Wu with all the household chores along with the task of caring for the plants in the makeshift greenhouse in their master bedroom. Her frequent absences had become the norm in Jeong Jin Wu’s life and the chores routine.
Jeong Jin Wu was exasperated and angry. The whirlwind of fury had turned reason deaf and blind, converting wrath into malice—but he knew there was nothing he could do.
3
Lee Seok Chun had finally arrived at Judge Jeong Jin Wu’s apartment. They sat across from each other on the living room floor. Seok Chun was a man of medium stature, robust and broad-shouldered, a thirty-five-year-old in the prime of his life. His face was sharp, with a chiseled jawline, his lips thick, and his eyes deep-set but soft. His fingers were calloused from handling steel at his factory, and his hands were large, with the visible contours of his veins extending up his arm, but they trembled as he caressed his sleeping son. Seok Chun heaved a sigh of distress that was strong enough to bring down the walls.
“Comrade Judge, if we get divorced, then what’s going to happen to my son? The court will most likely hand him over to his mother, right?”
“That’s not necessarily the case. The child will go where it’s most advantageous for his well-being and future.”
“Then allow me to take my son. I beg of you. I will take care of him.”
“You expect me to hand this child over to a father who can’t even manage his own life?”
“But with my son, it’s going to be different. I can look after him,” said Seok Chun with an expression of determination.
“Comrade, don’t work yourself up like this,” replied the judge in a conciliatory tone. “This is not a courtroom. Calm down and let’s talk about this. I called you here because I wanted to know a couple of things. First, if you would, begin with the time you met your wife. And second, tell me how the two of you grew to lack the same rhythm.”
Seok Chun figured that Sun Hee had mentioned “rhythm” to the judge, and he smirked disdainfully. He took the cigarette Jeong Jin Wu offered him and let it hang from his thick lips. He stared at his sleeping son.
“The very first time I met my wife was when I was in military service and was sent to the Superior Steel Production Factory to help out. That was about ten years ago. There were three of us, me and two other steel mechanics. We were supposed to install some fraise and a band around the polishing cylinder made by the Gang An Machine Factory.”
A dark shadow veiled his soft eyes as he began reminiscing.
At the end of the month, the Superior Steel Production Factory celebrated the hard work of the three mechanics and two technicians from the Gang An Machine Factory. The technicians, along with Seok Chun and his friends, were called up onstage. The board members of the Superior Steel Production Factory first acknowledged the efforts of Seok Chun and his friends before they honored the technicians.
Seok Chun blushed when he looked at the cheering audience. He suddenly began to feel both anxiety and satisfaction about the acknowledgment that he was about to receive from the people for doing something so ordinary. He felt like a young fledgling that was attempting to spread its wings and fly for the first time. He did not feel as if his legs were planted on the stage.
Three young women carrying bundles of flowers came up onstage. One of the young women was a friction press worker. She had a wide forehead and a slender physique. It was Chae Sun Hee. She wore a muslin dress that wrapped around her body like a morning fog. Sun Hee appeared graceful with her elegant dress, shapely figure, and beautiful face. She was holding flowers, which looked like they had blossomed from her chest.
When Seok Chun saw Sun Hee approaching him, his elation suddenly subsided. He felt apprehensive, and his heart began to race like the heart of someone who had stolen something.
Shit. Why of all women does she have to bring me flowers? thought Seok Chun.
He tried his best not to look in Sun Hee’s direction. He could not forget the day he first met her, a month ago.
When Seok Chun and his friends finally arrived at the village in the mountains after a long bus ride, they met Sun Hee on the side of the road, and she directed them to the factory. The road to the factory was neither complicated nor heavily congested, and if she had just given them directions, they would have been able to find the factory without a problem. But she extended her generosity to the men, got on the bus, and guided them to the front door of the factory. Her hospitable personality was the reason the manager of the factory had chosen Sun Hee, and not the accountant, to help the men settle into the factory and the village. That night in the dormitory room, Seok Chun lay in bed without feeling the least bit foreign in this new environment but slept soundly as if he were at home.
In the morning, the sunlight peeked through the window blinds and woke Seok Chun from his deep slumber. Seok Chun, still half asleep, opened his heavy eyes and imagined Sun Hee’s face, her vibrant smile, her tender voice. He did not know what had possessed him to think about her. Perhaps it was because she was the first person he had met in the village. Perhaps it was her white face, large beautiful eyes, long eyelashes, and attractive figure that had captivated his youthful heart and left a deep impression on his mind. Like a wild chrysanthemum, she was divine, and the more he thought about her, the more he became infatuated with her.
He got up from his bed and flung open the windows. The warm sunlight and cool breeze filled the room with life. A melodious river flowed from the mountains in the distance beyond the hills. His heart beat rapidly, unable to contain his excitement, at the thought of starting anew at the factory in the village. The sublime natural landscape gave him hope and joy, but it was evident that Sun Hee was the real source of his passion and his uncontrollable emotions.