Seok Chun went down to the factory and saw Sun Hee in her dark uniform, working by the friction press. When she saw Seok Chun, she asked if he had slept well with the tender smile and beautiful tone of voice from yesterday. Seok Chun answered but then realized that the brevity of his response left no room for the conversation to continue. So he helped her lift some metal parts to the worktable to give her the impression that he was not here only to see her. He asked about the machine’s performance and other inconsequential matters.
When the other workers saw Seok Chun, they knew that he did these things only because he fancied Sun Hee. Despite what others said behind his back, Seok Chun continued to help Sun Hee every chance he got. Even while assembling his own equipment, he would glance over in the direction of the friction press, hoping to catch a glimpse of Sun Hee.
Amid the noise of all the running machines, Seok Chun was able to distinguish the sound of the friction press that Sun Hee operated. He could see drops of sweat rolling down her forehead, around her lustrous eyes, and down her white cheeks as she arduously worked the press. Such images of Sun Hee occupied Seok Chun’s thoughts and enlivened his soul.
A month had passed. Seok Chun yearned for Sun Hee, suffered at the very thought of her. He suffered because he loved her. He loved her with all the more passion because he loved her innocently. He paced frantically in his dormitory room, trying to find the means to express his indescribable feelings for her. At that moment, he allowed the purest of the reveries that filled his mind to fall upon a piece of paper. He sprawled on the floor and wrote with intensity, transcribing the ecstasy of his soul. His pen could not keep up with the pace of his thoughts. He crossed out words or ripped up the entire letter and began again. He wrote deep into the night without fatigue. He had written many pages, but none was to his liking. He reread his letter to see if he had made any grammatical errors or if the letter conveyed his feelings properly. He omitted phrases that made him sound utterly desperate or too ravenous for her love while still attempting to reveal his honest feelings for her without any reservations. In the end, he had written a corny love letter very much like something one would find in a cheap romance novel. But he did not want the letter to be a love letter, even though he knew it could not be anything other than a love letter. He did not want Sun Hee to think of him as a deluded romantic. When he realized that his letter was nothing but a love letter, he threw it away in frustration.
Early the next morning at the factory, Seok Chun asked the repairman in the next room, who worked closely with Sun Hee, to pass her a note requesting that she meet him by the willow trees near the riverbank in the evening.
That night, the moon hid behind a thick veil of dark clouds, and the stars that had twinkled momentarily disappeared without a trace into the opaque sky. As the low clouds rolled in, the night grew darker. The air was still and humid.
Seok Chun had been waiting an hour with his back against the willow tree. There was no sign of Sun Hee. In front of Sun Hee’s dormitory, tall streetlights lined the road. The brilliance of the lights reached the riverbank where Seok Chun was standing. A few workers passed by, but none who resembled Sun Hee.
Clouds formed and raindrops began to fall. A few negligible drops at first, but then the rain began to beat on the leaves and bushes. Seok Chun became irritated, and then he felt lonely. Myriad thoughts crossed his mind.
Did I invite her out too late in the evening? She probably doesn’t even care about me.
He began to regret the time he had spent around the friction press, helping her load and unload heavy equipment. He was annoyed with himself. At the same time, he wondered why she had treated him so kindly if she had not even a hint of affection for him.
The rain fell heavily. Seok Chun tried to avoid getting wet by standing under a willow tree, but it was futile. His clothes were soaked. He felt that the rain had found a way through the willow tree to mock him for behaving foolishly. But he also felt that the rain was helping him wash away all the feelings he had for Sun Hee—all those sleepless nights of thinking of her when she did not even care for him.
It had gotten later in the evening. The lights in the dormitory rooms began to turn off one by one. Seok Chun, who had been picking off flower petals, threw the stem away in disdain and left. The rain poured down mercilessly on him. His shoes and socks were drenched from stepping in muddy puddles, which intensified his frustration. To avoid the puddles, he decided to walk across the field of tall grass. Seok Chun meandered as though intoxicated and, struggling to keep his balance, proceeded in despair. Suddenly he fell into a ditch, a booby trap set by the neighborhood kids. Covered in mud, he wiped his hands on the wet grass to get some of the mud off, but instead he felt only a prickly sensation, as he was rubbing his hands on thorny weeds.
At that moment, he heard rapid footsteps coming toward him. Then they stopped. Seok Chun lifted his head and saw on the path the silhouette of a woman holding an umbrella against the dim dormitory lights. In her other hand was a second umbrella. Seok Chun approached the woman as though he were being pulled in her direction. The woman did not appear to be frightened; she did not step aside. In the shadow of the umbrella, Seok Chun saw the face of Sun Hee.
Sun Hee, with her hair disheveled from running and wet from the rain, appeared more attractive than ever.
Breathing heavily, Sun Hee asked, “Have you been waiting long?”
Even though Seok Chun perceived that she was apologetic for her tardiness, he asked curtly, “Did you have any intention of coming out tonight?”
Sun Hee handed the second umbrella to Seok Chun without responding.
He did not reach for the umbrella and instead remained upright, like a wooden post, with no life or expression. He then realized that she had brought him the umbrella out of pity, that had it not been for the rain, she would not have come out. As shame and regret combined with his damaged pride and frustration, he nearly burst like a pressurized smokestack and wanted to shout, Do I look pitiful to you? But he repressed his anger and, without a word, walked past Sun Hee.
“Take the umbrella. Your clothes are going to get wet.”
“I’m already wet,” barked Seok Chun. He then sneered, “Why don’t you use the other one yourself?”
It was a derisive response. He knew that it would be silly for her to use two umbrellas, so he snickered. Then he thought that if Sun Hee had come out with the intention of meeting him, his behavior tonight would appear despicable. Nonetheless, he did not slow down and kept walking toward his dormitory. He did not hear footsteps following him, so he assumed Sun Hee remained standing where he had left her. Though he wanted to, he did not look back, instead forcing himself to keep his head still. He thought that even the slightest glance would betray weakness, so he pressed on to his room.
Seok Chun had once had uncontainable feelings for the village, the countryside, the warm sun, the cool air, and the lush hills. But now, none of his surroundings satisfied him as he trudged along the muddy path. He regretted ever coming here. By tomorrow, his duties here would be completed, and he would return to his hometown. With all these complicated thoughts whirling in his head, he proceeded to walk with determination, resolved to abandon all the feelings he had had for Sun Hee.
That was last night. And now the woman Seok Chun wanted to forget was approaching him onstage with a bundle of flowers. Seok Chun tried to ignore her and solemnly looked at the audience. But he could not remain calm and stole glances at Sun Hee from the corner of his eye. He felt nervous, and his heart raced like the heart of someone who had committed a crime, anxious and deeply distressed. He had no means of escaping from Sun Hee’s presence. When he saw Sun Hee in the traditional Korean dress and with flowers in her arms approaching him, he felt his knees buckle. Seok Chun was not able to subdue his impassioned emotions. He felt as if he were caught up in a whirlpool, his senses thrown into disarray. This was because Seok Chun truly longed for Sun Hee. He wanted her to forgive him for his inappropriate behavior the other night.