Two days later, on Sunday, he visited the homes of the division head and two section chiefs to pay his respects. Was this, he wondered, his first taste of hobnobbing? He wrote three significant checks without reluctance; he felt an obligation to express his appreciation for the recovery of his assets.
On his way home, he stopped off at the hospital to pay his respects to Pil-sun’s father for the first time since he was released. Now he was confident that he could use his influence to hasten Pil-sun’s release. Kimura had urged him to stay for lunch, probably in consideration of his ties with Deok-gi’s grandfather. Geumcheon, who was also present, followed him to the foyer and said, “It’ll be settled one way or another. Don’t worry too much.”
Deok-gi had never heard more welcome news in his life.
At the hospital, Pil-sun’s mother tearfully welcomed Deok-gi. “You didn’t have to come all this way! Are you feeling better?”
Deok-gi, too, felt like sobbing but responded with exaggerated confidence: “Your daughter will be out tomorrow or the day after, rest assured.”
“What happened?”
“Do you remember Jang Hun? He killed himself in there.” He had heard about it from Kimura only two days earlier.
“My goodness!” Pil-sun’s mother seemed to momentarily forget that Jang Hun was the man who had put her husband in the hospital.
“It’s not easy to say this, but he took all the blame before he died, so now it might be easier for some of the others.”
Pil-sun’s mother bowed her head. She couldn’t help but feel sorry for Jang, who had become the sacrificial lamb.
Though Pil-sun’s father was so weak he appeared almost lifeless in the hospital bed, he managed to open his eyes when his wife shook him. It wasn’t clear whether he was conscious; he didn’t even have enough energy to let out a groan.
“I’m so sorry,” Deok-gi said.
“I just hope Pil-sun will be released before he dies.” The energy seemed to have been drained from her as well.
“Don’t be afraid, she’ll be out soon. I visited the police chief and section chiefs twice, asking for their help.” Deok-gi spoke with confidence, to make the woman feel better, if nothing else.
And in fact, Pil-sun was released the following day. Soon after Deok-gi had heard Pil-sun’s exuberant voice on the phone, Won-sam and his wife appeared. Won-sam was half-dazed, his face gaunt and his eyes unfocused. His wife’s face was pale, her lips completely drained of blood. They had suffered for nearly twenty days.
“You’ve gone through so much. It’s a good thing that you don’t have young children to take care of,” Deok-gi said. He wondered about Gyeong-ae and the Suwon woman.
“It was quite an experience,” Won-sam said. “Like visiting hell while you’re still alive,” he laughed.
“Has my father been released, too?” Deok-gi asked.
“Your father? Did he know Pi-hyeok?. Are you all right, sir?”
Won-sam and his wife were shocked yet somehow comforted to discover that no one had escaped the sweep. They had resented that fate had dragged them into an affair they had nothing to do with. Learning that even Deok-gi had been jailed despite his fragile health, they now felt fortunate to have gotten out in one piece.
“Why did all this happen?” Won-sam’s wife asked. Had the old man’s death triggered some curse? Had that been the case, the curse should have landed on the servants who’d been brought in by the Suwon woman, not on the two of them.
“It could have been the curse of money, the curse of a hard life, or a curse of anything. ” Deok-gi let the query bounce off him.
Snorting, Won-sam added, “Or the curse of trying to escape our fate as servants.”
After Won-sam and his wife went to the inner quarters, Deok-gi changed his clothes and went out again, this time to Hwagae-dong. His father might have been released as well, and it wouldn’t do to sit back and wait for his call.
With all the doors firmly shut in the outer quarters, he reluctantly entered the yard through the women’s quarters. A gaggle of young and old women bustled about.
The questioning young faces were all unfamiliar. If he hadn’t run into the young woman who babysat the Suwon woman’s child, he might have thought he’d come to the wrong house. After the Suwon woman’s arrest, the child must have been sent here. He couldn’t believe that this was the same house he’d grown up in.
“Hello there! I didn’t recognize you.”
Deok-gi stopped in his tracks. An old gisaeng rushed out of the main room and animatedly greeted him.
He had no idea who she was.
“The girls didn’t recognize the young master. I’m so sorry! Please come in.”
As he looked more closely, he realized that it was the woman he had seen a month earlier in the main room, Maedang.
“You have gone through so much, haven’t you? Such calamity!” A stream of verbiage flowed from the woman.
“I came because I thought my father was released today.”
“Is he coming home? I thought the world was turned upside down, because the old gentleman was taken in, and his son was released instead.” Was she trying to be witty, or was she completely in the dark about what had happened? With a laugh she said, “Then the mistress of this house will be released along with him, right? But will the mistress of Taepyeong-dong get out, too?”
“I think so,” Deok-gi said and left abruptly. Disgusted that the main room once inhabited by his mother had become this woman’s playground, he couldn’t bear another minute of Maedang’s chatter.
It’s been only two months since my grandfather died! Byeong-hwa said that the person who has to die must die soon and that a new era will emerge. Deok-gi knew that his grandfather’s death would usher in a new era, but it hadn’t been defined, and he understood that it wouldn’t materialize overnight.
He took the Sogyeok-dong road to the hospital to see Pil-sun.
My grandfather was more than seventy when he passed away, so his death wasn’t premature. But because we were not prepared, things have degenerated to this level of decadence in just two months!
What would Byeong-hwa have done in my place? There was not much his friend could have done; he might have thrown money here and there, knowing his generous temperament, but most likely a similar sort of confusion would have ensued.
As he approached the hospital entrance, his eyes rose to the second floor. Upstairs, he knocked and pushed the door open. Pil-sun stopped short when she saw him. Her face turned pale, then crimson. Only then did she seem to regain her composure. She bowed her head lightly and looked around for her mother. Her mother’s presence would help contain her emotions.
Her eyes radiated in her wan, gaunt face.
“You’ve had such a hard time.” Deok-gi’s voice caressed her.
Pil-sun’s smile was tinged with sorrow.
Her mother broke the silence. “They hung her upside down, twice, and beat her.”
Not knowing how to comfort her, Deok-gi heaved a sigh.
“They didn’t ask about that Korean overcoat. If they had, it could have been worse. Thank you for putting in a good word for her with the police chief and the section chief so that she could be released sooner.” She turned to her daughter and said, “This gentleman has suffered, too. And he did all that was possible to get you released.”
Pil-sun’s face reddened again as she bowed her head shyly.
“I didn’t do that much. It’s good, though, that they didn’t find out about the Korean coat.”
“Has your father been released, too?”
“I think so. Won-sam and his wife are also back home.”