“Don’t worry. It’s not a fancy restaurant; it’s only a noodle shop. Just come in and warm yourself up.” Byeong-hwa had no intention of persuading her any further. He pushed her toward the shop and Pil-sun could no longer resist. She let him escort her in.
Deok-gi was already standing in front of the stove inside. When he saw them, his face lit up and he moved aside to make room. The three of them crowded around the stove.
“This friend of mine is a modern boy. His name is Jo Deok-gi. And this young woman is Yi Pil-sun. She works at a rubber factory. I wouldn’t introduce you to Jo if he were a delinquent. That, at least, he is not, so I’m granting him this honor.” Byeong-hwa chuckled, as if he’d forgotten all about the fit of anger he’d just had.
Deok-gi and Pil-sun smiled and bowed to each other, after which she blushed and hid her face behind the stovepipe.
Deok-gi thought Pil-sun a great beauty. He didn’t dare examine her features too closely yet, but under the electric lights she looked adorable, if a little mature for her age.
She must have been cold, wearing only a thin cotton blouse, but it was clean and so were the white Korean padded socks peeking out below her black wool serge skirt. Compared to typical factory girls decked out in gaudy synthetic silk and Western-style shoes, she struck Deok-gi as simple and modest.
After they sat down, Pil-sun furtively put the small bundle she had been carrying on her lap under the table. She was being careful not to make a racket with her metal lunch box. When Byeong-hwa caught sight of it, he wondered if she had brought rice boiled the evening before, because no one in the house had eaten breakfast that morning. Pity welled up in his heart.
Byeong-hwa told Deok-gi to order rice topped with chicken for Pil-sun. But she blushed and firmly declined, afraid that he was trying to feed her rice instead of noodles because he thought she was skipping meals.
The noodles were served, followed by drinks. The savory smell whetted Pil-sun’s appetite, but she found it difficult to pick up her chopsticks, wondering whether her family was sitting at home without food. Besides, she didn’t want to look greedy.
“Don’t worry about your family!” Byeong-hwa said quite openly. “I managed to pay them, so don’t worry about it. Eat.” Pil-sun was embarrassed by his remark but relieved.
Influenced as she was by her father and Byeong-hwa’s friends, Pil-sun didn’t think poverty was anything to be ashamed of. Yet she didn’t like Byeong-hwa talking about her household affairs so candidly and explicitly in the presence of a virtual stranger. Why couldn’t he have mentioned the money before they came in?
He’s so thick-skinned. He is the kind of person who’d enjoy himself at any feast, no matter what other people thought of him! The more Pil-sun thought about it, the more uncomfortable she felt. She regretted joining them and wished she’d gone home.
Byeong-hwa may have given them money, but who was going to buy the rice and the firewood to cook it with? Her father had been housebound since the day before, when his only Korean coat had been taken apart to be washed. Had her mother sewn it back together? Such details worried her. She could picture her mother running back and forth in the cold, running errands. She was ill at ease and wanted to check on her parents.
All of a sudden, she asked herself where Byeong-hwa’s boarding money had come from. Instantly she understood and her face reddened. If anyone noticed, she could always blame her blushing on the cold.
“Please go ahead and eat,” Deok-gi said. “You’ll have to come and visit me at my house sometime. You should meet my sister; she’s seventeen this year. Actually, she just turned eighteen with the Western New Year.”
Pil-sun nodded, though she was so lost in thought that she wasn’t really paying attention to what he was saying. The money must have come from Deok-gi, and he must have invited Byeong-hwa, who was starving and staying in bed.
“Yes, eat while it’s warm,” said Byeong-hwa, pausing from his greedy slurping. He turned to Deok-gi. “Is your sister that old already? She and Pil-sun are the same age then. She’s in the upper level at R School, right?”
“Yeah, she’s about to start her fourth year.”
“Tell me, though — how can this girl make friends with your sister? I’m pretty sure I can handle you, but hanging out with the precious daughter of a bourgeois family could be dangerous. Women are too easily swayed, and vanity always gets the better of them.” Byeong-hwa was concerned that Pil-sun’s ideology might change if she befriended the daughter of a rich family.
Deok-gi didn’t appreciate this observation, but he suppressed his anger and offered a rebuttaclass="underline" “What do you mean calling us bourgeois? We’re not even middle class by Japanese standards, not to mention those of other countries. Anyway, my sister’s not typical of the girls you see around these days.”
Pil-sun was offended by Byeong-hwa’s thoughtless remarks. And vanity would never get the better of her!
“Please eat. Your family will worry about you if it gets too late, and I’ll feel bad about having asked you in.” At Deok-gi’s urging, she reluctantly picked up her chopsticks. Already anxious about being late, Pil-sun felt grateful to this young man.
Byeong-hwa didn’t like seeing Pil-sun behave so timidly. She was articulate, she could talk with other men, even when meeting them for the first time, and her outspokenness had earned her the nickname “Miss Know-It-All.” It didn’t become her, this acting clueless like an old-fashioned woman confined to her home.
It is because he has money? Or because he’s handsome? Byeong-hwa regretted introducing them. Was it jealousy? No, he was simply worried that his friend might confuse the girl or shake the ideological foundation that Byeong-hwa had been nurturing in her with such special care.
When Pil-sun had finished most of her tempura udon, she put down her chopsticks, quietly wiped her mouth, and whispered to Byeong-hwa that she really must go.
Deok-gi wanted to order something more for her, but Byeong-hwa said that they’d better send her home before it got too late. The two young men saw Pil-sun off at the door.
“Too bad she couldn’t go back to school. She seems really bright!” Deok-gi’s praise was genuine. He was touched by her situation.
“Well, if you really think so, why don’t you give her the chance?”
“If that’s what she wants, it shouldn’t be too hard. It would be great if she came and stayed at the Hwagae-dong house. My sister feels lonely as the only child living there. Do you think we couldn’t pay her tuition?”
Byeong-hwa had mentioned it offhandedly, but Deok-gi was quite serious.
“If that’s the case, why don’t you give me the chance instead?” Byeong-hwa said sarcastically. “It wouldn’t work because I’m a man?” He went on in the same unpleasant tone. “Isn’t it obvious why a man would want to pay for a girl’s education? It seems you’re not quite satisfied with having only your wife around. You fell for that girl the minute you saw her, didn’t you? Ha!”
“Just how long are you going to go on insulting me?” Deok-gi responded sharply, but then he managed a laugh. “If you’re willing to compromise with my father, why don’t you tell him to clear out a room so you can stay there, too?”
“Stop it. If I could compromise with your father, I would have done it already with my own!” Byeong-hwa said. Complaining that his head hurt, he picked up his glass and tossed back his drink.