“Look at you! You’re really frightened! You couldn’t have used up all your capital already. If I’d really given you a thousand, I might have to go to jail with you.”
“A three-year jail sentence comes to more than a thousand days. If you were to pay one won a day, you’d have paid a thousand won by the end of your sentence. How about you just give me a thousand now?”
“No, no, how about you pay it back daily for a thousand days, with interest?”
“Since when did you open a debt-collection business? Or is that among your inherited assets, too?”
If it came to light that the thousand won was indeed “red money,” Deok-gi might find himself in trouble.
“I know that you’re skilled at manipulating people, but how can you cause trouble for me and then blame it all on me like this?” Deok-gi was willing to help Byeong-hwa, but a thousand won was out of the question.
“You’re being very stingy. Okay, I’ll pay you back daily for a thousand days, with interest.”
At last, Deok-gi agreed that after he got better, he’d go to the rice refinery and try to find the money to lend Byeong-hwa.
“There’s a strange rumor going around these days,” Byeong-hwa said as he was hurrying to take off, now that he had accomplished what he came for.
“What’s that?”
“I’m warning you, it’s going to sound nasty. Did you bribe the doctors?”
“What did you say?” Deok-gi sat up straight.
“They say your grandfather died because the wrong medicine was used and that you bribed the doctors after the funeral.”
“Who said that?”
“There’s no need to name names. ”
“Tell me exactly what you heard.”
“Was the wrong medicine really used? Did you actually bribe the doctors?”
“What crazy bastard is saying this?”
“Won-sam heard it from his friends and was so shocked that he rushed over last night to tell me.”
“Who did he hear it from?” Deok-gi wondered why Won-sam hadn’t come to him directly but realized, after a moment, that it would have been difficult for his servant to do so.
“It wouldn’t be good if the rumor spread.”
“Who’d go around talking such nonsense? Tell Won-sam to come see me.”
Byeong-hwa was about to leave, but Deok-gi held him back.
“I have a question.”
“What?”
“How long will you be in business?”
“As long as possible. Why? Is there a deadline? If business is good, I’d like to entrust it to Pil-sun’s family.”
“You’re beginning to see profits, I gather?”
Deok-gi now sounded more willing to provide capital, and Byeong-hwa answered eagerly, “It’s doing pretty well. It’s been less than a month, but all of us are making a living from it, and I’m sure we won’t lose money.”
“That’s actually why I’m bringing this up; shouldn’t you find a trustworthy person to settle down with?”
“What do you mean? All of us working at the store are trustworthy.”
“I mean how about taking this opportunity to get married?”
“Don’t be ridiculous! I didn’t start this business to have children and rub my fat belly flaunting how well-off I’ve become. This is not private property. I’m planning to turn the store into a source of livelihood for my comrades. Whatever you do, you have to eat. I went into business to prevent Pil-sun’s family from starving, as well as to use it as temporary protection for myself, but I’m also hoping to build it up as an organization of our own as it grows. Anyone can come in and take turns tending the store, but beyond feeding ourselves, we are not going to hoard the profits. No one is going to take away even a penny. That’s the kind of group I’m in.”
“Don’t you have to resolve your personal situation first?”
“What personal situation? Nothing is wrong with my lifestyle. Even if I’m not bound by marriage, I still have a number of responsibilities. Look at Pil-sun’s father. When a person marries, whoever he is, he expects his family to make sacrifices and ends up becoming useless himself.”
“You may think so now, but that’s not necessarily the case when you think in terms of a lifetime. What are you going to do with Pil-sun?”
“Now I get it.” Byeong-hwa snorted. “I’ll take care of Pil-sun’s material needs until she marries. Her parents are the ones who have to deal with the matter. If I intervene in her life beyond that, it wouldn’t be good for her. I also intend to keep up my relations with Gyeong-ae, even though I doubt it’ll last very long.” With such haughty words, he dismissed his friend’s concern.
“But is there any guarantee that things will go the way you expect? If you have a child, could the situation be handled so simply? You should marry her.”
“Who? Gyeong-ae?”
“How can it work with Gyeong-ae? Given your way of life and our family’s reputation. ”
“So that’s how it is. You’re telling me to give up Gyeong-ae and marry Pil-sun for your sake. This is a wild guess, but could it be that you want me to marry Pil-sun so you can forget your attraction to her? But, really, why are you bringing this up? I’ll manage somehow. As for you, just do what you’re supposed to. I don’t want to have anything to do with it!” Byeong-hwa was unexpectedly inflexible.
“What do you mean, ‘do what I’m supposed to’?”
“I’m talking about Pil-sun. It’s not that I think you should ask her to live with you. But she’s not interested in me. With me, she would suffer all her life. But don’t worry about it — she’ll go where she is destined to go. As for Gyeong-ae, what’s so wrong about her living with me? Anyway, whatever happens, there’s no need for me to rack my brain over it. Things will straighten themselves out one way or another.” With that, Byeong-hwa stood up.
“What will you do if one of them makes a demand?”
“Who, Pil-sun? She wouldn’t do that, and even if she did, I’d flatly refuse. Pil-sun is not the kind of person who’d become a comrade, and becoming a comrade will not make her happy, as you once said. Whoever she marries, her husband will have to be affluent enough to take on her parents as well.”
Deok-gi knew Byeong-hwa was right, and he feared for Pil-sun’s future. It is probably useless for me to meddle in her affairs, thought Deok-gi. Still, he would ask Pil-sun what she thought and try again to convince Byeong-hwa to come around to his idea.
Impatient, Deok-gi went out to the outer quarters to call Pil-sun. He disregarded his mother’s gripe that he was exposing himself to the cold just when he was on the verge of getting better.
Pil-sun answered the phone herself, and Deok-gi was glad to hear her voice. She sounded well enough, but her voice didn’t convey a hint of a smile as it had in the past. He suspected that she was trying to suppress her feelings, just as he was.
She apologized for not coming to see him, and said she had been busy. When Deok-gi asked her if she’d visit the next day, she reluctantly answered that she would. After hanging up, Deok-gi stood by the telephone, his mind a blank. He was ashamed of himself for having been so happy to hear her voice. He didn’t recognize himself.
Until this moment, he’d had nothing to be ashamed of. But hadn’t a false note crept into his attitude? Would he really bless a marriage between Byeong-hwa and Pil-sun from the bottom of his heart? Did he feel the same degree of sincerity in his concern for Byeong-hwa’s well-being as he did for Pil-sun’s future? If Pil-sun and Byeong-hwa were happily engaged, how would that make him feel? Could he bury his broken heart and live out the rest of his life?
No one realizes it, but I’m a hypocrite.