“I don’t know what you think of Gyeong-ae,” Deok-gi rattled on, “but Byeong-hwa has become close with her simply because they work together. There’s nothing more to it. I don’t think she’s the type of person who’d be satisfied with quiet work in a shop or at home. On the other hand, if you consider Kim’s future and are willing to rescue him from the hard life he’s leading now, I think marrying him is the only way.”
Pil-sun just sat there, her head bowed.
“Of course, your parents must have their say, and perhaps it isn’t something I should get involved in, but I’m in a position to look at the possibilities from both sides, so I thought I’d ask your opinion first.”
“I don’t know,” Pil-sun managed to answer.
“Then I should approach your parents?”
Pil-sun made no reply. He didn’t think it meant that she was against the idea, so he took it up again from a different angle. “I’m not talking about this matter only for Kim’s benefit. I see that the shop is doing quite well, and I thought that if the two of you, well, not just the two of you, but your whole family joined forces, it could guarantee a good living.”
She didn’t say whether she liked the idea or not, though she now understood Deok-gi’s good intentions. He was concerned about his friend as well as her family’s livelihood. But there was no need to set Byeong-hwa up as her prospective husband, and besides, it was impossible to just ignore Gyeong-ae.
When a brief silence descended upon them, Pil-sun took the opportunity to take her leave. Nodding her head slightly she said, “I’d better go. Please don’t talk about it any more. I’ll. ” She couldn’t continue, her eyes welling up.
She was going to say that she’d take care of herself, but she couldn’t speak as she fought to suppress her sudden tears. From all that Deok-gi had said, one thing was clear: he had no romantic feelings for her, and it angered her to think that she had even entertained the idea. But she had no one to whom she could pour out her sorrow, and she was sure that this man had no idea how she felt about him.
Deok-gi was astonished by Pil-sun’s angry voice and tear-filled eyes. Knowing little about the psychology of young women, he was anxious. What had he said to offend her so?
“Please don’t take it the wrong way if I didn’t express myself well. I hope you’ll give my advice serious thought,” Deok-gi said, rising to his feet.
Pil-sun grew more frustrated and resentful. How could he not know how she felt? Perhaps he was feigning ignorance so that she would give up on him.
Pil-sun turned around to pick up her scarf, which she had almost forgotten, and was about to leave when the door suddenly flew open. Deok-gi’s mother blocked the way, though Pil-sun hadn’t heard her approach the room. Pil-sun felt her blood run cold. She stepped aside, closer to Deok-gi.
“After you take your medicine, you’d better lie down and look after yourself.” His mother seemed to be saying this for Pil-sun’s benefit, looking her up and down. Pil-sun was completely embarrassed. Moments ago, she was worried about crossing the veranda and walking through the yard under scrutiny. Now she didn’t know where to stand. Had there been a mouse hole, she would have scurried into it.
“What are you doing, Mother? Please go back to your room.” Deok-gi stood beside the humiliated young woman as if he were physically protecting her. He seemed prepared to shove his own mother aside if necessary.
“There’s no reason for you to go out. It’s cold outside. I’ll show your guest to the door. You should lie down.” She stepped aside for Pil-sun, saying, “I’m sorry, but please go. Come again after he gets better if you must.”
Pil-sun didn’t remember how she fled the house. She regained her wits only after having walked for some time. All that Deok-gi had said and witnessed was a haze. What was clear as she came to the edge of the veranda was the door of the other room opening a crack, and the face of a pretty girl peering out. She must have been the sister Deok-gi had talked about. Pil-sun was convinced that she must have struck the girl as a loose woman.
After Pil-sun left, the house was thrown into an uproar.
Still standing on the veranda, Deok-gi’s mother spewed words like daggers toward the main room. “Is that tramp married? What does she think she’s doing — coming here every day? Does she think she lives here?”
Deok-gi stroked his beardless chin, trying to contain his fury. He replied, “Please go to your room. It’s cold outside.”
“You should have more dignity. Or are you repeating your father’s history? Why do you invite a grocer’s daughter into the main room and chat away like that? You should bear in mind your status — you’re the head of the family now!”
Deok-gi sat silently; his mother was being hysterical again. Her mention of his father’s indiscretions stung him, and he felt a surge of rebelliousness. He was his father’s son all right, but he didn’t want to hear that he was like his father. He was nowhere near being the womanizer that his father was.
“Do you know how Gyeong-ae started coming to our house? Your father was sorry for her father after he was released from prison. The man didn’t have any money to buy medicine. Then that whole family latched onto your father, as if he were a money-bearing tree.”
Deok-gi’s blood ran cold.
“The father of the tramp who just left spent years in prison, and now he’s in the hospital, all beaten up, I hear. How long have you known them? Why did you call a doctor for them and take them a blanket? Now you’re inviting her into our home. You’re going to pay for his medicine, you’re going to pay for his hospital fees, you’re going to pay for everything, right? If she’s not just like that leach Hong Gyeong-ae — they’re all the same: the Suwon woman, Gyeong-ae, Ui-gyeong, and. What’s this grocery girl’s name again? Why is this happening to us? Why are you trying to follow in your father’s footsteps? Is it because your ancestors’ gravesites are inauspicious?”
Deok-gi wanted to stuff his fingers into his ears.
“Why are you paying attention to other women? Whose feelings are you going to hurt? Who are you going to abandon and starve?” Her daughter-in-law was attempting to lead her by the arm to her room. “Please go inside. You might catch a cold.”
The mother lashed out at her, too. “And what’s wrong with you? Why don’t you do anything? What are you made of? You treated her the other day to a table full of food, waited on her, and even ate with her. You have no guts!”
“What can I do? Let him take a concubine if he wants to. I don’t care.” The daughter-in-law smiled.
“This is ridiculous! Who said I was going to take a concubine?” Deok-gi yelled to his wife from the main room. “Just take Mother to her room.”
“You act as if this doesn’t bother you because you’re so young,” the mother-in-law said to her daughter-in-law. “It’s not a matter concerning you only. Both you and I came into the Jo clan with the responsibility of making it grow and prosper. It was my fate to end up like this, but think what would happen to the Jo family if the same thing happens to you!”
Since Pil-sun’s previous visit, the mother-in-law had been nagging her daughter-in-law, displeased that the young woman took things so calmly. The truth was she didn’t want to see her son and his wife on truly good terms. The old woman had recently developed the habit of aggravating everyone around her and making scenes; she seemed to have nothing better to do. She was in a phase of life in which women tend to grow cranky anyway, but her inclination toward hysteria had become second nature for her in recent years. It was a tendency she had acquired while quarreling with her husband over the years, and perhaps was somewhat understandable, as she had lived like a widow since the whole Gyeong-ae affair.