Here, Kyungwoo was Rob. When he asked her to come up with an English name for Joan, who couldn’t pronounce Kyungwoo properly, she asked how about Robert.
“I don’t like it. Sounds like robot.”
“Hmm? But it’s a cool actor’s name. Robert Redford. Then how about Rob? It’s easy and cool.”
Young Kyungwoo, who didn’t know Robert and Rob were the same name, was fooled by Joan’s bait-and-switch. By the time he found out later, it was too late to change it back.
“Of course I’m fine with Kyungwoo too. Kyungwoo is very charming.”
Saying so, Joan rubbed her thumb and index finger together. She didn’t forget to wink. Seeing the gesture, Kyungwoo burst into laughter.
“I didn’t know you were so materialistic.”
“Everyone’s materialistic.”
While exchanging jokes, they had stopped in front of a quaint two-story brick house. In front of the house stood a wooden sign that read ‘Dr. Park’s clinic for children.’
As they got out of the car, the front door flung open and a teenage girl burst out, her disheveled black hair flying.
“Kyaaaah! Rob!”
“Chris.”
He caught the girl charging like a tackle and spun around.
Christine Park. Joan’s daughter, almost old enough to enter university.
“How long are you staying this time? You’ll stay past the weekend, right?”
“I don’t want to disturb your SAT studying.”
“My grades are always excellent.”
“Chris. Rob hurt his arm. Stop bothering him.”
At Joan’s words, Chris belatedly looked at his arm. Like mother, like daughter. When Rob took out his luggage from the trunk, Chris pounced on it and snatched it away.
“It’s a hostage. I’ll return it in a week.”
“Hey.”
He climbed up the front steps briskly, following Chris who had dashed up. Joan followed behind, shouting.
“Hide it well. Don’t get caught in 30 minutes like last time.”
The other side of the globe.
Entering the most peaceful space where he existed as Rob, not Jung Kyungwoo, Kyungwoo forgot the pain that had tormented him all last night.
After the noisy dinner time passed, Chris went up to her room upstairs, saying she had to do homework. Joan finished cleaning up and then soaked the dishes in water.
“I should have done it.”
“Rob. You’re a guest, so sit there and drink some warm cocoa.”
“Cocoa at age thirty-one? You have beer, right?”
“A crybaby like you? Beer?”
Joan said ‘crybaby’ in Korean. She had called him that since Kyungwoo was little.
“This crybaby became an adult 10 years ago.”
“I’m not sure, looking at how you fled here with a frowning face? Beer isn’t good for injuries, so drink cocoa obediently today.”
Joan was firm. As a doctor, she was a merciless tyrant when it came to wounds, so Kyungwoo obediently sipped the sweet cocoa.
After finishing the dishes, Joan took out a can of beer from the refrigerator. When he protested with his eyes asking if this was fair, Joan shrugged her shoulders.
“My hands are both fine.”
Sitting across from him at the table, she pushed open the can lid ostentatiously and cheerfully.
Pop! Pssssh!
White steam was sucked into Joan’s lips. A refreshing gulp followed.
“Phew.”
“You look like someone drinking their first beer after parole following 10 years in prison.”
“These days, a can of beer is a great comfort, you know. I miss it when I don’t have it.”
“Isn’t that dangerous?”
“It’s not to the point of writing myself a prescription yet.”
Joan, who had joked around, laughed quietly. The atmosphere became calm.
“When you called before, I thought it was a temporary phenomenon.”
Joan murmured quietly while looking at his hand.
“It’s not self-harm.”
“That’s what I thought. Physical self-harm isn’t your domain. Did you go there by any chance?”
As expected, she was sharp. Instead of nodding, Kyungwoo turned his cocoa cup.
“I thought I’d be okay.”
“The very act of renting that room long-term means you’re not okay. It would have been better not to go.”
“Is that advice as a doctor?”
“While drinking? As if. Just words from a friend who knows you well. It’s better to stay as far away as possible from places where trauma remains. Some idiot doctors say to face and overcome it. Well. That’s advice for people who don’t have the capacity to avoid it.”
“Run away when disadvantageous.”
Kyungwoo repeated what Joan always said.
“That’s it. Do you have to be in Korea?”
“That’s over with.”
Jung Kyungwoo, return home immediately and receive heir training. Jung Taeho had decided that as soon as he graduated from university in this region.
“So how was it when you went?”
“You were right, Joan. I shouldn’t have set foot there at all. I couldn’t even enter the room and ran away.”
He left out the part about actually fainting and having that damn prosecutor bastard film perverted footage. He would talk in detail between doctor and patient, but right now they were friends.
“Things aren’t going well?”
“The company is fine. It’s just that one guy who suddenly appeared is bothersome. Every time I face that bastard, I’m overcome with unpleasant feelings……”
While speaking, Kyungwoo trembled slightly at his fingertips. Just thinking about it made his blood boil. Joan, who keenly caught that, asked.
“By any chance, was there an association?”
“Maybe? He’s different from other people. I couldn’t stand being with him.”
“Tell me in detail.”
“It was a very spacious restaurant, and on one side there was a terrace with a view. There were staff too. The door was practically open, a place familiar to me. But while we were talking, I couldn’t breathe.”
“Did you lose consciousness?”
“……Briefly.”
When he hesitated then answered truthfully, Joan’s expression softened even more. It was a habit she had developed to reassure young patients when their condition was serious.
“So I ran away here. I needed to calm down first.”
“Your hand?”
“It really has nothing to do with it. I just sprained it when I fell while hurrying.”
The finger visible at the end of the bandage was swollen like a thumb. He hoped Joan, who specialized in child psychology counseling, had forgotten what she learned during clinical practice at the hospital.
“If necessary, I can prescribe more of the tranquilizers you used to take. Do you want that?”
“Thank you.”
“But it would be better to avoid the person who became the trigger as much as possible. Is it a young man again?”
“Yes.”
He answered cheerfully, but it was only a response to the latter. Avoiding that bastard was difficult. Moreover, from now on, he had to see his face once every two weeks.
“If necessary, I can hand over your treatment file. Think about getting counseling therapy in Korea. You can’t always make time to cross the Pacific.”
“It’s not that serious. I’ll call if it’s urgent.”
“Think about the time difference. I’m old and need lots of sleep.”
“Come on. You’re still in your prime.”
“Thanks. But getting treatment in Korea isn’t a joke. Consider it seriously. You can reduce internal stress by sharing it with someone. If you don’t like a professional, a friend is fine too.”
“I’ll think about it.”
“You must be tired. I left the room you always use empty.”
“I was going to book a hotel.”
At those words, Joan made an angry face.
“If you do that, I’ll kick you out of this house before Chris kills you.”
The contradiction of kicking him out if he slept outside the house was an excellent warning. Certain of victory, she smiled and put the empty can in the trash, then went upstairs.
Left alone, Kyungwoo quietly placed the cocoa mug in the sink. Then, when he opened the refrigerator door to take out a cold beer can—
“Rob! I’m watching! Put my beer down!”
Joan’s shout came from upstairs. Joan Park, like a ghost.
“It’s soda!”
His hand quickly went to the soft drink. Kyungwoo headed to the living room, sipping a drink that didn’t suit his taste.
As if it were his own house, he turned on the TV and changed channels. It had been a while since he’d seen a football game. Just then, his alma mater’s team was playing an away game. He was lucky.
Leaning on the cozy sofa, Kyungwoo became absorbed in the screen.
It was the best moment to spend the night without any thoughts, without any pain, without any nightmares.
After going upstairs and finishing her shower, Joan came back downstairs. A past football game was in full swing on the large plasma TV.
“Rob?”
She called softly to the figure sprawled on the sofa. As always, Rob, who probably hadn’t slept properly throughout the flight, predictably didn’t answer.
Joan brought a thin blanket and covered him. Instead of turning off the TV, she only lowered the volume. So the low TV sound would emit optimal white noise for deep sleep.
“Really.”
Looking at Rob, who had fallen asleep as if he’d fainted, pale and haggard, Joan put both hands on her hips. A sigh came out naturally.
Since leaving America and returning to Korea, he had become drastically thinner each time they occasionally met. He looked solid on the outside as if wearing a bulletproof suit, but he was still a child who needed a lot of care.
Clicking her tongue, Joan headed to the clinic on the first floor. She was going to write a prescription in advance, not knowing when Rob might suddenly leave again.
She took out an old, worn file from the deepest part of the clinic cabinet. On top of the file, as thick as an encyclopedia, ‘Jung Kyungwoo’ was written in English.
“Let’s see.”
While putting on the reading glasses she had left on the desk, Joan opened the file. Memories of making the first medical records came flooding back.
When Joan first met Rob, she was a freshman who had just entered medical school. No matter how much she saved, tuition was insufficient. She worked part-time day and night.
She heard through the Seattle Korean network that a family from Korea was looking for a babysitter who knew Korean culture well. It was even in Portland, not Seattle. She called immediately, worried someone else would take it.
She was hired on the spot for being Korean-American, a medical student, and a lively young woman. She first saw Rob at the daycare that day.
The skinny boy with a white face was pale throughout, as if chased by a ghost.
“Hi, I’m Joan. I’m going to be your friend from now on.”
She spoke carefully. At that time, she didn’t know if he couldn’t understand English. Rob stayed crouched in a corner, warily watching Joan throughout as if anxious. He was like a wounded stray cat.
