Before Hyedam could stop him or offer assistance, Ondal had already blended in among the people working in the cabbage field. Well, “blended in” was an exaggeration—he stood out no matter where he was. He was navigating through the cabbage field wearing boots instead of the ill-fitting slippers, perhaps borrowed from the work crew.
“Did you put the house on the market?”
Unable to decide whether he should follow Ondal and help with the field work or sort through his grandmother’s belongings, Hyedam somehow found himself inside the house with the grandmothers.
How could you handle all that alone? These things need a woman’s touch. For the grandmothers who had come into the house with those words, Hyedam made instant coffee and stood awkwardly in the middle of the living room.
“Yes, I went to town yesterday and told the real estate agent. I asked them to sell it quickly even if it’s below market price, but they weren’t sure when it would sell.”
“Who’s going to readily buy a house in these mountains? Still, everything has its rightful owner, so don’t be in a rush.”
“That’s what I’m trying to do. Please have some coffee. I’m sorry I don’t have anything else to offer…”
“What do you need to offer? Coffee is plenty. Living well and taking care of yourself is the way to honor your grandmother. You know that, right?”
“Yes.”
“By the way, is that friend of yours an exchange student or something? He speaks Korean well.”
“What? Ah, yes, yes.”
“Ondal is his Korean name?”
“Y-yes, that’s right.”
As expected, a barrage of questions came from the curious grandmothers. While having this non-stop conversation, the household items were being sorted one by one by the grandmothers’ quick hands.
Hyedam had come down during the last Chuseok to see his grandmother and thought he was somewhat prepared for the passing of his elderly grandmother. During the time he kept vigil at the sparsely visited funeral hall, what Hyedam felt was loneliness.
The fact that he was left alone in the world. The fact that there was no one left to whom he could freely show his childish side, no one to rely on, no one to call when times were tough—it didn’t even bring tears to his eyes. He just sat there vacantly.
Listening to the chatter of the busy grandmothers helping out, Hyedam found himself running all their errands. He placed garbage bags full of trash in the yard, moved things as told, and cleaned what needed cleaning. He moved constantly, without even time to think.
What had seemed too daunting to even begin when he was alone was quickly resolved.
“Everyone’s busy. I’ll go make some noodles.”
“Slice some fresh kimchi too.”
“If there are clams, put in plenty. Clams are better than anchovies.”
“There are no clams. Just eat what’s given.”
“Take some from my refrigerator.”
Even deciding on a lunch menu involved a flurry of exchanges. Following the grandmothers’ instructions, Hyedam dragged another large garbage bag out to the yard and looked toward the cabbage field in front of the house.
He was worried whether Ondal, who was awkward with household chores, would be able to do field work properly. But his concerns soon proved unfounded.
The professional workers were shaking and binding the cabbages, while Ondal was picking up the cabbages they had pulled and placing them in boxes on the rail. Watching him do this most simple yet strength and skill-requiring task, Hyedam’s heart fluttered again.
Being rather quiet, it was impossible to know what he was thinking. In a situation where he was thrown into an unfamiliar environment, Ondal had found something he could do and was working harder than anyone else.
Yesterday, he woke up in a strange place with no memory. Just processing the situation and organizing his thoughts would seem to take days, yet Ondal acted as if he had mastered everything.
Hyedam felt a bitterness in his mouth seeing Ondal voluntarily doing field work without anyone pushing him. Is this what it tastes like when coffee beans are burned too much and only the bitterness remains?
Straightening his back as if tired from the continuous labor of bending and straightening, Ondal patted his lower back.
Do we have pain relief patches at home? Thinking that he would likely suffer from muscle pain tonight, Hyedam awkwardly raised his hand when their eyes met from a distance. Though the distance made it hard to see Ondal’s expression clearly, it seemed like he smiled slightly as he raised his arm to wipe the sweat from his forehead.
They hadn’t properly discussed anything, including whether the lip collision last night was intentional or a mistake. But now Ondal didn’t seem difficult to approach. Perhaps they were comrades, alone in a harsh world, having to adapt and survive somehow? Hyedam headed straight for the field.
“Aren’t you tired?”
“Wouldn’t I be?”
“…The grandmother is making noodles. Let’s eat together.”
“Okay.”
While chatting briefly with Ondal and looking around the field, Hyedam noticed that he was focusing intensely on something other than himself. Soon realizing that Ondal was looking at the entrance to the mountain right next to the field, Hyedam looked in the same direction, but the mountain entrance was just that—an entrance.
“Bring a gun.”
At his words as he removed the work gloves he had been wearing, Hyedam blinked.
“Not a handgun, a hunting one.”
Gun? Guuun? Guuuun? South Korea is a country where gun possession is not allowed. Even if gun possession were legal, it seems unlikely that someone would possess a variety of guns for different purposes like handguns and hunting rifles.
“What?”
“Wild boars came again yesterday. Seeing that they keep coming down, it seems like we need to take care of it. If they’re lurking around despite so many people, it’s not normal.”
“…”
“Don’t you have one?”
“How would I? Besides, I don’t see anything.”
“There, behind those weeds and the large rock. Do you have a bow, either?”
What kind of place did you live in to talk as if it’s natural to have handguns, hunting rifles, and bows? In this absurd situation, Hyedam continued to look at the same spot Ondal was staring at.
“No horse either.”
When Hyedam ignored the question that didn’t even deserve an answer, Ondal finally crossed the line.
“You do know there’s none even as you ask, right? Besides, what can you see? How far is it from here to there? Do you have vision better than 2.0 or something?”
“If only I had a horse and a hunting rifle, I could probably clean up the area in about half a day.”
At his muttering that sounded like he was talking to himself, Hyedam took a short breath. It was clear that he hadn’t lived an ordinary life. Riding horses, carrying guns, and hunting in the mountains seemed neither new nor unusual to him. Plus, his vision was probably at least 2.0.
“Was hunting your hobby?”
“I used to go quite often with Daddy. Though Mommy didn’t like it.”
“You’re saying you have horses and guns?”
“At the main house, yes.”
“Where is the main house?”
“…”
The conversation, carried on without looking at each other, abruptly ended there. Looking back at Ondal, he had furrowed his brow and was still looking at the edge of the forest, but he didn’t continue speaking.
“Let’s go. The noodles will be cooked soon.”
If vague memories of the past were returning, his memory might come back faster than expected. Though he didn’t say who Daddy and Mommy were, or where the main house with horses and guns was, Hyedam hoped that everything he mentioned existed. There’s a world of difference between having nowhere to return to and having somewhere to go back to.
He had a Daddy, a Mommy, a main house, horses, and the mention of a main house suggested there were other houses too. The sense of shared circumstance that Hyedam had felt until just now disappeared in an instant.
With his mouth closed and brow furrowed, Ondal hardly spoke even while eating noodles amid the grandmothers’ chatter. His only words were perfectly formal ones: “Thank you for the meal” when receiving the bowl of noodles with both hands, and “Thank you for the delicious meal” after finishing.
Since he had agreed to work for the day, Ondal went right back to the field after the meal. Left alone in the house that had been quickly emptied and organized, Hyedam opened the freezer. Since he couldn’t take all the food in the refrigerator to Seoul, most of it had been distributed to the grandmothers.
In the large freezer, only two mackerel and a chunk of pork remained.
He must have wanted to eat meat. The first thing Ondal had asked when inquiring about the daily wage was whether he could eat meat or not. Having already missed the morning bus, there was no way to go to town to buy meat. The only option was to go out tomorrow with the day’s wages and buy some…
Hyedam placed the frozen meat outside and went to rummage through the storage shed. In summer, he would come with friends and enjoy camping that wasn’t quite camping in the yard. It would be a bit cold, but this would be the last camping at this house.
Not alone, but with someone. Plus, there was leftover soju from yesterday.
He pulled out something resembling a sooty metal can, rather than a sleek, fancy barbecue grill. He stacked firewood under the metal can, washed the grill, and got vegetables from the neighboring grandmother.
Moving between the house and the yard preparing dinner, Hyedam’s gaze kept turning toward the field.
“He really looks like someone who works in the fields.”
He shook his head at the sight of Ondal with a towel around his neck, wearing boots as he moved around.
In the late afternoon, hearing the work foreman’s voice announcing the end of the day’s work, Hyedam crouched in the yard lighting the fire. The table that had been in the small living room was now on the wooden platform, and on it were freshly cooked rice, vegetables, fresh kimchi, and other side dishes to eat with pork, all arranged in a rustic way.
Holding a torch and waiting for the fire to catch properly, Hyedam grinned at Ondal who was pushing open the old iron gate.
“Go wash up. I’ll grill the meat.”
Ondal placed a white envelope on the wooden platform and shook the towel that had been around his neck, brushing off the dirt on his body.
“Take this.”
Watching Ondal who was brushing off the dirt and going inside without an answer, Hyedam saw the envelope with the day’s wages on the platform and shouted.
“It’s yours.”
“What? Why are you giving this to me?”
“I’m hungry. I want to eat meat.”
Without answering the question, Ondal went straight into the house, leaving Hyedam alone again with his gaze lingering briefly on the envelope before disappearing.
“Strange guy.”
Thinking that tomorrow he should go to town and buy him some proper clothes, Hyedam picked up the envelope and put it in his pocket.
