“What. He’s just an ajussi.”
“That’s why he’s cute.”
He had no idea what young people were thinking. Even though he’d encountered countless newly appointed officers, it wasn’t easy to follow Baek Sang-eun’s way of thinking. What was cute about an ajussi? He scoffed at such nonsensical talk but couldn’t say he wouldn’t eat the blood sausage soup.
“From next time, tell me when you don’t like something. Sorry Uncle couldn’t be more considerate.”
“I eat anything well.”
“Really?”
“But that earlier was my first time eating it.”
“You ate blood sausage soup for the first time?”
Baek Sang-eun nodded while cutting a pancake into bite-sized pieces and holding it in front of Go Seok-jun’s mouth. How could he have never eaten blood sausage soup? Absorbed in that thought, he opened his mouth without realizing it. The maple syrup on his lips was sticky.
“If it doesn’t suit your taste, you don’t have to eat it. This place is nice. I like eating pizza and drinking beer at places like this too.”
“I know lots of good places.”
“Really? Then next time we should go where Sang-eun wants to go. This place has really changed a lot. Do you remember when you came here with Uncle’s girlfriend when you were little?”
Baek Sang-eun answered half-heartedly with a “yes” and lowered his eyes. When he bowed his head, his well-defined nose bridge was accentuated. Even when he was young, his nose bridge was pretty and prominent, but as his bones grew, the lines of his jaw and nose bridge thickened and became masculine. Not just saying this because he’s my nephew, but he was too good-looking to just catch fish in the countryside.
While looking at his face and looking out the window, one plate disappeared. Go Seok-jun was a bit surprised by the appetite of someone in his twenties. Actually, it was too sweet for his taste, so the one bite Baek Sang-eun gave him was his limit.
“Was it good?”
“Yes. The blood sausage soup earlier was good too. Really.”
“Alright. Our Sang-eun eats anything well, but Uncle overdid it. Shall we go out and walk a bit?”
He teased Baek Sang-eun again with a grin as he stood up. The beach had quite a lot of foot traffic. Even though it was still cold, he saw tourists who took off their shoes and dipped their feet in the water.
The wind carrying the salty smell rustled gently. Seagulls squawked occasionally, and Baek Sang-eun hummed a tune. The low resonance mixed with the sound of waves was pleasant to hear. Walking together with the tourists somehow made him feel like he was on a trip too. It was a different feeling from when he went out on patrol.
As he was enjoying this leisure, someone coming from the opposite direction recognized him. Go Seok-jun had to think for quite a while about who he was.
“Hyung, it’s me, Park Gyeong-min. Your junior from Yongju High.”
He was a junior who attended middle and high school together. In Yongju, there was only one middle school and one academic high school anyway, so everyone was alumni. Except for cases like Baek Sang-eun who graduated from a marine specialized high school.
“What brings you all the way out to Yongju?”
“Sang-eun-ah, say hello. Uncle’s high school junior, Park Gyeong-min.”
“Heey, Captain Baek! How’ve you been?”
Park Gyeong-min poked Baek Sang-eun’s forearm with his fist. Their schools and ages were different, so he naturally thought they’d be meeting for the first time, but Park Gyeong-min and Baek Sang-eun seemed to know each other and naturally exchanged greetings. Anyway, this tiny town had no secrets and no first meetings.
“Are you visiting? I think this is the first time I’m seeing you since Grandmother’s funeral?”
“Well… I’m not visiting, I got transferred to the police substation here.”
“Huh? Not even a station but a substation? Is that possible?”
“Uh, um… I’m not feeling well, so I’m taking a break for a bit. I’m just here temporarily, temporarily. It’s possible because I’m a land police officer. Here, land police are powerless and the Coast Guard is like this, right?”
When Go Seok-jun rattled off lies while giving a thumbs up, Park Gyeong-min laughed, “Haha.” Park Gyeong-min worked as a Coast Guard officer in Yongju. The majority left for the city as soon as they became adults like Go Seok-jun, but some remained in their hometown to work in fisheries or as civil servants.
Park Gyeong-min, who had never left his hometown, mentioned the names of people he knew at Yongju Police Station one by one and acted high and mighty, saying to contact him anytime if he needed help.
“Right. When you get tired of running around in the city, you should come back home. Like a salmon.”
Salmon don’t return to their hometown because they’re running around but to lay eggs, but he didn’t bother to refute his junior’s words. Eleven years of working life. Even if he could see right through him, he didn’t forget to praise him.
“It’s nice coming to my hometown. I have a junior who works as a powerful Coast Guard officer too. You help him out a lot.”
Baek Sang-eun, who had just greeted him and stepped back to chew on his iced coffee straw, swaggered over. Even though there were two police officers, he was impressed that the kid wasn’t intimidated, so Go Seok-jun was inwardly pleased.
“What are you saying, hyungnim?”
“What?”
“Our Uncle is your senior, so what’s this about running around?”
Not only was Baek Sang-eun not intimidated, he even approached close enough for their noses to touch and threatened him. Fear momentarily overlaid Park Gyeong-min’s face, whose build was much smaller than Baek Sang-eun’s.
This was a primal issue that came from size. Like beasts that establish hierarchy through mounting.
“Whew, so fierce… Captain Baek, I’m saying it because Uncle and hyung are close. Seok-jun hyung, let’s have a drink sometime soon, yeah?”
Park Gyeong-min, who had frozen for a moment, joked around as he moved away into the distance. Where to use that ill-mannered attitude? he’d thought, but when he was on his side, it was quite useful. Even though it wasn’t exactly pleasant to have the young guy out front like a bodyguard, Go Seok-jun put his arm around Baek Sang-eun’s shoulder and clung close to him.
“How do you know Gyeong-min?”
“He’s also my friend’s older brother.”
“Those big guys from back then?”
Baek Sang-eun nodded. Among the guys he’d jumped to conclusions about being gangsters just from their appearance, there was a Coast Guard younger brother. Friend, Uncle is sorry. He only apologized inwardly.
“Since hyungnim is in the Coast Guard anyway. I’m the type to serve him respectfully.”
For someone who says he serves respectfully, didn’t he growl a bit too much? Still, the words about needing to serve wouldn’t be wrong. Like Park Gyeong-min said, and like the Chief said, in a fishing village, the Coast Guard’s power was bound to be stronger than land police. The police substation was positioned at the very bottom of that hierarchy. Even though work was just work, it was disheartening.
He didn’t want to run into people he knew. Especially if they were in the same industry, even more so. No matter what excuse he made, they would know he came down because of something unsavory. Maybe the Chief knew everything too and was just pretending not to.
“Let’s go, Sang-eun-ah.”
Go Seok-jun bent his eyes into crescent moon shapes and grinned. Even if my pride is hurt, what can I do but smile? Whatever works, works.
Baek Sang-eun didn’t ask anything and just nodded. Even while driving down the wide-open coastal road, his insides were noisy. The road home is always long. In the city and in the countryside alike.
After driving a long way and finally opening the gate, a puppy came running and placed its front paws on Go Seok-jun’s thigh. At the unexpected contact, Go Seok-jun’s eyes widened considerably.
“There’s even someone who came out to greet me?”
“Ari, come here.”
Making a mockery of the words about coming out to greet, the brief touch ended with one word from its owner. There was a paw print pattern on his expensive pants, so Go Seok-jun quickly brushed off the dirt first.
“Sang-eun-ah, you worked hard today. Uncle is going to rest now, so you go home and rest well too.”
“Yes.”
Baek Sang-eun, who answered politely, began to walk toward the house instead of toward the gate. With his long legs and wide stride, like using the art of shrinking ground, he disappeared in an instant.
“Hey, Sang-eun-ah! Where are you going?”
“I’m going home to rest well.”
“I mean, why aren’t you going to your house… Ah, did you live here?”
“Yes.”
At first, he vaguely thought Baek Sang-eun would live near the port or town area. Because there was no reason for a young guy to live in Saetgol. Then on the day he drank at Aunt Bong-seon’s place, he wondered why the neighborhood patrol came all the way here.
If he bought the house, it was natural to stay in this house. The port was right in front, so it would be convenient to go out fishing too.
It’s not even a big secret, so why hide it? Go Seok-jun smiled broadly, happy that Baek Sang-eun lived in this house. This was similar to the kind when a puppy greeted him when he came home.
“Then you should have said so! This works out well. Uncle was bored living alone in this big house. Let’s play together with Uncle.”
“…”
“If you don’t want to play, shall we take a nap together?”
He quickly chased after Baek Sang-eun and put his arm around his shoulder. Baek Sang-eun had a surprisingly obedient side and didn’t shake off Go Seok-jun’s arm.
He neatly took off his shoes on the stone step and stepped up onto the wooden floor. He opened the door to the annex on the outside where guests used to stay, not the main building where the family lived together. Until now, he hadn’t even paid attention to the annex, so he hadn’t noticed.
If I’d known this, I would have opened it once. Curious about how he’d decorated and was living, he opened the door without even getting the landlord’s permission.
“Huh? Don’t you have any luggage?”
There was no inflection or emotion in the voice that said “yes.” The annex was just one room and one small bathroom, a small enough space to see the whole thing at a glance. Go Seok-jun slowly checked the four corners. One neatly folded blanket in the corner was all the luggage. He seemed like a guest staying in the annex rather than the landlord.
“Well, yeah… That can happen. Then, shall we try sleeping in the guesthouse after a long time?”
It was rare for Go Seok-jun to sleep in the annex. When he was young, he had a strong perception that it was where guests came.
It was only after getting married that he spent a night in the annex. Due to Grandmother’s consideration that the grandson’s daughter-in-law would be uncomfortable if they slept together in the main house, he always unpacked in the annex with his ex-wife. He could still hear his ex-wife’s voice whispering, It feels like we’re on a trip. It had been a really long time since he entered the annex without his wife.
With familiar movements, he spread out the blanket neatly, then took off the shirt he was wearing and hung it on the hanger on the wall. In an instant, Go Seok-jun, now in a short-sleeved t-shirt and drawers, slipped into the blanket.
The landlord sat at the edge of the blanket scratching his cheek. Awkward and embarrassed, just like someone who came to someone else’s house.
“What are you doing? Come in.”
