It didn’t matter what others ate, but catching and eating a dog that someone had raised and let loose was clearly a crime. Embezzlement of lost property, violation of the Animal Protection Act.
However, Go Seok-jun, a police officer who hadn’t even officially started work yet, didn’t even feel the motivation to arrest those punks on the spot. He didn’t want to create trouble and lose face right after coming down to his hometown.
In a neighborhood where a name tag reading “whose child” was plastered right on your forehead, would it do to have people say that Wolseon’s grandson came down and heartlessly arrested all the kids? The saying that even the police turn a blind eye to this neighborhood—this is the reason. They’re all someone’s child, someone’s grandchild.
‘Go and say something?’ and ‘Just pretend not to know and leave’ clashed in his head and finally shattered. As he swallowed his breath with a sniff and was about to turn around, “Hey, ahjussi!”
A voice like a ship’s horn called out to him. Go Seok-jun, who had been moving quietly to leave, turned his head. A rough-looking young man gestured toward Go Seok-jun.
“Ahjussi! Come over here for a moment!”
Go Seok-jun pointed at his chest with his index finger and mouthed, “Me?” Except for one person sitting with his back turned, the other two urgently gestured for him to come quickly. Even though it wasn’t hot, sweat ran down his spine.
Right. Since they called me first, let’s go and give them a stern warning. He steeled his resolve and walked toward the young men. The slippery soles of his slippers caused him to stagger, earning him ridicule, but he straightened his body to maintain his balance and stood before them.
Even though full summer hadn’t started yet, the young men were dressed in midsummer attire. Under their sleeveless shirts, their brawny forearms were covered with tattoos whose meanings were unclear. When catching fraud criminals, it was always a whole bunch of guys exactly like these.
Among them, the one sitting with his back to Go Seok-jun had grown his hair long and disheveled, with the stray hairs sticking out from the roughly tied-up strands curling. Below that, his broadly set shoulders, his shoulder blades protruding slightly as he bent his waist, the overwhelming line of his thick torso.
A strong stream proves a man.
It was a mystery why the phrase that had grated on Go Seok-jun suddenly came to mind. Though he would never know in his life what kind of stream these guys had, anyway, it was clear they were guys who could use some force. It was fortunate there were only three of them; if there had been more, it would have looked like a gangster picnic.
It was when he was moving his lips to say something as an adult, not as a police officer.
“You’re here on a trip, right? We’re guys who know the aesthetics of sharing, you know? Since you came all the way to Misong Port, eat with us.”
The guy with small eyes who looked good-natured laughed, “Hehe.” Even though it was a generous offer to share and eat together, he felt like he’d been preemptively attacked. Ahem, after clearing his throat once, Go Seok-jun put his hands on his hips and hardened his face.
“There are so many things to eat in the world, must you eat something like this? Even if it’s the countryside, it’s not like there’s nothing to eat.”
“We’re offering to share and this ahjae is freaking out for what? These days, guys with cameras are going around stirring up our whole neighborhood. Ahjussi, did you come to film something like that too?”
The guy who had definitely been laughing “hehe” just moments ago suddenly became rough-looking. The man who had been disinterestedly stirring the pot with a ladle also turned his head back at the big guy’s words. Go Seok-jun frowned at the light bouncing off the pink-tinted sunglasses.
A strong wind blew once again. The man’s stray hairs and the earrings or piercings hanging messily from his ears fluttered randomly.
The man grabbed the arm of his sunglasses and lowered them slightly, then raised his eyes. Not only his eyebrows but even his eyelashes were on the thick side, making his eyes look intense. His eyes, wide open without double eyelids, blinked a couple of times as if confirming something.
“……”
“……”
The sound of soup boiling bubbled, and waves rhythmically rolled in and struck the rocks. Was there also the sound of seagulls? And the savory smell of sesame oil, the smell of herbal medicine, the smell of boiling meat—as if a blade had been sharpened, all his senses became vivid. And…
“Uncle?”
The man, who had been tilting his head, opened his mouth while placing his sunglasses on top of his head. It was a low, husky voice. Next to him, the big guys chattered, “You have an uncle too?” Go Seok-jun checked his now-revealed face again. A very familiar face with two moles clearly placed below his left eye and in the middle of his cheek.
“Are you, uh… Sang-eun, is it Sang-eun?”
“Uh… Sang-eun, it is Sang-eun.”
When he copied even the stammering exactly, the big guys laughed frivolously, “Puhaha!” The man didn’t laugh along but twisted his lips crookedly. Even as he held out a bowl with meat oil floating on top to Go Seok-jun, he sneered to the end. His body stiffened momentarily. Still, trying not to show it, he took a big breath and puffed out his torso. Then, “You little shit!”
He raised his hand as if to smack the back of his head. The big guys quickly snatched the soup bowl from the man’s hand. The man didn’t dodge or cower but raised his head stiffly.
“If you saw your uncle.”
The hand that had shot up gently settled on the man’s head. When he pressed down firmly on the back of his head, strength tensed in his nape from resisting. Tendons bulged on his thick, long neck.
“You should greet him first.”
Go Seok-jun smiled slightly. Then, as naturally as a habit long retained in his hands, he untied the rubber band from the man’s hair, combed through it with his hand-comb, and retied it. Unlike his body that was docilely having his hair tied, the man’s eyes were still fierce.
The man’s jet-black eyes, like the deep sea, stared straight at Go Seok-jun. Just then, a wave splashed and struck the rock. The damp, sticky wind clung to his cheeks.
“You should go around with your hair tied prettily, baby.”
He was a man who matched the term ‘baby’ far too poorly. When the big guys couldn’t hold back their laughter and clutched their stomachs laughing, Baek Sang-eun turned his head sharply and stirred the pot with the ladle for no reason. The atmosphere instantly became chilly. Eventually, the two big guys who had been reading the room sprang up and bowed ninety degrees.
“Hello, Uncle!”
“We’re Baek Sang-eun’s friends!”
Just moments ago they’d been acting cocky saying “ahjussi this and that,” but their attitude changed immediately. The one who had scolded them to greet was Baek Sang-eun, but Baek Sang-eun didn’t budge from his seat and only his friends were making a fuss. Go Seok-jun waved his hands to make them sit.
After the greetings ended, silence flowed again. He hadn’t even imagined he would run into Baek Sang-eun, so he didn’t know what to say.
It had been ten years since he’d heard any news or well-wishes. To make excuses, he’d been busy making a living and had completely forgotten about Baek Sang-eun’s existence.
***
It was one morning with only a few days left until Christmas. At year’s end, there were few solitary travelers who came all the way to the port to enjoy fishing alone. Wolseon Guesthouse had also been empty for several days.
Go Seok-jun sat on the warmest spot of the heated floor, eating sweet potatoes. The old house, so old that they hadn’t even done boiler construction, heated the rooms by burning wood in the furnace. Grandmother quietly gazed at the face of the child who was eating sweet potatoes quietly with soot-blackened face, and occasionally shed tears.
Go Seok-jun didn’t play with friends. He was closer to being unable to play with friends because he was a child who didn’t speak at all.
“Go Seok-jun, want milk?”
Even to his noona Go Du-ri’s question, he just nodded. That was all. Noona didn’t shed tears or feel sorry for Go Seok-jun, who wouldn’t open his mouth at all.
‘It’s nice because he’s quiet. He’s not even in the way.’
Noona, who had been first in the entire school through Yongju Middle School and Yongju High School, rather said it was good that her younger brother became unable to speak. Noona, who had been living in the dormitory, had returned briefly for vacation. Noona poured the milk and then left, saying she had to go study. Go Seok-jun sat with grandmother and watched TV. Year-end special movies came on endlessly.
The window shook in the fierce winter wind. The sound of angry waves was terrifying. The door kept rattling. Go Seok-jun kept looking toward the door with his big eyes. As if waiting for someone.
“Granny!”
The door burst open and cold air rushed in. His butt felt chilly. Hyung’s best friend Baek Jeong-ho hurriedly took off his shoes and entered the house.
“What’s so urgent? You’ll run out of breath.”
“Granny. This, please.”
What Baek Jeong-ho handed to grandmother, calling it “this,” was a baby wrapped tightly in a blanket. It was the first time Go Seok-jun had ever seen a living creature called a baby. The baby wasn’t crying and had its eyes tightly closed. Its eyelashes were as long as an adult’s and neatly arranged.
“Whose child is it?”
“I don’t know. They say it’s my son.”
“Are you sure?”
“Fuck, must be. I have to go register the birth now, so Granny, please take care of him for just a moment.”
Baek Jeong-ho dumped only the baby and shot out like a bullet. Go Seok-jun and grandmother’s eyes met. The young father, only twenty years old, received a baby as a Christmas present. It was a baby born from a relationship with a woman he dated as soon as he turned twenty.
Likewise, the biological mother, who was also only twenty years old, left after placing the child in his arms. In December, on a day when cold winds blew, Baek Sang-eun appeared in Misong Port nameless, merely in the state of being a ‘baby.’
Go Seok-jun knelt at the bedside of the small, fragile life form he was seeing for the first time in his life. The baby was only as big as Go Seok-jun’s forearm, and he was merely an elementary school student. When he touched the fluffy hair like down and was startled, he pushed his butt back.
“Jun-ah, you shouldn’t sit at the baby’s bedside.”
Feeling like it would crumble if touched, Go Seok-jun quickly hid behind grandmother’s back. Grandmother patted Go Seok-jun’s bottom to comfort him.
“Later when the hyungs come back with a name, let’s call him by his name then.”
He couldn’t take his eyes off the baby lying obediently on the blanket. Something between joy and wonder, something whose emotional name he didn’t even know at the time, welled up. He even forgot about the sweet potatoes he loved so much.
He watched the baby like that until Baek Jeong-ho returned. The baby occasionally flinched and scrunched up its eyes. Baek Jeong-ho returned much later with the birth registration and a copy of the resident registration. Under the name Baek Jeong-ho was Baek Sang-eun. It was a certificate with only the two of them.
“If Han-yang hadn’t borrowed the truck, I wouldn’t have been able to get to the town office.”
“Good job. Looking at him quietly, he looks like you, Jeong-ho.”
Grandmother smiled gently. Go Seok-jun didn’t know whether it was because he resembled Baek Jeong-ho or because the existence of a baby itself brought smiles to adults, but he followed grandmother and made a smiling face.
“Seok-jun! The baby’s name is Sang-eun, Sang-eun.”
“Sang-eun-ah.”
When Go Seok-jun called the baby’s name, silence flowed for a moment. Baek Jeong-ho, Ko Han-yang, and even grandmother opened their eyes wide and looked at Go Seok-jun, who had made a sound for the first time in a year. Whether the adults were surprised or not, Go Seok-jun continued to ask what he was curious about. Go Seok-jun was also a curious ten-year-old child; he just hadn’t spoken.
“What does the baby’s name mean?”
