Chapter 29
Episode 29. Consciousness
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As I put on my shoes and got into the car, the Village Head, who had already taken the passenger seat before Taeseo, brushed his startled chest with his hand.
“Oh dear, I thought my heart was going to leap out of my chest. That old woman, she's getting more vicious by the day, how can she go on like this?”
Taeseo started the engine and drove away from Grandmother Kim Kkot-nim's house.
“I thought you would be helpful when you arrived, Village Head, but you weren't of any help at all. I just ruined my socks running out barefoot.”
Even though I said that, it wasn't entirely unhelpful. The gain was making Ahn Yuna's uncle aware of the land issue and making him recognize me as the compensation representative.
“Sigh, it’s a relief you only ruined your socks. That old woman could cut a person with a sickle. My heart is still pounding, I thought I was going to wet myself.”
“I know. This is the first time I’ve seen such a scary grandmother.”
The Village Head was still holding his shoes in his hand. He only put his feet into his shoes after they had driven far from Grandmother Kim Kkot-nim's house.
“More importantly, Manager Kwon.”
“Yes.”
“A startled heart has always been soothed with alcohol since ancient times. If you don’t have any plans today, why don’t you come to my house for a drink of makgeolli?”
It was only after they reached the middle of the village that the Village Head regained his composure. Hearing him talk about alcohol, it seemed like half of what he said about Grandmother Kim Kkot-nim being scary was a joke.
“I drove here.”
Taeseo used the car as an excuse to refuse the drinking invitation, but the Village Head didn’t back down easily.
“Is the car more important? Is alcohol not important?”
“These days, if you get caught drunk driving, you’re finished.”
“Can a man not have a drink because he’s afraid of driving? Drink moderately and drive slowly along the farm roads, not the main road.”
“You’ll end up in the rice paddy that way.”
“I’ll pull you out with my tractor. If you want, I’ll even drive you home in my tractor, so have a drink, won’t you?”
“You said they set up drunk driving checkpoints near the village on rainy days.”
“The police have their own sense of reason; they don’t catch commercial vehicles.”
“Is a tractor a commercial vehicle?”
“If you use it for work, it’s commercial.”
Taeseo agreed to the drinking invitation, planning to leave the car at the Village Head’s house.
As I parked the car outside the Village Head’s house, the savory smell of jeon wafted out from the open window. A table was already set for drinks at the Village Head’s house.
As soon as I sat down at one side of the low table, the Village Head poured a full glass of makgeolli for Taeseo.
Taeseo downed the glass of makgeolli in one go and wiped his lips with the back of his hand.
“About Grandmother Kim Kkot-nim.”
“Yeah. What about her?”
“From what I see, she seems particularly harsh towards her granddaughter.”
It wasn't just about the land acquisition; whenever Yuna's story came up, Grandmother Kim Kkot-nim's reaction was always excessive. It seemed too extreme to be just because of something bad that happened in the past.
“It’s not harshness; she’s afraid Yuna will run off with an outsider and leave them. If Yuna is gone, they won’t have anyone to put food on the table for. Who lives properly in that house? It’s just Yuna.”
“You’re talking about Yuna again?”
The Village Head’s wife joined them, slipping into the conversation. The Village Head said, as if for his wife to hear,
“Your grandmother, she tells Manager Kwon things like if he messes with Yuna, she’ll gouge his eyes out, or cut off his manhood.”
“Oh my. That grandmother is at it again.”
“Has this happened before?”
“A few months ago, when she saw an outsider customer at the convenience store, that grandmother grabbed Yuna by the hair.”
Taeseo laughed as if it were absurd.
“She dislikes outsiders, but are there any decent guys among the villagers?”
“That’s true. Guys like Yunho or Jaeseop, they graduated college but are still unemployed.”
As the Village Head spoke, the Village Head’s wife seemed to recall something and said,
“Speaking of Jaeseop, last time I saw him drunk and throwing a tantrum at his mother, it was scary. Such a big guy, yelling at his own mother… Yet Grandmother Yuna insists it would be good if Jaeseop and Yuna ended up together later.”
Hearing the Village Head’s wife, Taeseo choked on his makgeolli, coughed, and put down his glass.
“She wants to set her up with someone named Jaeseop?”
“Yeah, that’s what she said.”
This morning, Jaeseop had said Yuna was his woman or something to that effect.
After hearing the Village Head’s wife, it seemed like his behavior towards Yuna wasn't entirely baseless. The Village Head also said, sounding frustrated,
“Like I said earlier, she’s doing that because she’s afraid Yuna will marry out of town and she’ll have no one to support her. Yunho’s Father and Yunho can’t even function as proper people, so she’s holding Yuna back.”
Taeseo ran his hand over his makgeolli glass with a heavy expression.
Grandmother, An Yunho, and even her uncle. Ahn Yuna was living a life burdened with a weight unimaginable to ordinary people.
“Well, anyway, let’s just empty our glasses first.”
Taeseo emptied his glass as if to shake off his heavy thoughts about Ahn Yuna. The makgeolli bottles began to dwindle, one by one.
\ \ \
The rain, signaling the start of the monsoon season, did not stop all day. The sun had vanished, and the noisy chirping was absent from the wet wings of the cicadas.
The land, which had seemed faded, and the grass and trees covered in dust, revealed their true colors, wet from the rain.
After sharing seven bottles of makgeolli with the Village Head, Taeseo, drunk, stumbled his way back to his studio apartment.
He laughed hollowly at the thought that his staggering steps, drunk in the middle of the day, were no different from those of the village folk or himself.
Upon arriving at his studio apartment, he took a shower in lukewarm water and, unable to resist the fatigue, dozed off.
The sound of rain flowing in through the open window showed no signs of subsiding. It wasn't a downpour, but a steady rain that was enough to thoroughly soak the ground.
The sound of water droplets splashing, the sound of stepping in puddles, and people's voices continuously tapped at the window.
Below his room, a daytime drinking session was underway. The young people of the village, who had slept over at Yuna's room, had not dispersed and had started drinking again.
During the off-season for farming, there was nothing to do at home, so they were killing time.
“Pour some drinks.”
“I can’t, I have to watch the convenience store.”
“I saw you sitting outside the convenience store this morning, eating and doing everything else.”
“I came out because I felt stuffy.”
Yuna’s voice was mixed in with the voices. Taeseo, heavily intoxicated, heard it in his sleep.
“You weren’t planning to eat with that guy, were you?”
“Don’t try to connect things.”
The sound of a wind chime jingling was heard. Even in his sleep, Taeseo felt reassured by the wind chime sound as Ahn Yuna entered the convenience store, and he was able to fall into a deeper sleep.
\ \ \
He woke up late at night.
He found it absurd that he had lost an entire Monday to drinking and, clutching his hangover-ridden head, got out of bed.
Even though he had eaten and drunk so much while drinking makgeolli, his stomach felt queasy.
He thought about going down to the convenience store to buy some ramen, but it was already past 1 AM.
In this village with a small population, the convenience store doesn't operate 24 hours. It closes at 1 AM, so he couldn't buy ramen.
Taeseo put a cigarette in his mouth and stood by the open window. The humid air made his whole body feel sticky.
After finishing the cigarette, he went into the bathroom to shower, but the bathroom light wouldn't turn on when he pressed the switch. He fiddled with the switch a few more times, making a clicking sound, and then swore and sat down on the bed.
The bathroom was small, so if he showered with the door open, water would leak out beyond the bathroom. He also didn't want to close the door and wash in the dark, stumbling around. Then he remembered that he had rented the adjacent room.
Taeseo grabbed a towel and underwear and went to the next room. Both rooms were set with the same password, so he could enter immediately.
As expected of an unused room, the bathroom light in the middle room worked properly.
Holding the soap in his hand, he entered the bathroom. As he moved the lever to turn on the water, he suddenly heard an unfamiliar sound from beyond the wall.
The sound was like the sound of rain. But listening closely, it wasn't the sound of rain but the sound of water flowing from a shower.
Along with the sound of water, a low singing voice flowed into the bathroom where Taeseo was. It was Yuna's voice, singing along to an old ballad.
She wasn't singing loudly. Yet, the softly sung melody pierced Taeseo's ears precisely.
The reason Yuna couldn't choose the middle room was because of the poor soundproofing. Just as she said, the shower sound from the adjacent room, blocked by the wall, easily traveled to the bathroom in the middle room.
Taeseo took his hand off the shower lever. If he turned on the water now, the sound would flow into Yuna's room. Then Ahn Yuna would stop showering.
He had never lived his life considering others' circumstances, but here, his actions were far from normal. Eventually, the singing stopped, and the sound of water stopped. The sound of a door opening and closing was heard.
The sound had stopped, but the situations that followed echoed in Taeseo's mind. It was an impure imagination.
An imagination of Ahn Yuna drying the water droplets from her hair, and putting on dry clothes over her white, delicate shoulders.
His body reacted to the thought that had surfaced without his knowledge. A part of his body, unused for quite some time, tensed. A throbbing sensation rose from below his waist.
“Ha, crazy.”
Taeseo swore and looked down at his body.
Is it because it’s been so long since I last relieved myself, my body’s acting up even at someone else’s shower sound.
