Chapter 28
The construction noise coming from her grandfather’s house was loud. After finishing her lunch, Heena crossed over to the house next door through the side gate in the wall and peeked into the home, which was in the middle of renovations. The plumbing was being replaced, so she carefully tiptoed around the areas where the flooring had been removed and stood in front of her grandfather’s room.
It was a room she had been too scared to enter until now, but as time passed, she had finally mustered a little courage. There was also the duty of organizing her grandfather’s belongings.
She turned the old doorknob, which would soon be replaced with a new one. As soon as she opened the door, a soft spring breeze blew in, carrying the fragrant scent of flowers. It was thanks to someone leaving the window open. It had to be Seo Yohan’s doing.
Heena scanned the room. Nothing had changed from when she had left Jinhong-ri.
“Grandpa Jeong didn’t like changing things. He said what’s familiar is comfortable, so he adamantly refused even when I offered to replace things for him.”
“Still….”
“What was comfortable for us might not have been comfortable for Grandpa.”
She recalled what Yohan had said before. The man who was comfortable with the familiar. But now, the house was in the process of gradually erasing her grandfather’s traces. It was probably right to let go of the one who had already departed.
Staring blankly at a pile of neatly folded blankets in a corner of the room, Heena came to her senses, took a deep breath, and opened the mother-of-pearl wardrobe. It was filled with clothes that carried her grandfather’s scent. Though, they were all just worn-out clothes he wore for farming.
“Why didn’t he throw these clothes away….”
A khaki T-shirt hanging on a hanger was a birthday gift for her grandfather that Heena and Heetae had bought at the market by saving up their allowance when she was in middle school. The moment she spotted it, she felt like tears would burst out.
It wasn’t a brand-name shirt, nor was it one that would last long. She had simply been wandering around the market near her school with Heetae and bought a shirt that matched the money they had saved. Her grandfather had been so happy with it that he wore it for days on end, boasting to the village folk.
“This here, my grandkids gave it to me as a surprise birthday present.”
The image of her grandfather’s face, smiling so brightly that his mouth stretched from ear to ear, came to mind.
“They say it’s the finest shirt in town, eh? Hoho.”
Finest, my foot….
Heena glared at the T-shirt with narrowed eyes as if it were her grandfather who had passed away first. What is this stupid thing? What on earth is it? She was so angry with herself for not having been able to buy her grandfather a proper suit after she went to Seoul. Despicable Jeong Heena. Ungrateful Jeong Heena.
As she wiped her tears and organized the clothes on the hangers, her eyes fell on the only suit in the wardrobe. It was the suit her grandfather always wore whenever there was an event like Heena and Heetae’s graduation or a parent-teacher conference. It was the nicest piece of clothing her grandfather owned.
It was a suit he’d had tailored when he was young, so it was loose on his aged body and didn’t look stylish at all. There were times she had been embarrassed by her grandfather showing up at school wearing it with a crisp white shirt and even a tie, and had ignored him.
When she would get home and confess, ‘Grandpa, I’m sorry I didn’t acknowledge you earlier,’ her grandfather would just laugh heartily.
“It’s alright, it is. Ya gotta have memories like that, too. This ol’ grandpa knows how you feel, Heena, so it’s okay, ya hear?”
It could have been hurtful to him, but he had called it a memory for her. He was a grandfather who would have gone to heaven embracing even such painful memories.
Before she knew it, Heena was sniffling and sobbing, tears streaming down her face. Every time she handled her grandfather’s belongings, the memories engraved in them surfaced and tormented her. Because whether they were good memories or bad, the grandfather who was alive in them was no longer in this world.
She was about to open the adjacent mother-of-pearl wardrobe when she heard Seo Yohan’s voice over the loud construction noise.
“Jeong Heena. Are you in here? I was about to start a deep clean, and you disappeared as if you knew….”
Her grandfather’s door flew open. Heena turned to face him, unable to even wipe away her tears.
“…I knew this would happen.”
“Knew what? You probably thought I ran away to avoid the deep cleaning.”
“That, too.”
Yohan closed the door again, came in, and knelt beside Heena. He wiped her tear-streaked face with his hand.
“Why are you crying?”
“There are just some things only I know.”
He let out a short sigh and brought his thumb and index finger to Heena’s nose, where snot had formed.
“Oh boy, you’re snotty, too. Heung, blow.”
Heena tried to push his hand away, but he held the back of her neck firmly with his other hand, preventing her from moving away.
“Stop talking and heung.”
“What are you doing? It’s gross.”
“Is this the only gross thing between us? Just do it. Heung.”
In the end, she had no choice but to blow her nose into his hand. Yohan took a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped his hand.
“If you had a handkerchief, you could have just given me the handkerchief, why did you give me your hand….”
“This makes me seem like a warmer person.”
“That’s ridiculous.”
Ha, a hollow laugh escaped her.
“Clean up the rest next time. If you try to do it all in one day, my hands will be worn out from wiping your tears.”
He found a paper bag from somewhere in the house, neatly stacked the grandfather’s clothes she had taken out, and pushed them to a corner of the room.
“I’ll leave this here for now. Don’t forget to take it when you go to Seoul.”
How could she possibly forget and not take her grandfather’s things? It was an absurd thing to say, but Heena made an effort not to reply.
✦⋆🍒.₊ ⊹
Before long, the sun had set and evening had arrived. As the topic of rice cake soup had come up, Heena developed a craving for tteok-manduguk and gently coaxed Yohan into making a savory and spicy bowl of it with her.
“You’re really not going, are you?”
She asked Yohan as she headed for the entrance after quickly finishing her dinner.
“We’ll be stuck together disgustingly from tomorrow, why see them in advance?”
“What do you mean, disgustingly stuck together? It’s only for four days. It’s good to get to know them a day sooner.”
“What’s the point of getting to know them? Just go by yourself.”
“Don’t you dare get jealous later if I’m closer to the kids than you are.”
Yohan waved his hand dismissively, shooing her away.
Dragging her slippers, Heena left through the main gate and headed straight for the village hall. The evening in Jinhong-ri was filled with a blue sky and cool air.
She had grown accustomed to this life in Jinhong-ri. When it was time to leave for Seoul, she felt the sense of regret would be greater than the relief.
“Heena’s here!”
As she entered the hall, the entrance was already packed with shoes. The elders were sitting in a circle around the students, as if they had gathered to watch their grandchildren’s talent show.
“Why’re ya so late?”
An elderly woman took Heena’s hand firmly and sat her down next to her.
“I was a little late because I was having dinner. Did you all eat?”
“Aye, we did. What’d ya have for dinner?”
“I had tteok-manduguk.”
“Tteok… what? Aye! Tteokbokki?”
“No, no. Tteok-man-du-guk!”
One of her ears was hard of hearing, so she had to pronounce each syllable clearly. The grandmother, as if she finally understood, said, “Aye, aye,” and turned her attention back to the students.
The village hall wasn’t large, so she had only told a few to come, but seven or eight of them were there. As Heena was chatting with the elders, her eyes met with Son Dongha, the student she had greeted earlier.
Heena smiled brightly and waved. He, too, smiled back, his eyes curving prettily.
It must be nice to be young. Here, she was also considered young, but she was secretly envious of the ones who were still students. As she was smiling a proud, motherly smile, Son Dongha gestured with his eyes for her to meet him outside for a moment.
After he went outside first, Heena also said, “Excuse me for a moment,” and squeezed her way out from among the elders.
Son Dongha was sitting on the wooden bench in front of the village hall.
“You must have gotten comfortable with me already after just one greeting earlier?”
At her words, Son Dongha let out a small laugh and looked at Heena.
“I know, right? Being surrounded by unfamiliar elders, I found myself missing you, noona.”
Seeing him say he missed her without any hesitation, she figured he must have a naturally affectionate personality. His first impression hadn’t seemed that way at all.
“I heard from the village chief. He said you came down from Seoul, too, noona.”
“That’s true, but I used to live here when I was young. For about 10 years?”
“Ahh, so that’s why you came down here. Is it okay if I smoke a cigarette?”
“Yeah. I don’t mind.”
Son Dongha took a cigarette out of his jacket pocket and put one in his mouth. He lit it with a lighter, took a long drag, and then exhaled.
“I didn’t used to smoke either, but I learned in the army.”
“You’ve already done your service? I thought you hadn’t yet.”
“Do I look that young?”
“Well, all university students just look young.”
“I’m actually quite old, you know?”
He rolled his eyes slightly to look at Heena and raised one corner of his mouth.
“You’re probably younger than me.”
“How old are you, noona?”
“Thirty-one.”
“Ah, I lose.”
“Did you think you could win in an age battle while calling me noona?”
“I’m twenty-four. I didn’t think you’d be that old. You look so young for your age.”
I do look young. When she nodded in agreement as if it were obvious, Son Dongha’s lips curved into a smile.
