Yom Sang-seop - Three Generations

The detective resented that he, a man much younger than Sang-hun, didn’t enjoy the pleasures of a woman like Ui-gyeong. Deok-gi, on the other hand, pitied and scorned his father for sitting there and allowing himself to be humiliated by a callow young man just over thirty — a man almost young enough to be his son.

“If someone like me, who’s just of the ‘age of setting goals’. ” The chief kept using classical allusions in his flawless Korean. With no consideration for Deok-gi’s presence, the chief continued, “If someone my age sleeps around, it would be frowned upon but forgiven, for he still has time to grow up. But as the saying goes, a burglar who begins his career late in life doesn’t know when day breaks. Will you ever clean up your act?”

Deok-gi wished he could hide.

Sang-hun felt that merely being alive was itself a humiliation.

“Normally, it’s the wanton life of playboy son that prompts his father’s premature death. You masterminded your father’s poisoning, didn’t you?” The chief harangued Sang-hun, though he suspected the Suwon woman and her group and had obtained almost all the evidence he needed.

“It ’s only natural that you suspect me of this, too, but I am innocent.” Sang-hun bowed over and over again and pleaded with the detective in the humblest of tones.

“You mean to say that you committed this shameless crime when your son inherited the assets that should have been yours?”

Sang-hun hung his head.

“You stole your family’s estate, then sold and borrowed on parts of it. You were ready to flee all the way to Manchuria.”

Although Sang-hun had explained what had happened during his previous interrogation, which had lasted several days, he was now being threatened with a new account of the events. He sat and said nothing. Deok-gi couldn’t keep quiet. “That’s not true. I was going to give him some cash because he was being harassed by collectors, but then I was suddenly dragged in here. My father just meant to take the bankbook to get some money, but things got out of hand. If I had left the key to the small safe at home or left the bankbook in that safe, things wouldn’t have come to this.” Deok-gi did the best he could.

The section chief didn’t silence him, probably because he found Deok-gi’s explanation credible. He asked a detective to take Deok-gi to the High Police. Deok-gi was reluctant to leave his father behind but had no choice. After gathering up the keys, the land deeds, and the money, he was led away.

Deok-gi was released that very evening thanks to the efforts of the High Police chief. Actually, he had little to do with it; there was simply no reason to hold Deok-gi any longer. Deok-gi was relieved but kept looking back over his shoulder, not eager to walk away while his father was still detained.

A great flurry ensued at home, for everyone was euphoric to see him and doting over his health. Deok-gi himself was in even greater turmoil.

“How long do you think your father will be locked up? Ten years or so?”

“Don’t worry, Mother. He’ll get out tomorrow or the day after.”

“You think I’m worried about him?”

That bitter morning she had run around preparing a care package had been the first time since they’d become estranged that she had felt some affection for her husband. Since then she had been embarrassed in front of her daughter-in-law and her servants, and any lingering feelings of warmth for her husband had vanished. She no longer considered him her husband.

After dinner Deok-gi went out. He was planning to visit High Police Chief Kimura’s house.

I should have brought some ginseng with me, Deok-gi thought, already in a rickshaw. No, perhaps it’s better to arrive empty-handed; I will have to send something substantial soon. Reconsidering, he made a detour to Hwanggeumjeong and picked up eight hundred grams of ginseng at a pharmacy he knew well.

After returning home from Kimura’s, Deok-gi seemed satisfied with what he had heard there. The Japanese chief didn’t say that he’d grant Deok-gi any favors, but Deok-gi felt it was a good visit because he was able to talk freely with the inspector about his situation.

Two days later, on Sunday, he visited the homes of the division head and two section chiefs to pay his respects. Was this, he wondered, his first taste of hobnobbing? He wrote three significant checks without reluctance; he felt an obligation to express his appreciation for the recovery of his assets.

On his way home, he stopped off at the hospital to pay his respects to Pil-sun’s father for the first time since he was released. Now he was confident that he could use his influence to hasten Pil-sun’s release. Kimura had urged him to stay for lunch, probably in consideration of his ties with Deok-gi’s grandfather. Geumcheon, who was also present, followed him to the foyer and said, “It’ll be settled one way or another. Don’t worry too much.”

Deok-gi had never heard more welcome news in his life.

At the hospital, Pil-sun’s mother tearfully welcomed Deok-gi. “You didn’t have to come all this way! Are you feeling better?”

Deok-gi, too, felt like sobbing but responded with exaggerated confidence: “Your daughter will be out tomorrow or the day after, rest assured.”

“What happened?”

“Do you remember Jang Hun? He killed himself in there.” He had heard about it from Kimura only two days earlier.

“My goodness!” Pil-sun’s mother seemed to momentarily forget that Jang Hun was the man who had put her husband in the hospital.

“It’s not easy to say this, but he took all the blame before he died, so now it might be easier for some of the others.”

Pil-sun’s mother bowed her head. She couldn’t help but feel sorry for Jang, who had become the sacrificial lamb.

Though Pil-sun’s father was so weak he appeared almost lifeless in the hospital bed, he managed to open his eyes when his wife shook him. It wasn’t clear whether he was conscious; he didn’t even have enough energy to let out a groan.

“I’m so sorry,” Deok-gi said.

“I just hope Pil-sun will be released before he dies.” The energy seemed to have been drained from her as well.

“Don’t be afraid, she’ll be out soon. I visited the police chief and section chiefs twice, asking for their help.” Deok-gi spoke with confidence, to make the woman feel better, if nothing else.

And in fact, Pil-sun was released the following day. Soon after Deok-gi had heard Pil-sun’s exuberant voice on the phone, Won-sam and his wife appeared. Won-sam was half-dazed, his face gaunt and his eyes unfocused. His wife’s face was pale, her lips completely drained of blood. They had suffered for nearly twenty days.

“You’ve gone through so much. It’s a good thing that you don’t have young children to take care of,” Deok-gi said. He wondered about Gyeong-ae and the Suwon woman.

“It was quite an experience,” Won-sam said. “Like visiting hell while you’re still alive,” he laughed.

“Has my father been released, too?” Deok-gi asked.

“Your father? Did he know Pi-hyeok?. Are you all right, sir?”

Won-sam and his wife were shocked yet somehow comforted to discover that no one had escaped the sweep. They had resented that fate had dragged them into an affair they had nothing to do with. Learning that even Deok-gi had been jailed despite his fragile health, they now felt fortunate to have gotten out in one piece.

“Why did all this happen?” Won-sam’s wife asked. Had the old man’s death triggered some curse? Had that been the case, the curse should have landed on the servants who’d been brought in by the Suwon woman, not on the two of them.