Yom Sang-seop - Three Generations

He was wearing Pi-hyeok’s jacket, thinking it would be too dangerous to put it in his room in case the house were searched. He had made arrangements to dispose of his own jacket, for it would be risky if Pil-sun were caught taking it home.

The proprietor’s room was quiet. Could she be sleeping this late? He called her to get newspapers to wrap up the overcoat, but there was no response. He knocked on the door when the proprietor entered from the back door with groceries in her hands.

“What’s going on? Everyone’s arriving so early — ” She cut off her greeting and looked around. “Has the young woman left?”

“She’s my sister. I asked her to bring this coat here. I’m sorry to bother you this early, but could you please keep it for me?” He handed it to her, with the two thousand won bundled inside.

She took the overcoat from him. “What’s in here? A lunchbox? It’s so heavy.”

“Yes, just leave it in there.” Byeong-hwa answered nonchalantly and asked her to warm up some liquor if she happened to have some heated water.

Byeong-hwa had second thoughts about leaving the overcoat there. He wanted to head for Hwagae-dong directly and give it to Won-sam, but he didn’t want to take any chances. He decided to stay put and wait for Gyeong-ae.

More than two hours later, Gyeong-ae finally made an appearance. Her mother had returned and had prepared breakfast for her.

“Today things went all right, but let’s be careful from now on. Since we have no good reason to meet, we’d better not see each other for some time,” Gyeong-ae suggested.

“That sounds reasonable, but do you mean your business with me is over? That’s a pretty heartless thing to say, you know. How will we be able to manage if we don’t see each other at least once a day?” Byeong-hwa was relaxed again.

Radiant, Gyeong-ai said, “What good will come of it if we meet? To me, you’ll look like an inspector and an inspector will look like you — ”

Byeong-hwa cut in, “We’re the only comrades, the only ones. ”

Gyeong-ae’s reproachful glance melted, and they laughed together. With their present worries behind them, Byeong-hwa felt they had become closer and a warm feeling of affection enveloped him. Gyeong-ae felt the same way.

“Anyway, let’s hold discussion meetings in different places just two or three times a day,” Byeong-hwa suggested.

“Forget about discussion meetings and you should stop drinking so much. Pi-hyeok expressed concern about that before he left.”

“About my drinking?”

“Yes, and about your wasting money on unnecessary things; he was also worried that we’d become too close.”

“What did he mean by ‘too close’?”

Gyeong-ae studied his face for a long time before looking away. Byeong-hwa, whose youthful spirit remained a stranger to avarice, thought it impossible for greed to interfere with his mission.

“I just remembered something,” said Byeong-hwa, who had been pensive for some time. “That Japanese woman, O Jeong-ja, is in prison. You know — the woman the proprietor wanted to know about before Jo left.”

“I heard. Did Deok-gi tell you about her?”

“He was concerned about whether you’d become a Red.” Byeong-hwa chuckled to himself but then asked, “The proprietor’s a Red, isn’t she?”

“She turns red after she has three or four drinks, but she rarely drinks.”

“But she isn’t being watched, is she?”

“No, why?”

“If she is, I can’t come here, and you’d better quit working here as soon as possible. We should be very careful right now.”

She knew he was right, but she couldn’t just stop coming to Bacchus for no reason.

“And you should watch out because you may attract suspicion if you’re seen spending money.” Gyeong-ae warned him again for good measure, though she didn’t think he was like so many other Marxist boys these days, who traded in their shabby clothes for crisp suits as soon as they happened to land some cash.

“Please, Gyeong-ae. Speaking of the money, where do you think is the safest place to keep it?”

“Give it to me. I’ll take care of it and will report back to you. If you hold on to it, they’d find out about you right away.”

“It’s in the proprietor’s room, in the overcoat. Do as you see fit.”

“All right. Let’s just leave it there. We can discuss the details later.”

Byeong-hwa stayed a little longer, but not having slept well the night before, he couldn’t stop yawning. Finally he decided to go home and get some sleep.

“I pictured Hong Gyeong-ae to be a typical café girl, but she’s actually quite modest and kind.”

“What do you mean by ‘kind’?”

“Well, she’s a modern girl, but, at the same time, she’s modest and friendly.”

Byeong-hwa was glad that Pil-sun spoke highly of Gyeong-ae, but he felt it wasn’t enough to praise Gyeong-ae for her friendliness and modesty. He would have preferred it if Pil-sun had lauded Gyeong-ae for her courage in assisting them in their work.

“Who told you that she was a café girl?”

Pil-sun was speechless. “Doesn’t she work for that place in Jingogae? Anyway, you’re lucky. Why rough it out here when such a nice set-up is waiting for you? Why don’t you just go there?” Pil-sun asked him coyly.

“Don’t be silly. Come, sit by me for a minute. I have something to tell you.” Byeong-hwa waited until Pil-sun, who had been standing with her back to the wall, took a seat next to him and asked quietly, “Aren’t you sick and tired of working at the factory?”

“I don’t mind.”

Byeong-hwa paused. “Lunar New Year’s is several days away, so you’ll be nineteen soon. Or is it twenty?”

“Why are you asking?” Pil-sun blushed slightly.

“I’m thinking of playing matchmaker. I know someone who’s gentle and decent.” Byeong-hwa shifted to his usual bantering tone.

“Don’t make fun of me. Please don’t,” said Pil-sun as she stood up.

“I’m sorry. No more wisecracks, I promise. Please sit down.”

“You can’t start studying again, you can’t work at the factory forever, and you’re not interested in getting married. So what’s your plan? Of course, even if I don’t look after you, your parents are there for you, and you must have your own ideas, but. ”

“What’s there to worry about? If life becomes too much, I can just put an end to it. What in the world would I miss, anyway?” Pil-sun often talked this way.

Byeong-hwa imagined that girls her age uttered such sentiments casually, but he felt sorry for her all the same. He remembered the letter he had received from Deok-gi a while ago — let her enjoy the beautiful dream of youth — and inadvertently smirked.

Pil-sun asked, “What’s so funny?”

“This talk about dying. Do you think it’s easy to die? Don’t be ridiculous. If you’re not careful, you might develop the habit of talking about it all the time. Anyway, I was wondering, do you ever think of resuming your studies?” Although he brought up the matter, he had no intention of relaying Deok-gi’s message.

“Do you think I could?” Pil-sun’s face lit up in expectation.

“Would you study again if you could?”

“How can I? What about my family?” she asked, adding, “If I didn’t have to worry about my family, nothing would prevent me from doing it even though I’m nineteen — or if I were twenty-nine, for that matter!” Pil-sun fantasized that Deok-gi had offered to take care of her family. She felt grateful, of course, but at the same time she wondered why he was so eager to give her such advantages.