Paek Nam-nyong - Friend - A Novel from North Korea

People on the pedestrian path were going about their business, some walking with the swiftest of paces while others strolled without the least concern in their lives. Some raced urgently to their destinations, while others sauntered, at liberty to observe and admire the wonders of spring. Some passed shops and restaurants without interest, while others stopped to peer into the windows. Some fixed their eyes on the ground, while others surveyed the town. On this brisk evening, on these cheerful streets, people seemed to be content with their lives.

“Hello.”

Jeong Jin Wu turned around when he heard a familiar voice.

It was the coal miner, the husband of the schoolteacher, who lived on the second floor of his apartment building. This man had two loves in his life: his wife and liquor. He had on a tattered brown suit and held a black lunch box under his arm. His hat came down to his eyebrows. His broad shoulders, thick neck, and the wrinkles around his eyes and mouth were a testament to his years of hard work, and yet his eyes still beamed like a young worker’s. It was clear that the coal miner was tired from a long day’s work. His clothes showed that he had been inside a deep cavity in the earth.

Jeong Jin Wu asked, “Are you just now coming back from work?”

“Yep. Another day’s work finished,” replied the coal miner proudly. “I worked the crane today.”

The coal miner paused and looked at Jeong Jin Wu. Then he continued, “By the way, Comrade Judge, something seems to be bothering you.”

Jeong Jin Wu smiled wryly at the miner’s keen observation.

“It must be another divorce case,” the coal miner conjectured.

“You’ve guessed correctly.”

“Your job must be difficult with these cases lingering in your head even after you get off work,” said the coal miner. Then he asked the judge, “Is your wife still away doing research?”

Jeong Jin Wu smiled and nodded his head. What began as housework for him to do became fodder for gossip throughout the apartment complex, and now it had become a conventional part of greeting him. The coal miner’s question was mixed with sympathy and understanding, which made Jeong Jin Wu feel grateful rather than spiteful. His wife’s research at Yeonsudeok was important not only for producing vegetables but for inventing a new type of hybrid, which made her work all the more important. Other people seemed to have realized this, but Jeong Jin Wu had forgotten about Eun Ok’s significant contribution to agriculture.

“Comrade Judge, would you care for a drink?”

Jeong Jin Wu raised his head to discover that they were standing in front of a pub with green neon lights flashing “Fine Liquor.” He saw a few customers through the window with their elbows on the table, hands clasped, and heads hung low.

The coal miner said, “Just one pint.”

“Let’s go home,” Jeong Jin Wu responded.

“Why? There’s no one at your place anyway, and you seem to be lonely. Let’s just have one pitcher.”

Even before Jeong Jin Wu could make up an excuse, one pint of beer had already increased to one pitcher.

Jeong Jin Wu dragged the coal miner away from the pub. “Aren’t you concerned about your wife? She waits for you every night in front of the building. She already worries enough about her students. You don’t have to add to her problems.”

The coal miner guffawed and headed toward the pub. But then he smacked his lips at the thought of his wife and turned around. He pulled out a cigarette and tried to justify himself.

“Comrade Judge, as you can see, I’m quite healthy. But my wife thinks I’m sick and nags me about my drinking.”

“That’s because your wife loves you.”

“It gets pretty tiresome, if you ask me. I tried to put my foot down as a man, but it was no use. Her nagging continued, and now it’s to a point where I can’t handle it anymore. These days, I just keep my mouth shut. It’s better this way. You see, rain comes and goes, and the clouds eventually roll away.”

“So, you’re still drinking.”

“Comrade Judge, a wife is different from the law. She is far more generous and forgiving. When I promise her that I will quit today and then drink again, she just shakes her head and lets it go. That’s how we live.”

“I always thought that the two of you were happily married.”

“Of course we are,” responded the coal miner enthusiastically.

Jeong Jin Wu said gently, “If your wife has to worry about your drinking, how will she be able to focus on her teaching?”

The coal miner averted his eyes from Jeong Jin Wu.

“On the outside, it may seem like your wife is fine, but can you imagine how much she has cried over you? Think about when you first met her, and the times the two of you spent together in the first couple years of your marriage. I’m sure you didn’t drink as much then.”

The coal miner dug his hands deep into his pockets as he continued walking. He had a pensive demeanor. He felt that a fellow male comrade was betraying him. He then turned to the judge and shouted, “Drinking is not my life! I can quit! What’s so hard about that?”

The coal miner strode away quickly.

Jeong Jin Wu grinned. He was impressed with the coal miner’s curt but honest reaction. He was relieved to know that the coal miner had not wasted his life on liquor.

“You don’t have to get upset about it,” said Jeong Jin Wu. “Wait for me!”

Jeong Jin Wu caught up to the coal miner.

The coal miner lowered his distraught eyes and stared at the ground. The lunch box at his side was on the verge of falling. Jeong Jin Wu helped the coal miner with his lunch box and regretted admonishing someone who was joyfully on his way home from a hard day’s work.

Jeong Jin Wu spoke to assuage the coal miner’s feelings. “I seem to have interfered in your marriage. I can’t seem to take off my legal hat. I’ve hurt many friends this way. Please forgive me.”

The coal miner raised his head and looked deeply into Jeong Jin Wu’s eyes. The coal miner’s virtuous eyes were a telling sign that he was not a simplistic man who cared only about working and drinking. His eyes projected a light of determination that had lain dormant for all these years, a promising sign of no longer succumbing to the yoke of alcoholism.

“Comrade Judge, I blame myself,” mumbled the coal miner in a subdued tone. “I respect you more than any of my drinking buddies. Actually, I used to think that your wife kept you on a tight leash and forced you to do all the housework while she was away doing research. I thought doing research was easy, so I asked myself, ‘Why can’t she do both, research and household chores?’ ”

Jeong Jin Wu nodded as he, too, had those thoughts about Eun Ok.

“This is coming from me who hasn’t done anything productive with my education. I’ve wasted my life by drinking and taking my wife for granted. In the corner of our closet, there is a dusty trunk full of my old research notes.”

The coal miner continued speaking in a melancholy tone.

“For the longest time, my wife wiped the dust off that trunk every day. I guess she was expecting me to do something with it. Whew! That was a long time ago. And now, there’s no way for me to retrieve those bygone days.”

Jeong Jin Wu responded, “Isn’t there a saying ‘Start over with a clean slate’? Don’t be so down on yourself. It seems you’ve realized how precious time is. If you start now, you can still be productive. You have a strong-willed teacher as your wife who is more than willing to assist you.”

The two walked in silence. They made a right turn at the fork in the road and walked toward their apartment complex.

From the front gate of the apartment building, a woman in an old sweater walked out to meet them. It was the coal miner’s wife. The schoolteacher greeted the men warmly, but the coal miner kept his eyes on the ground. He was in a pensive mood, regretting his unproductive past. He then lifted his head and looked at his wife in shame for his irresponsible habit of drinking but also with a sense of determination to greet the new day ahead of him.