Monday, 06 August 2007

• *Chapter Eighteen* Blinding Memories Are Making My Heart Ache Part III

  
  

  
  

  
  

  < Part 3 >

  
  

  
  

  The expression on Han Kyul's face as he entered the restaurant was rather dark. He was angry at the arbitrary actions of the magazine, he was worried about En Chan who'd said he wouldn't eat lunch, and he was afraid of what his mother was going to say to him.

  
  

  “I heard from Grandmother.”

  
  

  “Let's eat first before we talk.”

  
  

  “How can we just eat? Let's talk as we eat, then.”

  
  

  Han Kyul put down the fork that he had been about to put in his mouth and sighed.

  
  

  “Let's hear it, then.”

  
  

  “Mmmm taste this. It simply melts in your mouth.”

  
  

  Han Kyul forced his mouth open to receive the sea bass that his mother was offering him.

  
  

  “How is it? It's delightful, isn't it?”

  
  

  “If you're just going to repeat yourself, please don't. I still have time left for the promise I made with Grandmother, and I need time to think.”

  
  

  “Really? All right, I won't then. But you know, they say you can tell that a tree is going to be magnificent from the time it's a sapling. I could tell since you were a child that you were going to be something great. It's not just Grandfather who knew. You was clear enough about cutting people off when you had to, but you also had a lot of affection to spare. You seemed cold and stiff on the outisde, but you would wordlessly comfort and support people. That's when I thought to myself, this kid will earn the trust and affection of many people. For people in business, if you can't earn peoples' trust, you can't do anything. I thought that you were an individual who had the basics down.”

  
  

  “You must have been supremely disappointed.”

  
  

  “I'm still waiting on you. How can a mother ever give up the hopes and dreams she has for her child?”

  
  

  “One of the guys who works under me left home because of a conflict he had with his father about schooling issues. I told him to come out. Being forced to do something you don't want is no better than being dead.”

  
  

  “How difficult it must have been for the father.”

  
  

  Han Kyul told his mother about Ha Rim. It was the first time he'd ever told her anything about his daily life. Telling her about Ha Rim was a sort of justification on his part. It was like telling her that he was sorry and thankful at the same time.

  
  

  “It's a difficult problem. I can say that easily if it's someone else's problem, but since it's so similar to my own....”

  
  

  Suddenly his mother laughed to herself.

  
  

  “What?”

  
  

  “I was just thinking how glad I would be if you suddenly said you were going to study art or cinema. I wanted at least one of my children to enter the art world.”

  
  

  “You have three children, though, Mother.”

  
  

  “Yes, I do. I have three children. And how glad I am that I do.”

  
  

  Han Kyul drank coffee and his mother ate ice cream.

  
  

  “I hear your coffee house is doing extremely well. I hear rumors saying the taste of your coffee is quite excellent.”

  
  

  “It's fun. When there are no customers, I have to wonder why there aren't. When there are a lot of customers, I have to wonder why there are. It's pretty exciting to analyze every situation that comes up.”

  
  

  “It's too small a task for you. Your true vocation is something much bigger. You'll become bored with it soon enough.”

  
  

  “I said I'll think about it.”

  
  

  “And I said I understood, Choi sajangnim.”

  
  

  It had been a more pleasant lunch than he had expected. When he stood up to leave, quite some time had passed.

  
  

  “Are you going back to the company?”

  
  

  “I have to to arrange to take your father home.”

  
  

  After leaving the hospital, his father had gone back to work, and was on a strict no-smoking, five-day-workweek, 5-pm-quitting time schedule.

  
  

  “Mother,” called Han Kyul as she was getting in the car. His mother then turned around and as if reading his mind, simply said,

  
  

  “Forget about it. Just bring some roses when you come home from work tonight. Bright red ones.”

  
  

  Han Kyul choked up as he nodded his head. The words of thanks that had been hanging in his throat passed into his heart.

  
  

  After seeing his mother off, he was on the way back to the store when he received a call.

  
  

  “Who is this?”

  
  

  [Sajangnim! We're in big trouble, sajangnim!]

  
  

  “Why? Did En Chan break another Royale cup?”

  
  

  [R-royale cup? That, too, probably....]

  
  

  “What? 'that, too, probably'? Did he break the Spanish vase?”

  
  

  [That's broken too. B-but listen!! H-he himself!! H-he got himself hurt too!]

  
  

  “What do you mean he got himself hurt?” said Han Kyul, who'd been about to get into his car. Suddenly he felt a chill going down his spine. “Take it easy and tell me slowly. What happened?”

  
  

  [Wh-what happened was that... there were some punks who came looking for Sun Ki hyung.... flunkies by the dozen came and trashed the store. They said that Sun Ki hyung stole money from a hostbar and fled. Sun Ki hyung and I were eating lunch when they rushed in. We were in the lounge with the door locked. Channy hyung told us not to open the door....]

  
  

  “YA! What the hell are you saying? Where's Nak Kyun? Put Nak Kyun on the phone!”

  
  

  [N-nak Kyun? Ho-hold on a moment....... hey... he wants to talk to you...]

  
  

  Han Kyul's insides burned with frustrated and he tore at his hair. He himself got hurt? Does that mean En Chan got hurt? He'd burned his hand in the morning, sure... Is that what he was talking about? Then what was this about the host bar? Someone trashed the store? What? Who did?! Why?!

  
  

  [Hello?]

  
  

  Nak Kyun picked up the phone. Han Kyul gripped the phone tightly and said quickly,

  
  

  “Tell me what happened. Who got hurt?”

  
  

  [En Chan hyung got hit in the head with a chair. He's unconscious. We're on our way to the Dae Won hospital emergency room. Come quickly.]

  
  

  Han Kyul was not in his right mind. His entire head felt blacked out. He didn't even know the reason why he was driving like a maniac down the road. He didn't know where he was going or why, just that he was speeding down the streets, breathing raggedly. As soon as he reached the hospital he jumped out of the car and ran like crazy. A cold sweat broke out on his forehead. The sky turned yellow and the ground shook, making his insides quake as well. He felt like he was going to throw up.

  
  

  “Sajangnim!”

  
  

  That's when he discovered his employees. Ha Rim had gone pale and Nak Kyun's face was covered with scratches while his clothes were covered in blood. Mr. Hong approached him, limping.

  
  

  “Wh-where is he?”

  
  

  “Inside......”

  
  

  Han Kyul, who'd walked straight into the operating room, was chased out by a surprised nurse. But in that short moment that he was in there, he'd seen En Chan lying on the operating table. His white shirt was drenched with blood. The nurse who'd pushed Han Kyul out asked him stiffly,

  
  

  “Are you the guardian?”

  
  

  Han Kyul tried desperately to pay attention to what she said and replied, syllable by syllable,

  
  

  “He's my employee.”

  
  

  “Ask the guardian to get here quickly. We have to operate immediately.”

  
  

  At that moment, mother and daughter ran down the hallway, crying out,

  
  

  “E-En Chan! Where's my En Chan!”

  
  

  “Ahjumma....”

  
  

  “Wh-where's my En Chan? Where's my En Chan? Ch-chan-ah.....”

  
  

  “Are you the guardian?” The nurse asked, holding the mother up.

  
  

  “My daughter, my daughter, what happened to her? Is she dead?”

  
  

  “Mom! What are you talking about? Why would unni die? Sh-she's not dead, right? Unni's fine, right?”

  
  

  “There's been some cerebral hemorrhaging. We need to go into surgery immediately, so come this way.”

  
  

  “Cerebral hem-orrahging? Oh God, oh my poor child! Taking the place of her father as the head of the family and suffering through so much..... oh God, my poor daughter... my poor daughter....”

  
  

  Watching En Se carry her weeping mother away, Han Kyul turned to Mr. Hong, looking stupefied.

  
  

  “That's... well... you see...”

  
  

  Mr. Hong sighed deeply and hung his head.

  
  

  “Daughter?”

  
  

  Nak Kyun's question was still ringing in the air when Ha Rim blurted out,

  
  

  “Channy hyung, I mean, Channy nuna is a girl. That's what makes me even crazier. Fuckers! How can they smash a chair down like that on a girl? No Sun Ki you asshole, you just wait till I find you!”

  
  

  
  

  
  
  

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