My Bloody Valentine - 21

The air touching Han’s cheeks carried a cool chill. Seeing his nose tickle, it seemed that another change of seasons was imminent. Although it melted quickly, frost had formed in the early morning yesterday.

As soon as he woke up, the window was wide open, and the ice particles settled on the ground outside sparkled like scattered jewels in the sunlight. Han, without realizing the cold, stared at the scene for a while, losing himself in thought.

“Ouch! Still not ready!”

“I’m coming now!”

Han, in a comfortable sweatshirt and training pants, quickly went outside. The grandmother was sitting in front of the shoe rack, putting on her boots.

“Your enthusiasm is commendable. Not staying at home.”

“Yes. I get bored alone at home. Especially when you’re not here, Grandma.”

“Oh, you. Always be prepared for work.”

“Yes!”

Han held an agricultural hat designed to cover his entire face and neck in his hand and put on his shoes following the grandmother.

It had been over a month since Han had come here and spent time with the grandmother. In the beginning, he lived in fear for days. Even when he thought that the peace he found so easily might not be genuine, anxiety would suddenly creep into his heart.

Even the cries of the raccoon outside sounded like someone’s scream, and he would wake up abruptly from sleep. However, now his mind had become much more at ease.

The day after Han arrived here, he fell ill immediately. Whether it was because the tension was relieved, the body recognized that there was someone to take care of, or if it was an evil body that recognized such things, his fever rose close to 40 degrees, and his tonsils swelled.

The grandmother placed a wet towel on Han’s forehead, fed him a mild porridge for easy swallowing, and checked on him every hour.

Although she insisted that she didn’t have to do that, the grandmother just said that elderly people don’t sleep much anyway, so it’s okay. And sometimes, she would just sit and hug Han, who sat there crying with tears streaming down his face.

“I understand, I understand. It’s not common for people to live clashing with others in Seoul… You’ve been through a lot too.”

After crying out all the moisture in his body, he felt lighter. Perhaps he mistakenly thought that his heart had become lighter.

After recovering somewhat, Han accompanied the grandmother when she went out.

Most people in Angol Village were engaged in fishing, including shellfish farming, but there were a few who took up farming as their main occupation.

The grandmother, like other grandmothers in the village, helped with local work and earned a daily wage. It wasn’t a significant amount, but no one complained. Most of them were elderly people who came out for free work, and it was an allowance to be able to buy snacks for their grandchildren.

Han, following the grandmother, passed by a superstore that also served as a fishing equipment store and arrived in front of the village community center, where a van was parked. It was the village chief Kwon Sun-ho’s car.

The village chief, who was the largest farmer in the village, was in his sixties, but in a village where there were no young people, he was as good as a young man.

The village chief and the grandmother, seeing Han, greeted him warmly, shaking hands.

“Yujung’s grandmother, you came with your grandson today too.”

“Of course.”

The villagers thought that Han was the grandson of the grandmother. As Han introduced himself as a grandson who came to take care of his grandmother in the countryside due to illness, no one questioned it.

Becoming someone’s family, even if it wasn’t his own, was a very pleasant experience for Han. Although everything was not genuinely his, it felt like a fake…

“Today’s work might be more challenging than last time. Can you handle it?”

The village chief asked Han with a worried look.

Last week, Han dug sweet potatoes in the village chief’s field. Even though he worked while chatting about various things, the hands of the grandmothers were incredibly fast. In the end, to catch up with their progress, Han strained himself and had to go to a corner of the field to catch his breath, gasping for air.

Although he had asthma, it wasn’t severe, and the inhaler was a weak one that could be purchased without a prescription. However, people were concerned about Han, who accepted the day of death like he had received it.

“I can do it. I feel like my stamina has improved lately.”

“Haha, is that so? The country air is good, isn’t it?”

Laughing as if finding it cute, the village chief teased Han, who smirked, boarding the van. Familiar faces greeted him, and there was even a new lady today.

“Oh my, whose handsome son is this?”

“He’s Yujung’s grandmother’s nephew grandson.”

The village chief, who was in the driver’s seat, turned around and asked.

“Everyone on board? Let’s go.”

His gray van, carrying six workers in the back, started moving with a cheerful sound.

“I’d love to see Yujung’s grandmother’s face from her maiden days. Yujung was so pretty, and her nephew grandson is handsome too.”

“When is Yujung coming back? Wasn’t she in England?”

Listening to the conversation mixed with the local dialect, Han turned his head to look out the window. The sea, like a lake where fishing boats floated, sparkled gently in the morning sun, reaching as far as the faintly visible horizon.

At some point, Han noticed himself humming a tune and was pleasantly surprised.

Ah, happiness.

It was an emotion that Han hadn’t felt in quite a while.

About 20 minutes later, when Han got off the village chief’s van, before his eyes was a field filled with lush, unfamiliar plants with straight stems and elongated leaves, something he had never seen in his life. It was truly breathtaking, extending all the way to the faintly visible horizon.

“Wow… What is this? Bamboo…?”

“No. Ginger.”

“…?”

Not understanding the grandmother’s words, Han tilted his head with a puzzled expression. Seeing this, the village chief burst into laughter.

“Grandmother, it’s called ‘saenggaeng’ in this dialect. It’s ginger.”

Ah… So this is ginger.

Seeing Han nodding his head in wonder, the village chief explained.

“We planted it in May, but it didn’t grow well this year. The harvest was delayed.”

“Ah… Is it usually harvested in the fall?”

“Well, there’s a saying, ‘harvest ginger as soon as it gets frost twice.’ Didn’t you see the frost yesterday?”

He kindly explained the method of pulling out ginger roots. Beside him, the grandmothers and ladies were already busy with the harvest.

“Now! Grab the stem like this! Pull it out slowly. Easy, right?”

“Yes.”

Han grabbed the richly-leaved part of the stem as if grabbing someone’s hair and pulled. However, not far away, the stem snapped, and he stumbled backward, falling flat on his buttocks.

Seeing this, the people working burst into laughter. Han, with a slightly embarrassed look, brushed off the dirt on his buttocks and joined in the laughter.

“Oh my, you seem weaker than our grandmother. Are you sure you shouldn’t get married because you’re so frail?”

“I’m not getting married.”

“It’s always the ones who say that the most who get married first.”

Among those teasing him, Han let go of all his defenses and laughed. As long as he could do something, as long as he could do more, could he just continue to live here like this?

It was peaceful and happy. How many times had he thought about being happy in a day?

“By the way, after finishing work, I’m going to the mart in the town in the afternoon. Anyone want to join?”

The village chief, asking while eating saecham, saw a few hands raised.

Han raised his hand too. The time spent here seemed to be getting longer, and the days were getting colder day by day. It seemed like he needed to buy some warm clothes.

After finishing the ginger harvest, the group returned to the village community center, dispersing the fragrant earthy scent. Those planning to go to the mart were told by the village chief to come back by 5 PM. Han and Grandma returned home, cleaned off the dust from their bodies, changed into fresh clothes, and came out to the living room.

As Han sat by the shoe rack, putting on sneakers, he asked Grandma, who had just started preparing rice in the kitchen, a question.

“Grandma! Is there anything you need from the mart?”

“I don’t need anything. Just go. Come back soon, and let’s have dinner. I’ll make your favorite soup.”

“Wow, it sounds delicious. Yes! I’ll be back!”

With an eco-bag on his shoulder, containing his wallet, Han headed back to the village community center. A few familiar grandmothers were already inside the village chief’s van.

It takes about 20 minutes to get from here to the large mart. Although there is a bus, the village chief occasionally becomes a driver to help those who find it challenging to carry the groceries back.

Unlike Seoul, where each neighborhood has one or two large marts, here, there was only one for the entire town.

The mart had everything. Descending from the second-floor parking lot, Han headed for the clothing section on the first floor.

His destination was the discount corner. After rummaging through piles of clothes that weren’t even hung on hangers, Han finally found something suitable after much searching.

A thickly insulated hoodie inside was perfect until winter, or even until early winter, considering the warm neighborhood. Plus, it was only nineteen thousand nine hundred won, an unbelievable price.

With a proud heart, Han continued to browse and found a vest with thin padding. Thinking it would look good on Grandma, he picked a purple one.

Seeing various items, greed kept creeping in. He also picked up a brightly patterned scarf that seemed to go well with the purple vest. That’s how he spent all the earnings he received today.

For those who finished shopping early, they just needed to wait by the village chief’s car. Han proudly packed his purchases into the eco-bag and headed to the parking lot.

While riding the escalator, suddenly, he felt nauseous.

“I haven’t eaten anything… Did I catch a cold…?”

The TV channels visible at Grandma’s house had limitations, and Grandma usually enjoyed watching educational broadcasts. Han recalled a documentary about animals he watched a few days ago. It was about the evolution of animal eyes.

The eyes of wolves and jaguars, it was said, are vertically elongated. This vertical-shaped pupil not only makes the appearance itself terrifying to prey but also serves to concentrate on the prey. It evolved to optimize the strategy of lurking and attacking predators.

On the other hand, herbivores like gazelles have horizontally elongated pupils. It evolved into a cautious form to detect the appearance of predators and react sensitively to the surrounding environment.

Giving herbivores the ability to react sensitively to the surrounding environment was truly a remarkable development of nature.

The moment he got off the escalator, Han’s senses, sensitive like herbivores, constantly warned him.

Something’s not right. Be careful.

Trying to pretend to look for the village chief’s car among the crowded vehicles, Han sneakily glanced back. In the distance, there was a man dressed casually in hiking clothes.

That man… I feel like I saw him when I was choosing clothes earlier.