granny

22// visit

minho wasn't sure if he wanted to go there at all or not but he let jisung convince him. it was nice to visit jungwoo again since he was the one who helped them the night of the fire. also, maybe jisung was right: they deserved to have some explanation at least and getting it from granny wasn't an option.

so they boarded a train to ulsan. it was exciting and at the same way felt kind of wrong, at least to minho who didn't want to open old wounds. nevertheless, having jisung by his side, planning to sleep all the way to their destination and then complain about being hungry, minho felt a little more relaxed about the whole thing.

as they had promised jungwoo and his family, minho and jisung arrived at the village in the late afternoon, when the sun was already getting down. it was autumn and the village looked even more deserted now than when they were last here.

"hello," jungwoo's grandma opened the door for them and moved over to let them in. there was something very sweet about this old woman and the way she smelled of soup and some kind of antique perfume that would come with a puff.

they greeted her and thanked her for having them, then handed her the biscuits that minho prepared for her and finally sat down in the living room with the elderly mrs kim and jungwoo to have a chat.

"daeyeon," the woman cried out but didn't receive an answer withing three seconds, "daeyeon-ah, bring tea," she instructed and sat down calmly. jisung was surprised but didn't say anything.

"it's okay, don't bother," minho reassured with a smile but she shook her head.

"no. one must always give their guests tea. it's bad luck otherwise," she nodded assertively and jungwoo smiled at minho. he knew that his mother wouldn't be spared from making and bringing tea either way.

the four engaged in small talk for a bit, not more than the necessary amount, and then the old mrs kim decided to tell her story.

"should i tell you what i know then?," she began, "it's not a lot, i'm afraid, not more than what anybody else in the village has heard. but it might be more than what you're aware of still," she smiled as she earned two nods, "you have probably noticed, but those two were one of the oddest pairs i have ever laid eyes on.

the old kang had always been a rare kind, from what i know. they're both older than me by quite a few years, so i don't know exactly how they lived before my husband brought me to this house, but when he did, they already had a child. a small son, four or five years old, i was told, but he looked a lot younger than that. when i first met the kid i thought he'd be only three.

he was quiet, just like his father, and always bore bruises and wounds. not that it was uncommon in any sort to beat children at the time, no, it was rather prestigious to discipline your kids well with strict methods, but how they were treating him was simply odd.

he always had various kinds of cuts, burns and even bite marks, that made everybody wonder what the kangs were doing to him. not that it was so grave, but it was reason enough for the other kids to avoid little yonghoon during play time. my son was afraid to approach him too because of all the rumours.

but he lived thus, from what we knew scarcely speaking, but everybody knew him for one thing, and that was his infatuation with seo yujin. she was beautiful but also clean, hardworking and empathetic, the only qualities that a woman needs," mrs kim explained and received a cup of tea in her hand.

"mother," kim daeyeon handed her the steaming cup and then turned to the guests. her son she served last and he smiled at her. she didn't seem to want to leave and she stood up to stay at the door long after everyone thanked her.

"but everyone knew seo yujin not so much because of how amazing she was, but rather because of how passionate for her the young kang was. she was in his every word- whenever anyone would mention marriage, women, or even just hobbies, he would start about seo yujin and how stunning she was.

of course, between the two nothing existed. since everybody was aware of his feelings, she probably knew it too, but she never reacted to him in any way and he never tried to make a step towards her either. he was just looking at her whenever she passed by, but not even once did he open his mouth to talk.

and so, days went by, then months did, and everybody who had thought that the young kang would grow out of that obsession, started realising that he never would. he was working, never did military service for one reason or another, but kept thinking and talking of her only, looking at her only.

it became clear to all that if no miracle happens to make yujin marry him, he would never get married to anyone else, and that was nearly impossible. before we knew it, she was engaged to a man from another village, someone of a good family who was her age. i don't know how they came to be acquainted.

the wedding was to be held the following year, when the boy would return from his military service, and she would finally move to his family's house.

and that's when it happened. a fire broke in the seo house, that killed everyone, including yujin's two sisters and parents while yujin was studying with her friends. it destroyed not only the entire house but also the garden. unfortunate, really..

yujin had to call upon the help of one of her uncles in busan, one that she never personally knew, as her neighbour mrs jung told me. they wrote the letter together and sent it to the uncle who didn't give a damn about her.

but mrs jung had always had a huge mouth, god bless her, and she told everybody that yujin should be taken in by her uncle soon enough, so that's when, before the poor girl could write to her dear fiancé and arrange everything, the kangs had a change of plans in store.

now, if i knew it would turn out thus, i would've taken her in myself, married her to my son," mrs kim said in the very presence of daeyeon, obviously not minding her at all. the woman's brows furrowed a little with disappointment but she didn't say anything, "it would've been way better than what she had to go through after," mrs kim articulated and took a sip of her tea.