Chapter 6

Chapter 6

I took terminal leave and went home.

Sancheong, South Gyeongsang, on the rough land at the foot of Jirisan, my parents, who had farmed all their lives, looked a good deal older than their years.

Wrinkles dug deep by dirt dust, knuckles cracked rough, and above all my father's back, bent so it caught the eye.

In the eyes of me, who had lived fifty years and come back, that sight stabbed aching in a corner of my chest.

But I pulled my gaze away with effort and clenched my fist.

Now was not the time to soak in sentiment with thin pity or hasty filial feeling.

Stopping them from doing work beyond them, and protecting their bodies, comes first.

Father dies five years from now.

It was stomach cancer.

Afraid it would be a burden on me, just employed and in the middle of adapting to the site, he held it in, missed the time to speak, and grew the illness.

Father always asked me.

'You are the eldest son of this house. Marry quickly and show me a grandchild.'

You grant the request of a living person, so if it was the request of a dying father, you had to, no question.

That was why I met my wife for a match as if chased, and married in six months.

To show him, before he died, that I had set up a proper household...

Because their son had come after so long, the dinner table was set until the legs would break.

I took a big spoon of savory doenjang stew and opened my mouth flatly.

"Father, Mother. When I discharge next month, I will go to Australia for a while."

"Australia? Where is that?"

"There is a program for going abroad, called a working holiday."

"Wor··· what?"

To the two of them, who had lived knowing nothing but farm work all their lives, the foreign word working holiday was only an unfamiliar alien tongue.

The two of them held their rice spoons and only listened quietly to my story.

"It is a visa that lets young people go abroad and legally work and earn money, and study English too. The hourly wage there is higher than Korea, and you can get overseas experience, so I mean to go out and see."

Even at my brisk explanation, a heavy silence settled at the table for a while.

Father set his chopsticks down without a word and fiddled with his soju glass.

Across Father's deeply sunken eyes passed a bitter, deep self-reproach.

"······I am sorry your father is lacking."

"Yes?"

"I could not even provide university tuition properly, like others. I am pushing a young child, just discharged from the army, all the way to a foreign land to earn money. It is all this lacking father's fault."

There was a reason Father blamed himself.

Originally I had been accepted to the architecture department of K University, one of SKY.

But, having no tuition, I went to Gangun University, which gave a full scholarship.

At the time I said confidently that it was fine.

Honestly, there was ambition too, to chew it all up on skill.

But if I had known, going out into society, that academic background mattered that much, I would have entered K University even if I had to claw my way in.

Even if it meant using private loans.

The reason I fell behind in promotion even with skill was that I had no line.

Of course it is a matter of no concern now.

Anyway, Father kept that in his heart all his life and blamed himself.

"Father, it is not like that······."

I tried to stop Father, but Father slowly raised a hand and blocked my words.

Straightening his bent back with difficulty and looking straight at me, Father's eyes were thicker and heavier than at any time.

"Jeong-su."

"Yes, Father."

"Going to a strange place, do not skip meals, and be careful not to hurt your body. And······ now you are the eldest son of this house, and its head."

For a moment tears tried to rise at the corners of my eyes.

In the previous life I had hated hearing those words so much...

Hearing them again at fifty, the thick weight of those words was felt to the ache.

'I really lived hard. Father...'

I could not bring myself to take those words out of my mouth.

Handing the place of head of the house willingly to a young son of twenty-four and blaming himself — how different was Father's heart from mine, thoroughly abandoned in the previous life?

I did not bow my head with effort, or wipe tears.

Instead I scraped the rice bowl clean and grinned.

"Do not worry. I will succeed in Australia and come back! So Father and Mother, ease up on the farm work a little now. Your bodies have to be healthy for you to receive the filial duty I do. Look. In a few years Father's back has bent too."

At the good-natured bluster, only then did Mother give a faint smile, and Father too, without a word, tossed back the soju in one go.

Head of this house.

That bitter title, which in the previous life I had endured alone as a wild-goose father until my bones crushed, to feed a wife and children — this life I meant to shoulder it willingly for real family who truly loved me, my parents.

'Please wait just a little.'

I set my mind firm, and prepared to leave.

First I came up to Seoul and headed for Gangun University before anything else.

Gangun University, occupying the last seat among universities in Seoul.

It is in Seongbuk-dong, and people, hearing only the name, did not know it was a university in Seoul.

In the department office I found after so long, I picked up indifferently the leave-of-absence form the assistant handed me.

[Reason for leave: language study and working holiday]

I scrawled a signature without hesitation and submitted the documents.

"Han Jeong-su?"

The assistant looks at the student ID and calls my name.

"Yes?"

"You are him, right?"

"The identification is right there, isn't it?"

"Uh... the photo is too different."

The assistant, flustered, hurriedly processed it on the computer.

'Have I changed that much?'

I considered stopping by the department room after filing the leave, but soon decided against it.

Anyway most of the male classmates would have gone to the army, and the faces I knew would only be the women, and I do not know how I should treat them.

I turned my steps without regret and headed for the next destination, Gangnam Station.

Between the forest of buildings, signs for every kind of study-abroad agency and language school were packed tight.

While scanning the countless signs, I found one familiar sign that caught the eye in particular, and stopped.

[Frontier Study Abroad]

The agency where I had gone through the process when I sent my wife and children to Australia in the previous life.

In that moment the wild-goose-father days rose, and my mood soured.

So I meant to turn my steps...

"Is there any need to avoid it?"

Suddenly a dry laugh broke out.

Being swayed by emotion and throwing away efficiency is something only an amateur does.

That place had survived more than twenty years as a study-abroad agency.

And having survived was proof it was strong.

There was no reason not to use a capable place.

I shook off the useless emotion cleanly and pushed open the agency door.

A woman owner, small but looking solid, raised her head.

She saw my short hair and seemed to catch the situation at once.

And she stood up smiling brightly and came over, skilled, holding a pamphlet labeled initial settlement package.

"Sit this way. Discharged, and preparing a working holiday!"

I gave a short laugh and said.

"Not discharged yet, on terminal leave. Five days left until discharge."

"Oh my! I should congratulate you in advance. Where are you going?"

"I mean to go to Australia."

"Oh my, oh my. Perfect, perfect."

"Yes?"

"It's March now, Uncle."

The form of address changed to uncle.

"Yes."

"Australia runs jobs by season. Especially, they hire people around the big holidays. You know Australia's seasons are the opposite of Korea?"

"Yes. It's the southern hemisphere."

"Right. It isn't extremely hot or extremely cold there like Korea. Just a big daily range, and the sun is sharp. So what happens? Right now, in Korean terms, it's autumn. From March to May is the time grapes, apples, and pears pour out of the farms. And when June comes, jobs explode."

"Why?"

"Why is a Japanese futon."

Look at this ajumma?

"Hahaha!"

I burst out a reception laugh, skilled.

"Ho ho. Uncle does a bit of gag. Anyway, they hire a lot of people because of year-end. They hire from June to September, get them skilled at the work, and then from the end of October the Western festivals come in a string, you know. You've heard of Halloween?"

"Yes."

"Right. Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas. They say it gets tremendously busy then. So if you go now, it's good for grabbing a spot."

Before I knew it I was listening seriously to the counselor.

This woman definitely had ability.

"First, the place is Sydney, and Uncle has to go to a designated hospital and get a physical. Funny thing about Australians, they see us as something like the sticks. You have to get a disease check too, so know that."

"······Is that so. But do I have to go to Sydney?"

I asked lightly because my wife had lived on the Gold Coast, south of Brisbane.

"Oh my! Uncle, really. In other regions there aren't many Koreans yet. Working-holiday people are all the same, so they won't be much help to Uncle. You have to meet local compatriots. Koreans living in Australia, all together, are a bit over two thousand, and most of them live near Sydney. Even to taste Korean food, you have to go to Sydney. Places like Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, it isn't late to go after your English is a bit better and you know Australian conditions to some degree. Anyway you have to move every three months."

"Ah, yes······ then what should I prepare?"

"Ho ho ho. Money, of course. This uncle is quietly funny."

True, this ajumma is pretty funny too.

And strangely, the talk goes well.

Talking with women in their twenties, there were times it irritated me...

Damn.

"You explained it so tastily, noona, that I was out of it for a moment."

"Oh my, oh my. Uncle is a complete sly snake. Ho ho. But how did you come to think of going to Australia?"

"Just. I heard the work is good and the earnings are better, so I'm going to try to catch a stake."

At that the counselor brightened.

"I live here for work, but my family all live there. Australia is really fine. The work is easy, the hourly wage is high, the scenery is beautiful. Go when you're young and you really won't regret it."

"Yes. I'm going because I don't want to regret it later either."

"Uncle has a good impression, and he's refreshing. Even if you look blunt, go to Australia and women will cling quite a bit."

I asked, bewildered.

"Me?"

"Hm? Aren't you a bit popular? There's a touch of the actor Choi Mu-ryong on your face?"

"Heh heh heh."

The form of address had gone as far as you before I knew it.

This ajumma is truly no ordinary sly snake.

And in the previous life I was so rough I was even called a mountain bandit, and being told I look like a movie actor is the first time since hair grew on my head.

But who is Choi Mu-ryong?

"You know, that one. The one whose son was in Hourglass."

Hourglass?

I thought it over and it flashed who it was.

"Ah, you mean the actor Choi Min-su?"

"Oh! Right!"

"Oh. Do I look a bit like Choi Min-su?"

At that the counselor laughed and waved a hand.

"You. That went too far."

"Haha. Noona, looking at you, I bet in your day you heard a bit of Kim Ji-mi."

"Oh my, oh my. A thing to get in trouble for. Ho ho ho. Still, when I was young I was a bit famous as a beauty."

"Where is when you were young. You're lovely enough now."

"Oh my! You! I told you to stop doing this."

The crosstalk gilding each other's faces went on for a while.

* * *

"Mr. Han Jeong-su. Come in."

At the nurse's call I got up and went into the exam room.

I had come to Gangnam Severance Hospital for the working-holiday visa.

"First we'll measure height and weight. Please take off your shoes and step up on the machine."

Following the guidance, I stepped onto the electronic scale and height measure and straightened my posture.

The machine made a whir and lightly touched the crown of my head and went up.

"Height 181 centimeters, weight 74 kilograms. You can step down."

"Yes!? Me? You're saying my height is over 180?"

When I asked, startled at the unexpected figure, the nurse stopped writing the chart and looked at me with a puzzled face.

"Yes. It came out 181 centimeters."

"Strange. Until before I went to the army I was definitely 176."

When I tilted my head and muttered, the nurse burst a short laugh past the mask.

"Men often keep growing even until twenty-five. Living regularly in the army and training, a bent posture straightens, or hidden height shoots up."

"Well, army food must have been good. Five centimeters taller here."

When I stroked my chin and played shameless, the nurse smiled with her eyes and offered a joke.

"If you really can't believe your own height, shall I tell the doctor when you see him later? Want to take a growth-plate X-ray, one shot?"

"Haha. It's fine. Why spend money to take a picture of bones."

Having traded a light joke with the nurse, I gave a short laugh and rolled up my sleeve toward the next exam equipment.

Much bigger and harder than the previous life.

I had exercised hard from twenty-one, and it seemed to be coming back as reward.

At this level it is a body remodel. Heh heh.

* * *

Having finished preparations in Seoul, before returning to the unit I took the wheel and headed for distant Gangwon.

The destination was Toseong-myeon, Goseong-gun, Gangwon. The engineer company of the 102nd Armored Brigade under the Third Corps.

Precisely the unit where my poor friend Sang-u was rolling, eating dirt dust.

I was sitting in the visiting room at the guard post, leisurely opening a can of coffee.

"Hey, you, Han Jeong-su, you son of a biiiitch!"

The visiting-room door opened as if it would break, and Sang-u, burned black, dark circles down to his jaw, bared his teeth and rushed in.

Completely out of his mind, pollack eyes.

"Whoa, whoa. Calm down, Private Kim. Military discipline gone, and to a sergeant."

"I'm a private first class! You bastard! And sergeant or whatever, you die by my hand today! Hey, you said if I went to the engineers I'd learn heavy equipment later and suck honey! Suck honeyyy!"

Sang-u grabbed my collar and shook me like mad.

I giggled and took his hands off, shameless.

"Training all becomes blood and flesh. You've lost a lot of weight? Your jawline is sharp."

Empty words.

Sang-u, who had been a pretty young master at a glance, had changed into a beggar brat with only bones left.

"Training? Hey, if it was training I wouldn't say a word! You know what my specialty is? Mines, demolition, you lunatic!"

"Oh, elite. Blowing things up, must be fun."

"Fun?! Open your eyes in the morning and crawl into the DMZ with a beeping detector looking for mines, go out to training and carry a girder bridge until your back feels like it'll snap! Then if there's a little time left, building a field position, shoveling all day! I don't know if I'm a human or a human excavator right now!"

Mine detection and demolition.

And girder assembly bridges and field-position construction on top.

The guy who had taken, whole, the most vicious and terrible three-combo an engineer can suffer was walking a hellscape, literally.

Poor bastard, no wonder the look of him was salty.

Sang-u, panting, sat across from me and one-shotted the can of coffee I pushed over, gulp after gulp.

Having caught his breath, he only then saw my civilian clothes and tilted his head.

"But aren't you on the way back to your unit? How on earth did you get all the way to the top of Goseong in Gangwon? Buses don't even run a few times a day."

"Ah, I drove. Parked it outside the guard post."

"A car? Where do you have a car? Did you rent?"

"No. A noona at the study-abroad agency I got to know a few days ago lent it, said to drive it comfortably."

At my flat answer Sang-u's eyes grew as big as ping-pong balls.

"No, noona? A woman you know? That clumsy Han Jeong-su knows a woman?"

It is not unreasonable that Sang-u is aghast.

Until now, as far as women went, he had been no different from a block of wood.

"Why so surprised? I'm a man too."

"Wow, this bastard. A Toto jackpot blows and now he's cracking pumpkin seeds in the back too. What kind of noona lends a car just like that?"

"A secret, you."

I looked elsewhere and gave a short laugh.

In fact, talking, I heard the car had broken down, and I fixed it.

Then I said I was going to Gangwon for a visit, and she lent me her car outright.

"Anyway, I have to go soon to return the car."

"Hey! You come all the way here and just leave? This bastard really has no manners."

I giggled, then set the heavy plastic bags I had hidden on the floor up on the table.

"Go back and share with the guys in the barracks."

"Ooh! Civilian!! Ack! There's chicken too. Shit, so glad to see it."

It should be enough to share with the unit.

"The reason I stopped by here today is I had something to say to you."

"Something to say?"

I nodded.

And getting up, I tapped his bony shoulder.

"When I discharge next month, I go straight to Australia."

"Australia? You're really going to Australia?"

"Yeah. It seems like a chance to change my life. You come right after you discharge too, if you can. Hyung will get settled in Australia and wait."

Sang-u, chicken bag in hand, looked up at me with a blank face.

The guy I had stuck 36 million won into an account for, thanks to my pig dream at the last World Cup.

To him my words could sound not as empty nonsense, but as going to open some huge board.

"Hey······ you're really going to Australia? While I roll in a minefield carrying a girder bridge, you're bouncing off to a foreign country?"

No?

"Hyung goes first and lays the foundation. You don't get hurt, watch yourself, and discharge."

"Wow! Really, Han Jeong-su. Posing all by himself, what a show."

Sang-u grumbled and still could not hide an inwardly envious look.

I roughly mussed his shaved head and turned.

"I'm going. Don't die, live, and let's see each other again."

"Go, you bastard! Go to Australia and get your joints cracked by a kangaroo!"

Hearing Sang-u's rough farewell pouring at my back, I left the visiting room.

Coming out of the unit guard post, I looked up at the clear Gangwon sky.

Now the army life I was sick of is really ending.

In the account, close to a hundred million won has gathered from the Hanjin Shipping investment, and the beanpole body of the previous life has transformed into hard steel of 181 centimeters.

'Wait, Australia.'

Han Jeong-su, the wild-goose father in his fifties who had only sacrificed for others until his bones crushed, is dead.

Now it was time to board the plane toward the vast continent I would chew, taste, and enjoy myself.

© Log1#13yd6