Chapter 23

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Translator: Harry Potta
Chapter: 23
Chapter Title: You Fool
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The village chief was younger than Taeseo's father, Chairman Kwon Seongtae of Namgyeong Group, but there was still a generational gap between them.

Despite this, after sharing frog wine with its strong, fishy smell, the two men were calling each other "brother."

“Brother, I was actually planning to visit Namgyeong Development once I finished spraying the pesticides and the summer off-season started. I'm telling you this because you work for them, but it's about Yunho's grandmother. She's been filing so many complaints at the town office that we're in a real bind.”

“Do you think anything would change if you came to Namgyeong Development? We're trying our best, but that grandmother is something else. The last time I went to see her, she threw salt at me.”

“Goodness, she's still throwing salt? I didn't want to badmouth a local in front of an outsider, but…”

“What is it? There's nothing we can't say between brothers.”

He called him "brother" naturally, but in truth, Taeseo wasn't nearly as drunk as the village chief.

Getting properly drunk can quickly close the distance between even the most awkward acquaintances. Taeseo, well-versed in ways to make life easier, often used drinking sessions to his advantage. This one was no exception.

“That grandmother has the heart of a thief. Who in their right mind thinks someone with 2,000 pyeong of land should get the same amount of money as someone with 400?”

This was precisely the problem Taeseo had with Kim Kkotnim. Even though they had offered a sufficient price for her land, she expected to receive nearly five times that amount for her 400 pyeong.

Just as the village chief said, it was pure greed.

Taeseo perfectly concealed his thoughts and spoke like a naive young man.

“The grandmother said she couldn't sell the land because she can't move her husband's grave.”

“You think there weren't other family graves on that golf course site? Who would feel good about digging up their ancestors' graves to move them? I moved my great-great-grandfather's grave, and so did everyone else.”

“You did?”

“You should know, since you work for Namgyeong. The village held a joint memorial service and moved all the ancestral graves to the public cemetery on the same day. Ancestral graves are important, but if the village develops, it's good for me and for future generations, right?”

“Of course.”

“She keeps talking about her husband's grave, but if that were really the issue, she'd refuse to sell no matter how much money you offered. The way I see it, she's just being difficult, thinking she'll get more money if she holds out.”

The chief's wife, who had been refilling the empty dishes with things like kimchi pancakes, quietly sat at the edge of the table and added her own thoughts.

“My husband is right. We're caught in the middle, and it's killing us. Summer farm work is already overwhelming, but we get calls from Namgyeong Development asking us to persuade the grandmother, and the town office calls almost daily, complaining about her complaints. And Yunho's grandmother doesn't listen to a word anyone says. Someone from the town office came by again today while he was out in the fields.”

“Sigh, honestly, what's the point of pressuring us? It's not like that grandmother listens to anyone. Ah, maybe if we got Yuna to talk to her, she might at least pretend to listen.”

The moment she heard Yuna's name, the chief's wife jumped.

“What are you saying! Are you trying to get Yuna killed? You know how horribly that family treats her. We can't involve Yuna!”

“But she's the only one who can get through to them.”

“Don't even think about involving Yuna. The lady from the persimmon tree house came by earlier and said Yuna was beaten over the head again yesterday.”

“They beat her again? Was it Yunho? Or his father?”

From what he was hearing, it seemed Yuna was being beaten not only by her uncle but also by her cousin, An Yunho.

“It was Yunho's father.”

Taeseo subtly added his own observation.

“I was there, too. He smashed a soju bottle over her head.”

“Aigoo, that rotten bastard. Has he no shame? Causing a scene like that again!”

The drunk village chief's voice grew louder. His already flushed face turned an even deeper shade of red.

Taeseo's voice also rose.

“Why on earth do those people hate An Yuna so much?”

Hyunwoo gave Taeseo a strange look, unaccustomed to him raising his voice over someone else's affairs, before refilling their half-empty glasses. He concluded it was just the alcohol talking.

“After Yunho's grandfather passed away, Yuna suggested they build a prefabricated building where his little shop used to be, and that's how the convenience store was built.”

“They built it and opened the store, but when business wasn't good, they started blaming Yuna. But that convenience store is how Yunho and his father get by; at least it brings in some money. They don't appreciate her for it, though. They just torment the poor girl.”

“Torment is putting it lightly. The money for that building? It came from the savings the old man left behind, plus a loan they took out by mortgaging the land the store is on. And Yuna is paying back that loan all by herself, working at a factory.”

Taeseo clicked his tongue. If she had just done nothing, she would have been better off. He couldn't understand why An Yuna would bring such hardship upon herself by suggesting they build a building and open a convenience store.

Hyunwoo, looking just as bewildered as Taeseo, chimed in.

“Since her grandfather passed away a little less than a year ago, she must have been nineteen at the time. What would a kid that young know about putting up a building? This village is full of Ans, they're all relatives. The elders should have stopped her.”

“We couldn't stop her. If she hadn't built that store, Yunho's father would have gambled away that land long ago.”

“That's right. It's not like she wanted to build it. Her uncle was constantly trying to sell off the land, and they had no other way to make a living, so she had no choice.”

“The girl has had it rough. When she was little, her uncle would beat her every other day, and she'd run away barefoot. Now that she's older, she's supporting that family with her small frame. Is twenty even an adult? When I look back at my own twenties, I was still just a kid…”

Perhaps it was the image of An Yuna's slender frame that came to mind. Everyone sitting around the table fell silent.

What came to Taeseo's mind was the sight of An Yuna's back as she ran to the convenience store right after they had shared dinner.

Barely an adult, that young girl was trapped, pedaling alone on the inescapable treadmill of debt and family support.

“Anyway, once the Namgyeong golf course and resort open, do you think there will be some jobs for the locals?”

The village chief steered the conversation in a new direction.

“Jobs?”

“My eldest son was saying so. He heard that when a golf resort opens, it creates a lot of jobs. I think he's having a tough time with his company job in Daejeon. He keeps saying he wants to move back to the village.”

“For now, all I know are the development plans, but if I hear anything about operations, I'll let you know.”

“Yes, yes. Still, once the golf resort is built, this town will liven up. The young people might even come back.”

Whether the village chief's hopes would come to fruition was uncertain. The pretense of a public-private partnership to operate a public golf course was purely for the convenience of development; it wasn't a decision made with the future in mind.

Still, perhaps because he had grown fond of the villagers during his time here, Taeseo found himself hoping the golf course would be operated in a way that fulfilled their wishes.

Alcohol often makes people overly sentimental.

This uncharacteristic sympathy he felt for the villagers seemed to be the work of the alcohol.

***

Taeseo started on the path back to the convenience store alone. The moon was shining brightly in the night sky.

The village chief had insisted Hyunwoo drink, despite his refusal, and in the end, Hyunwoo had passed out at the chief's house.

The chief had also urged Taeseo to stay the night, but he couldn't impose that much.

Taeseo had his boundaries. He could share a meal with others, but not his living space or sleeping quarters.

As Taeseo was leaving, the chief told him to take his car since it was a short distance. He even said it was fine because the police didn't conduct DUI checkpoints this far out in the country, but Taeseo refused that as well.

The drive from the village to the convenience store was less than five minutes, but it was a twenty-minute walk.

Not driving after drinking had become common sense. Even if the people in this town lived outside the bounds of common sense, Taeseo had no intention of breaking the rules he lived by.

He walked quickly through the night. The stars in the sky seemed sleepy, merely twinkling without illuminating the darkness.

In the distance, the low mountains on the horizon cast a winding shadow like a slithering snake.

The surroundings were swallowed by darkness as if it were a new moon. Between the widely spaced streetlights, a deep, abyss-like darkness coiled.

Filling the void left by his limited vision were the sounds of frogs and birds from the rice paddies along the road.

He slowly walked the summer night road, forcibly suppressing the rising effects of the alcohol.

Then, his eyes caught sight of a small figure walking ahead of him.

At first, he thought he was seeing things on the country road, but when he blinked and looked again, the woman's back looked familiar.

Slender shoulders, long hair tied back simply. He knew who it was just from her back. Taeseo called out her name.

“An Yuna.”

Hearing her name, the woman turned around.

Yuna, who had been walking under a streetlight, had a face as pale as the hidden moon.

Taeseo quickened his pace. He reached her in an instant and asked.

“What are you doing out here at this hour?”

“And why are you walking from the direction of the village?”

“I asked you first.”

“I got off work and brought my grandmother the medicine I bought for her. She said her leg was bothering her and asked me to get her some painkillers and patches.”

Was it because of what he'd heard about her at the village chief's house, or was it the alcohol eroding his reason? He felt a little angry.

“I heard your grandmother goes to the town office all the time. Tell her to buy her own medicine while she's out.”

It seemed overwhelming enough for her to work at a factory while also running the convenience store, but on top of that, she was running errands between the village and the store.

“You fool. Why do you live like that?”

The disparaging word slipped from Taeseo's lips.

At the word "fool," Yuna's eyebrows shot up, and she stared intently at Taeseo.

For someone who looked so fragile she might crumble if you squeezed her, her glare was surprisingly fierce.