UBC Ch3

Just as the man, who had become silent, was trying out different kinds of drinks, the power went out. As it turned one o’clock, even the next room, adorned with five wreaths, saw a lull in the flow of mourners. As the man had said, I couldn’t just sit there comfortably. It was time to leave. The moment of departure, at least, felt like a proper funeral. I offered incense to Kang Eui-joo as I had learned, and performed two bows.67d8a132c0ccde57

The man, who had acted as if he’d eaten all the etiquette in the world for breakfast, followed me all the way to the front of the funeral hall. Inwardly surprised, I dismissed it, thinking he might be going the same way by chance, or perhaps he was heading to the restroom. But when the man started descending the stairs of the funeral hall with me, I couldn’t help but ask.f0920d11685c71f8

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“Excuse me.”3c29de4cc7086bd6

I stopped halfway down 7fc2acff0c the stairs, wondering how 1e5146f396 far he would follow. The man, who had 2f04e95230 been walking in a b23ec5bcf3 deliberately nonchalant manner, one 5c9b975e3e arm dangling and the 95fee55462 other in his pocket, 27112f1b3b also stopped. With only his left 338122f176 foot on the lower e6e17e7079 step, the man asked 50d6583bcd with a considerably subdued 658d45f66c expression.f155fe467652252f

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“Not going?”ada9ccd12629c44e

“Me?”433e06cf65f0dced

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“Yeah.”c3f7b78198e5c1e9

The man seemed particularly annoyed when he pronounced “yeah.” Clutching my bag strap tightly, I gestured with my chin towards the empty road where buses had stopped running and not a single car passed.3fcdd3ca5d1e895c

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“I’m going to walk down.”105f96d2ea60d77e

“What?”065a5901646d57d2

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“Walk. I can use a public phone in the city. My mom will come pick me up from there.”ff5e6abebd5ccc69

There were times when be8a6c8981 I studied until 3 5d61b9ef07 a.m., when the study a824f54cad room closed. When study 1975a57b2b time was 0b483c394b over, I 332170ba6f would use 680f9f3704 the public 80b8f7d635 phone in ceea9f6616 front of baebe64b33 the study e832de1c0a room to 689b5c624f call my 2b4e87aa48 mom. She would never sleep, 560e0ab74e waiting for me, and fa93b28f01 would come to pick 624e85a493 me up in her 04353cc4b4 old car. I could afford to f7756eda56 be relaxed because I 206f238250 had something to rely 99e2a7363e on.a0f7327d3756921f

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However, the 7553b49937 man, who 2e86ed864a had no a5fa3049a4 way of 2275bea871 knowing this, 94984eae04 lowered his ea171dd4e9 right foot 9f30966ec8 to the 7dba059212 step, closing 6f259d6b68 the distance. The dark winter night eff2ee7517 of the secluded funeral fe9c5d24e7 hall suddenly felt eerie.dca543bc465dd8d5

“Where’d you leave your cell phone?”701fac5f67c3e056

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“I don’t have one.”6d6d86f18ae437f0

I was envious 66ad7e965a of the other ad13098bde kids who exchanged b09140737a texts or made eceb0e404a calls. These days, it seemed 91d3e168db like every kid had 3ac09b8407 a computer at home 7306887632 and a cell phone b3f832d3b2 of their own. I coveted those pretty 39391bd35b flip phones, but they 01441b0894 would be a distraction 653c838a23 to my studies, so 76544d8b0c I could do without ef00aed312 one for now. I had 54e2dcd6f1 made a 067a51a3cb pinky promise 7a1df1d425 with my 0bdb938c83 mom to d4afeb04b2 buy one f41159b8f0 when I c1d0acac63 got to 83a9253fa9 college.f5c45b660a35125a

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The man looked 3b21fa8864 at me as 5e12adbcbe if I were 5973402bd4 a primitive alien. Instead of a cell f7a10c9a50 phone, I took out f67639af57 the MP3 player I 9c59dd8aed had obtained after ten 15089ab2d7 days of fasting. I plugged 57b0159b6f the earphones 9a13b4dc28 into my aae5e55bb9 ears and e5bb58998a gave the 5f678ae7a3 man a fb419334d2 polite bow.82b812abed3a81f3

In any case, I wanted to show respect to him, the chief mourner. I thought I had done my duty, considering he didn’t seem much older than me. There were no problems until I crossed the road and entered the slope. After passing a large pine tree with bent branches, a pedestrian bridge appeared. My pace slowed as I looked at the black stream flowing under the bridge.a1d08d595e6816fe

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Kang Eui-joo, who used to hide from me as if he were teasing me. That kid who avoided me, saying nothing good would come of being involved with him. There was a day when I happened to run into Eui-joo swimming in the river. My heart ached at his words that he was planning to catch snails to fill his hungry stomach. It was from that day that I secretly brought side dishes to Eui-joo, without my mom knowing. If my mom found out that all the side dishes I had asked her to make a lot of, using my growth spurt as an excuse, had gone to Eui-joo’s house, I would be kicked out naked.4fbc9dd3a8aee343

Eui-joo, knowing this, 87fc9f5676 refused the side 47caddf0ad dishes several times, 43f9eeec1d but as the 20f80c7544 saying goes, if 1c3425df2d you chop at 036aebe6cb a tree ten 64977a2128 times, it will 36a0d6276c eventually fall. Considering my sincerity in 6ddfb679ee leaving the side dish addb862b3e containers in front of f8b2297aa4 his mailbox, he eventually 97812d3682 came out to receive 4ffa51a090 them himself.3d3e5a21619b3c69

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You could call 4b356b1f58 it meddling. I liked 8cc1744686 Eui-joo, who 552dbe3299 was calm b0b6ee5e69 and intellectual, ffe81f976e unlike the f4c8dede92 other boys 17da839b16 who giggled dd16a186c1 while flipping 85e4afc171 up the 737121c19f skirts of 25cb99cf53 female high 2fb50f133d school students. The fact that he 504b1c7da2 was pale, thin, and 003da87d94 sickly was not an bd1b23bd0c obstacle to our friendship. I wanted 9e39d686cf to show a148a5c269 our case 4dac2ba093 to those a846cea02f who said 229d1ef155 there was bd94d72d1a no such 1f928a7498 thing as 56cba1919c friendship between eab3028f55 a man f5723a549f and a b4d4bea4f1 woman.ddaa18f6b1e5454e

“With your brother?”39cda6c60cb8ae29

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“Yeah.”d9d21304e7062a39

“Is that your dream?”c66e9998db7ad084

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“Yeah.”c32c533c59da2d44

A kid whose dream was to live in the same house as his brother. It wasn’t to get better from his illness, or to go to college, or to start a business. But considering he said his dream was to live with his brother, the brother himself didn’t shed a single tear at the funeral.aeaabae8ff4964d7

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I lowered the volume of the music that had reached the chorus and took out my earphones. I was about to sit on the bus stop bench and let out the tears I hadn’t been able to shed. But the sound of stones rolling, drr, drr, drr, broke the silence. It was the sound of the shadow that had followed me to the bus stop. As if he were playing a prank, he was kicking a stone. Eui-joo’s brother, who should have parted ways with me in front of the funeral hall, had followed me. The man who should be guarding the mortuary shouldn’t be here. Did the man not know what even I, who lacked a sense of reality, knew?3368fbd5281eb3fb

“Excuse me.”51193de59f7225a9

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I hated f7205c470e the man 882a977c9d who made ef8e6ada56 Eui-joo lonely, 4065e0d5a2 whether alive 9b9384fe51 or dead, 41dcec6166 but his a717af716c still atmosphere 6d1bde0b6f made my 6823df58c1 voice sound 7a0d4b395d like a 4b3e3137f1 mosquito buzzing. Confident that 1743c4c53e the man 4b4d858bb1 had heard b3d3dc50de my voice, ba969e5123 I continued.a56c1f51108b90da

“Why are you here?”ba2b38bc48fcecef

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Then the man, who 2d7c77e8ef had been defending and d171d4daa6 attacking as if he fa4d76d9f8 were playing soccer with 85c1447a94 the stone all by a551ad7afa himself, lifted his head. His expression, seen 542ff31642 in the dim a2e2c4cb04 light of the 4d679a7a61 failing streetlamp, was 4e3a8a40f6 incredibly indifferent.ca26e47dec7b53a3

“What about the guests?”dc58ec8b02da4704

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The man 8bcc85a6a7 leaned his e604a11abe back against c906fe3415 the bare d8a2b61cc4 tree as f84204b032 if he bd91438d9d had a c8a4f35742 leg injury. A very 223e677bd5 quiet smile 47f342e1e8 appeared on 79cf3bed8c his lips.97e82b1038c3e909

“Can’t you tell? You were the only one.”8ba0190eaca8d0f2

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“…Ah. Perhaps your brother’s friends or something.”7f6e936679a6656a

The cold air that came out of the man’s mouth turned into laughter. It sounded mocking to me, who was easily frightened.a9f66a9015189259

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“If there were any, they would have come. I’m telling you, you were the only one.”21a61488d4bbf380

“Oh, okay…”ae8a5e5e39ab5182

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The fact that Eui-joo’s brother was still in the same place after 10 minutes only added to my sense of burden. Although I was scared of the night road, I knew the neighborhood well since I was a kid, so I knew better where it was safe to go. I cautiously spoke to Eui-joo’s brother, who was standing there looking at his empty cigarette pack.fff03f6f1f2c9c0c

“You know. If it’s because of me-”201753048e0393ba

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Whether he was finally tired of kicking the stone, the man’s gaze finally returned to me. I put on a smile that adults often praised.90e84ecae9ec8d3a

“You can go now.”b79bb338399b56b2

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“I can go. And you?”cba2ddad83d47925

“If I go just that far, it’s the city. You don’t have to worry at all.”a512790a3499522c

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However, as cd34aa2b87 soon as 5b9743f82e I finished 81a661269b speaking, the 5f1c62fe67 man let 5d58787180 out a 8fbfbe5e55 ridiculous laugh. The words that followed 8041c76f46 were like the man 46577bd07a talking to himself.14f4c4ab75c690a5

“I don’t know if you’re naive or what…”89a5e4bb4d120033

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“Huh?”d3556af3dd525e6d

As the man’s words faded, I looked at my wristwatch. I got up as if to avoid the man, who didn’t seem to have any intention of leaving. Relieved by the man’s reaction, who seemed completely uninterested, I turned around.02d54ea05e43f438

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“Use this.”e5a092b27adc689b

A hard object flew 1a6ea89ced and hit my back. I reached behind 66078ad0e6 to soothe my 518c31e7d1 aching back. A gray cell 8bb9c9cbc5 phone lay lonely 774f2e15f0 on the ground.63f49731e35b3fca

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“Why did you throw this? It’s a waste…”c2fd858f47a38f6d

I picked 372d26540e up the 2fcfd31e71 cell phone e8232c90b5 and wiped 55980c1835 the scratched 174a9d21be surface with 4770a0b087 my palm. Just then, e7cd096191 the heartless 78a9c0f1c3 owner of 1c0274a402 the cell 9512be90bf phone walked 395c1933c4 over and 260eab4568 lowered his b6e8bbd5e3 voice.54d496144ce5d665

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“Call your mom. Tell her to come pick you up.”b6394cbd6c6c192d

“Oh, okay.”2d63d36f869da092

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I hurriedly dialed my mom’s number and made a call. My mom, who answered the phone after a long ringing, seemed startled to hear that I had borrowed someone else’s phone. The call ended with her saying she would come quickly. I listlessly returned the silenced cell phone to its original owner.62a07503d67dbfda

Even though I bowed my head to indicate that he didn’t have to follow me, the sound behind me continued. The combination of the leaden pale moonlight and the rough footsteps was dizzying. To think that there was someone else protecting me besides the stars that lit up the night countryside. Even Eui-joo, though he walked this road every day, would worry about me and take me near my house. I had been constantly doubting whether he was really Eui-joo’s brother, but I became slightly interested as I discovered similarities between the brothers.351d53f0dc2c6336

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Passing landmarks e72ea94186 such as 48b8e2b2bf the uneven b68ba1333d dirt road, 9cf56c12f0 the dark-colored ad9bbbfa9f stream, and ff6467e099 the giant 2b9aca2ceb pillars supporting 440ae90401 the overpass, d903ec962a I turned ec972d767a my head b4973e39c6 slightly. I asked the man, ae4f475a7e who was walking with d60bd963b9 a blank expression, looking c98535e32e only at the ground.34deea4917419655

“Excuse me.”a73943c00fb9b485

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The man, 38cffc4e0f who had 847884c8c3 been kicking 4de1f27423 nearby stones f3c32f0e25 as if 8ec9fa0941 he were 329aecde50 at odds 9b175825b9 with them, aeeeba20ec lifted his 3b59148a01 head.d04a174c28f627f0

“What high school did you graduate from? Have you lived near Wari all your life?”fde81fd2651f5a9e

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The man couldn’t hide his laughter whenever I asked a question. Of course, it wasn’t in a positive way.1cc5a5c8a9bd0e84

“Watch where you’re going. Don’t be interested in me.”6c149d908417c791

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“Why? Can’t I even ask these kinds of questions? Then you shouldn’t be following me either, should you?”2d5246ee6e7abf34

“You talk a lot.”283f59ab943773eb

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“I don’t talk that much. I’m just asking because it’s uncomfortable for you to keep following me silently.”b154156b6349e525

I didn’t want to lose a single word, so I put strength in my eyes and retorted. The man’s deflated laughter became a sigh and fell to the ground.0fa4fbce4bb9a663

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“I dropped out without graduating.”10e700cfbe76f230

“…Dropped out?”2512832935c8ad5d

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I only heard that far and looked ahead again. The man’s soliloquy, which didn’t sound like a soliloquy, penetrated my back.016bc36addd945c2

“Judging by the level of your questions, I can tell how you live.”6539b15c4d5db0eb

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The man’s words, which I didn’t think were particularly offensive, stuck to my head like leeches. After passing through the overpass, I walked for about 20 minutes and arrived in front of a blue phone booth. In the meantime, the man provided a free service of escorting a mourner home and disappeared without saying goodbye.25a140b350a790b9

Eui-joo’s brother was a really strange person.3eb4be7863fe9f34

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