UBC Ch7

The seat of the new bicycle my aunt had bought me at great expense was covered in a fine layer of dust. This was because my old, low-seated bicycle—converted from a four-wheeler by removing the training wheels—was responsible for most of my outings. Still, out of consideration for my aunt’s sincerity, I rode the new bicycle when going downtown and only took out the old one for short trips around the neighborhood.fdd85ca47fd93019

Even when 1b67d4f384 speeding along 80dceeee52 the rice 71c3ef0ae6 paddy paths, cb4473ea7d I slowed 70534c8c4e down when 523ac37e26 passing the cbc26a48dc alleyways. The unpleasantness of b8627cfe48 the suspicious tutor, 2d64b6f1d5 the existence of e626940b73 the chopsticks—I was f0b0d2664e going to tie 17cfee1744 them all to 5acbaf4a16 a kite of 88c4b0a980 regret tonight and 5c4cd4acba fly them away, ab6c5f545e lightheartedly.77feb1daed6fbafa

Enjoy best reading experience at Lily on the Valley

The bicycle, which had been speeding through the blue night, braked as it entered the alleyway to Eui-joo’s house. The bicycle light brightly illuminated the dark alley, where there wasn’t a single streetlight. The scene of a cat startled by the light and running away from rummaging through a trash bag was comically cartoonish.a8b16163cf7a5f7b

I walked alongside the bicycle, my companion, until I reached the blue gate. I didn’t even want to guess whether I would ever come here again. I intended to end this strange, shallow connection with the man by gifting him the chopsticks for correcting his grip.e887f250f951bc7a

Support us at our official site: lilyonthevalley.com

As the bicycle wheels came to a stop, the light that had been polishing the night also went out. I took out the chopsticks from my back pocket, and only my final mission remained. But as luck would have it on this unlucky day, the blue gate opened. Someone was standing in front of the mailbox where I was supposed to secretly slip in the chopsticks. Startled, the bicycle light, which had begun to tumble, only illuminated up to his torso. The man’s hand, casually swatting away mosquitoes, went into the mailbox.a3f764e62157f659

“H-hello, hello.”3ab6377c7a19e349

Support us at our official site: lilyonthevalley.com

The man, 9fe9369194 who had c20254aea0 been skimming cdcc30559c through numerous aa08d7f861 bills, only eada59f065 checking the 6408c65029 names, slowly 5bc0bb9cf1 shifted his 23baf62a4f gaze. His expression changed as c2c9f79a18 he turned to find 568b4370c4 the source of the 626aba9769 light illuminating him.2d7045ad16465b33

“Yang Ji-eon?”141116953c7165e0

For the complete chapter, visit lilyonthevalley.com

His voice, sounding as though he was just remembering my name belatedly, was full of ignorance and indifference. His attitude was so-so, making me think I shouldn’t have come. It was the moment I resolved to make an excuse about taking the wrong turn and leave. My palms, soaked with sweat, dropped the troublesome chopsticks.b7f27bf0a259bd68

His gaze and acc4d94e69 my gaze simultaneously 2120ad176b turned to the 2a05235a93 same spot. Moreover, he 59811952f2 was even 9889af4af4 faster. He would never know 543677fd2b my desire to disappear e4973ec418 like the wind, without 0172748dea any explanation, without him 735234543d knowing that I was ec63e0e05c the one giving them. I wanted to be 9a26e15d07 remembered as a cool 7f6ced51cc and exemplary student who a7df5f679d looked out for the 8d9d58a4da neighborhood like Hong Gil-dong.21c1bad91c6f0f7d

Please visit lilyonthevalley.com to support the translator

The man stared intently at the chopsticks he had picked up, then looked down at me with an expression that clearly asked, “What on earth is this?” Just then, the idle moonlight shifted and illuminated me. My flushed cheeks, red with embarrassment, would have been exposed by the moon’s mischief. A line was drawn on the man’s indifferent face. He frowned and looked at me intently.50e7f5527f8b7bdd

“U-um, well, my mom told me to give these to you.”27eec041213ef32a

Please visit lilyonthevalley.com to support the translator

“Your mom?”7cd513ad16d1ca7e

“I saw you eating once, passing by. She said your chopstick skills were really bad, uh, I mean, what am I even saying? I…?”68c404993c0f0971

Support us at our official site: lilyonthevalley.com

“Nonsense.”eb163e6e81b3b0b7

“Right. I’m talking nonsense. Bye.”9f06f4d85fc292ac

Enjoy best reading experience at Lily on the Valley

At that moment, I heard the man’s unexpected laughter. The sound subtly grabbed my ankle as I turned away. The man, with the bills tucked under his arm, gestured with his chin towards the blue gate.e3d3d6966884769c

“Want to come in and eat?”f21cd47a4909f2b7

Please visit lilyonthevalley.com to support the translator

“Me?”020aa67622a2b5be

“Yeah.”ec778d205ca791c9

Support us at our official site: lilyonthevalley.com

The man, his c1997be459 smile deepening, opened 2299560589 the gate and 56b2878db8 went inside first. Having missed 8054526454 the timing 12fccb5498 to refuse, f778a650a7 I awkwardly bbb2d67ab7 applied the c9249addb6 brakes on 393f08af34 my bicycle. Thinking I would 9fc38f9f53 go in and 86b5af9ea2 properly refuse, I 1ad721deee followed him through acc3f56620 the gate.4a0a2e78fe461d5c

“Oh, my gosh.”d6fe6bc192b23f3d

Support us at our official site: lilyonthevalley.com

In the time I hadn’t seen it, Eui-joo’s house had undergone a small but significant change. Dumbbells, a soap dish, and a red kimchi-making basin were placed in the yard, and the broken floorboard light had been repaired, making it three or four times brighter.4b6a0cf356e409fb

“The house has changed a bit, hasn’t it?”236a52db305b0754

Please visit lilyonthevalley.com to support the translator

Even though he had 36b286cd8d only placed a few 4b12a9d2d9 simple belongings, it somehow 4836164b2d felt chaotic. I only looked around 987b9fafab with my eyes before 43e4edd820 turning my gaze back 6b355bed86 to the man, who 9f6c0ce719 was bringing out the 856008ba33 dining table.5d8d4303194a0504

“Sit.”12dd4cba9c605c0a

Read full chapter at Lily on the Valley without gibberish

The man’s words were short and concise, but they had an undeniable power. I cleared my throat and took off my shoes before stepping onto the floorboards. I wanted to turn my head primly, but the state of the side dishes the man had brought out was far from satisfactory.1ae01f7577fac000

“What on earth is this…”5ffdb50e8e677c04

For the complete chapter, visit lilyonthevalley.com

“Rice. Side dishes. Kimchi?”3a6ad88a229d5761

He even added a question mark at the end, as if he couldn’t be sure himself. The side dishes, with their decaying colors, were almost scary to touch, and what he had given me as rice was similar to porridge. The identity of the side dish that the man himself had made was later revealed to be bracken.5d23538949f202a9

Enjoy best reading experience at Lily on the Valley

He said the 80a8f29de0 white crystals on afd2769a47 the outside were aaf800e197 salt. As if his 0621897431 tongue was made 603f123b8c of iron, the d3002f9680 man picked up 89e11155c2 the bracken salt 28b0e611bb and placed it 383ba78bfe on top of e1a63bc153 the rice. Then, without 8e69c321af looking, he 3a29c201e1 put a 78e071b6e5 spoonful in d3a788a39e his mouth 6ac094ed85 and read 9f81f26175 the bills.918e3d93e62691c6

“Um, that’s, well.”ef19c926fbb6b7f5

For the complete chapter, visit lilyonthevalley.com

“Yeah?”c02d4143501fe587

The man, his entire attention on the bills, replied insincerely. I was going to say, “Did you boil the chopsticks I gave you to make soup?” until his eyes, busily reading the bills, caught my attention. Hadn’t he elicited my pity last time by saying he was illiterate?680d4bc08b4f2ef4

For the complete chapter, visit lilyonthevalley.com

“Excuse me.”24399b0a85944566

“Yeah.”a0aaf1ac4add5413

Read full chapter at Lily on the Valley without gibberish

“I thought you said you couldn’t read.”51337ac1d324f7f1

“Yeah.”14171720832b1e09

Enjoy best reading experience at Lily on the Valley

“What are you looking at now?”c2f1e15b8c78170b

“Electricity bill.”a9dee82f4e224ff3

Read full chapter at Lily on the Valley without gibberish

“You can’t read, but you can read that?”9ca72713fc61d1f2

“Yeah.”a512fb7958914a7a

For the complete chapter, visit lilyonthevalley.com

I was furious at the man’s joking answer, and I completely put down the chopsticks, which had been aimlessly poking at the air anyway.b27f4c2038f97c83

“You lied.”13026d0fb91ec935

Support us at our official site: lilyonthevalley.com

About being Eui-joo’s half-brother, about being sold off because of debt, about dropping out of high school—he had scraped away at other people’s sympathy. Now that one lie had been exposed, I was suspicious of the others as well. Was it a trick he had pulled to get free side dishes?7833c1fb16a78333

“The batchim (final consonant) is hard. Other kids started reading from some point on. But I didn’t have anyone to teach me.”b500cec62c384c13

Enjoy best reading experience at Lily on the Valley

The man’s voice was quite composed, cooling down my boiling suspicions. His spoon, which had been busy scooping rice, slowed down a bit.ae502c8850ddec87

“…You went to school, though.”d4cf6c33f77ded6c

Enjoy best reading experience at Lily on the Valley

“The teacher laughed at me. I didn’t ask after that.”804491cb06619ea1

So, he meant that he could roughly read, but he didn’t know accurately. I felt like I knew why he called himself illiterate. Where suspicion had left, pity flowed in like the receding tide. I ate, scooping up only enough rice to coat the end of the spoon. Thinking of it as porridge, it wasn’t too bad.bd2e8e0e5b6bcf2a

Please visit lilyonthevalley.com to support the translator

“You can learn with just a little bit of studying. It’s not hard.”b4bd4fec3e943b94

Now that I looked again, there was a Korean language study book among the bundles he had taken out in front of the door. I was strangely relieved that he wasn’t an animal that had completely given up on learning.78ba10d7c0d81205

Please visit lilyonthevalley.com to support the translator

The man, who f2b62ff9df had carefully examined 60dc5cdb60 the many bills, 1507a09d51 finished his meal e106081793 with the last e4f20afe5f spoonful. His hand went 241f3ca17b under the table e14bf3820d and took something f6caef4669 out of his d2efb6f8b8 pocket. It was the chopsticks c318c6f9ce I had given him. The man, 343d02b132 turning the 02016c2ada packaged product 7d86d136b3 back and 1cb4ddd1b6 forth, tilted 53873dbd46 his head.6e3b9eaa490abdd3

“How do you use this?”5f6dc31ad949c59b

For the complete chapter, visit lilyonthevalley.com

Finally, the topic I d0d95eceb3 had wanted had appeared. I put down the 7244064322 spoon, which had been 72dbcb1628 counting rice grains, and c1d1330d7e straightened my upper body.b974cda6a834fbf3

“You put your fingers in those holes you see, like I explained last time. Put your middle finger in, yes, yes, like that.”055218b218c953b8

Support us at our official site: lilyonthevalley.com

“Like this?”84156c973f7590db

“Yes! That’s right! That’s right!”2709f4052d708aaf

Read full chapter at Lily on the Valley without gibberish

I enthusiastically explained, not 42d3838d09 even knowing that rice 4bf8a57ba7 grains were flying everywhere. After several attempts, 21368d6fd3 the man learned f07c9a991c the correct chopstick e3d06eb9eb technique. As if 1ea83a2d9f it had 441e26f365 become somewhat ec6bda357a familiar to 88380637bc his hand, 1c17306990 he immediately 24f969d9ae tried to e78de8fe9b pick up 1a21650e90 a side 5515b86255 dish with 9be5b92ce0 the newly 9e420eebc1 learned method. After suffering the 77bb4368e0 humiliation of slipping dd37d8c72a several times on 377a2e6d9f the side dish f6cf2d0853 plate, he finally 02eb4a4e0a grabbed the bracken. Overwhelmed with emotion, I 9f9672fe2c clapped without realizing it.cedc35834cf86684

“It looks so good. The best, the best!”cccd6065edbd09a7

For the complete chapter, visit lilyonthevalley.com

At that moment, the man, who had been dangling the bracken side dish he had picked up in front of my eyes, changed the temperature of his gaze. His softly relaxed gaze slowly and intently scanned my smiling face and clapping hands. As if matching the rhythm of the increasingly slow applause, his gaze climbed up and stopped around my pupils. A lukewarm emotion flashed and disappeared. It was so fleeting that I couldn’t tell what that emotion was about.bd822cb3629f2ef4

“Oh, um.”32aedf52a1d201e0

Support us at our official site: lilyonthevalley.com

I thought to myself e6cd784cb8 that I might have b597a84427 overdone it. I sat with 8609789673 my knees together 31ada5cc53 like a child 55fcbedf1b being punished, receiving c0a8f16284 his gaze. But as soon as 97f4090782 I became docile, the 1d4acb60d7 man seemed to lose 7a01fc4891 interest and was just a5558eb38d picking at the side 2ecc03d379 dishes. As I watched his 013e585a8c much-improved chopstick skills, I 1f5db3050f slowly brought up the c3b7510142 topic of parting.3da3f5190e5218fc

“I, uh, I think I should go.”3bcc3104d4e16594

Please visit lilyonthevalley.com to support the translator

“Where?”55e84b60a42cc250

“Home.”eb1a137bb79ba7ff

Enjoy best reading experience at Lily on the Valley

Even though 26ced89a20 he knew 87883323ae that the 7a378170f9 only place d014273275 a student 9a93caaf40 named I d667092f17 would go ad87a800c1 in Chowa-ri 0563b40419 was home, b615700b4b the man 1a3b01b6b5 still bothered 75240aaa62 to ask. I thought he 1783ef587c would say goodbye, b020f604a2 but the man 77a76fcf1d dragged out the b002b33da5 time with a 8e93c92429 lukewarm gaze. Having progressed from fist-chopsticks, 59c9f2d00a he continued to try 674c77fa31 to pick up the e5b5e61c12 bracken. I confess that eddf0b1009 my heart was 4cbad88a03 filled with joy 990c83ce82 as I watched 5f27e6bbf8 him. A smile filled me d420905f94 at the thought that 2af3c30b36 I would sleep well.7e267674e843702e

“Yang Ji-eon.”ad3b901a8a3cc5a6

Support us at our official site: lilyonthevalley.com

I wanted c29f74c453 to stop a010b25669 flinching every 4a2a7f91e7 time the 6787803a5b man called 14ad0d954d my full 92398b2861 name, but b598cbc402 I instinctively 6671d7cb89 startled. Without showing any personal 1b855039e9 dissatisfaction, I answered brightly.eca396be828a8905

“Yes?”fdb9ee487013dfd3

Please visit lilyonthevalley.com to support the translator

“Teach me how to study.”a3f1a2bc006e6335

“…Sorry?”5a1b4d2de0b911af

Support us at our official site: lilyonthevalley.com

“I need to graduate high school because of work. It’s hard on my own.”faa4c945103ba148

The man, revealing his circumstances in a calm tone, now looked me in the eyes for a long time. His proposal, brought about by a single pair of chopsticks, was quite unconventional. I, who had intended to end our meeting today, couldn’t readily speak.61f9aef63a60352d

Please visit lilyonthevalley.com to support the translator

A person trying to study with determination, a person isolated in the neighborhood—my thoughts went that far, and just as I was about to utter words of permission, my aunt’s angry face came to mind.7774e775d1bdd12e

“I don’t think I can. I’m busy.”ad9798a00b4dc166

For the complete chapter, visit lilyonthevalley.com

If I were to be430c8f89 be caught playing alone 33ce519174 with the man, it 1f0d55a6e6 would be a death 1faee11b0e sentence. The man, 64c18274bc who I 0bc2044b4c thought would ff09609034 show at 8dde254221 least a c96669018c little disappointment, d2cf79683e nodded as 64d6d1a73a if it ca1d95c199 were a 4fb5b71560 natural result.0cbfe2f240ab0e3b

“Yeah, okay.”0dac1dd1ff4361c5

Support us at our official site: lilyonthevalley.com

For the b81801027d last night e4b6d2f043 of me 76e73b810c and the 1b2ae2fdec man, it d099a36895 was somehow 4a8b6ad274 a bland b0e30b1e18 ending.9c9a5ba91cfd1630