Friend by Paek Nam-nyong

Author:Paek Nam-nyong [Nam-nyong, Paek]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: prose_contemporary
ISBN: 978-0-231-19560-7
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Published: 2020-06-15T00:00:00+00:00

7

After Jeong Jin Wu paid a visit to the neighborhood leader of Sun Hee’s residential area, he went to the Gang An Factory.

The musty air in the factory smelled of metal machinery and grease residue mixed with steam from the cooling water. Enormous green lathe machines occupied one side of the factory, while massive blue boring machines and planing machines lined the other side. If one did not have a good sense of direction, one was liable to get lost in the jungle of machines. The cleaning apparatus clanged, and the pressing machine stamped out huge metal sheets in a jarring rhythm.

A forklift carrying metal parts roared up behind Jeong Jin Wu. He stepped out of the way so it could pass. The female driver nodded a greeting at Jeong Jin Wu and made her way to the boring machines. A technician with blueprints under his arm hopped on the forklift for a free ride. The female driver nonchalantly raised the fork high, elevating the technician perilously close to the boring machine. The technician recognized the imminent danger and hopped off, waving a fist at her in anger. The female driver laughed.

Jeong Jin Wu could not help himself and laughed along. It was refreshing for him to leave his office with its piles of dull legal documents and come to an exuberant factory.

Judge Jeong Jin Wu met with Seok Chun’s equipment manager.

The equipment manager was well over sixty, but he still looked strong and energetic. He stretched out his thick-veined calloused hand to Jeong Jin Wu. After shaking his hand, the equipment manager led him to a corner of the factory and pulled out some metal chairs. A ray of sunlight penetrated the windows, exposing dust particles lingering in the air and scraps of metal on the floor.

The equipment manager quietly smoked the cigarette that Jeong Jin Wu had offered him and sat silent, motionless, with his pensive eyes fixed on the ground. Jeong Jin Wu looked at the manager with respect and admiration. The equipment manager’s leathered face and bent back told of years of work at the factory.

“Comrade Judge, you came all this way to see me, but there is not much I can say about this matter. I feel responsible and ashamed. I taught Seok Chun how to operate the lathe machine but neglected to teach him about family. I didn’t tell him how to manage his family because I didn’t want to poke my head into another man’s personal life. Besides, I’m no family counselor.”

“I see, sir.”

Jeong Jin Wu was in his fifties, and for him to call the equipment manager “sir” was strange, but he did not feel he was worthy of calling him “comrade.” He recalled the old equipment manager from Seok Chun’s story, and even at this first meeting with the elderly man, Jeong Jin Wu deeply respected him and humbled himself before him.

“I didn’t come here to ask you about your responsibility to Comrade Seok Chun’s family or to make you feel guilty.

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