Soil by Kwang-su Yi; Hodges Horace Jeffery; Hwang Sun-Ae

Author:Kwang-su, Yi; Hodges, Horace Jeffery; Hwang, Sun-Ae
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Published: 2013-02-15T16:00:00+00:00

3-72

Sung silently stood up and left the room. Outside, putting on his shoes, he gazed more attentively at the pair of women’s shoes positioned nearby and stopped tying his laces in surprise. The lacquered shoes were one of the two pairs made for their wedding. Although he might have difficulty specifying the shoes’ exact characteristics, he did remember Jeong-seon going out several times with them on. He particularly recalled telling her that the sharp toes didn’t look nice, and she hadn’t worn them anymore after that. They were the ones with the clover pattern.

Sung resumed tying the shoes laces and plodded away from Gap-jin’s place without glancing back.

“Good-bye.” Gap-jin’s voice trailed along behind. “I can’t go out. Thanks.”

Sung picked up his pace and was soon coming upon the Jae-dong Police Station, though without noticing. He heard himself thinking, “Jeong-seon was there. She went to Gap-jin while I was off to court. Should I leave her there? Should I?” He broke into a run, trying to close his ears to such thoughts because he believed he was doing the right thing. Coming abreast the police station, however, he halted.

“My anger won’t go away unless I see her, if she comes out soon or not, how she looks, and how she might react if she were to see me.” This thought finally won out. He turned and ran back to the alley, making even more haste than before. Hiding where he could see Gap-jin’s gate, he waited like a hunter stalking prey, but grew uncomfortable standing on one spot, so he tried pacing back and forth. When somebody passed by, he pretended as if he were looking for an address. He realized that his bearing was not very respectable, but his brain was so congested with blood that his usual judgment and willpower seemed clouded by a thick, obscuring fog.

But what of Jeong-seon herself? And Gap-jin? After Sung’s steps no longer echoed in his ears, Gap-jin stood for a long time looking toward the door through which Sung had departed. He seemed at a complete loss, even utterly abashed, but he soon wiped away everything unpleasant and embarrassing, the way he always did, and recovered his normal, ebullient mood. He was good at that.

He deliberately laughed out loud for a moment, then opened the closet door, saying, “The fool is gone, come out.” But even as he opened the door, he suddenly stared, mouth agape, threw his arms wide, and cried out, “Jeong-seon!”

Pale of lip, she seemed not even to draw breath, and her eyes were glazed open like those of the dead, but she was crouched down like a child avoiding punishment, trembling as if with spasms.

Ever terrified of a corpse, Gap-jin ran in horror from the room to the veranda and screamed, “Is anybody out there?”

3-73

At Gap-jin’s loud cry, servants and other people from the nearby rooms all rushed out and over to him. They made a great fuss over Jeong-seon, taking her from the closet, massaging her arms and legs, and splashing water onto her face.

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