Episode 16: Accident
I was lying quietly at home watching TV.
There was nothing special going on, so I had been like this since morning, yet for some reason, I laughed.
Because doing this on a weekday was something I couldn't have even imagined before.
If I were still at the tax accounting office, I would probably be spending a frantic day preparing for VAT and comprehensive income tax right about now.
A succession of hellish overtime and computer work.
Thinking about it now, it's a wonder I commuted to work every single day.
Well, only a year ago, a raise, a promotion, and buying my own home had been my goals, so thinking about them was how I endured.
Life is something where you cannot see an inch ahead, but it had changed too drastically.
Still, since it had changed for the better, I felt nothing but gratitude.
As I lay there enjoying my leisure, I heard a voice from outside.
"Minwoo! Are you inside?"
I quickly got up and went outside, where Uncle Jeongnam was waiting for me.
"Yes, Uncle. Is something the matter?"
"I came to bring you this."
He showed me the shopping bag in his hand, and when I looked inside, there were kimchi containers.
He had brought the kimchi I'd asked for.
"Yeongha's mother makes kimchi like no other, so it won't be bad to eat."
I examined the containers with anticipation and found fresh kimchi and newly made geotjeori.
The fresh kimchi had turned a bright red, and I could tell it would be delicious in a stew, and there was geotjeori that looked as though it had just been seasoned.
And to my surprise, I even found something I hadn't expected.
"Uncle, what's this?"
"Ah, while making geotjeori, I made some pah kimchi too. It's pungent and quite tasty."
I thought getting geotjeori alone would be amazing, but receiving pah kimchi on top of that was an unexpected windfall.
"Thank you."
"No, I'm the one who's grateful. Thanks to you, I don't have to get entangled with the village chief."
He thanked me, but since groundwater came out every day anyway, it was actually I who was pleased to receive pah kimchi in return.
"Not at all. I'll enjoy it."
"Let me know if you run out. Actually, when we make kimjang this year, do you want to join us, Minwoo?"
"Kimjang?"
"Yeah, it's hard making kimchi alone. We do kimjang with Mandeok's family every year; you should join us too."
I hadn't even thought about kimjang, so I felt deeply grateful to be included.
"Then I'd love to."
"We're mixing kimchi anyway, so it's better if more people enjoy eating it."
"Yes, thank you, Uncle."
I expressed my gratitude, but as he smiled at me, his expression suddenly soured.
"We got through this year somehow, thank goodness, but we absolutely have to change the village chief next year. Getting stressed over one person—what kind of life is this?"
He muttered to himself, but I grew curious about the village chief.
"Is there a village chief election next year?"
"Yeah, we elect one every two years, and we'll pick a new one again in January."
"I see. But to remain village chief, shouldn't you get along well with the villagers?"
The village chief's term was shorter than I'd thought.
To remain in office, you shouldn't make trouble with the villagers, so I couldn't understand why the chief was acting that way.
"It's because the Yoons are taking his side."
"The Yoons?"
At my question, the uncle seemed to feel stifled just thinking about it. He let out a sigh and began to explain.
The gist of it was this.
Bonghwang Village had originally been a Yoon clan village when it was first established, and even now, many villagers were Yoons—about fifteen out of roughly fifty households.
The previous village chief had also been a Yoon, and when he died of old age and they needed to elect a new chief, there had been no suitable candidate. So they had pushed for Hwang Changsik, who was related by marriage to the Yoon family.
On top of that, he secured the votes of those he was close to in the village, and Hwang Changsik, having received over half the votes, became village chief.
Hwang Changsik, now village chief, treated only the Yoons and those who had supported him favorably, while showing displeasure toward those who had not.
That behavior had been growing worse with time, but since all he needed was a majority to be reelected, he had started acting with impunity.
My father had never told me such things, so I had been completely unaware.
Come to think of it, Father had never liked talking about others. He had been even more that way when it wasn't a nice story.
There was a reason for that—my mother had grown up as an orphan and had been deeply hurt by people's words.
He had always been careful with his words, saying that if you went around gossiping, you would become that kind of person yourself.
"What's so good about being village chief?"
In my memory, the village chief had been an honorary position when I was young.
I had heard that the state now paid money and granted a lot of authority, but I still didn't know exactly what was so good about it.
"As far as I know, you get about 5 million won a year. And when selecting and distributing government-supported projects, the chief's influence is pretty strong. Since officials have a hard time meeting farmers directly, they work through the village chief..."
"I see."
I had seen news stories before about villages fighting over who would become village chief.
Five million won a year was not a small amount in the countryside.
And since you could wield power in various profitable projects, I now somewhat understood those news stories.
****
"Thanks, Minwoo. I'll use the car quickly and bring it back."
After the uncle left, Mandeok soon came up to borrow the car.
"But what do you need the car for?"
"Ah, I'm going to pick up some vinyl house materials."
"Vinyl house?"
"Yeah, I'm going to build a small one near the house."
A vinyl house.
It's a structure made with a steel frame covered in vinyl.
The inside creates a greenhouse effect that helps crops grow well, and the small vegetable patch behind our house had originally been the site of a vinyl house.
A long time ago, a typhoon had knocked it down, and after we demolished it, we had just been using it as a vegetable patch.
"I thought it would be convenient to have for various tasks when it rains in summer, so I want to build it before things get busier..."
"I see. Want me to help?"
"No, I'll do it with Father."
"Alright, let me know if you need help."
Mandeok left with the car, and I went back inside.
I checked the time and saw it was already noon—time for a delicious lunch.
I opened the refrigerator and, seeing the various kimchi containers, felt a sense of plenty.
And next to the kimchi containers was a thick cut of pork for suyuk.
I had bought the meat yesterday and planned to make delicious suyuk this evening.
I imagined eating thick pork with geotjeori and pah kimchi, and saliva pooled in my mouth.
And my self-control began to waver.
I gripped the refrigerator door and pondered for a moment, but before I knew it, my hand was reaching for the pork.
"I can't resist this."
I took out the pork and prepared to make suyuk. Whether I ate it now or in the evening didn't seem to make much difference.
I unwrapped the plastic and began wiping the pork clean with a paper towel.
Then I sprinkled salt and pepper for a simple seasoning. I placed it in a heated frying pan with the fatty side down.
Sssssssss
A loud sound erupted from the meat, and oil began to splatter.
The frying pan gradually started turning brown—my favorite Maillard reaction.
There are many chemical reactions that have advanced science, but I wonder if this isn't the one that brings humans the most happiness.
Watching the meat cook, I took an onion from the refrigerator and began slicing it.
I removed the meat from the pan and filled its place with plenty of onions.
The frying pan was covered in onions, and I gently placed the meat back on top.
It was a little different from the traditional way of making suyuk, but this method made the fat crispy, the meat tender, and the exterior perfectly seared—excellent suyuk.
The only drawback was having to wait a bit, but I could certainly wait that long for delicious food.
I covered it with a lid and waited about twenty minutes.
Unable to contain my curiosity, I peeked briefly, and the pork was cooking up beautifully. But it was still too early to eat.
I flipped the meat over and closed the lid again to wait.
While waiting, I set out rice, geotjeori, and pah kimchi, but before I knew it, my hand went to the pah kimchi.
I rolled up a long piece of pah kimchi and popped it into my mouth, and immediately thought of rice.
'I'll just have a little.'
I had planned to eat just one spoonful of rice until the meat finished cooking, but the kimchi made me want rice, and the rice made me want kimchi again.
Like a Möbius strip I couldn't escape, I repeated eating rice and pah kimchi, but the rich smell of meat spreading through the living room barely stopped my chopsticks.
I came to my senses and opened the lid—the suyuk was finally complete.
I took the meat out with tongs, placed it on a cutting board, and drew my knife.
*Shhk*
I hadn't actually heard anything. Yet the meat sliced by the knife moved as if making that sound, feeling incredibly elastic.
*Drrr*
I touched the fatty part with my knife, and though I hadn't tasted it yet, I already knew.
'This is the king of crispiness.'
I had already eaten almost a full bowl of rice with the pah kimchi.
But smelling the delicious pork, it was as if my appetite had revived entirely.
I quickly took my seat at the table and prepared to eat.
"I will eat well."
****
After eating a delicious lunch, I was resting when a thought occurred to me.
'My stomach is full, my back is warm—everything is happiness.'
I had done nothing special since morning, and today I felt an intense desire to do absolutely nothing.
'Still, I have to water the plants.'
Perhaps because my stomach was full, I felt completely inclined to rest, but the vegetable patch was waiting for me.
The lettuce had grown quite a bit and had an enormous number of leaves; just a little longer and I could pick and eat it.
Just as I was about to head outside, my cell phone suddenly rang.
It was Mandeok, who had borrowed the car.
'Does he need a hand?'
Since I'd told him to contact me if he needed help, I figured that's why he was calling.
"Hey, Mandeok."
"Hello."
I felt something was off; the voice coming through the phone wasn't Mandeok's.
"Who is this?"
"Hello. This is Patrolman Ryu Hyeongjung of Haenam Police Station. Song Minwoo is currently in the emergency room due to a traffic accident, and I am contacting you after checking his cell phone call log. Might you be family?"
"A traffic accident?"