Chapter 23: The Juniper Tree (1)
‘Is he very busy?’
Kim Areum, who had come out to eat with a colleague during lunch, kept staring at her phone. She had definitely sent a KakaoTalk message to Minwoo, but he hadn’t read it.
She herself sometimes replied late when she was busy working, but she still felt a bit frustrated.
She had been truly happy to see Minwoo again.
It brought back old memories, and since there weren’t many people to meet in the countryside besides her coworkers, she had wanted to see her same-age friend often and get close, something she hadn’t been able to do in a long time.
But meeting this guy was more difficult than she had expected.
‘He’s not avoiding me on purpose, is he?’
Minwoo didn’t really have a reason to avoid her, so she couldn’t help but wonder why he was so unreachable.
“Areum, is someone supposed to contact you?”
Her colleague who had come to eat with her asked as she kept looking at her phone.
“Ah, no. Officer Im, are there a lot of farming tasks these days?”
“These days? May is the season when farming begins, so it’s busy.”
Hearing her senior colleague say that things were busy, Areum decided to understand that Minwoo wasn’t replying because he had a lot of work.
“We’ll also get busy soon.”
“Exactly. We already have to prepare for the festival in September… I came here thinking there wouldn’t be much work in the countryside, but that doesn’t seem to be the case.”
Areum worked in the Tourism Planning Division at the county office, promoting Haenam County.
At her colleague’s mention of the festival, she recalled what had happened last year; she remembered having spent that time frantically busy as well.
“It seems the County Magistrate is paying special attention to the festival…”
“The response to last year’s festival was incredible. Because of that, a lot of tourists came too… I think they’re trying to make it even bigger this year.”
“Preparing for it is one thing, but I think I’ll end up watching this year’s festival alone, too.”
Areum laughed at her coworker’s complaint. The colleague was always saying she was lonely, but Areum also didn’t have a boyfriend right now.
“Me too.”
“Come on, Officer, you’re very popular.”
“Me?”
“There were a lot of people at the training institute who were interested in you…”
At her colleague’s words, Areum recalled receiving training at the civil servant training institute. There had actually been several people who showed interest and asked for her contact information.
But she preferred natural encounters. Somehow, meeting another civil servant felt like meeting for work, so there hadn’t been anyone who truly attracted her.
Areum finished her meal while talking with her colleagues and returned to the county office, but one of her colleagues spoke up upon seeing a car parked in the lot.
“Wow, what a pretty car.”
“Right? I didn’t know cars like this existed.”
Her colleagues admired the unusual car they were seeing for the first time, and even to Areum, who didn’t know much about cars, it looked distinctive.
“Is this an imported car?”
“Yes, it’s beautifully designed.”
Perhaps because it was a car rarely seen in Haenam, everyone was fascinated, but then a sound suddenly rang out and the car’s locks disengaged.
The onlookers were startled and all jumped away from the car at once, but Areum was surprised to see a man walking toward the vehicle.
“Minwoo!”
“Oh, Areum.”
The owner of the car was none other than Minwoo.
“What are you doing here?”
“I came to register my car.”
“Car registration?”
“Yeah, I got into an accident, so I bought a new car…”
Areum remembered Minwoo going home in a truck last time. And at the mention of an accident, she asked worriedly,
“An accident? Were you hurt?”
“Ah, I lent it to someone for a bit and they got into an accident. It was wrecked pretty badly, and they said it was hard to repair, so I ended up buying a new car this time.”
“I see. But why haven’t you read the KakaoTalk message I sent you?”
“Oh, did you send a message?”
At Minwoo’s reaction, suggesting he had no idea, Areum felt a little disappointed.
“Oh my, I’m totally disappointed.”
“Sorry, I’ve been a bit preoccupied because I’m tidying up the grave tomorrow.”
“Grave tidying?”
“My father passed away last year and we made a grave, but it seemed too shabby, so I’m trying to fix it up this time…”
“I see. We said we’d meet and hang out again. When should we meet?”
“Right, we did. Let’s try to figure out a date this weekend.”
“You have to check your messages properly. How are we supposed to set a date otherwise?”
“Got it. I have something to do, so I have to get going. I’ll contact you when I get home.”
Minwoo said his goodbyes and drove off, and her colleagues approached to ask Areum who he was.
“Who was that, Officer?”
“Ah, he’s a friend from my middle school class.”
“Right. Officer, you said you’re originally from Haenam, didn’t you? Your friend is tall and very handsome, though.”
Areum nodded at her colleagues’ words. He had definitely been about the same height as her when they were young, but compared to then, Minwoo had become much more handsome now.
“Does your friend happen to have a girlfriend?”
“I don’t think so?”
“That’s great. Then can’t you introduce me to him?”
****
“How do you like it?”
“Yes, I like it very much.”
May 8th.
On the morning of Parents’ Day, Sim Il-seok and the workers arrived to tidy up the grave.
They cleared the entrance to the grave, planted new grass in the empty patches here and there, and tidied up, bringing the color of the grass to life.
And they installed the tombstone a bit higher as well.
Raising the tombstone made the names more visible, and I thought we should have done it like this from the start.
There was another change: a small mound had been created beside my father’s tombstone. It was the grave of the dog my father had raised for a long time.
Both of my parents liked animals; my mother liked cats and my father liked dogs.
Especially after my mother passed away, my father had raised a Maltese, and it had lived with us in our house for quite a long time.
The Maltese was incredibly smart, so I had liked it too, but my father called it Ttolttoli because it understood what he said so well.
The fellow left our side due to old age, and I remember how sad my father had been then.
Father had buried Ttolttoli a short distance from mother’s grave, but I took this opportunity to move the fellow right beside my father.
“Do you like the tree?”
“Yes, I’m glad we planted a large one.”
I had ordered a fairly large camellia tree; it cost quite a bit, but it decorated the grave far more abundantly than a small one would have.
And I had heard that camellia blossoms bloom from November to March, so when they flowered, the grave would become even more vibrant.
“Then we will take our leave now.”
“Yes, I’ll pay the remainder this evening.”
After Sim Il-seok and the workers, having finished their job, left, I began to prepare the ritual table I had readied.
I had originally intended to just offer a brief greeting, but since I was tidying up the grave anyway, I decided to prepare a simple table and offer a bow.
I spread out the table and began placing the prepared rice cakes, meat, and fruits on the dishes, when a car approached from over there.
The car stopped near the grave, and seeing who got out, I felt glad.
“Sir. You came.”
It was Yeongnam, the owner of Yongcheon Supermarket. I had told him when I came in to buy fruit and alcohol that I was working on the grave today, and he seemed to have come out of curiosity.
“Are you already finished?”
“Yes, we just finished.”
The man looked around the grave and nodded as if pleased.
“I wondered if you were making unnecessary work for yourself, but now that it’s done, it certainly looks good.”
I agreed with the man’s words.
Since this was a place I would continue to visit from now on, having it tidied up like this put my mind at ease.
And the man came to my side and began pouring the alcohol to place on the ritual table.
I poured the alcohol into a paper cup, placed it on the table, and then began to bow. The man watched me from behind and spoke quietly.
“Dong-hui, I think you raised a fine son.”
It was praise for me, even though I hadn’t done much, and I somehow felt embarrassed. And I offered a quiet greeting in my heart.
Since today was Parents’ Day.
‘Thank you for raising me, even if this comes late.’
****
“I should get going now.”
“Already?”
“Yeah, I have to go back and open the store.”
As soon as the ritual was over, the man said he was leaving right away, but I packed up the remaining food for him.
“Please take this.”
“Why? Leave it at home and eat it.”
“There’s too much for me to eat alone anyway.”
I had bought plenty, thinking I would share it with the head of the women’s association and Mandeok’s family as long as I was buying it anyway.
“Alright, I’ll enjoy it.”
“Please go safely.”
I saw the man off and returned home.
Perhaps because I had finished a major task, I felt like resting for a bit, so I lay still on the wooden porch and relaxed.
Lying there, I began to see clouds drifting across the sky.
‘It’s been a while since I watched the clouds like this.’
Back in high school earth science class, I had only been interested in clouds when we studied their shapes and weather changes; after becoming an adult, I rarely looked up at them like this.
I was lying there resting, but I felt something slightly unusual, unlike usual.
“Nabi?”
Normally when I lay like this, Nabi would always come up and rub against me. But for some reason, Nabi was nowhere to be seen.
I lowered my head and checked under the wooden porch, but she wasn’t there either.
“Where did you go?”
At first I thought she might have gone out to play for a moment, but then I suddenly thought of cats that had died wandering alone.
Worried, I got up from my spot and began looking for Nabi.
“Nabi!”
I started walking around the house shouting, but Nabi still wasn’t visible. I shouted louder, but there was no response, which worried me, so I shouted even louder.
“Nabi!”
Meow.
Nabi answered my voice. I looked in the direction of the sound and was shocked.
“Hey, what are you doing there?”
A large juniper tree near the house.
Nabi was up on one of its branches. She was in a dangerously precarious position, and I worried she might fall.
Just then, Nabi suddenly braced herself and jumped down.
Startled, I quickly reached out my hand, but Nabi avoided my hand and landed lightly on the ground.
“Oh shoot, you scared me.”
Whether she knew how startled I was or not, Nabi approached as if nothing had happened and began rubbing against me.
“How did you get up there?”
Fortunately, she had come down without any major injury, but it was still amazing that she had climbed up there, considering it was quite high.
“You’re not hurt, right?”
Meow.
I grabbed Nabi’s legs and looked her over this way and that, and fortunately, she didn’t seem to be hurt anywhere.
Then, Nabi suddenly bristled her fur and began to run away. I wondered what was going on when an unfamiliar car was coming down toward the house.
The car parked right in our yard, and I wondered who it was. Soon after, the car door opened and a man I was seeing for the first time got out.
And the man greeted me upon seeing me.
“Hello.”
“Yes, hello. How can I help you?”
“It is a pleasure to meet you. I am Jeong Min-tae, the head of the management office at Sinlim Arboretum. Do you happen to live here?”
The man spoke to me while greeting me.
“Yes, I am the homeowner.”
“Ah…I see. Do you happen to know where the previous resident went?”
“My father lived here before, but he passed away last year.”
“I see.”
“But what brings you here?”
“Ah, I came because of the juniper tree in the back.”
I turned around, and I remembered what my father had said about the people who came to buy the juniper tree long ago.
“Are you perhaps the person who came before?”
“Yes, I came last year as well. I spoke with your father about the tree then, but the conversation wasn’t finished, so I came back. Could I speak with you briefly about a matter related to the tree?”
If I remembered correctly, my father had definitely refused.
If it was about selling the tree, there was no need to discuss it further, but since he had come all this way, I decided to hear what he had to say.
“Yes, please go ahead.”