00002 Sangbok-ri ------------------------------------------------------------------------=
May 6, 1993. Gangwon-do, Sangbok-ri.
Into this small mountain village, rarely visited by outsiders, a young couple with slightly weary expressions appeared. Alongside them was a little tyke whose baby fat hadn’t even worn off yet, his face a messy mixture of wariness, fear, and curiosity, as they arrived with a truck piled high with moving belongings.
Naturally, the villagers took an interest in their arrival. The village head of Sangbok-ri, fifty-eight-year-old I Gye-in—who was also president of the Sangbok-ri Revitalization Youth Association and the leader of the village—pushed past the townsfolk muttering among themselves from a distance and approached the middle-aged couple with a very warm greeting.
“Welcome. Welcome to Sangbok-ri, where the air is good, the water is good, and the people are good. I am I Gye-in, the village head of Sangbok-ri. You must be the ones the township office worker told me about.”
“Ah! Hello. I am Gang Su-man, and this is my wife, I Yeon-hui. And this fellow here is my son, Gang Min-jun.”
At Su-man’s introduction of his family, Gye-in glanced at Yeon-hui with a look of faint sympathy, then soon spoke to Su-man.
“I am well aware of your circumstances… so don’t worry. The villagers are all kind, good people. Ah! And since I am the president of the Sangbok-ri Revitalization Youth Association… if you have time, come out and join us so you can get acquainted with the villagers.”
“Of course. We look forward to your kindness.”
“Thank you for your concern, elder.”
Perhaps sensing Gye-in’s desire to look after them in every way, Su-man and Yeon-hui expressed their gratitude. The villagers, seeing this couple’s demeanor, looked thoroughly satisfied with their polite appearance and muttered among themselves.
“I was diggin’ arrowroot and stopped… huh? Who’s that?”
“They say new folks moved in.”
“Outsiders? What’s there to see in a place like this? They even brought a kid? They do look very humble and gentle, though.”
“I heard Gye-in talking with the township office worker—seems the new wife isn’t in good health?”
“Heh heh… and the child looks so scrawny. Tsk tsk.”
Amid the villagers’ commotion, Gye-in smiled sheepishly and spoke to Su-man.
“Word spreads fast in a small village like this. Since you’re becoming new members of the village family, there’s a lot of interest from all around.”
“Ah… it’s fine.”
“Thank you for taking it well. I’ve tidied up the house very neatly so you can sleep there tonight.”
The repairs here and there were visible even from the outside, so Su-man expressed his gratitude to Gye-in once again, bent his waist slightly to greet the villagers, and began building familiarity, and to Sangbok-ri—
The couple, who had been wearing weary expressions, exchanged greetings with Gye-in as he approached them with a very cheerful expression and began getting acquainted with the Sangbok-ri residents. That day, three new villagers came to Sangbok-ri.
* * *
Sangbok-ri was a remote mountain village located near Songam-san, and its infrastructure was lacking in many ways compared to nearby villages.
Because of this, the villagers lived helping one another without drawing boundaries between mine and yours—a daily routine. Believing that the Su-man couple, having come from the city, might not adapt well to this, Gye-in kept a close and caring eye on them for nearly a month.
But they blended into the village far better than he had expected. In Su-man’s case, no one knew what he had done in the city, but he skillfully repaired machinery and flawlessly handled building maintenance, rising quickly to become vice president of the Sangbok-ri Revitalization Youth Association. Even Yeon-hui, who was ill, adapted well, gathering and trimming edible herbs alongside the village women without overexerting herself.
The young couple’s smooth integration into the village delighted Gye-in as village head, but one thing nagged at him.
It was none other than Su-man and Yeon-hui’s son, Min-jun.
Min-jun was only seven years old. He had been attending kindergarten before coming to this village, but with no children his age around, he was always alone.
Since Su-man and Yeon-hui were always worried about this as well, Gye-in, after giving it some thought, spoke to the couple and offered to take Min-jun to play sometimes at Songam-san, located behind the village.
He made this proposal because Su-man had taken over much of the work he used to do, giving him more free time.
He also suggested it because he remembered how much fun his grandchildren had playing in the mountains during holidays, gathering various mushrooms and picking fruits to eat. And partly, it was because he felt sorry for Min-jun, who seemed to shrink among the adults.
Sensing Gye-in’s intentions, Su-man expressed his gratitude and readily accepted. Min-jun, who had already exchanged greetings and shared meals with Gye-in among the village elders, fell for Gye-in’s bait of going up the mountain to eat tasty things and began spending his time climbing the mountain three to four times a week.
After he began roaming the mountains with Gye-in, Min-jun gradually became more lively and no longer found the village elders so daunting. The villagers adored Min-jun like this.
In this gloomy, aging mountain village, Min-jun—still with his baby fat—was so adorable that he could very well have been the grandson of every villager.
Whether Min-jun sensed the elders’ affection or not, by the time he reached the age to enter National School in 1994, he had transformed into a very bright and cheerful child, established as the village mascot.
* * *
March 2, 1994. Min-jun entered National School.
Though it was called a National School, its scale was small, barely at the level of a branch school, with only about thirty students in total. As for new students, Min-jun was the only one this year.
The entrance ceremony was being held formally, but for both those watching and those participating, it was merely awkward. Since everyone was a village neighbor who knew one another, preparations for a village feast were already underway behind the ceremony.
“Wouldn’t it be better to just hold the feast instead of the ceremony? There’s only one of them.”
“Ahem! Procedure is important, you know. Even if it’s just one, isn’t he a new student? We have to make it memorable.”
“My old lady came here dead set on getting properly drunk on makgeolli today.”
“Goodness. Your wife is as bold as ever. Still, that’s no good. The whole village came here with high expectations because Sangbok-ri’s mascot is entering school.”
It was the first time in nearly fifteen years that a child from Sangbok-ri had entered National School, so the villagers busily prepared food and gathered at Gangyeon National School to celebrate Min-jun, the village darling. They had somehow gotten disposable cameras and were taking pictures.
Watching this scene, the village head from the neighboring village—who knew Sangbok-ri’s situation well—clicked his tongue and thought how nice it would be if the principal didn’t make a long speech.
“Well, I’ll just have to wait it out. That principal stretches his words out so long. I wish he wouldn’t do that today, at least.”
“Keh keh… I can relate to that.”
At the entrance ceremony that was transforming into a grand feast-like festival with villages gathered together, Min-jun approached the children who were staring at him with eyes full of curiosity and greeted them first.
“Hello?”
“Yeah! Hello. You’re a first grader, right?”
When Min-jun greeted him first, a boy with a bowl cut and a missing front tooth—who had been hovering nearby—immediately answered and approached him.
“Yeah. I was told I had to start National School today, so I came.”
“I’m Gim San, second grade! Since I’m your hyung, I’ll introduce you to our school. Hehe. We’ll be taking classes in the same classroom.”
The second grade had a total of three students, two of whom were girls, so Gim San was truly glad to have Min-jun—even if he was a first grader—as another boy. He moved his chair right next to Min-jun’s and began chattering about this and that regarding the school.
The speeches of the vice principal and principal droned on, while the children began chatting among themselves in groups of threes and fives. The villagers were busy preparing for the post-ceremony festival, making it an utterly chaotic affair, yet the entrance ceremony proceeded in a rather heartwarming manner.
After that, thanks to Gim San’s introductions, Min-jun properly exchanged greetings with the children from other grades as well. Though they were all older boys and girls, he was now attending school with other children.