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Chapter 10
A band—that single word brought back memories of his school days. Back in high school, he had been in a band. The reason was actually quite simple. He had sung a song during music class, and the music teacher, impressed by his voice, suggested it. It happened to be when the show Superstar L was airing, and he thought it seemed fun. He also wondered if it might become something he wanted to do if he developed an interest. That was how he started the band. Since he was a sophomore at the time and the seniors didn’t show up much due to studying for the CSAT, the band club was their world.
“Ah! I really loved those times!”
Jo Yuna, who was a middle schooler at the time and used to sneak into the high school, recalled those days.
“Since none of us had ever touched an instrument other than a recorder or a dan-so (short bamboo flute), we couldn’t even play properly when we first gathered. The music teacher had to teach us how to handle the instruments. You even took vocal lessons, Yeon-woo Oppa.”
“The teacher used to pretend not to notice you were there, too. But even after learning, we didn’t know much, so we looked things up on the internet.”
Back then, they broke out of the tedious frame of studying and worked hard on their band activities. They stayed up all night practicing, and if there was a local music festival, they would apply for it. Of course, they never actually made it onto a stage. There were too many exams that students couldn’t miss, and they couldn’t help but worry about their future.
After that, he enlisted in the military and was discharged. Once he started “social life,” he couldn’t even think about a band. It was that hard, and he had no leisure time.
But what about now? It was still difficult, but he had more breathing room than before.
“It sounds okay, but what are you going to do about the instruments or the location?”
“I have an idea,” Jo Yuna replied as Yoon Yeon-woo asked.
Huh? Where? Surely…?
“I’ll invest in the remodeling costs too. What if we do full soundproofing and meet once every two weeks? If someone’s busy, we don’t have to do it every two weeks. Especially since no one lives near your grandfather’s house, and it’s surrounded by a thick forest.”
“Come to think of it, because of the rumors that ghosts appear near Yeon-woo’s grandfather’s house, there are no houses nearby, and the village is far away.”
“Majide (Seriously).”
Wait, I haven’t agreed to this yet?
“Take those burdensome looks off your faces….”
Before he knew it, the three of them were approaching Yoon Yeon-woo with sparkling eyes.
Sigh. Anyway, did these guys want to be in a band that badly? Not a single one of them was refusing. Seeing these guys—who hadn’t brought up the band once until now—with such shining eyes, he couldn’t just reject them coldly. And he didn’t really feel like refusing, either.
‘Besides… she said spirits aren’t visible to ordinary people’s eyes. I just need to be careful.’
Spirits weren’t bad beings like ghosts or evil spirits. In fact, these guys making noise nearby might even produce a good effect—for both sides.
“What do you think? And since I know how to edit, I’m thinking of uploading it to YouTube. I used to work at a broadcasting station, remember? I know roughly how things work.”
There are quite a few broadcasting stations that operate YouTube channels. Until recently, Jo Yuna had been in charge of content planning for YouTube. So she knew several big YouTubers. Jo Yuna was confident.
“You’re already assuming I’m going to give a positive answer, aren’t you?”
Jo Yuna wore a smug, confident expression.
“So, are you going to refuse? If we make a profit, we’ll split the pay equally. If it goes well, we could rake in the money.”
“No, well. It’s not that I hate it.”
He didn’t hate the band. Was it a chain reaction from finding something he wanted to do? He was gradually gaining interest in other things besides cooking. And the memories from his student days tickled his heart. Because those times were truly good.
“However, we only meet once every two weeks, and only on weekends. And don’t give me money for the remodeling—use it to buy better instruments or equipment.”
Still, what Yoon Yeon-woo currently wanted to do was cook. The band shouldn’t overshadow the cooking. And if they came too often, he might not be able to pay attention to the spirits. This part had to be clear.
“Of course!”
“Uwahaha! Wow! I didn’t expect him to actually say yes! This guy, you were actually interested in the band, weren’t you?!”
His voice grew louder, perhaps because the alcohol was kicking in.
“B-but… you won’t show our faces (mise-nai), right?”
“Kao? What was kao… Ah, face? Of course! We’re only going to record. Even if it goes well, just recording. Neither I nor you came back to our hometown to go all-in on YouTube, right? Since our goal is to rest, for now, we’ll just record and film videos without showing faces. We’ll think about the rest later.”
While saying that, Jo Yuna laughed like a “tough guy”—Euhahaha! She really was a rascal.
“Anyway! Then, to the reunited band!”
Jo Yuna raised her glass—Clink!
“Cheers.”
“Bottoms up!”
“Kanpai (Cheers)!”
The friends who met after a long time chatted loudly as if they had returned to their childhood. Sometimes they hummed songs while drunk. Fortunately, this was possible because they were at Jang Hoe-cheon’s house. If it had been a bar, they would have been kicked out.
Tweet-tweet!
Chirp-chirp!
“Ugh.”
At the sound of birds singing, Yoon Yeon-woo’s ears twitched automatically, and he opened his eyes. Before he knew it, the sun was high in the sky, and sunlight was streaming through the window. Seeing something floating in one eye, it seemed the sunlight had targeted only that side.
Rustle. He must not have washed up after coming home from drinking last night. His bangs were sticking up toward the sky, and the back of his hair was completely flattened. His face was covered in grease that smelled faintly of meat.
Groan. He forced his body up. Ah, I feel gross.
“…How did I get home?”
He remembered drinking together last night. But… no matter how hard he thought, he had no memory of coming home.
“Whew, my homing instinct did it again.”
It had been like that since a long time ago. Whenever he drank, he found his way home with uncanny accuracy. Seoul was no exception. When he was first adjusting to Seoul, he once bought a ticket to Haenam at Dong Seoul Terminal and fell asleep in the seat in front of the gate.
‘Ugh! No one’s home.’
If I ever drink again, I’m a dog. Thinking that, he went out to the living room. There was no one there. His mother must have gone to work, and his father…
[The stir-fried pork was really delicious. This is in return. Ease your stomach. Dad’s going fishing with a friend. It’s a secret from Mom, okay?]
As the saying goes, what goes around comes around. On the dining table was a post-it note and a bowl of Yukgaejang (spicy beef soup) with red oil floating on top. It was actually Dak-gaejang, made with chicken.
Slurp—. The red color was tempting.
— “Eat me quickly!”
I wonder if the poison apple in fairy tales felt like this. Anyway, I decided to give in to the temptation. He heated some frozen rice in the microwave.
Beep! He dumped the heated rice straight into the Dak-gaejang. There was no need to reheat the soup. Since the outside of the rice gets incredibly hot when heated in the microwave, it would warm the soup up enough.
“…My stomach feels better.”
He didn’t remember exactly how much he drank yesterday, but seeing how he felt better with every bite of the Dak-gaejang, it seemed he had drunk quite a lot.
“Thanks for the meal.”
After finishing the bowl of soup like a man possessed, Yoon Yeon-woo cleared the dishes and checked the clock.
[1:00 PM.]
“The time is fine.”
The sun was up, and the temperature was warm and pleasant. He washed up quickly and got dressed. Just like yesterday, he headed to the country house on his bicycle.
On the way to the country house.
Screech!
He hit the bike brakes midway. It was because he saw an old man sitting slumped on the ground.
“Grandfather, are you feeling unwell?”
He got off his bike and approached. But there was no answer. As he got closer and knelt on one knee to look, he saw the man’s eyes were closed.
“Gasp! No way.”
He hurriedly placed his hand near the old man’s nose. Fortunately, he felt a breath.
“Whew… you’re just sleeping. Why are you sleeping here of all places?”
“Nng…?”
Then, sensing a presence, the grandfather woke up.
“Who is it?”
Their eyes met. He had a strangely familiar look, but unfortunately, Yoon Yeon-woo couldn’t remember his name.
The grandfather opened his mouth.
“Ah, I am…”
Yoon Yeon-woo. He couldn’t just say it like that. Hmm.
“I am Yoon Yeon-woo, the grandson of Yoon Young-hyun, who used to live near here.”
Since it was the countryside, the village elders knew everyone’s names. Even though his grandfather had passed away quite some time ago, he mentioned his name just in case. Fortunately, there was a reaction.
“Ah, so you were Yoon-hyung’s grandson? You’ve grown so much I didn’t recognize you. I heard from his son that you were working in Seoul, but I guess you’ve come back down?”
Thud. With those words, the grandfather’s hand landed on his shoulder.
“It was hard, wasn’t it?”
“Pardon? Ah, yes. A little…?”
He was surprised by the rough, stiff hand, but he felt a strangely warm sensation. This feeling was familiar for some reason.
“The saying ‘struggle while you’re young’ is an old saying now. If it’s hard, it’s okay to come back down like this. You did well, you did well.”
In this situation, Yoon Yeon-woo should have been the one asking if the old man was okay, but he was dazed by the unexpected comfort.
“Are… are you okay, Grandfather?”
“Hmm? Ah, I’m fine. The weather was so good I fell asleep without knowing.”
The grandfather smiled softly and stood up. He grabbed the cane he had placed beside him and put his hat on his head. Seeing that, he finally remembered the grandfather he used to see often as a child. But his waist and back were more bent than before.
“By any chance, are you Grandfather Han Hyung-bae?”
When he visited his grandfather’s house as a child, there was a grandfather he saw seven times out of ten. That grandfather always wore a military cap. He had heard that he was a veteran of the June 25th War (Korean War). Back then, he didn’t know how great that was, so he just thought ‘I guess so,’ but now that he had been discharged from the military himself, he could feel deep in his bones how incredible it was.
“You remembered! Chuckle, I thought you’d forgotten.”
Han Hyung-bae smiled.
“How could I forget? You were my grandfather’s only true friend.”
Because of his age, his grandfather didn’t have many friends. ‘Grandfather, why do you have so few friends?’ the young, blunt Yoon Yeon-woo used to ask often. Each time, his grandfather would answer, ‘They left because it was time to go, they must be happy there.’ The only one who stayed alive and shared a bond was Han Hyung-bae.
“Chuckle! It’s worth living a long time to see this!”
Han Hyung-bae laughed heartily. It was exactly the same as when he saw him a long time ago.
“Grandfather, please come to our house for a cup of tea.”
“Hmm? No. I know the state of that house well. I won’t go.”
Ah, right. If we go now, there will be nothing but mold and dust.
“Ah, then Grandfather. Do you still live nearby?”
“Of course.”
“I’ll be living at my grandfather’s house soon. Can I invite you again then?”
“Haha. If you do, I will. Now, go about your business. I’m going to soak up a little more sun before I go.”
Just like when he was a child, Han Hyung-bae went on his way coolly. He quietly watched the old man’s back. Seeing him walk even slower than before, he felt glad he had come here. And he also felt worried. Because of his age.
“Is there nothing I can do for him…?”
He remembered how the man had brought joy to his lonely grandfather and treated the visiting Yoon Yeon-woo as precious as his own grandson. He wanted to return at least a little bit of the love he received back then.
“There might be something you can do for him.”
“Ack!”
At the sudden voice, Yoon Yeon-woo let out a strange sound and tumbled onto the ground.
