"Hyun-ah, do you know what this old man does?"
My grandfather asked me with an affectionate expression. On the outside, I am still just a 14-year-old boy. Moreover, this is the first time I have been with my grandfather for this long. My grandfather must think that his grandson does not know exactly what the family business is. How should I put it?
"You work in the chemical industry, right?"
I had no intention of hiding anything.
It was also hard to listen to something I already knew in circles.
However, a look of surprise is clearly visible on the grandfather's face.
"Did your mother tell you that?"
"No, Jinseok hyung explained it to me yesterday. He said that his grandfather was the president of Dongju Chemical."
Jinseok, let me tell you my name.
"Hyun-ah, what do you think about the chemical industry?"
My grandfather asked me even more difficult questions. It seemed as if he was curious about what kind of answers I would get. Dongju Chemical started with a soap factory and has been working on laundry detergents and crop protection agents. However, compared to the development of the chemical industry that will take place in the future, Dongju was still in its infancy.
"If steel was the material of the modern industry, I think chemistry is the material of the future industry."
If steel became the raw material for shipbuilding, civil engineering, and automobiles, then later on, new chemical technologies will lead to the remarkable development of modernization. For example, prominent scholars have pointed out that the 4th industrial revolution is the chemical industry, not IT. I agree with that opinion, because the basis of the computer industry and smartphones in the future was chemical technology.
"Future industry?"
The grandfather's eyes widened in an instant. He had never expected such words to come out of his young grandson's mouth. How much time had passed?
"Hyun-ah, come to think of it, I've only been hanging out with this old man since coming to Seoul. Today, go sightseeing and have some fun. Reporter Kim will take you wherever you want."
My grandfather smiled contentedly and patted my head.
"Student Kang Hyeon, where do you want to go?"
The gentleman in the car glanced at me through the rearview mirror and asked. Seoul in the 90s, which had not yet fully modernized. I thought it was a world I would never experience again. It was a time when apartments were built next to shantytowns. The women's heavy makeup and the Gangnam Orange Tribe that began to appear one after another reminded me of nostalgia rather than being old-fashioned.
"Sir, please go to Sillim."
"Sillim-dong?"
It seems like you were thinking of an amusement park or a funfair.
There was a time when I lived in the Shillim-dong exam village during my time at Korea University. At that time, the dormitories at Korea University were not based on grades, but rather on a so-called round-robin system. In the end, because there were not enough TOs, I had no choice but to live alone for a while, and the place I ended up choosing was Shillim-dong. The reason was simple: the cost of living was low, and the rent was low.
"It's still the same here."
I spoke softly about the scenery of Sillim-dong that spread out outside the car window. It was not much different from the past. Every alley was lined with boarding houses and gosi villages, and the roads were winding like earthworm paths. The village at the top of Sillim, which is called a moon village in common parlance, was very cheap, and there was even a saying that if you went there, you would become a god.
"Auntie, please give me one stir-fried sundae and one stir-fried pork."
This is a Sundae stir-fry restaurant that I often visited in my past life. The young owner's eyes widened when she saw the young boy skillfully ordering. The driver sitting across from me also looked surprised. Oh no, I guess I got excited without realizing it.
"How did a young student know that my house's pork and sundae mix is so delicious?"
The landlady looked at me with a surprised expression.
The restaurant was full of students studying in the Gosi Village. They wore big glasses and had thick administrative law and small law books on the table. Sometimes, when they didn't have money for meals, they would leave the small law books and pay on credit. In a way, all the restaurants and bars in the Gosi Village were like pawn shops that took care of their dreams.
Thump.
After finishing my meal, I walked around the Shillim-dong Gosi Village. It is a place where all the dreams of exam takers from all over the country are gathered. Here and there, there were posters advertising vacant rooms in the Gosi Village, and the phrase "From the stream to the dragon" caught my eye. The taxi driver looked surprised. He wondered how I, who came from the countryside, knew about Shillim-dong, and he even walked around with a familiar gait.
'Am I really as desperate as they are?'
The reason I came to Shillim-dong was to get to know myself. In the past, when I studied law all day long with a small law book in my arms, did I really dream of living as a lawyer? I thought about becoming a lawyer again when I had the opportunity to do so again. Since I had been there once, there were no problems the second time. However.
'Not desperately.'
I shook my head. For a moment, an unknown bird that had been circling in the sky made a sharp turn.
It was as I was walking towards the parking lot.
"Excuse me."
A Western man in a colorful suit slowly walked toward me and the taxi driver. What's a foreigner doing in Sillim-dong? The taxi driver looked embarrassed. The middle-aged Westerner didn't seem to know a word of Korean. There's nothing I can do.
"Why are you doing that?"
English flowed fluently from Kang Hyun's mouth.
"Oh, the young gentleman speaks English."
The Westerner's face, which had seemed full of worry, brightened. On the other hand, the driver's eyes were as big as lanterns. It seemed like he had never imagined that I could speak English.
"So you told me to take a taxi from the airport to the Sili Hotel, but it ended up here? And you accidentally left your wallet in the taxi?"
It was ridiculous. Well, no matter what country you go to, there are a lot of cases of ragging on foreigners, but shouldn't they just let you off at your destination?
"I told you to go to Sillim, Sillim."
But after hearing the Westerner's pronunciation of Korean, I realized that the taxi driver couldn't help but misunderstand.
"Sir, this person wants to go to the Sili Hotel. Do you have time to take him there?"
When I told him that I would take him there, the Westerner was very happy and kept thanking him. According to the conversation we had on the way to the hotel, the Westerner said that he had come to Korea for business. I wondered if the other party would have rented a car for him if it was business.
"I arrived in the country a week earlier than my original appointment."
The middle-aged Westerner looked at me with a grin.
Before we knew it, the car had arrived at the Sili Hotel.
"I'd like to give you my business card, but I don't have my wallet. Young gentleman, my name is Samuel Gardner. If you ever need my assistance, please come to the Sealy Hotel and ask for me."
The middle-aged man, who identified himself as Samuel Gardner, spoke to me politely and then turned around. He looked like a nobleman from Northern Europe.
* * *
"Hyun-i speaks English?"
"Yes, Chairman."
Mr. Kim reported to his grandfather about what had happened today. Contrary to expectations that he had visited an amusement park or Gyeongbokgung Palace, he had visited Sillim-dong, and even had a fluent English conversation with a foreigner. His grandfather's expression became strange as he listened to the series of events.
"Okay, I'll go out and try."
Mr. Kim bowed, turned around, and walked out of the study.
"Hmm."
The grandfather closed his wrinkled eyes tightly and looked lost in thought.
He was the only son of a wealthy family. He valued Dongju Chemical, which he had worked on all his life, more than anything else, and he considered it to be a source of pride equivalent to his younger days. In the past, he thought that a thorough primogeniture should be established in a patriarchal society. Of course, his thoughts changed a little when his youngest daughter was born.
The youngest daughter, Kang Hyun's mother Yu Hyeon-ja, was the daughter that her grandfather cherished and cherished. Unlike her other greedy and lazy siblings, the youngest daughter was always smart and wise. However, the fact that she was a girl bothered her like a sharp fishhook. If she had been a boy, even though she was the youngest, she would have been listed in the line of succession.
-Son, is your grandfather treating you well?
There was concern in the mother's voice. Perhaps she was worried that her feelings for her might have extended to her son.
"I am very comfortable because my grandfather takes such good care of me."
Starting with my grandfather, the housekeeper, and even the driver, they were all there for me. It was also because I was a young grandson who didn't come often. From their perspective, they were especially proud and impressed by Kang-Hyeon, who acted like a child.
"Are you okay with working at the laundry?"
I was worried. The news kept scaring us, saying that it was the hottest summer in decades. I couldn't imagine how much laundry there would be.
-Son, don't worry! My wife is not having a hard time, your father is working hard.
At that moment, I heard my father's voice, who was listening to the phone with me. They had been married for a long time, but they were still as sweet as newlyweds. That must be why my mother gave up this mansion to choose my father.
I was just about to finish talking to my parents and hang up the phone.
"Did you talk to your mother?"
Before I knew it, my grandfather was walking into the living room.
"Yes, Grandpa."
There were complex emotions in the grandfather's eyes. It was the youngest daughter that he had kicked out of the mansion because he didn't want to see her. When the youngest daughter, who had never disobeyed him in her entire life, said that she was leaving to find happiness, he was shocked and angry. However, it was already a dozen years ago.
The anger at that time was diluted, and instead, only longing grew stronger.
"grandfather."
I looked at my grandfather. His eyes were covered with wrinkles and his face was covered in freckles. I hadn't seen him often in my past life, but now I felt more comfortable with him than anyone else.
"Do you miss your mother?"
In just five years, the grandfather will turn his back on the world. Knowing the future, he wanted to bring about a quicker reconciliation between the father and daughter. The grandfather pretended to be quiet when he heard his young grandson's words and nodded.
"Hyun-ah, what do you think happiness is?"
My youngest daughter, who had left to find her own happiness, vowed in her heart that she would never see me again, but it wasn't easy.
"I still don't know what happiness is, but I know what unhappiness is."
"misfortune?"
"Grandpa, you can do what you want. I think it's unfortunate to turn away from such power. Just do whatever your heart desires."
Huh.
The grandfather thought of his youngest daughter. She was the child who understood his words the best, but she was also the child who drove a nail into his heart. This time, the grandson born from that youngest daughter was shaking his heart again. Although he was still young, the words he occasionally uttered had the wisdom to grasp the essence of the incident. That is not something that can be learned. It is something that is innate.