It was funny how I overslept. I thought I wouldn’t be able to sleep from anticipation, but it was nothing like that. It wasn’t until noon that we finally stopped by the rest stop halfway along our journey. We stopped because I was hungry, but I wasn’t that hungry. The reason I said that we should take a break was because Jang Yoonsung seemed tired.
It was a little unfair. When I lent him my legs the day before, it seemed like he had fallen asleep, but Jang Yoonsung looked like he didn’t sleep at all.
“How did the movie end yesterday?”
Putting down two cups of cold coffee on the table, Jang Yoonsun g asked as if he had just remembered. Well, how did it end?
“I don’t know. I fell asleep in the middle.”
I couldn’t say that I couldn’t catch the ending because I couldn’t bear but to touch your face so I roughly summarized it. Fortunately, Jang Yoonsung nodded without much doubt.
“You must be tired because you dropped by the bar, right? You were sleeping so deeply that you didn’t even know that someone carried you away.”
Indeed, it was true. He was the one who carried me on his back when I fell asleep on the sofa. Trying to be nice, I slept in the same position as when I lent him my legs but when I woke up, I found myself in my bed. It was praiseworthy that he had the heart to do so but I was more worried that I might have said something in my sleep.
I frowned at him.
“You should’ve just left me there if I didn’t wake up even after you tried to wake me. What would you do if the same accident happened again?”
“Accident” was the word I emphasized and Jang Yoonsung smiled. It was as if he forgot that it was an expression that came out of his mouth.
“Well, it wouldn’t be bad if it was with me.”
I pursed my lips up and down in dissatisfaction before I popped a hot dog into my mouth. In addition to the coffee Jang Yoonsung bought, there were whole baked potatoes and packed walnut cookies on the table. I chose these foods because I was the one who had asked to stop by the rest area because of hunger, so it was time to actually eat it. Jang Yoonsung refused to choose anything from the menu. He said he wasn’t hungry, but I wasn’t sure if he was really not hungry or just didn’t like the food that was provided in the rest area.
Jang Yoonsung watched me bite down on the hot dog, and asked curiously.
“Is it good?”
Suddenly, I was asked such a silly question. Did Jang Yoonsung even know how hot dogs tasted? It was barely warm thanks to the hot rest area, but it was soggy since it had been fried for a long time and tasted like frying oil.
“Do you want to try it?”
“Yes.”
When I held out the hot dog, Jang Yoonsung leaned forward to take a big bite. Once, twice and three times, he gobbled it up into his cheeks and his smiling face became strangely distorted. Like he gave up on trying the hotdog anymore, he took a sip of his coffee.
“You don’t like it?”
“It tastes the same as it did years ago.”
He said as if he knew how it tasted last time.
“A few times in the past, I often visited the villa where my grandfather resided. As I would walk by this place, I got curious and wanted to try it at least once. This too.”
Instead of a fork, Jang Yoonsung pricked a piece of the potato with a toothpick and put it in his mouth. It seemed to match his tastes, as Jang Yoonsung slowly chewed and swallowed what he had in his mouth. It looked delicious. I thought he would say something along the lines of how it didn’t taste good but he stayed silent. The gaze that stayed on my face slowly darted to a distant place, as if something suddenly came to his mind.
“It’s strange. How did I forget my grandfather’s last appearance?”
Grandfather’s last appearance.
My mind was tingling like I had been suddenly knocked on the back of my head. Silly. Why did I think that all Jang Yoonsung lost were memories of me? Even though it was enough to forget me, besides that, there were so many other things he had forgotten. Especially when it came to Chairman Jang…
Chairman Jang who remained in Jang Yoonsung’s memory may still be a lonely man who was full of distrust towards his son. I put the last piece of the hotdog in my mouth and stood up.
“Let’s go, quickly. You might remember something if you go to the villa.”
I thought Jang Yoonsung would follow me quickly but he only pointed his chin at the food left on the table instead of getting up from his seat.
“You said you were hungry. Finish this and go.”
Then he added, grabbing onto my hand, “I’ve been to the villa several times until now.”
It was like he was saying that he had been there so many times, but it didn’t work. I had no choice but to sit back down at his words. Jang Yoonsung took a potato piece and held it out to me as if he wanted me to focus on eating. As I continued gobbling piece after piece, I felt smothered. It was the first time I felt like it was a pity for him to lose those memories.
The wind was crisp and the weather was great. But somehow, the spring at the villa didn’t seem as fresh.
After we stuffed our tummies, after a long time, we set back out on our journey.
After Chairman Jang left, the villa was left empty. The people who lived nearby took care of the house, but soon let it wear out. It was alright to spend a day or two there, but to stay there for a long time, there were a lot of places to fix so it needed to go under construction this time.
“So who lived here after that?”
“Not sure.”
Jang Yoonsung answered briefly. It was as if he was implying that he was only fixing it because there was something to fix – if there was no one who was going to live there, there was no reason to fix it.
I had seen such houses since I was a child. The abandoned house that changed, looking like it was going to collapse soon after the old people who lived alone in those houses passed away. After that, the houses would grow thick with weeds covering it, even the places where people passed by.
While looking at such houses, my mother had said that homes without people to live in them wear out quickly. So, I thought that it just couldn’t be helped. Whatever it was built with, uninhabited houses are meant to be worn out again. Just like how Jang Yoonsung lost the people precious to him, so his memories containing these people were worn out.
“I told them to prepare the rooms for us so that we could at least spend a night, but there’s nothing to eat there. We should go in after we make a trip to the market.”
Saying so, Jang Yoonsung touched his left wrist. Seo Kijoon said he had healed well, but he didn’t seem to have completely recovered yet. I nodded while thinking that I should drive on the way back.
I thought it was a long way to go, but it didn’t take long. I felt like the town wasn’t that far and as I thought about what I should bring to the villa, we arrived at the city.
It might not be a downtown area but there was also a fairly large mart, so we went shopping there before we set out on the road again. The contents were of course what we really needed.
“You bought everything you need right? That villa really has nothing.”
As Jang Yoonsung drove, he asked to check once again and I recited what I remembered buying.
“We bought everything though? Meat, beer, snacks…”
“What can I get you?”
As I said that, we soon passed by a small fruit stand. Seeing the greens through the open door of the shop, it seemed like it was a vegetable store. It was only then I remembered that we didn’t buy any vegetables to eat with the meat. Hence, when we parked the car nearby and snooped in front of the store, a middle aged woman who seemed to be the boss lady came out and asked, “What can I get you?”
“I want to buy some vegetables. Lettuce and perilla leaves…”
What else was there to eat with meat? As I stammered, the owner added generously.
“Shall we add some beets and mustard leaves? It’s good to eat that as a wrap.”
“Yes, give a little bit of that as well. We’re going to eat it all together.”
When I added, the owner went inside and started picking the vegetables, saying that she would mix and match some appropriately.
“Should I buy some fruits as well?’
Jang Yoonsung looked at the fruits at the stand and asked me. These days, fruits were said to be seasonal, but the season we were in right now was vague so there was nothing particularly eye-catching. I thought of buying a pineapple but I decided not to, just in case. If I had too much in common with Han Jiyoung, it would be difficult for me when Jang Yoonsung tried to get in touch with his memories.
In the meantime, I got a little hesitant. Could I really do that? Could I really help Jang Yoonsung recover his memories? If I do so, it is also important to have an escape route.
I looked around the stands again and pointed to the box of strawberries. It was the end of the season, but the strawberries appeared so red that they looked mouthwatering.
“How about strawberries? You like strawberries, don’t you?”
“How did you know?”
“I can tell just by looking.”
When Jang Yoonsung asked me curiously, I answered proudly for the first time in a long while. When I was at the villa, strawberries were constantly available there even if it wasn’t in season. I didn’t have a hobby of observing people like Jang Yoonsung did, so I didn’t think hard about the reason behind it. However, the helper lady explained to me in passing one day. Jang Yoonsung liked strawberries so his mother always sent some.
The owner who went in to pick the vegetables came out again, so we told her we were also buying a box of strawberries.
“Hm, this? This one is okay, right?”
The boxes all looked similar, but the owner took turns looking at our faces several times before pulling out a box she picked out sincerely for us.
“Sigh, how can two friends look so good side by side?”
I smiled awkwardly as I faced Jang Yoonsung at the sudden compliment. Jang Yoonsung met my eyes with a calm look to see my response, after he heard the words that were enough to hurt his ears.
“Is that so? Thank you.”
It was obvious that he answered this way just out of courtesy so that the speaker wasn’t left embarrassed, but then Jang Yoonsung jabbed my sides.
“Why am I just your friend?”
Even if it was said lightly like it was a joke, it didn’t seem like empty words.
“If you don’t like it, then call me hyung.”
“What do you mean, call you hyung?”
The owner tied the strawberry boxes with a string. Seeing us bickering with each other, she asked with a questioning look, “Are you two brothers? You don’t look alike.”
“We are neither friends nor brothers. Please bill us for this.”
Jang Yoonsung, as if she was right, took out a card from his wallet.
“We are friends.”
I don’t know why he said that. Was he worried that the owner might misunderstand? Or was it also because he didn’t want to be friends with me?
Suddenly,a thought came into my mind. How convenient was a friendship? How peaceful was it? If we were friends then the fact that I had betrayed Jang Yoonsung before would not be justifiable.
The owner accepted the card and looked at us alternatively. She smiled and talked to us as if we were some mischievous kids.
“Hm, well, I am just a cashier. The taller one of you, do whatever you like.”
Actually, we weren’t interested in any relationship. It was like a business-like relationship where we exchanged empty words. If we sold more goods to each other, it was great and if we didn’t, we lost nothing.
In that sense, the owner figured out who the opponent was correctly. Jang Yoonsung bought two more boxes of strawberries because the owner took sides with him. He said it was a gift for the person who managed the villa and it was worth the money.
With a box of strawberries in the car, we hurried on our way again. No matter how long it had been since the sun had gone down, at the rate we were going, the time we would reach the villa, we would have to unload our suitcases before packing it again. But Jang Yoonsung, who had his hand on the steering wheel, wore a satisfied expression and I chuckled.
“What?”
Jang Yoonsung asked what I was laughing at.
He wasn’t even a kid, but hearing the owner of the fruit stall, who didn’t have any inkling what kind of situation we were in, was he really so happy? I wanted to ask him that but I stopped myself. In the end, I didn’t want to fool around and bicker meaninglessly.
“Nothing. You seemed like a pushover.”
Despite such remarks, Jang Yoonsung laughed without showing any signs of disliking what I said. No, he was laughing at me so this time,
“What?”
I asked.
“Did you only know that now?”
I heard such a reply. What does he mean, I knew it from years before.
While we couldn’t bear to speak and looked out of the window, we entered the uphill road. It was on the way to the villa.
