turned to face him, and looking up said with mock severity, ‘You shouldn’t make complimentary remarks to a lady’s face.’
‘Oh, I am sorry. I do apologize.’ He bowed from the waist. His quick and witty reaction made me laugh and he delightedly chuckled in his turn. We went to a Western restaurant. He asked me whether I liked dancing.
‘Like it?’ I said, ‘I can’t take the first step,’ as if I was proud of myself.
I thought he might say ‘That is not like you, Sukey, modern woman as you are.’ In which case I would have said, ‘It is not as if I object to dancing itself. I would love it. It’s just that I am waiting until I have a boyfriend with whom I can learn it properly.’ But there was no need. He rather praised me as he nodded his head and said, ‘I am pleased to hear that. It is just like you, Sukey.’
‘I expect you are good at it?’
‘No, no. I am like you. I have had many chances to learn but somehow missed them all. I was thinking you might be able to teach me.’
Is this not evidence of his innocence and shy personality? I felt as if I could relax my guard a bit. After dinner we went to a cinema to see a Korean film entitled ‘Money’. It was ten past eleven when we came out. He called a taxi, put me in the back seat, sat himself beside the driver and told him to go to Tonamdong, and then turning to me he said, ‘That’s where you live, isn’t it?’
I closed my eyes as I leaned my head back on the seat. The love scenes from the film came floating back. I wondered why he did not sit in the back next to me. Some men would have done. In a way I was glad it turned out that way. Only by keeping a respectable distance until the right time comes can we have the right kind of relationship. I would hate myself if I were to fall into a blind passion. When the taxi had passed the Samsŏn Bridge, I had to rouse myself from my reverie, to give the driver directions to our house. Kwŏn said that the new term starts in the middle of April, and he ought to be at his new post in Pusan by the tenth, at the latest. The thought of seeing him off at the railway station for it is a certainty now that I shall be there, made me emotional. I want to make the most of the remaining days and enjoy his company.
‘You must be tired,’ he said as he helped me out of the car and lightly patted my cheeks with his fingers.
‘Good night and thank you for a lovely evening.’
‘It’s my pleasure. Good night,’ he said and waved as he got into the car.
2 April. The first thing I meant to do when I got to work was to ring him. But when I entered the office the telephone was already ringing. It was him. I could not hide the delight from my voice.
‘Oh, is that you? Did you sleep well? How is it that you always answer the phone? Is it near you?’
‘Yes, it’s just on my desk.’
‘So I can ring you often, can I?’
‘Even if it wasn’t, you can ring me as often as you like.’
‘Didn’t you get a scolding from your sister for being late last night?’
‘Scolding? Why, I’m not a child, am I?’
He chuckled. I could see his face. I love him when he does that.
‘I’ve only just woken up. I am ringing from my bed. I have the phone just above my pillow. Are you busy?’
‘No, I am not. ‘I wanted to hold onto the phone. ‘What are you going to do today?’
‘I have to go into college, of course.’
‘Even on holidays?’
‘Yes. I’ve got a lot to tidy up in my office.’ Then he said, ‘It’s my mother just peeping round the door to see why I am lying in. I will ring you later. Bye for now.’
Before my eyes floated his room; a large ondol floored room, maybe a combined bedroom and study. Apart from the sliding doors that face the inner quarters across the wooden floored hall, the three walls will be lined with books from floor to ceiling. A desk with an adjustable lamp stand and a small bed-side table with a telephone and a night light on it. A loving mother frequently popping in and out to make sure he’s all right...
After work I met him again at the tea-room ‘Rose’. I’ve learned some more about him and his family. There has been a shortage of sons in his family and the family line had been maintained by only sons for the past six generations, and now he’s the heir of the seventh. He has both parents and a younger sister doing English literature at Ewha Women’s University. He told me about her at length. Apparently she’s a tomboy and spoilt rotten.
‘She tells me, ‘he said, ‘she and her friends have started some kind of a club and appointed me as their adviser, can you believe it? It’s their monthly meeting tonight, and I am expected to be there at seven-thirty. She kept popping in and out of my room even before I was fully awake to make me promise to be there.’ He went on with a smack of his tongue. ‘I shouted back and told her I didn’t want to have anything to do with such a cheeky bunch of girls. Why they didn’t even ask my opinion beforehand, and besides, I have a date tonight.’ Then he produced a crumpled piece of paper. ‘This is what she left on my pillow before she went out.’ In careless scrawl it read, ‘It’s all up to you, dear brother, whether you come or not, but really I don’t believe that you’ll let me down. The meeting place is “Liberty Salon”, in case you’ve forgotten, at 7.30 p.m. Your darling sis. Mirim.’
I smiled to myself. It reminded me of my ways with my own sister. These spoilt younger sisters! Then I thought if I were to develop a relationship with him, his sister would be an important person. Either I get on well with her and she will be my ally or she will set herself against me and play the devil’s advocate. Don’t I know the importance of a sister-in-law to one’s married life in this country!
‘Of course, you must go,’ I said. ‘I am unconditionally on her side.’
So he conceded to the two women and went to the meeting. Before we parted he invited me into a florist’s we were passing by and asked me to choose some flowers for myself. The small shop was filled with things like lilies, camellia, carnations, azalea and forsythia, but I did not fancy fully blown ones. It was sad to think that they would wither in a few days. I rather fancied the idea of watching over some buds growing into lovely leaves and flowers. I picked up a lump of roots with small, pointed tips – lilies of the valley. When I came home I put them in the flowerpot just outside the window. I shall water them everyday and have the pleasure of seeing them grow day by day.
3 April. He phoned during the morning. He has to go to a party tonight to welcome a friend who has just returned from America.
‘Would you care to come with me?’ he said. I briefly thought about it. It did not seem to be right to appear in public with a man I hardly know.
‘It’s just like you. I thought you might say that. I won’t insist against your wish.’ Then he said, ‘What about the fifth or the sixth? The fifth is a public holiday, isn’t it? Have you any plans?’
I looked up at the calendar on the wall. The fifth is Arbor Day, followed by Sunday.
‘If I can have the car on the fifth, I thought, it would be nice to drive out to the suburbs. Besides, my sister wants to meet you, she
