to have this conversation with Min. She stood closer to her husband and spoke quietly, so Hana would not hear. “Even if I brought someone from the future who said we’d become rich, even if I showed you a lab report saying there’s gold under the ground, you would still deny me this, and say no. Isn’t that right?”
Hana, who had been quietly watching them, pointed to someone behind them, and they realized Gi-yong was making his way down, apparently tired of waiting. Soo-Ja turned away from Min and took a deep breath. She tried to wipe the anger off her face.
“Annyeong-ha-seyo,” Gi-yong greeted them, a crescent moon smile on his face. He bowed deeply, and then shook their hands. He also tried to pat Hana’s head, but she moved out of his reach.
“She’s not a child. She’s almost a teenager,” Soo-Ja said, smiling.
To Soo-Ja’s surprise, Gi-yong did not look offended or embarrassed. He simply laughed heartily, nodding, and Soo-Ja could tell he didn’t laugh out of some social obligation, but rather because he seemed amused by his own mistake. She liked this—she liked people who had a sense of humor about themselves.
“Mr. Lee,” said Gi-yong, looking at Min. “This is the land you are interested in buying. It is eighty percent sold. I hope to have it one hundred percent sold by the end of the month.”
Min gave him a scornful look. “Your land doesn’t look like much.”
At that moment, a young woman who looked like an assistant of sorts came to Gi-yong and spoke to him for a second. Gi-yong made some hand gestures to them—part apology, part request for them to stay and wait, and he followed the woman back to a makeshift office erected a few meters away.
“Let’s go now, let’s go before he comes back,” said Min, eager to continue with Soo-Ja the conversation Gi-yong had interrupted.
“No! Let me do this,” said Soo-Ja, pulling away from him as he tried to reach for her arm.
“You can give the money back to your brother,” said Min.
Soo-Ja walked a few steps away from Min and kept her back turned to him. She had told Min that the money to invest had been loaned to her by her younger brother, who now worked as an architect. In reality, Soo-Ja had been saving the money from her job as a hotel manager. Whenever Min asked her how much money she had made, she would show him only half. The other half she’d stuff in the pockets of her clothes in the dresser. She had managed to save 200,000 won.
“The investment is risky, yes, but I believe in this city. Everyone is moving here. I run into old acquaintances from Daegu and Pusan all the time—women with children I knew as babies. The future is in Seoul.”
“You sound like President Park. You know he tortures people,” said Min.
“Well, if you spruce up your old skills with the student revolutionaries, you can fight him back. Although I think fighting me is enough,” Soo-Ja said, turning around and facing him again, with her hands in her pockets.
“That’s very funny,” said Min, not smiling. He then turned to Hana. “You have a very funny mother. Tell that to your prospective husbands; they’ll be sure to ask for your hand.”
“I have already decided on this. We’re not going to live hand to mouth. We are going to invest, and buy some of this land,” said Soo-Ja, walking away from Min. No one could mistake the seriousness in her voice.
“‘I already decided.’ What do you think you do to your husband when you say things like that?” asked Min. “Isn’t it my job to decide? It’s bad enough I have to ask my wife for money.”
“And I always give it to you,” Soo-Ja calmly replied. “I have never complained or made you feel self-conscious about anything. If you have issues with that, there’s nothing I can do about it.”
This was a sensitive topic, the fact that for the last few years, Min had not had a job. It was understood that the reason wasn’t because he was lazy or unintelligent, but because of his bad back. Seven years ago, Min’s parents had decided to immigrate to the United States, and they had asked Min to come with them and bring his family, so they could work together in a factory there. Soo-Ja refused to go—unable to live with them after the way they had deceived her—and Min had to decide between obeying his parents and