“There was a man here looking for you,” Yang Guman said to Junshik when he had just entered the staff room. “Did he find you? He didn’t look like a parent—more like an encyclopedia salesman. Oh, wait—here he is now!”
The man, who appeared to be in his forties, was wearing a striped suit. He walked over to Junshik, his shoulders slumped.
“Are you Mr. Hong Junshik?” he asked in a strangely quiet voice.
When Junshik nodded, he added in a softer and even lower voice, “Could I speak with you for a moment?”
“If it’s about ordering books, come another day.”
“Books? No, I’m a detective from the police department.”
It wasn’t the answer Junshik had expected. He noticed that the man’s eyes were rheumy, as if he’d slept badly. The skin on his face was dark, with pores so large they looked like they were puncture marks left by a large needle.
“Could we go somewhere a little quieter?”
They went out and crossed the courtyard, which was blisteringly hot in the midday sun, and walked out of the school gate to the café across the street.
“This heat is terrible!” the detective said. “Hey, you, bring us some cold towels!” He rubbed his face with the wet towel that the waitress brought.
Junshik didn’t touch his. “Why did you want to see me?” he asked.
“Mr. Hong, you have a brother, don’t you?”
“A brother?”
“I already know everything. You have the same father. Your brother’s name is Kang Minu. Quite a guy—kicked out of Seoul National University.”
Junshik had no idea Minu had been expelled. The detective kept scrutinizing him as if he were watching for some sort of reaction. The man’s face was very dark—not just the surface tan from being in the sun, but from deep underneath, enough to make Junshik wonder if there was something wrong with his liver.
“When was the last time you saw your brother?”
“I can’t remember—it’s been so long…We’re brothers, sure, but, as you know, we have different surnames. We’ve been out of touch for a long time without any news from each other. You know, really, we only lived together when we were kids.”
Junshik was worried the detective would sense his lie. Feeling the heat rise to his face, he grabbed the cold towel from the table and rubbed his face with it.
“But why are you asking me about my brother?”
“We’re looking for him. I’m sorry to be a bother to you, but they say he’s one of the worst activists…. He took on multiple identities to incite students and workers to riot against the government.”
Junshik was dumbfounded. He stared at the detective, his mouth hanging open. He was asked a few more questions about this and that, but Junshik had no new information for him.
“Guys like him give us such a terrible headache! The order for this investigation came down from central admin, so we have to keep coming up with all sorts of reports. You’re a teacher. I’m sure you know what I mean.”
The detective seemed exhausted. Finally, with a pleading look, he handed Junshik his department business card, which read: “Detective Inspector Gwak Sungu, Intelligence Section.”
“Don’t hesitate to get in touch if you have any news about your brother or anything else.” He said that without seeming to expect anything further of Junshik, as if he were simply speaking out of habit. They left the café and said goodbye to each other. Detective Gwak walked away with his shoulders drooping, exhausted and overwhelmed by the heat. The sight of him was enough to make Junshik want to give him some information just to revive him.
Junshik was still shocked by what he’d just heard, but what he felt most strongly was the unpleasant sense of having been betrayed. Minu hadn’t told him a thing.
When he got home after work, Junshik found his brother crouching in the hallway outside the apartment door, busy with something. He was making screens to install in the windows, sweating profusely as he attached the metal netting to the aluminum frames.
“He’s so good with his hands,” Junshik’s wife said, a hint of pride in her voice. “If we had to pay to have it done, it would’ve cost tens of thousands of won….”
“I’ve got to do something to earn my keep. And it turns out this isn’t so hard, after all,” Minu said with a sweaty smile.
Junshik motioned for his wife to follow him to the bedroom.
“Look, Minu’s in some sort of trouble….” he said.
“What trouble? What are you talking about?”
He told her about the conversation he’d had with the detective that afternoon, and she listened, but her reaction was the opposite of what he’d expected.
“Wow, so he’s important,” she said. “I thought he was just one of those typical…”
“What do you mean, ‘important’? He’s a fugitive from justice. A criminal!”
“So what? What does it matter, since what he did was good? Could a normal person do what he did?”
It sounded to Junshik like she was saying that there was no way someone like him could be wanted like that. He was stunned. Was this the same woman who cursed in front of the television every time she saw students protesting, telling him they were immature?
“He must have suffered so much. And how much he must have worried…And all the while, living on the run like that, not a single place where he could feel safe.”
It was then that Junshik noticed she was wearing a sleeveless dress and more makeup than usual. She looked sensual in a way she had never been before, and it concerned him who this change in her appearance was for.
“You did a great job. It’s perfect,” she said ecstatically to Minu when he was done with the window screens. “It looks like it was done by a real pro.”
Minu actually had finished the screens, installing one in each window with the skill of a true craftsman.
“Oh, you’re soaking in sweat! Take off your shirt and I’ll get some water to splash over you.”
“No, I’m fine,” Minu said. “I just need to wash my face.”
“No, you have to wash off that sweat. Go ahead, take off that shirt.” She was already in the bathroom, a water bucket in her hand, calling him.
Minu turned to look at Junshik, embarrassed.
“What? Are you ashamed to undress in front of your sister-in-law?” Junshik said.
After what his brother said, Minu peeled off his shirt and went into the bathroom, as if he had no choice.
Junshik went into his bedroom, but even from there, he could clearly hear the sound of the splashing, Minu’s cries as he complained about the cold water, and his wife’s amused laughter. There was nothing inherently wrong with a sister-in-law pouring water on her brother-in-law’s back. Depending on how you looked at it, you could say it was a sweet and innocent scene. Junshik tried hard to see it that way, but he could not contain the emotions seething inside, nor could he stop himself from imagining his wife’s pale hands moving up and down the slippery flesh of Minu’s muscular back.
When everyone was in bed, he put his arm around his wife, who was lying with her back to him, facing the wall. She coldly pushed his hand away as usual.
“What are you doing?” she hissed. “I’m already dying in this heat!”
But he refused to give up. He forced her to turn over and got on top of her. She resisted stubbornly, and they wrestled silently in the dark for a long time until she finally let go and surrendered. He began to caress her, surprised by the heat of her response. She hadn’t been like that in a long time. And as she finished, she moaned breathlessly, unable to stop herself. Junshik covered her mouth, afraid they’d be overheard by his brother, but she didn’t even seem to notice. When the frenzied tide had ebbed, she lay there naked, stretched out, exhausted like a snake that had swallowed prey larger than itself, and Junshik gazed at her, wondering why she had never been so passionate before. Could it be because she’d seen Minu’s naked torso that afternoon? That image of him would not go away. Maybe in her head she’d been doing the act with Minu. As he thought this, the very idea that he could be imagining it sent a chill up Junshik’s spine.