GGAS 2

He said.

“Are you hurt anywhere?”

“No, I’m fine!”

Kim Abang smiled brightly, his face smeared with tear stains. He did not look fine at all, so Seo Taerim asked if he would go to the hospital just in case. Kim Abang, startled, jumped up flapping like a bird.

“Ah! No! I’m really fine!”

“Even so…”

“Really, really!”

“If you insist, then,”

Seo Taerim took a business card from his wallet.

“Please take this.”

Kim Abang accepted the card with hands as small as bracken.

“H Hotel CEO… Seo Taerim.”

Kim Abang read the card.

“Yes. I should have introduced myself sooner. My name is Seo Taerim, CEO of this hotel. I apologize for the great inconvenience during your stay. My number is below, so if you notice anything wrong with your body later, please be sure to contact me.”

“I’m really fine…”

“I apologize once again for the matter with the elevator. I’m truly sorry.”

“No, it’s fine!”

“No. I really am sorr…”

“Um, Director?”

Just as Seo Taerim and Kim Abang showed signs of falling into an endless loop of “I’m sorry” and “It’s fine,” the quick-witted secretary, Chief Kang, swiftly cut in from the side.

“Ah.”

Seo Taerim checked his wristwatch.

“Already this late…”

“Yes. If you depart now, you will arrive on time. I cannot drive today, and since that area is unfamiliar to you, Director…”

Seo Taerim glanced at his secretary’s arm in a cast and nodded.

“Understood. Go on up.”

The secretary gave a polite bow and turned to leave, then suddenly exclaimed as if as if she just remembered something, “Ah!”

“I forgot to mention. If you take Shancho Boulevard, it’ll be much faster. Go that way.”

Seo Taerim smiled as if he understood and waved for her not to worry and to go on up. Then he turned his eyes to Kim Abang with an apologetic look.

“I’m sorry, but I have business right now, so…”

“Um, Taerim-ssi.”

Seo Taerim and Kim Abang spoke at the same time.

“Yes, go ahead.”

Seo Taerim yielded.

“Well… could you possibly give me a ride? I’m also heading toward Shancho Boulevard. I don’t have my wallet or my phone right now, so…”

Seo Taerim did not want to put a stranger in his car. But Kim Abang had just been in an accident, and he worried that if he refused, rumors might spread like, “H Hotel’s elevators and even its CEO are all rotten.” So in the end, Seo Taerim let Kim Abang into his car.

***

In movies, when there is a hitchhiker and a driver who picks him up, in most cases one of the two turns out to be crazy. Thirty minutes had passed since Seo Taerim had let Kim Abang into the passenger seat, and he had already decided that in this case, he would be the one to take on that role.

‘If I have to be overrun like this, it’s better to strike first…’

He felt as if he might lose his mind. Seo Taerim had never seen anyone give away their personal information as freely as Kim Abang did. (And Seo Taerim had not even asked.) Kim Abang talked so much that in just thirty minutes Seo Taerim learned not only his name, age, home address, family relations, education, occupation, and hobbies, but even the birth and death years of the president of the company that sold the green grapes his purple-eyed crab, which he had raised at the age of twelve, liked to eat.

For Seo Taerim, who avoided people,  this was far too much information. If possible, he wanted to hear Kim Abang’s chatter with one ear and let it out the other. But unfortunately that was impossible, because Kim Abang, worried he might get bored, occasionally threw him a question. Just like now.

“Taerim-ssi, do you have siblings?”

“I’m an only child.”

Seo Taerim answered calmly.

“Ah, I’m a twin! It’s really amazing!”

Kim Abang’s eyes widened, he covered his mouth with his hand, and exclaimed, as if he had just found a huge common point between himself and Seo Taerim. Seo Taerim’s head spun from such scatterbrained conversation, but he managed to get through it with just a smile instead of a reply. (It was a kind of beauty trap, and for three seconds Seo Taerim gave thanks to the parents who had given birth to him so presentably.) Meanwhile, perhaps interpreting Seo Taerim’s smile in a favorable way, Kim Abang became excited and continued speaking.

“Taerim-ssi, you know, the only reason I went to the hotel today was because of my twin. He didn’t even eat and went to the hotel first thing in the morning.”

Seo Taerim, who was in fact the president of that very hotel, fell into a dilemma. Whose side should he take? The heaven-like VIP who had rushed to the hotel at dawn without breakfast and paid millions of won? Or this ticking time bomb of a person who could post on an anonymous forum that “H Hotel’s elevators are garbage”?

Fortunately, Kim Abang was a chatterbox who knew how to beat the drum and play the janggu all by himself. Seo Taerim had not even said anything yet when Kim Abang suddenly blushed on his own and waved his hands.

“Ah…! That…! I didn’t mean your hotel breakfast was bad, Taerim-ssi…!”

Seo Taerim had never once thought that until just now, but once Kim Abang said it, it began to bother him. Was he hinting that their hotel meals were as lousy as their hotel elevators? Or did it really mean nothing at all? Whether he knew of Seo Taerim’s muddled thoughts or not, Kim Abang just chuckled and scratched his cheek.

“You see… my younger brother can’t really eat rice unless there’s kimchi. He can’t handle spicy food, so he rinses the kimchi before eating it, but even so, if there’s just that, he eats really well. So I couldn’t not bring it to him!”

But Kim Abang’s memory was distorted. The truth was this: when he and Kim Gwanggong were nineteen, Kim Abang had given Kim Gwanggong a week-long lecture about the greatness of kimchi. (Studying for the college entrance exam, Kim Abang vented his senior-year stress by endlessly chattering. With Kim Gwanggong by his side all day, he became the easiest target.) The one directly involved, Kim Gwanggong, endured it with patience that could make even the Buddha weep, but Chairwoman Kim and her husband, who were listening from the side, could not hold out.

On the seventh day of Kim Abang’s kimchi filibuster, they set rinsed kimchi washed in Evian on the breakfast table. Feeling Kim Gwanggong’s gaze, they muttered, “Think of it as drinking Evian…” and averted their eyes. In the end, Kim Gwanggong had to chew the now milder, wetter kimchi while self-hypnotizing himself with the thought, I am drinking Evian.

But Seo Taerim had no way of knowing the kimchi tragedy of the Hau Group family. He was simply glad that the conversation had turned to something he could answer.

“Abang-ssi, you are very kind.”

Seo Taerim said. Receiving the compliment, Kim Abang fidgeted with his fingers in embarrassment.

“Eh, it’s not really that I’m kind~ it’s just~ because I get along well with my younger brother~.”

Starting with those words, Kim Abang launched into another thirty minutes’ worth of episodes proving how affectionate the two brothers were. How in elementary school he had run into some mean upperclassmen but Kim Gwanggong saved him, how the milk in his bag burst open and Kim Gwanggong cleaned it up for him, how during a school play he forgot an important line and Kim Gwanggong covered for him, and so on and so on….

Does Mr. Kim Gwanggong have fifteen bodies?

Having listened to it all, Seo Taerim briefly thought he might want to hire Kim Gwanggong. But he quickly changed his mind. It was certain that with Kim Gwanggong would come Kim Abang as part of the set. Plus one hundred minus one hundred equaled zero.

“Our Gonggong is the best, right?”

“Gong…”

Seo Taerim hurriedly bit his tongue. After hearing “Gonggong” so many times, he nearly slipped and answered with “Gonggong” himself.

“…I knew Director Kim Gwanggong was capable, but I didn’t realize he was to that extent.”

Seo Taerim said. It was a comment showing his disposition not to say more than two sentences at once on the topic of a person. But Kim Abang did not realize that much, and simply felt proud to hear praise for Kim Gwanggong.

“Our Gonggong is like that!”

Kim Abang spoke with a smile blooming like a flower across his whole face. Even Chairwoman Kim, Kim Gwanggong’s mother, did not wear that kind of expression when speaking of him. Anyone watching might have thought Kim Abang was the one who had given birth to him.

“Um, you know, Taerim-ssi.”

“Yes?”

“I’m only telling you this because we’re close….”

A remarkable way of thinking. They say closeness does not depend much on how long you have known someone, but these two had only learned of each other’s existence an hour ago.

‘If we’ve known each other for two hours, we’ll be getting married.’

Seo Taerim thought. Of course he did not say it aloud. He was slightly afraid that if he did, he might hear an answer like, “Wow! That’s a great idea, Taerim-ssi! Let’s turn the car toward the district office!?”

“Yes, go ahead.”

Seo Taerim said.

“Do you know…?”

Kim Abang glanced around and lowered his voice in a conspiratorial tone. (Since the only ones in the car were Seo Taerim and Kim Abang, it was an unnecessary action.)

“Me and Gonggong… we’re fraternal twins!”

“……”

“You didn’t know, right? It’s amazing, right? I still can’t believe it. How could we not be identical twins? We’re like steamed buns, aren’t we?!”

Neither steamed buns nor Kim Gwanggong would agree with that opinion.

“…Isn’t it fish-shaped bread, not steamed buns?”¹

Seo Taerim corrected him with needless precision. Steamed buns, Kim Gwanggong, and fish-shaped buns alike would be annoyed that this was not the point.

“Right, fish-shaped buns! Anyway, it’s unbelievable, right?”

“…..”

In truth, Seo Taerim could not believe this conversation. What kind of question was this supposed to be, to which there could be a good answer? Every moment he searched for something to say in reply to Kim Abang’s questions, he felt like dust drifting in the universe.

At that moment, the navigation system’s voice announced that they had reached their destination. For the 834th time in his life, Seo Taerim felt affection for a machine. Indeed, machines were better than people.

“Ah~, we’re already here! I’m so disappointed….”

Kim Abang said. If this was what disappointment was, Seo Taerim thought he would gladly be disappointed all his life. He found the sound of Kim Abang opening the car door sweet.

“Please take care going in.”

Seo Taerim spoke, trying not to smile too brightly.

“Yes, Taerim-ssi, you get home safely too!”

Getting out of the car, Kim Abang waved his hand energetically. Seo Taerim bowed his head slightly and was about to drive off, then hesitated. After going through this trouble, should he not at least gain something? Seo Taerim rolled down the car window.

“Kim Abang-ssi!”

Kim Abang, who was about to go inside the house, turned around.

“Don’t worry about your younger brother’s meals. Our hotel provides an excellent breakfast service.”

Seo Taerim took the opportunity to attempt an advertisement for his hotel. He nodded inwardly, thinking that word of mouth was important after all.

But the world did not go according to people’s wishes. Contrary to Seo Taerim’s intention, Kim Abang did not take his words as hotel advertising. Instead of “our hotel is excellent,” he focused on “your younger brother’s meals.” That was right. In Kim Abang’s mind, Seo Taerim’s statement was interpreted as if he were showing concern for Abang’s younger brother, Gonggong, and that interpretation ended up igniting Kim Abang’s heart. Kim Abang’s eyes sparkled as he looked at Seo Taerim.

‘A good person…!’

There is a saying, sbeoljae². It means “a disaster you bring upon yourself.” Anyone whom Kim Abang once judged to be a “good person” could never leave their life as they pleased. But since Seo Taerim believed he would never meet Kim Abang again, he had no idea how this cute disaster he had just called upon himself would soon sweep over his life. Instead, he turned on the radio to some suitably quiet music, then drove away. If he took Shancho Boulevard as his secretary had told him, he would be able to arrive at the meeting on time.

***

“I’m back!”

Kim Abang called out in a bright voice as he stepped through the front door.

“Oh, Abang’s here?”

It was his maternal grandmother who spoke.

“Yes, Grandma! Oh? You have a guest too!”

His grandmother had been playing baduk with her friend, Chairman Han.

“How have you been?”

Starting with Kim Abang’s question, the three of them spent some time chatting warmly about recent news. The talk of Chairman Han’s recent health soon shifted into how Chairman Han’s hamster had lately lost its appetite. Just as the three of them were putting their heads together to search on Kim Abang’s phone for ways to improve a hamster’s appetite, his father, Mr. Lee Jaein, called for Kim Abang to help replace a light bulb. It seemed the bulb in the second-floor bathroom had gone out.

“Sorry I can’t help more with Hamdori….”

Kim Abang looked a little crestfallen, but the two reassured him with pleased expressions that it was fine. After bowing politely, Kim Abang went upstairs. The two of them kept their fond expressions as they watched his round head disappear completely up the stairs.

“He’s really polite.”

When Chairman Han said this, his grandmother chuckled lightly.

“Right?”

“Mm. But, you know…”

“…..?”

“Am I supposed to know him?”

“No. You met Abang for the first time today.”

“…Well, what does it matter. It’s enough if he’s nice. Anyway, don’t you have two grandchildren?”

“Yes.”

“Let’s see… Abang’s the second, right?”

“No, Abang’s the eldest. The younger one ran away from home.”

“Ran away? Oh my, how old is he to be running away?”

“Twenty-seven. How old was your grandson again?”

“Twenty-five this year… or twenty-six? Somewhere around there. Do you want to see a picture?”

Chairman Han pulled up the photo gallery on his phone and showed a picture of his grandson. It was of a young man with fine features, taken against the backdrop of the sea. He was smiling brightly, holding up his fingers in a V sign, looking well suited to the blue sea.

“Handsome. If he just put on a little weight, he’d look perfect.”

His grandmother said. Chairman Han slapped hid knee, as if to say she was right.

“My point exactly. No matter how much I feed him, he doesn’t put on weight.”

“Try feeding him more.”

“That’s the plan. I’m going to eat pasta with him tonight.”

“With you? Doesn’t he meet people? A place like that’s for going with a sweetheart.”

“So what if he doesn’t have one? These days, not marrying and not dating is the trend, the trend.”

“Well, that’s what they say.”

His grandmother agreed readily enough, but even so, Chairman Han couldn’t help but be bothered by the fact that his grandson was single.

“…Are your grandchildren single?”

“I don’t know about the elder, but the younger definitely is.”

1. Korean idiom (붕어빵 같다 = like fish-shaped bread, meaning “you look like copies of each other” Abang messed it up and said 찐빵 (steamed buns), which just means round buns and has no idiomatic meaning about resemblance ↩︎
2. 스불재, short for 스스로 불러온 재앙, which literally means “a disaster you brought upon yourself.” ↩︎