89. Neon Sixty One
“The door is not locked. get on!”
When I opened the passenger door, Team Leader Kim Jeong-soo picked up the newspaper lying on the passenger seat and threw it to the back seat.
I sat down and said.
“I know you come to 105th from time to time, but why is it so far away from 101st?”
For reference, In-cheol’s house is 105 dong, and my house is 101 dong.
At my words, Team Leader Kim Jung-soo smiled and said.
“Did you grow a lot in the meantime? I’m here today to see you.”
“Me?”
“You said you got first place in the national mock test? So, I want to give you a present.”
“Five… ! Really?”
Team leader Kim Jeong-soo picked up a small shopping bag from the back seat and handed it to me.
Inside the shopping bag was a cell phone box.
I looked at Team Leader Kim Jung-soo with a surprised expression.
“Why don’t you like it?”
“It’s not like that… Can I take this?”
At my question, Team Leader Kim Jung-soo smiled and said.
“Where are you going and not? If you want to get it, get it. Don’t be too burdened.”
But I couldn’t help but feel the pressure.
It had already been opened for the latest and highest specification mobile phone.
Team leader Kim Jeong-soo, who noticed my expression, continued.
“I’m giving this as a gift to contact you when I need it, so take it easy.”
“… .”
“And let me ask you something. A friend named Jo Yoon-seong.”
“Jo Yoon-sung… huh?”
“Silver Castle.”
“ah… ! Eunseong!”
Team leader Kim Jeong-soo nodded and said.
“Is the story Silver Castle posted on the internet true? That friend disappeared when he was young, and you found it.”
“yes that’s right.”
By the way… Team leader Kim Jung-soo knows everything.
He also knows that Silver Castle is Eun-seong, and he also knows that his name was Jo Yoon-seong before Eun-seong went missing.
“Then, is that friend Eun-seong, a friend you’ve known for a long time?”
“Aren’t you a friend you’ve known for a long time?”
“Have you and your friend been acquainted with each other before you found your family?”
“no. I didn’t know him back then.”
“okay? Hmm… .”
Team leader Kim Jeong-soo asked a few more questions about Eun-seong, and I answered them as best I could.
After a while, while Team Leader Kim Jung-soo was thinking, I carefully opened my mouth.
“Perhaps… Has the future changed?”
“… !”
Team leader Kim Jung-soo didn’t say anything, but judging by his expression, I think I’m right.
“Eunseong… Is it because?”
At my question, Team Leader Kim Jung-soo opened his mouth with a short sigh.
“I don’t know for sure. It’s been a long time coming, and I wasn’t really interested in world affairs back then.”
wait… Let’s think.
Team leader Kim Jung-soo quit smoking two years ago.
It’s not just cigarettes.
He maintains a solid physique by continuing to exercise, and no longer says self-sacrificing words such as that life is not a big deal.
He began to change after the incident of In-cheol hacking into the education office came to the surface.
And since that day, team leader Kim Jung-soo has been checking In-cheol.
Occasionally, I could see his car near Building 105.
Judging by the actions of team leader Kim Jung-soo, the future seems to be changing in a positive direction.
And isn’t In-cheol and Eun-seong the starting point for the future to change?
I think I now know why Team Leader Kim Jung-soo gave me the phone.
I opened the box in my shopping bag and pulled out my phone.
“Give me your phone number, too. If there is anything urgent, I can call you right away.”
“Shortcut number 5.”
“ah… ! How about KA Pharmaceuticals?”
“so-so. All my work life is there, huh?”
Also! Saying you work for a pharmaceutical company is a lie.
I raised the phone to Team Leader Kim Jung-soo and said,
“I will use my phone. thank you.”
* * *
after 8 months.
June 2000.
Classroom of the Department of Natural Sciences, Korea University.
I was in a general physics class, one of the compulsory first-year liberal arts classes.
in your pocket.
A short chime sounded announcing the receipt of a text message.
During class, I usually take out my phone and don’t check it, but today my hand went into my pocket without me knowing.
＜Give me this Bowman>
It was a text message from my mother.
For reference, my mother memorizes my entire class schedule.
This means that the mother knows that she is in class now.
Mother’s letter mixed with typos.
It meant that something urgent had happened to the mother.
I whispered in a low voice to Youngmi sitting next to me.
“I’m going out of the hallway for a moment.”
Yeong-mi nodded silently, and I left the classroom and called my mother.
The voice of the mother’s nervousness was heard along with the reception tone.
– Hey, how are you?
“Mom, it’s me.”
-Okay. Jung Ho!
“What’s going on?”
My mother’s long sigh came over the phone.
-under—-! what about this? Mom just had an accident.
It felt like my heart sank at my mother’s words.
“it’s okay? Are you not hurt? Where are you?”
-yes I’m fine. Don’t worry too much.
“Where are you hurt?”
– No, I’m not hurt. none was hurt Don’t worry.
At my mother’s words, I sighed in relief.
“What is the accident?”
-I was parked in an alley here and got a car behind me.
It seemed like a minor contact accident, but it is the first car accident that a mother has ever experienced.
“Are you very surprised, Mom?”
-I was very surprised before, but now it’s okay.
“Is the other person okay?”
-that is… Get a parked car… No one was hurt, and I don’t know how to do this.
Got a parked car?
no way… Isn’t it?
There are still three years left until 2003.
My mother’s voice came over the phone.
-First of all, I’m going to call the insurance company… .
“Mom, if it’s a minor accident, it’s better not to take out insurance. How bad is the car?”
My mother explained to me the circumstances of the accident, but it didn’t seem like such a big accident.
And he said that the place where my mother is now is in Sangsu-dong.
I found a translation company for a meeting with the company that requested the translation, and the accident happened while I was parking in an alley near the company.
“Mom, don’t call the insurance company. And since you have to go to the meeting now, write down your mother’s phone number on the wiper of the other person’s car and put it on the phone, and do business.”
-Is that okay?
“yes I’m okay. I will go there right now.”
– No, I’m not coming to you. Hurry up to class
past life.
My mother had an accident while parking.
It was also a minor contact accident back then, and that evening my mother said that she had left her car in the city.
My hands were shaking all the time, so it was difficult to hold the steering wheel.
I got into a taxi and headed to Sangsu-dong, and I texted Yeong-mi.
＜Where should I go now? I’ll ask for my bag!>
Sangsu-dong.
We were able to find our car parked in the back alley of the translation company.
The rear bumper was recessed, and the car parked behind ours had a slight scratch on the front bumper.
At a glance, I was in an accident with parallel parking.
When my mother first learned to drive, parallel parking was particularly difficult.
read at noblemtl.com
Not long ago, when I got my driver’s license, my mother asked me to show you the parallel parking formula, but I didn’t teach it because I didn’t know such a formula.
read at noblemtl.com
Now I have to wait for my mother to come out of the translation company.
I got into the car and called In-cheol, and after a while, In-cheol’s voice was heard along with a ringing tone.
– Oh, Mr. Chae! What are you doing? Daughter and Daughter!
“In-cheol, I’m sorry… I think I’ll be a little late for Yunseong Soft today.”
– What is it, man? How many things to tell you today!
In-cheol will not appear on Yunseong Soft for the time being.
So, in the meantime, I decided to take over In-cheol’s work, and today was the day I decided to learn from In-cheol.
“sorry. My mother had an accident while driving. So now I’m here with my mother.”
-ah… ! okay? Is your mother okay?
“Yeah, it’s just a touch accident. If I take my mother home first and then go to Yunseong Soft, I think it will be a little late.”
– Then there’s nothing you can do. Well, I’ll have to stay up late tonight.
“I’ll see the situation and go as soon as possible. Sorry.”
Incheol laughed at my words and said.
– I’m sorry. You’re helping me, and I’m not in a situation where I’m going to say something like this, well.
“But have you packed all your luggage?”
-I don’t have much luggage as it’s a 3 nights 4 days trip. clothes are everything
“Can I drive you to the airport tomorrow?”
– I’m going to ask you quickly, ma’am! my mom will take you
“haha–! Is that so?”
-If you want to see this body like that, go to the airport pick-up on Friday.
“Friday is the calculus final exam.”
-Aren’t you going to take the exam at 10 pm?
“ah… ! Is it a night flight? Then I’ll pick you up.”
So, I ended the call with In-cheol, and just then, my mother came out of the translation company building and caught my eye.
I got out of the car and ran to my mother.
“Mom! it’s okay?”
“Ugh! What did you come here for?”
Even if you say that, your mother’s face is full of smiles.
“My mother, I came because I was worried!”
“What about class?”
“Mom’s son is smart, so it’s okay to miss a day.”
Mother said with a smirk.
“But when did you come?”
“It’s been like 10 minutes.”
“Then, have you seen the owner of the other car?”
I shook my head, and my mother continued.
“What… I can’t keep waiting here. However, leaving only the phone number and leaving… .”
“Hmm… Mom, it’s a little early, but shall we go to dinner together? The Dongchimi BBQ branch will be right around here.”
Dongchimi Barbecue is a restaurant that Eun-seong’s father started two years ago, and her mother especially likes the baby back rib barbecue there.
At my words, my mother nodded and said.
“Is that so? Come to think of it, you ate it when you entered college, and you haven’t eaten it ever since.”
So, I had dinner with my mother at Dongchimi BBQ, and after I finished eating, I was leaving the restaurant when my mother’s phone rang.
After a short phone call, my mother said to me.
“Come on. He is the owner of the car.”
When we got back to where the car was parked, a middle-aged man was waiting for us.
“I… Is this the person you just called?”
Mother bowed her head and said.
“sorry. This happened because I was inexperienced in driving.”
“Are you ever hurt?”
“yes I’m okay. It’s my first time doing something like this, so I’m not sure, but they said it’s better for us to pay for the repair than to cover it with insurance.”
At his mother’s words, the man waved his hands and said.
“haha—! no. There were only a few scratches, so I just wiped it with a dry rag a few times and it was completely erased.”
It didn’t seem like he was lying.
Even at first glance, a lot of scratches had been erased.
“Still, when I bought it earlier… I hit it pretty hard, is it okay?”
At his mother’s words, he said with a friendly smile.
“Yes, it is fine. Don’t worry too much. This is complete shit, I can’t even see this much. If you hadn’t left your contact information on the wipers, you wouldn’t have even known that you had an accident. ha ha ha—!”
“thank you.”
As the story comes to an end… .
I interrupted the conversation.
“Don’t do that, I think it would be better to replace the bumper.”
The man wasn’t the only one looking at me with a surprised expression.
My mother also looked at me with her eyes wide open, and I continued talking to the man.
“It’s a part that is designed to break when a car bumper is hit. So, once it hits, there are a lot of cracks, even if you can’t see it.”
“ah… ! is that so?”
I nodded and said.
“Especially, the front bumper is directly related to safety, so it must be replaced with a new one, no matter how slight an accident occurs.”
“It’s the first time I’ve heard of such a story, but it seems to be the case after hearing it. It seems that the student is very interested in cars. haha–!”
I said with a slight smile.
“If the sepia 96-year-old is dark silver, it’s not a very common color, so you’ll have to paint it separately… ”
In fact, I don’t even know if I need to paint it separately.
Probably not.
I spoke with a serious expression.
“Let me introduce you to a paint shop specializing in painting. If it’s okay with you, could you give me your contact information or business card?”
way home.
While waiting for a signal at the intersection, my mother opened her mouth with a curious expression.
“Jeong-ho, why are you like this before?”
“What?”
“Telling the owner of the car to fix the bumper.”
“That, that… .”
I closed my mouth.
But I didn’t tell him to fix the bumper for no reason.
“Jeong-ho, the signal went out. I have to leave.”
“ah… ! yes.”