The Village's Secret Festival (3)
The supermarket across the street came into view. Maybe I should grab an ice cream to suck on while I walk. Nothing beat a jjujuba on a hot day like this.
The bell above the door tinkled as I stepped inside.
"Hello."
"Hey~ Suho, it's you."
"Yeah, noona. It's so hot on the way home that I thought I'd pick up an ice cream."
"I hear you. It's been brutal out there today."
Oh Hyejeong noona was sitting behind the counter with a popsicle already in her mouth. She was twenty-five this year, the daughter of the woman who owned the supermarket. She was also the youngest woman still living in the village. This was the same Hyejeong noona that Deokgu had called scary earlier. Her way of speaking could come off a little cold, but she wasn't nearly as icy as he made her sound. Maybe calling him a country bumpkin was actually her version of affection.
Hyejeong noona had sharp, well-defined features that gave her a slightly cool impression, paired with lightly tanned, healthy-looking skin that glowed with vitality. Her narrow waist and slender figure were especially striking. She usually wore simple tees and hot pants, a style you rarely saw in a backwater place like Gwichuok-ri, which made her stand out even more.
Her mother, Yeonsuk, took turns with her behind the counter. As for her father, everyone just called him the village loafer. He left the store to his wife and daughter while he spent his days fooling around.
I picked out my usual jjujuba and brought it to the counter.
"Ugh, it's so hot. Mom, seriously, I keep telling her we should get an air conditioner but she just keeps putting it off."
Hyejeong noona had turned her chair sideways to face the fan, fanning the front of her shirt to let the breeze in.
Huk…!
As I approached, I glanced down without thinking and froze.
She was wearing a white V-neck tee with a deep scoop that showed off her collarbones. Every time she waved the fabric back and forth, the neckline gaped open, revealing flashes of a white bra and the firm, rounded B-cup breasts beneath it.
Flutter flutter flutter.
Because her skin had that light tan, her perky chest looked especially elastic and full. The occasional glimpses left me standing there speechless, unable to move.
After a moment, Hyejeong noona must have sensed someone nearby. She slowly turned her head. I quickly looked down at the ice cream in my hand, pretending I'd been waiting there the whole time.
"Here, Suho. Another ppappiko? You really love these things."
"…I just think they taste the best."
I handed over the ice cream and subtly avoided her eyes. After accidentally seeing so much of her just now, making eye contact felt too embarrassing.
While she rang up my card, Hyejeong noona suddenly spoke with a mischievous expression.
"Now that I think about it, you're an adult now, aren't you, Suho?"
"I guess so. All grown up and everything…"
"Then are you going to join the village festival this time?"
"…Yeah. I don't know what it's about, but I figured I'd check it out. Uncle Changsik said you have to participate to become a true member of the village."
"Hmm… That's true. The people who join the festival do end up feeling a stronger bond with each other… But our Suho might get a bit of a shock. When I went for the first time, I thought I was going to faint."
"What the heck kind of festival is it? When I was little, no one would tell me anything. Now everyone just says I'll be surprised when I go."
"Telling you would ruin the fun. You probably wouldn't believe it anyway. You have to experience it yourself. And honestly… I bet you'll get addicted pretty fast. I never thought I'd end up enjoying it either… Oh! Then how about we meet up that day and go together, Suho?"
"Huh? Is there some kind of rule about going together?"
"No, no~ You can go alone if you want. I just thought it might be fun to go together and hang out. What, you don't want to spend time with noona?"
"No, no, of course not. I'd love to…"
My face grew hot. Hyejeong noona had leaned forward while speaking, and her breath tickled my nose.
…Her breath smelled sweetly of plum.
And just like that, we agreed to meet in front of the supermarket at ten o'clock in the evening three days later, on the night of the festival, and went our separate ways.
A little while later, I arrived home. It was a fairly large house for a countryside place, complete with its own garden. This was where I lived.
I shook the dirt off my shoes and opened the door.
"I'm home."
"Suho, you're back?"
"Yes, Mom."
The one who greeted me was my mother, Min Seonae. Even though she had turned forty-three this year, she was still breathtakingly beautiful. If anyone in Gwichuok-ri looked out of place, it was probably her more than me. Her beauty, which had already been exceptional in her youth, had only ripened over the ten years we'd lived here together. It hadn't faded in the slightest.
Her long, wavy blue-black hair and her elegant yet gentle features made you think of the word graceful. Even in simple everyday clothes with an apron over them, she gave off a refined aura.
"Suho, come sit down. Dinner is almost ready, so why don't you eat first and then wash up?"
"Okay, Mom. I was actually pretty hungry."
"Hehe. Were you? I'll set the table right away, just wait a minute."
She seemed to be in a good mood, perhaps because of me. She dipped a spoon into the bubbling stew and tasted it.
Sitting at the table, I watched my mother's back with a warm feeling in my chest.
My father, who had remarried when I was five, passed away in an accident just two years after moving to the countryside. My mother had met him at twenty-eight and remarried, only to become a single mother after two short years of married life. And she had a stepson who wasn't even her own blood.
What could a woman as beautiful as her possibly have seen in a widower with a child? Well, I was born pretty early, so Dad was already in his thirties when he met my stepmom.
No matter how I looked at it, I felt like my mother deserved better. Even if Dad had been quite handsome, he was still a married man with a kid.
And yet, thankfully, my mother had raised me—the child left behind—with the same love and care she would have given her own son. Because of that, I loved her more than anything. I still do. I always will.
Even if we hadn't inherited the orchard to tend together, I probably wouldn't have gone to Seoul alone and left her behind. I wanted to stay with her forever so she wouldn't be lonely.
"Here we go. Let's eat. I made Vienna sausages, your favorite."
"Whoa. Thank you!"
While I'd been lost in thought, my mother had finished setting the table and placed a plate of perfectly browned sausages in front of me.
We began to eat.
"Did you meet up with Deokgu? He said he's heading up to Seoul too, right?"
"Yeah. The funny thing is, his mom wanted him to pack up and leave tomorrow. But Deokgu kept bragging that he was going to join the festival first and leave next week. They were arguing about whether he should go now or later. Haha."
"Ah… the festival…"
"But I kind of get how he feels. It's the only festival our village has, and only adults can participate. I mean, it's probably nothing special, but it does feel like it'd be a shame to leave without experiencing it now that I'm finally old enough."
"…Are you planning to go too, Suho?"
"I think so. Now that I'm an adult, I want to go, drink with everyone, listen to their stories. It sounds like it could be fun."
"I see…"
A faint look of discomfort crossed my mother Min Seonae's face as she listened. She tried to smile, but anyone could tell it was forced and awkward.
She couldn't exactly tell me not to go without a good reason. Even if she stopped me this time, I'd have to face it eventually… and we would end up running into each other there. The thought that it might be better for me to experience it early was the only thing keeping her from saying what she really felt: Can't you just not go?
Min Seonae grew unusually quiet. The only sound at the dinner table was the soft clack of chopsticks.
There it is again.
This awkwardness that always appeared whenever the festival came up. When I was little and didn't know anything, she used to say things like, "Sweetie, Mommy has to go to the festival, so go to bed first, okay?" without any hesitation. But ever since I hit puberty and started growing up, whenever she said "I'm going to the festival," she would become visibly cautious. It was like she was watching my reaction.
That's when it started. The feeling that some invisible wall would rise between us whenever the festival was mentioned. I'd been gloomy about it for years because I didn't understand why. But in just a few days, I would finally know.
That's why I was determined to participate, even if I had to force it. I hoped that once I went to the festival too, the strange, inexplicable wall that sometimes appeared between my mother and me would finally disappear.
"Thanks for the meal, Mom. I'm going to wash up first. I worked up a sweat earlier, so I feel kind of sticky…"
"Alright, Suho. Go wash up and get some good rest…"
As I headed off to shower after dinner, my mother cleared the table with a troubled expression on her face.
The three days passed in the blink of an eye while I worked in the orchard, and finally the day of the festival arrived.
That evening, after showering, I stood in front of my closet wearing nothing but my underwear, deep in thought. I was supposed to meet Hyejeong noona in front of her store, and for some reason I felt nervous. What was this feeling? Like I was going on a date?
"Ah, damn. This is stressful. What should I wear?"
If it had been before, I wouldn't have cared. But after accidentally seeing her breasts through her shirt a few days ago, I couldn't help but see Hyejeong noona as a woman now.
After rummaging through the hangers and scratching my head, I finally pulled out a neatly folded tracksuit from the bottom drawer.
"Whatever. I'll just wear something comfortable."
If I dressed up too much, it'd be obvious I was overthinking it, and things would get awkward when we actually met.
I slipped on the thin short-sleeved top and matching shorts, then left the house carrying a mix of nerves and excitement.