The Return of Dongcheol’s Mother
“Beopsa Kangto.”
The village chief of the fishing association came running all the way to the lighthouse, then dropped heavily to the ground.
“What happened?”
“Well...”
“Take your time and tell me.”
“Our Dongcheol...”
The village chief pointed down the hill.
“......?”
Kangto’s eyes snapped toward the slope. Two people were climbing up through the snow, leaving clear tracks in the white: Dongcheol, and the old woman holding his hand.
“Dongcheol!”
Sol-bi shot forward. Waddling as fast as she could, she ran down the hill and ended up taking Dongcheol’s hand.
After a few words passed between them...
“Dad.”
Sol-bi’s voice cracked like thunder.
“What is it?”
“Dongcheol speaks well. He isn’t stuttering.”
“......?”
“I was tending fishing hooks this morning when that boy came out rubbing his eyes. And then...”
-Grandpa, water, please.
The village chief’s excitement still hadn’t faded. His grandson had said just one sentence. Up to that point, it had all been an ordinary morning.
But one thing was different: Dongcheol’s pronunciation.
Ha-abuji, mudu-deyo.
What should have come out mangled had come out perfectly clear.
“Dongcheol.”
“Water.”
“Say that again. What do you want?”
“Please give me water.”
“......”
The village chief stood there in a daze, and Dongcheol even opened the refrigerator door himself.
Then came another scene that was equally unbelievable. Normally, Dongcheol would have spilled nearly half of it. This time, aside from a few drops, he emptied the glass cleanly.
“Dongcheol.”
“Yes?”
“Are you all right?”
“Yes.”
He nodded firmly. Come to think of it, his eyes looked clear as well.
“Oh, Dongcheol...”
The village chief pulled him into a tight embrace. The incurable mental illness diagnosis had vanished.
“Wait a minute.”
Once he had seen Dongcheol, he thought of his wife. The time to wake her had passed, but because Kangto had instructed him not to, the village chief had left her alone. He quietly opened the door to their room.
“......?”
She wasn’t sleeping. She was sitting up in bed, doing something. When he looked closer, he saw her counting on her fingers with both hands. The instant he saw that, lightning seemed to strike inside the village chief’s head.
“Oh...”
He crumpled against the wall, sinking down where he stood.
“Old man.”
His wife came over and helped him up. The village chief’s gaze fixed on her hands.
There was real strength in the hands that had barely been able to grip a spoon. That was what had lifted him back to his feet.
“Wife?”
He stared at those hands.
“It’s strange. My fingers move properly. Right?”
Her voice, too, was as clear as Dongcheol’s now.
“Kangto really is something, isn’t he? After I had that dream about Sundan, my head doesn’t hurt anymore, and my hands...”
“A dream about Sundan?”
“In the dream, she told me. She said she’d hated Grandma and Dongcheol so much, but now it was all right... She came wearing that outfit Kangto told me to buy, and then...”
“Oh, dear.”
The village chief nearly collapsed again. Dongcheol and his wife had both found release from their grudges.
“Kangto.”
Dongcheol’s grandmother took Kangto’s hand.
“Thank you for going through all that trouble and following my remedy.”
“Oh, I didn’t do much. If Dongcheol’s illness goes away, a body like mine would be glad to die for it.”
“Now that your body’s gotten better, you should live longer.”
“Take this.”
The old woman pressed a crumpled wad of cash into his hand.
“That’s the cash offering. I’d like to give you more, but that’s all I have on hand right now...”
“You don’t need to give me this.”
“No, no. You saved our Dongcheol... If my heart had its way, I’d give you the boat and the house and still feel like it wasn’t enough.”
“There’ll be another use for that money.”
“Another use?”
“I think a precious guest will call today.”
“To our house?”
“When that guest comes, use that money to treat them to something delicious. So they can settle down properly and live on this island with peace of mind.”
“Then... are you saying my daughter-in-law who ran out on us is coming back?”
“When the call comes, answer it well.”
“Even though there hasn’t been a word from her in years?”
“She’ll come anyway.”
“Oh, then I should catch her. I’ll beg like I used to pray for Sundan, all humbly and properly. I’ve been feeling guilty for being so mean to my daughter-in-law too. It’s sat in my chest like a thorn.”
“Then go on down. Dongcheol still needs breakfast.”
“Kangto...”
“Thank you, Beopsa Kangto.”
As tears gathered in the fishing chief couple’s eyes, Kangto gave them a gentle push.
“I’ll see you later, big sister Sol-bi.”
Dongcheol waved, still holding his grandmother’s hand. His pronunciation was clear and precise too.
“What in the world keeps ringing on and on?”
As he came down the hill, the village chief pulled out his phone.
“Hello? Who is this?”
His voice still raised, the village chief stopped walking.
“What is it?”
Dongcheol’s grandmother asked.
“This is... maybe my ears are broken? You take it once.”
“Is it one of those VOICE-SEE-PING calls or something?”
“I’m telling you to answer it.”
“Hello? I’m Dongcheol’s grandmother...?”
The old woman listened, and then even her breath came to a stop.
“Goodness.”
In the end, she dropped the phone.
“Grandma, what is it?”
Dongcheol picked up the phone. And then...
“Mom?”
The second it touched his ear, he shouted. It was louder than the waves before a typhoon.
“Mom?”
Dongcheol burst into tears at once.
“Dad, is Dongcheol’s mom coming?”
“Huh? Yeah...”
“That’s nice...”
The strength drained from Sol-bi’s voice.
“Le-let’s go inside. Dad will make you TiniPing omurice, just the way you like it.”
Flustered, Kangto made a promise of truly impossible difficulty. TiniPing was also called HachuPing. It was the kind of character kindergarten girls went wild for.
The result?
Failure, of course. If it were a gongsu, Kangto could show even more unbelievable things than TiniPing, but drawing one on top of omurice was beyond him.
“What kind of TiniPing is this?”
Just as Sol-bi’s lips started to twitch, her savior arrived.
“Big sister Sol-bi.”
It was Dongcheol. While Kangto kept failing the omurice mission, Dongcheol had already eaten breakfast. He had shown up holding chocolate and candy.
“My grandma says to give you these. She said thank you for playing with me.”
“Really?”
“And my mom’s coming later.”
“Really?”
“When Mom gets here, I’m going to ask her to buy me lots of delicious things.”
“Okay.”
Sol-bi was, indeed, a big sister. Even when the word “mom” came up in front of Dongcheol, she stayed steady. Last night, Dongcheol had been the one Kangto saved. Today, Dongcheol was saving Kangto.
Good deeds mattered.
That was why. They didn’t just change you; they colored everything around you with kindness.
“Let’s go.”
Sol-bi dispatched the failed omurice in one reckless sweep and ran off like a little assault unit. What remained were the ruined omurice plates.
“Can’t throw them away... I’m going to burst.”
It would have been nice if the little aunt and her husband helped, but they hated omurice. In the end, Kangto was left alone to take on the mission of clearing the failed omurice massacre.
Dongcheol took a seat at the pier and stared out at the distant sea until his eyes nearly popped out. His grandmother and the village chief came out with him too.
Dongcheol’s mother, Lee Gyeong-ae.
She had been kind and meek.
But after giving birth to her first daughter, she became the target of constant abuse.
The grief over her husband’s death had barely settled when Dongcheol was diagnosed with mental illness, and his mother-in-law Hwang Hwa-ja’s harassment reached its peak.
She herself had suffered a stroke and partially recovered, but she took all her stress out on her innocent daughter-in-law.
-You’re ruining this family.
-You’re the one who ate up my son.
-You rotten woman, bringing bad luck into this house. So what, you had some defect and seduced my son with it?
Whenever she saw her daughter-in-law, she cursed at her in a slurred voice, and in the end the poor woman left the island.
But she was a kind-hearted daughter-in-law in the end. Thinking of her son, she had finally made up her mind to come back to Chilui Island.
“When my daughter-in-law gets here, handle it yourself. If you’re that cruel to her again, I’ll bring you divorce papers.”
The village chief’s warning was firm.
“Don’t worry. I’d be her servant if I had to.”
That was the grandmother’s vow.
Her grievance had been Dongcheol’s disability. When the grandson she’d treasured like a jewel and a jade spirit went missing, her rage had become impossible to bear. It rose into her head until the blood vessels there burst.
That was all in the past now. Dongcheol’s disability had gone, and even her aftereffects from the stroke had vanished as if they had never existed.
With her daughter-in-law coming home after all that, she felt like she could carry her on her back and still not do enough.
“Dongcheol, are you happy your mom is coming?”
“Yeah.”
“Aigoo, my little one...”
The grandmother looked as if she might die of happiness.
That was when Chief Choi came running over with Chief Park in tow.
“Village Chief Kim, Village Chief Kim.”
Chief Choi was gasping for breath.
“What’s the rush?”
“We’ve been looking all over for you. Who’s coming?”
Chief Choi asked.
“Someone important, that’s who.”
The village chief’s neck stiffened with pride.
“Who’s coming that even your wife had to be sent out? Her health may be better, but sudden strain won’t be good for her.”
Chief Choi asked. The rumor that the village chief’s wife and Dongcheol had recovered spread through the island like tightly packed waves. Thanks to that, Chief Choi had spent the entire morning receiving congratulations from island residents.
“Our Beopsa Kangto drove all the illness away with a gongsu.”
The village chief did not hide the truth. The moment his wife and grandson recovered, he became a full-fledged believer in Kangto.
“Don’t worry. If Kangto’s here, what’s there to worry about?”
Even the grandmother was on Kangto’s side.
“Anyway, don’t look for me today. I don’t have time.”
The village chief was adamant.
“More importantly, the county head is on his way here right now.”
“Huh? Who?”
The village chief looked up.
“County head Heo Seung-yong. We just got word he boarded the ferry. Chief Choi from Gyecheong-do is also racing over here like his pants are on fire.”
“Why is the county head coming?”
“Why else? He’s here about support for our island. You know that former provincial governor who’s also a minister and one of the people backing the desalination project? Seems he really leaned on someone.”
“That man must have some serious clout. Heo Seung-yong, who wouldn’t even blink if the story was about our island, is actually coming in person.”
“Turns out that governor used his influence when he became a minister and helped get the county head nomination too. So get over here. This is our chance to ask for all the complaints we’ve been sitting on.”
“Still, we’ve got a guest coming.”
“What guest? What guest is more important than the county head?”
“My mom.”
Dongcheol, who had been holding the village chief’s hand, lifted his head.
“What?”
“My mom. She’s coming.”
“For real?”
Chief Choi looked at the village chief.
“Yes.”
“No way...”
“Hey now, that was Kangto Beopsa’s gongsu too. And the phone call came in as well.”
“Kangto again?”
“If you know that, step aside a little. I can’t see the sea.”
“Grandpa, the boat’s coming.”
Dongcheol, stretching his neck to see, shouted.
With a long blast of the horn, the ferry appeared.
The pier began to fill with movement. The heads of the outer village and the inner village, the youth association president, the women’s association president, and the captains’ association president all arrived one after another on motorcycles. The township chief from Gyecheong-do came by boat and joined them.
“The county head came all the way to our island? Has the sun started rising in the west?”
“Exactly. That man didn’t even come during election season, said we weren’t worth more than a few votes...”
“Kangto’s power is something else. At this rate, maybe even the provincial governor will come running.”
“Well, back in the old Park Chung-hee days, didn’t some Minister of Culture and Public Information or another come here? To have his fortune read by Kangto’s grandmother.”
While the elders of Chilui Island buzzed among themselves, the ferry drew closer.
“Mom.”
As people began to come off, Dongcheol ran.
The first to step ashore was the county head. He came down in imposing fashion, escorted by four aides.
“Oh, County Head.”
Choi, number one of Chiluijae, went out to greet him. Everyone’s eyes gleamed with anticipation, but after the handshake, the county head said nothing and headed straight for the lighthouse.
“There it is. Beopsa Kangto’s lighthouse.”
“Should we get a quick photo first?”
The women who had come by ferry gathered first around the signboard. There must have been dozens of them at a glance. They monopolized the sign, snapping selfies, and the place looked for all the world like a famous tourist spot.
“Where’s Mom?”
As the vehicles began unloading for departure, Dongcheol looked at the village chief. His mother still hadn’t come off the ferry.
“Did she change her mind?”
The grandmother’s face darkened.
“Wait...”
The village chief went back into the ferry. A moment later, Dongcheol’s voice burst out.
“It’s Mom.”
With a shout, he ran toward the ship.
“Mom!”
Dongcheol threw himself into the arms of his mother as she came out with his grandfather.
“Once we actually arrived, I got a little overwhelmed, so I was catching my breath.”
That was the village chief’s explanation.
“Oh, my dear daughter-in-law. Don’t worry. From now on I’ll do everything you want and sew shut my own mouth so I can’t nag anymore.”
“Mother...”
“Aigoo, this sweet child... I’m the one who deserves to die, I do.”
After Dongcheol, his mother-in-law hugged the daughter-in-law too, and the tears started flowing in earnest.
The village chief turned away, trying to hide his own tears. Kangto’s white lighthouse came into view. The county head was climbing that path.
The lighthouse.
It had long since been closed, so it should have stirred nothing in him.
Today was different. It stood there so dependably, like a ship that had finally found a lighthouse after losing its way.