The County Governor’s Visit
“Beopsa Lee Kang-to?”
“......?”
“I’m County Governor Heo Seung-yong.”
The governor came forward and held out his hand.
“And you are...?”
“I heard you’ve been fighting tooth and nail for this island’s development, so I hurried over.”
“Ah, yes...”
“I hear you even helped secure corporate support for seawater desalination?”
“That’s...”
“I’m embarrassed that you’ve had to do work that should have been mine. Under normal circumstances, it would have come out of the county budget, but that budget is so tight...”
“......”
“I also heard you found Prime Minister Kim Ki-wook’s son’s body?”
“Yes.”
“Ah, that vicious murderer...”
“......”
“If the corporation is footing the bill for desalination, what else can I do to help?”
“Well...”
Kang-to’s gaze slid past the governor’s shoulder. Village Chief Choi and the island’s other notables were waiting for the governor.
“Could you talk with the village chiefs and the other representatives, please...”
Kang-to passed the ball. That was their role, after all.
“The Lighthouse Shrine, was it? I heard from passengers on the way here that you gave an astonishing divination.”
“Pardon? Ah, yes...”
“At this rate, you’ll become our county’s famous attraction.”
“......”
“If you’re really that gifted, how about me? Do you think I might be able to make it out into deeper waters?”
The governor asked it half-jokingly.
“If you work hard, good things should come your way.” Kang-to’s answer was a polite, routine blessing.
“Ahem. Is there somewhere we could sit down for a proper talk?”
When the governor asked the notables,
“Let’s head down. We’ve prepared refreshments at the sashimi place.”
Village Chief Choi pointed the way as if he’d been waiting for exactly that.
“Come along.”
The governor looked at Kang-to. With the notables chiming in through sheer social pressure, he couldn’t very well refuse.
“It’s Beopsa Kang-to.”
“Beopsa Kang-to!”
Tourists who recognized Kang-to surged forward. There were about twenty of them, give or take. That was the moment the governor’s eyes went wide all over again.
Click, click.
With the lighthouse behind them, photo ops were going off like fireworks.
The refreshments gathering at the sashimi restaurant began.
Now that the governor had come out in force, the island’s pending complaints poured out like a flood.
Unlike usual, the governor didn’t brush them off. He instructed a staff officer to take careful notes and listened closely to every word.
“What’s our Beopsa Kang-to’s opinion?”
Once he’d finished hearing the complaints, the governor asked Kang-to.
“My opinion’s the same as the village elders’.”
He gave his support to the notables. Village Chief Choi and the rest of them brightened once again.
“Let’s go.”
There was still time before the afternoon ferry, so an island inspection began. The guides were the chiefs of Naechilli and Oechilli, along with the youth association president.
“Um...”
It was while they were heading up toward the lighthouse. Someone called out to Kang-to from behind. When he turned, it was Dong-cheol’s mother. Kang-to had left the island for the mainland once he started middle school, so he hadn’t really been close with her.
Beside her, Dong-cheol clung to her like a cicada, grinning all on his own like a summer rose in full bloom.
“I heard from your father.”
“Oh. Yes.”
“You healed our Dong-cheol and his mother?”
“......”
“And you sent Soon-dan off to a good place too...”
“Yes...”
“Thank you. I’ll never forget this kindness, not even if I die.”
“No, really, it’s fine.”
Kang-to stopped her from bowing over and over. He’d already received more thanks than he deserved.
“My mother says I should come see you too and ask whether some wandering spirit’s latched onto me. She heard from the old lady next door that you’ve been flooded with visitors, so when would be a good time to come?”
“You don’t need to come.”
“Pardon?”
“You’ve got eumchaksal and yangchasal. In other words, the eumyangchachat-sal that brings separation from a spouse or conflict with in-laws. But it looks like you’ve already suffered through the clash, so it’s weakened a great deal. You shouldn’t have any major troubles now.”
“Really?”
“Yes. So be happy with Dong-cheol from now on.”
“Ah...”
Relief flickered across Dong-cheol’s mother’s face. She must have been worried some terrible fortune would befall her.
***
That day, another good thing happened on top of everything else.
[Soon-dan Pension]
After Kang-to’s advice, the place had been named. The grandmother welcomed it with both arms raised, and neither the fisheries cooperative head nor Dong-cheol’s mother objected.
[Soon-dan Pension Under Construction]
Then the fisheries head even put up a signboard himself.
“It’s coming out!”
A construction worker shouted. The rock that had caused so much trouble finally came loose cleanly under Kang-to’s watch.
“My goodness, Beopsa Kang-to.”
Wonder shone in the fisheries head’s eyes, though in truth this had nothing to do with Kang-to’s gongsu and everything to do with a simple coincidence.
“It’s all thanks to the excavator operator’s hard work. Make sure to give him a plate of sashimi for dinner.”
Kang-to didn’t steal credit for it.
“Of course I will. Goodness, what on earth is happening...”
A dead person.
Sometimes they became a legend, and sometimes they became comfort. Once the conflict was resolved and harmony restored, Soon-dan returned to the place of reincarnation. The pension business was left entirely in Dong-cheol’s mother’s hands. It was the grandmother’s generous way of looking after them.
Soon-dan Pension.
For some reason, it felt like it was going to be a huge hit.
“Sol-bi, one hundred points.”
That evening, after the ferry had departed, Sol-bi bounced around with a notebook in her hands. Dictation practice was finally over.
She had missed two words out of a third-grade dictation passage—writing science as “goe-hak” and physical education as “chae-yuk.” Since she only had to retake those two, she ended up with a perfect score.
That was Kang-to’s own method of teaching.
If she got a problem wrong, they studied only that problem again. By letting her reach one hundred points that way, he was building up her confidence.
“Sol-bi, you’re amazing.”
“Right? Hong-seo oppa and Tae-hee unni have never gotten one hundred on dictation even once.”
“Really?”
“One hundred points is easy, isn’t it?”
“Sure is.”
Sol-bi looked smug as could be. She really was that bright.
“Hey, this word here—do you know what it means?”
He pointed to one of the words in the dictation exercise.
“Grandpa, grandma, dad, and Sol-bi. That’s family.”
“What would be good about having a big family?”
“You get lots of New Year’s money and lots of presents on Sol-bi’s birthday.”
Children were honest. They didn’t calculate. That was why children were the mirror of adults.
“Would it be nice if Sol-bi had a bigger family too?”
“Sol-bi already has lots of family. Little-grandpa, grandma, dad, and Sol-bi. That’s four people, isn’t it?”
Sol-bi held up four little fingers.
“What if you got even more family?”
“What kind of family?”
“Well... instead of just your little-grandpa, what if you had a grandpa, and uncles and an aunt?”
“I like uncles. The boy in kindergarten says his uncle is super cool.”
Sol-bi was overflowing with approval.
“And an aunt?”
“I like aunts too. I like everyone.”
“Why?”
“Because that means we’ll have more people on our side.”
People on our side.
Sol-bi’s words hit the nail on the head. Family was your side. If they weren’t on your side, there was no reason to be family at all.
Not even the Cheonjo Group was an exception to that. That was why Kang-to had thrown himself into the fight—to bridge the divide between people who were as different as oil and water.
“That’s right. Dad and Sol-bi are on the same side, aren’t they?”
“Mm-hmm. Little-grandma and little-grandpa are on our side too.”
Sol-bi burrowed into Kang-to’s arms.
That was true.
Little-grandpa and little-grandma were special to Sol-bi. Because of their love, there’d been no problem raising her.
Being a single father.
Anyone who knew, knew how hard it was. That was why even world-class athletes said raising a child was harder than the Olympics. If it hadn’t been for his little-grandfather and little-grandmother, both Sol-bi and Kang-to would surely have had a miserable time of it.
For now, he’d put the matter of his biological father into motion. Monday was coming.
How would the BBC verify it? Whatever their method, Kang-to was confident. The descent of the Supreme Celestial God was no fantasy. It was simply difficult to fit inside the taste of science.
That night, he received a call from Song Ji-na.
“Beopsa Kang-to.”
“Yes.”
“I just had a highball with Chairman Yi a little while ago.”
“Pardon?”
“A pair of hands has to clap together, doesn’t it?”
“......”
“So how do you think it went?”
“......”
“Hard to guess? But he’s still your blood, isn’t he? Don’t you think there’s something that can pass between you?”
“I think he agreed.”
That was Kang-to’s answer.
“Okay. You got it exactly right.”
“......”
“Just as you said, Chairman Yi must have been in a difficult position too. In that state, if I act as mediator and you give him a reason no one can dismiss, he says he’ll try asking his family for forgiveness and understanding as well. Not to be entered into the family register, but into their hearts.”
Entered into their hearts.
It was a wonderfully elegant phrase, one Kang-to hadn’t come up with. Old experience was apparently no empty thing.
“I made deals with the others too. Daughter-in-law Director Eun, Hyeong-wook, Eun-seo...”
“......”
“They all said, at the very least, they could understand. Now it’s up to Beopsa Kang-to.”
“I see.”
“That’s all. Good night.”
Song Ji-na’s call was crisp and unfussy.
As expected of Song Ji-na.
Kang-to’s hopes had been exactly right. Within the Cheonjo Group family, her influence was absolute. And because that absolute ruler had stepped in as mediator, things had finally started to move.
-Don’t you think there’s something that can pass between you, even if he’s your blood?
Her words kept circling in his head.
An adult who, out of nowhere, had been forced to meet Chairman Yi—someone he’d never even heard of before—and Kang-to himself.
And beyond that, the gap in status, just as immense as the years that had severed them.
They needed some kind of opening to break through it.
Kang-to didn’t want to freeload off the wealth they’d built. If he was going to step inside that world, he wanted to do so with value of his own.
“Beopsa Kang-to.”
While Sol-bi was doing math drills, his little-grandmother came in.
“Beopsa Kang-to, are you busy?”
“No. Please sit down.”
Kang-to pulled a sofa over for her.
“I wanted to ask you something.”
“About me?”
“The house has already been sold, so after we fix it up, we only need to move the stuff over...”
“Just say it comfortably.”
“Our Sol-bi loves bungeoppang, doesn’t she? So I had a thought—what if I sold bungeoppang here?”
“Bungeoppang?”
“I never would’ve dreamed of it before, but these days more and more people are coming to have their fortunes told, and tourists are increasing too. I heard people talking during the day that there isn’t any snack food on the island, so your grandfather and I thought maybe we could make a little pocket money for fun.”
“That sounds like a great idea.”
“Doesn’t it? In summer we could boil corn and sell that, and when the cold wind starts up, we could sell bungeoppang.”
“But... isn’t that usually run like a franchise? Will they even bring ingredients out to the island?”
“We checked on that too. If we rent the machine, they can ship the ingredients over by boat. Wouldn’t that work?”
“It would.”
“Do you think it’s okay? We’re not island people, so I worry the locals might put on airs and make trouble for us... and since Kang-to’s doing so well, I’d hate to stain his good name.”
“Little-grandmother, I’d welcome it. You two hate just sitting around, don’t you? And it’s not like you’re going to buy a boat and become fishermen... I’ll talk to the village chief, so go ahead and start.”
“Really? Then I’m ordering the bungeoppang machine right away?”
“Yes.”
“Oh, thank you.”
Little-grandmother left, flushed with excitement.
Bungeoppang.
It was a good idea. More and more people were coming to the island, so it was perfect for a street stall. Besides, little-grandmother and little-grandfather were happy with nothing more than some pocket money. Kang-to called Village Chief Choi at once, and the approval went through.
“Dad, I finished my homework.”
Sol-bi came out with her math notebook after finishing the exercises. Her handwriting was neat and firm.
“Sol-bi, your little-grandmother says she’s going to sell bungeoppang.”
“Really? Wow, that’s exciting.”
Sol-bi was practically beside herself with delight.
Little-grandmother’s bungeoppang.
It was a smash hit.
The fisheries head provided the location, granting them use of the open space in front of the sashimi restaurant.
It faced the pier, so the spot was excellent. On the first day they worked for free. Not only children but adults lined up too. Two per person. At first, little-grandmother and her husband were clumsy, but after about an hour the disastrous leakage of red bean paste out of the filling disappeared, and then their speed began to improve too.
Sold out.
The first day was a free sell-out, and then the second day they sold 200, and the third day 300 also sold out.
Sunday afternoon.
Kang-to took two bungeoppang in hand and boarded the ferry.
“Dad, have a good trip.”
Sol-bi waved to him.
At last came the day he would take the BBC test. Thinking of the waves, he sat deep inside the cabin and bit into the bungeoppang little-grandmother had handed him.
Crunch.
Freshly made bungeoppang was crisp as a cracker. The sweet red bean filling melted out inside it, and warmth spread through his heart.
“This way, please.”
When he reached the mainland, Secretary Hong was waiting. Song Ji-na had sent a sedan for him.
Vroom.
The sedan set off. The destination was BBC Seoul Headquarters.