Chapter 63

Chapter 63

“What can I do?” he asked, his eyes full of emotion. “What can I do that will fix things?”

Lee-yeon closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Kwon Chae-woo was offering something she never had in her life before.

“Just…” She was trying to slow down her rapidly beating heart. “Just be calm. Don’t get angry and things won’t get hard. I just wish your syndrome would get better.”

Kwon Chae-woo looked frustrated. So Lee-yeon was so damn stubborn. He promised himself that he would break down the wall she hid behind.

***

“It’s no use. You don’t qualify anyway.” Gyu-baek said, as he read through the encyclopedia quickly. He and Kwon Chae-woo sat at a table in the sunlight, exchanging psychological warfare. Kwon Chae-woo rested his chin on his hands, his face expressionless.

“Only me, a young monkey, has a chance,” Gyu-baek continued.

“I’m sorry to inform you professor, but monkeys are different from people,” Kwon Chae-woo retorted.

“They’re both animals. Their habits are similar,” Gyu-baek insisted. “Young monkeys smell good.”

Kwon-Chae-woo laughed. The boy would not stop talking about monkeys. A baby monkey would never survive in society.

“People might think I smell bad. I have you know, I wash up well, professor,” Kwon Chae-woo needed to stop humouring the child. “In human society, young men are not popular.”

He held up his hand to count off the reasons on his fingers. “You don’t have any savings, you’re busy trying to stay alive, you haven’t any experiences in the world, you’re not mature, you have no sense of responsibility…”

“But you also don’t have any money,” Gyu-baek interrupted. Kwon Chae-woo stopped and stared at the child. “You don’t have a job. You’re unemployed. You lie around all day. You boast about your experience. Your wife does all the work. It’s the worst when a monkey is old and still doesn’t have anything.”

Kwon Chae-woo felt like his head was going to explode in anger from the insults he was taking.

“You’ve been basically living like an insect.” Gyu-baek glanced up at him. “You have the same characteristics as a beetle larva: eat, sleep, poo, repeat.”

Kwon Chae-woo stuttered and spit, unable to find any words. Gyu-baek just buried himself back into his book, with a sly grin on his face.

***

The announcement for the second tournament was released. Lee-yeon quickly read the email with excitement, but she became stern as she scrolled down.

Last year, due to five days of continuous rain, there were massive landslides that poured down from the mountains. The muck, that flowed like waves in the ocean, swallowed houses and cars. Casualties numbered in the hundreds. It was a terrifying disaster.

Approximately thirty houses were swept away entirely, and electricity was cut off to thousands of households. Even though Lee-yeon had been living a fair distance from the disaster zone, she still needed to use a back-up generator to keep the medical devices attached to Kwon Chae-woo running.

She was troubled with the information in the email.  The second tournament was being held in the very region the disaster had occurred. It involved rescuing trees. The Forest Service would be opening up the closed region for the contestants to enter. The goal of the competition was forest restoration. To plant as many trees as possible within the twenty-four-hour time limit. Contestants were allowed to bring one companion. Lee-yeon felt her stamina being drained already, just by reading about the event.

“Lee-yeon, didn’t you say you’re going to visit a patient at five?” Kwon Chae-woo walked into Lee-yeon’s office holding a ladle. Lee-yeon stared at the man in the apron for a moment, then quickly jumped out of her chair with a shriek

“Is it time already?” Lee-yeon started panicking.

“What are you going to eat?”

“I’ll eat whatever when I come back, so go ahead and have your dinner. And don’t wait up!”

Kwon Chae-woo stopped her with the ladle as she tried to run out the door. “Take me with you.”

“What?” Lee-yeon didn’t have time for this.

“If you can’t share a meal with me at home, then take me with you and make me work,” his eyes had taken on that serious quality again. “I’ll be your shovel and your axe.”

The way he spoke of himself, as an object, disturbed her. She didn’t want him talking like this again. Especially since the first time she met him he was burying a person alive.

“I prefer that you stay at home. Clean, cook, meditate with flowers, whatever. Just stay calm. That will make me feel relieved.”

Kwon Chae-woo frowned. In his ears, Gyu-baek’s voice was taunting him. “You want me to be like a flower?” he said, his voice turning sinister.

Lee-yeon flinched in spite of herself. He was starting to realize her intentions of keeping him shut away in the house as much as possible.

“I was wondering if it’s more comfortable for you if I were the submissive kind of husband.”

His eyes that didn’t reveal his feelings. Lee-yeon couldn’t tell what he was thinking. The best thing was to just be honest with him.

“Yes. It is.” Kwon Chae-woo didn’t say anything. “I just want you to be safe.”

There was no reaction from him. But his expressionless face felt like a darkness hovering over Lee-yeon. Their eyes glared at each other. Then Kwon Chae-woo did something for the first time, more out of disgust than out of acceptance. He agreed.

“I will,” he whispered.

No matter how she phrased it, it was clear that Lee-yeon was just trying to keep him locked up. She had certainly dropped the idea a while ago of him getting identification so he could get a job. Even though his so-called brother was holding her hostage, Lee-yeon had no intention of trying to get help from Kwon Chae-woo. The only thing she wanted to do was eliminate his aggressiveness and turn him into a pretty flower. But it was pointless, for he was born an animal. But, for now, he would play her game. He smiled.

“Then for today, I’ll pack food for you,” Kwon Chae-woo said.

Lee-yeon nodded. She needed to believe that he was trying to do as she asked.

***

Lee-yeon kneeled in front of the destroyed tree. Its bark was completely peeling off as it was feasted on by caterpillars. She finished spraying the pesticide and removed her latex gloves. The guardian beside her shoved his hands in his jacket pockets and studied her work.

“So, doctor. I’m curious about something…”

“We don’t cut down trees,” Lee-yeon interrupted. The guardian looked startled at Lee-yeon’s sudden statement. “Many clients request it. They seem to think that if the diseased tree roots grow into the tombs and wrap around the bodies of their ancestors, their descendants will have back luck.”

She saw the guardian glance at the tomb that stood beside the tree. His eyes widened at the thought that she read his mind.

“They want us to destroy trees that are hundreds of years old,” Lee-yeon continued. “The world still doesn’t know the value of a tree.”

Lee-yeon closed her tool bag and fixed her straw hat. “If you cut down this tree, there will be nothing around to protect the tomb. If your ancestors are that important, then come by more often and take care of the trees.”