[우수상] The Memories In Yongsan

6·25 60주년기념 수필 공모

The most breathtaking life story that I interviewed which occurred during the Korean war was from my uncle Jongdae Kim. It is a wonderful, sad, funny, exciting, affectionate, human feeling account that emphasis on the importance of friendship and family. In this essay, I am going to write a brief story of my uncle’s life during the mass departure of the Korean war.

Jongdae Kim was born on December 12, 1940 in the southern part of Korea at Yongsan, Seoul. Yongsan is in the country side in Seoul. Yongsan was larger than a village and smaller than a city. People from there, made their living out of agriculture and dairy farming. They did one of the most important jobs for the country’s economy. Jongdae‘s father, on the other hand, was a police from the city, so everybody knew him and respected him. There were four members from his police squad. They all wore gun belts, cross-draw belts, and bowties. Jongdae’s mother was a typical Korean house wife. She would wake up at five in the morning and put wood into the furnace to cook rice and prepare warm water for her husband. She would crouch down next to the boiler and use a newspaper to fan the fire, which will increase the heat so that the rice can be completely cooked. Jongdae was born before their parents were married and four years later, they had another boy Jongchul, and two years later Younghee was born, their first daughter.

Memories growing up in Yongsan was wonderful for Jongdae. Summer was the best time for him. He was always excited when summer was on it’s way. He wasn’t the only one who was excited, his younger brother Jongchul and all the kids from the neighborhood were too. School was almost out and play time was near. Summer has the longest days and shortest nights, which means he gets to play outside with his friends like there is no tomorrow. However, he felt little sad for some of the children who studied or help their parents with farming. During those days, he liked going to the Han river with his friends to swim. It was the only way to escape the heat.

When he wakes up in a summer day, his younger brother Jongchul and him would quickly brush their teeth, eat breakfast, rice and kimchi, and they would first go rushing to Sungjin’s house which was not far from where they lived. Sungjin’s family was a little wealthy than Jongdae‘s. It was observable by his appearance because he was a foot taller than Jongdae and he had a body of a Ssireum wrestler Other children were frighten by his appearance at first, but once you get to know him, he was a sweet and a lovable kid. Both of his parents were farmers. They grew crops and raised animals. Sungjin had pigs, ducks, chickens, rabbits and couple cows. Playing with different kinds of animals was one of the reasons that Jongdae liked playing with him, but what he really liked about Sungjin was that he was very courageous. One time, they were stealing some bag of noodles from this lady’s store and they were caught at the scene, but Jongdae managed to get away. However, poor Sungjin wasn’t a good runner so the store lady catch up to him and grabbed him by his ear and dragged him all the way back to the store When Jongdae ran home, he knew he was going to be dead meat. Pretty soon the lady from the store will come knocking on his door. However, no one came that night. Later, he found out that Sungjin didn’t rat on him. Jongdae was very surprised by his brotherhood. Sungjin saved his life. Otherwise, Jongdae’s father would have beat the living hell out of him. From that incident, Jongdae started to look at his friend differently.

Now that they had Sungjin with them, three of them: Jongdae, Jongchul and Sungjin, headed over to Youngho’s house. Youngho was the total opposite of Sungjin. Youngho was a very small and skinny kid who wore these thick glasses. He was a poor kid, probably the poorest kid from the city. He only ate two meals a day and when he was feeling hungry at night, he would just go to sleep early. He lived with his mother, a widow, and two younger brothers who were also small and skinny. Out on the fish market, his mother would sell fishing nets and baskets that she made on her own. Youngho wasn’t allowed to play outside during the school days because after school he would have to go to the fish market and help his mother with the sell. Therefore, summer was the only time that Jongdae and his friends get to play with him. At school, Youngho was always a good student and he stayed away from trouble. He was not an athletic. When other children played soccer, he would just sit in the corner and read a book. You could say he was a boring kid.

Now all four of them had united, Jongdae and his little brother Jongchul, Sungjin, and Youngho, they all hurried to the Han river up on the hills passed the evergreen trees. When they arrived at the river, they were the first ones to be there. But pretty soon, group of kids would come from everywhere. Most of the kids were from the same school that Jongdae went, but because it was summer, they brought their cousins and friends from other cities Jongdae, Jongchul, Sungjin and Youngho would climb to the top of the muddy cliff and take turns diving. Before they jump down into the shallow water, they would scream something from the roof top, for example like Jongdae, he would say something like: “Summer vacation would never end!” Sungjin, the chubby kid, would say: “ I wish I get a new bike for my birthday!” He always complained about walking to school. Jongchul would scream something similar to his brother: “I wish we play like this forever!” And finally, Youngho, the skinny kid would say: “ I wish I’ll eat chicken for the rest of my life!” Chicken was his favorite food, but he gets to eat chicken very occasionally, like once a year.

One day, at the river, it was summer of ’49, this kid named Babo came running down to the river like he had seen a ghost. Although, his real name was Sukho, all the kids nicknamed him Babo, meaning stupid in Korean, because he stammered when he spoke. He was gasping for air and his entire face was covered in perspiration. It took a while to catch his breath and finally he opened his mouth: “ D-do…you…w-want to see something c-cool?”

Almost all the kids at the river agreed to follow Babo. They were behind him, whispering to each other in a curious voice, “Where is he taking us?” All the kids asked him in a chant what he was going to show them, but Babo ignored them and just kept on walking faster. He was trying to keep them guessing along the way. Jongdae personally thought Babo had seen a dead body or a naked women. But naked women was pretty off the subject because there were girls who followed him too. Sungjin asked him, “Is it a dead body?” Youngho asked, “Did you fine a bag of money?” Jongchul asked, “Is it a ghost?” But Babo smiled and shook his head and said, “M-much b-better than that.”

They finally reached a fence. All the boys started to climb the fence, but the girls chickened out and decided to give up and headed back down home. Jongdae and his friends didn’t even bothered to try pursuing the girls to come back because they might get in their way. All six boys made it over the fence: Jongdae, Jongchul, Sungjin, Youngho, Babo, and this other kid who they just met at the river. Every body climbed the fence clean, but Sungjin was a heavy kid so a piece of cloth from his pants had caught on the fence and made a big hole on his butt, revealing his red underwear. Jongdae and his friends couldn’t help them selves from laughing. “Who wears red underwear?” Jongdae asked Youngho, giggling. Then Sungjin heard what Jongdae said and pushed him with his weight. The friends laughed the whole time walking where ever Babo was taking them.

As the laughter slowly faded, Babo kept telling them, “W-were almost here.” “W-were almost here.” Jongdae warned Babo this would have to be good. Sungjin said he was starting to get hungry and Youngho was getting kind a scare and worried. They have been walking like that for at least twenty minutes. From a distance, Jongdae and his friends started hearing people laughing and talking. They were also hearing something that was being hit with an object. “Thud…thud…thud!” When they approached closer, group of adults gathered around and was doing something. “Thud…thud…thud!” Jongdae and his friends all sprawled down on their stomachs behind a small hill, Jongdae felt like he was in a war ready to attack. Now all six of boys had a perfect view. A man in his mid forties, wearing a white tang top in a straw hat, was hitting something with a baseball bat that was hung upside down. When the man switched position to the right to hit the object again, it gave them a better view. The friends all looked at each other in a shocked expression. The man was hitting a dog. It was a very big, black dog and it was dripping blood for the tip of the mouth and seemingly it appeared dead because the dog was not making any sound. Another man, also in his mid forties, was crouched down carving a knife against the sharpening stone while pouring water on it. Another man was smoking a cigarette while talking to the man who was beating the poor dog.

That was the first time Jongdae and his friends actually had witnessed an animal that was brutally beaten and killed. It was the most gruesome and violent act that they saw. Jongdae asked Babo why were they beating the dog. Babo said they were hitting the dog with a baseball bat to make the meat tender and when the dog is dead, they will skin it, cut it, cook it in a pot and eat it for dinner. He said dog meat was good for the human health. Babo had much knowledge on those areas than most of the kids at his age. Perhaps because he was an explorer. He collected insects and dissected them. He starts conversation with anybody that comes in his way, including strangers. At dinner that night, Jongdae suddenly lost his appetite thinking about the dog early afternoon. The thrill of going there with his brother and friends to witness that was exciting, but he couldn’t get that dog’s image off his head for a long time.

Jongdae and his friends hung around like that during the summer all along, but when the war broke out between the north and south Koreas, those fun days in Yongsan was quickly vanished. On Sunday morning, the 25th of June, the North Koreans attacked. Jongdae was 9, his brother Jongchul was just 5, and his baby sister Younghee was only 3 years old. Jongdae remember that day vividly. There were people scrambling down from a hill shouting, “The Communists are coming!” “The Communists are coming!” Jongdae realized almost all the people from the neighborhood were clustered outside the deck near the river. Jongdae was with his father at the time holding his hand. Most of the people outside were grown ups, talking to each one another in an anxious tone. As Jongdae and his father approached closer, they heard something inside the gang. “Excuse us.” “Excuse us.” And they squeezed their way inside to the crowd. The noise was coming from an radio and people sitting down on the deck was listening to it carefully like it was about to give them orders. A women on the right was breast feeding her baby while a trickle of tear was slowly coming down to her cheek Men on the left were puffing cigarettes regularly. All the people around them looked gloomily. Mrs. Lee, who was the oldest women in Yongsan, was on her knees, praying, rocking her body back and forth and whispering something religious under her breath.

Five days before the Korean war, fortunately, there was a rumor that the North Korean army will soon invade at Seoul. Jongdae’s father and the people from Yongsan figured it wasn’t safe here anymore. Mr. Lim, the city’s barber, had already gone off to Taegu, where his brother lived. Mrs. Choi, the owner of a small market, emptied the store and went near Pusan, along with many people from the neighborhood. Jongdae’s family decided to go to Chungpyong because his father’s older sister, Jongdae’s aunt, lived there. Jongdae was born in Yongsan and he nearly spent his entire childhood there. The worst thing about leaving this place for Jongdae was he was not going to see his best friends, Sungjin and Youngho, anymore.

On June 23, 1950, two days before leaving Yongsan, Jongdae and his father walked around the neighborhood to farewell to the others. Jongdae’s father first met with the elders who were evacuating to a village near the mountains, then he met three of his police buddies who were going to the country side near Inchon, and then finally he met his best friend Wong Jo. He was a bachelor. He was never been married. Jongdae’s father persuaded him to date women, but he wasn’t interested. Every time Mr. Jo visited their home, he would always bring loft of bread from his store. Jongdae’s father used to drink with him quite often, especially during the weekends. Jongdae and Jongchul would sometimes sneak up to them and grab some appetizers like dry squid and peanut.

Next, the father and son went to see one of Jongdae’s best friends, Sungjin. His house was very close from theirs. Sungjin’s father opened the gate and invited them in. Sungjin and his father really resembled. His father was the biggest guy from the city. He had a body like a pro wrestler. He was a heavy drinker. Jongdae heard this from Sungjin that his father often beats him when he was drunk, but nothing serious. Jongdae’s father often wondered what did Sungjin’s father eat as a child that made him a giant. And there was Sungjin, he was the little version of his father. He had his father’s belly, the lopsided ear, dark skin tone and slanted eyes. While the grown ups were talking inside having tea, Jongdae and Sungjin stayed outside, sitting down on the wooden patio. The sun was starting to disappear behind the hills. The two friends were petting Dodo, Sungjin’s mutt, while figuring out what to say to each other.

Jongdae was feeling depressed that he wasn’t goiug to see Sungjin anymore. Jongdae believed that Sungjin felt the same too, but it seemed he was hiding his emotions. Jongdae realized his friend was trying to be macho. Every time Jongdae talk about leaving this place, Sungjin would just say funny and exciting things that they did together growing up here. Jongdae figured Sungjin’s way of saying good bye was to talk about the good memories that they had here. Jongdae remembered when they first met. Sungjin was sitting next to him in class. Jongdae’s first impression of him was some fat ugly kid who didn’t speak much. Jongdae would have never pictured him as his best friend. Jongdae learned he should never judge by person’s appearance. When the grown ups finished their cup of teas, Sungjin and his parents walked the father and son to the gate to say goodbyes.

The last house that the father and son went visiting was Youngho’s house. It was the most farthest house from the city The house was falling apart and it looked like no one lived there. The small front metal door to his house was opened and it was swinging by the wind and making a “Clank,” sound every time it shut. The father and son went inside and the father called in a calm voice, “Hello?’ “Is anybody home?” Then a door slide opened and it was Youngho, followed by his two younger brothers. Youngho said his mother went to the market and she will be back soon. Jongdae’s father stayed outside to smoke a cigarette and Youngho led Jongdae to his room, a room where two of his brothers shared. Youngho quickly opened a drawer from his old, wooden desk and handed Jongdae his expensive pen that he won at a math contest in school. Jongdae knew it meant a lot to him, so he refused to take it, but Youngho just kept on insisting him to have it. He never written something with that pen or took it out from the case. Jongdae felt guilty not bring him any gift.

Not like Sungjin, Youngho was sentimental. Youngho asked Jongdae where he was staying and when they were going to meet again. It took Jongdae by surprise, he only played with Youngho only during summer vacation because he had to help his mother after school. Moreover, Jongdae honestly wasn’t fun playing with Youngho because he wasn’t bold and crazy like Sungjin and he was always a shy kid. It was sure Jongdae was going to miss his friend Youngho. Jongdae and his father waited for Youngho’s mother for a while, but she was not back from the market. They decided to leave without seeing her, since Jongdae’s family had to do some packing of their own. By the time the father and son walked out from Youngho’s house, the evening was slowly fading into night. The wind was making the trees rattle. Jongdae was feeling a little cold.

As they were heading back home, Jongdae was starting to miss the evergreen trees that stretched to the hills endlessly, the river where his friends swim, the market where Jongdae bought ice creams, the elders who sang and drank rice beer on the patio, and everthing about it was just making his eyes formed into tears. But somehow Jongdae believed they were going to come back sometime and things would be back to normal again. As Jongdae’s father puffed a last breath of the cigarette and threw it into the flowing water by the damp, Jongdae was seeing a girl walking toward their direction. Jongdae squinted his eyes to get a better look and he recognized who she was. It was a girl from his class. She was the tallest, smartest, and most loving person. Every boy in the class wanted her. Jongdae never talked to her before because he was sacred, but he gain confidence that day and decided to say hi. She said hi back and she waved her hand smiling at him. Jongdae thought to himself why didn’t I do that earlier. Jongdae had the courage to do that because he was leaving and he was afraid he might not see her again.

At dinner, Jongdae, Jongchul, and their father sat on the floor by the table while the mother was preparing for dinner. Jongdae’s baby sister Younghee finished the last bottle of the milk and went to sleep early like usual. She was sleeping peacefully next to the lamp. Her face shimmering by the lamp’s light, the poor baby had no idea what was going on, which was good for her. Jongdae’s mother was serving each of them bowl of rice and setting the hot bean soup gently to the middle. The bean soup smelled really good. Jongdae was starving from all the packing and digging to help bury his father’s police uniform and badge. He said it wasn’t safe to carry around police uniform if he might get caught by the North Korean soldiers. He also told Jongdae and Jongchul not to tell anybody that he was working for the police, not even children. As Jongdae sat across from his father under the dim light, he noticed his father appeared very old with age. This was the first time Jongdae got a clear look at his face. There were tuffs of hair left on his head and his face was featured with many wrinkles. Jongdae looked at his mother now as she was softly slurping the soup with a spoon. Her eyes were tired from concern and there were dark circles beneath her eyes. Jongdae couldn’t see those flaws on his parents faces in daylight, but the little dim light that hanged from the top of the room revealed everything.

When the family finished eating dinner, Jongdae’s father said he had something to say to them. Hopelessly, the father stared at his wife and Younghee. Then he took a good look at Jongdae and Jongchul. He cleared his throat and was about to say something, but Jongchul’s cough interrupted him. Jongdae handed over a cup of water to his brother and he drank it quickly. The father begin. He said tomorrow, it was going to be a long journey. Jongdae, Jongchul and the father will walk to Chungpyong where Jongdae’s aunt lived and the mother and Younghee will take a bus to go to a village close by with other people from the city. The father said it wasn’t safe for his wife and the baby to walk to Chungpyong. Then when the war settles down, the family will meet in time. Jongdae’s mother didn’t say anything that night, she had no choice but to agree. It was safe for her and Younghee to follow the people to the village because there was a small possibility that the North Koreans will invade there To be honest, Jongdae wasn’t worried much. When the war is over, his family will unite and they can go with their lives again.

The next morning, the mother was crying, hugging both of her children, Jongdae and Jongchul . She wouldn‘t let go, almost suffocating them That moment Jongdae felt like he wasn’t going to see her again. The mother had Younghee tied securely around her back and she was carrying a sack full of rice that was formed into a ball, some clothes and a red cotton blanket. Jongdae and Jongchul carried nothing because it was going to be a long walk. Only thing Jongdae had in his pocket was the expensive pen that Youngho gave him. Jongdae’s father carried a blanket and some clothes. He gave his wife some money and had enough for his own Holding each others hands, the family walked out to the street very slowly to separate.

They wanted to take up every second of their precious time together as a family. They finally reached the middle of the street where all the people from the city was getting ready to leave. There was a big bus parked under this huge tree. The mother and Younghee was getting on that bus. There were already people inside the bus, talking and crying and waving their hands to another. The father told his wife to be careful and not to worry about them and she said to Jongdae to stay with his father at all times and never let go of his brother’s hand. Carrying Younghee, the mother had her foot on the step to get on the bus and took a last glance at them. Jongdae, Jongchul and the father waved their hands to the bus like the other people around them, “Bye!” “Be careful!” and the bus slowly drove off, making a big storm of dust in the air. Jongdae looked up to see his father and his lower lip was trembling. He was about to break into tears, but when Jongdae was caught looking at him he turned his head and walked away. “Let’s go guys.”

Now it was Jongdae, Jongchul and the father. They were headed to Chungpyong to meet their aunt. They were walking along with other people. Jongdae was holding Jongchul’s hand like he promised his mother. There was a family in front of them, pulling a farm cart full of stuff and on top of it, there was a little girl, about Jongchul’s age, holding a puppy. A family behind them were fighting the whole time, complaining about something. Jongdae, Jongchul and the father were walking for hours now. The sun was starting to blaze up. Jongdae’s eyes were getting fuzzy from the sun and he was starting to get sun burn underneath his arm pits. His mouth had dried up like sand paper. Jongdae was thirsty and so was his brother. Jongchul told his father he was having a cramp in his right foot. He was slowing them down. As they passed a abandon restaurant that had broken windows, a building had appeared from far away. They made theme selves to the building and found a shaded area and rested there for a while. It seemed like a neglected factory. The father pulled out the ball shaped rice that his wife made last night. He split into three pieces and all three shared. It was hard and crunchy. It was hard for them to swallow because they were out of water They drank all the water on their way here. Now all three of them were regretting they should have saved some of it. Perhaps, next time before they drink their water, they will think about the every drop that was going into their mouths.

It was almost sunset when they reached a house. The father was carrying Jongchul on his back the whole time. He couldn’t walk because the cramp in his foot had worsen. The father gently put Jongchul down and knocked on a stranger’s door. Nobody answered. Their father continue knocking, this time pounding with his fist “Is someone there?” Then, the gate suddenly opened to a slit. A man’s face revealed. “Can I help you, sir?” The father begged the man if they can spend the night there, but the owner said the house was full of other people like them and he was truly sorry. The father was frustrated. They had to spend the night somewhere until they reached the aunt’s house. The father told his children they have to walk a little more and try looking for another place where there was less people. Jongdae was exhausted from walking. His legs were tired, it wouldn’t listen, but they had no choice. They couldn’t sleep in middle of nowhere.

As the father and children passed some buildings, a small barn appeared at the corner. Carried on the back of his father, Jongchul was the first one to spot it. “Look!” “There is a barn!” They went closer to get a better look. There was a red wooden gate. Their father gave it a hard tug and opened the gate and a man with a shovel stood there. “What do you want?” the man asked the father. “Can we spend the night at the barn?” “I am planning to go to Chungpyong in the morning.” The man looked at Jongdae and Jongchul and then the father and scratched his bald head. “Ok, but just for one night.“

When they went inside the barn, it smelled really bad. There was a cow there tied to a metal pole. There were couple families like them sleeping next to a mountain full of straws. Jongdae and Jongchul examine the place to look for a spot to sleep, while their father went inside the house with the bald man. The father came back a few minutes later and was carrying a tin can full of rice. That was what they had to eat, just rice. The father and children ate with their bare hands. The father ate the less and Jongchul scooped the last ball of rice. The bald man was kind enough to give them food. They made them selves comfortable at the corner next to a small opened window. The summer breeze coming from the window felt good against Jongdae’s skin. Right next to them, there was a family just like them, except they had a mother. The parents were sleeping, but the kids woke up from Jongdae and Jongchul’s talking. The kids stared at them like they wanted to talk, but the place was quite in sleep that it was inappropriate to speak. They stared at each other and fell a sleep.

The next morning, the father woke Jongdae up and his eyes couldn’t adjust quickly. It was very early, the sun hadn’t rise yet. Jongchul was still sleeping and Jongdae woke him up They got out from the barn and Jongchul was able to walk again. His swollen foot had eased down. The father warped a cloth around his foot. They were walking again. Like the day before, the father and children walked and rested through out the day. When they got hungry, they knocked on any house and asked for food. If the owners were nice enough, they will give them some left over food. At a near by playground, an old man was selling sweet potatoes and it smelled really good. Jongchul jerked his father’s shirt and begged for one. They had no money at the time and it was obvious that the man wasn’t giving them out for free. Jongdae took a deep breath and let it out in despair. He reached for his pockets again to check if he had any coins and suddenly came an idea. He had the expensive pen that Youngho gave him as a goodbye present. Jongdae asked the man who was selling the potatoes if he was willing to exchange the expensive pen for some potatoes and the man excepted the deal. Jongdae felt kind a bad at first, but they were very hungry. And if Jongdae tell Youngho their situation, he would’ve understand. Late in the evening, the father and children reached a house and luckily spend the night again.

Finally, they reached Chungpyong. Jongdae’s uncle and aunt welcomed them with their hospitality. Jongdae’s aunt immediately asked the father where his wife was and he just put his head down and said, “Let’s go inside and talk.” Jongdae and Jongchul went into a room and there were their cousins, Seungja, Sookja and Soonja. They were all girls. It was nice to see them again. The last time they got together was new years, four years ago. At dinner, their aunt served them fried eggs and kimchi. Jongdae hated eating those food back home, but it tasted better than ever. The family stayed there for about three months.

On late September, 1950, the battle of Inchon was over and Jongdae, Jongchul and the father were headed over to Inchon to meet the mother. They heard that Jongdae’s mother went to Inchon to stay with her relatives. Jongdae, Jongchul, and the father aboard to a bus where it was taking them to a train station at Inchon. The bus was packed with families like them. Jongdae and Jongchul was happy that they didn’t have to walk to Inchon. The war had settled down. General Douglas MacArthur landed at Inchon and turned the war around to South Korean‘s favor. He was a hero. People said the south was winning and there was nothing to worry about. Jongdae was soon going back to school and his father was going to work for the police again. Moreover, they were going to meet the mother. Jongdae wanted to see Younghee and kiss her cheek and make funny noises. She laughed really hard every time he did that. As the bus was taking them to Inchon, Jongdae looked outside through the window and it was a disaster. He never seen anything like this before. It was the war aftermath. The father covered Jongdae and Jongchul’s eyes every time there was a corpse, but he gave up doing that because there were to many of them. The whole place was deserted and there were big mass of dust roaming around in the air. There were children running around bare footed looking for their mothers or something. Buildings and stores were destroyed, bricks and broken concrete were only things left.

There were stray dogs sniffing around looking for food. They were fat like pigs, probably surviving by eating human corpses. Jongdae could see some part of the ground were dug up and there were pile of corpses inside. There was a lot of tank trail marks as he looked down at earth. As their bus slow down a little to make a right turn, group of kids were running toward the bus and asking people if they had any thing to eat or if they had any money. The bus passed the sign that said “Inchon.” There were group of people protesting with banners and cardboards near the railroad. Jongdae saw American soldiers sitting down by a abandon store, eating some kind a cracker. One of the soldiers went down to his knees and was feeding a cracker to this tiny Korean girl. There were people and soldiers walking around everywhere, helicopters, jeeps, and trucks that were filled with people.

Finally, the bus stopped to a halt and every body was getting off. The father and children reached the train station and there were people celebrating, all waving the Korean flags. The mother will soon get off a train and the family were to take the train to Inchon to stay at her relatives. Jongdae, Jongchul and the father arrived at the train station a little early. Jongdae and the father sat on the wooden bench and waited for the mother. Jongchul was drawing something on the ground with a piece of charcoal that he found on his way here. The father was constantly turning his head to the right if his wife’s train was coming. Three trains had stopped, but it wasn’t the train that the mother was in. Perhaps Jongdae’s mother’s train was running a little late. Finally a train had stopped and said on the top: Kyunginsun. It was the train that the mother was in. All three of them got up to their feet and was excited to meet her.

After three month of hell, practically homeless, they were going to be a family again and have a home. People were stepping out from the train in all directions. Quickly, the station filled up with people. It was difficult to find the mother because of the people who were blocking their views. Jongdae and Jongchul were jumping up and down to catch a glimpse of their mother. The father shift his head side to side for a desperate look for his wife. However, there was no sign of her. Is she coming today? Jongdae wondered. Then, the three of them heard something from a far distance. “Hey Jongdae!” “Jongchul!” “Honey!” She was waving her hand to them near the ticket box. Jongdae and Jongchul ran as fast as they can and hugged their mother.

The father was behind his children, walking slowly in relief. The mother started to ask all these questions really fast, “Jongdae, did you listen to your father?” “Where did you guys stayed?”

“What did you guys eat?” “Did you guys get sick during the way?” All three of them asked similar questions to her too. However, they weren’t seeing Younghee. Perhaps, she already left her at Inchon with the relatives. The father asked his wife where Younghee was. Then suddenly, the mother’s face changed colors and she dropped to her knees and started to cry. The father went down, lift her head up and asked her what was going on. She was crying so hard it was making her hard to speak. The father helped her up to her feet and walked to a bench close by.

The parents sat down on the bench and Jongdae and Jongchul were standing up, waiting for her answer. Now she was sobbing, her crying had slowed down. She tried her best to speak. Her mouth was trembling and she finally got it out, “Younghee…died from a cold.” She blew her nose with a handkerchief and continued crying. Jongdae’s baby sister caught a cold during the way to the village and died. There was a doctor onboard, but the bus didn’t carry any medicine. Sleeping peacefully by the lamp was the last time Jongdae saw Younghee’s innocent face.