Chapter 18

It was several days later—far too late—before Myeong-joo finally understood the remark well enough to flush scarlet.

Because his harmonization had never been remarkable, he had rarely socialized with Aberrants and had never learned the crude slang passed among them.

“Because I want to gorge myself until my stomach bursts on what you gave me earlier.”

Only now did he realize that Yi-tan had been speaking of his harmonization. Myeong-joo knew high-ranking Aberrants sometimes described receiving harmonization as “eating” and called it “delicious,” but he had been away from the service long enough for the vulgar idiom to slip his mind. Even during his enlistment, he had rarely mingled with Aberrants powerful enough to speak that way in his presence.

“Why on earth would he… he was never one to say things like that,” Myeong-joo muttered under his breath, furiously rubbing his burning earlobes.

Lee Yi-tan was acting strange. Under ordinary circumstances, the man would never aim such lewd innuendo at his former instructor. A deep, troubled sigh slipped past Myeong-joo’s lips.

“Oppa,” Myeong-hui asked, peering up at him with wide, curious eyes, “are you really getting married?”

Had the little girl not piped up, he would have spent the entire afternoon sighing incessantly.

“Mm…”

Looking down at his youngest sister, whose innocent eyes sparkled with curiosity, Myeong-joo could manage only a reluctant, dragging hum.

Just yesterday, the female officer named Hee-wan had abruptly appeared at his workplace, declaring without preamble, “The Lieutenant wishes for you to cease working immediately and remain quietly at home. He will provide necessary living funds shortly, so you should begin settling your affairs.”

Startled, Myeong-joo had immediately objected. “Listen here, I have a livelihood and obligations to uphold. How can I possibly quit my job so abruptly?”

Hee-wan had glanced disdainfully around the premises and scoffed. “Upholding obligations in a place like this? The earnings must be pitiful, and maintaining your dignity elsewhere would be far more appropriate to avoid tarnishing the Lieutenant’s honor.”

Displeased as he was by her condescending attitude, her mention of Lee Yi-tan’s honor had left him speechless. Once formal wedding discussions began, he would have had to leave the shop anyway. It would never do for the public to learn that the Harmonizer matched to a national hero delivered LPG cylinders for a living. According to Hee-wan, she had already shaken off several newspaper reporters on her way there.

“In any case, I shall assume you will wind things down properly,” she had added briskly. “The younger lady will need to transfer schools soon as well, so you had best explain matters to her.”

Myeong-joo had frowned. “…Myeong-hui as well?”

She gave a small, dry cough. “Well, ahem… the elder lady too. I am referring to her employment and the like.”

For some reason, Hee-wan coughed repeatedly whenever she brought up Myeong-in. Myeong-joo found her meddling in another family’s affairs distasteful, yet none of her words were untrue, so he had managed a reluctant nod. Treating the matter as settled, she had promptly driven away. His employer had frowned in dismay afterward, complaining about why so many tall, imposing military types kept visiting his shop in succession—evidently recalling Yi-tan’s previous visit.

Myeong-joo had offered no explanation, merely laughing awkwardly. He could hardly confess the truth—that the woman’s words amounted to ordering him to quit immediately rather than scrape pennies at such a shabby corner shop.

In any case, today was his day off, so he did not have to report to the workplace Hee-wan found so deplorable. Having waited for the right moment, Myeong-joo had finally broken the news to his sisters just last night that he was to marry Yi-tan.

“What did you say?!” Myeong-in had shouted.

“Marriage? Then… does Myeong-hui get a new sister-in-law?” the youngest had asked, eyes shining.

His sisters could not have reacted more differently. Myeong-in’s face had flushed red and white with outrage as her voice rose, while Myeong-hui looked positively enchanted by the prospect that one older sister plus one new sister-in-law would make her twice as formidable. Myeong-joo found both reactions equally difficult to handle.

“Myeong-in… your brother has been immature, and you have suffered for it,” Myeong-joo had begun carefully. “But once I marry, that household will provide for what you and Myeong-hui need to eat and wear—”

“Have you lost your mind?! Who said any of us want to live in comfort on money earned by selling you off?!”

“It is not as though I am being sold…”

He could not, in good conscience, bring himself to say, It may not be a love match, but I want it too. Before he knew it, Myeong-joo was on his knees before the furious eldest daughter of the household, utterly at a loss.

Myeong-in made no attempt to hide her fury. “What kind of scoundrel thinks he can pull the pillar out of someone else’s house?! Just let me see his face. I’ll throw a whole doe of salt at him!”

“Unni, a whole doe is too expensive…” Myeong-hui had murmured anxiously.

If Myeong-hui had not intervened, her sister might have gone on raging indefinitely. With the youngest girl’s help, Myeong-joo finally managed to calm Myeong-in down.

He had been forced to offer one mortifying justification after another: that the prospective spouse was a national hero; that the match was, in truth, far more than Myeong-joo deserved; and that because Yi-tan had once been his student, surely they would build a marriage founded on mutual respect. The ease with which those defenses poured from his mouth was humiliating proof that somewhere inside, he had already been arguing the case to himself. For now, however, soothing his sister mattered more than admitting it.

Crossing her arms stubbornly, Myeong-in had issued her ultimatum: “Regardless! I cannot believe marriage talks are underway when we haven’t even had a formal meeting! Tell him to come pay his respects in person this instant!”

Rather than consent, she had thrown out that impossible demand. Tell Lee Yi-tan to come pay his respects? The mere thought of Lee Yi-tan setting foot into their humble home perched on this steep, winding hill broke Myeong-joo out in a cold sweat, but his sister was clearly undeterred.

“Oppa, what if my sister gives the new sister-in-law a hard time? Whose side should I take?” Myeong-hui asked now, tugging at his hem.

Yesterday’s storm had added another agonizing dilemma to the household. The little girl was genuinely fretting over how to wisely navigate the impending family strife. Finding Myeong-hui both admirable and endearing, Myeong-joo planted a loud kiss on her cheek. She promptly pulled her sleeve over her hand and scrubbed her face clean.

Myeong-joo scratched his temple awkwardly. “Myeong-hui, it won’t be an older sister-in-law, but an older… brother… Ah, this is complicated… Well, he isn’t a brother-in-law either…”

“We aren’t getting an older sister-in-law?” Myeong-hui asked, her round eyes wide.

Having no good answer, Myeong-joo coaxed her out of the house with the promise of ice cream. After sharing a Seoju milk bar between them, they returned home, only for their household drill sergeant, Myeong-in, to glare at Myeong-joo with narrowed, triangular eyes.

“When is he coming to introduce himself?” Myeong-in demanded.

“Uh, yes, I was just about to ask…”

Thoroughly overwhelmed by his sister’s fierce demeanor, Myeong-joo set Myeong-hui down from his shoulders and knocked on the landlord’s door, begging to use the telephone. Expressing deep gratitude for the landlord’s generous permission, he walked toward the phone resting in the middle of the living room.

The household was bustling with dinner preparations. The landlady looked busy in the kitchen while the landlord sat in the living room reviewing a Baduk game with a newspaper in hand. Having to ask someone to visit his house right in the middle of their home made Myeong-joo burn with embarrassment.

Realizing he could procrastinate no further, Myeong-joo dialed the number. To his surprise, the call connected almost instantly. Mistaking the servant’s voice for an elder of the household, Myeong-joo straightened his posture like a stiff recruit on inspection and eagerly declared his identity.

—“Ah, Sergeant Cha,” the woman on the line answered warmly. “The young master was expecting your call. Please hold for a moment.”

Rigid as starched cotton, Myeong-joo finally allowed his tense back to relax. A moment later, fabric rustled over the receiver, sending another prickle of tension down his spine. A deep, resonant voice traveled along the wire into his ear.

—“This is Lee Yi-tan, Sergeant.”

“Ah…”

Stunned by that crisp, dignified greeting, Myeong-joo could only stammer wordlessly despite knowing how foolish he must appear. As if anticipating his hesitation, the man on the line waited with patient composure. Fortunately, after a brief silence, Myeong-joo managed to find his voice.

He gripped the black plastic receiver tight. “Um, I apologize for calling so late, Lieutenant… I hope I am not disturbing you.”

—“I had nothing pressing. Please speak.”

Lee Yi-tan cut him short with clean brevity. His tone was polite, yet it carried a clear expectation for Myeong-joo to state his business. That made speaking even harder. Still, knowing that facing Yi-tan was far less terrifying than enduring Myeong-in’s fiery wrath, he broached the subject with cautious care.

“Well… this is… I hardly know how to put it, but when I mentioned the wedding at home, my sister raised a terrible fuss,” Myeong-joo confessed.

—“Ah, Miss Myeong-in did?”

That follow-up question sounded remarkably familiar, as though Yi-tan were inquiring about an old acquaintance. A sharp prickle tightened in Myeong-joo’s chest, prompting him to purse his lips and turn away. Hearing Yi-tan speak so fondly of someone he had never met only deepened the guilty sensation that Myeong-joo had stolen his sister’s place in this marriage.

The landlord reviewing his Baduk stones glanced over, silently mouthing the word Marriage? Myeong-joo offered an awkward smile in response, averted his gaze, and pressed on.

“Yes… it came as quite a shock to my sisters,” Myeong-joo said, feeling his ears burn. “I know you are busy, Lieutenant, but would you perhaps consider coming over for a meal sometime?”

The reply came without a heartbeat’s hesitation.

—“I would like that. Of course I must.”

A brisk, manly warmth rang through the receiver. Having rarely heard Lee Yi-tan sound so cheerful, Myeong-joo stood dazed before murmuring a small word of thanks. While he offered the dates Myeong-in had dictated and Yi-tan selected one of them, Myeong-joo exhaled a quiet breath, overwhelmed by a surreal sense of detachment.

—“I shall see you then.”

“Yes. Rest well, Lieutenant,” Myeong-joo replied.

The call ended there. Yi-tan replaced the receiver with a crisp click.

Hanging up with far more reluctant slowness, Myeong-joo turned around. Having apparently watched the entire exchange, the landlord drifted over with an inquisitive look. “Sounds like someone’s getting married. Is Myeong-in having a wedding?”

“Pardon? Haha, how could a child get married?” Myeong-joo answered with a nervous laugh.

Unaware the man had been standing right behind him, Myeong-joo swallowed his surprise as he collected himself. Before the turn of time, Myeong-in’s marriage had indeed taken place not long after this period, but things were different now. To Myeong-joo, who had regressed with thirty-five years of life behind him, the present Myeong-in was still nothing more than a child.

“She is of marriageable age, isn’t she?”

Myeong-joo frowned slightly. “Please don’t say such things, Ajussi. She is still far too young.”

Cutting off the landlord’s odd persistence, Myeong-joo called out to the landlady still in the kitchen, “Auntie, I’ll be on my way now,” before turning on his heel. Grumbling murmured faintly behind him, but he walked away without looking back.

Yet stepping out of the landlord’s quarters, Myeong-joo realized how utterly shameless his words had been before he even reached the front entrance where his family lived.

“Still far too young, indeed…” Myeong-joo muttered under his breath.

He dragged his palm down his burning face. Lee Yi-tan was a young man a year younger than Myeong-in. With a seven-year gap between himself and the young officer, Myeong-joo had scoffed at the idea of Myeong-in marrying because she was still a child, yet here he was inviting someone even younger than her to arrange their own wedding. It was a truly unconscionable hypocrisy.

“Ha…”

Myeong-joo stood frozen in place for a long time, his face flushed hot with shame. His heart fluttered so restlessly that calming down proved impossible. Standing stock-still on the dim stone steps, the tips of his ears burned a bright, guilty crimson.

***