Chương 51: S.04 Memory of the Clock 09(04)

Scene 07. So-hui was gazing for a moment out the window. Si-yeon drew up close to So-hui and tilted her head, as if trying to take over the gaze So-hui had let drift away. At Si-yeon's gesture — dressed in workout clothes — when So-hui looked at Si-yeon with eyes carrying many a thought, Si-yeon read the look in So-hui's eyes and pulled back, for the moment, the cocky tilt she had been working. Si-yeon: What. Something the matter? So-hui glanced briefly around her and conveyed her inmost thought with difficulty.

So-hui: Seong-hyeon. I feel a bit sorry for her. Watching So-hui's deep concern, Si-yeon plopped down beside So-hui. So-hui: It won't be easy. Taking on a villain's role like that again — Si-yeon: So I told her — if you don't want to, don't do it. And she said she'd do it. At Si-yeon's deadpan voice, So-hui creased her brow lightly and looked at Si-yeon as if scolding her. So-hui: If even I were getting cussed at like that, I'd do it just out of disgust. Si-yeon: You don't get it. That's just how we talk.

It's not cussing. At Si-yeon's awkward defense, So-hui twisted her lips. Si-yeon: But, well — she did kick up a fuss for a while saying how the hell she was supposed to do it, and then after hearing it all out, she went — So-hui: "Looks, like, I'll have to do it …." Si-yeon: You heard?? At Si-yeon's startled question, So-hui shook her head. Si-yeon, only belatedly recalling So-hui's gift she had forgotten for a moment, nodded her head. Si-yeon: Ah, right.

Without bearing on Si-yeon's deep thought, Gyeong-seo, having changed into workout clothes, gathered her finely braided hair into one bunch, and as if loosening her body, moved her step and called Si-yeon out. Gyeong-seo: What are you doing. Come on out. It's been a while — let's see how much you've improved. Si-yeon: Uh, yeah. I'll be out front. You go ahead and get ready. So-hui: Okay. Yeon-su came down from the second floor and plopped down right beside So-hui, who sat in the living room looking outside.

Yeon-su carefully offered the snack bag in her hand toward So-hui. So-hui, not wanting to dismiss Yeon-su's gesture of goodwill, slipped her hand into the deep snack bag. Truly deep, she went. So-hui: What. There's hardly anything in here. Yeon-su: Eh. Why are there only this many. So-hui: No, hold on, before that — this snack, how long has it been? Yeon-su: I bought it at the convenience store the day I came here. I haven't eaten much. Truly. I sealed it up well.

So-hui: So you've been eating this snack all this while?! Not even a freshly opened one?? Goodness. This won't do. I'll have to tell the Director. That you don't eat your meals or your snacks. Yeon-su: Wha!! Wha-aah!! No-ooo!! Scene 08. It was one of the few concrete buildings in the Headquarters. The fairly tall office building bustled. Ji-young stood before the office building in her black Traditional coat-dress.

She thrust her finger up under the Black ceremonial wide-brimmed hat, scratched the back of her head, and gave Hee-jin a sheepish smile. Ji-young: Eh, just busy for today, that's all, right? Hee-jin: Since it is merely the procedure of relocating posts, it shall be wrapped up sometime today. As The Oldest personally arranged the financial statements before, the financial paperwork in particular has very little remaining. Ji-young: Ah, dammit. Nothing I can help with then.

Just as Ji-young rolled up her sleeves and was about to step into the office building, Hee-jin walked a little faster and stood gently in front of Ji-young to block her way. Hee-jin: The Oldest. Ji-young: Hm? Hee-jin: The Oldest has your own work, separate from this. Do not seek to help with every matter, every detail. To them, that may feel like quite a heavy weight. Ji-young: Ah, fair enough …. Hee-jin: The resolve and the thinking The Oldest carries — it is not as though I do not know of them.

But there are times when The Oldest must be able to stand aside from the busyness of others. Ji-young, with a light smile, gently smoothed Hee-jin's shoulder, the one who had just blocked her path. As though saying there was no need to bow so deeply, having taken the meaning fully, Ji-young set Hee-jin's difficult formality aside. Ji-young: Right. Since I don't know things properly yet, I might just become a burden. Hee-jin: Thank you for understanding my meaning.

Ji-young: Eh, but, even so — saying right now that I'm stepping out to buy a phone, that's a bit off, isn't it. Hee-jin: Will you take lunch and then go. I have a brief contact to make to another Province as well, so by lunchtime it should be wrapped up. Ji-young: Ah. Then that'll do. This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Hee-jin: Understood. The Oldest, then — Hee-jin briefly lifted her gaze and glanced at the office building.

Hee-jin: — without helping, ought to return to her dwelling and prepare for going out. Ji-young: I have that much sense, you know. Hee-jin: Ahem ahem. Ji-young: Hurry on. Together with the Martial Director. Scene 09_01. Ji-young was holding the old-style telephone.

Having taken off the formal attire that had been uncomfortable, and changed into a slightly easier 저고리(Jeogori_Korean Traditional inner jacket) and long Han-bok skirt, Ji-young, to convey the news of the broken phone, sat in her dwelling, lifted the receiver of the old rotary-dial telephone, and continued her call with So-hui. Ji-young: Argh, so I'm, see? Stuck using this old phone here, can't be helped. So-hui: You said you're heading out in the afternoon, right? Ji-young: It just happens to work out that way?

Naturally. Hah. SSibal. So-hui: Wow, sis. It's been a while since I heard you cuss. Ji-young: I try not to, but, see? The phone, just, see? So-hui: If you put your phone through that much, just go change it already. Who uses one for four whole years these days. A flip-phone at that. Ji-young: Hey. When you work at a company, recording the contracts is a must. So-hui: What era are you talking about. These days everything works for that. Recording and all. Ji-young: Ah, never mind. I don't know yet what I'll get.

I'll go and see and then buy. I'm getting a game console too. The TV's there, but the most important thing — the game console — isn't. So-hui: Argh!! That damn game console. Ji-young: Where else are you going to find anything like it. You don't know its true worth. Scene 09_02. So-hui was watching Si-yeon, sprawled out flat in the garden, while continuing her call with Ji-young. Gyeong-seo, together with Yeon-su, with Si-yeon set between them, was helping Si-yeon with her training.

Catching her breath for a moment, Si-yeon, drenched in sweat, lay flat in the garden, panting only. So-hui: Argh! Got it. Truly, I'm glad you're back, truly truly glad, but, really pissed too. You've been hogging the phone the whole time. And there's no telling when she'll start something. Ji-young: Hmph. Even so, you'd be uneasy without me around. So-hui: Right. I would be uneasy. So today as well — be careful. Pass it on to the Strategist too. Ji-young: Got it.

So-hui set down the phone she had hung up, and stepped outside in her workout clothes. Cold winds came rushing in, but she only shrugged her shoulders for a moment, working not to show the cold. Si-yeon, who had been lying sprawled out flat, sprang up, and stared straight at So-hui as she stepped out into the garden. Si-yeon: What. I'm not done yet. So-hui: You're done. It's already nearly afternoon. We have to eat too. Did you forget you said you'd cook today? Si-yeon: Ah, was that so.

Si-yeon, grumbling as if it were a pity, moved her step inside the side quarters. Scene 09_03. Ji-young, hanging up the telephone with a curt grumble, gave a sheepish smile, wiped the make-up that had smeared onto the receiver against her skirt-hem with quick rubs, and set the receiver down upon the body of the old phone. Hee-jin, as if having finished all her communications and come, was sitting in Ji-young's dwelling.

Hee-jin: Fortunately, on the Guide's side as well, by what I heard, nothing of note has happened. Ji-young: Yeah. Sounds like they had drinks last night even. Did you finish all the calls? Hee-jin: There was one Master of the Province who, as if she'd been waiting for it, kicked up a fuss. As if knowing perfectly well who that was, Ji-young nodded and twisted her lips. With her preparations done, Ji-young stretched her arms wide. Her long arms reached out straight.

Hee-jin, glancing down briefly at her own phone, asked Ji-young. Hee-jin: Today, we may be facing it. At Hee-jin's careful warning, Ji-young paused her stretch for a moment and nodded her head. Ji-young: I'd just like to get it over with quickly. Without dragging it out. Hee-jin: Soon, the internal turncoats shall all be cleaned out. At Hee-jin's calm certainty, Ji-young carried on with the stretch she had not finished. As if all the weighty conversation were now done, Hee-jin asked Ji-young lightly.

Hee-jin: Where shall we go. Ji-young: There's no place to buy unlocked, I suppose? Hee-jin: Eh, well. No. I bought mine on a two-year contract too. Ji-young: Argh, unlocked is the convenient one. Easy to cancel and all. Hmm. Would the nearby metropolitan city be a bit far? Hee-jin: By car, about, an hour? It would take. Ji-young: I'll drive, so let's go there. Hee-jin shook her head firmly, as if denying it outright. Hee-jin: I shall do it. As I said earlier, The Oldest must learn to receive.

An hour's drive is nothing. I used to go all the way to the northwestern reaches every day. Ji-young: Ah. Right. Hee-jin: If you wait a moment, I shall warm the car and come back to fetch — At Hee-jin's words, Ji-young, with a face like she had eaten something too salty, sprang up onto her feet. Ji-young: There's a limit to a person's decency. Let's go. We need to hurry, get the phone and the game console, and come back.

Throwing on the thick Traditional outer coat that had been hung at the entrance, fluttering it about her, she flung the door wide and stepped outside. Hee-jin, hurrying to follow her out, closed the opened door behind her. Chae-rim, who had been beneath the eaves, suddenly appeared and set Ji-young's 운혜(Unhye_Everyday traditional shoes) out on the Stepping stone. It was Chae-rim's firm resolve. Chae-rim, by the look of her, was fully prepared to head out herself. Ji-young, smiling brightly, asked Chae-rim.

Ji-young: I'm just going to buy a game console and a phone. You're coming along? Chae-rim: You may not have known, but I followed you to the lavatory, too. And when you bathed. Ji-young: … Hah …. Let's go. But, instead of as a shadow — let's walk side by side. Chae-rim: Yes. Understood. Scene 09_04. So-hui drew up her skein of thread. Wearing sneakers, she carefully loosened her ankle muscles and set herself between Gyeong-seo and Yeon-su. Yeon-su, set as So-hui's training partner, hesitated and watched the air.

Yeon-su: Uh, but. With the Guide as my opponent, truly — Gyeong-seo: There's no such thing in training. So-hui: No need to read the air. And — this way you'll know more clearly that I'm a different person from Yeon-hui sis. So-hui prepared her dance posture. Letting her two hands tilt loose, front and back, she twisted her waist on a slant. Bending her knees in a hesitant crouch, she pressed her eyes shut.

In So-hui's hands, set front and back, the 적사(Jeok-sa_Red Thread) skein and the 청사(Cheong-sa_Blue Thread) skein were placed on either side. No sooner had So-hui taken her stance than Gyeong-seo, swiftly fluttering her 삼베(Sambae_Hemp cloth), drove into So-hui's bosom. The Hemp cloth, curving like a serpent's body, came flying in fast. The straight-set strands of Hemp cloth, their tips curling, came flying in to strike at So-hui's back.

The Hemp cloth was drawing out the form of the 거북놀이(Geo-buk-no-ri_Turtle Dance) with its curving. So-hui tried to feel the rhythm of the Hemp cloth as it bore down slowly. In the gap as Gyeong-seo's footwork carried over from the 길놀이(Gil-no-ri_The Road Play) into the 문굿(Mun-gut_The Gate Rite), the green-light skein bound about So-hui's wrist fluttered up and rode along the wrist of Gyeong-seo — not the Hemp cloth.

If the Hemp cloth settled upon her shoulder, all the shamanic craft and the incantation set within her body would go quiet for a moment — that was certain. So-hui's dance spread her two arms and twisted from side to side. Drawing out an opening close to a 활갯짓(Hwal-gae-jit_Wing-Spreading Movement), she deflected aside the Hemp cloth that had aimed at the back of her shoulder, and let the black sand of Yeon-su, who had charged in from behind, flow forward instead.

Gyeong-seo opened up the 조왕굿판(Jo-wang-gut-pan_The Hearth-God Rite Ground) and spread the Hemp cloth strands wide. The Hemp cloth, which had been only strands, unfurled into a great expanse, and sought to wrap So-hui from above downward. The black sand sought to wrap around So-hui's ankles. So-hui's footwork stomped the bramble of black sand fully and firmly, and the lightness of So-hui's body floated up just slightly.

So-hui's fierce sweeping half-circle let Gyeong-seo and Yeon-su flow past in the very direction they had charged in. So-hui's Red Thread wound around one of Gyeong-seo's wrists, hindering Gyeong-seo just as she was about to plant her axis-foot. But So-hui's half-circle, twisted by Gyeong-seo's strength, did not, in the end, form the perfect circle So-hui had wanted.

In the moment Gyeong-seo had drawn So-hui slightly off, Yeon-su, having gone around behind So-hui, scattered black sand and quickly turned her direction to charge again, aiming for So-hui's neck. The Blue Thread wound around Yeon-su's waist. The wound Blue Thread rose taut, set as if to push back Yeon-su's charging body. Yeon-su, drawing the 마당판굿(Ma-dang-pan-gut_The Courtyard Ground Rite) in Gyeong-seo's stead, rather wound the Blue Thread that sought to push her around her own waist.

When Gyeong-seo's long Hemp cloth-cape had reached just above So-hui's head, So-hui pulled Gyeong-seo's wrist — wound by the Red Thread — a little harder, and grasping Gyeong-seo's wrist directly, lowered her body fully. Just before So-hui's long hair would have brushed against the Hemp cloth, taking the lowered waist as her axis, she worked her footwork and slipped quickly out of the long Hemp cloth. So-hui, having slipped free, kept her eyes closed still.

She had scattered the Red Thread in every direction, trying to feel the movements of the two through its strings as if through a chord. Yeon-su's movement — that, she could feel sooner than she had expected. Half-kneeling, So-hui scattered the Blue Thread, and just as she had wound it around Yeon-su's wrist, So-hui's Blue Thread sank down spent. The blade of Gyeong-seo's Hemp cloth was set against So-hui's back. Gyeong-seo: Hehe. So-hui: Argh, truly. I've been letting it slide a bit lately.

At Gyeong-seo's awkward laugh, So-hui slowly opened her closed eyes and let out a light grumble. Yeon-su, catching her breath and straightening her posture, drew up to So-hui who was still half-seated. Yeon-su: Wow, but. What. Why are you so good? So-hui took Yeon-su's hand and rose from where she had been seated. So-hui: Eh, I've a long way to go yet. Gyeong-seo: You guide our paths, and dance this well too — you've a long way to go, you say. That's cheating.

Hah, truly, Lee Si-yeon is the biggest piece of shit then. As if Gyeong-seo's voice had been heard, from beyond the open front door Si-yeon's shout came carrying. Si-yeon: Hey!! You SSibal!! You're dead after dinner!! When Si-yeon's sharp cry came carrying, at the entrance to the garden a familiar presence was stepping in. So-hui ran first, leaping up to the familiar figure and flinging out her cheerful greeting. So-hui: ajeossi!!

Driver Lim, having parked the great car at the entrance, with a bittersweetness behind his glad expression, swept So-hui's joyful greeting up into his arms. Driver Lim: Now, So-hui, you mustn't be doing this anymore, must you? The color of Driver Lim's face — who must have suffered as much heart-ache as anyone — had grown drawn. Even so, he could not bar the rush of So-hui, who could not hide the joy. Watching Driver Lim, Gyeong-seo and Yeon-su silently conveyed their greetings as well.

Driver Lim, holding So-hui who clung like a cicada, bent his waist with hardship. At the voice from outside, Si-yeon stepped out of the living room and conveyed a belated greeting to Driver Lim with a glad smile. So-hui: ajeossi. You couldn't even speak a word, on your own. Truly, it must have been hard. Driver Lim: What hardship would I have had. The Former The Oldest, and the now The Oldest, were the ones who suffered. And all of you. So-hui, held in Driver Lim's arms, shook her head with all her strength.

Clinging to Driver Lim, throwing a child's tantrum, So-hui drew a small clearing-of-the-throat from Driver Lim. Driver Lim: But, So-hui. So-hui: Yes. Driver Lim: This ajeossi is a bit thirsty. Won't you bring me some water.