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| Cover of "Hello, Drunkard" by Kwon Yeo-sun, which includes "The Aunt" Courtesy of Changbi |
Written by Kwon Yeo-sun
Translated by Rina Kim
Before our marriage, I had thought that Taewoo's father's side of the family was bustling, but that on his mother's side, there was only his grandmother. So when I first met his parents, I suspected his mother would be rather head-strong because she was an only child. We had the formal introductory get-together at a Chinese restaurant and his mother was the one who decided the course, the individual dishes and everything about the menu. And they all submitted to her choices, his father with a bit of grumbling and Taewoo, in silence.
About a month after we were married, I was told that Taewoo had an elder aunt and an uncle on his mother's side. This meant that my mother-in-law had an older sister and a younger brother. They were not at our wedding. The elder aunt was in hiding after cutting ties with her family two years ago, and the uncle was wanted by the police for his gambling debts. With the marriage impending, my mother-in-law had apparently decided, after some deliberation, that there was no point in disclosing these facts to the bride-to-be and the future in-laws.
"So why tell me now?"
"My elder aunt has been hospitalized. Luckily, they managed to contact mom."
"What's wrong with her?"
"She didn't say. Doesn't that mean it's a pretty serious disease?"
"Well, not necessarily …"
I replied vaguely. I didn't know what to say about the symptoms of someone I had never met.
"I felt kind of sad all day. I liked my elder aunt."
Taewoo's last comment felt like a kind of pressure. Suddenly, I was overcome by anxiety that, at this rate, within days the uncle on the run from the police for his gambling debts might also barge into our new home blind drunk, carried in the arms of my husband.
I decided to take my mother-in-law on the visit to see my aunt-in-law in hospital. I thought paying at least one visit was the proper thing to do. It was no small comfort to me that my mother-in-law was someone who was reasonable and resolute. My mother-in-law suggested taking a cab as the way there was complicated. In the cab on the way, she just said it was pancreatic cancer when I asked about the illness. I was going to ask how much it had progressed and whether it had spread but decided not to after seeing her face. She started talking when we headed towards the hospital entrance after we got out of the cab.
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"My sister,"
my mother-in-law flinched and then corrected herself,
"I mean, your aunt-in-law, isn't very cranky, but that said, she isn't such a warm person either. She hates to be a burden and would rather be the one who ends up losing out."
On that point, I thought that the sisters were much alike.
"I married rather young and I didn't really visit my family often afterwards. Because I didn't like my family."
My mother-in-law said this and then looked at me. I flinched because she seemed to be perhaps asking whether I understood and also whether I wasn't like this as well.
"My sister spent her whole life working, not marrying, and looked after our mother. That Kyung Chol boy, your uncle-in-law that is, used to come to the house sometimes … and when he had money troubles, well I guess I can tell you everything now, my sister bailed him out a number of times … and then …."
We had already arrived in front of the elevator. Three or four people dressed as patients got into the elevator with us. My mother-in-law only continued with her story once we were out of the elevator.
"I think it was may be in the autumn two years ago. My sister suddenly disappeared, leaving just a letter. The gist of it was, definitely don't look for me, I want to cut all ties for a while, I want to live this way at least once before I die, I will come back if I change my mind. It wasn't just the content that was shocking, but also, what's the word, you write, so you should know. What do you call that?"
I had no idea what that was.
"Would you call that the energy in the words? It's not the characters, not the handwriting."
"The writing style?"
"The writing style? Is that what you call it? I don't know. My sister also wanted to become a writer back in the day. She might be pleased to see you. Anyway, as I was reading my sister's letter, I could sense a chill that was in the writing style or whatever and it made me shiver. It was scary and hurtful, which was strange because she hadn't written anything mean and they were just ordinary words. I'm curious what that is. What in the world is that, seriously…."
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