New Moon

by Lee Ik-sang · 2026-03-20

“Hurry up and wash your face, then have breakfast.”

At his wife's call, Seong-ho was startled and went outside. It seemed that breakfast was already prepared.

While washing his face in the kitchen, Seong-ho asked.

“Why is breakfast so simple today?”

His wife answered while placing a bowl on the table.

“We have to leave early today.”

“What’s going on? Where are we going?”

“Today is the new moon, and I don’t want to feel sleepy.”

“What about the house? All day long…”

Seong-ho asked this, but inside he thought things would work out well. It wasn't something his wife could just tell the creditors to leave her alone, and he couldn't suggest fleeing either. He considered that his wife bringing up the idea of escape voluntarily was a good way to spend the day safely.

“In terms of household management, there should be something to lose.” His wife said this, but there was a clear look of displeasure on his face. Seong-ho washed his face without saying a word.

“How can I feel sleepy alone? Do you even know when the salary will come out?” His wife asked again as if explaining the reason for having to flee, putting aside her role as a housewife.

“I can't say for sure if it will be today... either today or tomorrow.”

Seong-ho also couldn't give a definite answer.

“If it doesn’t work out today, it will be a big problem!” His wife showed a more disappointed expression as she couldn't get a clear answer from Seong-ho.

Seong-ho sat at the table while wiping his face with a towel.

On the table, there was only soybean paste stew and kimchi. Seong-ho thought he was grateful to have at least this to eat, but his thoughts and appetite were different. The rice didn't go down well. After taking a couple of spoonfuls, he called his wife.

“Honey! There’s no need to eat rice separately without side dishes, come over and eat together.”

The young Mun-hwan bites his finger and clings to his mother's skirt, whining.

“Mun-hwan, come here with your rice…” Seong-ho called the child.

“You come too.” The wife also called.

The young Mun-hwan pulls at the skirt, looking up at his mother as if seeking her approval. The wife pretended to be unable to resist and brought the rice bowls for herself and young Mun-hwan to her husband’s side. However, even with three bowls of rice on the table, there was still a gap.

The wife placed the rice bowl in front of her and picked up a spoon. Although the young Mun-hwan had placed his rice bowl in front of him, he did not pick up the spoon and just kept putting his finger in his mouth. The wife scooped a little rice onto the lid and poured some soybean paste stew, tasting it herself,

“It’s really delicious. Eat quickly! You’re really good…” she encouraged Mun-hwan.

However, the young Mun-hwan shook his head coldly and pouted.

“Why are you doing this? Eat quickly…” his mother said, glaring once. Still, the young Mun-hwan shook his head and began to pout as if he was about to cry.

“What’s wrong?” The wife shouted loudly.

“Egg!” The young Mun-hwan answered faintly with a voice mixed with tears.

“Egg? Where is there an egg? Let’s just eat this morning, okay?” The wife said, soothing herself inwardly.

“No.” The young Mun-hwan shook his head again.

In fact, it was unreasonable to expect young Mun-hwan to eat spicy stew and rice. So on days when there were no side dishes, Seong-ho and his wife would give young Mun-hwan a small portion of rice and buy him eggs, even if they had to eat plain rice themselves. Mun-hwan ate eggs better than the adults. Today, too, he would have expected an egg to be placed in front of him if there were no side dishes. However, the egg he hoped for did not come, and he was complaining about only having the spicy stew.

The wife glared again and threatened young Mun-hwan to eat quickly. Young Mun-hwan put down the spoon he had picked up and tried to burst into tears. The wife pulled Mun-hwan towards her, made him sit down, and scooped rice with a spoon to bring to his mouth,

“Look… it’s really tasty, right? If you eat like this, we can go to Jingo Pass with your father in the evening and buy good toys and delicious snacks… okay?” she coaxed, gesturing that they would buy many things.

“Snacks… okay… toys, ding-ding tram… buy for me…” Young Mun-hwan accepted the rice being offered and then snatched the spoon from his mother’s hand to start feeding himself.

Seong-ho and his wife finally seemed to feel relieved and began to scoop rice with their spoons. However, Seong-ho felt that swallowing the rice was much more uncomfortable than usual.

‘If this continues, I’ll have to lie to young Mun-hwan too. How can we afford to go to Jingo Pass!’ Seong-ho wanted to speak up, but since young Mun-hwan had stopped crying, he held it in. The wife also occasionally comforted young Mun-hwan while eating, but it didn’t seem to be going down well either.

After finishing the rice, Seong-ho hurriedly dressed and spoke to his wife.

“If we're going to evacuate, we need to prepare early.”

“You go ahead first! I'll go out slowly with Mun-hwan.” The wife replied while clearing the table.

“We need to know where we're going if we leave.” Seong-ho asked.

“There’s not really anywhere to go. We'll go to K's house.” The wife answered, sounding a bit annoyed.

“Then let's do this. Since we don't know if we'll have money today, please call Sa once.” Seong-ho thought that if he got his salary, he would buy snacks for Mun-hwan as promised and also get him a toy.

“When would be a good time? There's a phone next door to K's.” The wife's face showed a hint of joy.

“Since Shimekiri will be around two o'clock, try calling around three.” Seong-ho informed her about the time to come out of Sa.

“I really hope it works out today…” The wife muttered again, sounding strange.

“If we have money today, let's go to Jingojae. We can't lie to Mun-hwan…” Seong-ho said this while looking at the faces of his wife and child.

Snacks! Jingojae! Buying a toy! Even with these fragmented words, little Mun-hwan seemed to perk up and smiled brightly.

“Alright! Then let's hurry and get ready to evacuate!” The wife looked at Seong-ho with a bright smile, went into the room, took out a mirror, and started fixing her hair.

Seong-ho opened the door and looked at the sunlight. It seemed to be an hour earlier than usual. The summer sun had not yet risen much above Naksan. He felt it was a bit inappropriate to go out alone, and it also felt a bit wrong to wait for his wife to finish preparing for their outing. However, today felt early, and leaving his wife alone at home seemed too cruel. Moreover, since they had been forced to flee due to debts, it felt justified to go together. So, he decided that since it was early, he would suggest going out together.

“Honey! Then let’s go out together.” Seong-ho took off his hat and hung it on the wall before sitting down again.

“That sounds good. It’s still early, so please wait a moment. I’ll get ready quickly.” His wife said cheerfully and looked back at little Mun-hwan,

“Father is going with us. And we’ll go to Aunt K’s house to see the baby…” she informed.

Seong-ho picked up the newspaper on the desk and began to read. His wife seemed busy for a while, tying her hair, applying powder to her face, changing clothes, and dressing Mun-hwan in new clothes.

For about thirty minutes, he waited while reading the newspaper and smoking a cigarette. After everything was ready, the three of them locked the house door tightly and went outside. No creditors had come looking for them until they left the house. They safely left their home.