End of the Road

by Han Yong-un · 2026-03-20

"Are you there, brother?"

Bong-rim entered, making noise from the entrance.

"Sister, what brings you here?"

Sun-young, who was sewing in the warm sunlight of spring, stood up in surprise to greet Bong-rim.

"I'm always sewing. While sewing, I heard news about you."

"Then what should I do? I can't starve to death."

Sun-young sighed with a smile.

"I always want to visit, but I don't have time to come out and see what I can do. It's all about surviving."

"That's right. I also have no time to go out because I have to manage everything alone, and it's even more so for you. Please, sit down."

Sun-young swept the floor with her hand,

"Shall we go into the room?"

and looked at Bong-rim.

"What's in the room? The floor here is warm and nice."

Bong-rim tried to sit down, covering her skirt.

"Since the weather is warm, the floor is actually better. The room smells bad."

Sun-young blew on the spot where she had sat with her hand,

"Whether there's a cushion or a mat, just sit as you are. I clean it every day, so it's not that dirty."

and put away what she was sewing.

"Your complexion has improved compared to before."

Bong-rim looked at Sun-young as she sat down.

"Improved? Can it really get better?"

"No, it has improved."

"I don't know if it has improved or not; I don't even look in the mirror."

Sun-young tucked her bangs behind her ear.

"Maybe not looking in the mirror makes me prettier. I don't understand why I get uglier when I look in the mirror and put on makeup. Maybe I should stop looking in the mirror and stop wearing makeup to become a bit prettier."

"You are originally pretty, so putting on makeup might actually make you less pretty. Someone like you is rare."

Sun-young smiled with her eyes.

"Oh dear, it's been a while since I saw you, and your way with words has improved. They say it would be a sin to tease you. But really, how have you been?"

Bong-rim changed her expression while laughing.

"How have I been, you ask? I've been doing okay, just living since I'm not dead."

"Well, eating and living are important, but your heart must have settled down by now. You must have had some heartache too."

"I've forgotten quite a bit compared to before, but I still can't completely forget."

"At first, after the divorce and Su-bok's death, I was heartbroken, but has it already been three years?"

"In terms of years, it's been four."

"It feels like just yesterday when your brother was crying and making a fuss, and now it's already been four years. Time is truly heartless, isn't it? Even if a hundred years pass, I can't completely forget."

"Not only can I not completely forget, but sometimes I keep thinking about it. It's because my heart is weak, isn't it, sister?"

"It's not weakness; it's because the heart is kind. That's what maternal affection is all about."

"No, thinking about Su-bok is one thing, but that's something that can't be helped since he's dead, but I keep thinking about that person."

Sun-young looked at Bong-rim with a doubtful expression, as if she found it strange even to think so herself.

"You mean you think about that person, Su-bok's father?"

"Yes, sister."

"You think about Su-bok like that? What reason do you have to think about that person?"

Bong-rim paused for a moment before continuing.

"How can you think about that person? The one who abandoned me every day..."

Bong-rim said with a sneer.

"It's not that I left because I disliked it."

"If you didn't leave because you disliked it, does that mean you left because you liked it? That kind of thinking is foolish. If you separated to live with another woman, then that's that. What good does it do to think about that? No, are you really going to believe that you'll get back together later?"

"It's not that I necessarily believe it, but what can I do about something that keeps getting stuck in my mind?"

"So, how many times did you come back in those four years?"

"Not even once."

"Then, you caused such a commotion that it nearly killed Subok and you didn't come back even once?"

"I was too busy with the gold mine to find the time to come."

"Then, was there any correspondence?"

"There were no letters either. You need to know the address to write a letter."

"It's not about whether you wrote a letter, but whether you ever received a letter from the other side."

"Well, there weren't any."

"So, you don't even know if Subok is dead or alive?"

"I don't know, there's no way to know."

"For example, isn't it possible that Subok was killed by my father?"

"Well, he died because his life was short; does that mean he was killed?"

"Dying because his life was short? My father came home drunk and scolded him, and he died of shock; what kind of nonsense is it to say he died because of that?"

"Still, it's his fate, and it is what it is, what can be done?"

Sun-young wiped her tears.

"So, you're saying you believe and wait for that person who hasn't come even once in four years and hasn't sent a single letter?"

Bong-rim felt pity for Sun-young, who was sitting there crying, but also thought she seemed too naive to be taken seriously.

"I don't think that person would deceive me with lies no matter what. I've said this many times before, but that person is also my savior, and for some reason, I keep thinking about them. Is that because I'm weak and have a poor heart, sister? If it were you, you wouldn't even think about such a person, right?"

Sun-young spoke as if her constant thoughts about that person were a fault.

"If it were me, I wouldn't even consider thinking about them, let alone if such a person came and asked to meet me. If a letter came, I wouldn't even open it and would just burn it. What kind of person is that, and what kind of thinking is that?"

Bong-rim pouted and turned her head slightly.

"That's true, if it were your temperament, it would be like that, but I don't understand why I'm so weak-hearted. Still, I just feel sorry for that person. And I keep believing that surely they wouldn't do such a thing. Even now, if I had money and knew where they were, I would want to send them money. I don't know why that is. Not just for them, but I feel like no one would do something so wrong, and if there is a pitiful person, I want to help them. Is that because I'm weak-hearted, sister?"

Sun-young asks, unable to criticize whether her thoughts are right or wrong, as if a lost person were asking for directions.

"Why would it be weakness? That's a good heart and kind thinking. Isn't the desire to feel pity for others and want to help them a good thought? However, believing in someone who is useless to believe in is actually foolish, so why would it be weakness?" Bong-rim seemed to have felt something from Sun-young's words and changed her attitude.

"But really, I came to say something, but I ended up talking about other things."

And he looked at Sun-young.

"What do you mean? Let's stop with that and talk about something else."

Sun-young felt a new expectation at Bong-lim's mention of having something to say. "But could that really happen?"

Bong-lim sat down closer to Sun-young.

"What is it?"

"Is it really possible for a person to become that way?"

"What do you mean?"

Sun-young wanted to hear more.

"I must have seen it wrong."

"Ah, what do you mean?"

"They say a person's life can change overnight, but in four years, it couldn't possibly happen like that."

"Oh dear, you too, sister, it's not just talk, you're trying to melt a person's liver." Sun-young laughed as if she was spilling rice.

"It's so strange that I wonder if I saw it wrong or what, it's hard to say, really."

"Oh, it seems like I might hear something about picking stars in the sky. Seeing how long this is going on."

Sun-young seemed to lose the tension in her expression.

"But is it possible for a person to go from being rich to poor in four years, and for a poor person to become rich, right, brother?"

"Forget about four years, it could happen even in one year."

"That's true. Still, it's so strange and suspicious that it's hard to say. But since I've started talking, I should speak as I saw it. But no matter what, I must have seen it wrong. It's possible to see things wrong, and there are many people who look alike."

Bong-lim met Sun-young's eyes, turning them a few times,

"Brother, is there a way to go towards Sajik Park after going down a bit in front of the Haetae?"

"Are you talking about the road to my side?"

"Yes, that road."

"Right, but?"

"Isn't there a house built like a Western-style house at the beginning of that road?"

"Is there such a house? I guess there might be."

"Yes, there is such a house, and that house is where the opium dealers sell opium."

"They sell opium? I heard that if you sell opium, you get caught."

"But this place doesn't just sell it quietly; they have a permit to sell it. And you also need a permit to buy opium there. Anyway, I don't know the details, but it's a place that sells opium."

"I don't know; I'm too clueless to understand such things."

"But I go that way often because I visit my sister-in-law's house."

"So, you go that way?"

"Yes, one day when it was raining, I was passing by that house."

"Oh, it's too bothersome to answer, just get to the point."

Sun-young pretended to be angry while smiling.

"No matter what, I must have seen it wrong."

"Oh, stop it, I don't want to hear it. I won't listen anyway."

Sun-young stretched and took a position lying back.

"No, this doesn't matter to me at all. It's something related to you, and it's a pretty big deal."

Bong-rim sat awkwardly with his hands behind him, as if it didn't matter whether he spoke or not.

"What do you mean it has a big relation to me? Just say it."

Sun-young regained her composure.

"For us, it doesn't matter whether we hear it or not, but you probably won't feel the same way."