Marriage
by Han Yong-un · 2026-03-20
They turned south and arrived at a place where the beach was not visible.
“Well, we will excuse ourselves. Enjoy watching.”
As Jeongsik was talking to Sunyoung and Jeongsun while trying to take off his clothes, Daechul seemed to be thinking of something,
“Wait a moment, I’ll be right back.”
and then he ran back the way he came, returning with various threads and a bundle.
“We will go swimming, but it might be boring for you to just sit and watch, so please enjoy this while you watch.”
He said as he placed it in front of Sunyoung and Jeongsun.
“Oh, you brought this? Thank you for going out of your way.”
They all stood up at once to express their gratitude. Sunyoung thought that Daechul was especially kind. Even while placing the threads and bundle in front of them, it felt as if he was placing them specifically in front of her. Jeongsun's expression seemed displeased that it was Daechul who brought it, not Jeongsik. Jeongsun looked a bit sulky.
“You eat it.”
Jeongsun pushed the threads toward Sunyoung.
“Let’s eat together.”
Sunyoung pushed it back again.
“I don’t like that kind of thing.”
Jeongsun turned her eyes elsewhere.
The men had already taken off their clothes and stood looking at the sea in just their swimsuits. Their bodies, tanned by the sun, were muscular. Sunyoung thought Jeongsik looked short but appeared satisfied, while Daechul had a suitable height and build. Although wearing a swimsuit, Sunyoung felt embarrassed to see that appearance. However, she looked at it more closely than openly.
“That Mr. Seo has a small and neat physique, doesn’t he?”
Jeongsun said with a smile as she looked back at Sunyoung.
“That’s right, they say Joseon people should be small, and he looks small yet sturdy.”
Sun-young understood Jeong-soon's intention and tried to please him.
“We like tall men, right? There's also a saying that there are no tall and slender people? And being slender like a reed isn't very manly, right?”
Sun-young wanted to say that Dae-cheol's physique was just right, but she blurred the end of her sentence with a laugh, fearing it might go against Jeong-soon's intention.
The men jumped into the sea with a splash and were out of sight for a while. Sun-young's heart raced in surprise. After a moment, they leaped out of the water and swam out to sea. They swam in various ways.
They swam on their stomachs, swam with their backs arched, swam sideways, sat, stood, and did all sorts of things, looking like ducks and fish, but their appearance floating freely on the vast sea was refreshing. Sun-young only looked at Dae-cheol. Occasionally, she looked at Jeong-sik to compare him with Dae-cheol.
Sun-young thought that being good at swimming was a man's honor and beauty. She wished Dae-cheol would go to the ends of the sky, but at the same time, she felt anxious and cautious, hoping he would come back quickly.
“Can women like us learn to swim, teacher?” After finishing swimming, Sun-young asked, her heart directed towards Dae-cheol while her eyes looked at Jeong-sik.
“Ah, of course. There are many cases where women are better than men.”
Dae-cheol replied, looking back at Sun-young.
“There hasn't been such an example in Joseon yet, but I've heard that there are many women who swim well in the West. I once saw in a newspaper about a woman who crossed the English Channel in a few hours. Such a woman is beyond a man, right?”
Jeong-sik said to Dae-cheol.
“How do those women do so well? When we get into the water, we keep sinking and can’t float at all, but how do you do it so well, teacher? This is the first time I've seen someone do it so well.”
Sun-young gradually moved closer to Dae-cheol and spoke.
“Anyone sinks when they get into the water. You have to learn to swim little by little.”
“How do you learn?” Sun-young asked, hoping to engage Dae-cheol in conversation rather than just wanting to know about swimming.
“How? Well, you have to actually learn; it's hard to explain in words. There’s something called pressure in the water. Using that, a person can float. When you paddle your arms and legs while swimming, you do that to utilize that pressure. That’s how you float.”
Dae-cheol kindly explained and pretended to paddle his arms and legs.
“Really? But sometimes I see you floating well even when your arms and legs are still. Why is that?”
“It may look like you’re still from the outside, but actually, you’re moving everything. Once you get used to it, you can do it in various ways.”
Dae-cheol looked at Sun-young and then smiled at Jeong-sook again.
“Do you want to be a swimmer? Why are you asking so specifically? If you want to know that much, why not take off your clothes and get in right now to learn?”
Jeong-sook seemed to become unnecessarily sharp in expression.
“Who said I want to learn? I’m just asking because I don’t know.”
Sun-young turned her eyes away from Dae-cheol to look at the sea and didn’t ask again.
“But why haven’t you eaten the threads? It looks like you haven’t eaten them yet.”
Dae-cheol said, looking at the threads and bundle that were left untouched.
“I didn’t have time to eat because I was watching you swim.”
Sun-young did not stop touching the thread and the bundle with her hands.
“What is that? Let’s eat together.”
Jeongsik spoke and laughed.
“Why would the teacher eat something that someone else brought when you didn’t even buy anything yourself? That was bought for us to eat, not for the teacher.”
Jeongsun showed a distinctly sulky expression and glared at Jeongsik.
“That’s not true. I did buy it, but it was because Jeongsik asked me to buy it. Please eat together.”
Daecheol smiled as if he understood Jeongsun’s intention and pulled the thread and bundle closer.
“It doesn’t matter who brought it, as long as we eat it.”
Jeongsik picked a bunch of grapes and ate one first.
“Come on, everyone, eat up.”
Daecheol selected a clean bunch of grapes and said,
“This one seems pretty good. Try it.”
and handed it to Sun-young.
“Oh, please eat first.”
Sun-young received it politely and smiled as if satisfied. Daecheol rummaged through the grapes again, but there were no bunches worth eating as much as the one he had given to Sun-young. He selected one that was slightly better and said,
“Maybe the grapes aren’t ripe enough yet, so they’re not great. Just eat them as they are.”
and handed it to Jeongsun. Jeongsun, looking sulky, hesitated to take it but eventually accepted it reluctantly,
“This is too much for me as well. The good ones should be taken by Teacher Seo; it seems like Teacher Seo has never had grapes in her lifetime. She doesn’t even suggest others to try them, so please take the good ones quickly.”
She rolled her eyes behind Jeongsik. Jeongsun found it somewhat annoying that Jeongsik, unlike Daechul, kindly did not offer her anything and only ate by himself, but in reality, she felt a bit resentful that Daechul had given good grapes to Sunyoung first and only offered her the leftovers later.
“Ah, I completely forgot.”
Jeongsik broke off a part of the grape bunch he was eating and offered the remaining part,
“I took a piece from where I was eating. Please have some.”
and smiled.
“Am I someone who only eats leftovers?”
Jeongsun flared up, her face changing as she grabbed the grape bunch, causing the grapes to burst and juice to splatter.
“What is this? What’s the big deal?”
Jeongsik showed an unpleasant expression. Daechul and Sunyoung wiped the grape juice off their clothes with a towel.
“Eat a lot by yourself; I’m leaving.”
Jeongsun stood up, shook off her clothes, and left without a word.
“Come here.”
“Don’t say that, come here.”
“Come here, let’s go together.”
They tried to persuade her several times, but Jeongsun walked away without looking back.
“Then I’ll go too.”
Sunyoung also stood up.
“Whether you go or not, just leave us alone and let’s play a bit longer.”
At Jeongsik’s words,
“Is that possible? Can two people come and one just stay behind? Moreover, it’s unsettling to leave.”
Sunyoung adjusted her clothes,
“Then have fun, everyone. Since my friend is leaving, I’ll go first.”
and she glanced at Daechul before moving her feet.
“Alright, then let’s go too; everyone is leaving, so what fun is there for us to stay behind?”
Daechul stood up, gathering his things. Jeongsik also stood up reluctantly.
“Hey, Jeongsun, let’s go together.”
As Soon-young was running just now, she saw them following behind and walked slowly as if there was nothing to worry about. Soon-young found Jeong-soon’s behavior amusing, and on the other hand, somewhat satisfying. No matter how she looked at it, she was even happier because it seemed that Dae-cheol had some advantages over Jeong-sik. Soon-young often looked back at Dae-cheol, who was coming behind her, rather than Jeong-soon, who was ahead, and was secretly laughing. Earlier, when Dae-cheol had chosen good grapes and gave them to her before Jeong-soon, who had known them first, she thought it definitely meant he had feelings for her, which made her very happy.
“Today, after many days, we meet again, and since we have two good guests, I wish we could have dinner together, but it’s less fun with Jeong-soon leaving like that.”
Dae-cheol said, looking at Jeong-sik.
“Well, I think the same, but I can bring Jeong-soon.”
Jeong-sik said while looking at Jeong-soon, who was walking ahead.
“Then let’s go have dinner, but if we’re going into Incheon, there’s no easy place, so let’s go to the restaurant next to Jotang.”
“Then let’s do that.”
Jeong-sik looked again at where Jeong-soon was going,
“It seems Jeong-soon is already getting into a car, but once she gets in, she’ll probably just go home. Then I can go and bring her soon, so let’s stop and go to the restaurant.”
Jeong-sik leads the way.
“It wouldn’t matter if Soon-young has dinner and leaves, right?”
Dae-cheol asked,
“Well, today is a day off, but it shouldn’t be too late. Also, our friend has already gone ahead.”
Soon-young showed a difficult expression but did not firmly say she couldn’t.
“Then it’s fine. Jeong-soon will come too, so don’t worry.” Dae-cheol said kindly.
“Sun-young lowered her head and did not speak for a while. As soon as they entered the restaurant,
“Well then, I will go and bring Jeong-soon, so I apologize but please wait a moment.”
Jung-sik said again to Sun-young,
“Then, excuse me.”
and left.
The evening light trying to cross the horizon illuminated their seats through the thin curtains. They looked at each other but avoided making eye contact by looking elsewhere. Silence continued for a while. Sun-young had questions to ask but could not bring herself to speak first, only thinking in her mind and biting her lips. That thought did not reach Dae-cheol's ears.
“Now that it’s evening, you must feel a bit cool, right?”
Dae-cheol initiated the conversation.
“Yes, it’s very cool. It seems there’s not a hint of heat.” Sun-young opened her mouth.
“But I heard earlier that today is a play day, so is there a separate play day?”
“Yes, there is a separate one.”
“What do you do?”
Sun-young's words got stuck. She had thought calmly about the fact that there was a separate play day, but when it came to asking what they did, she could not readily speak about her own situation to him. Sun-young's face turned red and sweat began to form on her back,
“You will understand in time.”
she finally said.
“Ah, I truly apologize. I asked such questions in a clumsy manner. Please forgive me.”
Dae-cheol thought it was indeed rude to ask about a stranger's occupation on their first meeting.
“No, you don’t have to say that. My occupation is so unusual that I feel embarrassed to talk about it. Even if you don’t ask, there will be a time when I will tell you.”
Sun-young lowered her head and smiled. Dae-cheol thought Sun-young's words and attitude were a bit strange, but he did not press further.
Then the car arrived. Dae-cheol, who had been sitting and drinking tea, suddenly stood up and looked outside,
“It will take a little time for this person to go and bring Jeong-soon, so while we wait, shall we go outside for a walk?”
and turned to Sun-young.
“Let’s sit and talk, please have a seat.”
Sun-young thought it was a good opportunity until Jeong-sik arrived, so she spoke earnestly.
“Then let’s talk.”
Dae-cheol sat down happily.
“You should start, teacher. Do I know how to talk?”
“What should we talk about? Conversations don’t come easily when you try to force them.”
Dae-cheol seemed to be thinking about something while looking at the ceiling.
“But how do you swim so well?”
Sun-young brought this up before Dae-cheol could change the subject, as she wanted to hear what she was interested in.
“Well, I can’t say I swim well. I may not be good at it, but I can learn gradually.”
“How do you swim even better than that? You could probably cross the sea if you wanted to?”
“Haha, no, I can’t cross the sea. Swimming is difficult over long distances.”
“Is that so? To me, it seems like you could cross the sea. Anyway, if you swim like that, you wouldn’t have to worry about drowning, right?”
“Not necessarily. There’s an old saying that a good swimmer can drown, isn’t there? But that happens because I’m not good at it; if I’m careful, I shouldn’t drown.”
“If you swim that well, there's no way you would fall into the water. Rather, you would save someone who has fallen into the water, right, teacher?”
The conversation gradually shifts to the main topic.
“That's right, there are times when you save others.”
“Ah, I see? Then you must have saved many people who fell into the water, right?”
Sun-young looks at Dae-cheol with interest.
“Yes, there have been times when I saved a few.”
“How many have you saved?”
Sun-young moves her chair closer while sitting.
“There were about three or four times.”
“In the sea?”
“Twice in the sea, once in the river, that's right.”
“If it's three times, that means you saved three people. Were the people you saved men or women?”
“Two were women, one was a man, that's right.”
“Where and how did you save them? Please tell me about it.”
“What’s there to talk about that? Sun-young, why don’t you share a nice story?”
Dae-cheol smiled faintly while looking at Sun-young.
“What do you mean by that? That is a good story. I find such stories interesting. Please tell me.”
Sun-young spoke as if she was playfully insisting, not knowing what to say.
“Once, I went fishing on a boat in a place called Seohodo in Hamgyeong-do, and the boat capsized due to rough waves. I rescued one person who had fallen overboard, and another time, it was right at the Han River in Seoul. On a moonlit night, I went there for a stroll and happened to save a young woman who had fallen from the iron bridge while trying to commit suicide. Afterward, it was reported in the newspaper that the woman was a widow living in Samcheong-dong, Seoul, and during her period of mourning, someone had entered her home at night and assaulted her. Even though she was helpless against it, feeling humiliated and ashamed, she attempted to take her own life, but someone rescued her, so she was not in danger of losing her life.”
Dae-cheol sipped his tea,
“That happened, and there was also an incident that occurred in Wonsan…”
As he was about to continue speaking, Jeong-sik entered with Jeong-soon. Before they knew it, Jeong-soon had come in.
“I’m a little late. I’m sorry for today.”
At Jeong-sik's casual greeting,
“I’m very sorry for making you wait.”
Jeong-soon smiled and greeted them. Dae-cheol said,
“Well, it hasn’t been that long. I lost track of time talking with Sun-young, so it feels like just a moment.”
and laughed.
“Why did you come alone and leave me behind?” Sun-young said, seeming to complain while laughing.
“What’s wrong? Can’t you come because you don’t know the way? I had something to take care of briefly, so I went ahead, and now I feel sorry for everyone.”
Jeong-soon hesitated a bit before saying,
“But regarding what Mr. Kim said, you lost track of time talking with him. How interesting was the conversation that made you lose track of time? If that’s the case, then it’s good that I went ahead, isn’t it?”
and pouted her lips as if to roll her eyes while smiling.
“Is that supposed to be a shield? I thought you were good at talking, just stop it.”
Sun-young's face turned slightly red without a smile. Not only was Sun-young not waiting for them to arrive early, but it was also quite unpleasant that they happened to come in at that moment. While Sun-young was talking about the story of Dae-cheol rescuing a person who had fallen into the water, when she began to tell the story of the rescue in Wonsan, she definitely knew it was about herself, yet for some reason, she wanted to listen to that story in detail thoroughly, and after hearing it, she wanted to express it in her demeanor or words, even if it was just to hint at the matter to her heart, and when she tried to leak out the words she had mentioned about the circuit later, it was as if she had just grasped the thread of happiness she had longed for, only to have it slip away like a breeze. If it were an ordinary person, it wouldn't matter to speak in front of them, and it would be possible to ask again, but that particular matter was something that, no matter how many people were present, would not be enjoyable to hear, and even if a cat or a puppy were listening next to her, Sun-young felt how long it would take for her to calm her nervous heart and show her true feelings. Thus, not only did she not want to ask again in that situation, but she was also afraid that Dae-cheol would continue that conversation. If Dae-cheol continued that conversation, she was thinking about how to stop it, and her already fragile composure became even more strained.If the Creator were to see that, it would truly be a pitiful sight. However, Dae-cheol seemed to have forgotten that conversation as he spoke about something different with them.
The remaining question was how to meet Dae-cheol quietly again. However, it was impossible to indicate his whereabouts anywhere. Even if he were to indicate his location, there was no guarantee that Dae-cheol would come to find him, and more importantly, if Dae-cheol were to learn about his situation before he spoke, he thought it would be a very unfortunate matter. The reason was that when he spoke, he would try to communicate in a way that would be understood, but if Dae-cheol were to find out about his situation without any prior understanding, it would leave a bad first impression and he feared that everything would fall apart. Therefore, in order to find out Dae-cheol's address, he first asked for a formal address. After that, he learned Dae-cheol's address.
They had dinner and returned home around ten o'clock in the evening.