Chapter 4

#4 <Three Lives (3)>

After returning to the past, Jin-hyeok heard the murmurs of beings behind the scenes in his dreams every night. Someone behind the scenes had spoken to him. He couldn’t remember when or where, but one thing was clear:

“You’ve suffered a lot. I’ll send you back. If you do well, you can save three lives from death. May you live a happy life…”

That’s what they had said.

Was this a reward for his sad and lonely life? He couldn’t help but wonder, but dwelling on it wouldn’t solve anything. Right now, there was a more pressing issue.

‘Three lives, death.’

With a rough push, Jin-hyeok stood up abruptly and ran to the back of the classroom to check the calendar. He compared the dates with his small hands, digging through his memories. The further back in his childhood, the hazier the memories, but now they were crystal clear.

‘It’s today, isn’t it?’

Yes, it was today. The day his parents had passed away in his previous life. That’s why, by the end of next summer vacation, he had been taken to the town by his aunt, his mother’s half-sister, and transferred schools. He hadn’t even been able to say goodbye to his friends at this small rural school.

‘I have to save Mom and Dad first!’

He still didn’t know who the third life was, but one thing was certain.

Two of the three lives were his parents. His parents would die today. No, they had died. Today, they must not die. What could a child who knew this do?

Jin-hyeok’s brain started working as fast as it had in his previous life.

His fragmented soul had fully settled into his nine-year-old body.

His parents had been the biggest influence on his life.

***

The yard was piled high with beans.

Jin-hyeok’s parents, Son Kwang-yeon and Han Yu-young, were threshing beans in the yard. It was one of the usual farming tasks at the end of October. They were using a thresher to strip the dried bean stalks and a winnowing machine to blow away the husks and dust.

“I’m always amazed at how well you know farming, even though you only studied in Seoul.”

Jin-hyeok’s mother, Han Yu-young, smiled as she sifted through the beans. The blue tarp spread on the dirt floor was old and frayed in places, but her heart was light. Why wouldn’t it be? Just a month ago, a broker had offered to buy the entire field at double last year’s price.

Yet, her husband, Son Kwang-yeon, had refused the broker’s offer and decided to sell directly in town. He had found out that selling directly to a wholesaler in town would fetch three times the price. No wonder Han Yu-young was in high spirits.

“Haha, I just decide what to plant based on the situation at the time.”

Son Kwang-yeon, who was well-informed about the world and knew how to grow money, had seen their modest belongings grow unrecognizably over ten years.

They had expanded their household, but Son Kwang-yeon bought land whenever he had money.

Dunnae-ri was a village that had undergone a large-scale reclamation project, turning the sea into land. Due to the salinity, rice farming had been a struggle for over a decade, with no hope of even an average harvest. The only crops that could be grown were peanuts and sweet potatoes, and even those were poor, making it a time when not starving was considered a blessing.

Even those who said land was everything to a farmer didn’t bother with the barren, desolate sandy soil. Thanks to this, the village had a saying: “You can’t pass through Dunnae-ri without stepping on Son Kwang-yeon’s land.”

“Next year, we should buy a rice transplanter. Combines are too expensive, so we’ll rent one for now.”

“Yes, that sounds good.”

He’ll handle it well.

Even though he managed things well, he always consulted his wife.

Han Yu-young’s heart still raced when she looked at Son Kwang-yeon.

It was the same for him.

Son Kwang-yeon had fallen for Han Yu-young at first sight during his college rural volunteer work.

In a countryside with only a slow bus running twice a day on a winding unpaved road, he had courted her every weekend. Han Yu-young, who didn’t mind the handsome and polite Seoul oppa, gave birth to Jin-hyeok at twenty.

It was a happy marriage.

Their wedding ceremony was simple, with just a cup of water and mutual bows, and their wedding photos were taken at a town photo studio in rented hanbok. But so what?

“Oppa, how long are you going to keep using formal speech with me?”

“Haha, I don’t know. How long are you going to keep calling me oppa?”

“Jagiya.” It was a term no one in the countryside used. In Dunnae-ri, or perhaps the entire town, Han Yu-young was the only one who heard such an endearment.

A man who cherished her, respected her, and called her sweetly. A husband who wouldn’t let her lift a finger in the fields, as if the world would end if she did. How could a woman not be happy?

“Oppa, don’t you think Jin-hyeok has been acting strange lately?”

“You’re right. The little rascal has become so mature.”

So, even their nighttime romance had to be cautious. Thinking their nine-year-old son was asleep, Son Kwang-yeon had reached for his wife’s chest, only to quickly withdraw his hand at Jin-hyeok’s fake cough.

The memory of that disappointment made Son Kwang-yeon’s pulse quicken.

“Hey…”

“Ahem!”

Son Kwang-yeon cautiously took Han Yu-young’s hand and trailed off. The young wife, who knew exactly what he meant, swallowed her fake cough. Han Yu-young’s fingers, which had been deftly sifting through the beans, became as restless as a spider that had lost its prey.

“Oppa, Jin-hyeok will be home from school soon…”

But the fact that she didn’t pull her hand away obviously meant she wasn’t opposed.

“Then let’s hurry before he gets back… Haha.”

With no other houses nearby and no visitors expected, Son Kwang-yeon glanced around unnecessarily and led his wife by the wrist inside. Like a pair of thieves, Han Yu-young also looked around before sneaking into their own house.

Country kids’ birthdays were usually in late summer or late fall. That meant they were conceived during the less busy farming season, when nights were long and bodies less tired.

But this didn’t apply to this passionate couple, who sparked fireworks just by locking eyes. More importantly, with their smart and precocious son, their only chance was during the day.

Anyway, that’s how it was.

***

The village youth leader and the village head clicked their tongues at the pile of beans in Jin-hyeok’s yard.

“Wow, this family’s really done it again this year.”

“Yeah, with this kind of yield, they’ll buy up all the land in the village.”

Old farmers used to say they “bought money with crops” instead of selling crops for money. But inwardly, they scoffed at Son Kwang-yeon.

‘What’s the point of buying sandy soil and barren hills?’

‘There’s a reason they say Seoul folks are clueless.’

After enduring the midday heat, Son Kwang-yeon kissed Han Yu-young’s forehead and hurriedly opened the door. He had heard movement outside.

“Hello, gentlemen.”

Village head Jo Il-hun and youth leader Park Dae-soon both flinched at Son Kwang-yeon’s Seoul accent. They liked him, but his Seoul speech was hard to get used to.

“Uh, well, you know… Jin-hyeok’s dad, you coming tidepooling with us today?”

“Tidepooling?”

He had heard of it.

During the spring or neap tides, the west coast exposed tidal flats and rocks, and the locals would go out with torches or flashlights to gather seafood.

Octopus, crabs, gobies, sea bass, turban shells, and even large whelks called “belly button conchs.” If they were lucky, they might even catch a decent-sized conger eel. In a countryside with limited protein sources, the catch from tidepooling was a good supplement. If the haul was good, they could sell it at the market for a tidy profit.

“I’ve never done it before. Will I be okay?”

“Just shine a light and pull ‘em out. You’re from the same village, so don’t feel left out.”

Though they inwardly dismissed him as a city bumpkin, he was good at farming and had a pleasant personality, so there was no reason to exclude him. They just wanted to include him, but farming kept them busy, so this was their excuse.

Son Kwang-yeon, with his broad understanding, couldn’t miss their intention.

“Then I’ll join you. Haha.”

With his ever-friendly smile, Son Kwang-yeon bid his neighbors goodbye as they left, promising to meet again. Jo Il-hun added one last comment as he looked at the pile of beans.

“Wow, those beans are really something.”

Jang Gun-i, the dog, wagged his tail silently as he watched the village men leave.

***

As soon as Jin-hyeok got home, he did his homework and grabbed a sack in the yard. He was helping his dad bag the beans.

“Jin-hyeok, your mom can handle it. Go play with Jang Gun-i.”

On any other day, he would have played with Jang Gun-i, but today he needed to stay by his parents’ side. He had to know what was going to happen. Besides, Jang Gun-i had been growling at him since yesterday, making it hard to play together.

“If I help, it’ll go faster. Mom, you should rest.”

His son had changed too much.

Having grown up with parents who spoke formally to each other, it wasn’t unusual for him not to use informal speech like other country kids. But the subtlety in his tone made it feel like he was talking to an adult.

‘They say kids grow up fast. Is this it?’

No way.

Even Jin-hyeok’s mother, Han Yu-young, couldn’t figure it out. She had never raised a child before. Born as the daughter of a local dignitary, she had never done a day of hard labor. Other kids got sick and worried their parents, but her son was healthy and smart, and she was just grateful.

‘It’s today.’

While helping out, Jin-hyeok kept thinking about what could be dangerous. In his previous life, there had been nothing dangerous in this village, so why had his parents died so suddenly?

There was no war, and it was absurd to think a tiger or bear would appear. Even though it was a remote reclaimed village, it was still a place where buses, trucks, tractors, and people lived.

Jin-hyeok’s question was answered after dinner.

“Jin-hyeok, Mom and Dad are going tidepooling. You go to bed first, okay?”

“Mom, tidepooling? At night?”

“Yes. We’ll catch a lot and buy you a new notebook.”

His mother smiled like an angel and stroked his cheek.

Jin-hyeok’s heart dropped.

‘That’s it!’

He snapped out of his drowsiness.

The west coast wasn’t deep. Ironically, that’s why many people died, ignoring the water that receded far out of sight during the spring tides.

No wonder there were rocks along the coast named “Grandma’s Rock” or “Grandpa’s Rock.” It was tiring and time-consuming to go around the winding coast. Many elderly people tried to cross the exposed sea and were swept away by the incoming tide. That’s how the rocks got their sad names.

‘People get swept away by the tide when they go too far out.’

During the neap tide, there’s no moon. The sky is dark, and the tidal flats are even darker. When the tide comes in, you need to head back to shore, but some lose their sense of direction and go deeper. It’s usually the inexperienced who meet their end.

‘There are no streetlights or houses by the coast now.’

It’s a completely undeveloped time.

Jin-hyeok’s heart raced.

It was like a switch had been flipped, illuminating his dark memories. Until now, it had been as if they were sealed, covered by a black cloth.

‘Only now do I remember.’

He was ashamed that his parents’ death anniversary had only just come to mind, and sorry that he had only now remembered how they died. Excuses like brain plasticity, memory volatility, or seals felt too cowardly.

Yes, in his previous life, his parents had gone tidepooling and never returned. The next morning, the bedding he had laid out for them was untouched, and Jin-hyeok became an orphan.

“Mom! I want to go too!”

“Huh? It’s dark and scary. And you have school tomorrow.”

“I’m not scared at all. I’ll just wait outside.”

His suddenly clingy son made his soft-hearted mother hesitate.

“Haha, alright. Our son should wait quietly, right? You can’t go alone, can you?”

Dad’s the best.

He always listened to his son, unlike other dads.

‘But what should I do?’

It’s too sudden. If I had known earlier, I could have planned.

There’s no time.

Ah, that’s a good idea!

Jin-hyeok dashed to the storage shed.