Translator: Wan ED/PR: Personal Ghost
〈Chapter 94〉
The same boy was printed again on a black-and-white photograph.
No. Now he looked closer to a young man. The man with a mop of hair swiftly grew taller — he was smiling brightly, holding a flower bouquet. Behind him, they saw a gate and a grand door to an enormous building.
He examined the picture together with Baek Ran for a while.
What was it? What the hell was it trying to say?
“He entered the university.”
The two were startled, suddenly hearing a voice. Raising their heads, they found the middle-aged dokkaebi looking at the picture with him.
“When did uncle come?”
“Just now. Another wave of customers came and went, but there was neither Cheonho-nim nor you around, so I came to check what’s going on. I even deliberately made my presence known a few times, but you were too absorbed in it.”
Do-ssi took out a monocle out of his pocket, put it on and closely examined the photograph.
“Let’s see. It’s around the sixties? I see perm hair female university students in mambo pants. If you went to the music listening rooms, they would be full of such male and female university students, discussing literature, while listening to classical music. The university students of that time were real intellectuals. Not anyone could go to university. But who on earth is this university student?”
“You’re really quick to ask.”
Yu Dan pointed at the camera on the desk.
“Sondol Wind brought it. He tried to follow a strange sound he heard at the Han River and picked it up.”
“Huhu. An American polaroid camera, which was imported to our country in the past, eh? It’s not a very expensive antique, but it’s difficult to come by.”
“It’s also supernatural. This camera tried to show us something through pictures. It may be related to that strange sound. But until now nothing special appeared…”
“This time it will be an important picture.”
Baek Ran clicked the shutter.
But there was no a click sound. Something felt lifeless. The fox was embarrassed.
“What’s wrong?”
Do-ssi looked the camera over and said:
“Didn’t the film run out perhaps?”
“Film? I didn’t think about it. We can’t go anywhere now to get film for such an old polaroid camera…”
“Cheonho-nim, did You forget what our shop does? We should have some polaroid film remaining. Please wait a moment.”
The middle-aged dokkaebi went down to the first floor, and after a moment returned holding a small paper box. Yu Dan threw the box, which was turning yellow, a doubtful glance.
“Will it really work?”
“Don’t worry.”
He opened the box and took out a sealed film. While taking a good look at the instruction manual, he opened the back of the camera and put the round roll of the film in. The surprising thing, the instruction was in English.
“Uncle speaks English?”
“I just look at the pictures.”
“Pictures, right.”
“What ‘pictures, right’?!”
Do-ssi closed the back cap of the camera and handed it to Baek Ran. With half hopeful, half doubtful face, Baek Ran carefully pressed the shutter.
Click.
“It works.”
Pleased, he pulled out the photographic paper and energetically shook it, waited a moment and then pulled off the surface paper.
“I have a feeling this is really it this time.” [1]
“I feel that too.”
His heart was pumping for some reason. Yu Dan stared at the photo, as the fox slowly unraveled it starting from the edges.
They saw several people. And something white.
What was it?
“Uh? It’s the protest!”
“It’s the student protest picture!”
The three flinched. Raising their heads, they found that the twins came at some point and were looking at the photo with them. Do-ssi asked with his eyes turning round.
“When did you come?”
“We saw uncle search for something and then hastily go up, so we were curious what was happening and followed. Were the three of you so focused that you didn’t notice us coming in?”
“But what is this picture? Whose picture is it? He looks very diligent.”
Yu Dan turned his gaze to the black and white photograph again.
The university students were holding slogans crudely written with a brush on a white cloth banners and marching. They put on bands on their foreheads and put arms around each other’s shoulders. Even though joyful, their faces were very resolute.
“Looking at this reminds me of the old days. It was the peak of the student movement. It couldn’t be helped at that time. Government stepping down. Denouncing the rigged election. They fought the democracy for everyone.” [2]
“Not only the university students, but he highschoolers stepped forward too. The political goons beat up even students. The police shot guns. Noona, do you still remember how to make tear gas bombs?”
“Naturally! Aah, if only unnie didn’t snatch us by the backs of our necks that day…”
The twins reminisced over the time from the picture like old people.
Democratic movement? Now that he thought about it, they were professional protesters, weren’t they?
As he looked at them with an absurd face, Chaeseol and Chaeu laughed ‘hehe’. And then they asked:
“But whose picture is it?”
“Who is this person?”
Yu Dan pointed at the camera and answered.
“This camera’s owner. Sondol Wind picked it up when searching the Han River. He followed the strange sound and found it in the place where he lost it. It’s supernatural. It wants to tell us something, so we’re looking at the pictures to figure out what it is.”
“Those pictures?”
Chaeseol and Chaeu picked up the two pictures laying on the desk. They put their heads together with Do-ssi and examined them.
“He really is very typical buzz-cut student.”
“Who did he get that camera from? Uncle, who went to America?”
“No matter how I look, I can’t guess which university it was.”
It seemed like they could talk for an hour like this if left alone. Yu Dan didn’t understand it at all. They were just some old pictures.
“Anyway, this time a really important picture should come out right?”
Taking the opportunity of a gap, he quickly grabbed the camera. In fact, his hands were itching to try to do it himself, when watching Baek Ran.
“I’m going to take a picture this time.”
Before anyone could say anything, he quickly pressed the shutter, and after the photographic paper popped out, he energetically waved it like Baek Ran, before removing the protective paper.
“Look. This must be a really important picture.”
They saw several people in the black&white photograph. And there was something white again. They strained their eyes and stared at it.
What the hell was it?
“It’s been a really long time since I saw an old wedding ceremony picture!”
Everyone was startled. Since some point Heuk-yo was looking at the picture with them.
“When did unnie come?”
“I couldn’t find anyone, so I went searching. What are you doing here, huddled up like this? Whose wedding picture is it?”
Heuk-yo flopped down.
She was right. It was a picture of the wedding with the groom, bride and the officiator in an old ceremony hall, it seemed to be a school auditorium. The officiator, wearing a thickly rimmed glasses, was solemn, while the groom and the bride were smiling very widely.
“They look good together. But whose picture is this?”
“This person.”
Yu Dan pointed at the three pictures on the table.
“Who is this person?”
“This camera’s owner.”
He then explained for the third time what was this camera and what were they doing right now.
Heuk-yo also looked fascinated. She grabbed the pictures on the table, examined them in detail, and abruptly asked:
“Wait. Isn’t that woman the bride?”
She pointed at a female student in the protest picture shoulder to shoulder with the others and wearing a headband. The twins were shocked.
“Wow! You’re correct! Looks like they were a campus couple!”
“Didn’t their eyes meet at the protest!?”
They put all the pictures side by side and looked at them marveling. Heuk-yo stayed where she was. It was all good, but…
Yu Dan looked at the camera.
“So what the hell does it want to say?”
“Give it please.”
The fox yokai snatched it straight away.
Click.
Baek Ran instantly pulled out a picture.
Husband, wife, daughter and son were sitting on a sofa in a western stale house with a chandelier. Their faces where full of laughter, as if someone said a joke.
“Wow, already two kids?”
“They look happy. But doesn’t He feel like a boss?”
“That’s right! I guess he started a business after graduating from the university!”
“The business is going well, huh? If you had such a house in the 80s, you were very upper class.”
The yokai, who were pleased, were shocked seeing the next picture. The family from a moment ago was packed into one-room, closet-like apartment.
“It went to dust straight away!”
“Look! There is one more kid!”
Chaeseol pointed at a baby in a baby blanket.
They looked at the table in the black&white picture. The bowls of noodles equal to the number of family members were placed on it, and the father was holding a ladle, smiling towards the camera.
“Looking at the structure, it must be one room attached to a shop. I think he started a noddle shop and this is a commemoration photo.”
“A noodle shop?”
Do-ssi pointed Yu Dan to a corner of the picture. There was a pile of noodles there.
“My reasoning is sound. Cheonho-nim, let’s see the next picture.”
Click.
Baek Ran pulled out the next black&white picture.
This time it was a couple standing in front of a decent looking shop, not a one-room apartment. The three children were wearing school uniforms. ‘Manbok Noodles’ sign hung above them.
“Older brother, it appears You were right about the noddle shop?”
“I guess the noodle shop that started as a one-room business was a success!”
“The shop expanded and is doing well. Congratulations, Manbok Noodles boss-nim!”
The happy yokai screamed seeing the next picture.
“No!”
The background of the black&white picture was a hospital room. The wife with a sickly face laid in bed, cutting a birthday cake. The husband, the eldest daughter, who all grew up, and two tall sons were smiling brightly, but…
“Why did ma’am shave her head? Is she really sick?”
“It can’t be! The noodle shop was doing well, and life was getting worth living!”
“Cheonho-nim! Quick, the next picture!”
Chaeseol grabbed Baek Ran’s arm and urged him.
“I know. I know.”
Baek Ran pressed the shutter. But there was no click sound. The camera became lifeless again. The yokai screamed.
“Cutting off here!? That’s unspeakable!”
“Did it lose power? Older brother, take a look again!”
“Hm. For my eyes as an antique specialist, it seems that the film from before was damaged.”
“We will find a new one!”
The twins hurried downstairs.
They ran into the frog jeongseung[3], who was suddenly coming up the stairs making heavy sounds.
“Oh, kids-ah.”
He raised his small hand and greeted them, but Chaeseol and Chaeu didn’t even glance at him. The frog looked at two children’s back with shaking eyes.
“Did something big happen?”
“No. Sandol Wind…”
Yu Dan explained again.
Like everyone else, the frog also looked fascinated and examined each of the eight photos on the desk, while continuing to exclaim. Yu Dan asked.
“No important picture came out yet. But it’s still fun?”
“You would naturally not understand. For us, this a story from completely different world. Just like humans enjoy stories about yokai, divine beasts and creatures, we enjoy stories like this.”
The frog explained as such, and clung to Baek Ran right way.
“Cheonho-nim! When will the next picture come out!”
“Here is what You need!”
The twins found several boxes of polaroid film. Do-si opened the back of the camera and put the film in.
“Here it is!”
Baek Ran received the camera again. Everyone watched with anxious faces. Yu Dan though was nervous for a different reason.
Surely, this time a really important picture will come out, right?
Baek Ran pressed the shutter.
Click.
Another photographic paper came out. Peeling off the protection paper, a black&white photography was reveled.
The youngest son stood in the middle, holding a graduation cup and wearing a graduation gown. He was surrounded by his father, noona and hyung, and he was hugging the picture of his mother with a bouquet of flowers.
The yokai were disappointed.
“Aah, what to do? In the end…”
“You went through a lot of hardships, eh?”
“That’s too sad.”
Click. Next picture came out.
The eldest son was hired by a big company. He was now supporting his quite old father. The father was proudly showing the employee card to the camera. The face of the son was saying he was embarrassed by that pride.
“Obviously. The son raised selling noddles entered a big company.”
“Now, all is left is to lead a happy life.”
The joyful twins, screamed seeing the next picture.
“That’s not a happy life!”
“How did it all go to dust again!”
The eldest son and his wife stood near a humble chicken restaurant, frying chicken. The camera owner now became a grandpa, and he was cutting sirutteok[4] to commemorate the opening, while carrying around the oldest granddaughter.
“IMF Crisis[5], huh?”
“Everything went bankrupt one after another and everyone was fried.”
“IMF Crisis was really tough for us too.”
“We almost starved to death then.”
He heard hums around him. They were unfamiliar voices.
Yu Dan instinctively looked up and was startled. At some point other yokai gathered and were watching pictures with them. Everyone stared at the fox yokai, urging him with their eyes.
“Cheonho-nim, what’s next?”
Click, click, click.
Baek Ran pulled out photographic papers in succession.
The second son, who couldn’t find a pair until late age, got married. The old man, the camera owner, got a job as an apartment complex guard. He even received a reward certificate for his diligent work. He showed off the account book with overwhelming pride — he managed to pay off the enormous debt from the company bankruptcy and IMF in the end.
“I’m glad. Now He can really have a comfortable retire…”
“No!”
Chaeseol urgently blocked Chaeu’s mouth.
“You didn’t realize yet? Every time we say something like this, there is no happiness! Cheonho-nim! We didn’t say anything!”
“Its seems it’s already too late.”
Baek Ran looked at the next picture.
In the black and white photograph, the old man was sitting in a hospital bed. He was reading the cards made and sent by his grandchildren, but his face was colored with a sickly hue.
The twins despaired.
“As expected, it’s all for nothing! The moment he paid off all his debt, he collapsed!”
“No! Grandpa! Cheonho-nim! The next picture!”
The shutter was pressed, but no sound came out. The camera just rattled. It seemed that it exhausted all the energy the fox yokai gave it.
“It can’t be!”
This time Yu Dan screamed.
“The most important picture didn’t come out yet! I kept waiting all this time! You can’t stop here!”
He snatched the camera. With the feeling of giving an electric shock to the patient without chances to live, he summoned the dokkaebi horn and put it to the camera.
“Wake up!”
He felt a tingling shock in his hand, and the camera trembled. He didn’t miss it, and hastily pressed the shutter.
Click.
The shutter barely worked.
*~*~*
[1] “I have a feeling this is really it this time.” — Baek Ran’s sentence.
[2] “Looking at this reminds me of the old days. It was the peak of the student movement. It couldn’t be helped at that time. Government stepping down. Denouncing the rigged election. They fought the democracy for everyone.” — They refer to the protests that led to the April 19 Revolution in 1620, that took down the regime of Lee Seungman (이승만, also known as Syngman Rhee). The April 10 Revolution itself was kicked off by the highschool students protests on February 28, which exploded into nationwide protest, largely led by university and highschool students.
[3] jeongseung — a position akin to prime minister during Joseon period.
[4] sirutteok — type of rice with red beans. It’s a holiday dish.
[5] IMF Crisis — Known as Asian Financial Crisis in the countries unaffected by it. It was year 1997 in South Korea, as result of foreign investment bubble bursting and several developing countries in Asia sunk into deep foreign debt, had their currency value plummet. To prevent global economy from collapsing IMF interfered to recover the economy. In South Korea, the unemployment rate reached the highest, 8.7%, in 1999 and though South Korea recovered quite well, the scars remain and unemployment is still a problem to this day.
Translator’s note: So, my nocturnal cycle and enjoyment of human stories would mean I’m a yokai?
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