AC! – Chapter 7

bzzzt. bzzzt.

Sowon’s phone rang loudly as she returned to the annex.

Throwing herself onto the sofa, she checked the caller ID with a noticeably lighter heart.

“Why?”

Lowering her voice on purpose, she asked what it was about. From the speaker came a gentle voice.

—“Oh, Sowoi? I just finished. Should I come pick you up now? I’m off tomorrow.”

Aunt Miseon went on and on—about how truly sorry she was, how work had been so busy she forgot to pass the message along, how she hadn’t realized time would fly by so quickly.

At first, it had been irritating and absurd. But what was done was done. The day she had to move out had been decided long ago anyway. Even if she had known earlier, there would’ve been nothing she could do except worry.

In the end, hadn’t everything been resolved in just a day? For Sowon, who hated complications, nothing felt more foolish than fretting over something that was already settled.

“What are you talking about. It’s fine. Don’t bother coming all the way here.”

She stretched lazily as she spoke, and Aunt Miseon replied in a thoroughly subdued voice.

—“No, I need to visit your grandfather’s grave too, and you don’t even have a place to stay.”

“I’ll go to Grandpa’s grave myself. And I found somewhere to stay until the construction’s done, so don’t worry about that either.”

—“Somewhere to stay? Where?”

She could practically picture Aunt Miseon’s startled face.

“There is. So you just take good care of Uncle. I’m going to be busy starting tomorrow, so if possible, refrain from calling.”

—“No, I’m asking where you’re staying. You have to tell me so I don’t wor—”

“I’m hanging up.”

—“Wait, hold on. Yah, you brat! Hello? Hello? My goodness, this girl hung up already—”

“I haven’t hung up yet.”

—“If you haven’t, then answer me—!”

Only then did Sowon finally break into giggles and press the end-call button.

Explaining everything would only make things longer and invite a scolding. Better to let her aunt imagine whatever she pleased.

She tossed her phone aside carelessly and stretched her arms over the sofa. Sleep rushed in all at once. It was the aftereffect of overworking her body for the first time in a while.

I shouldn’t fall asleep. I need to wash up.

Maybe I’ll just close my eyes for a second…

Lying on the sofa, staring blankly at the ceiling, she drifted off.

knock. knock.

When she opened her eyes at the sound of knocking on the front door, the surroundings had sunk into darkness. Still half-asleep, she blinked slowly when the knock came again.

Who is it?

She dragged her stiff body toward the door. Peering cautiously through the tiny peephole, she caught sight of Kangjun’s retreating back.

She flung the door open. The sultry summer night air wafted in, carrying a warm scent with it. Frowning faintly, she looked around—then her gaze stopped on the wooden plank in front of the door.

A neatly stacked quilt and a sleeping mat sat there.

“What the….”

Needlessly meticulous.

She drew a short breath and hugged the quilt to her chest. The faint scent clinging to it—his scent—brushed the tip of her nose. The sensation felt strangely intimate.

 

***

The countryside day began even earlier than she had expected.

The sun hadn’t even risen, yet the village rooster was crowing at full volume. She tried covering her ears to sleep a little longer, but someone’s interference made that impossible.

Forcefully awakened at the pitch-black hour of four in the morning, Sowon prepared herself in a haze. Despite the sleep pouring over her, she applied sunscreen and even armed herself with sunglasses before stepping into the yard and stretching. It took less than ten minutes.

“You’re going like that?”

While she yawned long and hard, trying to peel the clinging sleep from her eyes, Kangjun asked.

With her mouth wide open mid-yawn, Sowon pushed her sunglasses up onto her head.

“Yes.”

He was dressed the same as yesterday: a white T-shirt and military pants. The only difference was that his clothes and boots—caked with dirt the day before—were now dry and clean.

“What about other shoes. Don’t you have any?”

Following his gaze, she looked down at her feet. The only sneakers she owned were thin canvas shoes and running shoes for early-morning jogs. The canvas pair she was wearing seemed perfectly fine.

“Should I change into my running shoes?”

She asked in a slightly annoyed tone. Without answering, he disappeared into the storage shed and brought out a pair of mud-caked boots.

They were obviously too big for her—she looked like she’d trip after just a few steps.

“Wear them.”

How was she supposed to wear those?

She glanced up at him briefly.

Her vision caught his broad shoulders and large hands. His handsome face was distinct even in the dim light.

It felt like watching a blurry old television suddenly switch to ultra-high definition. Sleep vanished in an instant.

“I have boots too.”

Ahem. Clearing her throat, Sowon pushed the boots blocking her face aside and retrieved her own rain boots from the annex.

“But is it going to rain today?”

She slid her feet into the boots as she asked. He let out a short breath.

“You’ll regret it.”

“Not at all.”

She rotated her waist from side to side to loosen up, then walked over to the parked Porter and thumped the vehicle’s body with her palm.

“What do I start with?”

Kangjun smirked and strode over, climbing into the driver’s seat.

“Get in first. You chose this, so don’t blame me.”

What was he talking about? It wasn’t a few hundred thousand won—she’d gone past one million six hundred thousand won for him. And he was even offsetting the cost of her stay. It wasn’t something to blame him for; it was something to be grateful for.

“Yes, let’s go!”

Sowon climbed into the passenger seat and buckled her seatbelt.

***

Overwhelming regret came crashing down.

She had clearly walked right into a trap.

No—this was her own fault for starting without properly asking what the job entailed.

Kangjun had asked for help. He hadn’t specified what kind of work. So it wasn’t exactly a scam.

Even so… wasn’t this too much?

Before her stretched a chili pepper field so vast she couldn’t see the end. Sowon stared toward the distant horizon and let out a hollow laugh.

“This is your field, Woo Kangjun?”

She had heard there was a hundred-thousand pyeong chili field in Songhwa Village, but she hadn’t imagined it belonged to this man.

Even when he said he farmed chili peppers, she’d assumed he merely helped the elderly with their crops.

“No, this is—”

“I gave you plenty of chances to back out. It’s too late now.”

As he spoke, Kangjun methodically unloaded farming tools from the trunk.

She parted her lips and slowly turned her head.

In the distance, elderly women were walking toward them at a leisurely pace.

“Sowoi?”

Her eyes widened at the sight of the grandmothers, caps draped around their necks.

Surely they weren’t working too? At their age, working in this heat was dangerous.

While she was worrying, Kangjun finished unloading the tools and dusted off his hands, clearly displeased.

“I told you not to come.”

“We’re doing this because we’re bored. Why do you keep telling us not to?”

“That’s right. We’re old, but we do it for fun. You can’t keep stopping us.”

“You can’t.”

After Deokrye and Chunsim Grandma, even Eulnyeon Grandma nodded firmly. They looked stubborn enough not to bend easily.

As if used to their momentum, Kangjun let out a helpless chuckle.

“If it’s too hard, you need to go in and rest. And call me if anything happens.”

“We’ll handle ourselves!”

Deokrye Grandma barked, straightening her back.

Trying to grasp the situation, Sowon cautiously raised her hand.

“Um… I heard the chili field alone is a hundred thousand pyeong. Did the four of you handle all of that?”

“It ain’t a full hundred thousand. The chili field’s about ten thousand pyeong. The rest is all Kangjui’s land. But… what’s with your clothes?”

Chunsim Grandma, who had been gesturing in the air, suddenly stopped mid-sentence. Her horrified gaze traveled up and down Sowon’s outfit.

“Don’t you have proper clothes?”

“What do you mean?”

Her outfit was perfectly ordinary. In fact, it was the best she had brought. There weren’t many other options suitable for farm work or physical labor.

“Why’s the girl wearing long johns?”

What was wrong with leggings? They were comfortable and great—excellent stretch, excellent breathability. She was just about to explain when—

“They’re leggings, leggings.”

Deokrye Grandma cut in first.

“Leg… what?”

“Leggings! You’re younger than me and you don’t know leggings? Haven’t you seen people wearing ’em like that to exercise on TV?”

“The world’s gone mad, gone mad… How’s a slip of a girl supposed to wear that? You won’t be able to work in those.”

Meeting Chunsim Grandma’s doubtful eyes, Sowon forced a smile and clenched her fists.

“No, I can do it.”

“I’m heading out first. Finish your gossip and come slowly.”

In the meantime, Kangjun had already started walking ahead after saying he’d go on first.

The grandmothers followed his retreating figure with pitying gazes and added their own comments.

“Kangjui’s really passionate about chili farming.”

“Well, wouldn’t he be. He’s probably pouring all that loneliness into the peppers.”

“Ehh… Every time I see Kangjui, I feel so sorry. A man ought to leave some seed behind.”

The topic had shifted from her leggings to Kangjun’s lower half in no time. They spoke so openly, she was amazed the rumor hadn’t spread beyond the village.

Or maybe everyone already knew.

She was already unsettled by various things. At this rate, every time she looked at that man, she’d only think about that part of him.

Hurriedly, she turned back to the grandmothers.

“Um… I have a lot to learn, so I’ll go follow him!”

Then she quickened her steps after Kangjun’s receding back and called out—

“Excuse me! If you go ahead like that— I mean, let’s go together!”