AC! – Chapter 3

“Is that Sowoi¹?”

As soon as she got down from the truck, Gu Jonggil, the village head, who had been fanning himself on the wooden platform in front of the community hall, opened his eyes wide.

“What’re you doin’ comin’ with Kangjui²?”

He tossed aside his fan and came hurrying over, taking the suitcases Kangjun was pulling from the trunk.

“Why d’you two look like that?”

It was a complicated question to explain. Sowon shot Kangjun a subtle glance, but he was busy unloading bottled water and toilet paper from the truck bed.

In the end, Sowon forced an awkward smile and answered.

“On the way here, the car got stuck in a rice paddy ridge, and Mr. Woo Kangjun helped.”

“Goodness, must’ve been passin’ by at just the right time. But looks more like you two were the ones who got stuck, not the car.”

“Ah, well… while he was pulling me up…”

She laughed stiffly in her mud-streaked state. The village head nodded as if he understood.

“So you fell in, huh. A young fella in his prime, and that little strength in his lower body—… Ah, never mind. You worked hard.”

He trailed off mid-scolding. The way his gaze slid toward Sowon felt oddly awkward, but before she could dwell on it, he spoke again in a puzzled tone.

“Then what about your car? You won’t be able to bring a private vehicle in for a while.”

“Ah, Mr. Woo Kangjun was going to pull it out—”

“I’ll grab a towline and head back. I set down the things you asked for, so take them inside.”

Sowon snapped her head around mid-sentence. Setting aside the fact that he had cut in out of nowhere—was that blunt banmal³ just now?

Wasn’t he supposed to be the polite, upright young man in front of elders? As her first impression kept cracking by the minute, her lips parted slightly.

The village head, apparently used to his attitude, waved at him as he climbed back into the driver’s seat.

“Alright, go on then.”

Flustered, Sowon followed Kangjun with her eyes as he started the Porter.

“But Sowoi, what brings you here?”

She tore her gaze away from the truck’s retreating rear and blinked.

“Pardon?”

Had he forgotten that today was the day she was supposed to arrive? As she looked at him in confusion, he pulled a cucumber from a basket on the platform and handed it to her.

“Thought we wouldn’t see you for a while. Came to check on the construction site?”

“What do you mean?”

“Your aunt didn’t tell you?”

“Tell me what…?”

“Aigoo.” He let out a deep sigh and pressed a hand to his forehead. “There was a big flood a few days ago. Washed away all the building materials and soil. The construction ain’t finished.”

“…What?”

It felt like lightning striking out of a clear sky—again and again. As she stood there blankly trying to deny what she’d just heard, he drove the final nail in.

“You can’t move in right now. Your grandpa’s house—you’ll have to redo the whole thing from scratch.”

Sowon blinked slowly.

So the house she’d poured a fortune into remodeling for her rural life wasn’t just unfinished—it had to be rebuilt entirely.

“What do you mean… just a moment.”

She hurriedly pulled out her phone. Scrolling through her recent calls, she found “Aunt Miseon” and dialed. Almost immediately, a hearty voice burst through the speaker.

━“Oh, Sowoi?”

“Aunt, what’s going on? I just got to Grandpa’s place and they’re saying construction isn’t done!”

She went straight to the point. The line went quiet for a moment.

━“Oh my, didn’t I tell you?”

“What?”

━“Girl, you should at least tell me before you head down!”

“No, today’s the day I was supposed to come. How could you not tell me something this important?”

━“I’ve been busy with work and forgot. So what’re you gonna do now… uh—anyway, let’s talk later. A customer just came in. Welcome!”

Her aunt’s final greeting, spoken a little too brightly in an attempt to mask her dialect, was followed by the call disconnecting.

Sowon stared blankly at the darkened screen when the villagers began pouring out of the community hall, chiming in one by one.

“Miseoni’s been scatterbrained since she was young.”

“That’s what I’m sayin’. What kinda wild goose chase is this in this heat?”

Though anger surged to the top of her head, Sowon forced a polite smile and bowed slightly.

“Have you all been well?”

“We’ve been fine. But what about you? Seems like you’ll have to head back up to Seoul till the construction’s done.”

The greeting came out by habit, but she couldn’t respond after that.

She didn’t even know if the car would move. After driving six long hours, her whole body felt drained.

She had no confidence she could endure waiting for the sigh-inducing village bus, heading to the county town, then making her way back to the Seoul terminal.

Even if she somehow endured that ordeal and got back to Seoul, she had nowhere to stay. She’d already given up her jeonse⁴ apartment, and staying at her aunt’s place meant walking on eggshells around her uncle.

Her wallet wasn’t in any condition to bounce between hotels indefinitely either. The more she thought about it, the more hopeless it felt.

“Don’t you got any friends?”

At that moment, as if reading her mind, Gu Jonggil asked.

There wasn’t anyone she could properly call a friend. There were classmates who were worse than strangers, but…

“Let’s go inside first.”

Having roughly grasped her situation, he let out a pitying sigh and led her into the community hall.

***

An emergency meeting began.

“I’m telling you, the community hall’s perfect!”

Gu Jonggil’s booming shout rang out, nearly lifting the roof. Even the creaking fan seemed to pause mid-rotation.

On the transparent board set up in the center of the hall, crooked letters read:

<Today’s Agenda: Temporary Housing Plan for Gyeong Sowon>

Seated cross-legged around a rectangular low table, the villagers began offering suggestions about where Sowon should stay.

“A young lady won’t be comfortable with us old folks comin’ and goin’. Old men playin’baduk⁵ during the day, old ladies blastin’ dramas at night.”

“Then what’re we s’posed to do? She’s got nowhere else.”

Sowon sat stiffly, listening to the elders raise their voices.

She should stay at my house, no, the community hall is better—opinions floated back and forth over the table. Nearly thirty minutes had passed, yet no conclusion seemed in sight.

Finally, Sowon, who had been sitting quietly in the corner, carefully raised her hand. The village head spotted her in the commotion and nodded vigorously.

“Oh, Sowoi! Go on, say your piece.”

“Um… if it’s alright, could I stay at one of the grandmothers’ homes just until construction is done? If there’s a spare room. I’ll pay rent.”

“Rent? What rent! And old folks’ houses won’t do! No Western toilet! Hot water barely works! Even if it’s summer, a young lady’ll ruin her health!”

Deokrye Grandma, who had been arguing heatedly with the village head, jumped in with firm opposition. The others nodded in agreement.

“Yeah, old folks’ houses are no good.”

The community hall briefly rose again as a candidate but quickly fell away.

It seemed the elders were more uncomfortable about Sowon staying there than she was. No baduk, no dramas. They’d have to watch themselves around her.

After much back and forth that led nowhere, only two houses remained.

“Then the only suitable places are Head Gu’s house and Kangjui’s.”

“Head Gu’s is out! Jongcheol’s there, ain’t he? How can you send Sowoi into some young man’s house!”

Deokrye Grandma sprang up again.

“Grandma, what’s wrong with our Jongcheol!”

“What if Jongcheol starts harborin’ feelings for Sowoi? He studied his tail off in this backwater and got into Seoul National University. Graduated and joined Seoul Electronics, the best in the country. Rich men’ll be lining up for her—Jongcheol’s not an option!”

“Then what about Kangjui? What makes him different!”

Amid the rising voices, Sowon squeezed her eyes shut.

Whether it was Woo Kangjun’s house or Gu Jongcheol’s, staying at a young man’s house was something she would rather avoid.

And why would either of them have any reason to offer their home? Just as she let out a short sigh—

“Kangjui… Kangjui’s a bit different….”

With Deokrye Grandma’s small mutter, the atmosphere shifted in an instant. Once again, murmurs rippled through the room.

“Right, Kangjui’s got that extra room, don’t he? That annex or whatever.”

“Oh, that’s right. It’s nice and cozy there.”

Before she knew it, the decision had turned into Sowon staying at Kangjun’s house.

“Even so, living under the same roof as a man is a bit…”

She quickly spoke up before it became a settled fact. But everyone brushed it aside as if it were nothing.

“What, you embarrassed or somethin’?”

“I’m tellin’ you, Kangjui’s fine. That boy’s kind and respectful—takes real good care of us old folks.”

“That’s right. And he used to be in the military.”

As if there were any man in Korea who hadn’t served. She gave an awkward smile at the not-so-helpful comment, but Deokrye Grandma added:

“That whole family’s full of generals. They’d never do anything bad. Kangjui himself is a former captain.”

“…A family of generals?”

It sounded like they were a career military family. But that hardly justified barging into a man’s house.

And the man in question—wasn’t he barely able to shed his military tone of speech? He wasn’t even an active soldier anymore.

“And sure, he might look cold on the outside, but that ain’t true at all. He listens real well to what we say. You just go on in without worry.”

“No, it’s different with me and with you, Grandmas.”

If he happened to see her as a woman, that would be a problem. The moment she let that thought slip—

The room turned icy.

Even Deokrye Grandma, who had defended her the whole time, cleared her throat and shot her a sideways look.

“What, you sayin’ us wrinkled old hens ain’t women?”

Realizing her slip, Sowon hurried to backtrack.

“That’s not what I meant… anyway, I’ll just stay at the community hall—”

“I told you, Kangjui’s fine!”

Deokrye Grandma shouted again.

What exactly made him so different? She was grateful for their concern, but this felt wrong.

Growing more flustered, Sowon let out a long sigh.

The village elders’ stubborn insistence on Kangjun’s house despite her polite refusals was baffling enough, and above all—

“He’s a eunuch.”