Walking Daddy

Kang Ji-Suk and Byeon Hyuk-Jin pushed aside the barricade that was blocking the entrance. Lee Jeong-Hyuk and Choi Da-Hye came running out.

“Did something happen?”

I nodded slightly in response to Lee Jeong-Hyuk’s question. I then opened my notepad and asked him to bring the elder over. He acknowledged the request and headed to apartment 104.

After a few moments, Lee Jeong-Hyuk came back with the elder. I laid out the vegetables, soil, and chickens I’d brought over from Dae Hyun San Park. The elder’s eyes went wide.

“Amazing. Where did you get these precious things?”

- They were on a farm in Dae Hyun San Park.

“Fu fu, I guess god is watching over us after all.”

- But sir, there’s barely any chicken feed for the chicken. I tried to bring as much as I could, but I know it won’t be enough.

“We can get more chicken feed when we go out to get food. I’d say don’t worry about it. We can also give them millet or make stew out of the sweet potato or potato roots that we can’t eat.”

- They eat that kind of stuff too?

“That’s what everybody did back in the day.”

The elder smiled gently and examined each of the nine chickens closely, muttering comments about each of them—‘look at this one’, ‘look at how plump this one is’—clearly still in awe.

The Lee brothers and Choi Da-Hye looked at me.

“We’re going to have to make a henhouse. Is everyone willing to help?”

Everyone nodded without showing much objection. The moment Lee Jeong-Uk tried to start working, I grabbed his shoulder and shook my head.

“So-Yeon’s dad, what’s wrong?”

- You should look after the students.

“Oh, got it.”

I was self-conscious, feeling their gaze on me. The students we’d brought over from Dae Hyun San Park gym were just looking at what we were doing, and hadn’t been able to even sit down.

We had to show them to their rooms and explain to them how the shelter operated. I thought Lee Jeong-Uk could be in charge of that.

“Okay everyone, gather up here.”

Lee Jeong-Uk had an easy expression as he walked toward the students. He flashed a quick smirk.

“I hope everyone’s done some shoveling or farming in their lives.”

I placed a palm on my face and sighed. He wasn’t giving them a single second to rest. In fact, he was subtly pressuring them to help out. However, they did have to do their part now, since they were now part of Shelter Hae-Young.

The students were astute enough to know that they had to abide by new rules now. They all nodded and followed Lee Jeong-Uk. Lee Jeong-Uk smiled brightly and called out to the elder.

“Elder! The students here said they’d help too!”

“Huh, huh. I haven’t seen young people like them in a while.”

I pretended that I saw nothing and started heading toward apartment 104. I wanted to meet So-Yeon as soon as I could. But then someone grabbed my shoulder.

“So-Yeon’s father, you’re going to help out too, right?”

It was Choi Da-Hye. I smiled sheepishly, trying to come up with an excuse. I quickly frowned and acted like I had a headache. I should’ve known that it wouldn’t work on Choi Da-Hye, though. I was sure it would’ve worked if it was either of the Lee brothers or the elder. Choi Da-Hye’s face turned to disappointment after she took a close look at me.

“So-Yeon’s father.”

“Grr…?”

“Even if you have the opportunity to become an actor later on, I don’t think you should become one. You look pretty alright, but your acting is terrible.”

“...”

Choi Da-Hye passed me the shovel she was holding as I smacked my lips out of bitterness.

“Alrighty, if you could take care of the sweet potatoes, please.”

“Grr…”

“You know you can’t go to see So-Yeon anyway. She’s studying with everyone else. Remember what Seon-Hui unnie said the last time you tried to do so.”

‘Of course I remember.’

A couple of weeks ago, Han Seon-Hui had smacked my back and shooed me out when the children were busy studying. Back then, I’d been so sad and embarrassed that I couldn’t help but let my shoulders sag on my way out.

Thinking about it now, though, it was entirely my fault. It was my fault for bothering their studies, and I also hadn’t thought of the other children.

When the world turned into this mess, most of the kids would never see their parents anymore, and I could tell that those kids were probably jealous of So-Yeon deep down. That’s probably why Han Seon-Hui smacked me, since she’d figured it out before me.

I grudgingly took the shovel from Choi Da-Hye and helped the elder with his work.

* * *

As it passed one o’clock in the afternoon, the kids piled out of apartment 104. After the children were done with their classes, we all got together to eat lunch. Their laughter was a kind of reminder for us to get together and take a break.

“Daddy!”

So-Yeon’s backpack swung from side to side as she came running toward me. I beamed at her and got to one knee to welcome her into my arms. As I lifted So-Yeon and whirled her about in circles, everyone who was watching burst out laughing.

The college students that had just arrived looked So-Yeon and I, dumbfounded. I quickly took out my notepad and wrote down some words.

- Were you a good girl today?

“Yes! Aunt Seon-Hui told me a funny story.”

- Funny story?

“It’s about a turtle and rabbit! They raced against each other. Daddy, do you know who won?”

- Hmm, Daddy’s not sure. The rabbit?

“Nope! The turtle!”

It seemed like children under the age of eleven were learning about fables as well. It made sense, since these fables held many lessons that the children could understand easily and could eventually help them grow emotionally.

So-Yeon kept going on about the race between the turtle and rabbit. I grinned while I paid attention to what she had to say. It felt great just to be able to hear her talk. I was so overwhelmed by joy, and I even wondered if I was allowed to feel so good and happy.

Out of the blue, I felt a deep respect for all the fathers that sent their daughters off to get married to other men. I wondered how they could leave their precious daughters in the hands of a different man. I couldn’t imagine it at all.

The Lee brothers were laughing cheerfully as they played with the other children. After a moment, the principal came out with the teenage students. He came up to me and whispered in my ear.

“So-Yeon’s father, Ji-Suk didn’t come to class again. He gave the excuse that he had to be on guard duty.”

I thought of Kang Ji-Suk after I heard what the principal said.

‘Wait, isn’t Kang Ji-Suk still sixteen?’

I didn’t even realize earlier that he shouldn’t have been manning the barricade. For some reason, it seemed natural for him to be doing that. The principal took a look around before whispering again,

“I think Ji-Suk is slowly losing his grip on his emotions.”

I couldn’t help but be surprised by that. Kang Ji-Suk was a cheerful boy who chattered away every time he saw me.

‘But if the principal feels this way… Does this mean that Kang Ji-Suk is having a hard time getting along with the other students?’

I titled my head and wrote down a few words.

- Do you think he isn’t trying to fit in?

“Yes. I think it’s been about a month. I think it has something to do with Eun-Jeong.”

‘Kang Eun-Jeong.’

She was Kang Ji-Suk’s older sister in her twenties. She was a bold woman.

Unfortunately, she’d been down with a cold for over a month, but the medicine we brought from the pharmacy hadn’t helped her recovery. She wasn’t able to eat porridge properly, and barely ate at all, constantly saying that she didn’t have any appetite.

She was staying by herself in an empty room in apartment 104 for now. Kang Ji-Suk, Han Seon-Hui, and Choi Da-Hye took turns taking care of her. She’d developed a mysterious fever and was dry-heaving at first, but thankfully, she’d gotten a bit better after taking some medicine.

Unfortunately, that was it.

Although the early, severe symptoms had gotten better, she was still very sick. Despite this, she still insisted on doing laundry and cleaning. She could work for at most an hour before her condition deteriorated and she turned pale. At that point, everyone sent her back to her room.

Kang Eun-Jeong was growing weaker by the day.

We didn’t know her exact symptoms, and we had no way to help since we didn’t have a doctor. The rest of us in the shelter could only wish that she would fight off her mysterious symptoms on her own and get back to her healthy self soon.

But it seemed like Kang Ji-Suk’s attitude and personality had changed ever since his sister had fallen sick. He didn’t care much about his studies anymore, and he would spend more than half the day guarding the barricade.

I frowned sadly, and a sigh escaped my lips. The principal sighed as well.

“I think it’s best if you have a talk with him. He doesn’t seem to listen to us anymore...”

- Has Ji-Suk threatened anyone or done anything that was disrespectful toward others? Has he crossed the line?

“No, he hasn’t. But whatever we say seems to go in one ear and come out the other. He doesn’t even try to listen to what we have to say. I’ve heard he’s like this too when Lee Jeong-Uk talks to him.”

Kang Ji-Suk called Lee Jeong-Uk ‘uncle’, showing just how close they were. If he was unwilling to talk to Lee Jeong-Uk as well, this was a serious matter.

- I’ll try to talk to him.

“Please. Everyone is worried about Ji-Suk. He’s just a child who’s supposed to have fun right now, you know…?”

The principal trailed off and shook his head. I was more than aware that he’d been guiding students onto the right path so that they wouldn’t go astray his entire life. Even for someone like the principal, it wasn’t easy for him to understand the change within Kang Ji-Suk.

The world had changed. It almost felt as though the things we were certain of previously were now useless.

I wondered if the principal was being more cautious than usual in approaching him, just in case Kang Ji-Suk decided to go down the wrong path. Perhaps this was why he was asking people around for help, and he’d even turned to me, the leader of Shelter Hae-Young, for help. He’d probably considered the situation carefully before coming to me.

Ultimately, it was the principal’s responsibility to take care of the children. He might’ve thought that he wasn’t adequately discharging his responsibility. If he had to come to me with this issue, did it mean that the situation was that severe, or that he was that desperate? Or was it just a sign that he was worried about the students from the bottom of his heart?

I nodded and wrote down some words.

- I’ll try talking to him later. You should go have lunch first.

“I’m sorry. I know you’re already so busy, but to bring this up to you…”

- It’s all right. In fact, I’m glad that you told me.

“...”

The principal pursed his lips and didn’t say a word.

I looked at his face and wrote down more words.

- We’re basically a family now. We need to take care of each other’s pain. Let me know anytime. I’ll try my best to help if I’m able to.

“Thank you.”

The principal barely croaked out his thanks. As I patted him on the back, he gave a slight nod and went to join the rest of the community.

So-Yeon looked at me with her head tilted to the side, as if she sensed something wasn’t right. I tried my best to smile at her.

- So-Yeon sweetie, you should go eat with everyone else.

“Daddy, aren’t you coming?”

- Daddy’s going to go get Ji-Suk oppa.

“Okie! Ji-Suk oppa should be at the entrance!”

- Is that right, sweetie? I don’t have to waste any time looking for Ji-Suk oppa, thanks to you, sweetie. Thank you, darling.

I smiled gently and gestured for her to join the others. So-Yeon scurried away to join the others, and told me to be back as soon as possible.

I smiled slightly and stared at the crowd of people for a while. Once I saw that So-Yeon was eating lunch and laughing along with the others, I headed toward the entrance.

‘So that’s how Ji-Suk’s been doing these days…’

It seemed like there was a strong connection between his current actions and Kang Eun-Jeong’s illness. Despite it being lunchtime, I didn’t see Kang Ji-Suk. I prayed that he wouldn’t go down the wrong path.

* * *

As I got closer to the barricade at the front entrance, I saw Kang Ji-Suk sitting on the floor with his stainless steel spear. He got up quickly as if he had felt my presence.

“I’m sorry, ahjussi. I just sat down.”

I smiled gently and gestured to him to sit back down. I took out my notepad and wrote down some words.

- Aren’t you eating? It’s lunchtime.

“Oh… I’m not that hungry right now.”

- Still, you have to eat so that you can keep going.

“I’m okay.”

Kang Ji-Suk chuckled and looked off into the distance. He had the face of a teenager with a lot on his mind. I let out a breath and then wrote down more words.

- Is there something on your mind you want to talk about?

“No, ahjussi, nothing at all. What would I be worried about when I’m here thanks to you, ahjussi?”

- Thanks to me?

“Yes…?”

- No. It’s because everyone tried their best. I couldn’t have done anything by myself.

“Ahjussi, you don’t have to be so humble. Everyone knows it’s all thanks to you. It’s just that no one here says it out loud.”

I let my face go blank. Kang Ji-Suk carefully avoided my gaze, although he seemed surprised. I looked at him calmly and wrote down more words.

- Do you really think so?

“Well, this shelter was built thanks to you, and you even got rid of all the zombies nearby. And thanks to that, everyone can laugh this loud in this apartment complex...”

I placed my hand on Kang Ji-Suk’s shoulder, and locked eyes with him. He met my gaze for a moment, but eventually swallowed and looked down. After a moment, he smirked and chuckled.

“I know, ahjussi. I know that everyone played a part. But I also know that you’re in the middle of everything. I’ll try my best too. I’m good at working, you know?”

Looking at Kang Ji-Suk, I began to sense why he was acting the way he was. I wrote out a message slowly.

- If there’s anything you feel bad or disappointed about, tell me. I can’t talk with you, but I can surely listen to you.

“No, ahjussi, there’s nothing like that.”

- It’s all right. Spill the beans.

“There’s really nothing, ahjussi.”

Kang Ji-Suk smiled a bitter smile, and his head sank. However, I could tell that he had something on his mind just by the way he was playing with his fingers. Just like his wiggling fingers, I knew that this tangled-up and complicated issue on his mind was slowly eating away at his body and mind.

Although he wouldn’t tell me the reason directly, I was now certain as to why he was acting in this manner. I let out a quick breath and wrote down some words.

- It’s not your fault.