15
Liberation
The baby was taking a nap in the nursery, and Yun reviewed the projected financials in the den. Before Michael was born, she used to work from her office at Exodus on Saturdays and Sundays, but in the past year, she’d been working from home on weekends and Mondays.
After Peter and Mido left for Seoul, Lion hired a new director and account manager and a bookkeeper for both hagwons.
They were extremely competent, but out of habit, Yun continued to check on all the jobs she used to do, no matter how many times Lion told her that she had to work less and rest more.
There was the familiar knock. Two raps against the wall, never the door. Her tall husband stood by the half-open door. Lion wore an Aretha Franklin T-shirt and faded blue jeans.
“Have you thought it through?” he asked.
“What if he leaves again?” Yun said.
“Well, if he does, he does.”
Again they were discussing moving her parents into the two-bedroom apartment above the garage. Yun was relieved that her father had returned from Brazil, but she still felt awkward and mistrustful around him. They never discussed why he’d left or what had made him return.
“I don’t mind if they live here,” she said. “I just don’t think I should ask them to move in.”
Lion sat down on the love seat facing the television.
“Wife.”
“Yes,” she answered without looking up from her work. Yun circled figures she questioned with her blue marker.
“I think he’s sorry,” Lion said.
“I know, but he didn’t say it.” Yun refused to face Lion. If she saw her husband’s tender expression, she would lose her resolve and feel sorry for her father. Both Nari and Lion had forgiven him, and Yun thought someone should hold up standards. “He’s never going to say it.”
“I’m not sure if men in his generation do stuff like that.
I mean, there could be exceptions.” Lion stared up at the ceiling like he was puzzling it out.
He didn’t like to make absolute statements.
“It’s hard to apologize, I guess,” he said, and added, “So, do you want me to ask them?” Lion smiled at her. “I can. I’m happy to do it.”
Finally she looked up at him from her papers, wondering how he could always be so patient and buoyant.
By the time Nari and Joonho arrived with the takeout dinner from Mandu House, the baby was awake from his nap and playful.
Joonho washed his hands and held Michael up in his arms. The baby squealed with joy.
Near the dining table was a large white sheepskin rug covered with a fresh bath towel and Michael’s favorite toys, and the grandfather and baby played on the floor.
Nari knew where everything was in her daughter’s kitchen, and while Yun set the table, Nari heated up the chicken porridge for Michael. Lion took out drinks from the refrigerator.
“Shin Taehun died,” Nari said.
“What?” Lion exclaimed, pausing in front of the open refrigerator door.
“When? How?” Yun stood still, a stack of plates, napkins, and chopsticks in her hands.
“Yesterday morning, the police found him. Jasal.”
Yun looked at her father. In one hand, he held a stuffed tiger, and in the other, a stuffed rabbit, mesmerizing the baby. When she was a child, he used to imitate all the animal sounds. Until now, she had forgotten this. Yun set down the dishes. The bags of food remained unopened.
“I thought he had a lawyer, and it wasn’t his fault,” Lion said. “Didn’t you just see him? When he enrolled Anna?” he asked his wife.
“Oh, is that why he came to us?” Yun said. “She goes to school in Woodbridge, and there’s a pretty good hagwon for her age in Irvine that’s not far from their house, and I didn’t get why he wouldn’t enroll her there.”
“He left Mido’s father a letter,” Nari said. “He asked him to take care of Anna. Can you believe that?”
Lion exhaled as if nothing could surprise him anymore. Joonho had heard all this earlier and continued to play with the baby.
Nari smiled at the baby and didn’t want to say more.
It was all too sad. Helen had never said anything bad about Taehun Shin and Danbi Jung, but she knew something had happened between the two couples.
Helen had said that the men had been best friends.
They had gone to college and served in KATUSA together.
The newspaper articles about Danbi Jung and George Hong and how much money they had stolen from Gospel Presbyterian were shocking enough.
Now there was a terrible death, and the adults felt bad for the little girl.
In light of another family’s tragedy, Nari felt guilty for her good fortune, here with her daughter, son-in-law, and grandson and her husband who had returned home.
Nari and Joonho might have lost their money and property, and now they worked for someone else’s gain, but in their daughter’s house, with their beautiful grandson gazing up at them, their old disappointments faded away.
Lion began to take the food containers from the bag.
“But Elder Shin was innocent,” he said, repeating what the pastors and elders had discussed at the emergency session meeting. “Why would he do this?”
“His wife Mary flew in from New Jersey and asked for a divorce,” Nari said. “I didn’t know they weren’t divorced already.”
Nari picked up the baby and put him in the high chair, and the adults sat down.
Lion bowed his head to say grace, and they prayed for the lonely, the brokenhearted, and those without friends, work, or homes.
Michael tapped his little hands on the white plastic table attached to his chair, and Yun fed him spoonfuls of warm porridge.
While she fed the baby, she ate dumplings.
Whenever Michael reached for her food, she tore off tiny pieces of dumpling and chicken and put them on his tray, allowing him to feed himself.
“Look at how well he eats,” Joonho said. “He’s going to be big like his father.”
“I think he looks like you,” Nari said to her husband, and Joonho grinned. Everyone liked to be compared to Michael, who had a beautiful open face.
When there was a lull, Lion made his pitch to his in-laws.
“Yun and I would love it if you moved in with us. We have the two-bedroom apartment above the garage, which is bigger than your current apartment, or you could stay in the house. We have an extra bedroom here.”
Joonho shook his head. “We don’t want to be a bother. The apartment in Cypress is fine. The rent hasn’t gone up much.”
“No,” Nari said firmly. “I want to live here. That way I can see Michael every day. The apartment above the garage is perfect. Besides, when Ginny comes home from Seoul, she can have everything stay the same in the house.”
Quietly Yun fed the baby, who was now almost done with the porridge. Michael picked up the tiny pieces of shredded chicken and chewed, and the four adults looked as delighted as if he were performing a magic trick.
Joonho put his hand near Michael, and the baby grabbed his pinkie and laughed at his grandfather.
“I want to live here,” Nari said again. “Are you sure we wouldn’t be bothering you?” she asked Lion, who shook his head.
“We’re healthy enough to take care of ourselves,” Joonho assured them. “We know a young family needs their privacy.”
“It wouldn’t bother us,” Yun said to her father. She smiled. “You could help me with Michael because he’s going to have a little sister in five months. We will need your help.”
With his free hand, Joonho covered his mouth to blink back tears. Nari shouted, “How can I be so blessed?” She wept. “Thank God, thank God, thank God,” the young grandmother repeated.
Her brother, Kenny, was visiting from Sydney, so Sonya invited Mido and DH over to her place. While they waited for DH, who was delayed at work, Sonya, Kenny, and Mido caught up, and Mido told her uncle about what was going on at home.
“Let me get this straight.” Kenny turned to Mido.
Surprised and slightly outraged, he sounded even more Australian.
His accent grew more pronounced as his vowels lengthened and r sounds dropped.
“That horrible woman, who falsely accused your father and destroyed his career, cheated on Shin with another married man, then embezzled money from their insurance company and church?”
Mido closed her eyes and nodded.
“Fuck me dead,” Kenny said.
“Kenny.” Sonya didn’t approve of his cursing.
“And there’s a kid?” he asked, undeterred by his older sister.
“Anna.” Mido said the child’s name.
Sonya, who’d heard most of this from Nari, sighed. She couldn’t believe John was taking care of the child.
“Hang on. How can he take care of her? How old is she?” Kenny turned to Sonya in disbelief. “You know all this? Isn’t he managing your salons?”
This time Sonya nodded, not wanting to make Mido uncomfortable.
“Dad feels badly for Anna. She’s only nine,” Mido said.
Sonya and Kenny could relate to this. They, too, had grown up like orphans. The doorbell rang and the housekeeper let DH in.
Kenny got up and hugged his nephew.
“You look very successful.” Kenny had not seen him since his sister’s funeral.
DH smiled. He wore a new blue suit and a French silk necktie Helen had bought for his law firm interviews years ago when he was a 1L.
“When are you coming to Sydney?” he asked. “Why are you working in Seoul? Are you going to get married soon? You a big shot now?”
“That’s at least four questions,” DH replied calmly. “I’d love to visit Sydney. I am not a big shot yet, but I’m working on it. I enjoy working here, and I might settle down in Seoul if I make partner.” He smiled, pleased to have covered all the questions.
The housekeeper signaled, and Sonya led them to the dining room. Dinner was ready.
“How is Bo?” Kenny asked.
DH glanced at Mido, who spoke to him more regularly.
“He took a week off from school to help out with Anna. He’s finishing up his requirements and teaching. I think there’s clinical hours, exams, papers, and some licensing steps,” she said.
DH looked at the food and glanced at his aunt to see if they could start eating. He was starving.