Parahan, 2nd Edition Read online

  It was hard to know what was going on, exactly, but Ghil knew there was only one thing to do.

  “Order the men to arrest them - quickly!” Ghil shouted to Moohyuk.

  Moohyuk knew he could not afford to delay.

  “Brigade and battalion commander arrest squad! Arrest these commanders!”

  Suddenly the four commanders stopped ten steps away and the brigade commander smiled cynically to the group of prisoners for it appeared as if the arrest squad was frozen with fear.

  “Move, arrest squad!” Moohyuk shouted, his voice trembling. “Arrest them immediately!”

  The arrest squad still hesitated, frozen in place.

  Time seemed to stand still. No one moved. Then, several people detached themselves from the prisoner’s side, removed their headbands, and stood behind the brigade commander. Ghil knew that even though they’d been very careful, their plans had been leaked to the highest authority on the compound. Even though it looked like twenty men had switched allegiance, Mookyuk’s group was still twice as large as the brigade commander’s and with dead certainty Ghil knew they needed to attack directly, and he knew Moohyuk was unsure of himself after his arrest order had failed.

  “We have to move right now!” Ghil shouted.

  At Ghil’s words the smile was wiped off the brigade commander’s face and he spoke to the prisoner’s in a loud voice ringing with authority.

  “Comrades! Remove your headbands! If you do so quickly, I will forgive all of you as I did your comrades behind of me. Decide now! For this is your only chance.!”

  His loud voice was thick with a rare, unfamiliar North Korean dialect that reverberated harshly in the prisoners’ ears, amplifying their fear. Ghil knew these South Korean men were remembering the rumors about the brigade commander. Some said he came to be here because he was misclassified, even though he was a soldier of the North Korea Army and not a conscripted soldier. Some said he was captured intentionally under the command of the North Korean leadership. However, these were all rumors and have not been confirmed.

  “Do I need to call the camp police?”

  The remarks of the brigade commander made them remember the existence of the camp police. It was obvious the prisoners would be outnumbered if the police arrived on the scene. Headbands were being thrown on the ground at the commander’s feet and the Ghil knew the result was a foregone conclusion. There was no time to hesitate.

  “Just hit it!” Ghil shouted.

  Moohyuk stood still, staring at the brigade commander, resigned to the fact that his order would not budge his fellow prisoners who were still frozen in fear. Now only ten people still wore headbands.

  “It is over, comrades! Keep your headbands as they are now. I need to know who to kill. Go ahead and kill these scums!”

  As soon as the brigade commander placed the order, dozens of people rushed at the remaining prisoners wearing headbands, all lifting their weapons at once. Prisoners who were next to Moohyuk and Ghil began to flee, frightened out of their minds. They screamed as they were caught. Ghil and Moohyuk ran until they were cornered by three prisoners, their backs against the barbed wire at the outer corner of the compound. One of three approached them wielding a stick and struck Ghil on the side of his head, knocking him to the ground. Moohyuk fought the three prisoners, bravely swinging his barbed wired club until the shrill sound of a whistle split the air followed in quick succession by a gunshot. The three prisoners fighting Moohyuk fled like a hound dog being chased by a tiger. Ghil felt a massive pain move sharply down his head and lodge in his shoulder. He could not move. The harder he tried, the deeper the pain penetrated. His vision blurred.

  Gradually Ghil realized he was badly wounded and it would be hard to recover.

  “Pull yourself together!” Moohyuk said, his voice barely breaking through Ghil’s fading consciousness. “It is over! We can get out of here by asking the guards!”

  With the last of his strength, Ghil pulled a wooden doll from his pocket. It had taken him a month to carve the Great General Under Heaven for his son’s birthday present, but he was never able to give it to him since he was conscripted into the North Korean Army so suddenly.

  “If you get out of here… please give it to my son… Gyungsung Photo Studio, Jong-ro, Seoul… or Jong-ro Store. If you tell them my name you will be able to find my family… Please…”

  “Ghil! Wake up! You can make it! Give it yourself!”

  Ghil handed the wooden doll to Moohyuk, ignoring his cries. Ghil’s right hand was trembling. It dropped when he could hold it out no more. Finally, he tried to focus his eyes on Moohyuk for the last time and saw his friend’s face fill with sadness and sympathy.

  I am so lucky to have a friend like you beside me at my last breath…

  Ghil closed his eyes. The image of his wife and son appeared in his mind and hot tears ran down his cheeks. He was drained of strength and sleep beckoned. He remembered this feeling. It was the same feeling he’d had in the dream when he was in the middle of the ocean.

  Maybe dying is my chance to get out of this damned camp. Because even if I could leave alive, there’s no difference between the battlefield and this damned camp.

  He accepted the coming darkness, gave up his body and moved into a state of nothingness…

  Everyday Life

  Morning of Mar 14, 2013

  The smartphone sitting on the small bedside table went off and the Tarzan alarm filled the room with a customized, King of the Apes hollering ringtone that notified Sunghoon it was time to get up and run into the jungle to work for a living. He half opened his eyelids, which were heavy with fatigue. When he tried to lift his head, a sharp pain sliced through his skull and he laid back down, resting his head on the pillow. He should have known better than to drink like that at the party yesterday. Geez…he could still smell the bacon, soju and beer he’d had. And his stomach was still bothering him.

  Sunghoon managed to slide his body out of bed and then took unsteady steps towards the dining table. There were bowls of bean sprout broth and rice on the table. His wife was ironing dress shirts by the table. She sensed his presence and turned her head towards him.

  “You are up! How do you feel?”

  “Okay…”

  “You should drink less for your health… You were quite drunk, so I could not ask you to wash.”

  “Well done…,” Sunghoon replied, hardly hearing her. He put his awfully heavy body on the chair in front of the table.

  If it were not for the job…

  He had a strong desire to go back to bed.

  His wife lifted the dress shirts with her hands when she finished ironing.

  “Oh, there was a strange thing yesterday.”

  She said it as if she had just suddenly remembered it. Sunghoon moved his eyes from the tip of his spoon to her as she put the dress shirts on the sofa armrest.

  “I went to the supermarket and bought milk in the late afternoon. Someone called my name from behind me on the way back home. I looked back, and someone I never met before was staring at me. I kept looking at him because I thought it could be someone I knew, but he disappeared without saying a word.”

  “What did he call you?”

  “Hyunah!”

  “Must be someone who knows you. You probably did not recognize him.”

  Sunghoon finished the broth monotonously, in contrast to the serious reaction of his wife.

  As his hangover receded, his head was suddenly filled with complicated company work. His wife’s everyday life was not an important matter to him; he could half-listen.

  His company was preparing a merger with another company. Precisely speaking, his company was being merged into another company. The work his department did was almost identical to the same department of the other company, so his department was in the danger of being blown off.

  People could not work well under the circumstances, but the department had an urgent issue to discuss regarding several on-going businesses. They had to decid
e what was to go forward and what should stop. They were having a meeting about it today, so he had to go to the office early.

  Rumor had it that there would be a layoff immediately after the merger, so the conclusions of the meeting were not important. The morale of the employees in the department couldn’t get any lower; but nothing could be done about it. Sunghoon’s spirits were just as low.

  We will not go for the layoff.

  He tried hard to ignore the disturbing concern that was digging away at his chest, so he stood up quickly. He did not want to make it worse by being late for the meeting. He got ready for work and then said a quick good-bye to his wife as she followed him to the door. The bus was waiting for him at the bus stop, as if it was welcoming him. If it were an ordinary day, he would be thinking it was a lucky day. However, his mind was so disturbed that all positive thoughts were erased. After climbing on board he found a seat and sat down, gazing at the landscape of the street outside the window. The outside world seemed to be having an ordinary, run-of-the-mill day, unlike his complicated mind.

  The bus rushed to the same place at the same time just as it did every day. People on the bus, as usual, had no facial expressions. It was as if they had lost their souls temporarily and given up their body to the bus to be dragged somewhere.

  ✽ ✽ ✽

  The meeting ended quickly. It was meaningless and even worse than expected. The conclusion was to continue to work on the majority of things in progress, a somewhat obvious result. Although the department was expected to be closed, it was hard to delay or fold on-going projects based on inconclusive information.

  Minho Choi, the assistant manager, stepped out of the meeting room complaining.

  “Why would they call a meeting early in the morning just to decide to work as usual?”

  Sunghoon, who was just behind him, smiled.

  “Manager Sunghoon Jeong, I am going to the bakery to buy some chocolate,” Choi said. “Do you want me to get you some, as well?”

  Assistant manager Choi sat down across the partition from Sunghoon. He was still an assistant manager because his promotion had been delayed. Still, Choi was Sunghoon’s best friend in the company. They started working for the company the same year.

  “Chocolate?” Sunghoon looked at his desk calendar.

  “Oh, today is White Day.”

  “Didn’t you know that?”

  Choi looked at him with widening his eyes and mouth as if it was too ridiculous.

  “I forgot. My mind has been occupied by other things. Are you going to the bakery?”

  “If I have free time later.”

  “If so, please get me one.”

  Deputy General Inhyung Park, who was sitting in the manager seat on the left, slipped into the conversation,

  “Do you still do that kind of thing? I agreed with my wife not to eat those.”

  “I don’t know. My wife has not told me I am not obligated to buy chocolate yet.” Sunghoon replied with a smile and pulled a chair to sit down.

  “What? Our company stock is dropping to an all-time low?”

  Assistant manager Choi straightened, his eyes surprised. Sunghoon pulled up a web browser on his monitor, and moving to the stock section of a portal site. He checked his favorite stocks. Among the red stocks, there was only one blue one, its blue arrow pointing downward. It represented this company, the one the three of them currently worked for. Sunghoon had bought some shares when the company increased its capital by issuing new stocks. He spent 30 million KRW - a large sum for him – on the stocks and had held onto them. He hadn’t lost his investment yet based on what he’d paid for them. so he could talk about the decline without being too upset.

  “The stock price really went up for several days after rumors of the merger began, but now its plummeting. You know the maxim - buy on the rumor and sell on the news - don’t you?” he said.

  “People working for the company are worried about losing their jobs,” Choi said, curling his lips bitterly.

  “That is the reality,” Sunghoon said. “I don’t think the employees in the other company are happy either. There’s been a lot of money spent, so they can’t expect a bonus or a raise for a while. The merger makes us ephemeral. In the end, only the shareholders of the other company are happy, especially major shareholders.”

  “Who have their hands dirty?” Choi said.

  “If you don’t like things the way they are, then make enough money to become a major shareholder.”

  “Is that right?” Choi said as if he’d run out of anything logical to say. He smiled, revealing prominent front teeth.

  The director’s business secretary appeared in the doorway. “Manager Sunghoon Jeong, Mr. Managing Director is looking for you.”

  “Managing Director? Now?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Sunghoon tilted his head. It was rare that a managing director wanted to see a manager in person. He should have asked for a deputy general manager or a general manager if it were related to work. Sunghoon grabbed a notebook and pen and headed to the managing director’s office. There was no time to delay since it was a call from higher management.

  Thoughts raced through his mind as he walked through the maze of office walls and partitions. What is this summons about? This was an executive call in an awkward atmosphere. Of course he felt nervous rather than curious. It was natural,

  Sunghoon knocked on the managing director’s door.

  “Come in.” The heavy voice had no trouble penetrating the door.

  Sunghoon gingerly opened the door and entered the office, bowing deeply from his waist.

  “How are you doing, sir?”

  “Yes, have a seat there.” The director waved at a chair.

  “Yes, sir.”

  Sunghoon waited until the managing director sat down before seating himself.

  “How’s your work?” the director asked.

  Sunghoon paused. “I am doing fine, sir.” It was the most appropriate answer.

  “I know the company atmosphere is not the best these days.”

  “Yes… a little.” Sunghoon could not say that everything was going well.

  “Yes… yes…” The managing director forced a smile, making wrinkles appear on the edges of his rotund face.

  “I’ve been monitoring you,” he said. “You have a very good reputation among managers and staff.”

  “Thank you, sir.”

  “Please bear in mind that I am carefully watching every single employee. I’m not just sitting here.”

  The managing director creased his face into another smile.

  “Yes, I am aware,” Sunghoon said.

  “I am not going to beat around the bush.”

  Sunghoon’s heart was pounding.

  It is finally here…

  Sunghoon knew this moment would decide his destiny. His heart was beating so fast it almost frightened him. He felt like he was floating; his fingertips trembled noticeably. He knew he needed to calm down and just wait for the verdict.

  “I know that there are a lot of rumors regarding the merger these days. Some say the department will be closed.” The director stopped.

  “There are many rumors…” Sunghoon offered. He felt his voice tremble.

  “They are not rumors. They are facts.”

  “Yes…” Sunghoon let his words trail off as he looked at the managing director’s facial expression.

  “There is no reason to have two identical departments after the merger. In fact, the existence of a department is not the point. The important thing is to maintain employment. Is not it?”

  “Yes, it is… You are right, sir.” He swallowed hard after answering, feeling as if his saliva was permeating his heart.

  “I’ve tried hard to sustain employment. I wanted to keep my entire staff, but things do not always work favorably.”

  Sunghoon did not answer.

  “I could keep three people from the department which is as much as I was able to do with my power in this s
ituation. You are one of them.”

  “Yes…”

  The department had seven people in total. That meant the other four people would lose their jobs.

  “I talked to the other two a few days ago.”

  “Yes, sir…”

  He could not thank him. He remembered a story about the managing director from a few days ago. He had already been offered a position as senior managing director in the other company. When Sunghoon heard it, he considered it a trivial rumor for it could have been fabricated.

  Today, however, he was convinced that it was not a groundless rumor.

  “You must remain silent about this with other staff members until there is an official announcement.”

  “Okay.”

  “Good. Go and do what you need to do.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  He left the office and carefully closed the door. Assistant Manager Minho Choi suddenly came to his mind as he returned to the office.

  Had he received word as well?

  Sunghoon brought the dialogue from this morning to mind and considered Minho’s words and facial expressions. His friend could not be such an outstanding performer.

  Sunghoon returned to his desk and sat down. Assistant manager Choi gazed vacantly at him.

  “What was the call about?”

  “Just because… he wants to know the atmosphere of the staff.”

  “Does he ask because he does not know?”

  Assistant manager Choi seemed to ask this to no one in particular, as if he was dumbfounded.