21. Homecoming
[Albert's flashback begins]
In an infinitely spreading space of blue sky, white clouds floated piece by piece. The clouds changed shape with each gust of wind, becoming leaves, then glass cups. The man on the hill was silent. He just gazed into the distance. When the wind blew again, the reeds on the hill fluttered like flags bathed in sunset light. From afar, waves carrying white foam and leading a large group approached as if desperately seeking the man, breaking loudly with a great crashing sound. The man could only stare blankly at the waves' call, unable to do anything. He just watched the waves receding farther away.
He woke from his coma about three days after the accident. The world was all white and people passing by moved busily. He wanted to ask where he was, but his vision was blurry and he was very sleepy and tired, as if sleep might come again or not. Only after a while did a nurse come to him, and only then did he realize he was in a hospital.
『Squid Factory Waste Disposal Site Gas Poisoning Accident, 3 Casualties』
Around the time he moved to a new hospital room, TV news was reporting on the site where the safety accident occurred three days ago. The place shown on screen was so familiar he felt he could even imagine the parts not visible. On the news, the announcer said with a calm face that police would issue a warrant after determining the exact circumstances from the business owner. He kept getting sleepy. But when he actually closed his eyes, sleep wouldn't come and his head hurt. So he opened his eyes again. On the TV screen, the just-previous news had disappeared without a trace, and instead panelists frowned and nodded as if empathizing with a housewife's story about being uncomfortable because her mother-in-law kept visiting the newlywed home.
A doctor with graying hair visited his hospital room and asked if he was in pain anywhere. He said his head felt hazy. The doctor said his brain cells had been severely damaged from exposure to hydrogen sulfide. He told him not to work for a while, to rest, and to get regular checkups at the neurosurgery department. After the doctor left the room, the nurse who had come with him explained the discharge procedures. About a week's worth of hospital bills had accumulated, and the amount was considerable. When he said he didn't seem to have the means to pay immediately, the nurse told him not to worry and said she would process it as 'credit' with his ID card. (ID card credit processing was permitted only for certain industries, such as hospitals, police stations, fire stations, etc., and debt management was separately collected from assets or income by the Credit Bureau.) Albert asked what happened to the other two, and the nurse said they had probably already been disposed of as corpses through a cremation company long ago. The nurse asked back if they were people he knew.
He shook his head.
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He dragged his heavy body back to his home, a 3-pyeong semi-basement. As if returning from a long journey, he felt awkwardness from familiar objects. His younger brother must have been eating ramen during that time, as ramen bags were piled high in the trash can. As soon as he entered the room, he put down his bag and lay down on the floor. Through the middle of the shadowy ceiling, orange sunset light leaking from the window passed by. Occasionally the sound of motorcycles passing by could be heard outside, and the sound of wind too.
Suddenly he recalled his mother who had injured her finger in childhood and lay in the room all day. She lay on the floor staring blankly at the ceiling. Her face had an expression as if she had finished living her life, but it actually seemed better to the two brothers than her usual suffering expression. She occasionally felt her shortened finger. It must have been that sorrowful feeling of something that had been there since birth disappearing. He looked at the ceiling in exactly the same position as her, and an inexplicable sense of loss surged from a corner of his heart.
When he turned his gaze and scanned the room, he saw a golden trumpet placed on top of a square paper box. He sat up and picked up the trumpet. He brought it to his lips and blew, and a wind sound passed through. When he blew deeply two or three more times, a rough wind sound passed between the brass, and he began to cough. He tried to stop coughing, but strangely the coughing didn't stop and kept pouring out, making tears well up in his eyes. He collapsed on the floor, coughing and crying. The coughing that kept spilling out soon changed into beast-like howling. He cried with a howl leaking from the abyss of his chest—a rage against he knew not what.
[Albert's flashback ends]