Golden Time

He came back to this place after such a long time.

“Let’s go in.”

When Suhyuk followed him into the house, he heard a familiar but pleasant sound.

Bark! Bark!

That big dog resembling a lion.

She looked even bigger than last time, as Suhyuk saw her for the first time in a long time.

When he approached, she wagged her tail.

“You remember me.”

When he stroked her head, she lay down on her back and acted cute.

“Come on in, Suhyuk,” said Kim.

There was nothing that changed about the big living room.

He recalled lots of memories here in the past, such as keeping the mother company and studying there.

“Do you still play games?” asked Suhyuk.

Taking out import alcoholic, Kim said with a smile, “Sure I do.”

“Hey, let me offer this,” said Kim, filling a cup for him.

Kim filled the gla.s.s and put some ice in it by himself.

It looked like the import alcohol cost more than one million won.

How could he disguise himself as a jobless man to her?

“You must be busy these days, right?” asked Kim.

“Business as usual, sir.”

“I’m proud of you, man,” said Kim, taking a sip of it and looking at him proudly.

Though he said Suhyuk was smart, he never thought he would go as far as to receive a n.o.bel Prize. Suddenly he recalled the first time he met Suhyuk. Those medical staff at the emergency room were like scarecrows. It was the student Suhyuk who actually found out that the real cause of his mother’s disease was appendicitis.

“Seeing as you received a n.o.bel Prize, now you could open a private hospital,” said Kim.

Suhyuk just smiled at his compliment.

Then a door opened and his mother came out.

Suhyuk rose from his seat with a smile.

“How have you been?”

“Mom, were you disturbed by the noise here?”

Despite Kim’s asking she fixed her eyes on Suhyuk and then rolled up her sleeves.

“Have you eaten, honey?”

Then she went to the refrigerator and opened it.

Kim let out a short sigh at that with a smile, saying,

“Looks like she sees her late husband in you.”

Rising from the seat, Kim went to her and said,

“Yes, mom. He said he ate already.”

“You still don’t know who your daddy is. He just drinks alcohol with his business friends without eating anything.”

Standing behind her Kim just made a bitter smile.

He could feel her affectionate feelings toward her late husband through her voice.

“Honey, don’t take any more alcohol and sit. Let me cook delicious spicy Kimchi soup with pork neck. I know you like it a lot,” said she to Suhyuk.

Seated at the table, Suhyuk opened his mouth, looking at her,

“Thanks so much. I like Kimchi soup very much.”

Turning her back, she looked at him, saying,

“Ooops, don’t use honorific words with me. You seem very drunk to say things like that to me.”

Looking at Suhyuk with a warm smile, she began chopping Kimchi again.

Kim took a seat on the opposite side of Suhyuk and said, “Thanks.”

Bowls of rice and side dishes were soon put down on the table.

She rubbed her belly as if she felt something uncomfortable.

“Looks like the ramen I had before is still in my stomach. Just go ahead.”

“Okay, let me see my mom’s cooking skills then.”

When was the last time she cooked for him like this?

Kim began moving the chopsticks, picking up some side dishes.

“It’s really delicious, mom,” said Kim.

In the meantime she did not take her eyes off from Suhyuk.

Then she suddenly said, “I feel sleepy now.”

Instantly she turned into a child, typical of dementia symptoms.

Rising from the seat, Kim approached her, saying,

“Shall we go back to the room for sleep, my queen?”

“Yeah, I want to sleep.”

Nodding his head, Kim lifted her up cautiously, and headed to the master bedroom.

Until Suhyuk was done with eating, Kim did not come back.

It seemed he was putting her to sleep.

Suhyuk looked at Kim’s seat on the opposite side of the dining table.

Kim had already emptied a bowl of rice as if he was very hungry.

At that moment Kim came back, “Sorry to have kept you waiting a long time...”

When Kim came back into the living room, Suhyuk had disappeared already.

Ding dong.

Kim moved to the sofa at the sound of his cellphone alarm.

It was a message from Suhyuk.

< p=””>

Please drop by the hospital with your mother one of these days. Let me schedule a comprehensive test for her. Of course for free!>

Kim made a smile at that. That’s why his mother liked him.

—–

Sunday.

Suhyuk was busy looking for a building for sale.

He did all the legwork trying to find one he liked from morning till evening.

He had been doing so for almost five hours.

Even the real estate agents found themselves in a difficult spot as time went by.

A large and good-looking building.

They showed him around many such ones.

On such occasions, however, Suhyuk asked them to show him some other ones.

Was he looking for one commanding a good landscape?

In a way he seemed to think that way because he examined the outside landscape after a quick look at the building.

Suhyuk went on to find one until 6pm, and finally he could find one that he liked.

“I’d like to make a contract on this building.”

The real estate agent was so happy to hear Suhyuk’s go-ahead, who was looking out the window. After a long legwork on a sultry day, he made a decision in the end.

If he had not been a n.o.bel Prize recipient, the agent would have called it quits and gone home.

“You’ve made a great choice. As it was for short sale, it’s cheap.”

Having said that, the agent made a suspicious look.

Given that he was a n.o.bel Prize winner, the building was such a nondescript and humble place.

Of course it was not old or shabby because it was built only three years ago.

The only thing that bothered him was that it was hard to get to, and there was no convenience store nearby.

“By the way, what are you doing here?”

At the agent’s asking Suhyuk just smiled.

One week pa.s.sed. There was lots of renovation work going on inside the building.

Many people were curious about the use of the building, but n.o.body knew the answer.

In the meantime Suhyuk was walking along a crowded street with Hana.

There were lots of students after school and company employees after the day’s work.

“Did you leave the office early?” asked Hana.

“Yes, I’m going to leave at exactly 6pm from now on,” replied Suhyuk.

Hana’s eyes became wide at his remarks, for Suhyuk was a workaholic.

“Suhyuk, is there anything wrong with you?”

Suhyuk, walking ahead, said with a smile,

“We’re almost there now.”

Then he stopped before a luxurious restaurant.

“Isn’t it very expensive here?”

“Let’s go inside.”

Suhyuk went in while Hana was at a loss for the moment.

She knew this place because she had been here before. She just came out immediately after seeing the expensive price of the menu, which was still vivid in her memory.

“This place is really expensive!”

Murmuring to herself she went inside.

“Come on in. You are here with a gentleman, right? Please come this way.”

The waiter escorted her to the table Suhyuk was seated at.

“Please call me when I’m needed,” said the waiter.

He then placed a sign outside the restaurant, which read “Closed”.

“Let’s go out, Suhyuk. It’s too expensive here.”

Suhyuk shook his head, saying, “We can’t, because I can’t cancel it.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Well, I rented the whole restaurant.”

At Suhyuk’s calm remarks, she opened her eyes wide and looked around.

There were n.o.body around except for those carrying violins to the stage.

Hana said quickly, “Are you crazy? Let’s go out. You can get back half the money you paid for this. Can I go and ask?”

This time Suhyuk shook his head.

“I heard I can’t.”

She let out a long sigh.

Suhyuk said, with a smile,

“Hana, let’s have a date like other lovers, which is just too common to them.”

Shaking her head, she swept up her long hair and said,

“Do you think this kind of date is common?”

“Don’t you see it in a TV soap opera sometimes? They just rent out a whole coffee shop or restaurant. Even in the movies...”

“Yeah, it’s conceivable in the movies...”

“Hana, we’ve come a long way like this. We can have this kind of special date just one time. Yeah, just one time...”

Having said that he looked at the stage.

A soft music filling the restaurant stopped suddenly and the violin players took their seats.

And they started playing music.

The music was so soft that she could not say anything.

“Are you moved to tears already? Really?”

“No, dude. Because I just feel the money for this has been wasted...”

“No way...”

Suhyuk took out something from his pocket.

It was none other than a ring box.

“It seemed common that boys put the ring in an ice cream before proposing, but I could not bring myself to do it...”

The ring was plain. Neither expensive nor cheap.

“Will you marry me, Hana?”

The music played as softly as ever, and Hana’s heart was beating hard, when the waiters shouted cheers and clapped their hands at his proposal to her.