"Study? Study what?"
Yoo-jin looks alternately at Kim and Joon-sang.
"Where do I begin?..."
Joon-sang mumbles.
" All out of necessity"
He takes a breath.
"Until I lost my eyesight, I'd never understood how difficult it would be to live without sight. Not at all. I've stumbled over every little step in my own house again and again."
She stares at him speaking.
"Fortunately, I had some architectural knowledge. I needed it for myself and wished to use it for all physically challenged."
Kim looks down and listens to him.
"It wasn't easy for me (a visually impaired person) to gain high expertise, you know. Right, I couldn't read the book. Nor use a computer. So what I got started was learning braille.
"Braille" Yoo-jin murmured.
"Yeah, I did whatever I could to learn. Learning braille, making someone reading to me, trying an app that automatically reads sentences."
Joon-sang nods.
"Through trial and error, I've studied architecture for the people like me. With the support of many people."
" It's amazing."
Yoo-jin says sincerely.
Kim clears his throat, and says:
"Actually, the reason he came to East Asia this time was to attend an academic conference in Japan. He presented his findings about barrier free at the conference. That's a great thing, isn't it?"
Kim continues, while laughing.
"He turns everything to good account, right? Remember, he used to be called Lee Min-hyeong, such a tough guy!"
"Oh, come on! " Joon-sang reply.
"You've been so positive, Joon-sang. It's so you."
Hearing her voice, Joon-sang says No, while shaking his head.
"I'd been depressed for a long time after the surgery. I had no energy to do anything because of__"
He swallows the next words 'because of losing you', then continues.
"__because of losing my sight and the purpose of my life. It's a memory I'd rather forget."
Kim adds, a bit exaggerated.
'Yap! It was terrible. When I went to visit him, wow!... Anyway, an impossible, awful situation. That's it! "
The three of them chuckle.
The sea glistens in the sunlight.
＊＊
Kim glances at his watch.
"Well !"
He stands up and puts his hands in his pockets.
"I'll get something to eat. I completely forgot how hungry I was."
Before finishing his words, he starts to walk away and says to Yoo-jin.
"It's not enough when all you have is tea, Yoo-jin-si?"
"Ah, but..."
She remarks vaguely.
Joon-sang voice follows Kim.
"Have you recovered from seasickness, Kim-seonbae?"
Kim puts on his shoes at the entrance and looks at them, twisting his upper body only.
''Seasickness? Ah, did I say that?"
He quickly leaves, laughing.
The terrace suddenly becomes quiet.
They realize that Kim's planed to leave them alone.
"Hey, Joon-sang"
She says.
"Let's take a walk in the garden, huh?"
＊＊
They go out to garden. It is very a well-kept one.
In the spring sunlight, they walk side by side up a gentle slope.
"Joon-sang"
Yoo-jin kicks off.
" Can I ask you what happened three years ago? Say...did you have your surgery soon after you arrived at the U.S?"
(To be continued)
YOU ARE READING
.* Winter Sonata *..
RomanceAs a homage to Winter Sonata 겨울연가 __ Yoo-jin and Joon-sang__ She bumps into him in the impossible house. What does she ask him? How does he struggle? Who joins them? And What is spoken before the sunset? I'm a Japanese and not good at writing a s...
