Episode 32: The Beginning of Life
‘I mean, how am I supposed to find him if he just says Gangnam Station…? He could have at least picked up the phone.’
Complaining to himself, Jangha headed toward the entrance of Gangnam Station, which was, as always, bustling with people.
As he merged with the crowd and stepped outside, he did not even need to look around.
He could tell exactly where his friend was.
‘He’s already started.’
Not far from the station entrance, he saw a crowd gathered like a swarm of clouds.
A place where busy people congregate.
Gangnam was different from Hongdae.
If Hongdae felt fresh and relaxed, Gangnam felt like a kind of ordered freedom.
It made sense.
There was a slight difference between the crowd that sought out Hongdae and the crowd that came to Gangnam.
Hongdae felt like a gathering of those centered around students, people who wanted to indulge in that freedom.
Gangnam, on the other hand, had a culture formed primarily by working professionals.
To be precise, professionals went to Hongdae and students went to Gangnam, but the cultural characteristics built over a long period had a different temperature.
Jinhyeok sat in front of a closed bank near the subway station, watching the people move busily.
The atmosphere was the polar opposite of the people at Yeongdeungpo Station.
These people…
Their clocks were turning far too fast.
The traffic light, changing colors at the exact same time, was like a metronome.
When the red melody shifted to a blue melody, countless people brushed past one another in a cacophony.
Once the performance ended and the red melody returned, the next sound wave began to gather.
It was as if, in the name of safety, a conductor was leading them with only two notes.
The people had no choice but to be dragged along by the forced score.
Jinhyeok chuckled.
He shook his head to clear the sophistical thoughts that had wandered too far and took out his guitar.
Gangnam was different from Hongdae.
Band culture felt somewhat foreign here. This was because the busking streets were concentrated in Gangbuk, where Daehak-ro was located.
This place was where adults, or those striving to become adults, gathered.
He pulled the multi-scarf around his neck up to his nose and pulled out a rabbit mask, slipping it over his face.
Perhaps it was a rather strange sight in this busy street, but the people, preoccupied with their own destinations, did not pay much attention.
He could feel their time spinning around and around to a dizzying degree.
Inside the mask, Jinhyeok smiled mischievously.
‘Doesn’t it get tiring, spinning that fast every day?’
Just for today, he intended to confiscate the gears of those clocks, one by one.
“Hey! It’s already been ten minutes. Where are you? Is the subway blocked or something?”
A man, speaking irritably on the phone, glared at his device after hanging up.
“I need to grab a drink quickly before the last train leaves…”
It was a life bound by goals, chased by time.
Until high school, the goal was university.
In the army, the goal was discharge.
By the time he graduated from college, the goal was employment.
He managed to join a decent mid-sized company, and the goal shifted to becoming a permanent employee.
Today, he had been appointed as a permanent employee, and it was the day he was treating his friend to celebrate achieving that goal.
One would think he would be able to relax, but now a good performance review had become the goal.
The man felt he vaguely understood.
The next goal would be a promotion.
These renewing goals would likely never stop for the rest of his life.
As that thought reached him, his mind grew hazy.
‘Ah, screw it. Let’s just drink.’
Like a hamster on a wheel.
Commute, work, home, commute, overtime, work, home, commute, work…
He was sick of it.
Whenever he had a spare moment in the evening, he sought out alcohol.
And if possible, in Gangnam.
A place where fellow hamsters stepped out of their wheels to rest.
He lifted his head to look around at the other hamsters when he saw a rabbit standing still in the middle of the busy street.
No, there were people standing still here and there, but because the rabbit was sitting in front of a dark, closed bank, a shimmering gap in the scenery, it seemed even more pronounced.
The man tilted his head.
It was not just the atmosphere.
Truly, it felt as if that specific space had stopped.
The goals that had just made his mind hazy resurfaced.
Greed that he could not let go of unless he was drinking.
No, sometimes those desires became even clearer when drunk.
If he stepped into that space, would he be able to forget for a moment?
Unconsciously, he moved his feet.
An acoustic guitar, out of place in Gangnam.
The analog melody and the deeply appealing voice.
‘Ah.’
He nodded without realizing it.
He realized that he, who had come to Gangnam today, had not actually stepped off the wheel.
Commute, work, drink, home, commute, overtime, work, home, commute, work, drink, home, commute, work, drink…
Gangnam, and the drinking sessions.
In truth, he was still running on the wheel.
At this immense realization, something in his mind snapped.
With vacant eyes, he looked around.
Other hamsters, just like him, were applauding the rabbit.
The moment he accurately recognized his own wheel, it was as if his eyes had opened for the first time.
The world looked different.
In this moment, for the first time since birth, he felt as if he had escaped the wheel.
He felt like he would not even need to drink today.
The sidewalk next to Gangnam-daero is quite wide.
On weekends, that wide sidewalk would be packed with people.
On weekdays, however, it was usually a path one could walk without much difficulty.
But that path was completely blocked.
People waiting for the light on the opposite side looked across with puzzled expressions.
Because the people under the traffic light on the other side, who should have been facing them, were all turned away.
‘Did a celebrity show up?’
That was also a bit strange.
Of course, people would gather if a celebrity came, but this level of crowd…
‘Could it be… Child Apple?’
World-famous idols. If it were them, it might be possible.
Driven by curiosity, some rushed forward and pushed through the crowd.
But in front of the darkened bank, there was only a rabbit playing an acoustic guitar and singing.
‘What the…?’
Just as they were about to turn away, the rabbit’s song reached them.
‘You take a break too.’
Something in their minds snapped.
Gangnam Station.
What was happening now at the traffic light crossed by the most people in South Korea was likely a first since the crossing was built.
Even though the red melody had changed to blue, the people, who normally would have walked toward each other like a mixing cacophony, moved only in one direction.
The original song was certainly neither slow nor calm.
Yet, it touched their clocks slowly and quietly.
Because it was not the rhythm they were used to, it felt even more profound.
‘Just for today, slowly.’
Before long, the guitar of a large man wearing a lion mask was added, and the screwdrivers breaking them down increased to two.
As that song neared its end, a keyboard and a snare drum joined in.
The song ended, but no one turned to leave.
They were sure they had somewhere they needed to go urgently, but…
The rabbit looked back at the animals standing beside him.
His face was completely hidden by the mask and multi-scarf, but it felt as if he was beaming.
Police officers patrolling the street sensed something unusual.
“Huh? What’s this?”
“Looks like a celebrity might have come.”
“Really? Let’s check it out.”
“Yes, sir.”
The two officers hurried toward where the people were gathered.
After barely squeezing through the crowd, they discovered an animal mask band.
“Uh… is this permitted?”
The senior officer tilted his head at the sight, which was quite rare for this street.
“Not to my knowledge.”
“Well… it doesn’t look like they’re taking money…”
“Sir, is it illegal to just play on the street without compensation?”
The senior officer frowned.
Regulations on street performances varied depending on the local public office and the jurisdictional police station.
For example, at one point in Mapo-gu, street performances themselves were temporarily banned and cracked down upon.
However, he did not recall any such order being issued for this area.
Well, if a complaint had come in for shouting or noise, that would be one thing, but it was difficult to crack down based on obstruction of traffic.
Because those obstructing traffic were not the animal band performing.
It was the people gathered there.
“Well… since people have gathered, let’s just stay alert for any potential accidents.”
“Yes, sir. Understood.”
That was all they could do for now.
As they relaxed while scanning the crowd, the song reached them.
The senses that had been strained, unable to let go of tension several times a day, shifted slightly out of place.
As he snapped back to his senses and tried to check the surrounding safety, he saw the junior officer’s face.
The guy had always been stiff, with a tense expression and a rigid posture.
But now, his face was blank and relaxed.
He was following the junior’s gaze and focusing on the quiet melody.
‘Ah…’
He realized the meaning of this space.
The people gathered here were being forced to take a break.
Using the excuse of citizen safety, he let go of a piece of machinery in his head that he had been gripping tightly.
‘Just for a moment…’
His clock also began to turn slowly.
“Oh? Aren’t you Tail-nim?”
“Ah…”
Three young women surrounded a masked man.
‘I should have worn a hat.’
Tail turned his body to avoid being recognized by others while signing autographs.
“Could we take a photo too…?”
“Ah… yes…”
One group photo, three selfies.
After four shots, he finally regained his freedom.
“Wow. Not a single person recognized me.”
Jinhoon, the leader of the “aged” idol group Bitus, approached while chuckling at the scene.
He was also wearing a black mask.
“Why did you want to meet on the street…?”
“It’s nice occasionally. To just walk.”
“Let’s get inside somewhere quickly.”
Tail grumbled and quickened his pace.
It had been a while since he walked the streets, and it was nice, but there would be others who would recognize him with just a glimpse.
At some point, crowded streets had become burdensome.
Jinhoon trotted after the fast-moving Tail.
Suddenly, Tail stopped.
“Why? Changing cars? Didn’t you buy a Ferrari recently?”
“Wait a second…”
“Hey. This isn’t your taste, is it?”
Tail glared at a Rolls-Royce parked illegally and checked the phone number on the windshield.
“What? Do you know the car?”
Tail brought his phone to his ear and raised a hand to silence Jinhoon.
“Hello?”
A woman? No, a child?
Either way, it was not the voice Tail had expected.
“Ah… I’m sorry. I dialed the wrong number.”
“Yes. I understand.”
Tail tilted his head and ended the call.
The interior of a Rolls-Royce could be custom-made to the customer’s preference.
The current seat color was dark gray. It was an uncommon color for Rolls-Royce leather.
He remembered asking for it to be made in a concrete color at the time of the order.
“What. Why?”
“Nothing. I must have been mistaken.”
Just as he was about to move again.
“Huh? What’s that?”
Jinhoon tugged at Tail’s clothes.
“I think a celebrity is here.”
‘As if he isn’t one himself.’
Tail shook his head and looked in the direction Jinhoon was pointing.
An enormous number of people were occupying the area around Gangnam Station.
Suddenly, a thought occurred to him.
‘Even if I, a representative ballad singer of Korea, took off my mask and walked around, could I gather that many people?’
“Hey! Let’s go see who it is.”
His friend grabbed his collar and pulled him in that direction.
Since the day his retirement was confirmed, he had been pretending to be an ordinary person like that.
Tail chuckled.
His friend had once been at the peak as an idol dance group member.
There was no way such a person could let go of everything in an instant.
All these actions he was doing now.
Perhaps they were attempts to forget that emptiness, even if only a little.
Pretending to be reluctant, Tail checked the surroundings and followed his friend.
Fortunately, all eyes were fixed on the center, and no one paid attention to them.
“What is it? Looks like a performance?”
Tail, who had been indifferent, stood on his tiptoes at his friend’s words and looked at the protagonists of this situation.
Full-face masks covering up to the neck.
Ridiculous animal masks?
It was a mask Tail knew well.
The mask hanging on the VIP floor of the Kingdom of Star Club.
Pushing through the crowd, he moved toward the center.
Jinhyeok intended to experiment with something today.
Unlike in Hongdae, because he had started an unplanned performance first, more people had gathered than expected.
He had stretched their clockwork as far as it could go.
Could he make these people feel the emotion they had before birth, while still in the womb?
Could he convey the feeling of coming into the world for the first time?
Last Saturday, he had sung to his wife lying in the intensive care unit, singing of the emotion of waiting for the moment of birth.
The emotion of babies in the womb, which he had come to understand while dealing with expectant mothers.
Because that emotion, the starting point of life, might be what wakes her.
In her ear…
In a low voice…
As if whispering…
He had sung.
If his song were to bring a miracle, his most desperate feelings should have been conveyed…
But her firmly closed eyelids did not move.
That emotion was not the correct answer.
However, Jinhyeok was not disappointed.
Because there were so many emotions he had yet to understand.
So, what he wanted to try today was to see how much that emotion would grow if the voices of a crowd were gathered.
At Jinhyeok’s signal, his friends’ instruments stopped, and only his acoustic guitar began to ring.
Thump, thump.
The sound produced by only the two thickest strings echoed softly.
Jinhyeok looked up at the audience.
People who had lived merely to be recognized by something.
Those who had to endlessly raise their own value, to their families, at work, among friends.
Exhausted souls.
Jinhyeok began to sing.
That life’s value is already proven by the mere fact of being born.
Because the world did not fully accept that value, he began to comfort those who had no choice but to struggle.
Thump, thump.
The beginning of life.
Something everyone would have experienced.
But.
Something no one could remember.
He sang of that beginning.
Leave a Reply