A Hidden Piece (2)
“Excuse me, monk.”
Mo Yeon paused from sweeping the yard and approached the young monks discreetly to ask.
“Do you usually have construction work done at the temple this often? It seems like there are many areas that have been neglected for a long time…”
“I’ve been at Seokdam Temple for six years, and this is the first time something like this has happened.”
As I thought. They were indeed repairing facilities that had been neglected for a long time. Though the reason why, I wouldn’t know…
“Thanks to this, both the temple and our hearts have become more generous. We’re always grateful to the donor.”
“Pardon?”
Mo Yeon asked blankly at the puzzling response. Thinking Mo Yeon was embarrassed by their words, the two young monks smiled brightly.
“No need to feel awkward. We’re all very grateful.”
Grateful? To me?
“What? What did I do…”
“Well, the distinguished guest is taking care of the temple for your sake.”
…Huh?
***
After hearing those words, Mo Yeon retreated to his room, saying he wanted to read. Though there were plenty of other things he could find to do, today he didn’t feel like it.
For the first time since coming to the temple, his mind was in turmoil. In truth, the temple was a place where one could endlessly engage in different thoughts.
Activities like tea ceremonies didn’t apply to Mo Yeon, who was staying long-term, and he hadn’t come for such experiences anyway. After completing his basic daily routine at the temple, Mo Yeon usually either followed Monk Eunam to do more work or studied subjects that interested him.
However, since becoming aware of the “distinguished guest’s” existence, he couldn’t focus on studying during his free time.
Who could it be?
His mother? Or his brother? Probably not his father.
Since this place was connected through his maternal grandmother’s ties, his family might have somehow been contacted. His brother did occasionally meddle unnecessarily, so it wasn’t entirely impossible.
If he had come home with the excuse of giving allowance money and found Mo Yeon wasn’t there, he might have asked around…
‘No? That can’t be right.’
A person who comes once every two or three months just to give money like charity wouldn’t put in such effort. Even if such a thing had happened, he wouldn’t do it without Mo Yeon knowing. Rather, he might throw money at the temple and drag Mo Yeon back to Seoul, saying it was embarrassing for the family that he was wallowing in self-pity.
If not him, there was one other person who came to mind.
Mo Yeon, sprawled out on the floor of his room, shook his head. As he did so, his eyes fell on the calendar hanging on the wall.
No, it couldn’t be.
It’s already been a month.
Why on earth would that person wait a whole month for him?
‘Doing such unnecessary things.’
Staring at the calendar, he thought about it, but no matter how he looked at it, there was no one else but Tae Young-won who would do something like this.
Actually, on the last day they were together, they had a very brief conversation. Waking from a light sleep, Mo Yeon thought he was dreaming at the time. That’s why he could speak more honestly.
He wasn’t sure how Tae Young-won felt when he said that. However, he responded in a voice that had never slept.
Mo Yeon had slightly opened his eyes. He saw eyes that seemed to be asking him to say it was okay. Since when had he started saying such weak things? This side of Tae Young-won was something Mo Yeon couldn’t get used to, no matter how many times he saw it.
Even though he had clearly told him to leave him alone before falling asleep. Mo Yeon slowly blinked his eyes. As sleep was gently washing over him again, he heard Tae Young-won’s quiet voice.
He answered without hesitation. Such a thing wouldn’t happen. Once they were apart, Tae Young-won would realize it too.
Moreover, Mo Yeon already knew well from what he had heard from him. Tae Young-won terribly hated waiting for something indefinitely. He had said himself that he had no talent for waiting. So Mo Yeon never expected him to actually wait for him.
That would really be the case, probably.
Even as he said it, the words seemed to stab at his heart. It hurt all the more because he was certain it would be true.
With those words, Mo Yeon fell back asleep.
When he woke up the next day, he was alone in bed. It was as if nothing remained after a dream had passed. For a moment, he wondered if Kim Hyun-soo’s voice being heard by Tae Young-won, or Tae Young-won coming with a cut on his forehead and making a drunken scene, had all been a dream. But when he looked at his wrist, Mo Yeon burst into a wry smile.
The watch that he had never worn since receiving it was now on his wrist. It was obvious who had done it.
Such stubbornness. That’s what he had thought.
A month later, Mo Yeon was thinking about that stubbornness again, deep in the mountains. He had never met anyone as stubborn as Tae Young-won in his life.
Then it must be you.
Not long after first feeling this suspicion, Mo Yeon’s curiosity was completely resolved.
As usual, he woke up at four in the morning with all sorts of difficult noises and attended the dawn prayer service. And as usual, after finishing his baru gongyang meal consisting mainly of wild vegetables, he ate the largest piece of yeot (traditional Korean candy).
After lunch, he planned to finally properly remove all the weeds that he hadn’t been able to pull out last time. The young monks, though called young, were much older than him, and while he couldn’t plow the fields, he thought it would be much better for him to do these minor chores than the elderly monks.
As he was plucking them out one by one, an SUV drove into the courtyard, kicking up dust. Mo Yeon, already covered in dirt, stared blankly at the car.
Inside the all-too-familiar car was an all-too-familiar person.
Tae Young-won, in a freshly ironed white shirt and wearing sunglasses, perhaps due to the increasingly strong sunlight, got out of the car.
Mo Yeon, on the other hand, was some distance away.
Specifically, he was crouched in the yard wearing a straw hat on his head and dressed in dark gray monk’s robes, pulling weeds. As he stared incredulously with weeds covered in soil in both hands, Tae Young-won seemed to barely glance at Mo Yeon while exchanging greetings with the monks. Because of the sunglasses, it was hard to tell, but it seemed like he hadn’t seen Mo Yeon at all.
Hmph.
All the monks of Seokdam Temple were coming out to welcome Tae Young-won. Mo Yeon was genuinely amazed.
“…I knew it would be like this.”
Indeed, the “distinguished guest” was Tae Young-won.
Meanwhile, Tae Young-won, having stepped out of the car, seemed to belatedly realize he was wearing sunglasses. As if suddenly aware, he took them off and carelessly threw them back into the car, but his gaze still didn’t reach Mo Yeon.
Instead, he shamelessly put his palms together in greeting to the welcoming monks—who knows where he learned that from—and began walking somewhere, receiving their guidance…
The way he held his palms together looked much more natural than when Mo Yeon did it. Belatedly, Mo Yeon shook the dirt off his hands and stood up.
“Ugh.”
As he tapped his legs that had gone numb from crouching for so long, still no one gave Mo Yeon even a glance of attention. Even Tae Young-won seemed not to acknowledge Mo Yeon’s presence at all. Words and laughter filled the air, but Mo Yeon couldn’t hear what they were saying.
They even turned their backs on Mo Yeon as a group and were circling the temple. Mo Yeon followed them in bewilderment. With his legs still numb, it took quite a while to limp around and follow them.
The place Mo Yeon arrived at after following them was the main hall. Looking inside from the stone steps below, Mo Yeon’s mouth gaped open.
“…My goodness.”
Tae Young-won was actually praying in the main hall. It was a sight that was hard to take one’s eyes off.
Similarly, the naturalness of each of his actions was beyond description. Still with his mouth agape, Mo Yeon was genuinely amazed.
What an unusual and astonishing sight…
The reason this was so surprising was because Mo Yeon knew his family background—one could say he was born with a Bible and a cross in each hand.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
