Geomancy couple

Chapter 14: Chapter 14

Arum now began to feel like she were with someone else now.

At that moment, Hojoon asked bluntly, “So, have you been healed a lot since you moved to Ahyon-dong?”

Actually, she had never given a thought to that kind of question.

“Do you happen to know what kind of area this place was before?”

Suddenly, Hojoon began to explain the history of Ahyon-dong, as if he were a history teacher.

“When Preceptor Muhak chose Hanyang as the capital in Josun, he took Mt. Naksan,which was shaped like a dragon, on the left, and Mt. Inwang, which was shaped like a tiger, on the right as the prerequisites. The place that made up for the deficiencies on the right was the mountain range extending to the hill of Ahyon-dong.”

His explanation was more boring than the history class that she had in high school.

Of course, she didn’t know about the history of Ahyon-dong in detail, but she also didn’t care. Who would know if a mountain looked like a dragon or a tiger?

“Do you happen to know Hwalinso?”

Now, Hojoon, who turned into a history teacher at the moment, openly ignored her.

“What are you talking about?”

Though she lost temper at the drop of a hat, she didn’t know at all. She thought she might have seen it in a history documentary, but she had a dim memory.

“Well, it’s safe to think Hwalinso was a welfare center in Josun. In other words, sick people were treated and had their lives saved at Hwalinso. Such a place was located in Donam-dong and Ahyon-dong at that time.”

Arum was now nodding her head subconsciously. In fact, she never thought about looking up the history of Ahyon-dong before.

“Oh, right there. Take a right turn there at the bakery’s.”

Strange enough, he didn’t offer to have coffee or stop by a bar for drinks until he arrived at her house.

‘Why should I feel sorry for him without any reason?’

In fact, Arum felt like she was hooked by the wrong guy as he looked sharp and arrogant. From the moment he jump-started her car by using the jumper cables, to ‘the battery of love’ at the campus recently, she felt closer to him.

“Do you mean that villa over there?”

“Yes.”

He pulled his car over before the villa.

“Take care. Bye for now.”

“Yes, thanks.”

Getting off the car, Arum felt pretty curious.

“By the way, why did you come to see me today? Didn’t you tell me you wanted to have dinner with me?”

“Are you hungry?”

“Not really. You asked me to treat you to dinner, didn’t you?”

“You said you had dinner already, didn’t you?”

In fact, Arum got hungry because she actually didn’t dinner. But she refused his request because she knew she would feel uncomfortable dining with him. Of course, she could change her mind even now and offer to have dinner together now.

Hojoon said, “In fact, I was curious where you lived. When you asked me where myongdang was, your house came to my mind. It’s important to make your house myongdang. It’s located in a stable geography of paesanimsu in terms of geomancy.”

“Are you sure you came here for that?”

Arum didn’t believe him. But he seemed sincere, given that instead of getting off the car, he was looking around the surroundings of her house. Just like him, Arum also examined the surroundings of her place.

“I understand paesan now, but there is no water in the front, isn’t it?”

He raised his fingers to point at the street.

“In modern geomancy, the mountain is symbolized by a big building or an apartment unit while water is the street. Okay?”

Anyway, she agreed. As she was assigned to stories featuring geomancy contents, she felt good about getting free lessons from him.

“By the way, you had better get squared away first, okay? Ms. Trash Can?”

She got goosebumps when she heard that.

‘Why is he talking to me like that?’

Instead of replying, she looked up at her villa. She saw a box full of stuff on the veranda.

“Your house is that one over there, with the untidy veranda, right?”

She blushed, much embarrassed at his question.

‘Oh my, I can’t fool you!’

She quickly changed the topic and asked, “Are you sure you don’t have any other business now?”

“I’ve got one. Actually, it’s my birthday today.”

She just giggled at his answer.

When a man caught the attention of a woman, he typically tried to win over her heart by saying she looked like his mother, his first love, or today was his birthday.

“Don’t you think that excuse of yours is too banal?”

With a pleasant laugh, she closed the door.

“Tell me about it on your real birthday. Let me treat you to a meal then.”

Waving her hands, she went into the porch of her villa.

“Dang it! It’s my birthday today.”

Murmuring to himself, he started the car engine. He was still happy. He felt freshly energized after looking at Arum, who laughed aloud so pleasantly.

***

The moment she entered the front door, the light in the dim living room turned on. Today of all days, she felt her house was a mess.

‘What was the spirit of the energy in my room that my senior friend told me?

Am I happy as the owner of this room? How long should I continue my current life when I have to turn on and turn off the light alone?

She felt heavy, too. In particular, she felt stuffy again when she looked at the door of the small room in her house.

Arum’s house was a one-room style house with a living room and a big single bedroom. And there was a small room that could barely house a desk and a drawer. The room was now filled with all kinds of rubbish. Stuff. Plus, a box in the veranda was also full of other odds and ends.

When she moved out from her parents’ house, she carried a large bag alone. She had no home appliances whatsoever.

When she needed something, she bought them one by one. The goods that she purchased right before her marriage had also piled up in her house.

The odds and ends piled up in the small room were the stuff she hadn’t yet thrown away after she broke up with Konsu.

Because I’m going to meet him again.’

Little did she think her quarrel with him would lead to calling off their engagement. She felt like she would meet him again just like other lovers who quarreled and then met again.

Arum stood before the small room. She was now even scared about opening it. She felt as if not only miscellaneous articles, but also her memories of Konsu would pour out.

She was fiddling with the doorknob before turning back.

But his remarks kept bothering her.

Sitting at the dining table, she drank a cup of warm milk and sent him a text message.

<Today was your real birthday, right?>

A little later she received a reply.

<Yes.>

‘Oh my… He is really driving me nuts.’

***

Hojoon visited the house of the IT security specialist, the client who asked for a refund last week.

The client’s house, which he visited before, was near his office. When he stepped into her house for the first time, he felt as if it was an office-like house where she just moved her bed into.

There was nothing inside with a humane touch; a barren house with nothing that felt humane.

It was full of home appliances, such as a computer, a TV set, a table PC and an internet phone.

There was no sofa for her breaks or a comfortable bed for her laziness. It looked more bleak as she was using a dorm-style iron bed designed to save space.

At that time, Hojoon was curious.

“Don’t you think this bed of yours is uncomfortable?”

“Well, I spend little time sleeping here. I thought I didn’t have to spend money on the stuff I didn’t use. And that way I could have more space. It’s the same bed I used when I studied in America.”

“Did you bring it from America?”

Hojoon was surprised. He couldn’t believe she brought such a cheap iron bed into Korea from America after paying an expensive shipping fee. He could size up her character after he heard it from her. Though she insisted she did so for space efficiency, she was pretty stubborn, to say the least.

“There are many beds like this in Korea.”

“Hmm.”

Her thick eyebrows slanted upward.

“Well, this is more like a talisman than a bed to me. When I fall into a slump, I lay myself down here and recall the hard times I went through in college in America. I mean, those days when I was much poorer and had more difficult days than now.”

“Why?”