Husband Role - Episode 43

Eun-seol headed to Maebongsan Mountain without a plan. She shoved Bong-cheol’s photo in the face of every passerby she saw.

But by sunset, not a single witness had emerged, and she realized that this method wouldn’t yield any results.

Returning to Bong-cheol’s house, Eun-seol rummaged through all records related to her grandfather. From photos to bills, business cards, and various documents including land deeds.

Among them, she pieced together the stories she had heard from Bong-cheol. In other words, a special place, meaning, or memory for him.

After picking out a few places, she stepped out of the gate of the Seongbuk-dong house.

“……Huh?”

A familiar car was parked in front of Bong-cheol’s house. Driver Kim, who had been waiting, came around the hood and opened the back door.

“The Madam sent it.”

“No, I’m…”

Eun-seol, who was about to refuse out of habit, made up her mind.

“Yes, then I’ll accept your offer.”

Come to think of it, there were limitations to moving around by public transportation. It would be helpful to have a driver with her.

However, his time off would disappear, but Eun-seol didn’t have the capacity to consider that right now.

“No, please get in.”

Eun-seol nodded and got into the car.

First, they headed to the Pyongyang cold noodle restaurant that she often went to with her mother. She thought she should search from the closest places first.

And the old apartment complex where he lived 30 years ago, the alleyways crowded with houses where he lived 40 years ago, the area near Seoul Station where he used to ride his bicycle with newspapers during his youth.

But she couldn’t find any clues. It was a moment when her heart fluttered with disappointment. The phone rang.

“Hello.”

Eun-seol answered the phone in a subdued voice.

—Have you eaten?

It was Jung-hyuk. His voice wasn’t good either.

“……”

—How can you wander around without eating?

He continued to scold.

—You need to have strength to find Grandpa.

Eun-seol felt sorry for Jung-hyuk, but his words didn’t really register. So Eun-seol remained silent.

Eun-seol-ah.

Lee Eun-seol.

He didn’t give up and called her name repeatedly.

—……I’m sorry.

Suddenly, at the quiet apology, she sobbed.

The unprovoked apology suddenly broke her heart.

He had done nothing wrong. The reason Jung-hyuk wasn’t by her side right now was because he had his own circumstances.

Not everyone has to abandon their daily lives.

Because we are adults who live with our own responsibilities.

However, Eun-seol simply didn’t have the capacity to listen to and accept what he was offering right now.

“I’m… struggling, Teacher.”

Eun-seol said in a tearful voice.

—I’ll be there soon.

“Quickly…”

—Okay, I’ll get there as soon as possible, so just make sure you eat. Okay?

His voice was a little more affectionate than usual.

Eun-seol nodded with tears, but Jung-hyuk wouldn’t know.

—Be strong.

Eun-seol, with a choked voice, still couldn’t answer.

“……”

—…….

The only thing floating in the silence was a faint sob.

After listening for a while, Jung-hyuk asked to speak to the driver.

The driver soon received Eun-seol’s phone and drove the car somewhere after a few answers. It was the Gomtang restaurant that Jung-hyuk had visited before.

The driver got out of the car, opened the back door, and said.

“Let’s have a meal, Madam.”

Eun-seol suppressed her reluctance and got up.

It was because the driver, who had been driving all along, had also skipped his meal.

She entered the restaurant and ate Gomtang silently with the driver.

Grandpa, did he eat?

Tears welled up in her eyes at the worried thought.

But she had to be strong.

Because it might be a long fight.

Eun-seol wiped her eyes and got up from her seat.

________________________________________

Jung-hyuk’s face was full of worry after hanging up the phone.

If it were normal, he wouldn’t have wasted even the time spent traveling.

He would have reviewed the contents reported by email earlier and prepared for a more detailed meeting.

But right now, Jung-hyuk couldn’t focus on anything.

This won’t do.

Work is work, and life is life.

Jung-hyuk tried to calm himself and looked at the tablet.

The email contained photos of the poor accommodations for migrant workers. Of course, the details related to it were also written in detail.

“……”

But he couldn’t see it.

Jung-hyuk read the letters over and over again, like someone with dyslexia.

Eventually, he turned off the tablet screen and picked up his phone.

He made a few phone calls and asked for ‘favors’ for the first time in his life.

He had come up with a way to support Eun-seol from afar.

And half a day later, Jung-hyuk was on the plane again.

________________________________________

The manager in Australia was stubborn and difficult to communicate with.

If it were Jung-hyuk in normal times, he would have systematically worked within the given time.

But it was impossible now. He didn’t have time to lead at his own pace.

So, he had tight discussions for two days.

Seeing Jung-hyuk pushing like an absolute being to take the advantageous position, the subcontracting team and SD employees were greatly impressed.

He couldn’t bring it to a completely beneficial direction in terms of time. But it was definitely higher in all aspects than the original conditions.

So, the employees cheered greatly and had a company dinner for the first time in a while.

Jung-hyuk briefly showed his face and quickly returned to the hotel.

He’s going back to Korea tomorrow.

Jung-hyuk, wearing a bathrobe, sat down on a single sofa in front of the glass window with a dark sea. And he picked up his phone.

There were unconfirmed messages.

[Eun-seol’s mother will take care of her, so please make sure to eat.]

From his mother, and,

[Oppa, when are you coming? I saw my sister earlier and she was half-dead. At least you come quickly.]

It was his younger sister.

Judging from the combination of the two people’s stories, there was no progress regarding Bong-cheol’s disappearance.

Jung-hyuk looked down at Eun-seol’s contact information for a while.

He wanted to touch the call button. He wanted to fly to her right away.

But.

The powerlessness of not being able to do anything soon turned into self-blame.

“……”

If he couldn’t help, he didn’t want to stir it up rashly. So, Jung-hyuk typed a text message instead of calling.

[Don’t cry too much alone.]

But he couldn’t press the send button in the end.

It was because he knew that nothing would comfort her right now.

________________________________________

Eun-seol, who had been wandering for days in the scorching heat, was very tired.

Even the police were doing their best with the influence of Ilseong, but it was still within a limited range.

Finding a missing person was not an easy task.

Eun-seol couldn’t just wait with her arms crossed, no matter how tired she was, at the news that the chances of finding Bong-cheol were getting smaller as time went by.

Today, she visited the middle and high schools that Bong-cheol had graduated from. And she went back and forth several times on the roads he would have often traveled, posting missing person flyers.

It was just as she was getting into the car.

The driver, who knew the next destination, said he would change the location. Eun-seol agreed.

And she closed her eyes.

She fell asleep for a moment while moving. It was because she hadn’t been able to sleep well for days.

She woke up from her shallow sleep when the car stopped and the back door clicked open.

“Eun-seol-ah.”

The owner of the deep voice was Jung-hyuk.

She was so out of it that she didn’t even know when he was coming back.

“How did Jung-hyuk…”

Eun-seol got out of the car with a dazed expression. Then he frowned slightly and hugged her tightly.

“Were you scared.”

The words contained too many things.

At that, something hot welled up inside Eun-seol. But it didn’t come out as tears.

Was it because she had cried so much for a while?

It seemed like there were no more tears to shed.

“……You’ve been through a lot alone.”

Jung-hyuk said again.

“The fact that there’s still no news.”

He emphasized the next words in a very powerful voice.

“It means there’s hope. So… if something really big happens, you’ll get a call somehow.”

Eun-seol seemed to understand what Jung-hyuk meant. Eun-seol thought so too. Because just yesterday, there was a report from a citizen who said they saw Bong-cheol.

“Yes, Grandpa will be okay.”

“Of course.”

“…Are you going back to Ulsan again?”

“No, I took a vacation.”

Jung-hyuk put his hand on the top of Eun-seol’s head and continued.

“I won’t leave you alone now.”

At those words, Eun-seol’s eyes became slightly moist. Eun-seol nodded instead of saying thank you. It was like she had gained a great ally.

________________________________________

I don’t know when Jung-hyuk did all this work.

TV, internet, applications, various newspapers.

He announced the news of Bong-cheol’s disappearance through various media.

Perhaps because of that, reports had been coming in for several days in a row.

Of course, there were only a few accurate ones among them.

Most of them were children’s pranks or false reports aimed at compensation.

Even so, he couldn’t take any of them lightly.

Then another report came in.

The person who contacted them said that he runs a small mart in a quiet neighborhood in Gimpo.

This morning, a person presumed to be Bong-cheol stole ice cream and had a scuffle with the clerk.

He himself, who received the call late and ran there, reported to the police because the old man’s appearance was strange.

But the old man disappeared while he was distracted for a moment.

Afterwards, he was web surfing and saw a banner about a missing elderly person with dementia popping up, and he thought it looked similar to the old man he saw in the morning, so he checked the CCTV.

Soon, a CCTV capture was received on his phone.

“Grandpa…”

Eun-seol’s eyes quickly turned red as she checked the screen.

“Wait a minute.”

Jung-hyuk widened his index and middle fingers to enlarge the photo.

“……This is.”

He started the car and called the reporter.

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