Read Online I'll Be Right There by Kyung-Sook Shin - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Kyung-Sook Shin
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me for a moment.
“I also wanted to thank you.”
He was echoing what Myungsuh had said right before leaving the office.
“Thank you for reaching out to her. I was only thinking about how to make her confront her issues, and it didn’t occur to me to do what you did. I felt ashamed of myself. She didn’t take your hand, but maybe she’ll be able to free herself on her own, thanks to you.”
Professor Yoon sat down at his desk with his back to me. He looked frail and tired. I watched him for a moment and then put the manuscript in my bag, left the office, and quietly closed the door. I looked at his name printed on the office door, turned the sign next to it to read out of office , and walked down the hallway. I made my way over to the big zelkova tree. I thought maybe Myungsuh and Miru would be there, but they were nowhere to be seen. A group of students walked quickly past. I sat on a bench beneath the tree and looked up. The distant sky was passing from summer to early autumn; white clouds like mounds of ice cream floated past. A breeze whispered through the branches. Had the school always been like this? The sting of tear gas in the air was the same as before, but the yew trees planted like a wall around the campus had never looked so green. Some distance away, the students I had just seen in the classroom were sitting on the grass together and talking. Their conversation carried all the way to where I sat beneath the zelkova. They were talking about the story of Saint Christopher.
“So, my young Christophers!” Someone was mimicking Professor Yoon. “Can someone answer the title of this book?”
He was holding up the textbook for Professor Yoon’s writing class. It was titled What Is Art?
“Not demonstrating!” someone shouted in a self-mocking tone, and the cheerful mood instantly turned quiet. “Of what use is art to us? It can’t teach us how to make money or get a job. It can’t tell us how to succeed in romance. And it definitely can’t tell us whether or not we should demonstrate!” He was speaking in a high-pitched voice, as if to lift the mood, but it didn’t help. He fell back on the grass, looked up at the sky, and said, “Remember what Rimbaud said. The best thing in life is getting drunk on cheap liquor and sleeping on the beach.”
“So what are you supposed to do after you sober up? What can you do?”
“Find more cheap liquor and roam the streets.”
“Idiot!” the student who had mimicked Professor Yoon yelled. “You think you can live your whole life like some old bohemian?” He got up and ran off.
The boy lying on the grass sat up and looked over at the shouting student protesters. I rose from beneath the tree and walked around the old stone buildings on campus and the newer ones with elevators. I had never wandered around campus so intently before. Each time I saw a group of students, I scanned their faces. I didn’t know at first who I was looking for. Once I realized I was looking for Myungsuh and Miru, I trudged back to the zelkova tree and sat there for a long time. They were nowhere to be seen.
I had that dream again. I think I hear someone calling me, so I open the door and look out. But all I see are layers of darkness. I take a single step into the dark and stand there. When I told Miru about the dream, she squeezed my hand tight. Told me not to follow the voice. Said if I have that dream again, I should keep the door shut and not go out, as if I could control the dream however I wanted .
“You won’t go out there, right?” she asked. She looked so serious that she made me think I had dreamt something really remarkable .
“Only if you promise to stop looking for him,” I said .
Miru gave me a hard look. I felt bad. Like I was letting her sister Mirae down. I apologized to her after a while .
“Please don’t act like my parents,” she said. “I’ll never ask you to help me look for him again, so leave me alone.”
I listened and didn’t say a
“I also wanted to thank you.”
He was echoing what Myungsuh had said right before leaving the office.
“Thank you for reaching out to her. I was only thinking about how to make her confront her issues, and it didn’t occur to me to do what you did. I felt ashamed of myself. She didn’t take your hand, but maybe she’ll be able to free herself on her own, thanks to you.”
Professor Yoon sat down at his desk with his back to me. He looked frail and tired. I watched him for a moment and then put the manuscript in my bag, left the office, and quietly closed the door. I looked at his name printed on the office door, turned the sign next to it to read out of office , and walked down the hallway. I made my way over to the big zelkova tree. I thought maybe Myungsuh and Miru would be there, but they were nowhere to be seen. A group of students walked quickly past. I sat on a bench beneath the tree and looked up. The distant sky was passing from summer to early autumn; white clouds like mounds of ice cream floated past. A breeze whispered through the branches. Had the school always been like this? The sting of tear gas in the air was the same as before, but the yew trees planted like a wall around the campus had never looked so green. Some distance away, the students I had just seen in the classroom were sitting on the grass together and talking. Their conversation carried all the way to where I sat beneath the zelkova. They were talking about the story of Saint Christopher.
“So, my young Christophers!” Someone was mimicking Professor Yoon. “Can someone answer the title of this book?”
He was holding up the textbook for Professor Yoon’s writing class. It was titled What Is Art?
“Not demonstrating!” someone shouted in a self-mocking tone, and the cheerful mood instantly turned quiet. “Of what use is art to us? It can’t teach us how to make money or get a job. It can’t tell us how to succeed in romance. And it definitely can’t tell us whether or not we should demonstrate!” He was speaking in a high-pitched voice, as if to lift the mood, but it didn’t help. He fell back on the grass, looked up at the sky, and said, “Remember what Rimbaud said. The best thing in life is getting drunk on cheap liquor and sleeping on the beach.”
“So what are you supposed to do after you sober up? What can you do?”
“Find more cheap liquor and roam the streets.”
“Idiot!” the student who had mimicked Professor Yoon yelled. “You think you can live your whole life like some old bohemian?” He got up and ran off.
The boy lying on the grass sat up and looked over at the shouting student protesters. I rose from beneath the tree and walked around the old stone buildings on campus and the newer ones with elevators. I had never wandered around campus so intently before. Each time I saw a group of students, I scanned their faces. I didn’t know at first who I was looking for. Once I realized I was looking for Myungsuh and Miru, I trudged back to the zelkova tree and sat there for a long time. They were nowhere to be seen.
I had that dream again. I think I hear someone calling me, so I open the door and look out. But all I see are layers of darkness. I take a single step into the dark and stand there. When I told Miru about the dream, she squeezed my hand tight. Told me not to follow the voice. Said if I have that dream again, I should keep the door shut and not go out, as if I could control the dream however I wanted .
“You won’t go out there, right?” she asked. She looked so serious that she made me think I had dreamt something really remarkable .
“Only if you promise to stop looking for him,” I said .
Miru gave me a hard look. I felt bad. Like I was letting her sister Mirae down. I apologized to her after a while .
“Please don’t act like my parents,” she said. “I’ll never ask you to help me look for him again, so leave me alone.”
I listened and didn’t say a
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