You, too, mom? You can’t drive!”

“I can take a taxi. 10,000 won will do for going back and forth to the school.”

“Ah, taxi.”

Why didn’t he think about taking a taxi? Maybe it was because of his difficult financial condition in the past when he made it habit of cutting corners in daily life, so whenever he moved somewhere, he didn’t even think of taking a taxi, but he was affluent enough to do so now.

“Thank you. Your teaching will be very helpful to our kids.”

“When should I come then? As I’m physically disabled like this, I can come once a week,” said Hyunwoo’s father. He showed great enthusiasm about it.

“Let me double check the schedule. If you don’t mind, let me assign you to a class next Wed.”

“Great. I’ll wait for your confirmation then.”

Hyunwoo spent the afternoon with the seniors near the school and ate Chinese noodles for lunch. When it was getting dark, he drove them back to their houses.

****

In Osaka, Japan, there was a big commotion at Shoda Engine Co. The president was fuming at the employees with an engine before them. The engine had been returned to the company as its defect was discovered by a car manufacturer. Shoda Engine Co. had to recall all 500 engines it supplied yesterday because of this one defective engine.

Monetary loss aside, the bigger problem was the credibility of the company. Shoda had boasted the best quality of engines for high-end sedans for more than 30 years, but the defective engine in question gave the impression that defective engines could be produced by Shoda.

“Who did the quality test of this part?” demanded the president, scolding them.

But nobody came forward to admit it.

Then suddenly someone raised his hand cautiously, “I guess, Mr. Kuroda did so.”

“What? Mr. Kuroda?” asked the president, and then he stopped for a moment because he could not walk over to Mr. Kuroda. Mr. Kuroda worked for almost 50 years at Shoda, starting from his father’s management days. Mr. Kuroda was the best technician and had obtained several patents based on his long experience.

“I’m sure he did. Mr. Kuroda was in charge of the quality test on Line No. 3.”

“Has he come to work yet?”

“No, he hasn’t. He called in sick leave in the morning.”

The president had nothing further to say. No matter what mistake Mr. Kuroda may have made, he couldn’t slander the veteran technician, who could be called the best technician of Shoda, in the presence of other employees, so he waited in his office until Mr. Kuroda reported to work.

The president had nothing but complicated thoughts about Mr. Kuroda. In fact, it was not the first time Mr. Kuroda made a mistake. He made another one a month ago. At that time, the defect was fortunately discovered before it was supplied to a car manufacturer. It was pure luck, to say the least. If the defective engine had been sent, which would have made this the second recall, it would have dealt a fatal blow to Shoda.

What’s more worrisome was that Mr. Kuroda’s mistake this time would not be his last. It was not because of his lack of carefulness but because of his age. He was 69. By today’s standards, he should be able to work actively, but Mr. Kuroda was not as healthy as others. He had been physically weak when he was young, and even now, his aging came quicker than others. In other words, it was time for him to retire.

While the president was agonizing, he heard that Mr. Kuroda reported to work. He called Mr. Kuroda immediately to his office. Though Mr. Kuroda was 15 years older than the president, he bowed deeply and said, “How are you, sir?”

The president didn’t treat Mr. Kuroda as an ordinary employee. He escorted him to a large sofa as if he was treating Mr. Kuroda as his elder brother politely.

“Please have a seat here.” After some hesitation the president opened his mouth, “We found a serious defect in one of the engines yesterday. It was very serious.”

“Oh my god! How can that happen? Do you know who passed the quality test? I think we should give him a severe reprimand,” said Mr. Kuroda in a resolute tone.

But the president didn’t reply and just looked at him. Mr. Kuroda felt something strange about it. At that moment his heart sank.

“Did the defective engine go through No. 3 Line by any chance?”

The president neither confirmed nor denied. Instead, he let out a sigh, “In fact, we had a similar incident one month ago. Fortunately, we discovered it before we actually shipped it to the car manufacturer. But, I am afraid I can’t forgive this second mistake.”

“Did the first incident also take place at No. 3 Line?”

This time he stared at Mr. Kuroda calmly without responding, and Mr. Kuroda could read his reply.

Letting out a sigh, Mr. Kuroda dropped his head and said, “Oh, I’m sorry. How could that happen?”

“Are you feeling uncomfortable often?”

“Not really. In fact, I started to feel the limit last year. Looks like the time has come…”

The president also sighed at that because he knew what Mr. Kuroda meant by “the time”.

After a brief silence, Mr. Kuroda raised his head as if he made up his mind and said, “Nobody can beat time. I think I have to retire. Fortunately, there are many excellent engineers who are better than me. I think I can take a comfortable retirement.”

The president nodded his head, “Yes, just forget about the company and take a rest. And when you are healthy again, just come back. I’ll leave the position open for you all the time.”

“No, thanks. I can’t rewind my age even if I take a break. Let me retire. In fact, I’ve worked too long.”

This time the president didn’t stop him, “Okay, then. I’m worried. I wonder if I can find a new hero like you.”

Mr. Kuroda left the president’s office. After about one week of change-over, Mr. Kuroda left Shoda Engine Co. after 49 years of service.

The president gave him 40 million yen in severance pay in recognition of his service.

Though Mr. Kuroda tried to refuse it, citing that it was too much, the president put the check in his hand and made a request cautiously, “As you know, it goes without saying that you’re the aggregate of Shoda’s engine technology. I believe you won’t transfer your knowhow or get a job at another company.”

“Don’t worry about that. How can I get a job at my age? And Shoda is like my life. I’d never transfer Shoda’s technology to another company under any circumstances.”

Mr. Kuroda retired from his beloved company like that.

In some way, it signaled the start of his journey to the second chapter of his life. He was excited but worried at the same time.

“What am I going to do from now on?”

Actually, he had something to, namely developing a car engine based on a new concept. He thought of a good idea last fall and started working on it, but he had no progress up to now.

But he couldn’t give up easily. As he was free now, he could fully focus on it.

He could not focus, however. When he was outside the fence of a workplace, he found everything around him confusing and unfamiliar.

When his granddaughter Haruki came back after school in the evening, Kuroda felt he was getting accustomed to normal life.

Haruki was much more healthy than before. She had to visit a hospital after playing outside a bit in the past, but these days she had no problem at all even when she played outside all day long.

As she became healthier, she studied hard. She was attending two private schools for extra study, which she dared not think to do in the past.

Kuroda owed it all to the wild ginseng Yoshimoto got from Korea. In fact, when he received the brewed wild ginseng from Yoshimoto, Mr. Kuroda could not trust it. Though Yoshimoto said he watched the whole process of Hyunwoo boiling the wild ginseng, Mr. Kuroda didn’t believe it.

Nonetheless, Mr. Kuroda had Haruki drink the ginseng juice according to the instruction on the paper every day. In just one month, Haruki began to get well, and she has continued to get better every day.

When Mr. Kuroda thought as far as that, he suddenly thought he had to repay Hyunwoo’s favor by all means.

In fact, Mr. Kuroda’s feelings toward Korea was special because it was his homeland. As his parents immigrated to Japan when he was very young, he had no feeling of Korea as his country, but he was mysteriously attracted to his fatherland, and he once dreamed of living in Korea because of the severe discrimination by the Japanese who called him ‘Chosenjin.’ That kind of discrimination continued beyond his youth.

When he was recognized as a fine technician of Shoda, that kind of discrimination began to disappear a bit, but he sometimes felt discriminated against.

What was sadder was that even Haruki was discriminated against and shunted aside by her friends. Maybe it was because of this that her wayward adolescence lasted longer than her friends.

Anyway, Korea was a special country to him, and one day he wanted to visit Kongju, his father’s birthplace and Daejon, his hometown by all means.

I think the time has come finally for me to visit there.

Kuroda called Yoshimoto.

***

In the evening several days later. Someone unexpectedly called Hyunwoo on his mobile phone. It was from Yoshimoto in Japan. As a matter of fact, Hyunwoo heard from Unhye about Haruki’s condition. Fortunately, she was getting better every day, and it was clear that she benefited from the wild ginseng like Mingyu.

So, he was expecting a call from Yoshimoto or Haruki’s grandfather sooner or later.

Hyunwoo picked up the phone gladly, “How are you? Yoshimoto, how about Haruki’s condition?”

“Excellent. I owe it all to you, Hyunwoo. Mr. Kuroda conveyed his message that he really appreciated your help.”

“I’m so glad to hear she’s okay now.”

“And Mr. Kuroda has retired. He says he wants to visit Korea with his family, and he wants to meet you to express his gratitude during his trip. Is it okay with you?”

“Of course. He can come to see me anytime, but he doesn’t have to go to the trouble of seeing me because of that.”

“Got it. Let me relay your message to Mr. Kuroda. He’ll visit Korea within a few days.”

It was eight days later when Mr. Kuroda visited Korea. It looked like he came on Saturday on purpose because Hyunwoo was a company employee.

Before he departed for Korea, and when he arrived at Inchon International Airport, Mr. Kuroda called Hyunwoo. Hearing that he was leaving for Asan on the airport bus, Hyunwoo went to the bus terminal, and soon, the airport bus arrived at the terminal.

Hyunwoo could immediately recognize Mr. Kuroda. Mr. Kuroda was looking around as soon as he got off the bus as if he was asking ‘Where is Hyunwoo Jang?’

It seemed that Mr. Kuroda was with his family. Maybe the middle-aged woman was his daughter-in-law and the cute girl was his granddaughter, Haruki.

Hyunwoo approached them quickly, asking, “Are you Mr. Kuroda?”