Chapter 2 - An Encounter At The Fishing Site (1)
It was early autumn with Cosmos flowers in full bloom, shaken by the wind along the asphalt-paved mountain path. An old shabby sedan struggled up the hill, carrying two young men. Its muffler was probably broken because it made an odd sound. The paint on its rear plastic bumper was flaked off.
“Korea is the best place to live. Even the road to the fishing site is all asphalt-paved.”
“This fishing site is not a well-known place. It is surprising to see a new Genesis here.”
“That’s right. Is it EQ900 limousine?”
The two young men parked their shabby Avante behind the Genesis.
“Hey, our car with this peeling paint bumper looks even shabbier sitting next to Genesis. Let’s park our car away from here.”
One of two young men reversed while complaining, “It must be a rich dude. Why doesn’t he just go golfing?”
“He probably doesn’t know this is a free fishing site.”
After they parked their car, the two young men took fishing rods out of the trunk. They were lure fishing rods, not bait fishing rods; one had to move to catch fish with lure fishing.
“I prefer lure fishing. I don’t have to touch earthworms or maggots.”
“But you have to move a lot, too busy in catching fish.”
“Lure fishing is really an effective way to lose weight.”
“Well, since you, Gun-Ho and me, we both lost jobs, we will live with hunger and malnourishment, and suffer from cold weather. We won’t have chance to gain any weight.”
“I heard that these days, poor people gain more weight because they don’t have enough resources to watch their diet.”
“Hmmm, I will gain weight again then.”
“Look, Jong-Suk! Our lucky spot is already occupied by two old men.”
“It’s almost sunset, dinner time for fish. They will start biting.”
While Gun-Ho Goo and Jong-Suk Park were having fun fooling around and talking loudly, those mid-40s and 60s men started packing their fishing rods.
“Bro! They seem to be leaving soon. Let’s move to that spot!”
“Let’s wait until they vacate the spot completely.”
“They are so slow.”
“It appears that they didn’t catch a thing; their fishing net is empty.”
“Huh? That Genesis limousine belongs to them? What? The mid-40s man is sitting in the driver’s seat and the man in his 60s is sitting in the back seat. They are probably a CEO and a chauffeur.” He chuckled.
“Let’s focus on fishing.”
“If he is rich enough to have a personal chauffeur, why Genesis. Why not Bentley.”
“Stay focused!”
The sun went down and it became dark. Gun-Ho Goo and Jong-Suk Park continued fishing. No one else was around, and only the sound of water filled the air. They couldn’t catch anything good. Gun-Ho Goo caught one palm-sized small catfish, but he eventually released it.
“Today is not good. The fishing circumstances are not good.”
“You sound intelligent, bro.”
“Let’s just drink up the soju (Korean distilled liquor) we brought in and let’s call it a night. It’s getting cold out here; I forgot to bring my long sleeve shirts.”
Gun-Ho Goo and Jong-Suk Park laid out a picnic mat on the grass. They took out a roasted chicken and soju they prepared.
“Drink up. To celebrate the fourth day of our unemployment!”
“You can’t straighten your pinky finger.”
“This? It is a glorious wound. I got this injury at work handling factory machine. Well, it’s still attached. You have a lot of burns!”
“I got burned a lot when I handled injection molding machines at work.”
“Try to wear long sleeve shirts when you work. Your future wife won’t think those burns are pretty.”
“You think it didn’t occur to me that I needed to cover my arms at work? It was just too hot to wear long sleeve shirts during summer. I couldn’t even wear arm covers from Daiso. Your future wife won’t like the bent finger.”
“Haha. Who would want to marry a factory worker like me! I am not even a typical factory worker. I am a factory worker who was unpaid and laid off.”
“So am I. Korean girls are all gold diggers. Who would marry me? I have no money; I am a low rank college dropout, a cyber college graduate, not so good looking, pot-bellied, and old.”
“Do you remember Jung-Hoon from logistics team? We used to work in the same factory. He was a chick magnet. Not just girls in the factory, but he also dated Ms. Gang from the quality control department; she was a college graduate. He also dated the girl who played piano. She was the daughter of that Korean buffet restaurant owner across the factory. These days, I heard he is dating a new girl in the accounting department.”
“You think that is normal? He is a con artist. He didn’t even pay me back the 300,000 won he borrowed from me.”
“Anyhow, he is able to do it. Let’s accept the fact, bro. He is a high school graduate working as a truck driver in a factory; he is something.”
“Let’s drop it and drink. Talking about him made me lose my appetite. Drink up!”
“This is fantastic. Drinking soju on the bank of the lake in the moonlight. It’s killing me.”
“I told you. I come here by myself sometimes.”
“I will come with you sometimes, and I will bring soju; you buy a roasted chicken.”
Gun-Ho Goo and Jong-Suk Park devoured the roasted chicken; they must have been very hungry.