01x03 - Chapter Three

[bunniefuu]

[BOARDERS CHATTERING]

What's going on? Cut the kimchi already.

- Their stomachs are growling, Sunja!
- [GRUNTS]

[BOARDER ] Time to eat! [CHUCKLES]

Let's eat! Let's eat!

Come and get it!

[GRUNTS]

To me, lightly fermented
kimchi is the best there is.

You can still taste the green
buds of garlic. [CHUCKLES]

[BOARDER ] Has that stomach ever
met a food it didn't like? [CHUCKLES]

[BOARDERS CHATTERING]

[BOKHEE] Sunja, are you okay?

[SIGHS]

- Here.
- Thank you.

[SOLOMON'S FATHER] Tell Aunt
Kyunghee I'll stop by the video store.

Have a good day.

[SUNJA] Work hard.

[GRUNTS]

- [DONGHEE] Last night...
- [BOKHEE] Mmm?

- ... I had a dream about rice cakes.
- Really?

[DONGHEE] A whole platter.

I was even sharing
them with you, sister.

- Were they good?
- Meh.

[GROANS]

[PEOPLE CHATTERING ON TV]

Kyunghee, time to wake up now.

Kyunghee.

Kyung...

[GASPS]

Kyunghee... [BREATHING SHAKILY]

- Sunja, what is it?
- [GROANS]

[BREATHING HEAVILY]

[SIGHS] My stomach.

Did I eat a bad clam
last night or something?

[BOKHEE] Oh no.

Could it be a sign
your bleeding is coming?

You missed last month.

[SIGHS]

[BOKHEE] I'll boil some doraji for you.

[SIGHS]

[GASPS]

["LET'S LIVE FOR TODAY" PLAYS]

[SONG CONTINUES]

[SONG SPEEDS UP]

[SONG CONTINUES, REGULAR SPEED]

[SONG FADES, ENDS]

[PEOPLE AT MARKET CHATTERING]

Tell your mother I'm
sorry for the price hike.

In Koh Hansu's absence,
everything is chaos.

Isn't he due back by now?

I thought he was going
to be gone a week.

That's right.

And now it's hard to say.
He may never return at all.

Why do you say that?

A man like Koh Hansu, he has options.

Being a fish broker in Busan
isn't that man's ultimate dream.

Going back to the way things
were, I couldn't take it.

He may have been strict,
but he paid fairly.

Well, it was good while
it lasted, wasn't it?

[COINS CLINK]

Here! Take a look!

- [INDISTINCT SHOUTING]
- [SUNJA RETCHES]

Let's go! The price is right!

[SIGHS]

[GRUNTS]

[DOORBELL BUZZES]

Now who could that be?

I'll go and check.

[FOOTSTEPS DEPARTING]

How about here? She'd
be with these memories.

[CLICKS TONGUE] Too obvious, isn't it?

Grandma, there's really no need
for you to agonize about this.

The burial marker will be ready soon.

- Mom.
- [GASPS]

Oh, my! You've come all
this way. You shouldn't have.

How can you say that?

Of course I have to come
see how you're faring.

[INHALES SHARPLY] This is Pastor
Rhee, he's here visiting from Korea.

To have him here is so very lucky.

He'll be here with us for a few
months, staying at the church.

- Please, sit.
- [GRUNTS]

[PASTOR RHEE] Our Kyunghee,

I didn't know her long, but I
could tell she was a rare person.

Would it be right to say she
loved to bring joy to others?

I only wish you could have met her

before all her energy
was stolen by her cancer.

[INHALES] Well, she might
have been an old woman,

but I'm sure you would
have fallen for her anyway.

[CHUCKLES]

I was able to look into her
heart, and I saw a good person.

And that's all we ever
really need to see, isn't it?

Oh my.

You speak so well.

You could write a book one day.

- Do you mind if I move this?
- No, go right ahead.

[PASTOR RHEE] She should
be with loved ones.

Oh yes, right. That is much better.

[PASTOR RHEE] Shall we pray together?

Come on.

Heavenly Father.

Today we come together

in memory of Your child, who
has been returned to Your side.

We thank you because we know our beloved

has been returned unto
Your eternal grace.

- Amen.
- Amen.

Sunja, go home, hurry.
There's a storm coming.

My last errand for today.

[SIGHS] Who knows how
much damage it will do.

[JIYUN] Koh Hansu!

We were beginning to
think you had forsaken us.

You had us so worried!

Did you forget all about us?
[JIYUN CONTINUING INDISTINCTLY]

[HANSU] An atonement for my absence.

It's too pretty to rip open.

You're too sentimental about things.

[GASPS]

- [GASPS]
- [CHUCKLES]

I don't even know how to read time yet.

Well then, I will have to teach you.

You're very clever.
You'll pick it up fast.

[CLOCK TICKING]

[CHUCKLES]

I...

I'm with child.

You must say something.

Are you sure?

[SIGHS]

Sunja...

- [HANSU SIGHS]
- [CHUCKLES]

You'll bring me my son.

[SUNJA] There's no
way to know it's a boy.

But I do know it.

I'm certain.

[SUNJA] Then you'll be
disappointed if it's a girl.

But you'll still have to love her.

If it's a girl, I'll
buy her pretty dresses.

And hope she's as smart as her mother.

[BOTH CHUCKLE]

- [SIGHS]
- Then when will you visit my mother?

She'll be surprised, naturally.

But if we marry quickly,
she'll be reassured.

Why all this sudden talk about marriage?

I thought you knew what this was.

Knew what?

What... what do you mean?

I can't marry you.

I have a family.

In Osaka, I have a wife
and three daughters.

It's not exactly a marriage of love...

- [THUNDER RUMBLES]
- ... but it's a necessary arrangement.

"Necessary"? Why's that?

Necessary for business
reasons. There's no affection.

You and your mother...

... and our child will have
everything you would ever want.

I'll buy the biggest house in Yeongdo.

How about Jiyun's home?

They'll no longer be
able to afford it anyway.

You'll learn how to read

and learn how to tell time.

We'll have more children,
and we'll live well.

Even more daughters.

[SIGHS]

You know very well...

... what the world is like these days.

You know children go to bed...

... only to never wake up.

Girls who sell their innocence
for a bowl of noodles.

The elderly stealing away quietly to die

so the younger ones can
have enough food to live on.

[SIGHS] Sunja.

Marriage, it's just an arrangement.

You will see the reason
in what I propose.

What are you saying?

It is how we survive.

And it is the only
way for people like us.

[HANSU SIGHS]

Sunja.

So then...

Was this the plan from the start?

To force me into marrying you...

... since nobody else will?

[SNIFFS]

After all, who would risk marrying
the daughter of a cr*pple...

I will not let you speak of my father...

My child could inherit
your father's deformities.

I have a right to say it.

So who's putting a curse on
who? Will you tell me that?

Sunja.

Come back.

- Did you hear what I said? Come back!
- [THUNDER RUMBLES]

[PEOPLE AT DOCK CHATTERING]

- [FERRYMAN SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY]
- [COUGHING]

Are you all right?

I'm fine.

Which way is it...

... to the boardinghouse... [PANTING]

... run by the cr*pple's widow?

Right over that way. But
it's a -minute trek.

[PANTS] I can manage it.

[SOBBING]

[COUGHING]

[SUNJA'S MOTHER] Hurry inside!

Come on! Hurry! We need more hands!

[INDISTINCT SHOUTING]

Mother... [SOBS]

- [STUTTERS]
- [STRANGER MUMBLING]

- [EXCLAIMS]
- [COUGHS]

[SUNJA GASPS]

[SOLOMON] Grandma.

You know, you can give
yourself a day or two, right?

What? Do you really think these
things are going to break me?

These are just that. Things.

[TV IN BACKGROUND]

Including this very house.

A roof and some walls, that's it.

Cement and bricks.

[NEWS ANCHOR, IN JAPANESE]
A notorious figure

with ties to organized crime,

left his grandson a
fortune after his passing.

Now Mamoru Yoshii is also
dogged by rumors of corruption,

along with insider trading...

I was barely able to be
a mother in those days.

I was working hours a day,
every single day of the week.

Without your aunt, who knows
what would've become of us.

[BREATHES SHAKILY]

Don't push yourself so much now.

You should be taking it easy.

Oh please.

You make it sound like this kind
of living is difficult or something.

Enough. Go back to work.

What's the point of
indulging an old woman?

You don't have to worry.

They know my situation.

Besides, there's nothing to be done.

The landowner turned
our offer down again.

What? All that money?

Can you imagine all she could
provide for her children with that?

It's not like it's dirty money.

Oh, that woman has
something wrong with her.

So how does that affect you?

I'll wear the black
mark of this for a while.

But then I'll claw my way back.

That's the only choice I have left.

Either way, that deal is lost.

[SIGHS] I wish I could comprehend

why people hold on
to the past like that.

What earthly good does it do?

[CLICKS TONGUE] It doesn't
bring the dead back, does it?

Grandma.

Come to Tokyo with me.

What?

You should be the one to talk to her.

Me?

What could I possibly say to her?

What you told me just now.

About how someone's house is
just a roof and some walls.

And how you can't bring back the dead.

Grandma, please.

[DONGHEE] Well? What are they saying?

Can you hear anything?

What's going on? Will he live or not?

[PHARMACIST] He's
contended with this before.

Death, it seems, has
already branded him once.

[SIGHS] It's a pity he's
so far from his family.

I wonder if his parents are still alive.

- Is that his case?
- Yes.

Let's see if we can find a name.

- All expensive clothing.
- Oh...

Look at all these books!

How hard it must've been
to carry such a load.

What does this say?

"Dear Mother and Father,

I have arrived safely in Busan.

I can't wait to get to Osaka
so I can do the Good Lord's work

and so I can start my new
life with Yoseb and Kyunghee."

"Do not worry about me.

I am well.

Your loving son, Isak."

Isak? What kind of name is that?

I believe it's some
sort of biblical name.

Look, he's from Pyongyang.

[SIGHS] Then he's a
Christian from the North.

You can't make light of his
illness. It's tuberculosis.

We must report it.

I can't just kick him out of the house.

Ma'am...

Consider your daughter's health
and that of your boarders.

Let's wait.

We'll see if he survives the night.

[KNOCKS]

- [SOLOMON] Hello.
- What are you doing back here?

And who is this?

Sorry for the disturbance.

I'm his grandmother.

Could you spare a few minutes?
We'd like to speak to you.

[SIGHS]

[SUNJA STAMMERS] Please,
don't trouble yourself...

- [SOLOMON] Thank you.
- [GEUMJA] It's nothing.

I was just about to eat.

- Amen.
- Amen.

Oh, is there a grandchild here?

[CHUCKLES] Oh, those?

I'm the one who's studying.

[SUNJA GASPS]

Look, my school just gave me this.

My diploma for finishing sixth grade.

[EXCLAIMS] Well now!

So you really go to school
with all the children?

Yes.

And mostly they're good kids,

though there are a few
hard cases. [CHUCKLES]

[GASPS] And what led
you to decide to do that?

I don't know how it was for you.
We were poor when I was young.

And there was no money for
even the boys to go to school.

[SUNJA] I know it, and my own mother

could never see the point
in sending girls to classes.

Well then, you understand.

That feeling of being closed
off, separate from the world.

I was embarrassed or afraid every day.

And then, I found myself getting angry

at my children for learning to read.

Worried they'd look down on me.

But look, I was number
three in my class!

- Almost number two!
- [GASPS] Wow!

You can taste it, yeah?

[SIGHS]

How could it...

A woman I know visits her
daughter every couple of months.

She comes back with two whole suitcases.

Grandma, what is it?

Taste the rice again.

Will you look at that!

Nobody of his age knows
the difference any more.

This is rice grown in our country.

- How do you know?
- It's nuttier.

A bit sweeter, and a
little harder to chew.

In the day, white rice
became a luxury for us.

We were the ones who grew it,
then they come and take it.

And now we eat white
rice with every meal,

but barely even notice it any more.

And you think that's a good thing?

When I first arrived here...

... we had so little money.

We were in Osaka then as well.

Near the train station, where
food stalls are, I remember...

I'd go strolling, trying to
imagine what each dish tasted like.

And after a while, I
guess I got good at it.

Each smell would actually
get my mouth watering.

[GEUMJA] Like the first
time I smelled coffee.

[INHALES DEEPLY] I thought it was

the most wonderful
smell that ever existed.

My first taste of it came years later...

Yuck! I know! It tasted
so bitter! [CHUCKLES]

[CHUCKLES] Yes! You know!

Not at all what I imagined
it would taste like.

[BOTH WOMEN CHUCKLE]

But nowadays, I don't even get hungry.

I eat when it's time.

I no longer make my own kimchi.

I buy it in jars for yen.

[SIGHS]

I would've had to sell my whole cart

in order to make yen... [CHUCKLES]

This rice evokes memories.

Memories of my mother.

And of my wedding day.

[CHUCKLES]

[SNIFFLES]

Grandma, what is it?

- [SNIFFLES]
- Grandma?

I'm just... I'm being so silly.

I'm sorry. Coming was a mistake...

Her tears mustn't be disrespected.

She has earned this right to cry.

[SOBBING]

[SNIFFLING, SIGHS]

[BREATHING DEEPLY]

[SUNJA'S MOTHER] I know
you do not know me...

But don't be worried.

I'll do my best to care for you.

[SIGHS]

[SUNJA] Have you returned home?

Two times, I returned.

In the ' s, I went back,
and recently I went back.

And you?

[SIGHS]

We had no money to go back at first.

Then later, it was
time I couldn't spare.

Now there's no point to it.

According to what they say,
it's all gone, isn't it?

Yes, much has changed, it's true.

Still, just the smell
of familiar food...

The sound of your own language...

The ground beneath your
feet feels different.

It's palpable, you close
your eyes... [SIGHS]

... and then inside,
you just realize that

this land is in your
blood, it's home to you.

That's the reason for us to go.

I lost my...

I lost my sister-in-law.
It's only been a few days.

She really was such a good person.

She yearned for so much more,

yet she always tried to put
our interests above hers.

My sister-in-law...

My sister-in-law...

If only she could have
gone back once more.

How much joy it would've brought her.

[SOBS]

And now...

Now it's too late. [SOBS]

[GEUMJA] It's not too late for you.

Am I right?

You.

You're not even curious about your land.

You thought if you
brought your grandmother,

I'd be convinced that I should sell?

Yes.

You really are shameless, aren't you?

How can you even sleep at night?

I'm not attempting to steal from you.

We're not taking advantage.
We're offering a fortune.

But instead of being grateful,

you act like everyone's trying
to cause you some injustice.

Times have changed.

Now they're the ones who
are accountable to us.

I ask you...

Do you really believe that?

[IN JAPANESE] Yes.

[SUNJA] Mother...

His fever finally broke.

We should make porridge.

Mother...

I must speak with you.

What?

[BREATHES SHARPLY]

[SNIFFLING]

Who did this?

- [WHIMPERS]
- Tell me his name!

[SNIFFLING]

Tell me.

You need to say if
he forced you. Did he?

No, he didn't.

- That's not how it was...
- Then what are you protecting him for?

[WHIMPERING, SNIFFLING]

What kind of coward does this
and refuses to own up to it?

It is all my fault, thinking
you were such a sensible girl.

Really? How could you be so stupid?

Mother...

I'm so sorry.

You know what this means for you now.

For your child.

Do you know?

Sunja... [SNIFFLES]

Tell me, is there no way
to get him to marry you now?

[SUNJA SOBBING]

It's done, Mother. It's over.

He's gone.

I was such a fool.

[TRAIN PASSING]

[SUNJA] I see it now.

That woman wants to die in that house.

Couldn't you see that?

[SOLOMON] Her children would
benefit from that money.

You said so yourself.

So...

In the end, is that really our lot?

To constantly sacrifice
for our children?

And when does it all stop?

At our death? Or what?

What is it you want me to do?

I need you to be very clear.

Couldn't you get to the top of the world

without making so much
trouble for that woman?

No, I can't.

[IN JAPANESE] That's the job I do.

That's how I put food on the table.

I'm so sorry that I can't be more
like your beloved Pastor Rhee.

What in the world does
that have to do with it?

I once knew someone like
him. There's a likeness.

But that's all it is.

[JINGLE PLAYS ON INTERCOM]

I should go or I'll miss the train.

I'll walk you there.

I know you're good and honest at heart.

I brought you up and I did it well.

Stop pecking at your rice!

You know very well it's bad luck.

[DONGHEE] What is this?

Did someone die or what?

What is going on?

- [THUDS UNDER TABLE]
- [WHISPERS] What?

Eat.

- [PHONE RINGING]
- [TYPING]

[TOM] Solomon Baek.

I just got a call from
her lawyers an hour ago.

You did it. [CHUCKLES]

Using your grandmother!

That's brilliant.

Yeah.

[SIGHS]

[IN JAPANESE] Okay, everybody.

Naomi, Arimoto, you too.
We're going to celebrate.

Château Budweisers
for everyone! [LAUGHS]

[OFFICE STAFF CHATTER, CLAPPING]

Congratulations.

Thank you.

I admit, I didn't
think you had a chance.

I misjudged you.

Tom is calling for us. Shall we go?

I'll be right there.

[EXHALES, CHUCKLES]

[PHONE RINGS]

Hello?

Hello?

[HANA] Be good and
tell me you missed me.

- Or at least lie well.
- I've been waiting for you to call.

No, you haven't.

I called four times today.

I went home for a few days.

[SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY]

[HANA] What is that?

Is that a party there?

[TOM] Solomon!

I closed an important deal.

We're celebrating.

[HANA] Of course you did.

So it seems sending you off to America
was the right choice after all.

I suppose your wish came true.

But do you ever wonder
about all that's been lost?

You're supposed to be happy for me.

I refuse.

At least I'm honest about it.

No doubt there are those who
hate you for your success.

[SOLOMON] When will I see you?

Perhaps you never will. [SIGHS]

You haven't changed.

It's pathetic, you and these games.

[CHUCKLES] You're wrong.

I've changed so much.

[HANA COUGHING]

[COUGHING CONTINUES]

Are you sick?

Hana!

Ma'am?

Ma'am?

How are you feeling now?

[CHUCKLES]

Alive, thanks to you.

[SIGHS] Our pharmacist
said you're healing well.

Relieved to hear it.

My parents will be
happy to hear it as well.

- Yes, sure.
- I...

I need to go to town
and send them a wire.

I'll find a boy to take the message.

[STUTTERS] I'd like to go myself.

Err... Try out these legs of mine.

You shouldn't be overdoing it.

I need to get stronger
before I go to Osaka.

Do you have to go?

I know there's a church waiting for you.

What if you d*ed there? You'd be...

... so far from home.

Several times, I have
come close to death.

I know it well.

So death doesn't scare me at all.

Being alive, on the other hand...

... that's the hard part for me.

Uh...

All right. At least let
my daughter go with you.

[STUTTERS]

- I don't wish to trouble anyone.
- Please, I can't let you go alone.

Just a moment. I'll fetch her.

Sunja!

[ISAK] I'm sorry to
burden you and your mother.

Let me take you to lunch.

[SUNJA SIGHS] Oh,
it's no trouble at all.

Perhaps there's something at the market.

[STUTTERS]

There's a noodle shop which they say...

... is supposed to be all right.

It's not too far from here.

Oh... [CHUCKLES]

Well, that sounds just wonderful.

Then we can send my cable after lunch.

[HANSU] I told you about this.

[SIGHS] Get rid of them.

[MAN] Yes, all right. Right away.

What's this?

Write it down.

I've heard so much about
this market. It's magnificent.

[CHUCKLES] And it's so big too.

Please, we should go.

[IN JAPANESE] Enough of this...

- [TOM] Solomon!
- No, hey...

Apologies, he will
have to call you back.

Don't hang up...

I am your f*cking boss.

Get out here and celebrate.

Genius.

[SIGHS]

[TOM CLEARS THROAT]

Hey.

[IN JAPANESE] Cheers.

[ALL] Cheers!

[SMACKS LIPS] That is...

[PACHINKO MACHINES RATTLING]

What's going on?

[IN JAPANESE] What are
you doing here so late?

She just wanted to go back there,
to breathe the air of home once more.

All right, slow down.

What's this about?

It's about your aunt. I
can't bury her ashes here.

I want to take her back to her land.

And I want to go back, back to my home.

[SUNJA] I've never been
to a restaurant before.

[IN JAPANESE] That was quick!

[FOOD SERVER] We don't
want our customers waiting.

[SPEAKS JAPANESE]

Where did you learn to
speak Japanese like that?

Ah... I had a private tutor as a child.

Shimizu.

We became friends too.

I saw all your books.

You must know so many things.

I'm not so sure about that.

The older I get, the more
I see how much I don't know.

Actually, if I'm being honest,

I feel pretty stupid most of the time.

Uh... May I pray with you?

Father, thank you for the bounty
in which we're about to partake.

And thank you for watching over us.

We pray you show us the right
path to guide us and protect us.

In the name of Your
son, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Sunja, you can open your eyes now.

Mmm. [CHUCKLES]

It's good. [CHUCKLES]

Sunja, I don't want to be
disingenuous any longer.

I know you are with child.

I have no intention of castigating you.

I only...

I only bring it up because you might...

... need to have someone you
can call your friend about now.

Anyway, if I may...

The child.

Have you thought of offering
the child to another family?

[STUTTERS] Perhaps a childless couple.

I know it is difficult, but...

What is the purpose of this talk?

Alone, raising a child. Think
about what the repercussions...

I have no illusions about my fate.

I know very well that my child
and I will always be outcasts.

I'll have to leave my home

so that my mother
won't be ruined as well.

Of all this, I'm aware.

And yet...

I...

I also know that I was
once loved by an outcast.

He was my father.

It's strange how much I
am thinking of him now.

They all told him that getting
married and having a family

was out of the question.

Yet, you see I exist.

I'm here even though I shouldn't be.

And now...

And now my child will be here as well.

Even though he shouldn't be.

But he will be loved.

And maybe I'll have
to sacrifice my health,

continue to work on an empty stomach,

until all my fingernails break.

But my child...

... will be taken
care of no matter what.

That's my promise to him.

My father...

... made the same promise
to me when I was born.

So, no. I...

I will not...

... give up my child.

I'm sorry, Sunja.

I was wrong about you. [SIGHS]

I have been sick for so much of my life.

All there is to learn
from books, I know.

But I hardly know anything about people.

[SIGHS]

Hearing you speak just now...

I am ashamed.

That was not my intention.

No.

Sunja, I am grateful to you.

Grateful?

And him...

Can you forget this man?

I certainly hope I can.

If so...

If that happens, could
you care for another?

[SNIFFS] It doesn't
matter anymore, does it?

No one would take me now.

But if it were possible...

If somebody were to ask...

Could you leave your home
for some faraway land...

If someone asked you to turn the page...

Could you?

You must...

... understand that I'm...

... with someone else's child, I know.

I understand.

And I am asking you whether...

Perhaps...

Given enough time, could you...

... care for somebody new?