Chapter 4: An Unwanted Child

Year 110

 

    Goo Chung-mi’s father, Goo Jin, was so furious with her that he disowned her. She could not explain herself as remembering the incident brought back too much trauma. He took the child from her and brought it to Kang-dae.

 

GOO JIN:

You damn bastard! You ruined my daughter! Who would’ve known that a retard like you was such a ert. Killing you is not worth my time.

 

    Goo Chung-mi became a nun and renounced the world. She could no longer live a normal life now that she was “tainted” by a man like him. 

 

    Chung-mi's child, a handsome young boy, was thus in the hands of Kang-dae. Although Kang-dae could barely care for himself, he realized that this little boy depended on him for support. He did his best to care for the boy. The peasants watched as Kang-dae protected and cared for the child. Some even felt sorry for him, noticing how hard he was working despite not knowing how things worked. However, they never lent a helping hand. 

 

    One day, a wandering priest met Kang-dae and his son and admired their perseverance. He gave the boy the name Taehyung, hoping for both the father and son to reach prosperity, even if not in this life, then the next. 

 

    Taehyung would grow up to become a prodigy. He was a genius of unmatched intelligence. It was as if all the intelligence Kang-dae lacked had been given to Taehyung. Taehyung helped the village solve a number of problems, from creating a more useful irrigation system to developing an efficient water well system. He was only 10 years old. Soon, the peasants and nobles came to know the story. The idiot father who had a genius son. Despite his intelligence, Taehyung was still very poor. They lived in a dirty mud hut that barely had enough space for them to sleep. Taehyung envied the boys who had “normal” fathers, but he loved his father more than anyone. Almost miraculously, Kang-dae slowly became capable of mumbling words and creating sentences. They were still very basic, but he was understanding better. Taehyung would even teach him to help their communication better. Kang-dae rehearsed and rehearsed a few sentences he wanted to say to his son. He practiced and practiced in secret whenever Taehyung was asleep or away to become perfect. One day, as Taehyung reached his fourteenth year, Kang-dae tapped his son on the shoulder and greeted him with a big smile.

 

KANG-DAE: 

Son...I...love...you.

 

    Taehyung smiled. His father’s words sound muffled and disoriented. However, he knew his father had worked very hard to say those words and he knew exactly what they meant.

 

TAEHYUNG: 

(Giving his father a hug)

I love you too, father.

 

    His father gripped him tightly. 

 

KANG-DAE:

(Still clutching onto his son, with tears in his eyes)

Do...you...want...me...to...be...like...other...fathers?

 

    Jungkook let go of his father. 

 

TAEHYUNG:

Father! I do not care about the other fathers. Did they feed me when I was growing up? Did they hold me when I cried? You are fine the way you are!

 

KANG-DAE:

I...want...you...to...be...happy.

 

TAEHYUNG:

I am. I would not trade your love for anything in the world.

 

KANG-DAE:

I...know...you...want...to...be...like...other...boys.

 

    Taehyung cried. As much as he wanted to tell his father he was wrong, a sensitive part was touched. He DID want to be like other boys. He did not want to live in a mud hut. He did not want to be constantly told, “your father is a retard!” He did not want to be called the “bastard child.” However, he always hid this from his father. Or at least, he tried.

 

    That night, as Taehyung slept, Kang-dae crept out of the little mud hut and made his way away further from the house. He was very determined and was off to do something big for his son.

    

    When morning came, Kang-dae had still not returned. Taehyung supposed his father went out for a morning walk, as he usually did. However, as the hours passed and still no sign of his father, he went out to look for him. He searched the entire city, even as far as the very outskirts, but his father was nowhere to be found. He decided to check the town center, where most business was to be held, and saw a large crowd gathering. They were looking at a dead body. This victim had been hung. Upon closer inspection, this was Kang-dae. 

 

    Taehyung fell to his knees. His eyes widened. He watched his father’s lifeless body drip with blood. He quickly turned to some spectators beside him and asked them what happened.

 

SPECTATOR:

They are saying he tried to enter the city school, but they refused. He insisted on entering and they beat him. He still wouldn’t leave and so they killed him. Apparently, they have no tolerance for “retards.” (He laughed)

 

    His father had tried to register him to attend school. However, they would not allow a man like him near the grounds of an education center. They thought his disability was contagious and kept him away. His father’s final act to Taehyung was to enroll him in a school, but that failed. Taehyung cried and cried. Upon the spectators was a middle aged woman who approached Taehyung. She patted his head and ran her hand through his hair in a calming fshion, trying to help Taehyung cope with his loss. She could tell that this child belonged to that man. 

 

WOMAN:

Young man, is that your father up there?

 

    As mature as Taehyung had become, he was still a child. He nodded repeatedly and clutched the woman, hugging her. She returned his embrace.

 

WOMAN:

There, there child. All is not lost.

 

TAEHYUNG:

He was all I have. Now, I have nothing.

 

WOMAN:

I know. I know. 

 

    This was his mother. The beauty who had become a nun because of the acts of some misguided teens. She knew better than anyone how alone he was. She was also responsible for his loneliness, since she abandoned him fourteen years ago. Despite not being there for him in reality, she would occasionally watch him from afar. In fact, she practically watch him grow up. Often, She would leave baskets of bread and sweets by Kang-dae’s hut when they were away.

 

WOMAN:

Young man, what do you intend to do now?

 

TAEHYUNG: 

What do I have left in this life? I might as well join him.

 

WOMAN:

You will do no such thing! 

 

TAEHYUNG:

I can’t stay here anymore. Everything will remind me of my father. Our hut; how lonely it will be to sleep in it alone. His clothes; how they will forever remind me of his body, the same body I clutched whenever I was afraid. 

 

WOMAN:

Son, why don’t you come live with me? I could care for you.

 

TAEHYUNG:

No. Thanks for the offer, but I will not burden you with an extra mouth to feed. I must leave this place.

 

    He got up and ran. He just ran and kept running. She tried calling his name, but he did not respond. He was long gone before she could even realize it.