Friend

  The equipment manager smoked a cigarette.

  “I know that an inventor does not invent solely for the cash prize, but still. I’ve been here for many years, but I’ve never seen anything like this before. We have to respect the technicians and skilled laborers, the ones who produce materials for this country. We have to evaluate their labor and research, along with their character. Otherwise, there will be leeches that suck the life out of the ones who have labored earnestly. They’re parasitic slackers, that’s what they are, slackers who do not have the skills to invent new ideas for this country. They’re lazy workers who care only about filling their stomachs, who will do anything to avoid working by coming up with all kinds of excuses not to work. Times have changed, and so have these slackers, who have found clever ways to avoid doing their jobs. We have to be wary of these slackers and differentiate them from the ones who are genuinely committed to their work. As you know, just because we’re part of a collective does not mean that we’re all the same. We have to weigh the work ethics of these workers on a scale.”

  The equipment manager’s face was red with anger, and his face turned redder when he coughed harshly, making the veins on his temples bulge out. After rubbing his chest for a while, he calmed down.

  “Comrade Judge, I think I’ve said some irrelevant things. I’m not good at getting to the point. I just speak according to how I feel. I don’t think I was of much use to you.”

  “Not at all, sir. Your words moved me.”

  Judge Jeong Jin Wu looked respectfully at the equipment manager, who appeared to be self-conscious of his position before a judge. He considered the manager’s wrinkles to be not simply vestiges of old age but rather evidence of backbreaking labor and undying loyalty to the country. The old man strove unremittingly to expose societal problems. This was the noble spirit of the people and the sentiment of the Party. It was this kind of person who maintained the moral principles of society and washed corrupt individuals out to sea. Parasites in disguise, chameleons, viral scum, slackers who have caused more harm than brought good to the nation and the collective would stand no longer. These corrupted seeds must be identified and exposed in order to prevent further impairment to society. In fact, these seeds might have already become tall trees with large branches that cast ominous shadows. Judge Jeong Jin Wu was reminded of this today and was determined to take action.

  The state would never assess the inventors the way the judges from the Provincial Industrial Technology Commission Board did. Someone on the commission board was in the middle of this. Someone must have laundered the cash prize and used it elsewhere. This was indeed a felony. Jeong Jin Wu was prepared to charge and sentence the culprit for fraud and embezzlement of national funds. He knew that such people impeded the nation’s progress.

  Jeong Jin Wu stopped conjecturing because he did not have enough concrete evidence to prosecute anyone yet. He could not draw any conclusions based on the manager’s words. He would have to talk with Seok Chun about this matter, meet with the Provincial Industrial Technology Commission Board members, and investigate the quality of the inventions, the production costs, and the net worth of these machines.

  “Comrade Judge, you said that you have met with Seok Chun, right?” asked the equipment manager.

  “Yes. But I need to see him again.”

  “Then let’s go to the casting sector. Seok Chun is probably there working on a remote control.”

  They exited the building and walked around the premises on a thickly wooded path. From the opposite side of the narrow path, a young worker with his hat tilted and his hands deep in his pockets sauntered toward the manager and Jeong Jin Wu.

  The equipment manager approached the young man and scolded him harshly, “Why are you always like this? Straighten your hat. Your face is caked with soot again! You act like you’re the only one working hard around here!”

  The young worker quickly straightened up without saying a word.

  “Is Seok Chun over at the casting department?” asked the equipment manager.

  “He was working with me in the morning, but then he went to another factory to get some casting sand.”

  “Did he say that the molding material was the source of the problem?”

  “There were a couple of problems with the stork remote-control connection rod, and it started bubbling,” replied the young worker respectfully.

  The equipment manager looked at Jeong Jin Wu as a sign that he should ask the young worker something. Jeong Jin Wu told the young worker to tell Seok Chun to come by his office when he returned. Jeong Jin Wu thanked the equipment manager for his time and went back in the direction of the factory.

  Judge Jeong Jin Wu was very busy that day. He came across a new lead on someone or some group embezzling national funds at the science fair. He had not expected illegal activities to be connected to the divorce case. He decided to look into it further, but he needed to be discreet and approach the members of the Provincial Industrial Technology Commission Board cautiously to find out about the distribution of the cash prize. He would then have to have the entire board audited for records from previous years as well. He could not probe around this issue like any other case; he had to be careful.

  8

  Judge Jeong Jin Wu went to the Provincial Industrial Technology Commission Board the next day and talked with the secretary and bookkeeper. He inquired about Chae Rim. The secretary told Jeong Jin Wu that Chae Rim was gone on a business trip and therefore could not meet with him. She also told him to come back when Chae Rim returned or she could have Chae Rim go to the court. Jeong Jin Wu had to wait to see any part of this investigation develop. He returned to his office later that afternoon.

  He could begin the prosecution with the little evidence he had on the Provincial Industrial Technology Commission Board’s mishandling of the evaluation process at the science fair. However, he needed to meet with Chae Rim, who had allegedly organized this fraudulent evaluation process, to get a clearer idea of the case.

  Did Chae Rim do it intentionally? Could it have been an innocent mistake? The equipment manager could have misunderstood the whole thing. Couldn’t Chae Rim defend himself by saying that it wasn’t embezzlement but a different fund that was meant to be distributed to the commission board, the local government, and the people? Then what happened to the cash prize? How should I proceed?

  Jeong Jin Wu recalled Chae Rim’s visit a few days ago. He remembered that he had assessed Chae Rim’s sensibility, rationality, and political discernment rather highly. Chae Rim had also graduated from a polytechnic university, so it was likely that he knew something about the quality of Seok Chun’s machine. Jeong Jin Wu figured Chae Rim had known that the cash prize was intended for the inventors but went ahead and organized a fraudulent evaluation process. No excuses could exonerate him. Jeong Jin Wu was determined to prosecute Chae Rim.

  Jeong Jin Wu rested his elbows on the desk and buried his face in his hands. His face was burning with indignation, a feeling of unrelenting anger toward the investigation. He was not able to meet Chae Rim and interrogate him on this matter, but Jeong Jin Wu believed—no, he was certain—that Chae Rim was responsible for the crime. Jeong Jin Wu had come to this conclusion based on the evidence and his intuition and legal experience. Punishing a corrupt official like Chae Rim would be gratifying to Jeong Jin Wu—he intended to summon Chae Rim to the court, make him confess his crime before the magistrates, and force him to resign from his official position.

  Although he knew that working himself up like this, becoming emotionally involved, and rushing into a case were against the principles of a prudent judge, he could not control his feelings. Whenever he dug deep into an investigation and identified the truth of the crime, a yearning for justice for the people and the Party would surge within him. The law and Party doctrines were, of course, the correct guidelines for assessing a case, but at times the zealous application of these guidelines would overcome a judge’s objective perspective, causing him to be
overly dogmatic and abandon prudence.

  Judge Jeong Jin Wu picked up the phone and dialed slowly.

  “Is this the Provincial Performing Arts Company? How do you do? My name is Judge Jeong Jin Wu at the Superior Court.”

  “Hello, sir. I’m the deputy director.”

  The volume on the telephone handset was so loud that anyone sitting next to Jeong Jin Wu would have been able to hear the deputy clearly. Jeong Jin Wu arranged a meeting with the deputy director, who was acting as the interim chair of the performing arts company.

  “Comrade Deputy Director, are you going to be at the theater this afternoon from three o’clock to four o’clock?”

  “Yes. Is there a problem?”

  “I want to talk to you about Chae Sun Hee.”

  “Ah, if that’s the case, then you don’t have to come by. I will come directly to the courthouse. I have some errands to do in that area anyway.”

  “Very well. I’ll be waiting for you.”

  Jeong Jin Wu hung up the phone, feeling less burdened than before. He thought that the deputy director could persuade Sun Hee to not go through with the divorce, as it was customary for local officials to deal with individuals and their personal problems before the court got involved. Jeong Jin Wu closed Sun Hee’s divorce file and decided to wait for the deputy director to speak with her first. He had not completed Sun Hee’s divorce petition because he did not feel that he fully grasped her ideological disposition.

  People needed to recognize the nobility of the law. For Jeong Jin Wu, the highest law was conscience, the sublime and wondrous court of human emotions, moral judgment, integrity, respect, and honor. Egotistical opinions, self-aggrandizing assertions needed to be silenced in order for one, particularly Sun Hee, to take heed of the quiet voice of compassion, which had been, for so long, locked somewhere in the depths of her embattled heart.

  Someone knocked cautiously on the judge’s door.

  “Come in,” Jeong Jin Wu said.

  Seok Chun waited sheepishly at the threshold, fidgeting with his hat. He approached the desk only after Jeong Jin Wu welcomed him in. Seok Chun delicately placed his hat on the desk as if it were fragile and pulled out a chair.

  “I know you must be very busy, so thanks for stopping by,” Jeong Jin Wu said.

  “It’s not a problem,” Seok Chun replied.

  He sat with his eyes lowered in respectful solemnity. He felt awkward, tense, and even a bit embarrassed to be at the court, but he also showed his willingness to comply with Jeong Jin Wu’s request.

  “So, were you able to find good casting sand?” Jeong Jin Wu asked, engaging in a lighter topic of conversation before delving into the serious issue.

  “I bought some from the other factory, but the quality isn’t good.”

  “What about the sand from the riverbank? Won’t that work?”

  “Well, I’m not sure. It may be useful for other castings, but there are only a few places that have good-quality sand. Most of them are near the Eastern Sea.”

  “I see. That is a problem. By the way, what was that called? The storklike—“

  Seok Chun cracked a smile and asked, “Are you talking about the remote-control connection rod?”

  “That’s right. Your equipment manager was also worried about finding the right sand. I’m not sure if you know, but the sand on the riverbank is of high quality.”

  “Comrade Judge, don’t worry about it. I’ll find a way to get the right casting sand.”

  “I like your determination. Anyway, don’t lose your passion for inventing new machines. Keep at it. If you were to lose passion for your work, that would be a great loss.”

  Judge Jeong Jin Wu paused for a moment and then continued.

  “I came by your factory this morning because I wanted to hear the rest of the story you began at my apartment that rainy evening. You may think that you’ve provided me with enough information, but by legal standards, I don’t have enough. Of course, I was able to formulate an idea of your family problem based on what you told me. Your expectations for your invention, and Comrade Sun Hee’s expectations for your success … the pain and suffering you two have had to endure all these years. What is this that I hear about you two having an argument about the prize? Did you really argue about the prize?”

  Seok Chun sighed deeply.

  “We had an argument. No, we fought. I brought home the vase and plaque that evening. Ho Nam was excited about my prize and told Sun Hee about it. She didn’t say a word. The three of us sat around the dinner table without saying anything to one another.”

  After dinner, Ho Nam immediately fell asleep, exhausted from playing all day, and the couple remained silent, inviting the ever-so-familiar austere atmosphere back into the room. Seok Chun had been elated by the applause from the audience upon receiving the prize, but his elation was truncated by his wife’s apathy. He had grown accustomed to not sharing his thoughts with Sun Hee, so he had no intention of sharing his excitement at winning the prize. Attempting to connect emotionally with Sun Hee was more difficult than inventing a new machine. He was not going to force himself to “fix” his marital problems because he did not see any purpose to it, and even if he tried, his marriage would never return to its original state. Although he would have to endure the pain and loneliness of a broken marriage, he thought that it would be best to remain silent until it was time for bed.

  Seok Chun opened the Handbook for Metal Cutters and perused it. The figures, instructions, graphs, and diagrams on engineering in the book took him to a peaceful grassy field under the warmth of the sun. Seok Chun journeyed into his imagination, momentarily escaping the problems of his marriage. His love for engineering had filled the void in his heart where his love for his wife had once been. Solitude no longer frightened him; it became his companion, his friend, during those long, sleepless nights.

  It appeared that Sun Hee had accepted that their nights were going to be spent in agonizing silence. Unlike other ordinary days, however, tonight she was determined to settle something. Sun Hee approached Seok Chun with her arms crossed. She picked up the plaque on the desk and read it aloud. And then she put it down. She smirked bitterly as she picked up the cheap vase and asked, “You went through all that trouble to receive this?” As she placed the vase back on the desk, it wobbled around a bit until it found its balance.

  Seok Chun glared at Sun Hee and asked, “What, did you expect something grander?”

  Sun Hee retorted, “Of all things, would the country really give you this? Why didn’t you demand what’s really due to you? And why do you just sit there like Buddha?”

  “What would you have liked me to receive? A new suit? A television set?”

  “At least some kind of medal or an article about you in the newspaper. Something more than this!”

  Sun Hee’s true desires seemed to be contained in this piece of sarcasm.

  “You’re living in a fantasy …” Seok Chun muttered.

  With those words, he lit his cigarette.

  Sun Hee stared at Seok Chun with inexpressible hatred as she recognized his embittered mockery. She raised her voice, “Is it really that bad to receive a cash prize and treat your friends to dinner and drinks? Ever since you didn’t win first place, you’ve been depressed. Is it too much for me to ask you to really focus on your project and invent something that will get first place and win you some respect from others?”

  “A housewife should not interfere in a man’s work,” Seok Chun retorted. “If my invention somehow advances technology, then what more can I ask for? Is it really that important to appear in a newspaper article or win a cash prize? You need to know that pride in one’s work is far nobler than fame or fortune.”

  Sun Hee was momentarily seized with a shudder and could not respond. She only glared at Seok Chun with her mouth agape. She felt the enmity and resentment brewing inside her, and it was only a matter of time before she exploded. But somehow, she could not find the right words with which to respond, and tha
t added to her frustration.

  “Pathetic,” Sun Hee said, which was about the only word she could think of.

  “What did you just say?” Seok Chun shouted, as smoke from his cigarette filled the precarious space between the two. “You don’t have the right to say that to me! You may insult me, but don’t insult the fruit of my labor! Don’t mock my sacred purpose!”

  “Let’s just stop,” said Sun Hee exhausted. “I can’t do this anymore. I can’t live like this. I … I can’t live with you anymore.”

  “Ah, you want to end this? I won’t beg you to live with me. I don’t need you! Get out of my sight, you filthy bitch!”

  Seok Chun slammed his fist on the desk. The vase wobbled from the shock and rolled off the desk, shattering on the floor with a terrible sound. Ho Nam woke up frightened and began to weep.

  “Comrade Judge, basically our arguments just repeat themselves. They escalated to this point. But that last argument was the last argument. I can’t stand it anymore. Comrade Judge, I’m asking you as a favor.”

  Seok Chun clenched his hands tightly and cracked his knuckles. Very much like Sun Hee, he was desperate for a divorce.

  Jeong Jin Wu spoke in a soft but stern voice.

  “Your divorce case will be decided by the court. Since we don’t have that much time, I’ll ask you a few questions. You claim that Sun Hee has become vain and arrogant. You think that this is her fundamental flaw, and that is why you want a divorce. Can you provide me with a concrete example?”

  Seok Chun was taken aback by the unexpected question. He wanted to provide the judge with all the instances that showed Sun Hee’s vainglorious attitude toward him, but he was not certain if those would qualify as grounds for divorce.

  Judge Jeong Jin Wu asked, “Do you want to divorce her because she walks around in lavish outfits and belittles you for dressing unfashionably? Does that even make sense to you?”

  Seok Chun remained silent because he knew this would also not qualify as a reason.

  Judge Jeong Jin Wu spoke sternly. “Did she ever discourage you from achieving a higher degree at the Engineering College?”