Chapter 3: Saving Mother

Her tiny hands, now as small as bracken shoots, trembled uncontrollably.

Though her mind was clear, her short limbs refused to move as she willed.

I had been through this before.

‘Carbon Monoxide Poisoning!’

Carbon monoxide is heavier than air, so it sinks downwards.

When absorbed into the body, it reduces the blood’s oxygen-carrying capacity, causing suffocation.

“Mom, stay with me!”

Snoring is a symptom that appears when carbon monoxide poisoning is severe.

I shook Mother with all my strength.

“Mom, please open your eyes! You can’t just sleep through everything and die like this!”

No matter how much I shook her, Mother didn’t regain consciousness.

At that moment, a dark shadow flickered behind her curled-up figure.

It was the Grim Reaper who had come to take me away before.

[One hour left until the Hwangcheon Road.]

“No!”

Those were literally the Grim Reaper’s words of death.

“I can’t lose Mom like this!”

I was only seven years old back then.

At first, I had no idea what to do, and cried myself hoarse for a long time.

I didn’t even realize that I was wasting Mother’s time.

But now, things were different.

‘First, ventilation!’

I sprang to my feet and opened the door.

Creak!

I opened every door in the house.

Whoosh.

Late December’s north wind and sleet mixed with a biting, icy blast.

‘This isn’t enough! I’ll turn on the fan too!’

But to prevent my body temperature from dropping, I wrapped Mother tightly in blankets.

I took out every thick coat from the wardrobe and covered her with them.

‘What’s this? I’ve never seen it before.’

A jewelry box, tightly hidden in the wardrobe.

It wasn’t on the list of Mother’s belongings from before, and it seemed far too luxurious for our family’s means.

‘Now’s not the time to be distracted by this. I have to get Mom outside the room somehow.’

But there was no way I could manage on my own.

‘I need help.’

I ran outside.

I didn’t even have time to put on socks or shoes.

On this winter night, sleet was fluttering down.

The dirt ground was muddy and wet, and every step with bare feet stung sharply.

“Help! It’s carbon monoxide! Someone’s dying here!”

Whoosh.

My hoarse voice was scattered by the biting wind.

So I grabbed a pair of coal tongs nearby and pounded on the sliding door.

Bang bang bang bang bang!

Startled by the noise, the neighborhood dogs barked all at once, and one by one, the dark shantytown’s lights began to turn on.

I shouted at the top of my lungs.

“Please save us! Someone’s dying!”

Creak!

“Jeonghyeok?”

The owner grandma’s window opened and she leaned out.

‘Huh, she was the type who wouldn’t get up even if carried when asleep.’

“Oh my, why are you out here in just your long johns in this cold? Where’s your mother?”

“Carbon monoxide poisoning…!”

“Carbon monoxide? Oh dear, what in the world’s going on?”

The owner grandma hurried over and shook Mother.

“Jeonghyeok’s Mom, come to your senses! What on earth!”

She slipped her arms under Mother’s armpits and strained to pull her outside.

“I was startled awake by a dream of the Grim Reaper, and it looks like he came to take Jeonghyeok’s Mom away!”

Behind the owner grandma, the Grim Reaper appeared like a ghost and gave a thumbs-up.

[57 minutes.]

The grandma dragged Mother halfway out of the one-room shack.

That was all she could manage.

Panting, she shouted loudly.

“Neighbors! Someone’s dying! Come out here!”

Her voice was far louder and stronger than a child’s.

She was the toughest and loudest woman in the neighborhood.

“Changshik’s Father! Minho’s Father! Yonggwon’s Father! Come quickly and help!”

The men next door, called out by the owner grandma, opened their windows and leaned out.

“Help! Carbon monoxide poisoning! We need to get her to a hospital fast!”

This was a time when ambulances were nearly nonexistent.

Until 1981, when the fire department launched Emergency Medical Service 119 to handle rescues, only some big hospitals in Seoul or Busan operated emergency patient transport during curfew hours.

It was faster to take a taxi directly to the hospital.

[53 minutes.]

Every time the Grim Reaper spoke, my heart dropped.

“Grandma, I’ll call an ambulance from the public phone! If that doesn’t work, at least a police car!”

This was Guro Shantytown.

A poor shantytown where people barely scraped by working in factories.

Phones were not widely used then, so everyone relied on public phones.

I ran back inside and grabbed Mother’s bag.

Worried that we might not have enough money, I shoved the jewelry box into the bag too.

“I’ll get a taxi!”

“Jeonghyeok, it’s curfew right now. There won’t be any taxis running.”

The owner grandma sighed while rubbing Mother’s limbs.

“Why isn’t our Cheolgu home yet on a night like this!”

Cheolgu was the owner grandma’s only son.

He looked like a bear and was always busy chasing spies around.

He drove the most expensive jeep in the neighborhood.

He’d often go out early and come back at dawn or sometimes stay out overnight.

“Let’s see… Jaeho’s house has a truck…”

“I know where Jaeho’s house is! I’ll ask!”

“All right, you go ahead. I’ll follow right after the others arrive!”

That was reassuring.

Without looking back, I ran down the alley.

Coal ash was scattered along the entrance of the alley, where the snow had partially settled.

The few street lamps in the factory workers’ shantytown flickered.

Because of the carbon monoxide.

My body felt heavy, like a soaked cotton ball.

I staggered again and again.

But I had to keep running now.

Tat-tat-tat!

In the past, whenever I ran along coal ash-covered roads, I tripped many times.

But today, not once did I fall.

I was lucky.

Feeling a chill at my nape, I looked back.

The Grim Reaper followed like a ghost, mouthing the words:

[47 minutes.]

“If you’re not going to help, then shut up! If my mother dies like this, I’ll go chop off my own head and grab King Yeomla by the collar in the afterlife!”

That’s not what we agreed on!

“Ask my mother! You can’t treat me like this!”

I glared at the Grim Reaper.

“I don’t care about anything right now! This time, I’m going to start with divine punishment and settle everything properly!”

When I say something, I mean it.

The Grim Reaper, suddenly looking sheepish, zipped his lips with a gesture.

‘The nearest Taeseong Hospital is a 15-minute drive.’

I gritted my teeth and ran.

‘Will I fail again to get a ride in Jaeho’s truck?’

In the past, that was the case.

Jaeho’s father had cruelly refused my requests.

He had turned his back coldly, telling me to ask someone else.

‘Thanks to that, I learned that requests must be sincere.’

I glanced at Mother’s bag.

There was barely 9,850 won in the wallet.

A pitiful sum.

“Damn it.”

That sigh held another meaning.

I didn’t trust Jaeho’s father’s character.

If he was the kind of man who’d listen to a heartfelt appeal, he wouldn’t have turned his back on Mother in the past.

“First, I’ll beg. If that doesn’t work, I might have to cut off a finger and throw it to him.”

Then he’d have no choice but to take us to the hospital.

He wouldn’t want to be seen as a brutal criminal who cut off a child’s finger.

“If I can save Mother’s life with one finger, then so be it. I’ll cut it.”

I should have grabbed the hand axe from the warehouse.

“No matter the curfew, it’s unbelievable that there’s nowhere to borrow a car!”

That was how times were.

In Korea, the ‘my car’ craze didn’t hit until the 1980s.

Even the trucks used in factories had a rule that drivers returned the keys during commutes.

‘Where was I supposed to borrow a car?’

‘A public phone!’

I spotted a phone booth at the alley’s entrance.

‘How much was a call from a public phone back then?’

‘Had it just gone up to 10 won per call?’

“Ugh!”

I stood on tiptoe to insert a coin.

I couldn’t reach no matter how much I jumped.

‘Too short!’

I remembered the jewelry box.

If I placed it vertically and stepped on it, I might just be able to reach to insert the coin.

My hand slipped and the jewelry box popped open with a clack.

‘Bankbook, household register book, and the finest men’s luxury wristwatch.’

Under the yellow streetlamp light, I collected the treasure Mother had hidden.

‘Hah, Vacheron Constantin Patrimony 1970 Special Edition.’

Before Patek Philippe rose as the king of watch brands in the 1990s, this was the top-tier product of the Swiss watch company.

A luxury watch level impossible to replicate by Korean counterfeit masters of the time.

No matter how poor our family was, this was something we could never have afforded even if we died trying.

Owning one meant enormous wealth, either imported or bought directly from abroad.

‘So my father must have been a real chaebol heir?’

‘Then why were my mother and I living like this?’

‘If I use this, I can borrow Jaeho’s truck.’

Jaeho’s father, a man who loved money, would want such an expensive watch.

Beep beep!

A honk made me turn my head.

The jeep’s window slid down, and a man in his thirties stuck his head out.

“What are you doing here, kid?”

It was Cheolgu, the owner grandma’s son.

“Uncle!”

I was so glad I nearly cried.

Of course, the jeep too!

“Planning to report spies or what?”

“My mom collapsed from carbon monoxide poisoning! We have to get to a hospital fast!”

“Eh!”

Before I finished, the jeep’s passenger door swung open.

I quickly grabbed the jewelry box and hopped in.

Vroom.

The jeep raced down the alley without hesitation.

‘Lucky!’

A memory flashed back of stomping around a deserted street at night, trying to hail a taxi.

Back then, no matter how loud I shouted, not a single taxi or even an ant would pass by.

That damn curfew was the worst.

I had cursed the heavens and collapsed on the road, sobbing.

‘This time, it’ll be different. I can save Mom!’

The owner grandma came out to the gate and shouted loudly.

“Take her to the hospital! She’s breathing normally again and conscious!”

Apparently, the villagers had rallied and administered proper emergency care.

We helped the staggering Mother into the jeep and headed to the hospital.

Taeseong Hospital, Intensive Care Unit corridor.

I sat wrapped tightly in a hospital blanket, waiting in a chair.

‘The Grim Reaper stopped the countdown and backed off. So she’ll be okay.’

I let out a long breath.

A sigh of relief.

Only then did my eyes fall on the bulging jewelry box on top of Mother’s bag.

‘She had quite a sophisticated and flamboyant taste in watches. Who on earth is my father?’

I wondered.

‘The Cha family name isn’t common in Korea. And among chaebols, only one family has that surname.’

I closed my eyes.

‘Taeseong Group?’

Taeseong Group.

Electronics, chemicals, construction, automobiles, distribution, hotels, hospitals, food, fashion—

One of the top five conglomerates in Korea’s business world.