Village Welcome

The night that had been steeped in depression passed, and a refreshing morning arrived. Despite the early hour, Ji-ho set out on his crutches to look around the village and seek help from the residents.

The rural air was crisp, and even though it was summer, the temperature was pleasantly cool. Instead of the roar of cars and people, the small commotion of clear birdsong delighted Ji-ho, who was weary from hospital life.

As he walked, he found places that matched his old memories. There was the village corner store that had appeared in his dreams.

“The store looks like it’s been closed for a long time.”

Ji-ho recalled the shopkeeper who had been fond of him because he lived nearby. Back then, too young to know any better, he would eagerly accept the snacks or ice cream she pressed into his hands. He felt a pang of regret seeing the sign gone and part of the building crumbled; if the shop were still there, he would have liked to repay her kindness.

He walked a bit further along the path he used to take to school, chatting idly with peers.

“Hmm, this was originally the village hall. I guess it’s been moved to that building I saw at the entrance. The foreman’s house is empty too; maybe he moved. I don’t know if I can make it to the village entrance on this leg…”

A creeping worry set in.

He was concerned about how much further he could walk on crutches. Even if he managed to limp to the entrance, he wasn’t sure what he’d do if no one was there, or if he’d have the stamina to make it back.

‘If Yong-ha hyung saw me now, he’d probably gloat and say “I told you so.”’

Ji-ho was laughing sheepishly at the thought when a distinct noise broke through the natural sounds of the countryside. He soon identified the source: a small machine approaching along the path from a distance—a cultivator, a common sight in farming villages.

The machine, emitting a louder roar as it drew near, rattled to a halt beside him. The middle-aged man driving it shouted over the engine.

“I don’t recognize your face. Where’d you come from?”

Ji-ho was so relieved to encounter a local in his stranded state that he gave a bright smile and a polite bow.

“Hello. I’m… well, the house with the blue roof at the northern end is mine. I’ve come back to my hometown for the first time in ten years, so I’m not sure if anyone remembers me.”

“I’ve heard talk of the blue roof… You look so polished I thought you were a ghost. Tsk, just hop in the back.”

Ji-ho wasn’t taken aback by the man’s blunt, one-sided command. He thanked him and quickly scrambled into the back of the cultivator.

The machine vibrated intensely as it sped down the road. The man operating it didn’t ask a single question, showing no curiosity about the stranger or why he was standing in the middle of the road in such a predicament.

Yet, Ji-ho found this silence strangely comfortable. Just sitting in the back, watching the rising sun without saying a word, made him feel inexplicably at ease.

“Oh? You’re the village foreman? You’re not the person I remember. I guess the foreman changed while I was away.”

He felt even more relieved once he realized this was the very person he needed to talk to.

“The man who was foreman before me passed away. But most of the houses in the north are empty, except for a few. It won’t be easy to stay there right now.”

“I actually arrived yesterday, but it was so dark I had a hard time. No electricity, no gas—nothing was working.”

“You’re young and fearless. What would you have done if a wild boar came down? Your leg doesn’t look right, either.”

“Haha, that’s why I was on my way to the hall to ask the villagers for help.”

As it happened, the foreman’s destination was the same as Ji-ho’s: the village hall located at the entrance. Since he’d already met the foreman, he could have asked about the electricity immediately, but Ji-ho followed him willingly.

Even at this early hour, several residents were at the hall. Upon their arrival, the rural silence vanished as a flurry of commotion directed itself at Ji-ho.

“The blue roof in the north… isn’t that the youngest daughter of the landlord family from back then? The one who married into Seoul and came back with just her grandson? Was the boy’s name Ji-hoon? Or Ji-woon?”

“I’m that Ji-ho. You’re the grandmother who lived behind the store, right? You’re still so healthy. How is Bok-gu doing?”

The elderly woman was astonished that Ji-ho recognized her from his childhood and marveled at how well he’d grown. She seemed touched that he remembered Bok-gu, a puppy that had been a newborn when Ji-ho left the village.

“Oh my, I thought a celebrity had come down to film a show. You know, one of those comedy programs where they move to the countryside.”

“Right? You’re twenty-three? You’re still a student, so why are you so handsome?”

“…I’m not exactly a student, haha. Thank you for the compliment. Please take good care of me for a while.”

They told him the village population had dwindled significantly over ten years, leaving nearly half the area empty. However, there were more unfamiliar faces in the hall than Ji-ho expected, mostly outsiders who had moved in for “return-to-farm” life or weekend gardening.

“The foreman says he’ll get the electricity restored. Does my father know? Oh, right. He used to run the hardware store in town. Eh, he passed away long ago. I suppose you went up to Seoul because you were good at studying.”

“It wasn’t exactly for studying. I was working in the arts and took a short vacation to come down.”

“Where in Seoul did you work? Even though I came down to take over the hardware store, I know the Seoul area like the back of my hand…”

“Pipe down and just go to his house and fix the electricity. He can use the water nearby and use butane for gas, but he needs electricity to keep his eyes open at night.”

“Brother, really? You think it just connects instantly? It’ll take at least four days.”

The so-called “rural gatekeeping” vanished the moment they realized Ji-ho was a local boy.

The residents gathered at the hall, young and old alike, peppered Ji-ho with questions. Among them were difficult ones for Ji-ho, who couldn’t easily reveal he was an idol. As he laughed them off vaguely, he wasn’t sure whether to be happy or sad that no one recognized him.

‘I guess this has nothing to do with recognition. They probably don’t even know a group called Pentagram exists.’

He gave an awkward smile, but he didn’t mind the attention—especially when an elderly woman with a very familiar face entered the hall late.

“You’re Ji-ho? Oh my, I never thought I’d live to see you again.”

With her half-grey hair and deep wrinkles, she was definitely the store ahjumma Ji-ho remembered most vividly. She laughed out loud, saying his startled light-brown eyes were just as pretty as they were when he was a child. Ji-ho blushed with embarrassment but expressed his joy at seeing her.

“The store was closed, so I thought you’d moved away.”

“I opened the store as a side job when I married into this village, but with fewer people, business was terrible. Come, let’s hear more about how our Ji-ho has been.”

“Hey, is everyone going to stay like this when the bus to town is almost due? You, Ji-ho. You come along too. You’ll need to go to town to buy daily necessities.”

The foreman, who had been watching the residents gossip about their new person of interest, spoke up bluntly. Ji-ho hesitated for a second before answering.

“Pardon? Oh, yes. I actually needed to stop by a hospital because of my leg. There’s a hospital in town, right?”

“Oh, that’s right. How did you get hurt?”

“I know a bit about physical therapy, and if you’ve got a stiff cast like that, it was a big accident.”

“Ji-ho, how did you hurt your leg like that?”

“But the hospital in town won’t be open today.”

“Ah, then just stopping by a pharmacy is enough. I want to buy some painkillers just in case.”

Fearing the residents would start another round of gossip about the young man’s injury, the foreman waved his hand and shouted.

“Everyone taking the cultivator to the bus stop, get in now! I’m not coming back twice. Ji-ho, you get in first.”

Without Ji-ho even realizing when the honorifics had shifted, he followed the foreman’s urging, left the hall, and climbed onto the cultivator. Before he could say anything, the engine roared to life and the machine began to vibrate.

While Ji-ho, clutching his crutches, blinked several times, the cultivator moved back along the country road.

Ji-ho’s official hiatus began in such a whirlwind of chaos.

*************************************************

It wasn’t difficult for Ji-ho, who had briefly caused a stir in the quiet village, to adapt to life there. Living in a dilapidated environment wasn’t easy, but helping hands reached out from all over.

Mr. Kim from the hardware store, who spoke in a dialect while claiming he was basically a Seoulite himself, explained that it would take time to restore power to a house that had been disconnected. He insisted on a safety inspection to prevent any potential electrical accidents.

The foreman, despite his blunt demeanor, surprisingly stepped up first and offered Ji-ho a room in his house. He argued that it was dangerous for Ji-ho, with his bad leg, to stay alone in a pitch-black house even with candles.

Ji-ho initially wanted to refuse, feeling like a burden, but the foreman’s one-sided decisiveness—the same kind that had forced him onto the cultivator—prevailed.

This was why, the morning after his visit to the village hall, Ji-ho woke up in a room lent to him by the foreman.

“Uh… Good morning. Thank you for letting me stay the night.”

Just as the foreman had said his wife and daughter would arrive today, the first thing Ji-ho saw upon waking was a mother and daughter staring at him as if he were a monkey in a zoo.

In particular, the schoolgirl staring at Ji-ho with her jaw dropped had such an intense reaction that it was almost embarrassing. In Ji-ho’s position of hiding his private life, he couldn’t help but be on guard.

“A-An idol. You’re a real idol!”

As expected, she recognized exactly who he was.