(21): 23rd May, 2025

set in Busan, South Korea

23 May 2025

Father is by himself, resting on a bench after an attempt at a morning jog. His eyes are listless. They gaze outwards, towards the beach, towards the ocean, towards the random people making their footprints on the sand. He remembers his mother. How can he not remember Gim Halmeoni? It has been many months since her death, but that time is nothing compared to the decades upon decades they were together. He thinks of the grey balding patches of curls that were on her head, just as he thinks about how long her hair was when she was young. Yes, her drool dripped and imprinted on her chin in her final year of life on this Earth, but when she was the same age he was now, she was still her spirited self, snapping at him to clear rice from the table if there was a single grain that wasn’t disposed of, or complaining if any grandchild of hers sat improperly during meals or looked at their phone when they were meant to be talking to an elder.

These were all great times, vibrant times, and they come to Father’s mind as if he were right there in the home he grew up in, sitting on the floor with his legs crossed under the dining table. He remembers the fishy smell of her kimchi, the way he’d tug on the edge of her dress as a little boy, the way she’d peck him with kisses as he tried to go to sleep. He misses those times so much. He has to pinch the skin around his nose so that he doesn’t start to cry.