“Oh, I don’t know.” Jade paused. “What’s a zoo?”
JungHo explained that that’s where they kept all the animals of the world, that its most famous star was an elephant named Giant, and that they wouldn’t need to pay money to see it. Jade bit her lips and considered her options. Dani had already gone out and wasn’t coming back until late at night. If Jade let go of this chance, the next outing might come in a year or two, whenever the whim struck Dani’s free spirit.
“Okay, but I have to be back as quickly as possible,” she said, walking up to JungHo. Closer together, she saw that he was only her height or even a little shorter. But he didn’t look weak. Beggars usually shuffled, whereas JungHo marched with his arms swinging high, unconcerned by the way people looked at him. He almost acted as though he dressed that way out of a sense of adventure, like a prince in disguise from old wives’ tales. As they walked side by side JungHo pointed out the places of interest, as if all of Seoul belonged to him.
“That’s the zoo. It used to be a palace,” he said at last. There were dozens of people lined up outside its gates, even in the middle of winter. Sounds of music, shouts, and laughter wafted over the stone walls.
“Come on, this way.” JungHo led her away from the entrance and rounded the corner. There were not so many passersby here; a zelkova tree was leaning its boughs over the zoo wall.
“Do you know how to climb?” JungHo asked, and she shook her head. He interlaced his hands together next to the tree and told her to step her right foot on top. Jade thought he would stumble under her weight, but he stayed in place until she found a groove in the trunk with her other foot and heaved herself up to a bough. Within seconds, he followed and crouched next to her under the leafless branches. The dog sat and whimpered below them.
“See, there is Giant.” JungHo pointed. Over the wall, there were hundreds of people thronged around a dry moat; inside the moat, there was a raised island covered by chalky, bone-colored sand. Giant was standing in the dead center of it like a beached ship with gray sails. He was so large that even from afar, Jade could see him blinking his eyes as big as the palm of her hand. The crowd cheered and threw things into the enclosure to get his attention. Whether out of patience or stubbornness, the elephant gave no reaction, and soon the bored spectators left and were replaced by the next row. Some people cursed and spat into the moat, and others tossed him apple cores, but Giant still didn’t stir.
Jade thought that the creature’s suffering was all the greater for its strength and size; there was nothing tragic about a captive flea. She didn’t want to keep looking, and at the same time couldn’t turn around and leave it. She had been longing to see the world. Now that she saw what it was, she felt a creeping sense of nausea.
JungHo tugged at her sleeve. Someone was shouting in their direction.
About thirty yards away, a uniformed guard was waving his rifle at them and swearing. Jade struggled to hold her scream; JungHo had already scrambled down to the ground. The dog was barking and growling at the guard, baring all its white teeth.
“Jump!” JungHo shouted. The guard was making his way toward them, brandishing the butt of his rifle like a club. JungHo yelled, “I’ll catch you!” and Jade shook her head.
Almost at the foot of the tree, the guard cursed and aimed his rifle at the dog. JungHo stayed still, unwilling to run away without her. Jade took a breath and jumped off, landing on her knees and palms in front of JungHo. The three of them fled without turning back to see whether the guard was following them—not stopping or slowing down until they’d reached her house.
“Are you okay? Let me see your hands,” JungHo said, breathing hard.
“I’m okay, it’s just a scrape,” she protested as he took her hands in his and blew away the dirt. The dog thumped his tail, whimpered loudly, and flattened himself on the ground in exhaustion.
“That elephant,” Jade began. “Do you know what it’s thinking all day, standing so still and quiet?”
JungHo reflected for a moment. “It’s probably just annoyed at having so many people around. Or it’s thinking about food,” he offered.
“No, it’s thinking, How can I get out of here? You saw how it wasn’t chained. It was very tall, but obviously it can’t cross over that moat. So elephants can’t jump. But don’t you think there’s a way it could get out?”
JungHo’s face turned dark and serious as he mulled it over. “I don’t know, I’m so sorry.”
“Let’s come up with ideas, next time we meet,” Jade said.
When she came back inside the house, she announced to Lotus, “My new friend took me to the zoo and we saw the biggest animal in the world! What’s strange is that I thought it would make me happy, but it made me sad.”
“A new friend?” Lotus asked, closing her sewing kit. She’d just finished reattaching the goreum ribbon of her jacket.
“Yes, a boy our age with a yellow dog.”
“Oh, I’ve seen him around the neighborhood,” Lotus said, suddenly reopening the sewing kit. She began pointedly adding more stitches to the ribbon, which was already secured. “He’s a dirty, pickpocketing street urchin. You should stay far away if you don’t want to catch lice.”