“This is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. Oppa, thank you. Thank you so much. Where did you get it?” She could not imagine a store where they’d sell such things.
“If you have money, there’s nothing you can’t have. I had it ordered for you from London. Now we can know exactly when we will meet.”
She couldn’t imagine being happier than she was at that moment.
Hansu stroked her face and pulled her toward him.
“I want to see you.”
She lowered her gaze and opened her blouse. The night before, she had bathed in hot water, scrubbing every pore of her body until her skin was red.
He took the watch from her hand and looped the thin sash of her slip through its hook.
“I’ll order a proper chain and pin the next time I am in Osaka.”
He pushed down her inner slip to expose her breasts and put his mouth over her. He opened her long skirt.
Her shock at the urgency of his needs had diminished somewhat since the first time they made love. They had been together many times, and by now, the pain was not as great as it had been for her initially. What Sunja liked about lovemaking was the gentle touching as well as the powerful desires of his body. She liked how his face changed from grave to innocent in those moments.
When it ended, she closed her blouse. In a few moments, he would have to return to work and she would wash the boardinghouse linens.
“I am carrying your child.”
He opened his eyes and paused.
“Are you certain?”
“Yes, I think so.”
“Well.” He smiled.
She smiled in return, feeling proud of what they had done together.
“Sunja—”
“Oppa?” She studied his serious face.
“I have a wife and three children. In Osaka.”
Sunja opened her mouth, then closed it. She could not imagine him being with someone else.
“I will take good care of you, but I cannot marry you. My marriage is already registered in Japan. There are work implications,” he said, frowning. “I will do whatever I can to make sure we are together. I had been planning on finding a good house for you.”
“A house?”
“Near your mother. Or if you want, it can be in Busan. It’ll be winter soon, and we can’t keep meeting outside.” He laughed. He rubbed her upper arms, and she flinched.
“Is that why you went to Osaka? To see your—”
“I have been married since I was a boy nearly. I have three daughters,” Hansu said. His girls were neither terribly clever nor interested in much of anything, but they were sweet and simple. One was pretty enough to marry, and the others were too skinny like their nervous mother, who looked fragile and perpetually bothered.
“Maybe it’s a son you’re carrying!” He couldn’t help but smile at the thought. “How do you feel? Is there anything you feel like eating?” He pulled out his wallet and withdrew a stack of yen bills. “You should buy whatever you want to eat. Also, you’ll need more fabric for clothing for yourself and for the child.”
She stared at the money but didn’t reach for it. Her hands hung by her side. He sounded increasingly excited.
“Do you feel different?” He put his hands on her stomach and laughed with delight.
Hansu’s wife, who was two years older than he was, hadn’t been pregnant in years; they rarely made love. As recently as a year ago, when he had a string of mistresses, none had even missed a period, so he hadn’t given much thought to Sunja having a child. Hansu had planned on getting Sunja a small house before winter, but now he’d find something much larger. The girl was young and obviously fertile, so he realized they could have more children. He felt happy at the prospect of having a woman and children in Korea. He was no longer a young man, but his desires for lovemaking had not declined with age. While he’d been away, he’d masturbated thinking about her. Hansu did not believe that man was designed to have sex with only one woman; marriage was unnatural to him, but he would never abandon a woman who had borne him children. He thought a man may need a number of women, but he found that he preferred this one girl. He loved the sturdiness of Sunja’s body, the fullness of her bosom and hips. Her soft face comforted him, and he had come to depend on her innocence and adoration. After being with her, Hansu felt like there was little he couldn’t do. It was true after all: Being with a young girl made a man feel like a boy again. He pressed the money into Sunja’s hand, but she let the bills drop and scatter on the beach. Hansu bent down to pick them up.