Читать книгу South Korea. Lovers. Корейские любовники - Ирина Мутовчийская - Страница 4

This morning, Kunqiu again thought that he had run out of milk in the refrigerator and had not eaten the homemade food prepared by his beloved housekeeper, Mrs. O.

The housekeeper who took care of him for ten years left him a month and a half ago.

No, nothing terrible happened, just time, which spares no one, has reached Aunt O. For more than ten years, an elderly woman and a famous actor lived in perfect harmony. Very often, the aunt even stayed overnight at the actor’s house when her back hurt and it was hard for her to get home. She had her own room on the first floor. Auntie held on as long as she could, but time, as I said, takes its toll. A month and a half ago, my daughter took Aunt Oh to Busan. At parting, the actor made a generous gift to his aunt. He was in no hurry to look for a new housekeeper, because he was planning a big tour in Japan, but because of the coronavirus, everything went up and down and the tour was canceled. And now the time has come to think about who will help him to manage the household in the future. The most ideal would be if he could get married, and his wife would take care of all the issues related to everyday life, but the question of marriage was a painful issue.

Kunqiu stopped the treadmill, lay down on the floor and thought, he realized that finding the right woman to do the housework was hard enough. Laws, rules, barriers, other people’s views, closed doors, classified information, journalists who always poke their nose into his affairs – all this required being very careful. Even if he were an ordinary person, and not an actor, even then he would be afraid to bring a stranger, an unknown woman into his house, well, and in this situation he had to be very careful. Kunqiu understood that he could not make such an important decision himself, but would it be possible to dream?

A few hours later, his manager was informed that it was time to start looking for a new housekeeper. Age in this choice did not really matter, but the actor did not like to part with those to whom he was accustomed and therefore asked to find a woman of 30—45 years old, who would still be far from decrepitude and retirement. There was one more thing, one more requirement, the housekeeper candidate should not be a Kunqiu fan. Kunqiu genuinely loved his fans, but preferred to love them from a distance. Not that he had anything to hide, but the thought that a woman would appear in the house, who would spy on and eavesdrop, climb where she should not, terrified him. I think you now understand why the actor spent a month and a half driving away from himself the thought of a new housekeeper.

Kunqiu loved his home, but he had little time to seriously engage in everyday life, the work took all the time, sometimes, when the filming schedule was especially stressful, he stayed overnight at the studio or at the hotel, he simply did not have the strength to go home.

In the end, there were three candidates left in the selection process. All three women had a solid track record, all three were over forty, all three denied being Kunqiu fans, and…

Kunqiu flipped through all three resumes and found another one under the stack. It turns out that there was also a fourth candidate, her resume was quite short, it did not take even a page, but probably something interested his manager in this candidate, otherwise Kunqiu would not have read her resume now. The actor also tried to delve into what was written, but the lines blurred before his eyes. Still, the actor hasn’t slept for three nights. This was the time of the month when he could not sleep. Rather, he was asleep, but his sleep was shallow, he woke up endlessly, usually by three o’clock in the morning he stopped fighting and went to drink coffee. It would be possible to leave the care of choosing a housekeeper to the manager, but the woman who remains in the selection process will have to work in Kunqiu’s kitchen, clean his bedroom, wash and iron his linen. That is why Kunqiu understood that it was he who had to make the choice. He wished that with the departure of Aunt Oh, his housekeeper, the quiet times were over.

The fourth candidate who wanted to be his housekeeper was really unusual. She was Korean but lived in Hong Kong and Tokyo for twenty years and only recently returned to Korea. Judging by the resume, Ms. Li followed her stepfather, who was a famous pianist, with her mother. Ms. Li lost her father at the age of seven. The woman even got excellent

e education at one of the universities in America. It was not clear why, having such outstanding data, she decided to go to work as a housekeeper. Nothing was stated about this in the resume. Ms. Li said she would tell the employer if she was hired. After returning from Hong Kong, the woman lived with her maternal grandparents. Looking at the photo that was pasted on the resume, Kunqiu thought that the face in the photo was so young that he just couldn’t help calling Ms. Li a grown woman. The manager attached a note to the resume. After reading it, Kunqiu understood what the manager was interested in this girl. If you believe what the girl said, she never saw a single film with Kunqiu, or heard his songs, because she lived a lot of time abroad. The girl had little experience as a housekeeper, she worked in only two families, but if Kunqiu wants to take her, she can be assigned a probationary period. Kunqiu hesitated, the main goal of the housekeeper is order and comfort in the house, can Ms. Li be able to do this? Thoughts were confused and Kunqiu decided to leave the resume on the table for now, he wanted to make the final decision in the morning, but his sleep left him after three in the morning, and he trudged off to the kitchen. The resume lay on the kitchen table. The top summary in the pile was Ms. Li’s summary.

Looking at the photo, Kunqiu thought that his curiosity was a little piqued, he wanted to know something about the girl, in addition to what she wrote. A week passed and finally the manager brought the girl.

Kunqiu did not like awkward situations and therefore during the conversation he only smiled encouragingly and inserted short remarks into the manager’s explanations. The girl clearly and boldly looked into the eyes of Kunqiu, in those eyes there was no servility and delight of worshiping an idol. Kunqiu truly believed that Ms. Li had never seen any of his roles in films. The girl asked sensible questions, laughed in the right places, answered directly to the questions posed, that is, made a good impression.

Something confused Kunqiu, but he decided that it was due to the fact that the girl is young and sweet. But when the meeting ended, Kunqiu remembered the hairpin that he saw in the girl’s beautiful hair, and it seemed to him that he had once seen a similar hairpin in the girl’s hair, the memories of which were unpleasant and embarrassing to him.

However, on reflection, Kunqiu decided it was just a coincidence. Once upon a time, Kunqiu passionately loved that girl, and a hairpin in the hair of a strange girl stirred up memories. There was no filming today, it was that rare day when there was no need to go anywhere, you could just stare mindlessly into the fire of the fireplace, or even pour a quarter of a glass of expensive wine and inhale its thick aroma, reminiscent of love and summer. However, after drinking the wine, Kunqiu winced, it seemed to him bitter, the memories were to blame. Remembering the girl who was left in the past, Kunqiu became agitated. Taking out an album with old photos, he tried to find their common photos, but only he was everywhere. Many years ago, when this unpleasant story happened, one of his close friends, who was very worried then, decided that the girl was unworthy to be in the photo next to Kunqiu, and cut her off in all group photos. Therefore, now Kunqiu could only vaguely remember some details of the girl’s face.

To be honest, the new housekeeper was not his type at all. She was too, how to say, feminine, or something. Kunqiu liked girls who were not similar, not representatives of their sex. He did not like loud fools and cry, as he was afraid of hysterics and a showdown in a raised voice. He liked strong and harsh women, women who were independent, who knew how to set goals and achieve their goals at any cost.

Yes, the girl was beautiful, but she was too, how to say, ordinary, traditional, or something. Knowing the biography of the girl, Kunqiu expected something unusual, because the girl studied in America, spoke four languages, including Korean, saw and knew a lot. However, at the meeting, an ordinary girl was standing in front of him. A girl who will not even notice if she is in the crowd of fans.

No, he did not want, of course, that the girl had a tattoo or a nose ring, God forbid, he only hoped that at least the girl’s clothes would have at least some hint of her life outside Korea, but his wishes were not justified. Again, in front of him was an ordinary girl, dressed in the same way as all modern girls in South Korea dress.

Three days later, the girl started to work. Before this happened, the manager checked whether the girl’s resume was true. Everything was confirmed. The manager, Mr. Kim, even met the girl’s grandparents. The old men turned out to be very welcoming and treated Mr. Kim to dinner.

Everything that the girl wrote was true, and the moment came when she came. Having met the girl, Kunqiu did everything so that she did not worry, but the girl was calm. This amazed Kunqiu.

The girl immediately got down to business, which she had to do in the house, which was almost not cleaned in the last

her time. After a month, Kunqiu got used to the girl and treated her like a piece of furniture, furniture that moves. He was quite happy with this situation, it was convenient. Whether this situation suited Ms. Li, he did not know. Kunqiu rarely spoke to the girl. It seemed to him that due to the fact that the girl turned out to be so insignificant and ordinary, his interest in her passed, he did not even ask the girl those questions, the answers to which he did not find in the resume.

Usually, by the time Kunqiu returned home, the girl left. They collided only on weekends, when the girl worked until lunchtime.

Filming ended early that day. Kunqiu had a headache, it was again that time of the month when he did not sleep, so he refused to go with the other actors and the crew to the restaurant. Returning home, he saw that the girl was still in the house, her shoes were at the threshold. When the sound of the vacuum cleaner ceased, the actor could not believe his ears, the girl sang, and she sang the song that he had recently learned and sang at a meeting with fans.

The blood rushed to the actor’s cheeks, he decided that the girl had lied, she was a fan of Kunqiu and deceived him. The girl’s voice was not set, but rather pleasant, she even sang a few notes not very accurately in pitch, but she immediately laughed and corrected herself.

Kunqiu was a kind person, but he did not tolerate lies. He pretended not to notice the girl and went up to the second floor. Locked in the bedroom, he didn’t know what to do. The girl was conflict-free, and Kunqiu would not mind if she worked for him further, but here’s the fact that she deceived him…

He wanted to call the manager to deal with the girl, but then changed his mind, it would not be like a man. Having calmed down, he went downstairs to clarify everything, but the girl had already left. On Sunday, when the girl changed her clothes to go home, Kunqiu asked her to stay a little longer. The girl smiled and replied that she urgently needs to leave now, but if there are any questions for her, she will answer them to the actor tomorrow, if he does not mind.

The girl left, and Kunqiu remained with his mouth open. Now he understood how this girl was different from the others, she was independent. He admitted that, most likely, other Korean girls would behave in the same way in this situation, but there would be only a handful of them.

The patriarchal upbringing in South Korea instilled in young men and women a certain pattern by which they lived. Obey your elders at home, obey your elders at work, obey your elders at university and school. Kunqiu was also an ordinary schoolboy, and then a student and passed all the stages of reverence for elders. Fortunately, there were no people on his path in life who humiliated or offended him when he was older, but he saw such situations and was very worried about his friends when they got into such situations.

Now Kunqiu was angry, then he wanted to immediately dismiss the girl without explanation, then a minute later he calmed down and persuaded himself that he had to wait, and the girl would explain everything.

And she did explain. It turns out that Ms. Li played the piano quite well, in the United States she studied at the Faculty of Arts, and when she heard Kunqiu rehearse at home, in the music room, and prepare for the upcoming meeting with fans, she wondered if she could find the accompaniment to that the song that the artist sang. The time of college students had long passed, and the girl’s fingers had not touched the piano keys for five years, so she doubted her abilities a little, and when she picked up the accompaniment, the song sat so deeply in her voice that she sang it even while cleaning.

That’s all. When Kunqiu confirmed that she was satisfied with the girl’s answer, she smiled sweetly and, not expressing an ounce of resentment from the fact that she had to make excuses, packed up and left.

Honestly, Kunqiu did not fully believe the girl, her answer was too fantastic. His first impulse was to turn to the manager again to check if the girl was lying about the fact that she studied at the Faculty of Arts, but he immediately dismissed this impulse.