The Fog Horn (Angae Godong) - Chapter 7

When the sea fog cleared halfway, the sailors all gathered at the dock. Even though it had not yet dawned, they were busy untangling the tightly bound rope.

Nuri was up at the crack of dawn with Cheol Woong, heading for the lighthouse. Nuri wasn’t a late riser either, but he was no match for the fishermen who were squinting at the sky with their eyes wide open.

Nuri put a funnel on the spout to save oil. Then he poured it into the machine and turned the lantern on. There was a rough sound from the long weight that fell underground. As the lantern gulped down the oil, the 90-candela [1] lantern emitted a white light, swirling at various angles.

The boats lined up in an arrow formation and pulled out of the dock. In the lead was, ofcourse, the village head’s boat.

Nuri watched the waves created by the motor. The boats that moved forward with waves attached to their backs, one by one, was oddly a beautiful sight.

Nuri swept a quick glance at the foghorn, then switched off. He had to conserve oil. If he used too much, he would be punished. Nuri climbed down the ladder and stepped out in front of the lighthouse.

‘He said he would come again.’

Nuri sat on the cliff of the rocky mountain and looked at the sea. There was no rain, and the sea fog was still thick.

Nuri looked at the sky, then at the sea, and back again. The sea fog didn’t get any thicker, so there was no need to blow the fog horn.

Tired of waiting, Nuri curled up on the cliff and fell asleep. He couldn’t remember how long he had slept.

“Ugh!”

He woke up after getting hit by another water splash. This time it was just enough to dampen his cheeks. Nuri scrambled to his feet abruptly from the sudden splash of water.

At the bottom of the rocky mountain, he saw himself, with only his upper body exposed. He wiped his seawater-stained cheeks, and slightly pinched them. Judging by the tingling sensation, it wasn’t a dream.

‘He said he would come again, and he did.”

Nuri nodded and offered a greeting. The water demon smiled, very lightly.

“Hii.”

At the greeting he spat out as if nothing had happened, Nuri swept his arm away awkwardly. He should have responded, but his lips didn’t slip for some reason. The water demon looked at Nuri, then disappeared into the water.

“Uh, uh, there!”

Nuri shouted. It was because he wondered if he was just leaving while he hesitated and couldn’t even say hello.

But he didn’t go. He swam right in front of him, freely like a dolphin. He waved his sleek, dazzling green tail.

His lower half was no different from a fish. But his slender, smooth moving body gave off a mysterious feeling that Nuri had never seen before.

His green scales were beautiful as if they had absorbed all the light. He went in and out of the sea with a flick of his tail fin.

Nuri’s mouth hung open, unable to speak. He had never seen such beauty before. The moment the man’s tail fin hit the sea surface, Nuri felt a strange sense of déjà vu. [2]

This was not the first time he had seen this beauty. No, it wasn’t. This was not a new sight. He had definitely seen it before. He had seen the glowing tail before.

Nuri squinted his eyes at the vivid memory that suddenly flashed through his mind. Suddenly, like a ray of sunshine, the memory washed over him.

It was fifteen years ago. The day when he fell into the sea. More precisely, the time when Ko Cheol-woong pushed him away and ran away.

And then Nuri met this merman. A merman who is half-human and half-fish. This merman who had caressed him with a beautiful, gentle touch.

It wasn’t because of the village head that he was able to come to the surface. Nuri squeezed his head. Fragmented memories unfolded one after another.

Nuri remembered running his hand over his fantastically beautiful tail. He couldn’t remember how he lost consciousness after that.

He couldn’t remember everything exactly, but he clearly remembered the green eyes that he met the moment he was rescued.

“Me, are you the person who pulled me out? No, you’re not a person, but…… Anyway…… Is that right?”

Nuri asked, stammering. He couldn’t tell if the memory that flashed through his mind was a dream, an illusion, or the work of the water demon. But he was sure he remembered him accurately. The image of him disappearing into the sea as he plunged into the water.

He rose from the sea, ran a hand through his hair, and smiled. It was a smile that drew a wider arc than before.

Nuri could tell that his smile meant affirmation. He could feel it even without him speaking. Nuri smiled dejectedly along with him. He didn’t say anything. Then Nuri stopped smiling and spoke to him.

“Thank you, and I’m sorry I didn’t remember. I don’t remember anything at that time, but then I saw your tail…… and remembered.”

The man circled the sea once more, then plunged into the water with a splash and then came out. When he jumped out of the water, he was a little closer to Nuri.

The man circled the sea one more time, then plunged into the water with a sharp splash and emerged. When he emerged from the water, he was a little closer to Nuri.

“My name is Nuri. Inuri.”

“Nuri.”

“Yes, I’m Nuri. What’s your name?”

“Name…….”

The merman’s light green eyes darkened with power, then glowed with a hint of gold. Nuri squeezed his thighs together, thinking he might be sucked into those eyes.

“Ason.”

“Ason…….”

When the man said his name was Ason, Nuri mumbled a few times as he spoke along.

Ason, ason, ason, ason..

After repeating it several times, Nuri smiled.

“So, if your last name is Ah and your first name is Son, then you’re a guest. A guest [3] .”

“…….”

“Welcome, guest.”

Nuri said, with a hint of mischief in his voice. Nuri had never played a prank on anyone other than his mother. But, it seemed that it would be okay for Ason. Ason laughed when he realised that Nuri was joking.

“Did you eat the fish?”

“What fish?”

“Argo.”

As he stretched out his hand toward the sky, a large, black bird flew in. It was the same bird he saw in the yard. The bird, named Argo, circled around Ason and then disappeared high into the sky again.

“Was the fish that bird threw up and brought it to me to eat?”

Ason nodded. Nuri covered his mouth and looked at Ason. His round eyes were looking at Ason in a strange way.

“You, Aren’t you from the same family as the fish?”

Nuri asked in all seriousness, as if it was a homicide/cannibalism [4] of his own people. After all, aren’t half of them similar in shape? At Nuri’s expression, Ason smiled crookedly and continued.

“It was a death sentence anyway.”

“What?”

“And I can’t do anything about the food chain either.”

“What do you mean by that? I don’t understand…….”

“I’ll come again.”

“No, hey you! Guest!”

Ason jumped into the sea. This time, his tail didn’t even flick. He disappeared, silent, as if he was going straight into the depths of the sea.

Nuri stared at the spot where he disappeared and then looked up. The sea fog was completely gone.

The black bird circled around the lighthouse, then rose high again. High enough to the point it was invisible.

Nuri watched the bird disappear and went inside the lighthouse. Shortly thereafter, Cheol Woong appeared.

“You aren’t goofing off on the job, are you?”

“Didn’t you get on the boat?”

“My father told me to keep an eye on you.”

“Okay.”

“It’s just an excuse to keep an eye on you. Since you’re alone, he might have sent me to you so you can have someone to talk to. Anyway, it’s always me who has to do troublesome duties like this.”

No. The village head clearly wanted to keep an eye on him. Does the village head know about the existence of Ason? Maybe he ran into him. Was Ason the one who had killed the villagers? Nuri’s mind raced with questions.

“Hey. Hey, Are you listening to me?”

Cheol Woong tapped Nuri on the shoulder. On that day 15 years ago, Nuri remembered the hand that hit him and curled himself into a small ball. It happened in a flash.

Nuri shuddered as if he had been transported back fifteen years. This was not a rocky place, and there was nowhere to fall. Cheol Woong said in a panic.

“What the…… what!”

“…….”

Goosebumps ran from Nuri’s back to his forearms. The change was instantaneous. Nuri fell, his skinny legs caught between stones.

And the look in Cheol Woong’s eyes as he looked at Nuri was venomous. He didn’t come back. As if his return would reveal the crime he had committed.

Nuri felt his feet ache, and then felt his sensation fade away. His mind was going blank, and the water was filling up. Nuri cried a lot.

Even as a child, he knew that death was coming. He didn’t like it, and was scared. Nuri remembered the feeling perfectly. His body shook like an aspen tree [5] .

“Hey, are you sick?”

Nuri steadied his trembling body and looked up at Cheol Woong. Cheol Woong frowned, not liking the way Nuri looked at him.

“What’s wrong with your eyes, I want to dig them out…….”

“Why……. Did you push?”

“What?”

Cheol Woong’s brow wrinkled. He looked surprised. Nuri held onto his body tighter and said.

“Why…… Didn’t you save me?”

“……What, what are you talking about? You madman.”

Cheol Woong stammered, his eyes darting about, unable to settle on anything, and then he left the lighthouse, storming away from Nuri without a word. He didn’t answer.

Nuri had never seen such a look on Cheol Woong’s face before. It was a mixture of fear and dread, embarrassment and bewilderment.

Nuri wrapped his arms around himself and tried to squeeze out the memory. He couldn’t remember what conversation he had with Cheol Woong.

All he could see was the beautiful merman’s tail as it flashed and disappeared, and his green eyes.

Ason, Ason, Ason, Ason, the guest.

He wondered if he was being possessed by a guest, just like his mother was possessed by a guest and gave birth to him. But Nuri was not afraid when he thought of Ason. He would not harm him. Rather it was the villagers around him who would harm him.

He remembered the village head who used to leave his mother a lot of needlework. He must have known. He must have known that his son had pushed him. Even so, he has been so shameless about it.

Then suddenly, the thought that there were enough people who could have known this suddenly crossed his mind. Nuri expected no less from them. Suddenly he felt like everything was scary.

From Ko Won-taek, the sushi restaurant at the dock, his wife, Ko Cheol-woong, the village head, to the house of the village head, and the countless people around him…….

Maybe Nuri didn’t know that Ko Cheol-woong had pushed him, maybe his mother didn’t know either, but shouldn’t they still have expressed gratitude and spoken humbly? What kind of existence did he and his mother have in this village?

For a moment, he felt completely alone. He shook his head trying to stop thinking about it. The image of his childhood self falling into the sea kept coming back to him.

Nuri eventually burst into tears. He felt lonely, like a duckling surrounded by chicks. He suddenly realised his mother’s absence. He was completely alone.

Isolation, solitude, falsehood, separation, deception. These lonely, cold words hit him hard in the head. Nuri burst into tears at the pain that those words caused.

“I don’t like this.”

Nuri felt alone. He also wanted to blend in with people. And to be part of the family. He had fantasised that one day he would be called one of the people here, not one from elsewhere.

If he worked hard enough, if he grew old enough……. But the sudden misfortune of his childhood shattered that fantasy and ground it to dust.

Nuri pressed down on the instep of his foot. He rubbed futilely at the spot where Ason’s lips had touched. The day was completely clear, and Nuri didn’t blow the fog horn. There was no reason to blow it, because the sea was calm.

* * *

1. The SI unit of luminous intensity
2. A feeling of having already experienced the present situation.
3. Korean is based on Chinese character, and guest and visitor means 손님 (손님 son-nim is a polite way of addressing a customer/ guest) in Korea but the word 손 (Son) comes from the Chinese character 손 객 (客) . This character means 손 and it sounds 객. It’s kind of a joke in Korea.
4. It means the act of preying on one’s own people.
5. The leaves attach to branches via a long and flattened petiole, so that even the slightest breeze causes the leaves to flutter. This gives the overall tree the appearance that it is quaking or trembling – hence the common name Quaking Aspen