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EBS History of Culture Series - Part 1 THE COUNT OF MYEONGDONG
While the Korean War was in full swing,
Lee Jung Seop spent nearly a year in Sagwipo, Jeju Island,
~ Episode 16 ~
finding refuge there along with his family.
He might have had refugee documents and was thus served rations,
but it certainly wasn't enough food to feed his family.
That is why he and his wife Masako would head to the beach...
to catch sea squirt and crabs, overcoming the lack of rations.
However, this was the happiest period in Lee Jung Seop's life.
Shall we take a closer look at this painting?
As small islets loom on the horizon, kids eat berries hanging from the tree...
on the open beach, while two other children carry more fruits.
Another gathers the fruits fallen from the trees,
one lies down looking at the sky,
and finally two children taking down branches full of fruits fill the bottom,
while a child climbing the tree to grab fruits,
and others riding on birds' backs dominate the middle portion.
It is one of Lee Jung Seop's most beautiful works,
brimming with vitality and painting what is akin to an utopia.
"Sagwipo Landscape Showing Seop Island,"
one of the few realistic landscape paintings in Lee's career.
Boys on the Beach (1951)
Seven boys fishing from a boat or a rock, together entangled.
This was another painting brimming with energy and vitality.
Lee Jung Seop might have gained notoriety for painting cows,
but there were also quite the few interesting anecdotes regarding that.
A farmer living near Lee's house in Sagwipo was raising a cow named Ibbeuni (Cutie),
and so cute was this cow, Lee would stare at it every day on his way home.
But the owner, thinking he might have been there to steal it,
kept observing Lee's movements very closely.
Drawn with pencils on paper,
"Cow Drawn by the Fish."
Lee Jung Seop's later works were confessing...
that the cows he witnessed in Sagwipo...
showed the same sense of stability and purity...
of the cows from before the war, marking an important turning point in his style.
However,
from the moment he returned to Busan,
his works started assuming a significantly darker tone.
The pure and peaceful cows Lee witnessed on Jeju Island...
started becoming ravaged by anger, anxiety and despair.
Lee Jung Seop's cows, howling their angst at the world,
cows rushing forward blinded by rage.
So haggard and rough, so overcome with sadness,
these cows represented Lee Jung Seop's own psyche.
- This... this... - What?!
- Ta... Tae Seong... - Yeah.
He started school, and he's so likeable that he's made a lot of friends.
Ahh... really?!
- And... listen to this... - Yeah.
She says she's working hard and saving money,
to bring me to Japan with them.
Lee Hyung!
Didn't I tell you not to serve him drinks?!
Drinking is like poison to him, poison!
Ahh... Lee Hyung!
Think of your health!
Only then you'll be able to join your family in Japan.
Just... just a sip.
My throat is just killing me.
Just one!
I said no!
Lee Hyung!
Lee... Hyung!
Have something to eat first, Lee Hyung.
If you eat some, I'll give you a drink.
Jung Seop...
Jung Seop!
What did you do to your hand?
How are you going to paint now?
I hate painting.
I won't do that.
They're not paintings.
I will burn them all to shreds.
My paintings...
are nothing.
They're not paintings.
They're not...
They're not.
Lee Hyung.
There's something I was curious about.
Can I ask you?
Sometimes, when people speak to you,
you don't seem to hear them.
Is that really the case, or are you just pretending?
Also, sometimes you don't recognize people.
Is that really what happens, or are you just faking it?
I don't mean anything by it...
I was just curious.
Curious whether I'm crazy or not?
Listen to you... It's not that...
I erase it.
One by one, I erase it all.
What?
Attachment.
To living...
My wife...
The kids...
Paintings... Regret...
Desire...
Anger.
What's that supposed to mean?
Only then I will be able to leave.
I'll bury it all deep down.
How can you say that?
I really...
wish I could go crazy.
How nice would that be?!
I'd forget about everything in the world,
and just wander in madness...
I see you're doing just fine, after all!
Know what's the hardest thing in life?
Pretending to be mad.
So, because you were tired of people, you jumped off the second floor?
To pretend you were crazy?
My entire life is just a big excuse.
I can't paint anything for real,
so I use my wife as an excuse,
my kids...
poverty...
What do you mean by that?
You don't even miss your family?
Of course I do.
I might miss them, but...
Lee Hyung!
Lee Hyung, wake up!
Lee Hyung!
Lee Hyung!!
Wake up!
Lee Hyung!
Lee Hyung, wake up!
Lee Hyung!
Ehh Ehh...
Really...
Ohh Ohh...
Really.
Anyhow, he did send him to a mental institute in Cheongnyangni.
Lee Jung Seop is not mad, is he?
If you send him to Japan, he'll be as good as new.
Is there really no way?
Getting a visa to enter Japan seems to be quite difficult.
And since President Lee keeps refusing to open the borders...
Then, we could just smuggle him in.
Not only is that not too easy either,
but Han Mok tells a whole different story about him.
Different how?
He said that Lee Jung Seop's borderline behavior...
doesn't necessarily stem from missing his family.
It can't be.
Nobody would just go crazy over that.
How many people had to endure even worse separations?!
Nobody would be that weak.
It must be because of his paintings.
Doesn't he paint well, Lee Jung Seop?!
Not everybody thinks that.
So it hurts his pride?
That played a part.
So you go crazy over that?!
There must be several more complicated issues.
I guess, it sure could be the case.
You already have one in your mouth...
You know?!
When I was younger, I even thought about suicide a few times.
Just about every scribe out there must have experienced that.
Park In Hwan was the same.
Wasn't that just like a suicide?
Drinking what he couldn't even handle,
that was his way of asking for a quicker death.
Ehh Ehh...
They could just write and paint and that would be it.
But some people just can't handle it.
Just like Park In Hwan and Lee Jung Seop.
So is that why you smoke so much, Seonsaengnim?
I was talking about geniuses.
Not dull-witted fools like me.
Ahh... really. Let's go. I'll buy you a drink.
I told you I will pay! You won't lose a penny.
I have no intention of drinking.
Why?
Don't you know how much better things have gotten?!
See? These days Shin Ik Hee Seonsaeng's popularity is touching the sky.
He will beat Lee Seung Man at the elections and become president.
Im Geung Jae (culture critic)
Ahh... This time, they'll turn things upside down.
Your past with the commies will vanish along with that.
Ahh... I'm joking.
If Kim Su Young is a commie, then even Lee Seung Man would be.
Isn't that right?
Ahh... really, let's just go.
Let's go.
Looks like Im Seonsaengnim is really interested in your sister.
He might be a tad rash, but he's a decent man.
And he and your sister are just the right age.
Look... Su Young.
Don't act like that, and just give me your sister.
Whatever it takes, I'll turn her into the First Lady.
Look at my face, will you?
My future is written in the stars.
It's Shin Ik Hee, Jo Byung Wook and then me!
Korea's fifth president, Im Geung Jae!
Wait...
Newspaper! Newspaper!
Newspaper! Breaking news!
Here... give me one.
Here you go.
Newspaper!
Aigoo... money is rotting away.
If you have money to waste on newspapers,
why don't you save it and buy some more meat instead?
That's the reason why you'll keep fixing shoes for the rest of your days.
What is this all about?
Choi!
Come here a moment.
Read these Chinese characters for me.
Why waste money on something you can't even read?!
You fool... don't even talk to me, will you?
I made up my mind not to ever associate with you again!
Fine, as you wish.
"Shin Ik Hee Seonsaeng... Seo..."
"geo?!"
What's seogo?!
Ajeosshi!
This is "seogo," right? Seogo (demise).
Indeed it is.
Shin Ik Hee Seonsaeng seogo?!
What is this?
Does this mean Shin Ik Hee Seonsaeng passed away?!
What?!
This... this...
What kind of tragedy is this?
Shin Ik Hee Seonsaeng is dead?!
Newspaper! Breaking news!
Breaking news!
Thank you. Breaking news!
~ Hyueop (Closed) ~
Wow... they kept complaining it would close soon, it indeed happened?!
Let's have a cup of tea and go our separate ways.
Ehh... Will tea cut it?! We're future in-laws!
Let's head to the Eunseong.
Eunseong?!
Next block from the Arts Theater, they opened this groggery called Eunseong.
The owner is really something.
If you tell her you're an artist, she just gives you credit on the spot?!
Let's just go.
Let's go.
Newspaper!
Breaking news! Breaking news!
Give me one copy.
Why buy it? It's all over the place.
What is it about?
What is this?
Shin Ik Hee... is dead?!
Did those bastards of the Liberal Party do it?
What? Heart failure?!
So his heart just suddenly stopped?
Give me a break. Why would a healthy heart suddenly stop?
They killed him, I'm sure!
Those Liberal Party fools killed him!
Aigoo... How could this happen?
Of all the people who could die, Shin Ik Hee Seonsaeng?!
Ehh... You motherless vandals!
First, Shin Ik Hee was quite popular in Seoul.
So, when he had his campaign speech for the elections,
of the 600,000 people living in Seoul at the time,
at least 200,000-300,000 were there to see him.
This huge portion of the city was completely paralyzed.
*North/South Jeolla Province
As he was traveling to Honam* for his campaign,
he allegedly had a heart attack.
That's how they described his death. It was really a huge issue at the time.
The third presidential elections which took place in 1956...
were a paramount survey which could have catapulted Korean democracy...
a few decades forward.
There is no "if" in history,
but had Shin Ik Hee been alive then,
and had he vanquished Lee Seung Man to become president,
we would have achieved a touchstone of democracy,
such as a peaceful regime change through election.
If you think of how long it took...
before such a peaceful regime change actually happened,
then Shin Ik Hee's death becomes all the more lamentable.
~ Eunseong ~
Amongst those in their fifties,
many will recall the Eunseong.
Opened in the spring of 1955 by Choi Buram's mother Lee Myung Sook,
Eunseong was run by her for the sake of the artists she so dearly loved.
~ Photos of the Eunseong ~
That is why credit was a given, back then.
As most regular customers came from theater, the musical or literary world,
they mostly all knew each other.
That is why anyone who had enough for the bill would pay,
and the rest would be on credit.
It was clear that this venture wouldn't be too profitable.
Still, Eunseong was able to remain open,
right here in front of the Arts Theater, until 1969.
~ Yu Hyun Mok (film director) ~
What most vividly comes to mind about Myeongdong...
was the Eunseong, I just wouldn't go anywhere else.
We'd go there, and stuff ourselves with makgeolli like this.
We'd get all excited and debate all night, that kind of mood.
~ Kim Si Cheol (poet) ~
The owner of the Eunseong, Choi Buram's mother,
was such a generous person, you know?
You could spend all night drinking for days on credit,
and that smile on her face would never vanish.
She must have loved all those poor artists.
Choi Buram must have been in middle or high school, by then.
But he was in and out of there all the time.
~ Lee Young Soon ~ (Lee Bong Gu's son)
Whenever he didn't feel too good or tired,
or those days when he just didn't want to go.
If, say, he hadn't been in Myeongdong for a week straight,
Madam Lee from the Eunseong would bring along his friends...
and walk up the hills leading to our house to see how he was.
I witnessed that kind of sight more than once, in my childhood.
Why are you drinking so much today?
Think of your health.
Su Young...
Give it a rest.
Who said he had no intention of drinking?! You've been gorging all night.
Drowning all the anger with that?!
Listen, Su Young.
You shouldn't drink for that.
Ehh Ehh... You're drunk already, Su Young?!
You are.
I've endured it quietly for years...
Look at this, Im Hyung.
Know why I have dentures at my age?
You know?
They're all dentures on this side,
and I have no teeth on the other side, either.
What's wrong with you, Su Young?
You're really drunk.
Those weren't rotten teeth.
I took them out with my own hands!
Then... you did it just like that?!
Im Hyung.
You don't know the POW camp on Geoje Island, do you?
I know!
Why wouldn't I know that place?
You know?! What the hell could you possibly know?!
Know what kind of place that was?!
People's lives were trampled on like flies on the wall.
Sleep the night off, and you'd be surrounded by corpses.
And the toilets were filled with the limbs of dead people.
Calm down, Su Young.
I've heard about that.
I survived through that!
The damned commies would beat you up because you weren't one of them,
and because the commies entered our barracks,
the anti-communists would try to strangle us.
So what I did...
was pulling out my teeth.
I was so scared, afflicted and in pain...
that I pulled out my own teeth.
I thought that would make things a little better.
If I at least pulled out my teeth, it would be better.
But...
Shin Ik Hee dies?!
Lee Seung Man more than deserves the same fate,
but it's Shin Ik Hee who dies?!
Did...
Su Young get home all in one piece?
My brother?
Ahh... He scared me so much I left first.
I was just wondering if he got home fine.
I live with my mother.
Why are you asking me about my brother?
But... wait.
Is that true?
That Su Young pulled out his own teeth at the POW camp.
I guess he did.
Being there must have been too hard for him.
Still, you pull your own teeth?!
You surely could.
When people experience great distress,
they tend to hurt themselves.
Still, Seonsaengnim, how can you just pull out a tooth?!
It sure is better than committing suicide!
Isn't that right?
Why?
You didn't know?
No... I didn't.
You didn't know that?
And you two are so close...
Really...
Kim Su Young is really something.
Quite something...
~ Kim Hyun Gyeong ~ (Kim Su Young's wife)
He was just exasperated, never knowing when he'd be released.
It was so hard to endure, he just pulled out his teeth.
One by one, he just pulled them out.
This whole thing was so afflicting,
he wanted to find a way, any way to escape from that.
So he ended up with dentures.
Maybe because of all those theater sensibilities,
he kept staring at himself.
As a woman myself, all I did was checking my hair in the morning.
But he'd keep staring at himself in the mirror,
so I'd look at him and ask him why, all puzzled by his behavior.
And he'd just say that, sometimes, it just worked.
He had those days, when he thought he looked handsome himself.
I'm sorry.
I knew that you struggled there,
but I never imagined it could be so bad.
No...
Perhaps I didn't even want to acknowledge the mere thought.
I heard you visited In Hwan's grave.
I'm glad you went.
Wretched fool...
Leaving us in such a pointless way...
I am to blame as well.
I should have stopped him from drinking.
It's just because he acted like a wench.
So you're forgiving me for spending your fees to pay my tab?
Lee Seonbae...
The moment I heard Shin Ik Hee Seonsaeng died,
I even thought of just taking some pesticides and giving it all up.
Giving up?!
You could just pull out all the teeth left.
What is this damned anti-communism?!
Is that another ideology?
Is being against communism an ideology?!
That thing called ideology, Lee Seonbae.
Isn't it something like "This and that are nice, so let's do it"?
"This is good, so let's try to achieve it." Isn't that ideology?
But...
"I have no stance of my own, I just oppose this."
What damned ideology is that?!
That is what moved Lee Seung Man's dictatorship.
He ruled for eight years, and will rule another four.
When he's done, Lee Gi Bong will take over...
and continue this travesty, nothing can stop them.
Because anti-communism is all it takes them.
"Poets should just write poems."
"Painters should just paint, what's with all those complaints?"
But if you have no goal in life, what are you ever going to write about?!
There is no tenet telling us how to live, nor the chance to voice one.
If anti-communism is all you can do, what worthless poems could you ever write?!
Park In Hwan was a coward.
That living is even more painful than death is something...
that he, and you and I, knew very well.
And he leaves us like that?!
That's right.
Whatever happens, let's survive.
Only then we'll be able to see a better world before the end.
That better world could have come.
If Shin Ik Hee hadn't died,
back then, the world could have certainly changed for them.
Most people were thinking Lee Gi Bong would be elected vice president.
Lee Seung Man's win was pretty much an afterthought,
after Shin Ik Hee's sudden death.
But when Jang Myeon won the election,
it put the Liberal Party in quite the tough spot.
Jang Myeon as president was a rather problematic development...
for the Liberal Party, particularly considering the president's age then.
As succession rights would belong to him,
and because Jang was elected to his post,
the Democratic Party automatically gained momentum.
This led to a few substantial assassination attempts directed at Jang,
and since a vice-president who couldn't operate was pretty much a walking pariah,
they eventually forced Jang out of any serious decision-making.
The fact he at least got the chance to step out was a relief.
Aigoo... Director, isn't that you?!
Tell him to be careful, Lee Sajang!
What?
If you just tell him that, he'll understand.
Director Baek said that?
That surely makes sense.
Lee Gi Bong must be enraged over all this.
It's only natural. Think President Lee will last that long?!
Careful what you say.
They must already be staring down at you.
Should I start hanging out with the Seodaemun crowd, then?!
Stop that.
How old is President Lee?! If he dies, Jang Myeon will take over.
Wouldn't that make this the Democratic Party's playing ground?
Is that how it would turn?!
That's why I'm wondering whether Lee Gi Bong is scheming something.
Had Lee been elected instead,
he would have become next in line for the presidency.
There's people saying...
that if Lee had won, Lee Seung Man would have stepped down in a couple of years...
and handed over the reins to Lee Gi Bong.
They're more than capable of that.
By the way, stop going in and out of here.
You're starting to influence business.
All eyes are on you.
Aigoo... All right!
Be careful.
Lee Jung Jae's mouth is watering.
He might just take this chance to make Myeongdong his.
What was the point...
Ahh... If something happened to you going by yourself...
I can take care of myself alone.
Stop wasting time, and take the boys back with you.
Still, we should at least...
You still...
Are you trying to rile me up?
Ahh... Director Baek.
It's me.
Aww... Who do you think?!
I told him off so that he'll understand.
What's wrong with you? Don't you know how he is?!
Talk with the higher-ups, will you?
I'll treat you instead, any time.
Of course!
It's Director Baek, after all!
Madam Lee.
You know who I am, right?
Yes, of course I do.
Who am I?
Aren't you Daehanminguk Kim Gwan Shik Seonsaeng?!
Then, that's it!
But, no matter where I look, I seem to be out of money.
On my tab.
Sure.
Hey!
Drink all you want!
It's all.. here... here... here and here...
All on my tab!
Madam Lee, I'll get going!
Yes... careful.
Out of the way, you fool!
Why are the streets of Seoul so desolate?!
Is it because Park In Hwan died?
It's surely not that!
So why... why is Seoul's Myeongdong so lonesome?!
That...
I have no idea myself.
Oh?!
You block the way again?!
Hey...
Why do you keep getting in the way?
It's because of fools like you that Lee Seung Man became president...
and Shin Ik Hee died.
It's because of fools like you that democracy doesn't work in this country!
You...
You really want some?!
Fine.
I'll teach you a lesson once and for all!
The crowded and jubilant streets of the elections...
quickly returned to their grim old days,
vanishing like a propitious wind,
fleetingly illuding people with the alluring scents of change.
~ Byeon Yeong No (poet) ~
From the famous saying, "Nobody can beat Gongcho at smoking,"
and "Nobody will top Suju at drinking," Suju Byeon Yeong No himself.
After returning from his studies in America,
poet cum English literature scholar Byeon Yeong No...
became professor of English Literature at the Seongyungwan...
and wrote for the DongA Ilbo, along with his drinking-related eccentric behavior.
His collection of essays "Four Drunken Decades" was about,
as the title suggests, his forty-year relationship with the bottle.
Here's one anecdote with Gongcho Oh Sang Soon.
It was a quiet autumn night.
- It's cold. - Tell me about it.
Can we still get a boat ride at this hour?
Ever seen a tavern host refuse to serve drinks?!
Where to shall we row?
Row?! Row where?!
Our boat neither flows nor goes anywhere, let alone walk.
Just bring us where the tide leads.
This is not a fishing boat.
Looks like you rode the wrong one.
Ohh Ohh... Listen to him!
Do we look like fishermen?
Well, we do fish for something indeed.
For instants in the ocean of time!
Now that I think about it, you're right!
We're in for a little taste of the good old communion with nature.
But since he threw the poetic gauntlet calling us fishermen,
looks like our kind boatman fellow more than earned rowing rights.
Ahh Ahh! Indeed!
"One glass, another. No end is in sight."
"Ever tasted the limpid water of the creek down the deep valley,"
"Or the roborant waterways deep down underground?"
"Valley or soil, any place in nature where nectars flow..."
"Are my gardens of Arcadia, utopia for my tongue."
"Out sprouts the nectars' scent!"
Here... It is time I give you my response.
Indeed.
Spring Drizzle by Byeon Yeong No
"I knew of a sound so deep and quiet,"
"Along the way, along the way."
"The dormant spell of the milky white clouds."
"Deep as indifferent, languid like the early morn,"
"They saunter along the quiet blue skies."
"O, so displeasing is my heart,"
"For in the clouds I lost nothing worth remembering."
"I knew of a sound so deep and quiet,"
"Along the way, along the way."
"Like memories of yesteryear feebly flickering in the dim,"
"Like the breathing splendor of all flowers we cannot see,"
"Withering in the clouds of such ambrosial excess."
"O, so grieving is my heart, with nary a hint of fatigue."
"I knew of a sound so deep and quiet,"
"Along the way, along the way."
"Only relics of the splendid scent and languid clouds maunder my soul,"
"Silver drizzle blushing the doves' feet,"
"In quiet and charming surrender."
"Melancholic spring drizzle I shed for her,"
"O! Memories of sights the fleeting clouds took away."
How many packs did you take today?
About five cartons, probably?!
But there are only a few packs left.
And only one bottle.
But, tell me.
Is the bottle your best companion,
or do you prefer cigarettes?
Which is the best companion between drinks and smoking?!
Aren't women a man's best companion?!
That is for sure.
But, if we had to strike a favorite after that,
would you choose cigarettes over drinks?
Looks like I'd have to think about it?!
It's no easy answer for sure.
This Italian poet wrote...
"Smoke, nectars, and passion."
"Thus does the fleeting dream called life turn into ashes."
And Persia's Omar Khayyam wrote...
"A book of verse underneath the bough,"
"A jug of wine, a loaf of bread."
"And you, beside me singing in the wilderness."
"O, wilderness were Paradise enow!"
Smoke. A cigarette in my hand.
Nectars!
Wine filling my cup.
Passion. After experiencing love,
thus does my fleeting dream turn into ashes?!
Ahh... Living and dying that way is my dream and hope.
In the former, nectars come after cigarettes.
The latter describes drinking in the worst possible way,
but I don't seem to agree.
There is nothing better than a good drink.
A great drink,
the most beautiful of moonlights,
and even the gentle breeze caressing the river.
This is paradise.
I certainly agree.
Another time, the two were sitting together at the Bronze Coffee Shop.
Remember what that boatman told us?
What did he tell us again?
I remember hearing this and that...
"How could two gentlemen reciting prose about beautiful rivers and valleys..."
"stain this limpid river with cigarette butts?"
Right!
That's what he said indeed.
We smoked almost all of the five cartons I brought.
So we were surrounded half by water, the other half by cigarette butts.
By the way...
I heard that you quit drinking?!
Didn't you quit yourself?
I remember this piece of yours championing abstinence from drinking?!
I failed at that as well.
Again?!
Yes.
I wore that "no drinks" tag for six years,
but I guess not quitting it altogether was the source of calamity.
When you used to carry that tag around, it was really a sight.
Yes.
The misery and pain you have to endure when sober...
is nothing that simple prose could ever convey.
Even suicide crossed my thoughts more than once.
While I spent 365 days a year savoring the bittersweet taste of wine,
there wasn't a single morning spent without sobering up...
and pledging to myself I would finally call it quits.
But that determination only ever lasted until sunset.
There was thus no way to restrain that brewing,
mounting distress and struggle afflicting me.
I thought to myself, "Ohh... This can't go on."
"I'll have to finally put an end to it," another shred of pathetic resolution.
More than anything, having to find excuses with my drinking buddies...
was one of the things which most afflicted me.
And so I finally found a way.
~ Geum Ju (No Drinking) ~
Come on in.
- Ohh... How have you been? - Fine.
Good night.
Ohh... Here you are...
Long time no see. Have a seat.
Let me pour you one.
Geum Ju?!
When did you quit drinking?
Ehh... you fool...
What are you trying to accomplish by not drinking?!
Also...
If you didn't plan to drink, why even come here?
Because I missed you!
I ought to...
Give it to me!
This is real silver! It's expensive, you people!
I've heard of eunuchs carrying dictum tags during the Joseon dynasty,
but it's the first time I hear of any tags against drinking.
It's just that I don't want to end up croaking on the street like a dog.
Will you let it go?! Really...
Well said, uh?!
Take a look, how can this be a proper tag?! It's a dog tag.
Also, some people might believe a dog saying that it won't shit anymore,
but nobody will ever believe Byeon Yeong No has quit drinking.
You endured those six years despite all that humiliation,
so what made you start drinking again?
I was in low spirits after going to America,
and a single drink tore down a castle of cards I was building for six years.
Ironically, that was right when America was under prohibition law.
So I even had to pay a fine.
Upon my return home, I spent the following five to six years drinking.
So why are you trying to quit again, this time by writing?
Why don't you use that tag again?
That was the very first thing I sold once I started drinking again!
"My lifelong journey has gone past the meridian sun,"
"and is now heading into the sunset."
"All the innumerable lost opportunities and unfulfilled desires..."
"which vanished inside the sweet nectars of oblivion..."
"are now but a heavy burden on my soul."
"Be it my motherland, abroad or wherever the path leads me,"
"never again shall I make acquaintance with the bottle."
So here it is, my very last cup.
I remarried and even had a son.
My wife told me she married me thinking I had quit drinking.
Complaining that it was a scam, a sly excuse,
she not only resented me,
but one inebriating night, I even made big mistakes in front of her friends.
Because of that,
she even started mentioning divorce,
so I can no longer spend time with you.
For having been the best friend I could imagine,
thank you.
So long.
By the way, what is this smell?
This is alcohol for sure.
After that day, I endured it well for quite some time.
But then, what do you know, the war breaks out.
You started drinking because of the war?!
Was it the cruelties, or just fear?
Of course that was one of the reasons,
but the most important...
was that sense of relief from having survived through that.
Right...
Meeting again alive and well like this,
I'm glad, thankful and happy.
Indeed.
It's something to be glad, thankful and happy about.
But, on the other hand,
it's also full of sadness as well.
Many people...
left our side, didn't they?
I talked about my sense of relief earlier,
but, actually,
calling it the bittersweet sadness of survival would be better.
Unless the bottle paves the way,
you can't overcome that sadness and rise again.
Fine.
I'll buy you a drink today, let's go.
Didn't you say that you quit drinking?
Still, I get drunk easily.
Sometimes I get so drunk, I even collapse on the spot!
- Thanks for the drinks. - Yes, good night.
Lee Madam!
Aigoo... come on in.
*From the Japanese oden (fish cakes)
This used to be an odeng* house, since when did it change so much?!
Maybe half a year?
It's all nice and cosy.
I like it.
Aigoo, Seonsaengnim.
I was still dealing with the radish...
I brought a drinking buddy to improve business for the night.
I might drink a lot indeed, but I don't know about improving business.
Afraid it'll have to be on credit?!
If it's someone like you, credit is a given.
You know who he is?
He's Suju Seonsaengnim.
Have you ever met him?
If one doesn't know you two, you're not from Myeongdong for sure.
But, before it was an odeng house, this used to be a coffee shop.
Yes, that's right. You remember?!
Coming here in winter and having some odeng with soup and drinks on top...
was just a dainty.
Then, I'll have to prepare odeng for the winter.
So which side dishes shall we go for?
Bindae Ddeok (mung bean pancake).
It's a bit rough and brings out that savory mung bean flavor,
it's a wonder.
Odeng might be free, but what if she asks us to pay for the pancakes?!
I'll give them free of charge to you.
Lee Madam!
You shouldn't.
What?
That odeng house and the coffee shop went belly up,
so you shouldn't be so generous.
If you keep with that free-of-charge tirade, you'll end up in the red.
Thanks to you, the Bronze Coffee Shop is still in business,
so I'd love for Suju Seonsaengnim to do the same here.
If he comes here often, more people will come to see him.
So it surely should be free of charge.
Madam, well said indeed!
That's like having the bottle full and your husband drunk!
Wait a moment...
I'll have to make Eunseong my new hideout.
I'll leave the Bronze to you, Gongcho Seonsaeng.
I'll be here taking care of the Eun~seong instead!
After that day, whenever Suju Byeon Yeong No visited Myeongdong,
he would habitually head to the Eunseong first,
and it appears that he always chose the same spot.
We're running out of time.
We'll have to say a final word about Lee Jung Seop.
~ 1956 Seoul Red Cross Hospital ~
Han Hyung, what happened?
Speak to me! What happened to Lee Jung Seop?
You knew that...
Jung Seop was released from the mental institute in Cheongnyangni, right?
He wasn't there because of any mental problems,
but because of malnutrition and hepatitis making him collapse all the time.
That all considered...
So, after he was released,
he kept raising a ruckus and refused to eat,
so I brought him here.
It's been a few months.
So, what happened?
What is this about Lee Jung Seop dying?!
I was busy so I couldn't come for about two weeks,
but he wasn't here in the morning, and they didn't even release him.
So when I asked them where he went,
they said he's dead.
"Dead?! Where is Lee Jung Seop?!" I said,
and this doctor just told me...
"Was that Lee Jung Seop the famous painter?!"
We risked to see him cremated with no one present,
after being labeled as an unidentified patient.
Lee Hyung...
What do we need any history book for?
If you only look at Lee Jung Seop's paintings,
you'll see our entire generation roaring inside.
Lee Hyung...
Brought to you by WITH S2 Written In The Heavens Subbing Squad
This is a FREE fansub. NOT for SALE! Get it for FREE @ withs2.com
Main Translator and Timer: MisterX
Timing QC: wichitawx
Editor/QC: thunderbolt
Coordinators: mily2, ay_link
You might even consider Lee Jung Seop not to be the best painter of his generation.
However,
you could never separate the life and works of Lee Jung Seop...
from the generation he lived in.
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