Chang Ǔn-jin - No One Writes Back

TITLES IN THE LIBRARY OF KOREAN LITERATURE

AVAILABLE FROM DALKEY ARCHIVE PRESS

1. Stingray

Kim Joo-young

2. One Spoon on This Earth

Hyun Ki Young

3. When Adam Opens His Eyes

Jang Jung-il

4. My Sons Girlfriend

Jung Mi-kyung

5. A Most Ambiguous Sunday, and Other Stories

Jung Young Moon

6. The House with a Sunken Courtyard

Kim Won-il

7. At Least We Can Apologize

Lee Ki-ho

8. The Soil

Yi Kwang-su

9. Lonesome You

Park Wan-suh

10. No One Writes Back

Jang Eun-jin

LIBRARY OF KOREAN LITERATURE

No One
Writes Back

Jang Eun-jin

Translated by
Jung Yewon

Originally published in Korean as Amudo pynji haji anta by Munhak Tongne, Paju,
2009

Copyright 2009 by Jang Eun-jin
Translation 2013 by Jung Yewon

First edition, 2013
All rights reserved

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Jang, Eun-jin.
[Amudo pyonji haji anta. English]
No one writes back / Jang Eun-jin ; translated by Jung Yewon. -- First edition.
pages cm
ISBN 978-1-56478-960-0 (print)
ISBN 978-1-56478-994-5 (e-book)
1. Young men--Fiction. 2. Interpersonal communication--Fiction. 3. Letter writing--Fiction. I. Jung, Yewon, translator. II. Title.
PL994.14.U54A8213 2013
895.735--dc23

2013027139

Partially funded by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency

Library of Korean Literature
Published in collaboration with the Literature Translation Institute of Korea

www.dalkeyarchive.com

Cover: design and composition by Mikhail Iliatov

I left home with an MP3 player and a novel in an old backpack. And with Wajo.

Motels are secretive.

And sometimesno, oftenno, almost always, they are suggestive.

According to a motel proprietor, most people use a motel as a place of rest, or in other words, a place in which to have sex, and think of it as such. I used to think so too, though Ive never been to a motel with a woman. But now, I had become, like them, a person who stops now and then to rest at a motel. The important thing is that I just rest. By rest, I mean staying the night and taking a break. Sleeping, pure and simple.

When I walked into the Motel Iris with Wajo, however, my sleeping wasnt taken to be so pure and simple. So in order to get a room, we had to offer some words of explanation before offering money. Depending on whos listening, the words might come across as calm explanation, or mere excuses. The proprietor, a woman who was dozing off at the counter, looking disheveled despite the elegant name of the motel, automatically said when she saw us: Are you here for a rest, or to stay the night?

I had to choose one or the other. At such moments, it seemed as though an automated robot, programmed with the same words, stood at all motels nationwide. True, there isnt much of a choice when it comes to what to say to a customer who walks into a motel, no matter how hard you search a dictionary. Those two options suffice. The customers may even wish not to be asked those questions, because its either embarrassing or bothersome.

It seemed that the proprietor wasnt fully awake when she asked the question; she looked from me to Wajo, frowning a little, with a knowing look in her eyes, a look thats usually intended for couples. Perhaps all couples looked suggestive to motel proprietors. To us, however, rest just meant rest, and sleep just meant sleep, so choosing an option was meaningless. But having had plenty of experience with motels, we knew what kind of an answer would serve us better. We also knew that we had to choose an option.

So I said, with confidence, Were staying the night.

Whats odd is that the answer seemed to sound even more suggestive to the woman. She looked at us with even more suspicion. She seemed a little perplexed, too.

So in the end, I had to sayas a final offering of explanation before paying for the lodgingIts a boy.

Wajo, being the smart boy he is, barked twice, Woof, woof! at the woman.

Then he lifted two legs into the air, startling her by revealing his big genitals. Finally, she gave us the key. We always have to work twice as hard as anyone to get a room.

Despite everything, the proprietor of Motel Iris is on the lenient side. Most people frown when I tell them that Ill be staying with a dog. They say things like, We cant have our rooms smelling like dogs, Its hard to clean dog hair off the bedding, Hes toilet trained, right? Ill have to ask the proprietor, because this has never happened before, and so on. Through experience, Ive learned how to make them shut their mouths. I give them an extra ten thousand won bill. Usually, two people stay in one room in motels and inns, but even so, we have to pay an extra ten thousand won from time to time. To them, Wajo is a dog, and a dog is not a person but a thing, an additional thing which incurs additional cost. And they never turn down the offer of extra money. Its better, of course, than getting turned out.

Every time that happens, the people seem to be less than dogs in my eyes. Wajo is smarter than I am, and smarter than they are. He understands everything people say, so in many cases, hes even better than human. No, hes always better than human. And sometimes, he seems human. So I dont regret paying extra money on their demand. Lately, Ive been giving them extra money before they even ask. I evaluate their character based on how they regard Wajo, and what they say about him. To the proprietor of Motel Iris, I gave an eighty. I took twenty points off because she suspected our relationship to be something abnormal.

As youve probably guessed, Im a traveler who goes from motel to motel.

I had to give up or set aside many things to come on this journey: home, family, friends, a job, and love. In the first place, this journey wasnt meant as a means to gain something. I embarked upon the journey to rid myself of things, and it could only really begin when I did so. Still, theres probably a bit of something I hope to have gained by the end of the journey. If there is, its probably something like quiet stability. Its a simple desire for me. To be honest, I think you should gain at least one thing from a long journey. If there was nothing to be gained, Id feel wronged, and the people who have blabbed on about traveling in all those books, and urged others to travel, would feel ashamed. Im not saying, however, that I began my journey after reading their books on travel.

I dont like travel books that are half full of photographs. Sometimes, you cant tell whether the book was written for travel, or the travel was undertaken for the book. What I dislike even more are people who like to show off their travels. You cant tell whether they travel for themselves, or to show other people. People who show off their travels do so because really, they dont have anything. Thats why I dont take pictures when I travel. I dont buy souvenirs, either. Those things just get in the way when you travel. Travel means freedom.