SIXTH CHAPTER

                                    

                                          


                          
The musings of the mind
                          
As Ji predicted, every one of the haenyeos they visited were friends of his family. One thing he is thankful for though is that none of them are like the old snoops who has been mongering people around him for gossip. The elderly ladies were actually more than ecstatic to see him again and had plied him with offers to come and visit their homes where they'll stuff him with food.
                          
"What a handsome man you have now become", one of the closest ones to him and Seunghyun when they were younger – Rang Se Yon, announced to the rest of the patients in the mini made-up clinic after enfolding him in a hug.
                          
"You have aged beautifully too Mrs. Rang."
                          
"Ow! You flatter me!", the seventy-five-year old answered after bending to hear him clearly.
                          
Deafness was a common ailment for all of them. Pressure underwater affects the hearing and the more that one submerges without proper diving gear, the more that one becomes prone to this. Ji's grandmother had suffered with deafness on her right ear even during her younger years.
                          
Before beginning consultation, Dara informed him that some of the haenyeos still refuse to wear hearing aids as they feel wearing the small things burdensome.
                          
"You might have to talk a little louder with some of them and you have to expect that they'll be asking for Seunghyun since some of them might not recognize you anymore. They might be hesitant at first to let you have a look but don't push yourself to much on them ok? The more a person is pushy, the more that they're actually doubtful", she continued as though afraid that he might not know how to handle them.
                          
He is happy to prove her wrong though for as as soon as the first matriarch walked in while they were just setting-up, he was instantly recognized and hugged in welcome. News spread around the small village of low stone-walled houses and grass roofs that Hyea's grandson who had been gone for a long time is now back.
                          
"I'm surprised they didn't know I had returned already", he uttered in an unguarded moment to Dara.
                          
"Despite of the tenacity of the people in the central part of this island to gain news of your return and speculate, there are people who have lives of their own they would just like to focus on", she answered – a blow both to those gossip-hungry leeches and to him for thinking he is such big news.
                          
Ji smiled at her, amused at how she always reacted to him, instead of pissed off. Since his return, she always found ways to let him know that she isn't going to tolerate any foolhardiness from him should he suddenly put it in his mind to do it.
                          
Bom even informed him that Dara recognized and even peddled his talents to other people but was constantly afraid in the inside that he might do something to slip up – not with his job as a resident in the clinic but in other areas that MIGHT affect his work.
                          
Looking at her now he has to give her credit for looking always calm and collected whenever she is around other people. He isn't sure yet but it seems that it is only with him that she seems to lose all that control. Being forced to ride in his bike a while ago had shown him THAT and he chuckled at how absolutely irritated she was.
                          
"Such a beautiful beautiful woman but much too proud", one of the haenyeos she is checking for blood pressure told her.
                          
"You always say that to me Mrs. Kyo", she answered patiently – looking as though this is a topic many people bring up to her – as she removed the velcro straps on the patient's arms, "You're blood pressure is as high as the last time we visited you. Have you already stopped eating too much crab?"
                          
"But gejuk does not taste delicious if I do not use crabs."
                          
"Haven't we told you before that there are still other dishes you can enjoy? You must eat things moderately or you could suffer a heart attack."