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He blames the Korean War for his unusual sleeping posture. Having failed to flee from the invading North Korean army, Bong-woo was holed up in Seoul for three months. Out of his fear of the Communists and air raids, he claimed that he had never had peaceful or deep sleep. He had never relaxed completely for 24/7. He became fixed in this state of constant tension, which continues to this day.

익준은 부조리한 현실을 비판하며

자신을 합리화하는 인물이였습니다.

Ik-jun was the kind of man who criticizes the world to justify his misfortune. 

그에 비해 빼빼 마른데다 키만 멀쑥한 봉우는

건성건성 기사의 제목만 훑어보고는 

인숙만 흘끔거리며 한나절을 보냈습니다.

In contrast, Bong-woo, skinny and tall, spends his day skimming through the newspapers and stealing glances at the nurse, Hong In-sook, all day long.

치과의사인 만기는 실력도 좋고 인품도 좋아 누구나 신뢰했지만

빈약한 병원 시설로 많은 환자를 치료하지 못해 경제적으로는 늘 가난했고

더구나 현재의 건물이나 병원 기구들도 모두

봉우 처가의 소유였습니다.

Man-ki was a skilled dentist with a great personality, which should have attracted a lot of patients,

but his office lacked good equipment, leaving him with only a small clientele and consequently little income.

To make matters worse, the building his office was in and all the equipment in it belonged to Bong-woo’s wife and her parents. 

# Interview with literary critic Jeon So-yeong

The term “marginal human being” was trending in Korea during the 2010s. It was used to describe people who lost their purposes in life in a harsh world fraught with difficulties. But Sohn Chang-seop used the same term already in the 1950s to describe similar people. Bong-woo and Ik-jun represent marginal human beings who simply wanders through life with no hopes or dreams in the post-war era. Sohn Chang-seop’s stories in general portrayed a confusing and perilous society and a wide variety of people who inhabited such a chaotic environment in the 1950s. 

익준은 머리에 상처를 입은 모양이었다.

한 손에는 아이들 고무신 코승이가 비죽이 내보이는

종이 꾸러미를 들고 있었다.

그는 무표정한 얼굴로 

이쪽을 향하고 꼼짝 않고 서 있었다.

석상처럼 전연 인간이 느껴지지 않는 얼굴이었다.

Ik-jun must have gotten hurt in the head.

In one hand he had a paper bag from where children’s shoes were poking out.

He stayed frozen on the spot, his expressionless face and empty eyes turned toward them.

His face showed no humanity, like a stone statue. 

어이구, 차라리 쓸모없는 저 따위나 잡아가지 않구 염라대왕두 망발이시지, 하며

익준의 장모는 사위를 바라보면서 그렇게 중얼대고

인제야 눈물을 질금거렸다.

“That useless jerk should have been the one to die. The god of the underworld must have gone insane.”

Ik-jun’s mother-in-law mumbled as she glared at him. Her eyes began to tear up just then.

그래도 아이들이 제일 반가워했다.

일곱 살 먹은 끝의 놈은 아버지, 하고 부르며

쫒아가서 매달렸다.

Still, his children were very glad to see him.

The youngest, age seven, called out to him as she ran to give him a hug. 

아부지, 나, 새 옷입구, 자동차 타구 산에 갔다 왔다,

어린 것이 자랑스레 상복 자락을 쳐들여 보여도

익준은 장승처럼 선 채 움직일 줄을 몰랐다.

“Daddy, I got new clothes and rode on a car to go to a mountain.” 

The youngest child proudly showed off her funeral clothes but Ik-jun didn’t budge an inch like a totem pole. 

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Sohn Chang-seop (Born in Pyongyang, May 20, 1922~Jun. 23, 2010)

Debuted with short story “Public Holiday” in 1952