Please Look After Mom

So-nyo’s unnamed husband narrates Chapter 3 in the second person. When he leaves Hyong-chol’s house and returns home to Chongup, he meets a young woman named Tae-Hee Hong who is looking for “Auntie Park So-nyo” (123). Though confused, the husband lets the woman in. Tae-hee is from an orphanage called Hope House. She reveals that So-nyo frequents the orphanage to clean; she also gives 450,000 won (about $400) to Hope House monthly. In turn, Tae-hee reads books to So-nyo. Now, the children and staff have grown concerned because So-nyo hasn’t visited in a while. So-nyo’s husband feels blindsided by this news; he never knew So-nyo visited an orphanage and that she donated money. He then recalls So-nyo asking to keep the money the children sent to them monthly—450,000 won. He never asked why she wanted it.

Tae-Hee explains that So-nyo practically adopted a boy named Kyun, promising to fund his middle school studies. At the mention of the child’s name, So-nyo’s husband’s demeanor changes and “a chill comes over [his] heart” (127). Tae-Hee then shows So-nyo’s husband the book she’d been reading to So-nyo: It is one of Ch-hon’s books, though Tae-Hee clearly doesn’t know that So-nyo’s daughter wrote it.