Hojoon drove the car on the outer ring road to Namyangju. Paekhoon had a quiet country house there where he wanted to concentrate on writing for the rest of his available time after giving a lecture on geomancy on and off.
There was a severe traffic congestion on the road as it was the evening rush hour. Both Hojoon and Arum were silent inside the car.
She was taking care of text messages at the moment. She often missed replies or official announcements because of the deadline. While she was at it, she came across the math formula that he had sent the other day.
“By the way, I’ve got something to ask,” said Arum, breaking the silence.
In fact, Hojoon was waiting for her to talk first.
“What is it?”
“You remember that math formula you sent me?”
“What?”
When he pulled over his car for a moment, she showed him the math formula.
F=Gmm/r^2
“Don’t you know about this?” asked Hojoon.
“Do I need to know it?”
“It’s Newton’s universal law of gravitation, not a math formula.”
“Oh, was it a science formula?” As Arum hated math and science the most, obviously she could not understand it. Most likely, she had learned it in high school. But there were so many things she learned and forgot in school.
“Why did you send it to me?”
“Well, that’s the topic of my column that day. You can read it in my personal blog.”
She googled it through her smartphone. Under the title ‘The Law of Universal Love,’ she was able to find the formula and his column.
After reading it, Arum said, “In the end, the gist of your column is you can find your love near you.”
“Right.”
“Then, why did you write the column in such a difficult way to understand? And why did you send me that formula?”
Hojoon didn’t reply.
“I’m asking you now. I was so curious!”
“I sent it by mistake.”
What? Sent it by mistake?
She felt ashamed of herself as she attached a great importance to it.
“Originally, I planned to send it to my youngest brother because he usually posted my columns on my behalf. He asked me to send the formula, so I did. As I didn’t get any response from you, I just slept on it. Or you might not have received it, I thought.”
While they were bickering over it, Hojoon’s car arrived at his father’s house in Namyangju.
“Welcome!” said Hojoon’s mother, greeting both of them.
The living room of his house had a classical air, like a tea house in the deep mountains. A collection of tea cups filled one of the walls.
“Where’s Dad?” asked Hojoon.
“He’s in the room. You can go in now. Let me bring you some tea quickly.”
Hojoon escorted her into his father’s room, and kindly opened the door for her.
Arum went into the room. She smelled a delicate sense of orchids in the room.
Paekhoon was an old man who looked after orchids. He was neat and clean. So was the way he spoke. His room was only equipped with the necessary things, with no pretentious bookshelves.
“It’s been a while. How are you?”
As soon as he saw her, Paekhoon stood up and welcomed her.
“How are you, sir? You look the same since I saw you years ago.”
“I’m flattered. Please make yourself at home. Are you doing well these days?”
“Yes.”
“I was sorry at that time. I had to send my son there because of my personal concerns. I hear you were hurt a lot at that time.”
“Oh, it’s all water under the bridge.”
Like Arum said, that’s all behind them now. When she said that, she felt that she was an adult now.
“I should have come to see you first. I’m sorry. I was so upset at that time that I posted angry comments on the internet homepage of the department store.”
“No, you don’t have to be sorry. That’s why the bulletin exists. Though I don’t want you to delete those comments…”
Actually, that’s what he wanted most.
“Well, I deleted them already. So, don’t worry.”
“Really?”
“In fact, I slept on it for a long time, and suddenly came to think of it when I had a call. I guess the number of applicants for your lecture series decreased at that time, right?”
“Yes, you’re right.”
Paekhoon told her the truth without hiding anything. It was really a tough period for him. Hard times.
When Paekhoon met her today, he found she was quite a different class from the type who posted those messages of complaint. He imagined her to be a pretty bad woman because of her vicious comments. But now, he found out that she was an ordinary woman.
Paekhoon looked at her with a fixed gaze.
“Your glittering eyes are quite bright,” he said.
“Oh, thanks.”
She was excited by his praise.
Hojoon went further, “Well, her brain is also clear. Just pure.”
“I think so. As your brainwave is clear, I think you will experience a good energy force soon. Your love is right in front of you.”
She got goosebumps at that.
Paekhoon asked, “Do you have a religion?”
“Nope.”
“Any meditation?”
“No, not really.”
“Then, start a dawn meditation. Your lover is waiting for you.”
“I don’t know how to meditate.”
“Just tune in to one of the TV channels, such as Buddhist TV, Christian TV or Catholic TV, whichever you like. They will tell you how to meditate in the morning.”
And then he gave her a gift of appreciation.
“This is my gift for you. Though we started with an ill-fated relationship, I hope we can turn it into a good one.”
Arum refused it, saying, “You don’t have to give it to me.”
But he insisted, “This gift knows who its real owner is. Please open it.”
She opened it. There was a round-eyed necklace in it. The eye-shaped object was a black gemstone that provoked deep thinking.
“This is the eye of Horus. You haven’t seen it before, have you? It’s very rare.”
“Thank you.”
Arum was lost in that strange and mystical necklace.
“I hear that’s the right eye of Ra, the god of the sun in Egypt. It will protect you and heal your wounded heart,” he said with a gentle smile.
***
On the way back to Seoul, Arum took out the necklace again.
“Which eye did your father say? Its name is difficult to remember,” she said.
“Eye of Horus. It’s rare. It looks like he really appreciated that you deleted your bad comments from the homepage of the department store. What did you post there? I heard that they are all about me. Is that true?”
“Who told you so?”
“That’s why they’re so scared of retributive justice. As you hurled abusive words at me, you’re tangled with me like now.”
“Rare… You said it’s rare, right?”
“Didn’t you hear me?” asked Hojoon.
“What’s the point of going over what happened in the past? I wish you would act more like your father.”
She kept looking at the necklace while responding to his questions nonchalantly.
“How is it good for me?”
“It will help you judge what is true and what is not. It also stops an external bad energy force or a negative energy force from entering you. That necklace has such a force. Do you know what that gemstone is made of?”
“Oh, I didn’t know if it was a stone,” she said, touching that black gemstone.
“It is a stone only available in Tibet. It’s not a stone, but a precious jewel. It has an energy force inside. If you go to a dry sauna, you see crystals, right? This one has an energy force that is a hundred times stronger than a crystal’s. And that’s why the Dalai Lama of Tibet carries it with him as a spiritual stone.”
“Oh, did he really give me such a precious thing?”
“Yeah, he did.”
“Dalai Lama…”
She held the necklace dearly in her arms.
The energy force of the space,
the energy force of peace,
and the energy force of love!
Just come to me!
She closed her eyes, reciting these lines. She felt as if its warm energy force was wrapping around her body.
It seemed as if the space was talking to her.
At that moment, he said, “You’re the genuine jewel box, Arum.”