-No, Dad. I told you not to call me. Didn't we finish talking about last time? I don't think we're going to talk anymore.

"Well, yeah, I did. Still... Huh? How can it be so hard to listen to my child's voice because he's a father? I don't want a lot. You don't have to come during the holidays, so just a picture of your grandchild sometimes."

Oh, come on!

Boom---!

A loud voice like a lion's roar burst out over the phone made Hwang's heart cry.

It broke my heart.

On the other hand, I thought, "My son, it's good to have a loud voice," but it was ridiculous and sad to think like this.

But I didn't get irritated. The old man Hwang thought, "Why?"

It's not why my son gets mad at me.

Just. 'How did this happen?' The old man Hwang didn't know where it went wrong.

And I thought maybe for the rest of my life.

"Hi. I'm sorry. You don't have to say that, though."

I told you last time. My father told me not to bother him until I became an adult. I mean. I'm still angry. What?

"I'm sorry about that. I was really sorry. I'm the ugly one. 'Cause he's a piece of crap.'

Then don't call me. Why do you keep doing this?

"Okay. Then I won't contact you, so come home for a while and take something to eat. Why, you don't tell me your mother made something delicious. I went to the market this time and bought beef bone and made soup and dumplings...….”

I'm done. I'm not going to eat. I have to go to the meeting, so hang up.

Tou— Tou—-----

The telephone lines went dead. Very coldly.

My only son just hung up like this.

Have you eaten? How are you doing these days?

It would have been great if you had said such a flattering thing, but old man Hwang thought.

It was too big for me to hope for.

My eyes were twitching wildly.

It wasn't because of anger, but it was just as if anger was rising from my heart.

"I am a sinner."

I've been just thinking about this lately.

As I walked out of the living room, my wife, who was making dumplings, peeked up and asked.

"What did Hyungseok say? Is he coming?"

"Hyungseok..." He's busy these days. I guess things are going well."

"Oh, thank God. Yeah, yeah, yeah. When you're young, it's the best when things go well. I'm so glad. By the way, won't you have time to pick this up?"

Next to his wife, who said so, was a pile of dumplings, full of red basket.

My wife had big hands.

I didn't know how to make anything little by little, and I didn't spare any ingredients or condiments.

In the past, I used to be so hard-earned to save money.

Now I just wonder what to do with all this food.

It suddenly occurred to me.

'And she's...…. There must be a reason.’

As a matter of fact, the old couple knew.

Beef bone, dumplings. No one can eat them all. Even if you distribute it to your neighbors, there is a limit in the end.

It would be the same if the children came.

So these foods may not be made to eat.

My heart was so empty that I might continue to create something that could not be filled by eating.Old man Hwang turned his head and said a little lonely.

"There's no time for a busy kid. Just freeze it. I'll give it to you whenever you come."

"A lot of this? And dumplings don't taste good when frozen. Can't you just bring it to me now? Hyungseok likes dumplings. The dumplings I sell are not good, he always eats what I make."

"……That was when I was in elementary school."

"But that's how your taste buds change. Don't you say you can't forget this taste? So try to contact Hyeongseok well and ask him to come. I'm about to forget my grandson's face.”

"I'll try calling you again in a little while."

"Thank you."

A semi-basement, a small room with two rooms.

This was where the two old men lived.

It used to be where three people lived, including their sons, but it became two after he left home in high school.

"I'm gonna go smoke a cigarette."

"Don't smoke too much. You have to take care of your health."

"Take care of your health, my love. He said he's not feeling well these days. It's hard to digest, though.

"It's because you're old. It's because I'm old."

I thought I was complicated, but now my head is in trouble.

Dizzy, old Hwang just walked out of the house.

A cigarette was held in my mouth, rattling on the lighter to light it.

When I inhaled acrid smoke, my whole body seemed to be drained.

"Your grandson's face...…. God d*mn it."

It was the same with you that I couldn't remember.

I know it's already late, but I couldn't help it because I kept regretting it.

"Should I have been nicer?"

The reason why the only son left the house. And the reason why the father-son relationship broke up like this.

Come to think of it, it was all because of you. It was because I committed a crime.

The beginning was a harmonious family.

He was a child who had a hard time in his second year of marriage, and he was the only son, so he raised him saying, "It's gold and jade."

However, Hwang thought his son should not stay in the greenhouse too much.

That's why it made domestic education tough, especially emphasizing table manners.

Don't shake your legs while eating, don't blink, don't put your arms up, eat with your adult spoon and chopsticks, don't be picky, eat with gratitude...….

I started with this basic thing, but it changed a little over time.

What a world.

When my son went up to the fourth grade of elementary school, his business went bust.

In an instant, the old man Hwang owed hundreds of millions of debt. The house also had to move to the current semi-basement.

That's when things started to go wrong.

Hwang gritted his teeth and did everything he could to make money.

Random labor, chauffeur service...I made all the money and invested in my son.

Because I thought he was the only son who could raise this family.

The same was true of his wife. I saved everything I wore, ate, and spent money on my son.

I bought good clothes, made delicious and healthy food, and sent a lot of private academies.

Now that I think about it, yes. I thought vaguely at the time.

'Even if I'm working hard, and now it's like this. My son will do everything for you later. You'll succeed as much as you do now, you'll be a good son...…. I thought so.’

To be honest, there's been a lot of criticism.

He scolded me if my grades were low, and very occasionally, he slapped me when I was drunk, and often lamented.These are things that I regret. But I thought it was okay.

But I didn't know.

Until my son, who I believed so much in high school, left the house saying, 'I can't live because of you two.'

When my mother comes home, she always talks about studying or spending money on me, and my father drinks and does hand wrestling or tells me how hard he is working for me.

I want to live like a human being, when I read that I'm suffocating here.

It's late, all of them.’

It was long overdue by then.

Human patience, especially for parents, acted like balloons.

Without revealing it.

It just kept swelling slowly in the chest and eventually popped.

That's what the old man Hwang's family did. Once broken, the relationship never came back. Never

Knock, knock.

I dropped the cigarette that I smoked almost to the end and stepped on it to extinguished it.

Cigarettes are bitter today. Going home with that in mind, what a surprise. There was a delicious smell.

It smells a little familiar.

Dumpling that my wife likes the best and favorite food, and she liked it because it was her mother's son.

And beef bone soup is the best for health. I used to boil it sometimes.

Two, beef bone soup made by combining Hwang's family's soul food.

"When did you make this?"

"Why does he smoke so long? Come here and eat. I'm going to blow it all."

"Well... good job well done. But isn't the owner eating? There's only one dumpling in the bowl."

The face of the old Hwang sitting in front of the table hardened.

Compared to his bowl of four large dumplings, his wife's bowl had only one small dumpling.

"I've been feeling sick lately. I'm just going to eat this.”

"What's wrong with you? Do you have an upset stomach?

"I don't think it's a good idea to be an active star. Well, it's because I'm old. I'm fine, so just eat it. Here, I'll give you a spoon."

Come to think of it, my wife has often said that she has a stomachache.

It's hard to go to the bathroom.

But then I just let it slide with a grain of salt.

Maybe because you're old. It'll be better if you lie down in a warm place and rest a little.

Dumplings were delicious. It suited the taste of the old man and the taste of the father.

It was a taste that I've never tasted anywhere else. Because I thought it was the taste of my house.

I haven't heard from my son in a week or two. The freezer was full of dumplings.

I asked my wife if I could do this, but she had a strong opinion. You said you were going to feed your son.

…and more than a week later, my wife collapsed.

He was taken to hospital, and the doctor said he was in the final stages of colon cancer.

The tumor has already spread all over the body, so surgery is not possible.

I still remember vividly.

I couldn't eat so I became skinny in a few days, and I told my wife that it was cancer.

You said in a calm mannerly.

Hyungseok, are you okay? Isn't this something that's inherited from your family? Hyeongseok needs to get a good checkup. I'm sorry that I didn't raise you well, but you shouldn't pass on the bottle.

My wife eventually went to a good place in the hospital less than a month later.At the hospital, even at the funeral. The son didn't come.

The number of dumplings in the freezer of the house did not decrease.

To make matters worse, his stomach began to ache. I couldn't digest well.

Old Hwang had a hunch.

"Now I'm probably going to."

That there's not much time left.

I just thought.

The dumplings in the freezer are amazing.’

Missing time, missing food.

That's why I thought it would never taste like this again.

"Do you like the taste?"

"...it's delicious. Yes."

"I made it the way my grandfather taught me. Wash the kimchi and put it in."

"Well done, that's the taste. Yeah, that's it."

The hand holding the spoon trembled a little.

Somehow, it was a heartwarming taste.

Dumpling soup made by this nice young man.