Nothing, Everything

“If you become successful, don’t call me. Don’t call me if you become rich and get married. Don’t call me if you’re happy. I don’t want to feel jealous. But call me if you’re going through a rough patch. Come to me if it’s raining and you have nowhere to go like you once did. Don’t just stand in the rain. You know where to find the keys.”

“Are you sleeping? I’m sorry. You must have hated me earlier at the police station. It’s because I’m no good. It’s because I have a lot of regrets. I hope you don’t turn out like me. I hope your life becomes nicer than mine. It seems my expectations are getting bigger. I hope you can grow taller than me. Even though I ride the bus, I hope you ride in your own car. Even though I’ve never been on a plane, I hope you can fly around everywhere in first class. Since I started my job at the 9th level, I hope you start your job at a much higher level. The fact that you faked your report card means that my expectations made it hard for you, right? I’m sorry that I made things hard. I’m sorry that I’m terrible.”

Lee Kyung-sook: Do you think it’s unfair?

“Nobody sensible believes in ghosts anyway – that’s because they’re all such liars.”

It was his sayings one remembered; his eyes, his pocket-knife, his smile, his grumpiness and, when millions of things had utterly vanished—how strange it was!—a few sayings like this about cabbages.