“(왼쪽) 신혼 여행은 전국의 옛 궁터를 돌 거예요. 오늘 여기 덕수궁이 시작이에요.”

“(Left) For our honeymoon, we went around the country going to the sites of old palaces. We’re starting today with Deoksu Palace.“

“서로 처음 만났을 때 어떠셨어요?”
“(왼쪽) 아내는 다른 사람이랑은 달랐어요. 처음 만났을 때, 밥 먹고 산책을 하는데 이쪽으로 가면 환구단이라는 곳이 있대요. 거기가 뭐하는 곳이냐고 하니까, 고종이 아관파천 다음에 대한제국을 선포하잖아요. 제국이 되려고 하늘에 제사를 지는 걸 만든 거래요. 거길 갔더니 이런 설명을 막 해주는 거예요. 거기서 반했죠.”
“(오른쪽) 남편도 다른 사람들이랑은 달랐어요. 아니, 제가 설명하는 걸 너무 잘 듣는 거예요. 남자들은 보통 어우, 뭐야 하는데요. 처음 만난 날이어서 그런가?’ 했는데 원래 역사를 좋아하더라고요. 조선왕조실록을 한자로 읽고 싶어서 한자 공부를 한대요. 그래서 반했죠.”
“(왼쪽) 저희가 원래 좀 이상해요.”
“(오른쪽) 데이트 할 때는 조선 왕릉을 보러 다녔거든요.”

“How was it when you two met each other?”
“(Left) My wife was different from other people. When I first met her, we were on a walk after eating together, and she said that if we went this way, there would be a place called Wongudan. I asked her what kind of a place it was, and you know how after King Gojong took refuge in the Russian legation, he proclaimed the Korean Empire? She said they made it to perform ancestral rites to heaven so that the country would become an empire. She started explaining all this to me when we went there. That’s how I fell in love.”
“(Right) My husband was different from other people, too. I mean, he was listening to my explanation so intently. Guys usually say things like, ‘What the heck.’ I thought that he was just acting like that because it was the first time we were meeting, but it turned out he actually likes history. He said he was studying Chinese characters so he could read the Annals of the Joseon Dynasty. That’s when I fell in love.”
“(Left) We’re both a bit strange.”
“(Right) We went to Joseon royal tombs when we were on dates.”

“인터뷰가 거의 끝났는데요, 마지막으로 한 마디 하고 싶은 게 있다면요?”
“주변에 시험을 준비하는 애가 있어요. 시험이 중요하긴 한데 몇 년을 친구들도 안 만나고 정말 시험에만 매달려 있어서 안 쓰럽고 좀 그랬어요. 근데 친구한테 그렇다고 말을 해줄수가 없는 거예요. 참견하는 거 같아서 말을 못 하겠더라고요. 계속 떨어지고 그러니까… 괜히 내가 그런 얘기 하면 더 힘 빠질까봐. 다들 미래를 준비한다고 노력하는 걸 알아요. 미래가 중요하긴 해요. 근데 현재를 포기하면서까지 미래에 대비하는 거 같아요. 저희가 20대긴 한데, 거의 끝에 와있거든요. 우리는 거의 20대를 통으로 공부만 하고, 준비만 하고 보냈잖아요. 준비하는 건 좋은데, ‘당장은 좀 즐겁게, 현실을 좀 즐기면서’, 그 말을 꼭 하고 싶었어요.”

“We’re almost done with the interview, so do you have any last words you would like to say?”
“I know somebody who’s preparing for an exam. Exams are important, but not meeting up with friends for a few years and really focusing solely on the exam was pitiful, and a bit much. But I can’t say something like that to a friend. I couldn’t say a word because it felt like I was interfering. And that friend kept failing the exam… I was afraid it would be even more discouraging if I brought this up. I know that everyone’s trying hard to prepare for the future. The future’s important, after all. But it feels like people are so focused on the future that they’re giving up on the present. Though we’re in our twenties, we’re almost at the end. We’ve spent our twenties doing nothing but studying, nothing but preparing. While preparation is a good thing, I really wanted to say, ‘Do it while enjoying this very moment, while enjoying the present.’”

“왜 매일 소시지를 사다 주셨어요?”
“(아버님) 가족이잖아요.”

“Why did you buy her a sausage every day?”
“(Father) We’re family.”

“지인이 학대당하던 강아지를 키워줄 수 있겠냐고 해서 담비를 우리 집으로 데려왔어. 보니까 원래 키우던 남자가 술만 먹고 오면 담비를 때렸었나봐. 우리집에 오고 나서도 남편이 술 먹고 들어올 때면 꼭 구석으로 숨어버렸거든. 그랬었는데 지금은 오히려 아빠를 반기지.”
“어떻게 해서 나아졌어요?”
“아빠가 천하장사 소시지를 하나씩 사다 주기 시작했거든.”

“An acquaintance asked if we could take in an abused puppy, and so we brought Dambi into our home. As we found out, it seems the man who’d raised her would hit her when he came home drunk. Even after we got Dambi, she’d hole up in a corner when my husband came home after drinking. She used to be like that, but now she actually greets her dad.”
“What made things better?”
“Her dad starting buying her Strong Man sausages one by one.”