된장국 한 그릇(5년 전)
A Bowl of Doenjang Soup (5 years ago)
My wife came by to deliver lunch today.
Unless something special comes up, she always brings me a warm meal for lunch.
Today’s lunch was nothing fancy—just a simple, humble menu.
A bowl of freshly cooked rice,
and a bowl of doenjang soup with tofu and bean sprouts—nothing more to chew on.
Before taking a spoonful of rice,
I tasted the soup.
Ah… it was a flavor that could never be found anywhere else on earth.
Bean sprouts,
tofu made from soybeans,
and doenjang—fermented soybean paste crafted from meju blocks aged with care.
This bowl of soup, made by my wife using this trio of soy-based ingredients,
was a perfect harmony of flavors.
I didn’t even think to wipe away the tears that welled up—
they flowed on their own.
The warm white rice and savory soup
turned my mouth into a little piece of heaven.
As I savored each spoonful,
I found myself wondering:
Am I really someone who deserves to enjoy something this good?
Last Sunday was Mother’s Day.
People spent what little money they had left
on flowers and gifts for their mothers,
leaving their wallets practically empty.
You could tell—
the number of customers at the dry cleaners dropped sharply this week.
Even this morning was no exception.
Things were so slow that, to fight off the boredom,
I jumped rope over a thousand times by midday
and did more than fifty squats with dumbbells.
It felt like even the bare minimum income needed
—not for a good life, but for simple survival—
was slipping out of reach.
That thought made life feel suddenly heavy,
and I was wrapped in a kind of helpless sadness…
when, just then,
my wife arrived with lunch.
As I chewed through the tofu and bean sprouts in the soup,
spooning it up with the white rice,
I made up my mind—
to stand strong again,
to face COVID-19 and all the fears and worries it brought with it.
That one bowl of doenjang soup—
so delicious I couldn’t even pause to wipe away my tears—
made me sweat as I ate it.
Just to keep enjoying that incredible taste,
even in this nearly empty dry cleaners,
I won’t let myself be sad or fall into gloom.
I’ll jump rope, lift dumbbells,
and spend this afternoon staying busy.
'나의 이야기' 카테고리의 다른 글
The Cleaners Chronicles – A Flattery (May 2020) (2) | 2025.05.23 |
---|---|
엘리베이터 말고 계단 (0) | 2025.05.17 |
아버님의 등 (3) | 2025.05.11 |
"The Hurt – Can I Be Just an Empty Boat? (At the Soccer Field)" (2) | 2025.05.08 |
My Music Story – The Spring of 1980, Returned (2013) (4) | 2025.05.07 |