Chapter 54: Seeking Inspiration

"Need to write the lyrics, stories from childhood, stories of life up until now, planning to write something like that..." Hyo-ri leaned back and said. "But now, I can't think of any inspiration at all, so I want to go and see the house that’s vaguely in my memory... I wonder if the barbershop that dad used to run is still there, and the school too..." She fell silent, lost in her memories.

It wasn’t until they reached the familiar market street that Hyo-ri snapped back to reality. "Ah... here... it’s really narrow, I didn’t realize it was this narrow... back then, I didn’t have this feeling..." She looked at the various small stalls on both sides. "Ah... really, the atmosphere of daily life just comes through, right!... This side has changed a lot, it’s unrecognizable... here... Central Barber, oh! It’s still here..."

The VJ hurriedly asked, "What? What? What?"

"Central Barber."

"Ah, that barbershop?" The VJ tilted his head to look.

"Can I get out?" Hyo-ri put on a pair of glasses to disguise herself, tidied her clothes, and got out of the car, walking towards the barbershop.

Looking up at the sign, she said, "Oh my... why is it still here? The name is the same as back then, 'Central Barber'..." She looked around and pointed to the house next door. "This place was also a hotel back then..." Then she walked down the alley next to the hotel. "This house is still the same as back then..." She turned and looked around. "This place has changed a lot now..." She pointed to two places and said to the VJ, "This has changed, but this one hasn’t... wow..."

After looking around for a while, Hyo-ri turned back to the barbershop, greeted the uncle inside, and then walked in. She looked around the old house and said, "Oh... it seems something has changed..."

"Hello, Uncle, can I take a look inside?" Hyo-ri pointed to the inner room and asked.

"Hmm? What’s there to see? It’s just a storage room, what’s there to see?" the uncle asked.

"Ah? Is this a storage room? This used to be a room." Hyo-ri peered inside. "Oh... it’s become a storage room..."

"It was always a storage room," the uncle said.

"No, it wasn’t!"

"It’s Hyo-ri, I recognize you now," the uncle suddenly recognized her.

"Ah... Uncle, do you know me?" she asked, shaking his hand.

"Didn’t you come here when you were seven, from the countryside?"

"Oh! Really?" Hyo-ri asked in surprise.

"Of course... I came here in July 1987."

"Ah~!!!" Hyo-ri was surprised, not expecting to meet someone from her hometown.

The uncle gestured towards the house. "The room, the room was here back then."

"Here?" Hyo-ri walked to the spot the uncle indicated. "No, I remember the room was over there... this small? Uncle."

"No, it’s here, the room was up to here." The uncle walked to one side and roughly indicated the area.

"Ah? Is that so?"

The uncle made a wall with his hands and said, "Yes, this was partitioned off to make a room." Then he added, "Your dad did this, I helped with the wall, and your dad planned to pass this barbershop on to you."

"Ahaha... from Uncle?"

"Of course."

Hyo-ri looked around the room. "Ah... this place is so narrow, how did we live here back then..."

"This side wasn’t enough, so we borrowed another room over there," the uncle pointed to one side.

"Right, the second floor over there, six people lived here."

"Your dad and I went to the same school, your dad was from the 20th batch, I was from the 30th batch, your dad was two batches ahead of me."

"Ah~ so you’re still in touch with dad, right?" Hyo-ri realized.

"Your dad often comes here."

"Ah~~ is that so. Haha!" Hyo-ri smiled, feeling nostalgic. "Ah! These things are the same as back then."

"Right! These things are all the same as before, just where they were."

At this point, Hyo-ri walked to the sink, saw something, and picked it up. "Wow! This is the same as before, Uncle?"

"Everything was the same when your dad was running it."

"I used to make a lot of foam with this every day, it was really hard..." Hyo-ri said, feeling nostalgic.

The barbershop wasn’t very big, so she finished looking around quickly. After saying goodbye to the uncle, Hyo-ri got back into the car.

In the car, Hyo-ri sighed. "Just like back then... how did six people live in such a narrow place, mom and dad, and four children..."

Looking out the window at the familiar yet strange surroundings, she said, "Is that a bathhouse? The church has changed... there’s a clothes repair shop up ahead, it’s my friend’s house..."

The car then stopped in front of the shop. Hyo-ri hesitated and said, "I’m not sure if it’s still my friend’s house... Seo-hyuk, can you go ask? Is it Seo-hwa’s house...?"

Seo-hyuk got out of the car, took a few steps, then came back and asked, "Unnie, the name... what’s the last name? Do you remember?"

He turned and walked into the shop.

Thinking for a moment, Hyo-ri said uncertainly, "What was it... Oh, Seo-hwa? Oh, Wu Seo-hwa?"

Seo-hyuk came out again. "Unnie, it’s right, it’s still the same family."

"Ah! It still is~" Hyo-ri got out of the car and walked into the shop.

"Ah, hello~" she greeted the two people in the shop.

One of them, who seemed to be a customer, was startled when she saw Hyo-ri. "Oh my!"

Hyo-ri smiled at her and walked to the older woman. "Auntie, it’s been a long time."

The auntie stood up and held Hyo-ri’s hand. "I didn’t recognize you, I usually see you on TV."

"Is Seo-hwa not at home?" Hyo-ri asked.

"Seo-hwa isn’t here, it’s her day off, she’s out playing."

"Ah! Is that so, is Seo-hwa married?"

"Not yet," the auntie said, sounding a bit helpless.

"Ah! Is that so! I’ve been trying to find Seo-hwa, but I couldn’t find her contact information... Auntie, when Seo-hwa comes back, can you ask her to call me..." She turned to find Seo-hyuk for a pen and paper.

After giving the phone number to the auntie, Hyo-ri said goodbye and got back into the car.

In the car, Hyo-ri took out her phone and called her dad, chatting about today’s visit to the old house and the people and old stories she encountered.

After finishing the call with her dad, Hyo-ri spoke to the camera, "Mom and dad originally came from the countryside, bringing four children to Seoul. Back then, they only had 500,000 won. Of course, 500,000 won now is different from 500,000 won back then, but even so, to raise four children with only 500,000 won... Later, when I grew up, I often heard mom and dad talk about these things, but at the time, I just thought they were interesting. But now, when I think back, it feels very heart-wrenching, mom and dad really had a hard time back then." Her voice was tinged with emotion, and her eyes were moist.

"That shaving foam, you have to keep stirring the soap and water to make the foam, I had to do a lot of that every day, it was a tough job..." Hyo-ri recalled, her voice choking up, and the tears that had been welling in her eyes finally spilled over.

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