Come Back

“Tourist?”

“Yes.”

“Let’s see… Korean?”

“Yes.”

The taxi driver, with a scruffy beard, asked briefly in a cheerful and friendly voice. Choi Hong-seo, who was extremely tense, responded briefly.

The taxi, with its dented exterior, had a disastrous interior as well. The seat cushions were torn in places, there was dust from lack of cleaning, and the seats reeked of cigarette smoke. All Choi Hong-seo could do to cope with the situation was roll the half-open window down further.

The air of Southern California in November, reminiscent of spring and fall in Korea, filled the car. The sunlight was warm, and the breeze was refreshing. However, it was impossible to relax and enjoy them with the extreme tension he was feeling.

Not even leaning back in the seat, he held onto the strap of his bag across his chest and kept his eyes on his phone, opening Google Maps.

“Why didn’t you stay in the city? Why come all the way out here to a remote place? You don’t look like the type who’d be holed up in a run-down hotel casino, playing the slots. Ah, are you visiting a relative?”

With his limited English skills, Choi Hong-seo couldn’t understand most of the driver’s words, which were accompanied by chewing gum.

“Sorry, but I don’t speak English well.”

After Choi Hong-seo’s stumbling response, the driver glanced at him through the rearview mirror.

“Tour, no tour?”

“No, I’m fine.”

“Hollywood, Koreatown, Universal Studios. Tour. I’ll give you a good price.”

The driver kept offering tours, adjusting his words to match Choi Hong-seo’s level of English. It felt less like an offer and more like a demand, as he kept pushing for the tour while driving through a quiet, unfamiliar road, not a bustling downtown area, with only the two of them in the taxi.

This taxi had been called by the hotel because Ubers weren’t allowed into the hotel premises. He had hoped that a taxi called by the hotel would be trustworthy, but it turned out to be the opposite. Choi Hong-seo had felt uneasy when he first saw the taxi approaching the hotel entrance, and his suspicion was soon proven right. After picking him up, the driver exchanged a few words with the doorman and handed over some money, which seemed to be a commission for letting him take a passenger.

“No tour? Then a restaurant.”

“I’m fine. I’ll just go back to the hotel.”

“Very nice seafood restaurant.”

After insisting on the tour for five minutes, the driver finally turned the conversation to recommending a restaurant. He repeatedly gave a thumbs-up, praising a seafood restaurant, likely because he would receive a commission for bringing customers there.

The gallery was only an 8-minute drive from the hotel, and Choi Hong-seo never expected such a stressful situation to unfold during those 8 minutes.

The taxi stopped in front of a restaurant with a blue awning.

“Restaurant. Lunch. Good. Very good.”

The driver turned around and pointed at the restaurant while giving another thumbs-up. Choi Hong-seo desperately pointed at the destination on his phone screen, almost pleading.

“No, I’m not hungry. Please take me here. Please.”

The driver, who had dropped his cheerful tone long ago, now spoke in an angry voice, tapping the steering wheel.

“Hey. Do you think people like us drive all the way out here and pay a commission to pick up tourists for fun? Do you have a death wish? Get out! If you’re going to use that app, go walk yourself!”

The driver insisted that Choi Hong-seo pay both the taxi fare and the commission he had given to the doorman. Choi Hong-seo thought it was unfair, but there was nothing he could do. He had no choice but to pay him. He didn’t want to escalate the situation further. He just wanted to get out of the taxi as soon as possible.

Even though the driver left him stranded in the middle of the street without reaching the destination, he rolled down the window and cursed all the way until he was out of sight. Choi Hong-seo, however, felt a sense of relief that the driver had finally gone.

According to Google Maps, the gallery was about a 15-minute walk away. The path wasn’t complicated, so he figured he could easily find it.

What had just happened was simply bad luck. He had used a regular taxi to get from the airport to the hotel, and that driver had been very kind. Furthermore, Choi Hong-seo was so excited now that this small incident didn’t bother him. With his mind focused on one thing, everything else seemed insignificant.

He began walking, relying on Google Maps.

There were cars parked along the side of the road, but there were very few people walking around. The streets felt a little eerie, and there wasn’t a single tourist spot in sight. It wasn’t even a shopping district, so there was no vibrancy at all.

Two middle school-aged boys, leaning against the window of a closed shop, stared at him with curious eyes and laughed loudly at something between themselves. Choi Hong-seo quickened his pace, hoping they wouldn’t approach him or start following.

He turned at a relatively bright chicken restaurant chain. From there, it was just a straight path to the gallery. Even in November, walking in the midday sun made his back damp with sweat under his T-shirt. He kept his eyes focused ahead and walked on.

Finally, familiar scenery began to appear.

Because he had searched the area around the gallery on Google Maps countless times during his time as Choi Hong-seo, the buildings within a block of the gallery now felt almost familiar. His pace quickened, almost turning into a run.

He stopped at the last traffic light in front of a fast-food restaurant, and beyond the parking lot of a Mexican restaurant, he finally saw a small two-story building with red clay accents.

His heart started to race. Not just a regular beat, but an overwhelming surge. His heart felt like it was about to burst and leap out of his throat. It was the kind of miraculous feeling you get when seeing a place from a movie or animation that you thought could never be real.

At that moment, all the tension, exhaustion, and anxiety disappeared.

Following the traffic light, Choi Hong-seo slowly crossed the crosswalk and approached the gallery.

He passed by a Mexican restaurant with frosted windows that prevented anyone from seeing inside, then walked past a laundromat with thick metal bars on every window. In stark contrast to the desolate atmosphere of the street, he arrived at the charming two-story building that reminded him of southern Spain or Italy, and finally stopped in front of it. How many times had he imagined walking this path, seeing himself here?

“……”

Even the arched windows of the gallery were covered with iron bars. A poster attached to one of the windows caught his attention.

**Comeback.**

It was a simple poster announcing the schedule for Lampas’ photo exhibition. Unlike typical exhibition posters, which usually feature one of the representative works, this was more of a notice about the schedule. But to Choi Hong-seo, there was no issue with it.

For him, that poster was like a stamp of confirmation that he had come to the right place. It was a promise, a promise he hadn’t been able to keep in his previous life, and now he could finally fulfill it.

With trembling hands, he captured the image of the poster with his phone camera. Suddenly feeling a gaze from inside, he looked up and saw an elderly woman watching him with a smile. After briefly nodding to her, he opened the white-painted iron door and entered.

She welcomed him with a smile over her magnifying glasses, which hung just at the tip of her nose.

“Welcome.”

“Hello.”

Her appearance was exactly as seen in the photos visitors had uploaded on Google Maps. Unlike the desolate outside, the gallery’s interior was decorated in a cozy, almost fairy-tale-like manner. Choi Hong-seo slowly walked toward the counter, taking in the surroundings.

“I came to see Lampas’ photo exhibition.”

“You don’t look like someone just passing by…”

She took off her glasses and placed them on the counter before continuing.

“Actually, it’s unusual for someone to just drop by this gallery.”

Her clear gray eyes, now exposed, studied Choi Hong-seo with a smile. She pointed to the upstairs with the hand holding her glasses and said:

“The exhibition is prepared upstairs. Go up and take your time.”

“Is there an entrance fee, or…?”

“No, there’s no fee. Feel free to take a look.”

“Thank you.”

Choi Hong-seo retracted his hand, which had been about to reach for his wallet, and nodded respectfully. He slowly began climbing the narrow and steep stairs that led to the second floor. The stairs were the kind without a railing, with walls on both sides.

It felt like he was climbing a secret staircase leading to a place beyond the reach of a living human body, as if ascending to the heavens. The feeling was almost sacred. He gripped his bag strap tightly, almost as if to keep himself grounded. Slowly, the second-floor hall began to come into view. Through the large window at the end of the narrow, corridor-like hall, sunlight poured in abundantly. The light reflected off the white walls, dazzling his eyes.

Even after reaching the top of the stairs, Choi Hong-seo couldn’t immediately take his eyes off the old gray tiles beneath him. He slowly walked to the center of the hall.

One, two, three, four… five.

He had prepared himself. He had even prepared himself for the fact that he would not be able to hold back his tears. But even that preparation wasn’t enough.

As if he had been holding his breath for too long, he could no longer suppress the words that came tumbling out, his lips trembling uncontrollably.

“How… how is this… here…?”