I started meeting Taehyung Hyung-nim in February 2024. Considering I couldn’t speak properly when we first met, quite some time has passed. He was one of the people who came to see me after hearing I had been hospitalized since December 20, 2023, and had barely survived a brush with death. Many people came to visit, but Taehyung Hyung-nim consistently kept in touch and met with me. We’ve met almost every month since February 2024. Since my body isn’t fully recovered, our meetings usually took place at my home.
When we met, we didn’t have any profound conversations. We just talked about small things like whether I was eating and sleeping well, how I was doing, and what I was studying these days. There was nothing particularly grand, but we gradually learned about each other’s lives through these small chats. I was curious about how he was doing, and he listened attentively to my stories.
My connection with Hyung-nim seems to have started 14 or 15 years ago. When we first met, I was a section chief, and Taehyung Hyung-nim was a branch manager. I first greeted him in March, and I got married in April. At that time, I didn’t know many people at the company, but Taehyung Hyung-nim took me to various places and introduced me to many individuals. From then on, I developed a good impression of him.
Since then, I’ve maintained a good relationship with Hyung-nim. It makes me think about how people form and maintain relationships throughout their lives. Relationships can distance themselves or sometimes deepen as people who like each other and those who don’t meet. However, it seems the number of people one meets decreases over time.
It would be nice to talk and have fun with more people and greet them often, but my feelings have changed a lot since my injury. There are many times when I don’t want to meet people. Some days, spending time with people is good, but on other days, it’s even difficult, and I want to stop everything.
Now that my body is gradually improving, I’ll need to meet people and talk, but honestly, I don’t have a strong desire to talk yet. So, I spend a lot of time alone. Through that time, I try to organize myself and find what I need.
And looking at Taehyung Hyung-nim, I also think about how I want to become an important presence to others someday. I will strive to become a good person like Hyung-nim in the future, someone who can have a positive influence on others.