Sŏnhi's marriage brought about a big change in my life. If my former life-style could be compared to that of a foal in the open field, now I lived as part of an orderly domesticity. Prior to the wedding there had been heated discussion in the family as to where I should go. Father insisted that the only proper thing was for me to come back to him however inconvenient it might be. Sŏnhi said I should come and live with her in her new home with Chinmo to which father objected saying it would be a disgrace for him to allow such a thing. As for me, all I wanted was to be left alone in a rented room. I longed to be free from all cares and human obligations, to be free to cry and laugh to my heart's content, to sit through the night reading and writing or go to bed at six in the evening if I so felt like it. Neither father nor my sister would let me alone. We were at an impasse until Chinmo came up with a practical solution. The house they were to have was rather big just for the two of them. They would be lonely on their own at times, so why didn't I come there as a lodger.

In this way I was installed in one of the spare rooms of Sŏnhi's new home. From the time when the suggestion was first made, I gave much thought as to my position in that family if I were to accept it. It was only when I was absolutely clear in my mind as to what to follow that I finally agreed to move in with them.

Until now, in my life with Sŏnhi, by some unspoken rule, I had been the boss of that simple domesticity, and partly because with her domesticated and caring nature, Sŏnhi took it upon herself to wait on me always.

In the new hierarchy, obviously my brother-in-law was at the top. Second was Sŏnhi as his wife and I was the third.