The streets of Seoul late at night are different from evening, and dawn is even more different. It may be the time of day closest to silence. Yet even then, the sound of cars does not stop. Most of those sounds are probably taxi engines, but there are quite a few trucks too. If it is before buses begin running, then aside from those two, the rest are only ordinary cars, and even they are few: people rushing to catch an early plane or train, or people urgently going to work. In truth, whether taxi or private car, the purpose at that hour is probably similar.
At that time cars rarely speed. But perhaps because it is an hour of fatigue, there is no sense of leisure. Even without moving fast, there is enough tension. One must not be late for one’s destination, but one must also avoid an accident while judgment is dulled at dawn. Whenever we hear accident news, we always say accidents cannot be avoided just by being careful alone. There are accidents that can happen even when one is driving normally, accidents one can avoid only by avoiding them well. Instinctively, one is thinking, let me avoid even that kind of accident if it can be avoided.
In fact, a little while ago I drove at four-thirty in the morning. My honest first feeling was always this: driving while my eyelids sting from fatigue is tense. That is what comes to mind first. After that, the things described above begin to enter my eyes one by one.
What I felt today, just a little while ago, was first that there were more people crossing crosswalks than I expected. I thought no one would be walking at that hour. I also thought there would be no reason to cross a main road. Maybe they were coming back from a convenience store. Since they held nothing, perhaps they had quickly eaten cup noodles and were returning. Or maybe they had been given a ride and asked to be dropped off where the driver could easily return to the original route, then walked home from there. Or if their personal schedule is arranged that way, I have no right to think it strange or mutter that it is amazing for them to walk even at that hour.
In any case, as pedestrian lights kept turning green and people kept crossing, I thought that perhaps, although only buses were not running, the city was not actually as quiet as I thought. It is a time when many people sleep, but one should not casually say that “most” people are asleep.
And this is something I always feel: the taillights of cars, the headlights in the opposite lane, the green and red of traffic lights, the yellow of streetlights and signals, all approach me with a slightly distorted and emphasized feeling, like a Van Gogh painting. On humid nights, those colors even spread onto the asphalt, and sometimes I think I could lay something down and sit there for ten minutes just watching the sight, and it would heal me.
Today, in addition to those lights, perhaps because the timing overlapped, I encountered a recycling collection truck I had never met before. The people working on cleaning vehicles at dawn wear clothes with reflective strips. Whenever a car passed, those strips shone. They reflected white in an instant and entered the eye sharply, then darkened again after the car passed, leaving only fluorescent color barely visible under the streetlights. Taillights and headlights passed in lines, streetlights stayed where they were, traffic lights blinked and changed in place, and I had found one more light that appeared and disappeared. As the scenery increased like that, one by one, a city bus full of fluorescent lights would eventually appear.
Today I came back before the city buses began running. Once city buses start, the subway also begins, and many more people will be walking. Their number will accelerate until it reaches its peak at commuting time. Cars too will increase massively, centered on private vehicles.
At that hour one should not drive. Especially on a day like today, after going out at dawn, depending on where the sun is during the commute, the eyes may sting even more. Thoughts keep rising, but there are about two hours left before work, so I should at least sleep for one hour. Before sleeping, good morning in advance. Have a good day.
Original Korean article: 한 밤에 서울 거리를 운전하면