DS Ch 4

Eun-myeong swallowed hard as his mouth became dry.

“Yes…”

Hot, sticky sweat pooled beneath the soles of his feet. His pale toes gripped the slippers tightly, almost revealing the blue veins underneath. The protruding bones of his feet looked unusually reddish.

“Well, did you sleep well?”

His heart pounded loudly. The fact that this customer couldn’t know that he had intended to report to the police was a relief… His heart quivered and swayed with gratitude. It felt like his heart was being torn apart by gears.

“Yes, I slept well.”

The man’s lips curled slightly. He smiled mischievously as if the question was trivial. Then he took a wet tissue and began scrubbing his hands. The suit he was wearing was as smooth and shiny as a python’s skin, but there were numerous uneven scars on the backs of his tanned hands.

The image was overlaid with another memory.

‘Fuck these panties, they’re smaller than the palm of my hand.’

unmyeong’s knees trembled.

“Special sashimi?”

A voice from the side shattered his reverie. Eun-myeong was jolted back to reality. Amidst the noisy atmosphere of the restaurant, a particularly deep voice reached his ears.

“Bring me that.”

He pointed at the poster on the wall. It displayed The King’s Fishery Special Sashimi Set. It was meant for about six people, but given the physique of these gangsters, they might finish it easily.

“Yes…”

Eun-myeong tucked the menu deep into his emaciated side and quickly turned to enter the kitchen.

For those who didn’t know, everything appeared normal, and they moved briskly. Aunt Jung-hye looked up from her chopping.

“What brought you out today, of all days?”

“… I left something behind.”

Eun-myeong replied and pinned the order ticket to the nail above.

“A… Special sashimi, please.”

He put on an apron hesitantly, wishing he could just go home.

“Anyway, I should be the one to serve it… I’ll help.”

He had been working tirelessly, covering for his sister the entire week. His waist, legs, and every part of his body felt like they were about to give out. He had barely slept, and his eyelids were heavy as if they were draped in sandpaper. Finally, his long-awaited day off had arrived.

However, he couldn’t inconvenience others because of the man.

“I’ll bring some raw fish!”

Eun-myeong quickly came out of the store. He pushed the fishnet into the water. A small commotion occurred as he lifted a few fish with the net.

His pulse throbbed through his wrist. Water splattered all over his pale face. Drops of water formed on his eyelashes, shimmering like tears.  He wasn’t particularly strong.

* * *

He placed the food on a tray, carefully stepping in slippers. The man quietly observed Eun-myeong as he approached. Eun-myeong seemed to be shrinking with every step. If this continued, he might become smaller than a dwarf.

“Your special sashimi has arrived…”

It was a high-end assorted sashimi dish that cost close to 500,000 won per plate. Even the plate itself was extraordinary. It was shaped like a large, hollow boat, with the jade-colored dragon head on the edge had its mouth wide open as if it was about to spit fire at any moment.

Inside, the aunts presented a variety of delights, from the priceless sea bream with glistening scales to the gilt-head bream gushing with succulent juices.

Eun-myeong, who had laid out a table full of various dishes centered on raw fish, put down the last plate of scallops and tried to quickly turn his back.

“Enjoy your meal…”

But at that moment, the customer’s voice caught Eun-myeong’s steps.

“Did you successfully report it?”

Eun-myeong’s two eyes widened to the size of a flower lantern as if they were about to burst.

“Yes… ?”

The man smiled slightly and asked ‘Why?’ with his dark red tongue.

“Why, did you get caught?”

He picked up a crab shell with his massive hand and sucked the succulent flesh out in one go. As he did so, his chest expanded significantly. Eun-myeong’s ear felt as moist as if the man had licked it with his tongue.

“You can’t even look me in the eye.”

The slurping sound of flesh being pulled onto the man’s tongue was clear. When he swallowed it, his substantial Adam’s apple rose up to his chin before dropping back down.

“N-no, that’s not it…”

Eun-myeong quickly lowered his head and glanced around at the people nearby. Although everyone’s attention seemed focused on them, the tables were spaced far enough apart that no one would be able to overhear their conversation.

The man violently tossed the shell. The innocent shell rolled fiercely across the plate.

“So you tried and failed?”

Eun-myeong felt like he was suffocating. What should he do? The man’s tone already sounded like a verdict, and he couldn’t bring himself to deny it. He bit down on his tongue as if it were a stake to keep his mouth shut.

The man licked his thumb slowly with his tongue as if it were covered in the soft, moist dampness of the scallop. It was an unusually big and smooth tongue.

“Baby.”

He then picked the next shell. Eun-myeong thought he was going to eat it, but he didn’t bring it to his mouth for some reason. However, the man started doing strange things. He gently rubbed the soft, yellow flesh of the scallop with his thick thumb.

“Are you scared?”

After rubbing the smooth abalone with his thumb, he shook it gently. The abalone’s plump, white flesh shimmered and trembled. It was an oddly sensual and crude touch. Furthermore, the gaze he directed at Eun-myeong was exceptionally unusual.

… Why is he doing this to me? He couldn’t even guess it with his own head.

Eun-myeong clenched the apron tightly with his fists. The man laughed as he looked at the wrinkled fabric that looked like it had been scratched by a rake.

“There are perverted bastards who are crazy about things like you.”

The man threw the scallop aside and then reached out with his large hand to cover Eun-myeong’s buttocks. From the scrawny frame, the sound of plumpness seemed to be echoing, like something was being squished. Although the apron still clung to his bony waist, there was a fair amount of flesh beneath it compared to his slender waist.

“Eat a lot and grow well.”

Immediately afterward, he firmly grasped the flesh of Eun-myeong’s buttocks and squeezed it. The soft flesh that protruded between his fingers was pressed painfully. Eun-myeong’s spine stiffened.

“That way you’ll grow tall, and your dick will get chubby too.”

His pupils seemed to smile weirdly between his unusually curled eyelids. He snuffed out his cigarette by rubbing it against the white raw fish. A pitch-black cigarette bun punctured the scallop’s delicate flesh.

* * *

He couldn’t sleep even after he got home. Eun-myeong sat on the floor of his room, hugging his knees to his chest.

An anxious time passed.

The moonlight that had pooled between his toes eventually faded away like the tide, and the warmth of the sun began to bathe his backside as the day progressed.

“…”

Eun-myeong got up. He left home early in the morning. A cold wind passed by the back of his neck. He adjusted his collar and took a quick step forward.

The destination where he stopped was the bus terminal. He stood in line at the ticket booth and, as his turn came, quickly placed his face into the circular ticket gate.

“Have you ever seen someone who looks like this?”

Eun-myeong showed a picture of his sister on the old cellphone screen to the employee.

“What?”

The man, perhaps in his fifties, paid little attention to the worn-out and outdated cellphone and answered as if he was annoyed.

“I don’t know; dozens of people come here every day.”

“But just once…”

He waved his hand dismissively.

“Go away. People behind you are waiting.”

Eun-myeong took a few steps back and was immediately brushed on the shoulder by a man coming from behind. The people standing in line, one after another, completely ignored him.

However, Eun-myeong did not give up and moved again. He showed the picture to passersby and asked if they had seen his sister.

“Have you seen anyone like this?”

The responses he received were uniformly negative. Some people openly treated him as if he were crazy. Eun-myeong didn’t pay much attention to it, but by noon, he was exhausted and ended up sitting in a chair.

At that moment, a delicious smell came from somewhere. Warm saliva formed under his tongue reflexively. He turned my head to follow the smell, and there was a person selling steamed buns.

‘…Wahh.’

A circular griddle was spinning, and inside, the soft steamed bun looked deliciously stacked. The steam rising from them made them look hot and mouthwatering. 

Eun-myeong had fasted almost the whole day. His stomach was so empty that it felt like his skin was sticking to his back.

“Would you like one?”

“Oh, no…”

Eun-myeong blushed in embarrassment at revealing his inner thoughts. Then, he quickly left the terminal. The large clock on the wall showed that the hour hand was now approaching the number ’12.’ It was time to go back to work.

He moved his feet wearily. His backside felt hot as if it had been roasted in the scorching sun.

…He wondered how much time had passed since then.

A pitch-black sedan, completely out of place with the outdated seaside, slowly moved on the road. The windows were heavily tinted, preventing anyone from looking inside.

Eventually, the window opened slowly. Menacing eyes gazed through a small gap at Eun-myeong strolling down the street. Wisps of rising cigarette smoke floated out and swam up into the sky.