DS 11

He carefully pushed open the front door.

Creeeeak.

An eerie metallic sound scratched through the silence. His attention was quickly drawn towards a powerful back facing against him.

It was him.

“Why is the guest…”

He only moved his eyes while maintaining the same posture—his gaze fixated on something. The lighting was dim, giving his eyes a chilling blue gleam.

The man, averting his eyes again, reached out to the cloth he had been staring at. There was a pair of semi-dried panties hanging there. He got hold of the panties and buried his nose deep in them. The muscles extending from his sharp jaw writhed recklessly like a snake. He inhaled the scent so deeply as if it were oxygen keeping him alive.

“Hmm, the scent of cock.”

Eun-myeong stared blankly at him. 

What did I just hear? 

It was too vulgar to believe.

“You still haven’t grown down there, have you? Does your little dick dangle around?”

The man didn’t stop there. He roughly fondled the area where Eun-myeong’s crotch would be.

“I wonder if our young boy has grown pubic hair. The worry and restlessness has rendered uncle sleepless.”

A chilling silence covered the yard like a black net. 

W-why did he come all the way to the house? Is it because I didn’t go to the store today…

“Did you hide it?”

The man carelessly threw the panties onto the yard and nodded towards the cast net on the ground.

“Yes,” Eun-myeong nodded slightly.

How pathetic. A person died, and my sister disappeared and I hadn’t even properly reported it. Yet I still bought some ramen scraps to survive and even craved steamed buns due to how delicious they looked. My desperate attempt to cling to this miserable life was similar to a fish scooped up in a net.

“Why?”

“I was afraid someone might see…”

“Good boy,” the man muttered. A pleased smile hung at the corner of his lips.

Suddenly, he approached. His shadow fell over his slippers like a dark cloud. Frightened, Eun-myeong slowly backed away. Then, tripping over his own feet, he fell on his back with a thud.

“…Huh!”

Clang.

The coins in his pocket spilled out. That’s when the man’s eyebrows contorted sharply. His gaze became piercingly sharp. A warm hand came close and gently stroked Eun-myeong’s head calling him a good boy just like before.

“I smell another man on you.”

Yet his eyes were anything but gentle. His sticky gaze scanned Eun-myeong’s feet. The scattered coins reflected the moonlight, emitting a pale glow.

“Did you sell yourself cheap?”

The plastic bag slipped powerlessly from Eun-myeong’s wrist.

Plop. 

Two packs of ramen, pitifully spilled out of the packet.

“You should know your body is precious.”

There were moments when Eun-myeong couldn’t fully understand the meaning behind his words. And this was one of those moments. Was he telling him not to weave too many cast nets? While thinking this, the man suddenly kicked the ramen with his shoe.

Eun-myeong hunched his shoulders, shrinking like a dried radish. The precious ramen he had bought for 800 won a pack burst open. Looking at the remnants of ramen spilling from its side, he called out to him.

“Come here.”

The man extended his hand to Eun-myeong, calling out to him like a puppy. Eun-myeong unconsciously shook his head.

“N-no…”

He wanted to run away, but where? Where on earth could he run to? This man knew his workplace and even casually entered his house.

“I said come here.”

The man spoke as if he were coaxing a puppy. You never know when his mood might turn gloomy even when he’s like this. Eun-myeong reluctantly got up, dusting off his bottom. He forced his reluctant feet to take steps.

“Now that’s a good boy.”

The man led Eun-myeong into the room while he followed like a ghost with severed ankles. Inside the room, a small dining table was set up. On top of it were dishes full of food, prepared by who knows when. The small table, which had never seen more than five plates before, was precariously supporting itself as if its legs might break at any moment. The man couldn’t have prepared this himself—it must have been set by Mr. Bear.

The man sat down in front of the wooden table. The table looked too small for such a burly man. As Eun-myeong stood cautiously at the threshold, the man nodded towards the opposite side.

“Sit there.”

Eun-myeong carefully approached and knelt down. A savory smell hit his nostrils. His starved stomach churned violently. The man twisted the leg of the samgyetang in the center of the dishes. The meat dropped, splattering white broth.

“Open your mouth.”

Eun-myeong stared at the chicken leg in front of him. What was the link between finding his sister and offering him a chicken leg? Eun-myeong looked up at the man, his eyes full of caution.

“Why are you giving this to me… gulp.”

He swallowed mid-sentence. His face suddenly felt hot, as if scalding water had been poured over it. The man smirked as if amused. Eun-myeong took the chicken leg from the man, holding the bone with his hand. He slowly opened his mouth slightly and bit into the meat. Warm steam gathered in his mouth making him exhale. 

“Haa, haa.” It truly was as chewy and delicious as its aroma.

Then, losing his senses, he ate hurriedly as if hiding a crab’s eye. He picked up the japchae with chopsticks and slurped it into his mouth, and also wrapped warm rice in seaweed and popped it into his mouth, something he’d eaten so long back that he’d nearly forgotten it. His stomach, which had shrunk so much over time, quickly bulged out.

It was when he had nearly emptied half of the meal that he noticed something off.

‘…Gasp.’

Eun-myeong finally came to his senses and looked around cautiously. His cheeks were puffed with food. While he had been eating mindlessly, the man intently watched him.

“Why aren’t you eating?”

Come to think of it, he had rarely seen the man eat anything. Even when he came to the store, he would order the most expensive, highest-quality food, but only sip his alcohol a few times.

“Why? Afraid I might have spiked it with aphrodisiac?”

Why did he always steer conversations in such a frightening direction? Eun-myeong quickly shook his head.

“N-no, it’s not that…”

He warily observed the man’s reaction. He was worried that if his actions had upset him, he might get angry, but the man finally took hold of the chopsticks plated with fake gold and picked up some japchae, putting it in his mouth.

But Eun-myeong noticed something strange. The way the man held his chopsticks was unnatural. His middle finger was half-bent and couldn’t bend any further. Eun-myeong, who had inadvertently glanced at it, quickly lowered his eyes, realizing his mistake.

“Ah, this?”

But it was too late. The man had already caught him. Eun-myeong desperately tried to pretend he hadn’t seen, but the man deliberately poked the old table with his middle finger.

“I got caught embezzling a business and my father cut off my finger.”

“It didn’t heal well,” the man said while putting it in his mouth and sucking it while laughing ominously. Goosebumps rose on  Eun-myeong’s nape.

“A bastard who peels green apricots gets off easy, but your uncle has learned a lot.”

It sounded like a threat that conveyed he wouldn’t let it slide if Eun-myeong tried to deceive him, sending chills down his spine.

“You haven’t been able to talk to your sister yet, right?”

“No…”

Although his sister had answered his call a few days ago, he absolutely couldn’t reveal that. Eun-myeong avoided eye contact, afraid his lie would be discovered. After that, his sister’s phone was turned off again. He had tried calling several times, only to be greeted by an unfamiliar woman’s voice each time.

“I couldn’t reach her.” Eun-myeong added.

Afraid of getting caught, he lost his appetite.  He was very thirsty and wanted to drink water, yet worried that swallowing might reveal  his nervousness.

“W-water…”

Eun-myeong quickly got up, dusting off his bottom. He ran straight to the kitchen, crushing the yellowed linoleum with his white socks. He hastily opened the refrigerator and hid behind the door. He felt the chilling air hitting his face.

“Huff, huff.”

He caught his breath, leaning against the moist vapour. He didn’t dare to return to the room where the man was, but the room was too quiet. What on earth was he doing in the room all by himself? His heart sank. If he pressed redial on the phone, it would be a disaster…

Eun-myeong scurried back to the room with cold water. As he moved his feet quietly, he saw the man’s back. He was leaning against the window, smoking a cigarette.

“……”

It was a room that he and his sister used to come and go freely. The man was so tall that his head almost touched the ceiling. The pale light bulb hung down above the man’s head. If he raised his head just a little, he could face the light bulb directly.  That’s when the realisation dawned on him. Eun-myeong’s face turned pale as he looked at the ceiling…The light bulb! His sister’s notebook was placed inside the light fixture.

At first, he had considered burning it. But what if, just what if, there were some traces of his sister left there…? That’s why he couldn’t bring himself to throw it away and hid it. After thinking hard of a place where others wouldn’t be able to find it easily, he put it there.  It was a perfect mistake. He didn’t know the man would be tall enough to reach the light fixture. Eun-myeong quickly approached the man.

“Um, I brought some water.”

The man silently looked down at the glass of water held out to him. As the deafening silence echoed, Eun-myeong’s eyes, full of moisture as usual—wavered.

“There’s really nothing in our house.”

His thumb holding the handle nervously rubbed the surface of the cup. His toes, trapped in white socks, wriggled— acting like a puppy that needs to pee. A strange heat, similar to pleasure, rose just above the man’s leather belt.

What was he trying to do—amuse him this time? Shit. The man rolled the curse on his tongue. The anticipation hitting his chest was no joke.

“My sister’s phone is still turned off, and she didn’t leave anything behind. There’s nothing to find even if you come to our house.”

The tongue visible through slightly parted lips looked moist and wet as well. Usually, he kept his mouth tightly shut like a clam but right now his tongue seemed unusually long.

“If I do end up finding anything, I’ll inform you immediately,”

His face was as white as the sticky samgyetang broth he had eaten earlier. Suddenly, a faint rectangular shadow flickered over it.

“I’ll tell…”

The man’s gaze immediately went up. His gloomy eyes, deeply set in sunken eye sockets like caves, lingered on the ceiling. A strange light gleamed in his dark eyes. Pleasure explosively surged, pummeling the man’s lower abdomen. My goodness, who knew he would act so amusingly!

“Ah, I see.”

The man drawled as if he had realized something. With his chin raised, he lowered only his eyes, taking in the white teeth. A face deeply tinged with disappointment.

“Baby, you wanted to hide that, didn’t you?”