DS 12

His pupils dilated. His heart, as big as a fist, pounded as if it would burst through his chest.

“There’s…There’s nothing there!”

Eun-myeong’s face twitched. His mouth moved on its own. Even though he knew it wasn’t right, he felt the need to say something and babbled whatever came to mind.

“Really?”

The man smiled eerily. He stretched his long arms upward. His body odor, strong enough to knock out one, wafted even more intensely. While Eun-myeong had to stand on a chair to barely reach, the man could easily touch the ceiling just by extending his hand. His large hand grasped the round light fixture.

Creeak, creeak, creeeak…

Then he started to unscrew the light fixture. The joint was gradually loosening.

Thump, thump, thump.

Along with it, his heart was tightening more painfully.

Finally, the man lowered the light fixture. In the middle of the lampshade covered with fine dust lay his sister’s notebook.

“My, my, what’s this, hmm?”

The lamp’s round edge pressed hard into Eun-myeong’s lower abdomen.

“Why don’t you read it?”

When he hesitated, a frightening urge of “Hurry” was heard. Eun-myeong slowly extended his trembling hand.

Gulp…

He swallowed hard as he slowly opened the notebook that was warm from the light.

“18 king crabs, 21 red crabs, 36 hairy crabs…”

His lips trembled like waves as he picked up each word.

When he first looked at this notebook, it was just puzzling. To him, it looked like orders his sister might have taken at the store… But what about the man? Eun-myeong took a slight peek at him and was immediately met by the man’s lecherous gaze.

Flinch.

“Shit, even crabs have hair yet the kid doesn’t.”

Eun-myeong’s face turned as red as a raw salmon at the comment. It wasn’t true that he had no hair. Eun-myeong’s crotch was clearly covered with hair. Although it was sparse and soft like head hair, it certainly wasn’t hairless.

But the situation was too frightening to go into such minute details. The man continued to speak in a monotonous tone.

“Read the next one.”

“27 king crabs, red crabs…”

…He was scared to death. The light, now brighter with the cover removed, stabbed Eun-myeong’s eyes like thorns. The fear made his skin crawl. He wanted to bite his tongue hard and faint right there.

Would this man hit him? Torture him…? Or…

The man’s fingers came into his shaky view. More precisely, he glanced at the middle finger that couldn’t bend properly. He was quietly biting the side of his middle finger. He must have been biting quite deeply, as the bones in his jaw were protruding.

Only after reading till the last page did Eun-myeong close the notebook.

“Anything else you’re hiding?”

For a moment, the phone call he had with his sister flashed through his mind. Eun-myeong slowly shook his head.

“No.”

His eyelashes trembled slightly. The light from the lamp scattered like water droplets on his eyelashes, turning white. Eun-myeong, now feeling like a prisoner awaiting his final verdict, looked down at the yellowed linoleum floor. The floor was so old that it had come loose underneath.

If it was going to be like this, he should have hidden it further from the man’s eyes. No, he should have burned it or set it adrift in the sea. But it was too late for regrets. He was now at the man’s mercy.

The man reached inside his jacket and pulled out a lighter. He opened the lid of the lighter, rough like alligator skin, scraped the wheel, and lit his cigarette. Then he put his phone to his ear.

“Come in.”

It wasn’t even a matter of minutes. Perhaps only a few seconds had passed. The bear like man opened the door and entered the room.

“Boss, you called?”

“Search this room thoroughly again. Tear off the wallpaper and the flooring.”

“Yes.”

The bear’s shoddy feet began to trample the floor mercilessly leaving behind countless black footprints. Then the bear started tearing off the wallpaper with a knife. The wall, deeply stabbed in the side, revealed its shabby interior.

Riiiip.

He tore off the wallpaper mercilessly.

Eun-myeong watched with a heavy heart. 

What’s going to happen to me now? 

The man’s breath beside him rose and fell heavily. He seemed extremely angry because of Eun-myeong. At that moment, the bear lifted the blanket spread in one corner. A handkerchief fluttered out.

“…Oh.”

Eun-myeong looked on in amazement. He had hand-washed it gently himself. The texture was so soft to the touch, but the pattern was so gaudy that it looked strangely vulgar. It must have been expensive and he had washed it with trembling hands, afraid he might be held responsible and made to pay for it if it got damaged.

Not satisfied with the wrinkles, he had placed it under the pillow to get rid of any remaining wrinkles. That would make it spread out nicely as if ironed. But to think it would pop out now.

“……”

The man reached down to the floor. He picked up his handkerchief and buried his nose in it. Then, as if inhaling drugs, he rolled his eyes back.

“…Hmm.”

The man’s breath, which had been heaving with anger, calmed a little. He gradually found his rhythm. Eun-myeong hunched his shoulders, completely intimidated. It was his own, so his scent would be the strongest, but why was he doing that again? Eun-myeong couldn’t understand him at all.

“Go out and get in my car.”

The man urged with his nose still buried in the handkerchief. Eun-myeong swallowed hard. Was it time for his punishment now…? Everything before his eyes became distant and blurry.

* * *

It was pouring outside before they knew it. The black car was blindly speeding through the wet roads. It felt like they were diving into an underwater cave.

“……”

A heavy silence followed. The silence pressed against their skin like air pressure. Eun-myeong’s legs shook uncontrollably. His feet and slippers were dripping with water.

He was caught lying by the man. This might really be his last chance. No matter where the destination was, if he couldn’t escape from here, he would truly be done for.

The car, which had been fiercely racing down the road, stopped at a traffic light. It was a quiet moment. Eun-myeong was looking out the window when he saw a yellow light flickering on the foggy window across the street. It was a taxi.

‘…Now’s the time.’

If he missed this chance, there might not be another. Eun-myeong flung open the door and jumped out. He couldn’t even properly put on one of his slippers. As he was running towards the taxi across the street, he slipped on the rainwater and fell. His knee hurt as if it had been shattered.

“Mister!”

He quickly ran and banged on the window. Through the blurry window streaked with rain, he could see the surprised face of the driver.

“Mister, please help me!”

As he shouted for help, he heard a click. Thinking the door had been opened for him, he pulled the handle. But to his dismay, it wouldn’t open. The driver’s face was full of terror. More frighteningly, the driver’s eyes weren’t looking at Eun-myeong.

“…H-huh.”

Slowly as he turned around he saw the man approaching. Soaked from head to toe, the black clothes made him look even more ominous than usual. He was getting closer and closer.

“Ha, huk…”

Eun-myeong slid down with his back against the taxi—quickly pulling out his phone from his pocket he started dialling 1-1-2. Even the one slipper that had been on his foot was washed away by the rain. The man took out a wad of bills from his wallet and knocked on the taxi.

Only then did the taxi window open ever so slightly. The driver quickly took the bills through the gap, closed the window, and drove away with a roar. The puddle splashed by the wheels drenched Eun-myeong.

“Mister, you-!”

The man threw Eun-myeong over his shoulder like a sack. The whole world turned upside down. The sky with rain streaming down, the washed-away slippers, the empty road…and abandoned hope.

To make matters worse, his phone slipped from his wet hand with a thud. It flowed away with the rainwater and disappeared into a drain.

The man walked back to the car. With a beep, the trunk opened and Eun-myeong was roughly thrown into it.

“Hu, huh…”

He looked up at the man, soaked like a drowned rat. Whether from the cold or the fear that had risen to the top of his head, his body was shaking. He had chills. His teeth clattered against each other.

“Baby, should I just leave you in the trunk like this?”

Eun-myeong looked around. Then, realizing what was around his bottom, he gasped. There were all sorts of tools. Hammers, sledgehammers, even sashimi knives. He didn’t know why there were knives, but there was blood on their sharp tips.

“No, no…”

Eun-myeong shook his head. Raindrops splattered everywhere. Afraid the man might abandon him and leave, he quickly reached out and grabbed the man’s collar. The damp shirt crumpled under his grip.

“If you didn’t want this, why did you run away?”

A low voice was heard through the fierce sound of rain. Eun-myeong’s lower jaw trembled at the monotonous voice. His tongue tasted salty. It felt like tears were pooling in his mouth.

“Uh, hu, huk…”

Eun-myeong wanted to ask how I could not run away? How could he be quietly dragged away after seeing what happened to the sushi restaurant owner? As Eun-myeong trembled and cried, the man mercilessly raised his upper body. Then he stretched his thick, long arms upward. He was trying to close the trunk.

“Aah!”

Eun-myeong screamed and quickly raised his hips. He grasped the man’s waist with his hands and clenched his fists.

“I’m sorry, I won’t run away and I won’t lie anymore either.”

The thought of being trapped in coffin-like darkness was so terrifying that he felt like his skull would fall off. He might not even be able to breathe properly. He didn’t want to be trapped with those weapons that might have been used for who knows what. Desperate to survive, Eun-myeong kept mumbling that he was sorry, please spare his life.

“Do you want to keep disobeying and throwing tantrums like a baby?”

“No, no…”

Eun-myeong cried streams of tears. He wanted to get out of the trunk quickly, but the man stood like a concrete wall in front of him, making it impossible. All Eun-myeong could do was rub his cheek against the warm chest repeatedly. Tears were streaming from his eyes as they touched the man’s skin.

“If you obey, I’ll treat you well like a human being.”

The man exhaled with a “Haa.” Then he put his hand under Eun-myeong’s side. Eun-myeong flinched and curled up, but thinking that if he didn’t obey quietly, the man might throw him in here and leave this time, he wrapped his arms around the man’s neck. He swallowed his tears with a gulp.