DS 39

His body sank heavily, like water-soaked cotton. A warm sensation poured through his entire body and it was blinding. 

‘Had morning come?’

Softly, Eun-myeong opened his eyes. Then, habitually, he looked at the space beside him. Somehow, he was now alone in the room.

‘…Was it all…  a dream?’

He was sure the man had been holding him until last night. His ribs had felt so tight he could barely breathe.

Eun-myeong blinked slowly, dazed. Sunlight dust glittered on his eyelashes. His mind was so hazy he couldn’t distinguish dreams and reality.

Eun-myeong looked below his knees. The mattress touching his round kneecaps was clearly sunken. This must have been from the man’s large frame causing the springs to give way slightly.

‘Moreover…’

Eun-myeong squeezed his eyes shut and deeply inhaled with a “hmm.” The man’s distinctive scent clearly lingered in the air. It smelled like the dense green forest scent, but too raw, with a wildness unique to him.

Plus, the man would spray rose perfume on his suit like an accessory, and all of it mixed together created a scent that stimulated the nerves.

‘It wasn’t a dream.’

 Eun-myeong smiled broadly in relief, his cheeks plumping up. As relief washed over him, so did the the problems he had set aside, creeping in one by one, breaking his temporary happiness.

Jjang-jja had threatened him, but in the end couldn’t give him the drugs. He stupidly  got trapped in the fish hold instead. Why did the door close right then anyway? Was it pushed by wind or waves? The weather had been quite bad too.

Anyway, he was now truly a dead man to Jjang-jja. He’d get beaten terribly. He might get punched and kicked severely.

Huu, the weight of the relentless problems pressed down on him. Eun-myeong let out a quiet sigh. His smile had already disappeared without a trace.

…Besides, how did the Boss find him?

Eun-myeong really thought he would die helplessly. Pushed to an extreme situation, he had been caught in some extreme delusions. Whether darkness opened its mouth wide to drown him, or a storm swallowed him whole, he felt he couldn’t survive with a sound mind.

‘Would he be very angry?’

Eun-myeong’s mouth drooped gloomily. He had been told not to wander around at night doing useless things.

The man hated troublesome, annoying things. Yet, he who had a big debt to repay suddenly disappeared, and then appeared reeking of fish…

‘N-no, don’t go.’

He had grabbed the man’s pant leg last night, pleading him to not let go. Like a beggar begging. Come to think of it, he really was a beggar. It was unspeakably pathetic.

Eun-myeong clutched the blanket tightly. Why did he always end up showing his pathetic side to the man? His weak and powerless self… no different from an ant crawling on the ground.

He didn’t know what expression to wear or how to face him when he returned. Eun-myeong looked toward the door. Part of him hoped the man would open that door and come back, while a part of him hoped he would not.

Thud, thud, the sound of shoe heels echoed in the corridor. Speak of the devil – Eun-myeong jumped up from the bed in surprise.

Soon the man entered the room. Eun-myeong stood to the side, just fidgeting with his robe.

“The dirty pup is finally awake.”

He looked down at Eun-myeong as if watching a hopeless troublemaker. Though he couldn’t be called good-natured by any means, he had never once gotten angry at Eun-myeong.

Not knowing how he would be punished made it more frightening. Eun-myeong shrunk his shoulders like a scrap of paper. He kept his eyes fixed on the hotel rug.

The man muttered without inflection, 

“Now we need to fill that belly up nice and full, eh?”

The man sat at the table, pushing his tie inside his shirt.

Mealtime was spent with neither of them uttering a word. It was so suffocatingly quiet that Eun-myeong’s throat tightened. He wished the man would say something, but he just kept watching Eun-myeong.

‘Why wasn’t he picking up his spoon at the dining table?’ 

He just kept his thick arms crossed tightly across his chest that made Eun-myeong even more nervous.

‘…Wh-what should I do?’

Eun-myeong couldn’t bring himself to meet that unwavering gaze. Though he knew it was better to take punishment quickly and that he should apologize first, he just couldn’t seem to get the words out.

After watching for right timing, Eun-myeong finally couldn’t bear the pressure and quickly scooped up rice into his mouth.

Hoa, hoa, it was so hot he had to chew carefully and blow out air.

Apart from the scary situation, the bean sprout soup with green onion broth was exquisite. Moreover, when he scooped up plenty of solid ingredients, not only was there the crunch of bean sprouts, but small pieces of tender, chewy squid came along making it quite a delicacy.

‘Even at a time like this, it’s really delicious…’

Eun-myeong ate the steaming white rice topped neatly with squid jeotgal. At the same time, he kept an eye on the man,  carefully observing the man’s expression. His puffy cheeks kept chewing.

Their eyes met almost immediately. At that, Eun-myeong quickly spat out words as if he’d been slapped.

“Boss, I’m sorry, I must have been so dirty andsmelly.”

Eun-myeong’s face turned red after the words tumbled out.

“I disappeared without saying anything, and you even had to come find me.”

Eun-myeong owed the man a huge debt. How surprised must he have been when he suddenly disappeared? Even Eun-myeong had felt such heartache when his already crumbling house was destroyed overnight.

Let alone the man, withhis excessive empathy, Eun-myeong empathized even with the person who had destroyed his home.

“And I kept clinging, saying I didn’t want to let go.”

That’s when the man, who had been silently listening until then, showed a reaction. Slowly, his arms that had been intertwined like snakes uncrossed. The man leaned his upper body toward the table.

“Ah, that.”

 The man muttered dismissively, as if he hadn’t even thought about it.

“Yes, you were dirty. Stinking like hell. Filthy like an abandoned pup.”

At these words, Eun-myeong lowered his eyes. He felt immensely embarrassed and ashamed. Even more so because he sensed deep disgust in the man’s words. Well, he would have felt the same way.

“I’m sorry, even I would feel bad if I had to hold garbage.”

The fishy smell was really harsh, like being stabbed in the back of the head. If it got on your hands, the  scent would probably linger for days. And he had rubbed his face against the man’s expensive suit in such a filthy state.

Though his memory was hazy, as if wrapped in plastic, he thought the man had tried to push him away once. …How annoyed he must have been. Plus, he had stolen the man’s lighter.

His appetite vanished. The hand holding his spoon dropped. He really wanted to find a mouse hole to hide in.

Then, amid the shame, curiosity made him raise his head.

“But how did you know where to come?”

Worried the man might have noticed something, Eun-myeong clenched his fist anxiously.

“While everyone was dropping anchor because of the storm…”

Eun-myeong nodded docilely.

“Someone said they saw some fool crawling towards the shore.”

‘Ah, so that’s how.’ Eun-myeong lowered his eyes. How did they even see him when it was so dark? Whoever it was, they were truly someone to be grateful to. Eun-myeong nodded slightly.

‘What a relief.’ 

It seemed like the man hadn’t noticed anything amiss.

Eun-myeong smiled slightly. He was at least relieved he hadn’t gotten severely scolded.

* * *

The next day, the doctor came to the hotel again to examine Eun-myeong. After injecting vitamins into Eun-myeong’s arm, he muttered that a few days of rest were needed. Cold sweat covered his face. It was because of Mr. Bear sitting like a robot in one corner of the sofa. The man wasn’t there, but he was keeping watch instead.

“Doctor, here.”

When Mr. Bear took out a stack of money from his wallet and handed it to the doctor, the doctor bowed 90 degrees with a “Thank you!” and quickly fled the room.

“Thank you. I’ll pay for the medical fees-“

As Eun-myeong mumbled about definitely paying back the medical fees, Bear cut him off mid-sentence.

“Take this.” Mr. Bear handed over a paper bag.

“What is it?”

“It’s from the Boss, so open it.”

That was the entire explanation. Eun-myeong glanced at the paper bag with a blank face. There seemed to be something like a small box inside.

“Don’t cause trouble.”

“Yes.”

After Eun-myeong mumbled quietly, Bear turned his broad back. Since it was the first time he’d had such a long conversation with one of the man’s subordinates, Eun-myeong watched blankly until he left, finding it fascinating. His build was truly enormous no matter when you saw him.

Only after being left alone in the room did Eun-myeong look down at the paper bag.

‘What is this?’

He took out the box and examined it from all sides.

Looking closely, it was some kind of mobile phone. Moreover, even to someone like him who knew nothing about electronic devices, it looked very fancy. It must have been extremely expensive.

Not knowing what to do with it, he held it carefully then cautiously tried turning it on. The screen turned white and soon after it vibrated intensely. Zing, whirr. The small machine trembled in Eun-myeong’s hand. He carefully pressed the call button and held it to his ear.

“Hello?”

Eun-myeong spoke as if in a trance. From the other end came the sound of lips parting with a “tch.”

―From now on, answer my calls this quickly, within one second.

“Yes.”

And the call ended. Perhaps because it was his first time making a call on such an expensive-looking phone, it felt very fascinating and unbelievable.

Was it really okay for him to receive this? Something so expensive? His mind was hazy with confusion.

Still holding the phone, Eun-myeong looked out the window as if entranced. A pale full moon hung over the night sea. Over it, the events from a few days ago overlapped. The moonlight that had pierced through the darkness that had seemed ready to swallow him.

The moonlight he looked up at descended to Eun-myeong’s small chest.

His heart felt strange and mysterious, as if floating on clouds. Was that when it started? This rustling in his chest, like a flower blooming in the winter snow…