DS Ch 2

The sharp and savage scent filled the old courtyard. The coarsely earthy and rank pheromones emanated from inside the man’s shirt collar, the thick-wristed wrist with the heavy watch, and with every heave of his broad chest, they were exhaled through his breath.

“N-No, you said it’s not my sister…”

Eun-myeong swallowed hard.

“How can I believe what you say…”

“… You?”

Haha, the man let out a low laugh as if he was amazed. The cigarette smoke curled around his body like a winding snake.

“Then you can see it with your own eyes.”

The man nodded towards the back. Eun-myeong turned slowly. There, the barrel was placed. Bright red blood covered the brown pottery surface like a spider web.

Eun-myeong’s lips were shut tightly, and the sound of shoes scraping on the ground tingled fiercely in his ears. In an instant, the man’s shadow overlapped with Eun-myeong’s shadow cast on the yard.

“Why?”

A raspy laugh sounded next to him. Eun-myeong slowly turned around. Before he knew it, the man was standing behind him.

“Can’t you?”

He whispered languidly. A strange smile still lingered on his lips. He taunted freely and provocatively.

“…”

Eun-myeong swallowed a dry gulp. He didn’t want to see a corpse. But without confirming it, he couldn’t take a single step away.

He had to confirm that it wasn’t his sister. Eun-myeong took a slow step backward. His gaze was still fixed on the man.

“Hmm?”

The man’s eyes widened slightly as if he was surprised. His glossy black eyes were fixed squarely on Eun-myeong.

Now, the last step. Eun-myeong slowly took a step backward. Suddenly, something caught on his back. He turned around slowly.

“…Huh.”

The dead person’s hand was visible through a slightly open gap. Eun-myeong slowly pushed the lid.

The inside of the barrel was gradually revealed. The stench grew stronger, and everything in front of his eyes turned red. Eun-myeong’s shoulder twitched. The flickering eyeballs met his gaze.

“…Ugh.”

Eun-myeong’s body swayed. It was a man who was covered in blood. Moreover, Eun-myeong knew him. He was the owner of the seafood restaurant…

He looked as if he couldn’t even close his eyes. He sprawled his limbs, staring blankly into the empty air. Half of his tongue seemed to be missing. Given the blood-soaked interior of his mouth, it seemed like his tongue had been cruelly severed. The brutality of it made Eun-myeong shudder involuntarily.

“See, I told you it’s not.”

Just a few days ago, this man had been alive and moving right in front of his eyes.

… But why? Why did he become a piece of flesh, reversed and stuck in a barrel? Countless questions filled Eun-myeong’s chest, but his throat was so tight that he couldn’t articulate a single word.

“Lee Eun-joo…”

The man muttered in a slightly hoarse voice.

“Where is she now?”

Eun-myeong’s chest tightened.

“My sister, why…”

Eun-myeong gasped.

“Why are you looking for her?”

“Because your sister ruined my business.”

A pitchless voice rang out in the strangely bizarre atmosphere.

“There’s no recent activity on Eunju’s cards, and there are no call records. The last trace was the terminal. You’re the only two family members left…”

He finished the sentence in a hushed tone.

“That kid won’t come home soon.”

The man’s eyes skimmed down Eun-myeong’s body. His massive chest expanded like a bellows, and his rectangular muscles under his neck tensed.

“Damn, you reek of milk.”

It seemed like he was sniffing Eun-myeong’s pheromones. Eun-myeong was scared and involuntarily stepped back.

At that moment, he heard the sound of the gate opening. Eun-myeong trembled and turned around. And what appeared was a large bear-like man that was easily over 2 meters tall.

“Boss.”

A man with a shaved head bent his waist at a 90-degree angle.

“I’ll move the body.”

The bear-like man walked into the house. Then, he lifted the barrel and put it on his shoulders. It was an incredible display of strength. The boss of the seafood restaurant weighed more than 100 kg, which was remarkable when combined with the weight of the barrel.

However, the bear-like man carried the barrel outside without any sign of difficulty. There was a thudding sound as if it was being loaded into the car.

“Boss, the car is ready.”

As the bear-like man returned, he bent his back to 90 degrees and informed. At that very moment, the man’s huge palm reached out and tapped Eun-myeong’s cheek.

“See you later.”

The menacing tattoo on his hand was intimidating. Eun-myeong unconsciously staggered backward. The steel door slammed shut with a loud clang.

“Hah, ha…”

Eun-myeong bit down on the tip of his tongue, unable to capture the scattered breaths. The man’s parting words felt like a heavy weight pressing down on his chest. Thump-thump-thump, his heart raced, pounding loudly. See you later…?

What a disaster.

* * *

Eugh, uh…

Eun-myeong took a deep breath. His small chest heaved several times. Now what should he do? A person had died, so he should immediately contact the police, but…

After hesitating for a while, he crawled inside the house on all fours like a dog. He reached for the phone, his hand trembling like an old man who couldn’t even lift a spoon.

“1, 1, …2.”

He painstakingly pressed the buttons one by one. Beep-beep, the dial tone rang in his ears. Eun-myeong quickly scanned his surroundings. Is anyone hiding and watching? He was as alert as a herbivore being chased down, with his ears perked up to the smallest rustling.

Soon, a sound of connection was heard.

-Yes, hello? This is Gyeryong Police Station.

I grabbed the receiver with both hands.

“Um, is this the police station? This is the house in front of Stork Supermarket.”

Eun-myeong stuttered over his words, his voice shaking like a stuttering fool. He was interrupted by a furious voice that sounded as if he were mentally handicapped.

―What, where are you?

“The house in front of Stork Super…”

Soon, a long sigh of recognition was heard.

―The house where orphans live without their parents?

Eun-myeong’s shoulders slumped involuntarily in response to the ruthless tone.

“Yes, that house. A person just died at our house…”

―A person died in the house?

The voice, which had been low and somber, suddenly grew loud. It was a raspy, rough voice that scratched a green chalkboard with a spoon.

“I went to buy instant noodles and when I came back home, there was someone in our house.”

Eun-myeong gulped and swallowed hard. He felt an intense tension filling his chest.

―I see, did you see the person’s face?

“Yes, he was really, really tall.”

He was such a big man that Eun-myeong couldn’t help but scream as soon as he saw him. The man was incredibly tall, with a massive body like a towering mountain. He was dressed in an expensive-looking suit that seemed too expensive to be true, and his shoes looked exceptionally polished. Eun-myeong was afraid that if he looked at him too closely…

―What did he look like?

“He looked really scary… Black eyebrows, a straight nose…”

Eun-myeong was about to continue, but his throat seemed to close up, and he stopped talking.

‘See you later.’

It was nothing more than a lingering image that intruded into his mind. The face that looked at him. The smile that revealed sharp teeth like a crocodile, and the eyes that stared at him eerily.

Eun-myeong hugged his knees. His unusually pale legs appeared to have not seen the light in a long time, and his knees jutted out especially white and prominently in between.

“And…”

“And, also…”

He didn’t need to explain in detail one by one. Just mentioning the tattoo on the back of the man’s hand, the spider tattoo, would be enough to identify who he was.

His jaw was sharp as a pointed arrow. Below it, his thick neck reminded him of a snake that had swallowed a herbivore whole. He was a man who might swallow him in a single gulp.

Why did that man spare his life? 

He had no idea about the reasons, but one thing was certain… He wouldn’t spare him a second time. At that moment, the eyewitness was just him and that man also knew his sister. Eun-myeong was like a mouse trapped inside a snake’s stomach.

―Uh, and what else? Where’s the evidence?

“Well, um, that, um, the body is taken away.”

As Eun-myeong hesitated to speak, the person on the other end seemed to misunderstand it as a prank call and snapped in frustration.

―You brat. Do you think it’s okay to make prank phone calls when the adults are busy?

“It’s not a prank!”

―Nowadays, even little brats like you make prank calls. Tsk!! You’re going to get scolded by this uncle.

The words pierced his ears, and then the phone was abruptly cut off. The mechanical sound of “beep, beep, beep” rang through his head, making him dizzy.