OMS 98
by Cherry-Day of the Incident
Lee Hee-soo’s face was paler than usual as he identified the body. Kim Kyungsu’s body had been found frozen to death on the street. Facing the face he had only seen in pictures after death, his heart felt heavy.
“Are you family?”
The morgue attendant asked, but he couldn’t answer. Were they family because the same mother bore them? Or not family because he abandoned them? He couldn’t find words to explain their relationship. The attendant explained that Kim Kyungsu’s resident registration had been canceled, and if left unclaimed, he would be registered as an unidentified person with the state handling funeral arrangements.
“I’m sorry, but…could I come back tomorrow…?”
He managed to ask, and the attendant nodded yes. The first thing to greet Lee Hee-soo outside the hospital was the biting winter wind. To freeze to death sleeping outside in this weather. How painful it must have been. He should have reached out sooner. Shouldn’t have hesitated and delayed matters like that.
After sitting on the hospital bench for a long while, repeating his regrets, Lee Hee-soo gathered himself and caught a taxi. In the taxi, he pulled out a document from his bag.
Kim Kyungsu. Age 30. Abandoned as a newborn in front of a church. After becoming independent as an adult, worked various day jobs before suffering severe leg disability in an accident. Resident registration subsequently canceled.
And Kim Kyungsu was his half-brother through their mother. What expression would his mother make when told this news? Would he admit it and atone? Or pretend not to know? The whole way there, he hoped he would beg for forgiveness.
When the taxi stopped at his family home, Lee Hee-soo gave the driver a substantial amount of cash, asking him to wait, and got out with his documents. It had been a while since he’d visited his mother, their relationship growing more and more awkward after his marriage.
As he entered the door code and opened the entrance, he heard strange sounds from somewhere. At first, he thought it was the TV, but the sounds were coming from the bedroom. Lee Hee-soo froze after just a few steps.
[Ah, more, do it more, more! Ahh! I’m going crazy! I feel like I’m going to die!]
[Do you like it? Huh? Do you like it so much you’re going to die?]
[Ugh, I like it! I like it so much I’m going crazy!]
[Fuck, look at the water coming out. Why is my stepmother so slutty? Only our father got to eat this good stuff—do you know how jealous I was?]
[Hoon-jae, there, there, ahh!]
Listening to the screams, Lee Hee-soo stood there, in an absolute daze. He didn’t even realize the documents in his hand were being crushed. He stumbled backward and touched the light, and the sound stopped abruptly.
[Did someone come?]
Only then did he come to his senses and run outside. As he ran across the lawn, his vision blurred, and his legs kept giving way.
So that’s what it was…? That’s why you pretended not to know my pain all this time?
Lee Hee-soo walked out of the gate and collapsed against the wall. He hugged the crumpled documents and was lost in thought before taking out a cigarette from his pocket. His hands trembled. As soon as he lit it and put it in his mouth, tears streamed down his face again.
In the end, he couldn’t even finish half of it and buried his face between his legs.
“Aren’t you getting in? Should I just go?”
It was the taxi driver’s words that brought him back to his senses. Lee Hee-soo raised his head and staggered to his feet. Getting in the taxi unsteadily, the driver glanced at him and offered some tissues.
“Such a pretty face crying so pitifully. Someone might think your lover died.”
“…”
“Where to now? You paid plenty, so think of this as your car for today. Where to next?”
“…”
“Aish, how frustrating. You have to speak for me to know.”
Lee Hee-soo fumbled in his pocket and nervously handed the driver a note with an address.
“Could you take me here…?”
The driver started driving without further questions. Familiar neighborhood scenes passed by one by one. The hill he used to climb as a child had become a path to hell at some point. On the way, Lee Hee-soo pulled out another document from the envelope.
[Park Dong-sik]
Identical twin to Kim Kyungsu. One of two children born and abandoned by Yoo Hyeon-oh. Grew up with his father before being abandoned at an orphanage. Ran away at fifteen and reunited with his father. Later served prison time for violent crimes.
Seeing the face identical to the deceased Kim Kyungsu brought troublesome thoughts to his mind.
Meanwhile, the car stopped in front of an old building in Jongno.
“This must be it?”
At the driver’s words, Lee Hee-soo carefully opened the door and got out. As he looked up at the building, two men emerged from the basement. Their flashy shirts and swagger made them look unsavory to anyone. Recognizing Park Dong-sik, he tried to hide but heard voices from behind.
“Brother Dong-sik. If Manager Jang doesn’t pay today, are we really going to gut him?”
“Watch your mouth. Isn’t Manager Jang your friend, you bastard?”
“You do the same thing but only scold me…”
“Am I on your level? Don’t try to act like my equal. Just shut up and drive properly. If you mess up like last time, I’ll break your legs into pieces and make you crawl for the rest of your life.”
With a slam, the black car vroomed away through the narrow alley. Lee Hee-soo, who had turned away, hurriedly got back in the taxi.
“Driver, that car. Please follow that car.”
“Huh? That seems a bit sketchy.”
“What…?”
“Those guys look like gangsters.”
“Please…”
Seeing the desperate expression on his face, the taxi driver mutters “Ah, whatever” and turned the wheel to follow the car. Lee Hee-soo clenched his fists with a tense expression. He needed to meet Park Dong-sik and tell him the truth. That he was his stepbrother and that there was a deceased brother. That the body was being left unclaimed and he should at least claim the remains.
Could he really do it…? Just thinking about approaching him was making him break out in cold sweat…Just then, his phone rang. Lee Hee-soo took a deep breath and tried to answer casually.
“Oh, Tae-han…”
[I bought your favorite cake but you’re not home?]
“I’m at Mom’s.”
[With Kim Yoon-ah?]
“Yoon-ah is on vacation…”
[Stay there. I’ll come pick you up.]
“No, it’s fine.”
[Why? Will you be late?]
“I think so. Why…?”
[Just want to see you, and I have something to tell you…]
He couldn’t continue the conversation as Park Dong-sik’s car suddenly accelerated. The taxi driver weaved through traffic in pursuit, and Lee Hee-soo could no longer hear Kim Tae-han’s words.
“I’ll tell you later? Sorry, I have to go.”
After hanging up, Lee Hee-soo grabbed the handle above tightly. His anxiety grew with the increasing speed of the car. He wondered if he should have brought his medicine. When they finally caught up with the car, the driver let out a sigh of relief.
“Those guys drive like crazy. Do you know them? Did you take out a loan from them?”
“No…”
“Well, someone living in such a nice house wouldn’t need a loan anyway.”
Nice house…
That house, which was the object of envy for some, was like hell for Lee Hee-soo. He had been used as a tool for his father’s benefit. If only he had firmly refused the marriage from the start, if only he had made all decisions himself, how much better would it have been?
The only fortunate thing was that Kim Jun-han was determined to divorce. This was welcome news for Lee Hee-soo. If they divorced, he wanted to go far away. To a place where no one knew him, where no one could find him…
Kim Tae-han’s face flashed in his mind, but he shook his head to erase it.
“Oh? They’re stopping.”
When they reached the port, the car stopped in the distance. They got out and dispersed, and after watching them from the taxi for a while with no sign of return, Lee Hee-soo finally got out of the vehicle.
“Thank you for bringing me here…”
When he tried to give extra cash, the taxi driver firmly refused and returned it.
“It’s fine. I have a conscience too. But if those guys try anything funny, report them right away. Got it?”
Then he turned the car around and drove off quickly. Only after the car had almost disappeared from view did Lee Hee-soo realize he’d left his briefcase behind. Oh no…Though he took out his phone in dismay, he couldn’t bring himself to ask Kim Yoon-ah for help.
He didn’t want to involve her in this situation when she was already doing so much to take care of him. So he gave up and, trembling, wandered near the dock before heading toward the store where Park Dong-sik had entered.
The store was a butcher shop, and there seemed to be an argument as loud voices could be heard from outside. Time passed, and Lee Hee-soo grew weary from the cold. Park Dong-sik finally lay down on the butcher shop’s sofa and even urinated on the potted plant.
Watching from afar, Lee Hee-soo’s face turned as pale as a sheet of paper.
“I’m so scared…”
Should he go back now? If he told him the truth, he might get angry and ask what it had to do with him…He wouldn’t urinate on him too, would he…? While shivering in the cold and contemplating for a long time, Park Dong-sik came out of the butcher shop.
But when Park Dong-sik got in the car, it started shaking slightly after a moment. Why is he doing that…? Is he sick…? Lee Hee-soo repeatedly approached and turned away from the car several times before finally gathering the courage to knock on the driver’s side window.
When he knocked, the window rolled down and Park Dong-sik showed his face.
He glared at him with a fierce expression and his words stuck in his throat.
“What, what is it?!”
His sudden shout made him shrink even more.
“Um…could I borrow a light…?”
His voice trembled uncontrollably. Up close, the man strongly resembled his mother. Especially the eyes. Since he took after his mother too, did he resemble this man? Would he think there was something strange about him…? If only he would speak first and ask if he’d seen him somewhere before….
Park Dong-sik rummaged through his pocket and lent him a lighter.
“Thank you…”
As he turned around after lighting his cigarette, tears suddenly poured out.
When he first learned about Park Chun-bae’s existence through his drunk mother’s words, he hadn’t believed it. But then he started investigating, and the more he learned, the more curious he became. Rather than feeling betrayed by the fact that he had other blood relatives, he felt hope.
But one had frozen to death on the cold street, and another was a frightening gangster.
Of course. How could I have proper blood relatives….
Smoking the cigarette and blowing smoke into the air, now even his tears wouldn’t come. He couldn’t even feel the cold anymore, and only the dark seawater entered his vision. As he stared blankly at the surface of unknown depth, he heard the sound of a door opening and footsteps. When he heard Park Dong-sik calling out “Hey,” only one thought crossed his mind.
If I fell in here, would you save me?
Are you at least a better person than them?
It was an impulsive choice. Lee Hee-soo stretched his foot toward the sea. His body tilted and his face drew closer to the surface. With a splash, he fell into the water and his vision instantly turned to darkness.
As water rushed in through his mouth and nose, his mind suddenly cleared. I’m crazy. What have I done?! He flailed his arms and legs, but his body sank deeper below the surface instead.
Am I dying now…?
Soon the regret disappeared and his mind became peaceful. This way of dying isn’t so bad. It was hard, wasn’t it…? You always wanted to run away…They say loved ones flash before your eyes before death, but why don’t I see anyone…
In his fading consciousness, only one wish remained.
If there is a next life, please let me be born different from now. Not as the weak Lee Hee-soo, but as someone healthier than anyone…Not as a fool who can’t speak properly, but as someone with courage…
That was when someone reached out their hand from above. Since he couldn’t see even an inch ahead, it was hard to tell if it was an angel coming to take him or a person.