SHC Chapter 6

6. Three-Head Management

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The resting area Balbari led me to was extremely simple.

It was the inside of the circus tent after the audience had left. Large temporary partitions divided the interior, so each performer could have their own space. The entrances to the small rooms were all covered with cloth.

There was basically no security and no soundproofing at all.

It was literally just wide wooden boards set up as dividers. The ceiling was wide open, too. Some sections had cloth draped above them, probably belonging to someone who valued their privacy.

Standing at the very end of a row of identical cubicles, Balbari turned back to look at me. I was trying so hard not to look at him that we ended up making eye contact again anyway. His appearance still threw me off.

So I quickly shifted my gaze toward the direction he pointed.

“See that board? Use that to make your own space.”

“Yes.”

I answered, but honestly, I had no idea what I was supposed to do.

Do I just build it myself?

Do I use three boards and attach them to someone else’s wall, or use four boards to build a brand-new space? How was this supposed to work? Was I just supposed to sleep on the floor? Wasn’t anyone giving me clothes or my luggage?

If I hadn’t signed that contract, I’d be sprinting out of here by now.

“Why are you just standing there? My body’s like this, so I can’t set those up.”

Balbari… whatever he was, dog-headed man or man-bodied dog, shook his head again and laughed. I didn’t find it funny, but I forced an awkward smile and headed toward the stacked boards.

‘Unbelievable.’

I moved, still carefully avoiding looking directly at him.

Thankfully, the performers seemed to have gone into their cubicles and fallen asleep, because it was quiet. But the excited tension in the air made it obvious Balbari and I weren’t the only ones here.

Pointing at the wall of a board-room someone else was using, Balbari spoke.

“Right here. Attach yours here.”

The instruction was to build my space alongside the existing room.

I picked up a board taller than I was. It was surprisingly heavy. When I brought it over and connected it to the existing board, it held itself up neatly thanks to the support from the neighboring panel.

“Not bad for your first try. Just match the ridges like that. Oh, and that board with the big hole in the middle… that’s your entrance panel. Use that for one side.”

After complimenting me and making sure the entrance panel was aligned properly, Balbari finally said he’d go to sleep too. His room seemed to be a few rows away.

I glanced up once at the soft circus lighting, then stepped into the dim little board-room darkened by shadows.

The boards surrounding the room were about two meters high, enough to give someone a private space. The width was another matter.

‘Small.’

The room was just wide enough to fit two single beds side by side, if that.

‘Feels like a study dorm.’

Standing awkwardly with no light and no bedding, I took out my phone.

Still no signal.

I bit down on my lip and sat on the bare floor. It looked pretty clean. When I swept my hand across it, barely any dust came off. Satisfied, I lay down and let out a long exhale.

Above me wasn’t the sky but the circus-tent pattern, and hanging like a mobile were decorations of stars, moons, and suns.

‘What on earth is happening to me?’

My head was foggy from everything bizarre that had happened. Then a sudden thought hit me.

When they realize I’m missing in the morning, the guys are going to freak out. My parents, too. They might even file a police report.

Honestly, I hoped they did.

‘They’ll worry. If I get a signal later, I should at least send something… a text, anything.’

-[I started a part-time job]

Whether my friend would think I was a lunatic for going to do a part-time job during an MT, or assume I’d been kidnapped, was entirely up to him.

But explaining every weird thing I’d been through didn’t seem believable. Especially the part about getting kissed… no way I was revealing that.

I hesitated, my fingers twitching, then went with something neutral.

-[It’s a circus job, they needed someone urgently, so I’m working for a month]

But even that sounded like something a crazy person would write.

A kidnapper would’ve made up a more convincing excuse.

-[I’m in the mountains so there’s no signal, I’ll call you later]

Then I added one more thing.

-[If you still can’t reach me in a month, report it to the police]

Just in case, I sent the same thing on Messenger. Even though I had no signal, my data wasn’t working either. I was beginning to wonder if this place was even in Korea.

Then I quickly added:

-[It’s called Small Hell Circus]

The messages didn’t send, just stayed stuck on “sending”….so I eventually just closed the app.

Dropping my arms, I lay flat on my back and shut my eyes tightly.

The image of Balbari came to mind again.

A middle-aged man’s head on the body of a sturdy dog.

‘A mutant? A chimera?’

Or a monster?

‘A bizarre circus with a strange ringmaster and strange performers…’

What was that talk about a maneater? And those creepy audience members… and that girl with the flower on her head…

“Aren’t you going to cover the door?”

Right when I was thinking about things I really didn’t want to be thinking about, a voice rang out clearly. My eyes flew open. A man stood at the open entrance, backlit so I could only see his silhouette, but I recognized him anyway.

I sat up and called to him.

“Kiss?”

“……”

He didn’t answer for a moment.

“…Is it not you?”

“It’s me.”

Then Kiss spoke from the entrance.

“You should hang a long cloth over the top. That way, people outside can’t see in.”

“Where’s the cloth?”

It definitely made a difference whether the room was covered or not. It felt cool inside now, but if I slept here, the breeze through the open gap might get cold.

“I’ll bring one.”

He disappeared for a moment, then returned seconds later.

“Here, take it.”

“Thank you.”

Our conversation was quiet, probably because everyone else was asleep.

“Dawn is coming soon. You should get ready to sleep too. You can’t be awake in the morning.”

Because the circus ran at night? Or was it something else…

“I should go to sleep too.”

“Hey.”

He was the one who forced me to sign the contract, but I still had too many questions. I called out, and Kiss turned halfway, then faced me fully again. My eyes were used to the dark now, so I could finally see him clearly. His makeup seemed to be removed, yet his features were still handsome enough to rival an actor.

“What happened to the girl I freed earlier?”

“Ah, she was someone whose contract was already over. She had a bit of a problem, so we kept her confined for a while.”

“Problem? Then I shouldn’t have freed her?”

“Mm.”

Kiss trailed off. So I really had done something stupid.

“No. I got word just now.”

“What kind of word?”

“That Flower arrived safely.”

“Arrived where?”

His answer was terrifying.

“The afterlife.”

“……”

Kiss smiled faintly at my stunned silence. The dim light reflected off his lips as they curved.

“S-so you’re saying she died. Don’t joke around.”

Kiss actually laughed out loud this time. Not a bright “hahaha,” but a sly, greasy “huhuhuhu,” something almost lecherous.

“You’re fun.”

Still sounding amused, Kiss said he was going to sleep now and left. I stared at the long cloth he’d given me, then didn’t bother hanging it over the entrance. Instead, I spread it on the floor and lay down.

I was simply too exhausted and sleepy.

I didn’t want to think anymore.

Maybe things would make more sense tomorrow.

Awooooo.

In the middle of a deep sleep, I woke up to a howl, something between a wolf and a dog.

Curled on my side like a shrimp, I straightened my stiff body and sat up. The boards making up the walls blocked some of the light, but because the entryway and ceiling were wide open, it wasn’t hard to look around.

‘What time is it.’

My phone said it was a little past noon.

“……”

My mind felt blank.

I checked my phone again. Still no signal. But strangely, I had missed calls and messages.

Meaning, while I was asleep, both data and reception had returned for a bit.

“Ah, damn.”

Ruffling my hair, I looked through the messages. Most were from the friends who came on the MT, filled with suspicion after seeing my texts.

I picked one to reply to.

-[I’m not kidnapped or locked up. I even signed a contract. I’m not hurt.]

I tried to take a proof photo, but it was too dark, so I stepped outside the room. I looked around and spotted the main circus tent entrance, so I walked toward it.

Worried the performers might wake, I walked silently, almost tiptoeing.

Sunlight poured down.

Unlike the cool, almost chilly air inside the tent, the scorching heat outside nearly took my breath away.

“So hot.”

I walked beside the circus set pieces that had sparkled brilliantly the night before.

“?”

Was it always this worn down?

Last night, everything seemed shiny and polished, but now, under the sun, the paint was peeling, and everything looked so old it might have been a hundred years past its expiration date.

“You’d get hurt if you rode a carousel like this.”

Muttering to myself, I took a selfie with the circus tent in the background.

“Sending… great, not sending again. Whatever, it’ll go through eventually. Wait… what’s with my face?”

The screen was too bright under the sun, so I shaded it with my hand to see. Still blurry. I raised the brightness…

And the face that appeared looked like a ghost had scribbled all over it.

I gaped.

‘What the hell happened to my face?’

Like someone doodling on a passed-out drunk person, I guess someone had drawn all over me while I was unconscious?

‘So that’s why they…’

The conversations replayed, people staring at me, looking shocked, asking what happened.

‘Ah…’

So that’s why. That’s why!

I really walked around looking like this?

I rubbed my face hard with my hands. Something came off on my palm, but I didn’t know how much. I checked my phone again and kept scrubbing until the marks lightened.

Then I looked at my still-unsent messages. Just like when I slept, they’d go through eventually. Shoving my phone into my pocket, I looked around more.

There wasn’t anywhere proper to wash.

“Haa…”

With a deep sigh, I decided to give up on my face. Honestly, this face suited this place better anyway.

Once I accepted it, I began noticing the scent in the wind, fresh grass, and flowers.

Then a sudden doubt struck me.

‘Does that make sense?’

A man’s head on a dog’s body, the man who practically sucked the soul out of my lips yesterday, the girl whose flower dripped something like blood when I plucked it, the circus.

None of it made sense. Of course, it didn’t, absolutely not.

Then I remembered the contract.

‘I only wrote it because I was trapped in a cage with no choice. Does it even have legal force?’

Lost in thought, I glanced back at the circus.

“……”

Then I clamped my mouth shut and looked forward. The straight path I’d entered from yesterday, the same path the audience had used, stretched ahead.

I took a step forward, then shook my head.

No. No.

I turned back.

This time I faced the circus again. From the entrance, I traced my gaze left, clockwise.

“This is it.”

With a quickened pace, I approached the tent. Just like the ringmaster said last night, I kept my eyes fixed and walked clockwise. And again, no matter how long I walked, the path didn’t appear.

‘Definitely strange.’

Last night was dark and disorienting, but not now. I’d seen the inside too, and I’d checked the size from outside.

At this distance and time, I should’ve passed the entrance several times. The tent formed a huge circle. Eventually, I should’ve looped back to the beginning. But all I kept seeing was the same scenery, a tent wall with no entrance.

I slowed my steps even more, walking as quietly as possible.

‘Please don’t let anyone hear my footsteps.’

Even if they were sleeping inside, someone with good hearing might still pick up on it.

Then suddenly, for the first time, I saw a split in the path.

“!”

I knew instantly. That was the very first fork in the road where I got lost leaving the pension at dawn yesterday.

I didn’t know how I knew. I just did.

Barely breathing, I stepped toward it.

The moment my foot touched the path, I turned back, and instead of the circus tent behind me, I saw only the narrow forest trail stretching endlessly.

Gulp.

I swallowed without thinking.

Sweat rolled down my jaw. I couldn’t tell whether it was just the heat or cold fear.

‘That circus really is… something from another dimension.’

I couldn’t even find the right words; my head spun.

I turned back to look ahead at the straight path.

‘If I go through here…’

I checked my phone. Still no signal. But I had a vague hope, if I just passed this trail, maybe…

My cautious steps grew lighter, faster.

Hurry. Faster.

Before I knew it, I was running.

I didn’t know what was going on, but I only thought of escaping. I ran full speed until someone suddenly burst out of the bushes beside me.

“Uwah!”

No… something. A beast.

I skidded to a stop and stumbled backward.

Grrrrrrrr.

The thing growling at me was a dog. A black dog. Pitch-black, but nothing like any normal dog.

‘Three heads?’

And it was huge, practically a giant breed.

Each head snarled and barked, but all three pairs of eyes locked on me.

Its mouth was blood-red inside, its eyes shockingly white, unnerving.

“Whoa, whoa, easy…”

I held my palms out and slowly stepped back. The red collar around its neck suggested it had an owner.

And if that kind of dog had an owner, that owner was probably from the circus.

Sure enough.

Someone else stepped out of the bushes a moment later, and the dog instantly calmed at his presence. The dog’s owner spoke to me.

“What are you doing there?”

“…Ringmaster?”

When I called out to him in a drained voice, the space between the ringmaster’s brows tightened even more.

“Why are you here now? You should’ve left when you had the chance.”

“So if I go that way, I can go back?”

The ringmaster nodded.

I kept staring past him, but he raised his arm to block my view.

“Since you signed the contract, don’t even think about returning. Finish the one month.”

“I want to cancel the contract. I only signed it because I was trapped in that cage and forced…”

“It’s already finalized. You can’t undo it.”

“But, I….”

Wouldn’t this violate labor laws or something? Not that I knew the laws. And honestly, this place didn’t feel like anywhere laws applied.

While I hesitated, the ringmaster spoke first.

“Frankly, just tossing you out after a month would be strange, too. But if I don’t at least do that much, I’ll be the one in trouble.”

“In trouble? What, are you expecting an inspection or something?”

“Something like that. More importantly… You still haven’t washed?”

“……”

I knew what he meant, so I rubbed my face again with the back of my hand, answering defensively.

“There’s no bathroom, so how am I supposed to wash?”

As I wiped awkwardly down to my jawline, the ringmaster stared at me… openly, blatantly, uncomfortably.

“W-what?”

“Your appearance is… honestly.”

He clicked his tongue once more, then looked up at the sky.

“The sun’s up.”

I followed his gaze, nodded. Stating the obvious.

“From now on, you take this one for walks.”

“Huh?!”

Startled, I stumbled backward as he handed the leash my way. The dog’s middle head growled at me again.

“W-walks?”

“I’m the only one who can walk him right now. So I’m leaving it to you for this month.”

“Why would I walk a dog?”

“You’re the only human who can move around in the daytime.”

I finally heard something terrifying.

“Human… daytime… So you’re saying… everyone only moves at night?”

“We have to sleep during the day. We work at night.”

It made sense, but now that I understood this wasn’t just a ‘concept,’ the questions piling in my mouth had to be swallowed down.

“For one month, morning or afternoon doesn’t matter, just take him out. That’s your first duty as Helper.”

“Wait. Then at least let me make a phone call, or…. Can I go back for my stuff? I came here with nothing. I don’t have any of my things.”

But the ringmaster flatly rejected it.

“No.”

“Why?”

“From nothing you come, to nothing you return. Based on that rule, performers enter empty-handed unless there’s a legitimate reason.”

“Nothing to nothing, what am I, dead or something?”

The ringmaster’s eyes narrowed. He lifted a finger to his lips.

“Here, on the middle path, it’s fine, but never say things like that near the circus.”

Everything was a no.

But now I understood his words weren’t just for show.

When I looked at him directly, his bright blue eye slowly shifted to the side. As if telling me to follow his gaze. So I did.

He was looking at what stood in front of me.

The three-headed dog.

I actually knew what that dog resembled.

It was the dog that guarded the gates of hell, Cerberus.

The ringmaster looked at the dog and said to me,

“It’s still a pup.”

“This thing?”

Even though it was this big?

“Yeah.”

Now that I looked closer, its legs were a bit stubby, like a young animal. Its snout was still short too. It was pitch-black and huge, so I hadn’t noticed, but up close it really did look young.

“So it doesn’t understand human speech yet, and it needs someone to look after it. Even if it’s daytime.”

The ringmaster pushed the leash into my hand.

“From now on, you handle its walks and its meals.”

“But I’ve never taken care of such a big dog.”

“Never?”

His eyebrows shot up.

“I’ve… I’ve never raised a dog at all. I’ve seen them, sure, but actually raising one? Really never.”

When I answered in a fluster, his eyebrows settled back down.

“Who said raise it? Just walk it and feed it.”

“Oh… okay.”

That sounded basically the same to me. If you walk it and feed it, you end up attached, don’t you?

But looking at the dog glaring at me with three sets of white eyes and growling, it didn’t seem like that would happen anytime soon.

With a sigh full of resignation, I asked,

“What do I feed it?”

“I’ll prepare the food. You just give it to him.”

“Yes.”

So going back was out of the question.

In the end, I gave up on running away and walked back with the ringmaster.

Honestly, just knowing the route back made me feel steadier, safer. Holding on to that escape option in my mind, I pulled the leash gently.

“If you pull too gently, he won’t follow.”

How was I supposed to pull hard on a leash attached to a beast like this?

Grrrrr…

“He doesn’t bite, right?”

“He has teeth. Why wouldn’t he bite?”

“……”

“So be careful.”

“Can’t I… not do this?”

I stood frozen as I asked, but the ringmaster only showed me his left eye, the one hidden beneath the black eyepatch. I didn’t know what was under it, but somehow I understood what he meant.

“Then block him before he bites me.”

His attitude left no room for refusal, so I stepped back and tugged the leash with more force.

Thankfully, the dog followed me. Still, the middle head kept glaring at me.

“There are three sets of teeth I have to watch out for, and not a single muzzle? I’m going to die.”

“I’d rather muzzle your mouth.”

I shot him a sideways glare, but he ignored me completely.

“Going to die? Didn’t I just tell you not to act alive?”

What was I supposed to do? I was alive.

My brain was already at its limit. Even small complaints felt hard to hold back.

And besides, saying ‘I’m going to die’ is just a normal figure of speech when things are stressful.

I clamped my mouth shut like a clam and stared at the ground while walking. Then the ringmaster spoke again, sounding a little gentler than before.

“The same goes in front of Samdu. One day he’ll understand human speech.”

Samdu?

Normally, that word referred to something like the triceps muscle.

But with the little Chinese I knew, I quickly realized he didn’t mean a muscle.

Samdu. Three heads.

It was the dog’s name.

“The names here are really straightforward.”

He nodded at my comment.

“It’s convenient.”

Fitting, considering his own name was “Ringmaster.” Easy to remember.

Then his outfit caught my eye.

“By the way… aren’t you hot in that weather wearing those clothes?”

A white dress shirt under a black ringmaster coat with gold detailing, it looked hot just to look at. And it was basically a three-piece suit. Just thinking about wearing it made me sweat, but his skin looked perfectly dry.

“Do I look like I’d be bothered by heat?”

“…No.”

Guess I’m the only one overheating.

We talked like nothing was wrong, but all I could think was that I needed to leave this place the moment the month was over.

Because just now, the middle head had breathed fire in front of me.

And they wanted me to take care of this thing.

I was going to lose my mind.