MIM 84

The sea ripples darkly. Shin-woo pulled his gloves down tightly to his wrists while staring into the darkly undulating water. Around three in the morning, a small fishing boat drifted on the quiet sea, creating small waves.

After carefully waiting and looking around, Shin-woo dragged a sleeping bag and propped it against the railing. Due to spending the last two days with Ma Jae-seung, he couldn’t dispose of it immediately, and the corpse emitted a piercing stench. He deliberately damaged the area around the neck to eliminate any traces of Ma Jae-seung, which may have caused the putrid smell to fill not just the annex but seemingly penetrate deep into his nostrils. Shin-woo stared at the sleeping bag with cold eyes before suddenly lifting and throwing it into the sea.

With a splash, Kim Ye-wook’s corpse sank beneath the water. The black sleeping bag quickly disappeared without a trace. Having weighted it down with plenty of stones, it shouldn’t be discovered anytime soon. Even if the body surfaced, it would be too decomposed by then for the police to find any real evidence. And even in the unlikely event that evidence was found, once they knew Ma Jae-seung was involved, the police would have no other choice but to cooperate. With evidence that several high-ranking officials invested in genetic transformation experiments, he could find a way out.

Shin-woo didn’t immediately turn the boat around, instead maintaining his position for a while. The vast sea where corpses steadily surfaced. Standing in the middle of that immense silence made life feel futile.

Dusting off his hands, Shin-woo let out a light sigh. Only when he felt the horrible stench had somewhat faded did he slowly turn the boat around. He came a long way to dispose of the corpse. He needed to hurry to return by dawn. Ma Jae-seung would probably start regaining his senses around today.

At an inappropriate moment, Shin-woo recalled the past two days. A total of 48 hours had gone by. During that time that could be considered either long or short, they had sex continuously except for brief moments of rest in-between. Sex, which he had thought was nothing more than a reproductive act of inserting and moving genitals until ejaculation, left an unprecedentedly intense impression on him.

It was entirely different from his past experiences, where he would be tied up and positioned only for utilitarian purposes. They would hold each other close, chest to chest, falling asleep in that position, and wake up still embracing while continuing their intimacy. Though unfocused, Ma Jae-seung called Shin-woo’s name multiple times. Shin-woo matched Ma Jae-seung’s intensity in their encounters. Eventually, they moved beyond the damp bed to various places in the room. Against the wall face-to-face, on chairs, on the rug…

When he would open his eyes to the touch of fingers brushing away his wet bangs, those green eyes would invariably be looking down at him. Apart from occasionally calling his name, no other words were exchanged, but there seemed no need for conversation. That was how far gone they were mentally. As if the heat had become contagious.

As he approached the dock, two familiar silhouettes came into view. On the small fishing dock, their presence loomed large like shadows.

“Hah.”

Shin-woo sighed. This wasn’t the time to get lost in sentimental memories.

As soon as he reached the dock, Shin-woo moved efficiently. He parked the boat, checked one last time for any traces, and quickly turned around. As he was about to step toward where he had parked his car, a playful voice stopped him.

“Leaving without saying hello? How disappointing.”

A large man stepped out of the darkness with a smirk on his face. Both he and his shorter partner were dressed from top to bottom in black. Shin-woo glanced at the large bag they had placed beside them and raised the corner of his mouth in a slight smile.

“Is there time for greetings? Dawn’s about to break.”

“Dawn doesn’t matter. How would they catch us when we don’t even have identities?”

The man shrugged and exchanged amused looks with his partner. They were people who, like him, had once barely survived day to day scavenging through garbage bins and stealing food in the Mangwol district.

When he was less than ten years old, wanting to eat a warm piece of bread, he had deliberately visited a bakery during its busiest hours. After pretending to choose bread while watching carefully, he hastily hid a piece of bread that filled his small hand amid the crowded people. He was caught while running out the door, but these guys happened to be running away with armfuls of bread at the same time, causing the confused shop owner to lose his grip on him. Thanks to them, he was able to flee with the warm bread in his mouth.

After that day, whenever they crossed paths, they would often acknowledge each other. When they would nod, Shin-woo would raise his eyebrows in response. It was a peculiar relationship that couldn’t be called friendship or even acquaintance.

While Shin-woo worked at the Ma mansion, they began working as contractors and gradually gained notoriety. Year after year, they handled various jobs while walking dangerous lines. It had been bothering him that these guys, who would do anything for money, kept hovering around Ma Jae-seung.

“Don’t take just any job,” Shin-woo said while stuffing his gloves into his pocket. Though his tone was casual, they couldn’t have missed the warning in it. The shorter man, standing with his hands in his pockets a step back, gave a small laugh. Stepping out of the darkness, he looked Shin-woo up and down carefully.

“Didn’t you also take any job around the time you didn’t have enough to eat?”

Shin-woo shrugged indifferently. What difference could there really be between people meeting at this deserted dock, hours away from the city center, at an hour when everyone else would be asleep? He meant to warn them to stay away from Ma Jae-seung, not to establish a hierarchy. Shin-woo looked over the two of them, dressed like himself in black from head to toe.

As if reading Shin-woo’s thoughts, the smaller man smirked and turned his gaze to the fishing boat. It was something Ma Jin-seong had arranged under someone else’s name while alive, and they occasionally used it when they needed to dispose of bodies quickly, since it seemed unlikely to cause problems.

“Weren’t you supposed to have moved up in the world? Yet what you’re doing looks no different from before.”

Though the man openly sneered, Shin-woo ignored him. When Shin-woo didn’t respond, they exchanged brief glances. As if they had exchanged some sort of silent signal, the taller man muttered loud enough to be heard.

“Shame about losing such a profitable source of income.”

At those words, Shin-woo glanced up. By profitable source, they meant Kim Ye-wook.

So it was Kim Ye-wook who invited these guys to Ma Jae-seung’s birthday party. As the realization hit him, Shin-woo’s eyes took on a fierce light. Two days had passed since Kim Ye-wook’s death. A missing persons report would have been filed by now, and perhaps these guys, who had an uncanny sense for blood, had followed him here.

Shin-woo raised the corner of his mouth and asked rather mischievously, “Not finished settling up for the birthday party job? The water’s quite deep here…you won’t be getting any more money now.”

“Haha! Don’t worry. We only take payment in advance.”

They gave their frank answer without even trying to hide anything, and started moving their bag. As the taller one loaded the bag onto the boat and climbed aboard, the shorter one gestured to Shin-woo. “Want to join us for a quick drive?” At this playful invitation, Shin-woo snorted and turned sharply away. In the blink of an eye, he disappeared into the darkness.