It felt like it was going to rain.
From evening, rain poured down like a waterfall. The dark clouds covering the sky opened, and roars like the cries of beasts shook the vicinity.
Swoooosh…
Woonghee was buried against the wall, lost in thought. While crushing his toes on the floor, he was soaked in worry. What should he do about the problem facing him?
And that’s when it happened.
“Fuck…! Everyone come out, quickly!”
At the screaming voice from outside, Woonghee swiftly turned his head. Large pupils flashed open between his slightly long light brown hair.
Why, what on earth is happening again? Could they have discovered the lifeboat?
His heart thudded and dropped. He couldn’t just stay like this. He had to quickly confirm the situation with his own eyes. He got up from his seat in a hurry. As soon as he opened the door, rain poured frantically onto his face.
Woonghee put on the raincoat that had been shoved to one side. If he didn’t put this on, his only set of clothes would surely get all wet.
“Everyone come out and see right now!!”
Outside, the gathered dark clouds were covering the sun. People were gathered in the dark gloom. Frantically, he ran toward the sandy beach. Sand flew from under his feet, and his breath rose to his chin, but he couldn’t stop.
And the moment he arrived at his destination, all the faces he encountered were uniformly cold. They clearly showed signs of shock as if they’d seen a ghost.
“Why…”
What happened again?
He wished someone would say something, but everyone was submerged in silence. Their eyes were all staring in the same direction.
Where that gaze headed was the middle of the sandy beach. There lay the food bundle that was now beginning to show the bottom. To be precise, their last hope on which their survival depended.
Whooosh, a stormy wind and rain blew coldly. It was a wind that shook people’s clothes, made their hair flutter, and made their hearts feel chilly.
“All the ramyeon is gone.”
Rumble, lightning struck and Assistant Director hyung’s glasses glinted. The checkered shirt he wore was dyed darker than usual. The intersecting lines looked just like a spider’s web. Should I say it was like traps laid in clothes, just like this situation?
“What?”
Ramyeon was carbohydrates. If you turned your head here, what overflowed were protein sources, but there were no carbohydrates. Koreans couldn’t live without rice. The only thing that could replace it was ramyeon.
But all of it was gone? What on earth did that mean?
“What kind of bullshit is that, you bastard! You were here guarding it…!”
Director Hwang grabbed the Assistant Director by the collar and lifted him up. Assistant Director hyung’s body was quite large too, but he was dragged along without being able to resist Director Hwang even once. He just flailed like a fat rat. The shabby sneaker toes scraped the sandy beach weakly.
“Th-that’s because it rained so much…”
“So what, you fucker!”
With bloodshot eyes, a face flushed red, and his cheekbones trembling, he was squeezing out all his strength.
And toward that gaping mouth, the sky mercilessly poured down rain.
“I-I was hiding inside the house. I left the door open a bit…”
Crazy, has that bastard really lost it? At times like this, because it’s dark, shouldn’t he guard it even better? All around, complaints mixed with curses poured out. In the midst of this darkness. Only eyes filled with madness were emitting sharp blue light.
“You bastard, didn’t you steal it and try to pin it on other people?”
“I said no…! Then I’d be suspected first, am I crazy?”
Assistant Director hyung denied it by waving his palms, saying absolutely not. His eyes looked so wronged and bitter, he looked ready to shed tears.
“If you’re that suspicious, go ahead and search me!”
“How do I know you didn’t already eat it all!”
“Fuck, I’m dying of hunger right now! What do you mean I ate it!”
In the midst of rain pouring like this downpour, people began to excrete their anger. In the endless torrent of surging emotions, eventually that man stepped forward.
“We shouldn’t be doing this. It would be better to say what we were each doing.”
Managing Director Gi’s voice was heard mixed with the rain sounds.
“I was obviously playing go with our Managing Director Gi-nim. That lackey bastard of the Managing Director was watching like a dog next to us.”
Meanwhile, the sensitive people all moved their torn and ripped lips roughly. As if they’d been waiting for this moment, they expressed their anger and flashed their eyes. Director Hwang finished speaking, and next was Paeng Hana’s turn.
“Manager oppa and I were in the same house. I was lying down because my stomach hurt from menstrual cramps. Uh, then the person left is…”
Paeng Hana’s eyes moved anxiously toward Woonghee. Everyone’s gazes soon converged on him. Rumble, lightning struck once more. The scene stopped as if imprinted.
And that’s when it was. When his eyes met Assistant Director hyung’s. Beyond the horn-rimmed glasses with broken lenses, both pupils opened wide.
“Huh…?”
And he points a finger, at him. The cold criticism and contempt pouring from the fingertip seemed to pierce his heart directly. With all gazes focused, Woonghee stood helplessly before that criticism.
“This!”
Then he even poked his chest area. Woonghee trembled as if electrocuted.
“I saw this raincoat.”
The lightning that had gathered disappeared, and everything was buried in darkness again, but there was one thing shining in fluorescent color.
Creating discord with the surroundings, standing out even more.
That was the raincoat that was the only thing emitting light even in the darkness.
“What bullshit is that, right now?”
Woonghee fluttered backward. These bastards, they’re trying to make a fool out of me again, right? He absolutely couldn’t just take this.
“Don’t you know I received the most food here? If your eyes are fucked, replace your eyeballs instead of framing an innocent person…!”
“No, fuck, I definitely saw it! Even though it’s so fucking dark, only this was clearly visible.”
Assistant Director hyung grabbed his raincoat and pulled it firmly.
“This color was hovering around the food supplies?”
It’s been several days since he took out and wore this raincoat. Because of dirty and sordid memories, he didn’t even want to look at it.
“It looked strange no matter what, so I came quickly, and that bastard was nowhere to be found and all the ramyeon was completely gone!”
Assistant Director hyung clung to him. His eyes had completely gone crazy. He was still the person who had offered him wild boar meat. Now with his eyes completely rolled back like this, he was trying to prove Woonghee’s guilt somehow.
“Oppa…!”
Paeng Hana suddenly screamed. She was looking behind Woonghee and screaming. Anxiously turning his head that way. Her manager was opening the door to the bungalow where Woonghee stayed.
“What are you doing…!”
Woonghee screamed at the top of his lungs. It wouldn’t be heard, blocked by the huge wall made by the rain, but he couldn’t just stay still. He instinctively tried to run in that direction.
“You can’t!”
However, Lee Ijun and the Assistant Director who popped out from behind roughly grabbed his shoulders simultaneously. And soon, Paeng Hana’s manager came out again. With Woonghee’s bag in his hand.
“No—!!”
A tearing scream burst from Woonghee’s mouth. That sound that seemed to tear his throat was a desperate cry. His large pupils shook violently. Don’t touch it, please don’t touch it! Sweat flowed down his forehead, and breath burst out roughly.
There was a reason Woonghee was so desperate. Right now, there were suppressants inside the bag.
“Don’t touch it, you bastard!”
But everyone was blocking him. No one believed him. No, they didn’t want to believe him.
As if time had stopped, the air sank heavily.
“I told you it wasn’t me, I’ll explain everything, I’ll somehow prove it, so give me back my bag!”
However, it produced the opposite effect. When Woonghee resisted even more strongly upon seeing the bag, Assistant Director hyung urged them to open it quickly.
“No…!”
It can’t be, you bastards! He sharply elbowed Assistant Director hyung’s face and grabbed Lee Ijun’s collar. On the sticky sandy beach, no, on the dirty mud, covered in mud, Woonghee vented his resentment.
“You bastard!”
Lee Ijun desperately struggled to never let go while grabbing his clothes. Soon Woonghee’s bag was turned upside down. The contents poured out onto the sandy beach with a clatter. Snap, it felt like the thread of reason in his head was cut off just like that.
“Let go of this, fuck!”
Woonghee’s cry echoed through the dense forest. His fist went out without a single hesitation. Rough and vivid, containing all the anger and fear he’d suppressed until now.
“Let go, you bastard!”
Finally, thwack, Woonghee’s fist violently struck Lee Ijun’s cheek. The air in the quiet jungle twisted in an instant. Birds flew up startled beyond the dense bushes. For a moment, his vision seemed to become murky.
