The wavering lamplight cast deep shadows across Consort Hwa’s face. The strangely dancing light threw the blunt, prominent features into even sharper relief. The high forehead, the curved bridge of the nose, and the deep-set eye sockets swelled and receded in the flickering flame.
The murky light that failed to properly illuminate the darkness, the smell of medicine sharp enough to sting the nose, and Consort Hwa’s unsettling face — they began to seep into Ha-hyeon’s mind. And then —
This place……
The cold execution frame transformed into yellowed linoleum flooring. The walls and ceiling of dark heavy wood became a single small room with faded wallpaper.
On the ceiling of the narrow room thick with the smell of mold, a fluorescent light had died and gone a grimy, dark gray — a pitiable presence that no longer served its purpose. The inside of the light cover was certainly packed full of dead midges.
Sa Ha-hyeon was beneath that murky, dim light. To face the terror swallowing him whole, he bit his lower lip hard and forced his eyes wide open. Before him stood men enormous as giants, their postures threatening.
There was nowhere to run in a room barely the size of a palm. The only narrow exit was already sealed off by those savage men, standing there like a massive wall.
He had considered screaming. But it would have been useless. The neighborhood he lived in was that kind of place from the very start. A place so mercilessly barren that even if someone were beaten to death in the next room, people would only click their tongues, busy enough just keeping themselves alive, and bolt their own doors.
Thud —
The thought shattered under horrific pain. A man’s hard leather shoe kicked Ha-hyeon’s shin. The lip he bit to hold back the pain bled. Ha-hyeon gasped and pulled the corner of the cotton blanket bundled behind him down to the floor. It was as though he was desperately trying to conceal whatever was inside it.
“Why are you pulling down a blanket there’s no use for…… Ah, right. I heard you have a younger sister. Heh heh — looking at you, your sister’s probably quite a looker.”
The one who appeared to be the ringleader among the giants standing there spoke. Consort Hwa’s face overlapped with his and then disappeared.
That arrogant gaze, that vile smirking mouth, a tongue darting rapidly in and out between red lips — a predator was eyeing the space behind Ha-hyeon’s back.
Not Wol! No wait…… it’s not Wol. My little sister. The only blood I have in this world.
He could not hand that child over to these animals.
Behind him, the blanket trembled in small, rapid shudders. His sister had heard the man’s revolting words and was shaking with terror. Ha-hyeon reached his arm behind him and pressed down firmly on the corner of the blanket again.
Don’t come out. Don’t even breathe.
Ha-hyeon glared at them with the intensity of someone ready to kill if they took one more step closer.
“Why the hell is this little punk staring like that.”
The heavy leather bag the man was holding slammed into the side of Ha-hyeon’s head. The corner of the bag, studded with metal rivets, struck his forehead and hot blood ran down, dyeing his vision red.
“Ugh!”
He hadn’t wanted to let out a sound — his sister would panic — but he couldn’t suppress the moan. And sure enough, a small, muffled sob came from behind him. The man laughed, low and cruel.
It was then. From outside came the blaring of a siren.
“What is that? The hell, is that the cops?”
No. Not the police. That wasn’t a police car siren — it was an ambulance. In this neighborhood where broken bottles and people coughing up blood were everyday sights, emergency units rolling out every other day was nothing unusual. To Ha-hyeon, this wretched sound was nothing but the background noise of daily life.
But these outsiders didn’t seem to catch that subtle difference. And that was a very good thing.
“Thought you could act tough because you’re small, huh. Pulling something like this.”
The man’s face twisted in irritation as he raised his fist. The violence-laden knuckles looked ready to smash Ha-hyeon’s face in at any moment. Just then, one of the men standing behind the ringleader grabbed his shoulder urgently.
“Let’s get out of here. We can always come back later. It’s a headache if the cops show up.”
But the man wasn’t ready to back down so easily. He fixed Ha-hyeon with a gaze heavy with suspicion. He was the type with sharp animal instincts.
“Wait. Something feels off.”
“Damn it, I’m saying let’s go first!”
“You guys wait here. I’ll step out and check.”
The man clicked his tongue and went out first. But the ones left behind had no intention of listening to him. Terrified at the prospect of the police arriving, they scrambled out after him in a rush, fleeing.
The siren that had been growing loud enough to split eardrums was now fading in the distance. The men who had stepped outside would notice this too, and come back.
Ha-hyeon quickly turned around and threw the blanket aside.
“Hurry!”
He scooped up his little sister where she was curled up trembling and lifted her, shoving her up through the small ventilation window set near the ceiling.
“No. I don’t want to go. I’m scared, I want to stay with you……”
His sister sobbed, her small fern-like hands gripping the window frame and refusing to let go.
“No. Go now! There’s no time!”
Ha-hyeon pried her hands from the frame and shouted.
“I’ll come get you soon. I’ll be there right away, so go — now! You remember the meeting place, right? Hide there and don’t come out no matter what. Absolutely do not come out!”
“Opp— hic……”
“I said go!”
Ha-hyeon forced his crying sister through the window. A muffled thud of landing, and the child’s sobs faded into the distance. And then —
“You little—!”
Having confirmed the siren was fading, the men came crashing back into the room. Their eyes swept between the empty space behind the blanket and the open ventilation window.
“We lost her! Damn it, she was the one that was worth money!”
Their rage turned entirely on Ha-hyeon, who had been left behind.
“You dare play us?”
Merciless violence came pouring down. There wasn’t even time to beg for his life. Hands still small, a body not yet fully grown — they were trampled without mercy.
“Please stop. Don’t come near me! No!”
Ha-hyeon screamed like an animal and thrashed wildly. Even bound to the frame, the ghosts of the past had taken hold — the elaborately silk-clad man before his eyes was nothing but a monstrous giant coming to crush him.
What silenced the hysteria was a sharp, cracking sound.
Smack!
Sa Ha-hyeon’s head snapped to the side. The pain that threatened to split the inside of his cheek open pulled his mind free from the horrific memory and dragged it back to reality. The rough breathing gradually slowed, and Ha-hyeon’s eyes began to find their focus again. The yellowed linoleum was gone. The murky light cover was gone. The rough men were gone.
In their place stood Consort Hwa and the Grand Empress Dowager, looking down at him with contemptuous smiles.
“Coming back to your senses, are you. Songbaek.”
“…….”
Consort Hwa’s face was right up against his. Close enough to count each individual eyelash. Ha-hyeon’s pupils trembled under the suffocating pressure of that proximity. Consort Hwa watched Ha-hyeon’s terror-stricken eyes as though savoring it, then slowly let his gaze travel downward. It came to rest on Ha-hyeon’s smooth shins.
“Grand Empress Dowager, what would you think of breaking Songbaek’s legs? That way, she won’t be able to wander about the palace as though it were her own home.”
“……Insane.”
Ha-hyeon muttered in a low voice. This was not right in the head. Saying something like breaking a person’s legs so casually.
“Oh, as expected of Consort Hwa. What an excellent idea. Yes indeed. For those who won’t listen to words, a sharp lesson is the better remedy. With Songbaek’s sturdy build, a small break will heal right up soon enough. What are you all standing around for — prepare to break this one’s legs at once!”
The Grand Empress Dowager slapped the end of her fan against her palm with a sharp crack, looking thoroughly pleased. At the falling command, the eunuchs and maidservants moved with swift, uniform efficiency. One eunuch brought out a thick block of wood. He released the binding around Ha-hyeon’s right ankle. He slid the wooden block beneath the shin, then tied the ankle down again so it could not move.
Then another eunuch approached Ha-hyeon’s side carrying a thick black iron rod, wider than an arm. Sa Ha-hyeon understood at last what they intended to do.
The Grand Empress Dowager raised her fan to cover the corner of her mouth and laughed softly.
“Checking what’s below your navel can wait until after the leg is broken — it won’t be too late. If it becomes too much to bear, go ahead and faint. That might make things slightly more comfortable.”
The eunuch laid the iron rod across Ha-hyeon’s shin. The cold the metal had been holding transferred to his skin. Goosebumps spread across his entire body. The eunuch braced himself and gripped both ends of the rod, and began pressing it down onto Ha-hyeon’s shin.
“Ugh, ngh……!”
Ha-hyeon screamed in agony. If this continued, his leg would break. The extreme terror of never being able to walk properly again, the indescribable pain, and the violent memories from just moments ago that had stormed before his eyes — everything tangled together and tore through Ha-hyeon’s mind.
What forcibly dragged his drifting consciousness back to the surface was a deafening crash. Someone had broken down the door, and the sealed room became chaos in an instant.
“Stop! Stop this at once!”
He thought he heard a thunderous shout. But to Ha-hyeon’s ears it reached him as nothing more than a blurred, muffled noise, as though his head were submerged in water. Then the crushing pressure on his leg disappeared.
“It hurts……. Please, please…… stop…….”
Ha-hyeon instinctively twisted his body. He was afraid that more violence was about to come. But the arms that held him were not rough. If anything, they were so careful it seemed as though whoever held him feared he might shatter — a gentle, aching tenderness wrapped around Ha-hyeon. It was warm.
“……I’m sorry. I’m sorry I was late.”
Who was this. Ha-hyeon was the one in pain — so why was this person on the verge of tears. His vision was too blurred to make out who it was. Then strong arms carefully raised his limp body upright.
“Imperial Guard Commander — take Yeong-ui out. What is everyone doing — go summon the imperial physician at once!”
Ha-hyeon’s body floated up into the air once more.
A short while later, fabric carrying the full chill of winter touched Ha-hyeon’s cheeks, burning like fire. Ha-hyeon blinked slowly. Without knowing when, the darkness of the sealed room had lifted — and the world had turned blindingly bright, as though the previous darkness had been a lie. Outside, white snowflakes were still falling silently.
“Instructor?”
“Are you alright?”
“……How did you know to come? I — it really…… hurt like hell. If I’d known it would come to this, I should have learned more self-defense……”
Ha-hyeon’s murmuring couldn’t reach its end. The moment the relief of being alive severed the last thread of tension, his head dropped weakly. And then, pitch-black darkness swallowed Sa Ha-hyeon’s consciousness entirely.
