Thinking he couldn’t drag out a proposal that was grateful but couldn’t be accepted, he was about to leave here and find a new place. The monthly rent would be tight but he thought he could somehow earn it.
But then he realized. That to rent a place, naturally his identity had to be verified.
Even if a missing person report is filed for adults, they’re classified as runaways. If people were mobilized to find him, the moment Yunoh’s ID was exposed, his location would be immediately discovered. But he didn’t have the thought, guts, or money to spend money making a fake ID.
Yunoh became disgusted with his own absurd optimism. As if punishing himself, he drew up his knees and buried his head.
His school grades had always been good. His ranking was consistently single digits. But such things meant nothing. Classical literature and non-fiction didn’t help with carefully checking contracts, volleyball and basketball couldn’t prevent violence poured out for the mere reason of dislike. Differentiation and integration couldn’t distinguish what absurd excuses were used to deduct from wages, and ethics and philosophy couldn’t disguise that Yunoh was an existence that had fallen away from being a member of society.
‘They should rather teach how to write contracts, what’s needed, things like that. Shouldn’t school teach methods to function as a person even if suddenly thrown into society?’
Yunoh, fallen into self-loathing, trudged out of the container. Today had been very busy too, and in the midst of that they’d made kimchi so his back and sides ached.
He stared blankly down at the bundle of money he was still holding. He took out one ten-thousand-won bill from the hundred bills and put the rest in his pocket. This kind of crazy behavior was also something he could do because he was that disappointed.
He couldn’t even use it for a deposit. He wanted to take out part of the money he couldn’t use right away and smoke cigarettes. He’d tried alcohol, but since his first experience was disgusting alcohol forced on him at the nightclub, he never wanted to touch it again. Then the only easy transgression left was smoking.
For a moment he felt lost as if he’d lost his goal. He was anxious too. The container he was borrowing was originally going to be sold, so he didn’t know when it would disappear. Right now he could use it gratefully because they cared for him, but what if one day they suddenly told him to leave the container?
Yunoh didn’t want to go back to the nightclub ever again. Though they provided room and board there, he’d never slept properly at night because of hands that would slyly creep into his blankets. The things they gave him to eat were mostly leftover snacks. Because originally they didn’t give the youngest food, saying they needed to establish some discipline. Yet when Yunoh received tips, they’d beat him severely saying he was getting cocky relying on his pretty face. That place was horrible.
Rather, really, if only I were an orphan…. Yunoh soon shook his head violently. He was already disgusted by the terrible thought he just had. You’re trying to go all the way to rock bottom, Kim Yunoh.
Yunoh tottered toward the newly opened convenience store. Though the weather was very cold, he’d come out wearing only a hoodie. Yet he didn’t even feel cold. His head was dazed as if drunk.
“Welcome.”
He heard a voice worn with boredom. Without looking properly, Yunoh nodded and walked around the convenience store for no reason. He went around slowly about twice, but nothing caught his interest.
At the snack corner, he stared blankly at Mont Blanc, then turned his head with a lump in his throat. There was a friend who only ever ate this. He might be in the military now. He might have forgotten Yunoh now.
Yunoh approached the counter with his head deeply bowed.
“A pack of cigarettes… please.”
The part-timer who’d been on their phone glanced up. Then asked in a curt tone.
“Which kind?”
Which kind? He hadn’t thought about that. Flustered, he lifted his head. Before his eyes he saw a small panel decorated with all kinds of colors and hologram coating, saying they were newly released. He pointed at it roughly.
“Th-this one please.”
Without even lifting their head, the part-timer said, “I’ll need to check your ID.” Yunoh, who’d turned twenty-three, was flustered again, not expecting to have his ID checked. The night shift part-timer, convinced that the hesitating Yunoh was a minor, responded in an openly annoyed tone.
“We don’t sell to minors.”
“I’m not a minor….”
“Give me one of these.”
Just then a hand reached out from behind. The hand that placed a card on the counter and slid it forward was very large. Crescent moon-shaped scars were scattered across the knuckles and the watch glittered. Yunoh blankly turned around. The man didn’t even look at the stupid dazed face.
The part-timer naturally didn’t ask for ID and immediately held out the cigarettes. It was exactly what Yunoh had asked for. The man put it in the inner pocket of his suit jacket. And only then did he glance down at Yunoh.
Yunoh wasn’t short. He’d spent most of his school days standing at the very back of the line. But the man was much taller than him. Not just eye level, but the intimidating presence he gave off made Yunoh shrink.
“Ah….”
Realizing he was blocking the man’s way out, Yunoh hurriedly stepped aside.
The situation was ridiculous. He felt unbearably ashamed comparing his circumstances to this man who was clearly a perfect member of society no matter who looked. In the end he fled from the convenience store as if escaping. He stood in front of the door and panted even though he hadn’t run.
A moment later, the door opened. The man standing next to Yunoh lit a cigarette.
“You came out wearing only that? When you can’t even handle the cold well.”
It was a light tone as if asking someone he knew. Though the voice was by no means light. So at first he thought he wasn’t asking him. Even though the content pointed to him, he doubted it.
“You do look young though. Aren’t you twenty-three?”
“…What?”
Yunoh asked back in a daze. It wasn’t even a rough guess but a far too specific and accurate number.
The man put the unlit cigarette back in the pack.
His dark skin looked healthy as if tanned. His eyebrows were thick and he had very abundant hair. Under the lighting his eyes gleamed. Somehow it gave a sense of déjà vu. Yunoh stared at the smoothly rising corners of his mouth. The man had a faint scar on his chin. It was below the chin, so unless you looked up like this it wouldn’t be visible.
When he raised his gaze that had gone down, he met the man’s eyes. The man had been watching Yunoh the whole time. Though his lips clearly formed a curved line, he looked cold as if without blood or tears.
“Done looking?”
It was a very low voice. The man checked his watch. At that calm appearance, even though he was clearly a stranger Yunoh was seeing for the first time, Yunoh strangely became nervous. His heart pounded as if standing on a cliff edge. I want to run away… He felt that suffocating impulse.
“Then I’ll be going.”
“What?”
“Is ‘what’ the only thing you’ve said so far?”
The moment those words ended, a luxury sedan slid in. And someone got out of the driver’s seat. It was that man with the scar on his face that Yunoh had seen this morning. What is this situation right now? Though confused, Yunoh knew he was cornered. So even knowing it was foolish, following his impulse he turned his body and ran.
Because of the cold air, it felt like his lungs were freezing. He ran as if floundering. Then out of breath he opened his mouth wide. The moment he gasped for breath with a “heok,” his waist was grabbed and he was pulled back.
“Caught you…!”
The man laughed as if playing a game. Yunoh was scared to death but he looked happy. Or was he annoyed? The hem of the man’s coat fluttered on both sides of Yunoh. As Yunoh entered the man’s embrace, he struggled. Even knowing it was useless.
The moment he touched the man, goosebumps seemed to rise all over his body. But they weren’t icy goosebumps—they were goosebumps as if sparks had scattered. Though they’d clearly just met, familiar hatred and resentment surged wildly.
“L-let go! I’ll report you. I’ll report you!”
“Report me. Go ahead and report. That way your parents will come too. I have to tell them I found you.”
“Who are you?”
Yunoh asked panting.
“Did my parents send you…?”
At those words, the man laughed loudly.
“Do I look like a teacher to you? You ask a lot of questions.”
He felt excited breath. This place felt not like a developing downtown but like a hunting ground.
“That’s right, Kim Yunoh. Did you enjoy your outing?”
“Let go, I said let go… Let go!”
The man dragged Yunoh. But when he kept struggling, he eventually lifted him up. Yunoh was shocked by the fact that he was lifted so easily. The man hoisted Yunoh over his shoulder like a sack of luggage and firmly wrapped his arms around his waist and thighs.
“Open the door.”
Before he knew it, they were in front of the car. Instinctively, he realized that if he got in here, it would really be the end. The man pushed Yunoh into the car, and Yunoh didn’t give up, grabbing onto the door frame to try to escape.
The man pressed his palm against Yunoh’s chest. In one motion, he was pushed back and pinned down. He couldn’t breathe. He was playing with a grown man as if he were a toy. It was tremendous strength.
Still pressing down on Yunoh with his palm, the man closed the door. Then he said casually to the driver’s seat.
“Let’s go.”
“Let go of this, let go…!”
“You know who I am.”
The man tilted his head and whispered. Then suddenly, as if he might bite his ear, Yunoh tensed up completely. When he flinched with an “Ugh,” his shoulders shrinking, the other man, who had been staring at him intently, loosened his grip slightly.
“That’s why you’re resisting like this, I suppose.”
“Heo-eok, huk…”
