<Interrogation Record of Home Invasion Robbery Attempt Victim (Hwang Jegu, 14 years old)>
Answer: I fucking hate fire.
Question: Why are you suddenly talking about fire?
Answer: I had a dream when I was young, the house all burned down in a fire and I escaped alone. That fire was really, a big fire is really hot. You know?
Question: Well.
Answer: But it turned out that wasn’t a dream, it was real. I don’t know what happened to the family members who couldn’t get out of the fire. I was left at an orphanage and that was the end.
Question: Okay, let’s stop talking about things unrelated to the case now. You need to tell me about yesterday’s situation in as much detail as possible. You were at home with your grandfather when a robber broke in and threatened you to hand over money, right? In the process of blocking the threat, you were stabbed deeply in your right arm and you took the robber’s knife and stabbed him back the same way.
Answer: Yes.
Question: Let’s speak nicely. If you express it that way, it’ll be difficult for you to be recognized for self-defense. Not ‘stabbed him back’ but that you attacked in fear.
Answer: That bastard’s build was tiny compared to me though?
Question: Whether you’re big or not, you’re a minor and the weak one. You swung the knife because you felt your life was threatened, how can you make such jokes? You almost died from excessive bleeding. Do you know how many dozens of stitches they sewed in your arm? The perpetrator has to receive treatment for life.
Answer: Then he decided to commit robbery but broke into our house without being prepared to take on that level of risk?
Question: Jegu-ya. Your words.
Answer: No, of course. Even if it sucks, that grandfather is my blood. Even though he left me to grow up in the orphanage until I turned twelve so he could use me for work, then discharged me. Should I just stay still when he’s trying to stab?
Question: Right. You stabbed by mistake because you were scared, right?
Answer: What changes if you stay still?
Question: Right.
Answer: If you stay still, nothing changes. No one protects you. That’s the world. Eat or be eaten. If I hadn’t been this big, I wouldn’t have been able to be on top even in the orphanage.
Question: That could be because you have leadership, so the kids liked you and followed you.
Answer: Ahjussi, I’m not an idiot…. Where in the world is there kindness without reason?
Question: You got along well because you grew fond of each other and liked each other, don’t think so crookedly. I understand that you were hurt in various ways growing up, but.
Answer: No. There’s no such thing in this world. There’s no love without reason either.
<Case Summary>
Suspect Choi XX broke into the residence of victims Hwang Cheolgu and Hwang Jegu, resulting in an attempted robbery.
During the physical struggle, mutual special assault occurred between Hwang Jegu and the suspect.
Suspect Choi XX claimed excessive self-defense charges, arguing that victim Hwang Jegu took the weapon and inflicted excessive harm on the suspect. However, it was recognized as legitimate self-defense given that the suspect was carrying a weapon when he trespassed on the residence and first made threats and caused harm, and that it was an attack to protect an elderly person who had difficulty resisting and a 14-year-old minor.
PAUSE (2)
– 2003 –
Suddenly my life doesn’t seem such a waste
It all revolves around you
And there’s no mountain too high no river too wide
Yeon Cheonguk’s sparkling pupils spread wide. The male and female duet harmonized as it headed toward the climax.
It was his first time properly watching a musical film. He’d only known about vomiting emotions toward the audience alone. But songs could be vessels carrying stories and conveying them to the whole world! They could pile up and pile up emotions within a story and express them through song! The actors poured out rough waves not only with their singing ability but also with gestures and expressions. They manipulated them as they pleased.
It was a catharsis on a different dimension from the rising action and resolution within a single song. This was what musicals were.
Yeon Cheonguk rewound and watched the video for days on end. Until he memorized the songs. He replayed the sections where his favorite songs appeared over and over.
In the early 2000s when Skylife satellite TV and home theater systems began to spread, videos were becoming outdated media.
There was no decent place to watch. After the electricity was cut off in the empty house, he even went to the library multimedia room to watch. While searching ‘how to become a musical actor’ at PC rooms, he ended up memorizing the names of famous first-generation musical actors by heart.
Yeon Cheonguk became completely hooked on the art that combined story, emotion, and song.
His father who acted tyrannically at home, releasing the suppressed stress he got from work, his mother who couldn’t talk back even once, his older sister who’d stopped coming home with the excuse of juggling part-time work and studies—they were all the same. But a new path opened up before Yeon Cheonguk.
“I’m your number one fan. Remember, Yeon!”
The juice shop owner who came to pick up Yeon Cheonguk shouted in a gentle voice. Yeon Cheonguk bowed his head and got in the passenger seat. The radio was again reporting news of Lee Seungyeop’s home runs.
– This is the news for 2003, month XX, day XX. Lee Seungyeop’s home run record is extraordinary. Baseball fans gathering in the outfield seats with butterfly nets to catch Lee Seungyeop’s home run balls created quite a spectacle. On days when the Samsung Lions play, the baseball stadium is….
Broadcasting industry contacts who had heard Yeon Cheonguk’s singing introduced him to several record planning agencies. However, it was difficult to find an agency that wanted to develop a ballad singer. The competition was already too fierce, and there were too many solo singers with excellent singing ability who disappeared after debuting with their first album. When he flatly refused the persuasive question of whether he’d consider the dance singer or idol group direction instead, there were only two agencies that offered contracts.
He waited through meetings here and there until the year changed, but the results weren’t great. Still, the fact that there were companies that wanted contracts was hope for Yeon Cheonguk.
His vocal cords, which had suffered burns from toxic gas, had also fully recovered. There was no problem in making and producing songs. Now that his throat condition had returned to its best, he felt like he could live.
Today he was on his way back from touring the practice room and recording studio of one of the two companies. Since the fact that Yeon Cheonguk was preparing to debut as a singer must not be known to his family, the juice shop owner helped him out in many ways. He often came to pick him up like today.
The owner, who glanced at Yeon Cheonguk organizing sheet music for his favorite songs, asked.
“<Come What May>? It’s a pop song I don’t know, what song is it?”
“It’s not a pop song, it’s a musical number. Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman sang it together.”
“Musical?”
The owner, who had been tilting his head, narrowed his brow.
“The performance scene is famous for being hungry…. If you release an album, run on music shows, and hold one concert, you earn dozens of times more money than performance appearance fees. Of course, that’s when you’ve made it… but you’ll definitely succeed.”
“It’s not like I’m saying I’ll do musicals right away. First, I just need to prepare and graduate high school safely.”
The people he met while preparing for his debut never once asked why Yeon Cheonguk loved singing. Strangely, not a single person was interested in that. No matter how much it was the entertainment business, from start to finish it was all about money.
Even people who called themselves broadcasting station contacts demanded introduction fees, and agencies demanded investment funds needed for practice and lessons.
The owner readily stepped forward and lent him five million won in investment funds. It was an amount difficult for a student to raise without parental help. He was grateful that they recognized Yeon Cheonguk’s potential and helped him, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that they were excessively conscious of his relationship with Hwang Jegu.
“There’s no problem with that friend you briefly hung out with in the past, right?”
When school talk came up, he asked again subtly. When Yeon Cheonguk kept his mouth shut, the owner added unnecessarily.
“If a problem occurs after investing this much time and money, you’ll be in trouble more than anyone. I can make excuses to the hyung who connected us saying I didn’t know, but the public is merciless.”
“Sunbae-nim. I should buy you a worry doll next time.”
“Haha… You still go to the same school. I’m worried, that’s why. Sorry if it was uncomfortable.”
His father, the juice shop owner, and the violent crimes detective all urged Yeon Cheonguk to transfer schools with one voice. Yeon Cheonguk answered indifferently.
“That problem child will be expelled soon, so why should I go to that trouble? He doesn’t even touch me anymore.”
It was true. Hwang Jegu and Yeon Cheonguk had no occasions to meet, whether inside or outside school. Their relationship was completely over.
The day after Typhoon Rammasun passed,
Mild air briefly cooled the summer and cicadas cried peacefully.
After that, he didn’t seek out Yeon Cheonguk again, and Yeon Cheonguk didn’t seek him out either.
Hwang-je began ruling his territory again as he always had. One day when they passed in the hallway, Hwang Jegu rolled his eyes down and looked at Yeon Cheonguk. The eyes with no message were so intense that a chill ran down to the back of his neck.
That was the end. A gaze and disregard so short it couldn’t be counted in seconds.
On that day, as if the sticky and long kiss in the stormy midday had never happened, they completely separated.
