By Zephyria 
“No… no.”
Eun-myeong shook his head violently. Having gone so long without a haircut, his hair, grown out like a shaggy dog’s, kept poking him in the eyes. He curled his damp hands into fists.
“Then why are you so terrified?”
The man stroked Eun-myeong’s cheek with the back of his hand, telling him not to be afraid. It seemed like a gesture of comfort, but the man’s firm fingerprints rubbed slowly against Eun-myeong’s bristling peach fuzz, as if silencing it one by one.
“I’m… I’m not terrified at all….”
It felt like a giant black spider was rubbing against his cheek. Eun-myeong curled his body even tighter, like a clenched fist. While his mouth said otherwise, in reality, he was terrified.
“This kid is covered in shitty cold sweat….”
The man leaned his forearm on the table, bringing his body closer. The thick scent grew denser and more overpowering. Firm muscles stood out beneath the black shirt. He looked as menacing as a boulder meticulously carved by a master craftsman.
“Is it this damp down below, too?”
Down below? Where was he talking about? Eun-myeong’s mind was so clouded with confusion that he shifted his hips instinctively. Because the floor was heated, the backs of his knees were already soaked. Did this man know that he was wet down there because of the tension…?
“I really don’t know anything, I’ve truly never seen it before.”
Eun-myeong cast his eyes downward. His eyelashes covered his large eyes like eaves. He couldn’t bring himself to meet the man’s gaze, fearing he might see right through him.
The powder scattered around the dismantled crab glittered under the electric light. The man dipped his index finger into the powder and held it out in front of Eun-myeong.
“Mister here went on a business trip to Hong Kong. While he was gone, some shitty bastard released an Omega estrus inducer in a club.”
Eun-myeong looked down at the man’s hand in silence.
“I caught the porter and beat the truth out of him, and he said it came from here.”
The man tapped the table with his index finger.
“What do you think?”
The scattered pieces of the puzzle were beginning to form a picture. The owner dead in the yard, the Noona who had vanished as if fleeing, the appearance of the dark-skinned customer, and the drug inside the crab shell…. It felt as if everything before his eyes was going blank.
The sashimi restaurant owner was lazy and indolent, yet she always insisted on receiving the fish herself. The employees often complained, calling her a money-grubber and saying she did it to make sure they didn’t embezzle any of the fish.
But now, he began to think that might not have been the case….
A few days ago, Eun-myeong had filled the tanks for the last time. Knowing that the owner would never return to this place, he had received the delivery instead and poured the snow crabs into the tanks.
“It might not have been my Noona who did it.”
Eun-myeong spoke up, as if pushed by someone.
“The owner might have done it alone, or with other people.”
Quickly hiding the scene that had surfaced in his mind in a corner of his heart, Eun-myeong shook his head, insisting it couldn’t be. No. It had to not be.
“My Noona isn’t the kind of person to do something like that.”
His emotions began to surge.
“Shhh.”
The man made a hissing sound. A hot breath brushed against his skin. Goosebumps raced down the hollow of Eun-myeong’s spine on his thin back.
“That’s for me to find out.”
It was a warning not to cross the line any further. This is a secret between us, the man added.
“There’s nothing to be afraid of. Just listen to me and let me know when your Noona contacts you.”
His voice was gentle. A hand, hot enough to burn, softly gripped the nape of Eun-myeong’s neck and patted him. The touch was slow enough that one might have mistaken it for kindness.
“Right?”
He would not accept any refusal. How could anyone shake their head in a position like this? Led by an invisible hand, Eun-myeong gave a small nod.
“Good boy.”
A suggestive smile tore across the man’s lips. As if he had finally found his appetite, the man rolled up the sleeves of his black shirt. A silver watch tightened around his wrist, where the bone of his unnervingly large wrist protruded.
The man crunched into a snow crab. The poor crab was shattered and crushed by his strong jaw. Eun-myeong watched as the white flesh of the crab was sucked out with a slurping sound. Strong teeth tore through the soft, fragile meat. It felt as if he himself would be torn to shreds.
Noona.
He must never let Noona meet this man.
Eun-myeong returned home in a daze. With hurried hands, he opened the door and stepped quickly inside.
Under the faint moonlight, the reddish stains filling the yard scratched painfully at Eun-myeong’s eyes. Even if he wanted to believe it was just a dream, those marks told him that the night was by no means a simple nightmare.
“…….”
The sashimi restaurant owner was dead. And he, like an idiot, couldn’t even report it to the police. If a stranger came in and saw it… they would definitely find it suspicious.
A great dilemma overwhelmed Eun-myeong. Should he erase it? …No, then the evidence would be completely gone. It might be better to cover it with something. But what should he cover it with? A box? A mat?
…Ah, something suddenly occurred to him. Eun-myeong went inside the house and brought out something he had left in a corner of the room. It was a half-finished cast net.
Eun-myeong had worked a variety of jobs, almost anything that could make money. Usually, he worked two jobs, sometimes three, and one of them was making cast nets. While working at the sashimi restaurant, he had looked for work that wasn’t bound by a schedule and had taken on this work from the Fisherman Ahjussis.
“…….”
To think he would use it for this. Eun-myeong spread the cast net wide and covered the yard. Although it wasn’t completely invisible because of the holes, it wouldn’t be conspicuous enough to be noticed.
“…Haa.”
Then, he shut the door tight and trudged back into the room.
He picked up the old, faded telephone. Even then, he checked his surroundings once more. He looked toward the window, then toward the door. The desolate countryside village was trapped in darkness, with only the sound of insects lingering.
Press, press. He pushed the buttons one by one. He was calling his Noona. In truth, he didn’t have high expectations. He had already tried several times, but each time he only heard the automated response saying the cell phone was turned off.
“…Three, eight.”
With the feeling of clutching at straws, he pressed the final digit, and then—ring, ring—an unexpected dial tone began to pierce his eardrums. Eun-myeong quickly straightened his back. Please, please pick up… he prayed in his heart.
Then, click, the swirling dial tone cut off. An eternity of silence followed.
“Noona….”
Eun-myeong gripped the receiver with both hands. It was a desperate gesture, as if clinging to the last straw.
“Where on earth are you?”
He wanted to hear her voice, but no sound came from the other end. Was she in a situation where she couldn’t speak? Eun-myeong lowered his voice slightly.
“…Are you in a situation where you can’t talk right now?”
Then just listen, he added softly.
“You’re eating, right? You’re not in a cold place, especially since you’re not feeling well….”
His voice kept wavering. He had waited so long for this. To make sure his voice didn’t crack, Eun-myeong cleared his throat once more.
“Did you go to the hospital? How is your leg? Are you still taking your medicine?”
He murmured for a long time, but no answer came from the other side.
After a moment of silence, Eun-myeong cautiously parted his lips. A wet, smacking sound occurred. His heart was full of things he wanted to ask, but above all, it was time to say the most important thing.
“Listen, a man came to our house.”
Eun-myeong couldn’t bring himself to continue. There were too many words clinging to the edge of his lips. That the man killed the owner, and now he’s looking for Noona. How could he possibly tell her that the man keeps coming to see him to find her whereabouts?
However, the only words he could offer, which he had chewed over time and again, were these.
“Whatever you do, don’t get caught by the gangsters. Don’t even come back.”
Eun-myeong pleaded incessantly. She must absolutely not be caught. Even debts didn’t matter. Even if Jjangja kicked down the front door tomorrow and beat him to a pulp.
“That man seems like a really scary mobster.”
Really, really scary. He swears a lot, he has tattoos on his hands, and the people he brings along look like mobsters too. Eun-myeong rambled, doing his best to convey how terrifying the man was.
It was then. He heard a short, airy laugh from the other end.
The strangely sticky sound of the wind seemed to lick the inside of his ear. Eun-myeong stopped everything. Did he hear it wrong?
“Noona?”
When Eun-myeong called again, the line went dead with a beep, beep.
For several minutes after that, Eun-myeong couldn’t let go of the phone. The moonlight seeped into every corner of the room, illuminating him palely.
It was as if he were possessed by something.