By Zephyria 
His solar plexus sank; he felt as if he’d collapsed. His heart, the size of a fist, thundered against his ribs as if it were about to burst right through his lower abdomen.
“That… that’s nothing, really.”
Eun-myeong’s freckled face twitched. His mouth moved of its own accord. Even though he knew this wasn’t the right thing to say, he babbled whatever came out, feeling as though he had to vomit out some kind of excuse.
“Is that so?”
The man smiled languidly. He stretched his long arms high above his head. A scent, strong enough to crush the bridge of one’s nose, wafted over him even more intensely.
Eun-myeong would have had to stand on a chair to barely reach, but the man could easily touch the ceiling just by reaching up. His large hand grasped the circular light fixture.
Screech, screech, screeeech….
Then, he began to unscrew the light. The joints grew looser and looser. Thump, thump. With every turn, Eun-myeong’s heart tightened more painfully.
Finally, the man lowered the light. There, in the center of the lampshade coated in pale dust, lay Noona’s notebook.
“My god, what is this, hm?”
Press, the rounded edge of the notebook pressed firmly into Eun-myeong’s lower abdomen.
“Why don’t you read it.”
As he hesitated, a terrifyingly urgent prompt followed: hurry up. Eun-myeong slowly reached out with trembling hands. He swallowed hard. He gradually opened the notebook, which had grown warm from the light.
“18 snow crabs, 21 red crabs, 36 horsehair crabs….”
His lips trembled like waves as he picked out each word.
When he had first looked into this notebook, it had simply been baffling. He had dismissed it, thinking Noona might have been taking orders for the shop. …But what would the man think? Eun-myeong rolled his eyes upward. He flinched, immediately meeting a lewd gaze.
“Shitty bastard, even the crabs have hair. Something a kid doesn’t even have.”
Eun-myeong’s face flushed red, like a fillet of salmon. Saying he had no hair was not true. Eun-myeong’s groin was definitely covered in hair. Though it was sparse and soft like head hair, he certainly didn’t have alopecia.
However, the situation had sunk to such a terrifying level that he couldn’t possibly stop to correct such a detail. The man spoke in a flat, toneless voice.
“The next part.”
“27 snow crabs, red crabs….”
…He felt like he was going to die of fear. The light, now even more dazzling with the cover removed, pierced Eun-myeong’s eyes like thorns. He felt as if he were pickled in the emotion of dread. He wished he could just bite his tongue hard enough to pass out.
Would this man beat him? Torture him…? Or….
In his blurring vision, the man’s finger appeared. To be more precise, he caught a glimpse of the man’s middle finger, which didn’t seem to bend properly. The man was quietly biting the side of his middle finger. He was biting it quite deeply, making the bone in his jaw stand out.
Only after reading through to the very last page did Eun-myeong close the notebook.
“Anything else you’re hiding?”
For a moment, the phone call he’d had with Noona flashed through his mind. Eun-myeong slowly shook his head.
“No.”
His lowered eyelashes fluttered. The light from the lamp gathered on his lashes like water droplets, scattering white. Eun-myeong looked down at the floor, feeling like a death-row prisoner awaiting his final ultimatum. He stared at the yellowish linoleum, the floor that had bubbled up from age.
If he knew this would happen, he should have hidden it on the floor further away from the man’s eyes. No, he should have burned it. No, he should have cast it out to sea.
But no matter how much he regretted it, it was already too late; Eun-myeong was now at the man’s mercy.
The man slid his hand inside his jacket and pulled out a lighter. He opened the lid of the lighter, which had a rough surface like crocodile leather, flicked the wheel, and lit a cigarette.
Then, he held his cell phone to his ear.
“Come in.”
It wasn’t even a matter of minutes. Perhaps only a thumb’s length of time had passed. Bear opened the door and stepped into the room.
“Boss, you called?”
“Search this room thoroughly again. Rip up the wallpaper and tear up the flooring.”
“Yes, sir.”
Bear’s boots began to ruthlessly trample the floor. Countless black footprints appeared. Then, Bear sliced through the wallpaper with a knife. The wall, stabbed in its side, revealed its shabby interior. Rip, he tore the wallpaper away without mercy.
Eun-myeong watched with a heart in his mouth. Then what happens to me now? The man standing beside him breathed heavily. He seemed incredibly angry because of Eun-myeong.
Just then, Bear lifted a blanket laid out on one side. A single handkerchief fluttered out.
“…Oh.”
Eun-myeong looked on in dismay. He had personally and gently hand-washed it. The texture was so soft to the touch, but the pattern was excessively flashy, making it look strangely vulgar. He didn’t know for sure, but it was definitely expensive, so he had washed it while trembling, fearing he’d be held accountable and forced to pay for it if it got dirty.
Moreover, fearing it might wrinkle, he had tucked it under the pillow. That way, it would flatten out as if it had been ironed. He never imagined it would pop out now.
“…….”
The man reached down to the floor. He picked up his handkerchief and buried his nose deep into it. Then, as if inhaling a drug, his eyes rolled back.
“…Mmm.”
The man’s breath, which had been huffing with rage, calmed slightly. He gradually found his rhythm. Eun-myeong cowered, hunching his shoulders. Since it was his own, his own scent would be the strongest; why on earth was he acting like this? Eun-myeong couldn’t understand him at all.
“Go out and get in my car.”
The man urged him while still keeping his nose buried in the handkerchief. Eun-myeong swallowed hard. Was it finally time for his punishment…? The world before his eyes grew distant.
Unbeknownst to him, it had begun to rain outside. A pitch-black car sped blindly through the rainy road. It felt as if they were diving into an underwater cave.
“…….”
A heavy silence followed. The stillness pressed against his skin like atmospheric pressure. Eun-myeong’s legs were shaking violently. His feet, clad in slippers, were soaked, dripping water everywhere.
He had been caught lying to the man. This might truly be his last chance. No matter where the destination was, if he couldn’t escape from here, he was truly finished.
The car, which had been racing fiercely down the road, came to a stop at a traffic light. It was a quiet movement. Eun-myeong was looking out the window, and from the opposite side, a yellow light flickered through the foggy glass. It was a taxi.
‘…Now’s the chance.’
If he missed this moment, there might be no more opportunities. Eun-myeong flung the door open and jumped out. He didn’t even have time to properly put on one of his slippers. As he ran toward the taxi across the street, he slipped on the rainwater and fell. His knee throbbed as if it had been crushed.
“Mister!”
He hurried forward and banged on the window—thump, thump, thump! Through the blurred window streaked with rain, he saw the startled face of the driver.
“Mister, please help me!”
As he shouted for help, he heard a click. Assuming the door had been unlocked, he pulled the handle. But to his surprise, it wouldn’t open. The driver’s face was completely terrified. Most frighteningly, the driver’s eyes were not on Eun-myeong.
“…H-huh.”
Slowly, very slowly, he turned around to find the man approaching. Drenched in water and clad in black, he looked incredibly sinister. He drew closer and closer.
“Ha, hic….”
Eun-myeong slid down the side of the taxi. He hurriedly pulled his cell phone from his pocket. While pressing 1, 1, 2, the remaining slipper on his foot was swept away by the rain. The man pulled a wad of bills from the wallet in his hand and tapped the taxi.
Only then did the taxi window slide open—just a crack, a tiny crack. The driver snatched the bills and quickly closed the window again, speeding away with a roar. A puddle splashed by the tires drenched Eun-myeong.
“Mister, wait!”
The man hoisted Eun-myeong over his shoulder like a piece of luggage. The whole world appeared upside down. The sky where rain poured down, the drifted-away slipper, the empty road…. And his abandoned hope.
To make matters worse, his cell phone slipped from his wet hand with a thud. It flowed along with the streaming rainwater and slid right down into a storm drain.
Step by step, the man returned to the car. With a beep, the trunk opened. Eun-myeong was placed directly into the dark trunk.
“H-hu….”
Drenched like a little rat, he looked up at the man. Whether it was because of the chill or the fear rising to the top of his head, his body shook violently. He was overcome with chills. His teeth chattered loudly.
“Baby, should I just leave you in the trunk like this?”
Eun-myeong looked around. Then, realizing what was around his hips, he gasped. All sorts of tools were loaded there. Hammers, sledgehammers, even sashimi knives. He didn’t know why knives were there, but the sharp edges were stained with blood.
“No, no….”
Eun-myeong shook his head frantically. Raindrops splattered in all directions. Fearing the man might abandon him, he reached out with both hands and grabbed the man’s collar. The damp shirt crumpled under his grip.
“If you hated it so much, why did you run away?”
A low voice drifted through the sound of the rain violently striking the surroundings. At the toneless voice, Eun-myeong’s lower jaw trembled. The tip of his tongue tasted salty. It felt as if tears were flowing and pooling in his mouth.
“Ugh, hu, hic….”
He wanted to ask how he could possibly not run away. He had seen what happened to the sashimi restaurant owner; how could he be dragged along quietly? As Eun-myeong’s shoulders shook and tears streamed down, the man heartlessly raised his upper body. Then, he stretched his thick, long arm upward. He was about to close the trunk.
“Aaaah!”
Screaming, Eun-myeong quickly pushed himself up. He gripped the man’s waist tightly with his fists.
“I’m sorry, I won’t run away, I won’t lie anymore!”
The thought of being trapped in a coffin-like darkness was so terrifying it felt like his brain was slipping out of the back of his head. He wasn’t even sure if he could breathe properly. He didn’t want to be locked in with weapons that had who-knows-what on them. Desperate to survive, Eun-myeong repeatedly muttered that he was sorry and begged him to spare him.
“Are you going to keep acting like a baby, disobeying and throwing tantrums?”
“No, no….”
Eun-myeong wept uncontrollably. He wanted to get out of the trunk quickly, but with the man standing there like a concrete wall, that was impossible. All Eun-myeong could do was repeatedly rub his cheek against the man’s warm chest. Tears leaked steadily from his eyes onto the man’s skin.
“You have to listen to me for me to treat you with proper human decency.”
The man let out a heavy sigh. Then, he slid his hand under Eun-myeong’s side. Eun-myeong flinched and shrank back, but thinking that if he didn’t obey quietly, the man might actually leave him here this time, he wrapped his arms around the man’s neck. He sniffled, swallowing his tears.