By Zephyria Not long ago, a high school student jumped from the school roof. It was exactly one month since the missing person’s report had been filed.
They said his face was unrecognizable when he was found. It was swollen, and the skin had turned completely black. Apparently, his entire body was covered in bruises and burn marks.
I knew him. He was a very kind boy. He was the type of kid who never heard a single bad word about himself anywhere…
After the autopsy, his mother called me, sobbing. She said that semen, ejaculated less than a day prior, had been found inside the boy’s body. It was shocking, but I thought the culprit would be easy to catch. I thought, at the very least, we could resolve the boy’s unfair grievance.
But… that wasn’t the case. They said that semen didn’t come from a human body. Do you not understand what I mean? An animal. A four-legged beast covered in fur. They said the semen came from that.
It felt like sparks were flying in my eyes. I felt as if my brain was not just boiling, but melting. My reason vanished completely; I felt like I wouldn’t be satisfied until I smashed everything in sight.
As far as I knew, there was only one bastard capable of doing such a thing. If it wasn’t him, no one could have been that cruel to that boy.
I ran home. Vowing that I would kill him, no matter what.
He was lying on the sofa watching television. He nonchalantly muttered that he had been waiting for me.
Him? I’ve lived in the same house with that bastard for a long time. Since I was eight or nine. We share the same mother. Before that, I lived alone with my grandfather, but after he passed away, I followed my mother up to Seoul.
My mother’s house was truly small. There were five or six doors in one building, and my mother told me that not all of them were our house, so I shouldn’t enter them recklessly.
The second door among them was our home. When you opened the door and went in, there was a narrow kitchen, and next to it was a small single-room apartment.
That was when I first met him, that brat. He was covered in an old blanket in a room cluttered with all sorts of household goods. My mother said that brat was also her son, just like me. I was older.
I was glad when we first met. I thought I finally had a peer to play with, and that I wouldn’t be bored like before. I was mistaken. As soon as I offered a greeting, a pillow flew straight at me. My nose bled. I don’t know who said you can’t spit in the face of a smiling person, but I certainly felt it.
Whenever no one was home, he made it his mission to torment me. Tripping me every time I walked by was a common occurrence. There was even a time he forced my mouth open, shoved a cockroach inside, and wouldn’t let me spit it out. Compared to what I suffered later, that was nothing more than a child’s prank.
I thought he was just acting mischievous because he felt awkward. Since it took time for me to get close to other friends, I thought things would eventually get better with him too.
It was a naive optimism. Even after graduating elementary school and attending middle school, and even after entering high school, he never left me alone.
The reason? Of course, I asked. He answered immediately. “Just because.” Just because. Just because I’m an eyesore, just because I’m unlucky, so just… he said he wanted to kill me. Those were the words that came out of a ten-year-old’s mouth. He wasn’t normal to begin with.
Needless to say about our childhood, that bastard remained unchanged even in high school… That guy, who was always anxious to do something to me whenever he saw me, was never going to look kindly upon my girlfriend. I overlooked that. In the end, it’s all my fault.
My vision went white; I could hear nothing but the sound of my own breathing. He smirked while looking at me. The news of the boy’s suicide was being reported on the television he had left on, yet he was nonchalantly slicing and eating an apple. Then he asked.
Since he came inside him day and night, he wondered if she had happened to get pregnant. He said they had a bet. So he wanted me to tell him. Whether the thing inside that boy’s belly was a human brat or an animal brat.
A loud sound echoed. I couldn’t tell if his jaw had broken or if my swinging fist had broken. The sofa flipped over, and phones, dishes, and flowerpots all fell and shattered. While wrestling with him, I fell backward and hit my head on the floor. My mind went hazy for a moment, and then he lunged at me and strangled my neck. Even then, he was smiling.
I felt like I was going to die. I felt like he was actually going to kill me. I couldn’t die like that. I really… didn’t want to die like that.
I struggled with all my might to get away from him. Just then, I saw a paring knife that had fallen on the floor. I reached out desperately and gripped the knife in my hand. Then, driven by pure rage, I stabbed him in the thigh. Blood erupted like a fountain.
The bastard screamed and wailed that he was going to die. He claimed he would die from a mere wound like that.
“…So, in the end, that’s what happened? You lost self-control. Because you suffered from persecutory delusions for so long, you simply couldn’t endure the demon before your eyes. Is that right?”
The doctor nodded as if he understood everything. His gaze and tone toward the consultee were kind. However, no violence or condemnation could have been more heartless than that.
The man, who had been pouring out his past circumstances, stared at him blankly. He had a youthful face. He tightened his grip on his hand, where bloodstains were still vivid.
“I have no intention of claiming self-defense. But it’s not a persecutory delusion either. Really, everything actually happened. You must have seen it on the news too, Doctor.”
“Yes, well… they say the details will come out once the investigation is conducted.”
The doctor gave a faint smile. The strength suddenly left the body of the man who had been pleading desperately. The two eyes that had appealed for the truth to be recognized became empty.
I cannot escape. A bleak sense of despair overwhelmed the man. He bit his lip hard. He shook his head repeatedly. His fingernails, stained with someone else’s blood, dug deep into the back of his own hand.
“…No.”
“I understand the desire to deny it, but…”
“No, I’m not crazy! The person who should be here isn’t me, it’s that son of a bitch!”
He leaped up and shouted. He slammed the desk with both fists full of indignation. His breathing became ragged, and his face flushed as if it would burst.
Despite the atmosphere becoming quite menacing, the doctor remained unfazed. He simply pressed the call bell quietly. Guards immediately entered and subdued the man. In an instant, his face was slammed into the cement floor.
“Let go! Let me go!”
The doctor stood up and approached the panting man. In his hand, he held a syringe. The cylinder was filled with an unknown drug. The man struggled and resisted, but it was of no use.
“You will be comfortable soon.”
With those chilling words, the cold drug seeped in. Before long, his limbs went limp. The eyelids of the bound man trembled slightly before closing helplessly. Tears flowing down his cheek moistened the dry cement floor.