DS 1

Emperor’s Palace Seafood

Noona hasn’t come home for several days. There has been no word from her, neither by phone nor text.

Eun-myeong stared at the empty room. The tiny room, utterly shabby, had now completely lost the warmth of a human presence.

…Where on earth could she have gone?

Did she sink into the ground like a sigh, or soar into the sky like smoke? In what corner is she curled up like a pill bug? It’s not as if doing that would help her avoid the debts or the debt collectors.

His clever and smart Noona couldn’t possibly not know that. She had mastered the alphabet before entering elementary school, and even now, she could handle calculations with ease. He wanted to believe she was just dreaming of a brief escape, that he could brush it off as something that simple….

The problem was those damn gangster bastards. They were no different from crocodiles floating in a swamp. With their necks submerged deep in the water, they watched them relentlessly. They were so quick-witted. Just a few days ago, he had been beaten until he lost his senses.

That day, Eun-myeong had merely shifted his hips a few times on the blanket.

‘Huh?’

But Jjangja tilted his head askew. The hand that had been briskly counting banknotes stopped. The man’s eyes flashed sharply.

‘Look at this little shit.’

The hair on the back of Eun-myeong’s neck stood on end. His fear reached its absolute peak.

‘Why are you acting like a puppy that needs to shit today?’

I’m, I’m screwed…. Eun-myeong froze, his body stiffening. He had hidden eight thousand won beneath his buttocks. When he clenched his fists tight for fear of being caught, the man immediately narrowed his eyes.

‘This fucker, you’re acting way too suspicious.’

‘I’m not, nothing is suspicious, Hyung.’

While saying it was nothing with his mouth, Eun-myeong bit hard on the tip of his tongue.

‘Not suspicious, my ass. You’re fucking suspicious right now.’

Bang! A white flash of lightning struck before his eyes. A fist hammered into his temple as if nailing a wall.

‘Ugh!’

Eun-myeong collapsed sideways. Flap, the blanket fluttered like a flag. The money, which had been pressed flat against the yellow linoleum by his buttocks, flew before his eyes.

‘…You little piece of shit!’

He was immediately rolled up in the blanket like a silkworm cocoon. Thud, thud, he was beaten mercilessly until dust flew everywhere.

‘Ugh, ugh….’

The fists were incredibly stinging. He truly lived up to the nickname Jjangja, which meant ‘the cock who won with his fists.’

If he let out even a single groan, he would be beaten twice as much for being unlucky. Eun-myeong clenched his fist and shoved it into his mouth. Saliva leaked down his wrist. Even while gasping and being beaten, his only thought was that he was glad Noona wasn’t here.

‘Hng, ugh, hmph.’

Noona returned home only at dawn. To pay off the debt, she and he worked themselves to the bone at a sashimi restaurant, but the restaurant was no different from a labor camp.

Despite being exhausted from working all day, Noona held Eun-myeong’s face and wept continuously.

‘Why did you do it, why! Do you know or not that those bastards count the money several times a day!’

Noona brought out a cold egg. She gently rubbed Eun-myeong’s eyelids, which were swollen like glutinous rice cakes.

‘Ngh….’

Eun-myeong shivered down his spine from the pain. Even a slight pressure felt excruciatingly stinging.

‘Do I have to come home after work and see your face like this, cough, like this?’ Cough, cough.

Even her words of frustration were mixed with coughing. Eun-myeong bit his lower lip tight. He felt like beating himself up one more time.

‘Why on earth do you do things you don’t normally do and get beaten, you…. If you need money, just tell me.’

Tell me, what on earth was the money for? Noona asked over and over.

Despite that, Eun-myeong kept his mouth shut tight like an unpurged clam. He simply cast his long, thick eyelashes downward. He stared at the peeling yellow linoleum as if honey had been smeared on it.

‘Huh? I told you to speak, what were you going to use it for…! Cough, cough, cough, cough….’

As the coughing grew worse, Eun-myeong lifted his moist eyes.

‘I’m sorry…, I won’t do it again, so please don’t be angry.’

Even though she wasn’t feeling well….

It wasn’t for anything else; it was for the cost of briquettes. Noona limped on one leg and had been exceptionally frail since childhood. Whenever it was a winter this cold, she invariably suffered from a cold in her neck.

Due to the family’s crushing poverty, they couldn’t even take her to a hospital comfortably. He had no money, no ability, and little education; the only thing he could do for Noona was this clumsy act of embezzlement.

…Thump, thump.

A desolate sound tapped against the thin window. It was hard to tell if the uninvited guest knocking was the biting winter wind blowing outside or the sound of Noona’s sobbing.

A room more wretched than a mouse hole. The two of them hid in the darkness, clutching their mangled hearts, weeping and aching throughout the dawn.

Yes, that was only a week ago. And it has now been four days since Noona disappeared.

The surroundings were very quiet. With no one by his side, a cold silence pierced his flank. At times like this, useless thoughts would wander, so he had to force himself to move.

“…Ah.”

Come to think of it, there is nothing to eat at home. Noona will be hungry when she returns. I shouldn’t just stay like this; I should at least buy some ramen. Eun-myeong covered his pale face with a large hood. The skin, mottled with deep purple bruises, vanished.

Outside was dark. It was long past evening. Jingle, jingle, he walked home carrying only two meager packs of ramen. Knowing that there was no one waiting for him, his pace naturally slowed.

Then, Eun-myeong noticed that the door to his house in the distance was slightly open.

“…Noona?”

Noona must have returned. His pace quickened instantly with anticipation. Huff, huff. Panting, Eun-myeong quickly pushed the gate open with his palm. Screech, a repulsive metallic sound scratched his ears.

“Where on earth did you go without saying anything, especially when you’re not feeling well. I bought ramen, so with some kimchi….”

The red lips that were muttering closed in an instant. It was because of a sharp sense of incongruity that rushed over his entire body.

…What is this fishy smell?

It was different from the characteristic fishy smell of sashimi; it was a scent that made the back of his neck freeze. He felt as if he had definitely smelled it somewhere before.

Next, his vision was dyed entirely in crimson.

“…Gasp!”

The yard was a sea of blood.

While Eun-myeong stood frozen like a person tied up in ropes, covering his mouth with his palm, something writhed in the corner like a pitch-black snake.

“Fuck….”

And then, the voice of an unfamiliar man was heard. Thud, the bag dropped from Eun-myeong’s hand. The man, who had been crouching, slowly stood up. The moonlight smoothly drenched his large frame.

“Wh-who are you….”

He was a very large man. The black suit, as if it were a custom-made garment, supported his violently massive body with the elasticity of snake scales.

“Why, why are you in our house….”

Haa, haa. Eun-myeong gasped for breath. Without realizing it, his body was slowly stepping backward.

“I know, the timing is fucking terrible.”

His tone was casual. It was clearly a lie. He had left the door wide open like that. In truth, he didn’t care whether he was caught or not. It felt as if the core of his heart was being clipped away piece by piece by nail clippers. Anxiety amplified greatly, tightening his lower abdomen.

It was then. A jar placed to one side caught his eye. Or more accurately, something like a lump of meat protruding from between the half-closed lid fiercely grabbed his attention.

“Ha, gasp…!!”

That was definitely a human hand. His tongue felt paralyzed, moving slowly inside his mouth.

“Noo, na…?”

His heart sank at the sound that escaped his lips involuntarily. Pfft, a small laugh was heard.

“Probably not.”

The man slowly peeled off his black gloves. Perhaps soaked in blood, the spaces between his fingers were drenched in crimson.

“That’s no girl.”

As he babbled, he gave a short click of his tongue. It was as if he were making a mundane comment, like asking if today’s lunch menu wasn’t great. The sense of horror accumulated further. Because to this man, killing seemed no different from killing a single bug.

“The panties are fucking… smaller than my palm.”

Then, he abruptly reached for the clothesline next to him and stole a pair of panties. His hands were so large that the small piece of cloth vanished in his grip.

He wondered what on earth he was planning to do with them. The man rubbed his hand on the panties. The white cloth became stained reddish-brown. Blood, bright red blood…. It felt as if his head was being muddled by a club.

“It’s a baby, fuck, a newborn baby.”

As the blood was wiped away, a black tattoo on the back of his hand became visible. It was a pitch-black spider. Specifically, a fierce poisonous spider that had spun a web to catch its prey.

The man took a cigarette pack out of his pocket and tapped the bottom with his palm. He pulled out a single white stick, placed it between his lips, and clink, opened the lighter lid. Beyond the small flame, their gazes met viscously. The snake-like eyes curved wickedly.

“I thought it was some cheap Omega brat.”

A violent scent flowed into the tip of his nose. At first glance it seemed rough, but it was a subtly sensual fragrance. It was of such high quality that one would never have the chance to smell it in an old countryside like this.

Moreover, the face of an unfamiliar man…. Who on earth is this person? Why is he in our house…?