By Zephyria 
Running Away
Eun-myeong’s days revolved like a squirrel on a wheel. In the mornings, he worked feverishly weaving cast nets, and in the afternoons, he diligently moved his body working at a sashimi restaurant.
By the time he finished working himself to death at the shop and stepped outside, the twilight had settled in thick.
“…It’s too cold.”
Eun-myeong huddled his body. It was a long walk—over 30 minutes—to the hotel. It would be a quick trip by taxi, but he was at a point where every single penny mattered.
Still, the deserted night streets were reasonably bright. Along the road lit by streetlamps, Eun-myeong walked with quick, short steps.
Gurgle. His stomach roared. Startled, Eun-myeong whipped his head around to see if anyone was nearby. Then, he let out a sigh of relief.
“Oh boy.”
It was because he had lost his appetite lately and had skipped several meals. Now, his body was screaming for food.
Just as he was thinking it would be nice to have some cup noodles at home, a 24-hour convenience store caught his eye. Eun-myeong stepped inside and grabbed a small cup of noodles. He thought it would be nice to pair it with a roll of gimbap.
Should I get tuna gimbap, or bulgogi gimbap…?
While he was weighing his small dilemma, he heard a chime. Thinking someone had just entered, he casually grabbed a bulgogi gimbap and turned away from the shelf.
“Excuse me, you have to pay for that before eating it.”
The voice sounded like a part-time employee.
As he approached the counter, he saw the back of someone standing in front of the drink refrigerator. Clothes worn out like rags, a stench emanating from the entire body… He looked like a homeless person, but the face was familiar. The man tilted his head back sharply with a soju bottle pressed to his lips, and liquid poured down.
“Customer, I told you that you have to pay first!”
The irritated voice of the employee rang out again from the front. Eun-myeong’s face turned pale and stiff. Why the hell was that dick-pervert bastard here? As Eun-myeong stepped back, turning ghostly white, the man spoke.
“Avoiding me, are we?”
Glaring eyes landed on Eun-myeong. The pervert slammed the alcohol bottle against the drink refrigerator with a thud, and the soju bottle shattered with a crash. The employee let out a scream at the sudden bolt from the blue.
“You think I’m a joke too, you fucker?”
The shattered soju bottle, now jagged like crocodile teeth, emitted a cold, sharp glint. Holding it upside down, the pervert took a step toward Eun-myeong.
“You think I’m a joke because my wife and kids abandoned me and ran away?”
“Customer, please don’t do this, just calm down.”
Eun-myeong backed away, his shoes screeching against the floor. The cup noodles and gimbap tumbled from his hands. He hid his empty hand behind his back, trying to grab anything he could reach, but it happened to be bread. A soft, squishy piece of bread that was of no help at all.
How could the situation be so unhelpful? Eun-myeong’s eyes became drenched in frustration.
“When I was your age, I fucked every pretty thing in the neighborhood….”
Terrified, Eun-myeong’s jaw trembled violently.
“Looking at you reminds me exactly of those days.”
Fortunately, there weren’t many people in the convenience store in the middle of the night. There was only the terrified employee, one ordinary-looking Mister, and one dick-pervert.
Left with no choice, Eun-myeong squeezed the bread tightly in his fist. He wouldn’t be able to fight back with this; the situation was truly the worst.
“Come over here. Don’t act so expensive with your hole, fuck, you’ve probably been fucked so much that your hole is wide open anyway.”
The pervert with the soju bottle began to creep closer to Eun-myeong. He even had white foam at the corners of his mouth.
The Mister, who had come as a customer, slid his feet forward while slipping his hand into his pocket. Eun-myeong shook his head frantically. He prayed that the man would not step in for his sake.
‘No, if you get hurt because of me, please….’
It would be a disaster if the man got injured while trying to help him.
Just then, someone quietly opened the door and entered. They opened the door so slowly that the chime didn’t even ring. Eun-myeong’s eyes widened as he looked over the pervert’s shoulder.
It was that same Customer. He raised his index finger to his lips, making a “shh” gesture.
‘Quiet.’
Then, he grabbed an umbrella leaning by the door and wham! He struck the pervert across the shoulder.
“Ack!”
The pervert collapsed instantly with a thud. In his struggle, he threw the soju bottle haphazardly, and it happened to fly toward the Customer. The Customer blocked it by raising his forearm as a guard.
“Ugh!”
The pervert writhed like a crushed insect, clutching his shoulder. Immediately, the Mister and Eun-myeong rushed in and beat him indiscriminately. Eun-myeong threw the bread and grabbed whatever he could find on the shelves to strike the pervert’s body.
“When did I ever flirt with you!”
I really hate you, the shop’s sales are dropping and the customers hate you because you smell…!
You’re truly disgusting, you smell worse than food waste—Eun-myeong unleashed all the pent-up resentment he had, using every curse word he knew.
The Mister beside him tied the pervert tightly with a cable tie and then landed a punch. With a smack! sound, the pervert suffered a double nosebleed and passed out, his neck lolling to the side.
“Wow.”
The man had an average build and a slender frame, but the power of his punch was so immense that Eun-myeong wondered if he was a former professional boxer. Too shocked, Eun-myeong let out a strangled gak sound, like an overturned frog.
“H-hello? H-here….”
The employee was holding a cell phone, likely trying to report it to the police. However, as they trembled in fear and couldn’t finish their sentence, the Customer reached out his hand.
“Give it to me.”
Taking the cell phone, the Customer began to explain the situation very calmly.
“This is the 24-hour convenience store across from the Emperor Inn. A drunk person caused a disturbance with a broken bottle.”
But then, Eun-myeong noticed that blood was streaming down the Customer’s forearm. His eyes grew wide as saucers at the sight of the vivid red staining the old checkered shirt.
“C-Customer….”
A metallic scent wafted from the flowing blood. Had he been cut when the soju bottle flew? Eun-myeong’s heart sank heavily. In his shock, he rushed to the Customer and pressed his own clothes firmly against the wound.
“Let’s go to the hospital quickly. We can take a taxi to the emergency room.”
After hanging up the phone, the Customer looked completely nonchalant and waved his hand dismissively, asking why he had to go that far.
“Hey, the emergency room for something like this? That costs a fortune. I’m just a civil servant with a tiny salary.”
“Of course I should pay. You’re still bleeding.”
The Customer looked down at Eun-myeong with a thoughtful expression. Soon, his wide mouth curved into a bright smile.
“If you feel that bad, could you come with me to my lodging? Ah, is it too late….”
He glanced down at Eun-myeong. Eun-myeong’s pupils wavered as if such a thing would be problematic. Not easy, Jun-il clicked his tongue inwardly.
“My arm is in this state, so just come and wrap a bandage for me.”
Ultimately, as a special measure, he slid his forearm out in front of Eun-myeong. Seeing the arm not just stained but matted with blood, Eun-myeong’s face filled with a sense of guilt. Eventually, he nodded slowly.
“…Yes. I’ll wrap the bandage well for you.”
In the distance, the wee-woo sound of police sirens echoed. The employee, seemingly drained of all strength, slumped to one side and began to sob.
“Is there someone here who reported this?”
Eventually, they gave a brief explanation of the situation to the police officers who arrived.
While his heart was still pounding from the chaos, Eun-myeong scanned the convenience store. He wanted to thank the Mister from earlier, but by the time he regained his senses, the man had vanished without a trace.
What was that? He felt as if he had seen a ghost.
The inn was incredibly old from the outside. Eun-myeong followed the Customer down a secluded hallway. His heart was still racing from the shock.
He gripped the bundle tightly. Inside were bandages and ointment bought hastily from the convenience store. Along with those were the cup noodles, gimbap, and the crumpled bread he had picked up from the shelf.
“Come in.”
Following him inside, the room was a mess. Leftover cup noodles were piled up here and there, there was kimchi with the lid half-open, clothes, newspapers, and a vast amount of some kind of documents.
“Ah, damn, I should have cleaned up before leaving. How embarrassing.”
The Customer muttered this as he haphazardly shoved whatever he could grab under the bed.
“Sit there.”
Where on earth was he supposed to sit in this chaos? Eun-myeong blinked, and since the space next to the bed was empty, he crouched down there. He felt something obstructing him under his thigh, and when he picked it up, it was a magazine with erotic photos.
“Uh-oh, bad stuff, bad stuff.”
The Customer snatched it away in a start. He covered Eun-myeong’s eyes with his large hand, jokingly saying that it would be a problem if children saw such things.
“Customer, please show me your arm.”
The Customer sat down with a thump in front of Eun-myeong. Eun-myeong gently rolled up the Customer’s shirt sleeve. After gently wiping away the blood with a towel and stopping the bleeding, he tore open the bandage, wrapped it around the forearm, and applied tape. He pressed down firmly to make sure it was stuck well.
“Damn, that stings.”
The Customer frowned his thick, caterpillar-like eyebrows and gave an awkward smile. Eun-myeong apologized, sounding completely disheartened.
“I am so sorry it happened because of me, and thank you so much.”
The Customer, Jun-il, shrugged his shoulders.
“It’s really okay. I’ll just suffer for a couple of days, two days.”
Having rolled around various sites, an injury like this was no big deal, but since the boy kept apologizing with that innocent and gentle face, Jun-il felt as if he had contracted some terminal illness.
After that, Eun-myeong continued to give various instructions, telling him to take this if it hurt at night or apply this if it stung, while tidying up the surroundings.
“I’m truly sorry for intruding so late.”
Then, he shifted his hips. He seemed poised to return home soon.
He had been circling around for a few days, just testing the waters, and had finally seized an opportunity. Feeling that he couldn’t let him go like this, Jun-il gripped his stomach tightly.
“Ah, why am I so hungry?”
His abdomen, packed with functional muscle, only made a tap-tap sound when patted, but he spoke while pretending to be weak.
“I went to the convenience store earlier because I was hungry, but with my hand like this, I can’t even pour water into the cup noodles.”
He then groaned, claiming he might starve to death if he didn’t eat something immediately.
“I’m sorry, but could you put the water on for my cup noodles?”
Lee Eun-myeong paused, his eyes rolling. Jun-il had only observed him a few times from close range, but it seemed that despite being fearful and timid, Eun-myeong had a personality that couldn’t just pass by something pitiful.
“…Yes.”
Eventually, Eun-myeong reluctantly agreed.
Ha, fuck! Finally. Jun-il cheered inwardly.