“So, you’re saying you got lost?”
The masked man asked, looking at Ire. He didn’t know why he had appeared in the sewer at this late hour, but he judged that telling the truth wouldn’t do him any good, so he lied.
“I was drinking with friends and when I came to, I was in the sewer… Thank you for saving me.”
He lowered his gaze, pretending to be frightened. At the masked man’s signal, another man appeared belatedly and stood beside him. The man in the beanie was also covering his face. He roughly pulled up the shirt Ire was wearing and examined it here and there.
“No tattoos.”
He had heard that soldiers could get tattoos one by one. Seo Young-jun had once told him that it could be the face of a loved one, or a phrase that they believed in. Seo Young-jun said he would get his girlfriend’s face tattooed, but Ire had never thought deeply about it. It seemed that what they had just been looking for was probably that tattoo.
The beanie grabbed Ire’s chin and examined his face from side to side.
“He’s quite handsome, isn’t he? Should we drag him away and sell him?”
“Don’t joke around.”
“I’m serious. It’s a waste to kill a face like this.”
As he had guessed, they didn’t seem to have any intention of letting him live. Jii-jik, jii-jik, can you hear me? In the tense situation, someone else’s voice suddenly intruded. The man picked up a large walkie-talkie that he was carrying on his waist and rattled off words that were impossible to understand. Was it their own code?
Taking advantage of the masked man’s momentary lapse in guard, he lunged forward, hugged his waist, and pushed him back. Thwack. As their bodies tumbled over each other, the man brandished his gun. “You bastard!” Ire dodged in an instant and snatched the man in the beanie, holding a knife to his neck.
The masked man fumbled at his waist, then jumped up from his seat.
“That bastard stole the knife!”
“What? That’s cheating! You’re going to use me as a hostage?”
“Isn’t it cheating for you two to attack together?”
“Seol-ah, don’t move. That guy can’t kill you anyway.”
“Don’t say my name, you idiot!”
While the two were bickering, Ire held the knife he was holding up close. Showing his will to cut him if necessary, the masked man gritted his teeth. In the standoff, a growling sound echoed in the tunnel. Turning around, he saw an animal larger than before staring at him, emitting a strange light from its eyes.
“Son of a bitch! There were more!”
It wasn’t just one. As several more appeared from behind, the three couldn’t hide their embarrassment. In a situation where it wouldn’t be strange to die at any moment, Ire made a suggestion to the man in front of him.
“How about shooting those things instead of me?”
“Shut up. I’m going to kill you and those things!”
No sooner had he finished speaking than the masked man pulled the trigger at the beast. But the gun didn’t fire, and his face contorted in dismay. Ire looked down at his feet. The water was filled with dirt and grime. Perhaps the old-fashioned gun had lost its function after falling into the water.
“Damn it!”
Suddenly, the monsters rushed in, and the three turned and started running as if they had made a promise.
“Hey! Why are you following us! Go somewhere else!”
“If you want me to go away, you go away! I’m just going my way!”
But then, a sharp scream was heard from behind. Turning around, he saw that the beanie had fallen, and the beast at the front was about to jump and pounce on him.
“Baek-seol!!!”
He didn’t know where those guys came from, but he knew exactly that the beanie’s name was Baek-seol. Ire, who was behind, kicked off the ground and ran forward before the masked man. He grabbed the beanie, pushed him to the side, slipped under the monster’s torso, and slashed it with a knife from neck to chest. The monster lost its direction due to the sudden attack, crashed into the wall, and plunged into the water.
The group of monsters chasing after him hesitated. In the standoff, Ire immediately ran to the fallen monster, pressed his knee on its head, and cut its throat. The struggling monster gradually became less active, and Ire picked up the severed head and stood up.
He threw it at the group, and they stepped back. He was worried about what would happen if they held out until the end, but the monster in front turned around first, and the rest disappeared into the darkness. Ire stared blankly at his blood-stained hands.
“Wh-what are those things…?”
Next to him, the man he had just saved was staggering to his feet. The mask was gone, and long hair flowed down where the beanie had disappeared. The upper body, revealed by the wetness, didn’t look like a man no matter how he looked at it.
Taken aback and momentarily losing his words, the beanie pointed at Ire.
“You! Wh-where are you looking! Just because I saved you, do you think I’ll fall for you or something!”
Is she crazy? What is she saying? In the meantime, the masked man slowly approached. He wasn’t pointing a gun, but his eyes were still full of wariness. Maybe it was natural. He had said that his friends had bullied him and locked him in here, but he had nonchalantly cut off the monster’s head.
In the silence that came and went, Ire was the first to speak.
“It won’t do us any good to fight among ourselves here. Those things will come back.”
The beanie tied up her long, flowing hair and chimed in.
“I think so too. Wouldn’t it be wise for the three of us to work together to get out?”
“What are you trusting that guy for? You just saw him.”
Ire strode forward and held out the knife. Now that he knew the gun was broken, he didn’t think he needed to be wary of him anymore. The guy frowned at the knife he held out.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m going to find a way out. You guys go your own way.”
“Who do you think will let you live?”
“You must be an idiot if you keep repeating the same thing.”
Ire snorted and turned around. “Stop there, you bastard!” He heard a shout, but he didn’t care. He didn’t think the words “let’s work together to get out” would work. Still, his curiosity about them didn’t go away.
What on earth are those people doing? What were they looking for in the sewer?
Then he stopped thinking. Getting out of here was the priority now.
After walking for a while, he found a steel staircase. In a situation where he didn’t know where he was, he just hoped that the stairs would lead to a passage to the outside. He climbed the stairs and pushed the lid hard, but it didn’t budge.
Of course. With those things roaming around in the sewer, there was no way they would have left it open to be opened at will.
“I might starve to death here.”
At the same time as he sighed, he heard a sound. He quickly took a defensive stance, but it was the two guys he had parted ways with a little while ago. The guy in the mask had now completely revealed his face. A little older or the same as Ire?
“You ran away and you’re just doing this here?”
“Ran away? Me?”
He laughed in disbelief, and the masked man gestured.
“Come on. I know the way out.”
Ire didn’t hide his suspicious look.
“If you don’t want to, don’t. Just stay here and die.”
What a way to talk. After much deliberation, he chased after them as they went ahead. At this rate, he wouldn’t be able to get out of here easily anyway. He had no choice but to put his hope in strangers. How long had it been since he joined them and started walking? The masked man stood in front of a manhole cover and sent a radio message.
Silence.
“Is this the right place?”
When he asked suspiciously, he tapped the walkie-talkie against the wall and called someone again. After a while, the lid opened and a faint light poured into the sewer. He climbed up the ladder and saw a person standing in the darkness.
“Damn it! It feels like my nose is rotting.”
The place they arrived at was a deserted alleyway. The man in front of him grabbed his nose and gagged. A large truck was parked nearby, and the man was wearing something similar to work clothes. The man, who had been frowning, belatedly discovered Ire.
“Who’s this?”
The man scanned Ire up and down. Unlike his simple appearance, his eyes were sharp as he examined him keenly. The masked man talked to the man alone, and Ire waited for their conversation to end.
Then he noticed the tattoo on the man’s finger. It was strangely familiar. Why? While he was distracted by it, the man strode right up to him.
“Hey.”
When he looked up, the man gave him a threatening look.
“Forget what you saw us. If you blab your mouth, I’ll find you and kill you for sure.”
He nodded obediently. He knew that it wouldn’t do him any good to make a fuss here. They diligently got into the car. But the girl he had saved ran over and handed him something.
“This is my way of repaying you. Thank you for saving me earlier.”
Then she disappeared like an arrow. The truck carrying them drove out of the alley and headed for the road. Ire, who was left alone, slowly walked out. The black truck was already far away. He opened his hand and checked what the beanie had left behind. It was a small candy wrapped in silver foil.