79
When he opened his eyes, what he saw was a white ceiling. Expensive-looking walls also came into view. Where is this? What is this? Taein, who had been moving his eyes in a daze, frowned at the memories returning one by one. More important than what had happened and where this was, was how many hours had passed. Taein, who hurriedly sat up, rummaged through his back pocket looking for his phone.
“Shit… fucking bastard…”
No matter how much he searched, there was no phone. When he belatedly looked around, only unfamiliar scenery filled his eyes. It seemed like he had entered a hotel room rather than a bar. Taein, who pulled down the blanket for a moment, scanned his outfit with his eyes. His pants were the same, but he was wearing an unfamiliar top. The carelessly put-on shirt was definitely not his.
It couldn’t be this good quality, and the size didn’t fit him either.
Taein, who felt disgusted for a moment, tore off the shirt as if ripping it. It seemed like Jang Ihwan had even put on such clothes to do something strange. Taein then got up from bed. Two tall, large beds, a table. The part covered by blinds seemed to be bathroom glass. After quickly looking around and his eyes reaching the window, Taein walked directly over there. The height seemed to be about 7 or 8 floors, and unfamiliar lights could be seen beyond.
It was the downtown area of Juhang, quite far from Dog Alley and the surrounding neighborhoods.
In the 5 years Taein had lived in Juhang, he had come to this area only a handful of times.
On occasional days off, when Eundo was bored at home, he would bring him to a kids cafe around here.
Even there, Taein played the role of Eundo’s guardian while hearing words like “hyung is kind” and “there’s no hyung like this.”
That kids cafe building with a pointy roof in the middle was across the street.
Taein, who had grasped the location with his eyes and thought that far, turned around. Without a phone right now, it was impossible to contact anyone. He had started part-time work since yesterday, so he couldn’t urgently ask the ajumma who took care of them. The situation was so urgent that the best he could do was apologize to the meat restaurant boss and agree to take care of Eundo’s meal when he returned from kindergarten once in the middle, then work two more hours. He had planned to do the same today, but he had no idea how many hours had passed.
Then, he saw a small clock he hadn’t noticed before. The hand was pointing at 11. Taein, whose vision became dizzy, turned toward the hotel room entrance. If he at least had a phone, he could call home and tell Eundo to wait a little longer.
In a situation where he could do nothing, his head felt completely empty. Although he had taught Eundo how to press the password, the child had never pressed those number buttons when he wasn’t there. He might not even be able to find the house, let alone use the house phone, and could be crying outside just looking for hyung. He had to go to that neighborhood immediately.
Taein, who rushed to the door, grabbed the door handle and pulled. The corridor wall was revealed for a moment and a subtle fragrance wafted over, but the impression didn’t last long. From inside, someone grabbed one of his arms and pulled. His body immediately tilted and the door closed.
“Fuck!”
Taein, who spat out curses first in his excitement, raised his face toward Jang Ihwan. Rather than telling him to die, why did he keep driving innocent people to the cliff? Taein, who raised his face and also raised his fist upward, tried to properly hit Jang Ihwan this time. The moment he looked directly into his eyes and his arm was filled with strength, Taein narrowed his brow.
Due to his hot-tempered nature, he had almost thrown his fist as it was.
“You were going to go out like that?”
The person in front of him wasn’t Jang Ihwan but Yoon Donghwan. Surprised by that, but only briefly, Taein lowered his gaze at the man’s words asking if he was going to go out like that. He had completely forgotten he was only wearing pants. Instead of answering, Taein raised both eyes and looked directly at the man. The man seemed to have come out after washing his face, as his hair and the tip of his chin were somewhat wet. He seemed to have come out after doing business at the sink.
“What? You were going to go out like that?”
“…No.”
Taein, who answered first, swept his head with both hands. When he swept from his forehead to the back of his head as if dry-washing his face, the man’s gaze also reached there. Taein, who had put so much strength in his hands that both eyes went up, sighed deeply to organize the situation. Soon he turned his eyes toward the bed and approached where the shirt was scattered. It seemed he couldn’t take the hoodie, and apparently put on his own shirt because it looked unsightly.
It seemed like he had to wear that for now.
He didn’t have the presence of mind to ask how he got out of JAM or what the situation was afterward.
When he put his arms into the already ruined shirt, his hand came out through a torn hole.
He hurriedly found the sleeve and put it on again, but the shoulder area was terribly torn, revealing bare skin clearly.
Taein tried to cover his shoulder with his hand while looking at the man.
“Um, I’m sorry. I’ll return the clothes.”
Saying that, Taein bowed his head and tried to pass by the man.
In his head was only the thought that he had to get out of the building and take a taxi, that he had to go to where he lived somehow.
In his urgency, Taein forgot again what state he was in. Not only the torn shoulder part, but he didn’t even know where to put the buttons. The fabric was crumpled and the buttons were going into the wrong holes.
He just pressed his body against the entrance like before and pulled the door handle.
“Where are you going? Home?”
Taein, who had opened the door halfway and stopped his actions, turned his head toward where the question was heard.
“…Yes.”
“What’s at home?”
Roughly, didn’t he know his family situation? Even if he hadn’t done a dirty background investigation, he would at least know there was a young sibling. It felt like he was testing him for no reason, giving him bad feelings. Taein put strength into the hand that was toward the door. As he turned his body silently, his elbow was caught by Yoon Donghwan’s hand again. This time, Taein irritably raised his arm at the hand that touched him.
“Why? Why do you ask such things?”
“Why ask? If a person is curious, they can ask questions too. I brought you here, but instead of saying thank you, you get annoyed like this? It’s not like you’re a hedgehog or something. I’m scared I can’t even talk to you.”
This wasn’t the time to listen to such bland words. Taein didn’t react anymore and turned the door handle. He immediately went out to the corridor and looked for an elevator, and there was an elevator sign at the end. He hurriedly moved his steps and pressed the elevator switch. It seemed to be a hotel with one large elevator at each end of the corridor. He pressed the already-pressed button once more, urging the elevator, but somehow the elevator didn’t budge from the first floor.
He hurriedly turned his head looking for emergency stairs when he saw the door of the room he had come out of opening.
What came out was a man in a three-piece suit. The shirt that had been disheveled while washing his face was meticulously buttoned up. The man seemed to have business too. Taein put that fleeting thought behind him and moved his feet toward the green emergency exit light. The closed iron door behind the room seemed to be the emergency stairway passage.
As he was about to cross the corridor like that, the man’s voice moderately echoed around.
“Want to take my car? Or wear these clothes.”
Taein, who had passed by the man, turned around at that sound.
The man was standing in the middle of the corridor, gesturing toward the back with his chin. It was his opinion that taking the elevator would be better.
The black car was waiting at the underground parking lot entrance. Whether the person bowing his head in front was a parking attendant or someone the man knew was indistinguishable.
Taein received strange looks in the elevator. An elderly gentleman who boarded on the 5th floor kept glancing at Taein whose clothes were all torn. Taein could also examine his own state in the quiet elevator, so he refastened the messily buttoned buttons one by one. And just before completely stopping at the basement level, he received clothes from the man.
It was a shirt similar to the one he had torn. As soon as Taein got into the sedan’s passenger seat, he pulled the sleeves forward and took off the torn shirt. The man had a few words of conversation with an unidentifiable man in front before getting into the driver’s seat. Taein was hurriedly changing shirts, tearing the already torn shirt even more. Half of that shirt and half of the new shirt were hanging on Taein’s body.
The man, who started gripping the steering wheel as soon as he sat down, quickly left the downtown area. Since Juhang itself wasn’t a very developed city, the brilliant lights also quickly disappeared. Taein only stared at distant buildings visible from time to time.
Just pass that place and it’ll be quick. Just that place. With such thoughts, 15 minutes passed going over the road. A quiet seaside became visible and half-built buildings spread out before his eyes.
Not long after, the liquor warehouse where Taein had worked and even Dog Alley revealed their appearance.
The closer Taein got to the neighborhood where darkness had settled thickly, the more his legs trembled. His hands also kept making and unmaking fists.
An infinitely narrow alley for the large sedan to enter. The outline of one shabby building where Taein resided became visible.
“Here, you can stop in front. Thank you.”
“I haven’t stopped yet, what are you thanking me for?”
Saying that, the man who smoothly stopped the car stared intently at Taein who ignored his words and bolted out of the car.
Taein, who entered by opening the glass door as if hitting it, quickly went upstairs and stood in front of the door.
3-6-9-9-6-3. He remembered teaching the password by slowly coming down from the very top number to match the child’s eye level. Still, it was a child who had only pressed the numbers playfully or when he was there. Taein, whose hands were trembling, pressed the number pad and heard warning sounds twice. He was also confused about whether to press the star or the pound sign at the end.
Then, the corridor automatic light that had been off came on dimly.
Slowly, the man who had come up from the first floor was looking at Taein from the stairway side. With his hands stuck in his suit pants pockets, he heard the warning beeps together. The door opened when Taein made his third attempt.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
