Lee Dongjae and the other team members, who had been focusing on catching up on delayed reports during a brief lull after resolving the drug dealer case, one by one raised their heads.
“There’s this kid who was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes at age 6 and adopted by a doctor. Since then, for 18 years—fuck, for 18 whole years—with insulin pumps attached to his belly and glucose monitors on his arms, he was tied up and beaten while being forced to control his meals.”
The team leader didn’t know whether he should nod or respond, so he just rolled his eyes to look at his team members. His eyes asked, “What the hell is this guy doing now?” but no one could answer and they just shook their heads. Kyung Jiho gently grabbed the team leader’s chin, which had slightly turned away, aligned it to face himself, made eye contact, and spoke again.
“Taking a mere six-year-old and fucking, for eighteen years, what he did to him… the kid is like a severely trained dog. He counts, he counts the pieces of meat while eating. Does that make any sense? Huh?”
“Well…”
The team leader couldn’t say “I see,” because Kyung Jiho slammed the desk with a bang!
“And you know what, fuck!”
Now not only the Violence Task Force’s Drug TF team but also the Drug Task Force’s Violence TF team in the next row raised their heads to see what was going on.
“That poor dog-like guy! That guy who lived harshly like a lab dog! Do you know what was inside the device he wore on his belly? Huh? Do you know what it was?”
“How would I…”
The team leader couldn’t finish asking how he would know, because Kyung Jiho pounded the desk again as if he might break it.
“Fuck! It was saline! Saline! The kind of saline that doesn’t cause any reaction even if you put it in your eyes or your belly!”
Ah…
Everyone in the office quietly sighed.
“Wearing that! Thinking he had diabetes! Living like that for eighteen fucking years! Counting pieces of meat! Because of that fucking devil of a doctor!”
The whispering and sighs quieted down. Even the echoes of Kyung Jiho’s shouting faded away.
“That poor puppy. It’s pitiful, right? Hyung.”
He didn’t shout the last words. He didn’t pound the desk either. But the desperate plea was strong enough to be driven deeply into the ears of everyone present.
Everyone in the office unanimously sympathized with the dog-like guy. They could all rise up together if anyone started talking about procedures, regulations, jurisdiction, or whatever, and refused permission for the internal investigation. They might not know about other things, but they were willing to at least pound the desk together.
The team leader, conscious of the eyes gathered from all directions, asked:
“So, what do you want to do?”
“I’ve finished the preliminary investigation. Press charges.”
“The investigation order—”
“You take it.”
“We’re organized crime—”
“You said to catch everyone involved in drugs or violence without questions. This guy commits fraud with drugs and uses violence. I need to catch him too.”
Finding no more words against Kyung Jiho’s stubborn insistence, the team leader muttered “Aish” inaudibly, then moved his mouse to turn on the monitor. While accessing the KICS portal and bringing up the arrest request form, he said:
“Make sure you put him away. If you can’t catch him, the district station will look down on us.”
“Yeah. I’ll catch him red-handed, leaving no room for doubt.”
Kyung Jiho, showing a confident smile, straightened up and stood. He lightly tapped with his fist the desk he had been pounding with his palm multiple times, then used that hand to point at the team leader’s face. It was his way of showing gratitude and respect.
* * *
The living room with dimmed lights. Though it was filled with large furniture, including a sofa big enough for ten people and a table, it felt empty due to its size and high ceiling. In the quiet space where even the air seemed to hold back its resonance, only low, gloomy crying sounds echoed.
The atmosphere in the kitchen across from the room where the crying sounds were leaking was quite different. A pleasant light with moderate brightness and saturation that highlighted the colors of natural ingredients without straining the eyes filled the space. Under that light, Ji Seokhun, sitting at a table set with neat and modest dishes, asked the helper who brought out soup:
“Is that person taking the medication properly?”
“She refuses to take it directly, so I tried mixing it in juice or yogurt, but she eats so little. She couldn’t take the full dose of medication.”
That must be the case. The frequency of crying had increased, and the sound was gradually getting louder. The symptoms were clearly worsening. But there was nothing he could do. He couldn’t send her to the hospital because of public scrutiny. He had tried sending her to her parents’ home as it was becoming cumbersome to keep her in this house, but her condition worsened. After enduring repeated suicide attempts and self-harm, the woman’s family wanted her to stay here, in this house.
Ji Seokhun, frowning due to his discomfort, picked up his spoon. Then he said to the figure sitting quietly opposite him:
“Let’s eat.”
The frown on Ji Seokhun’s face disappeared as the figure picked up a spoon and scooped soup at his command. The one person he could control at will. The only being who existed perfectly as he wished. Geun-yeong, who looked even more appealing with his healthy complexion under the proper lighting, was absolutely necessary to Ji Seokhun.
Although he had run away unexpectedly, he must have properly repented after receiving severe punishment himself. Due to concerns that the damned guy who had taken him might still be out there, he didn’t give him a phone. He installed surveillance cameras in his room, the second-floor living room, and the bathroom. After losing him once, he simply couldn’t bear to lose him again, so he had to do it. While watching him chatting unnecessarily with that sobbing friend who had come looking for him, he briefly felt sorry, but there was nothing he could do. He couldn’t let him meet that man who might be out there again.
“Your blood sugar seems to be stabilizing somewhat.”
A clinking sound made him narrow his eyes and look up with displeasure. It was the noise of the boy’s spoon hitting the bowl. The hand holding the spoon paused, then gripped it firmly again and moved back into the soup bowl, at which point he lowered his gaze.
“The old-model pump you’re wearing now doesn’t have remote control, which makes me anxious. Don’t go out and stay home until the pump I ordered arrives.”
The reason for installing surveillance cameras on the second floor was not much different, so he hoped there would be no misunderstanding. And Seokhun was constantly concerned about the pump that the boy had left somewhere. However, since it wasn’t something that an ignorant human would understand, he tried not to worry about it as much as possible.
“Taking care of your situation has affected my condition as well. I’ve taken a two-week break from seeing patients. After we replace it with the new pump, let’s go on a trip somewhere nearby.”
Since the boy’s opinion wasn’t necessary for this matter, an answer wasn’t required, but he was curious about what expression he was making. Seokhun looked at the boy who was scooping rice with his head down and said:
“To prevent such incidents from happening again, act cautiously and be careful in everything. Be selective about the people you meet.”
This too wasn’t a matter requiring an answer. Because it wasn’t a suggestion. But Seokhun wanted to hear the boy’s response.
“Answer me.”
The boy, who had just put rice in his mouth, making his cheeks bulge, chewed two, three, four times, swallowed, and then quietly answered:
“Yes.”
To the boy who was reaching for the water cup, perhaps because the hastily swallowed rice had settled uncomfortably, he said:
“Chew slowly and thoroughly. Try not to drink water during meals.”
The boy, who was about to drink the water but put it down without even touching it, said:
“I need to go to the bathroom for a moment.”
“That’s a bad habit. You should have gone before the meal.”
So… was that a yes or a no?
To the boy waiting for permission, he said:
“Go ahead.”
Leaving the kitchen and crossing the dark living room to enter the bathroom, Geun-yeong immediately turned on the sink water after closing the door. After creating the sound of rushing water, he rushed straight to the toilet. As soon as he grabbed the toilet bowl, he emptied everything he had forcibly swallowed and barely managed to hold in.
He knew that what he wore on his belly wasn’t a medical device but a leash. He knew that what he had been eating all this time wasn’t food but dog food.
When he held chopsticks, he wanted to stab his throat. When he held a spoon, he wanted to gouge out his eyes. When he held a water cup, he wanted to smash it on his head. With such thoughts, he vomited everything he had been forced to stuff in.
Even after he had vomited until there was nothing left and yellowish gastric acid came out, when nothing more would come, tears began to pour out.
He wondered what he had done so wrong to deserve this treatment. No matter how much he thought about it, he hadn’t done anything that bad in his life.
Or he wondered if all orphans without proper backgrounds were sold off under the name of “child” and subjected to such treatment.
That couldn’t be the case.
He felt wronged. Grieved and indignant. That’s why the tears wouldn’t stop flowing. With one hand gripping the toilet, the other covering his vomit-smeared mouth, he poured out silent sobs again and again.
Geun-yeong thought he couldn’t keep his promise to Detective Kyung. He felt like he was going to go against the detective’s words to endure for just a few more days so he could properly punish that man.
It wasn’t a dark night, and he wasn’t sleeping, but red dreams floated around like hallucinations. With his eyes wide open, he vividly imagined himself killing the man, killing the woman, and stabbing a knife into his own stomach. The flash of pleasure that came every time he imagined stabbing a knife into the man’s neck and the blood spattering red on his hands, the murderous urge that rose repeatedly—it frightened him.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
