Chapter 69
After closing the door and lighting fires, the air inside was stuffy. Despite the darkness, with fires lit in several places, the interior was brighter than expected. I first checked to make sure no one was around and looked at our surroundings. I was surprised to see Jang Jae-gyeong walking confidently as if it were his own home, but after his gesture indicating it was safe since no one was here, I slowly straightened my back.
As Jang Jae-gyeong had said, the interior of what had been a commercial building was in shambles. There were no proper goods left, and furniture lay scattered across the floor with only traces remaining. One area seemed to have been a flower shop, filled with dried-up flowerpots and leaves, which gave me an eerie feeling. The furniture had apparently been used to reinforce the doors and windows.
Seeing Jang Jae-gyeong take out his knife, I picked up one of the wooden clubs stacked next to the fire. I felt I should have some kind of weapon.
“Shit. I’m fucking starving.”
I heard a small but grumbling voice from the second floor. There were busy footsteps rustling around, searching for something, followed by more cursing. It seemed the person was moving back and forth near the stairs. I looked at Jang Jae-gyeong and made a gesture with my eyes. Jang Jae-gyeong nodded as if he understood and reached for his waistband.
“…!”
What did he understand?! I quickly moved next to Jang Jae-gyeong and grabbed his hands. In his hands were a knife and a gun. Seeing Jang Jae-gyeong’s eyebrows shoot up, I frowned too. I pointed upstairs and outside with my finger and shook my head vigorously. Jang Jae-gyeong pouted and scowled, then brought his face close to my ear.
“I’ll do it without making noise.”
I clenched my teeth and thought hard. If there was a loud noise like a gunshot, those outside would notice and come rushing in. But if it could be handled quietly, now was indeed the best timing. Jang Jae-gyeong shoved the gun back and waved the knife, glancing up at the second floor. Though he didn’t seem to be rushing me, it was better to make these decisions quickly. But I hesitated, unable to decide easily.
Even if they were bad people who had harmed the children’s parents, deciding to kill someone wasn’t easy. I remembered how my hands trembled just from being falsely accused of murder when fleeing from the village. Even if it wasn’t me but Jang Jae-gyeong doing the killing… No, maybe this was even worse. It would be dirtying Jang Jae-gyeong’s hands while keeping mine clean.
I closed my eyes tightly, then opened them and, just as Jang Jae-gyeong had done, put my lips to his ear. His shoulder twitched momentarily, probably because it tickled.
“Not yet, I don’t think it’s time yet. We don’t know how those outside might react, so let’s just sneak in and get the medicine from the second floor…”
I bit my lip briefly. I had nothing to say even if Jang Jae-gyeong cursed at me for still not grasping the situation despite having gone through less hardship. But I still felt reluctant to kill someone, and doing such a thing required a lot of mental preparation. I sighed and rubbed my head.
“Like Jae-gyeong-ssi said, killing would be easier, but I’m not mentally prepared yet…”
Just one person. Knowing that killing just one person would make things easier, but still unable to make the decision easily—Jang Jae-gyeong looked at me for a moment and then lightly hit my cheek with the back of his hand. It was an action that should have been offensive, but maybe because it was Jang Jae-gyeong doing it, it didn’t feel bad. Rather, seeing me snickering, his eyes just widened.
“Someone might think I’m grabbing you by the collar and forcing you.”
“What?”
“Just say you don’t want to and ask if we can do something else. We can find another way.”
“H-how?”
I hurriedly asked, but Jang Jae-gyeong didn’t answer. Instead, he went toward the stairs and tilted his head. It meant for me to come his way. At the words that we wouldn’t have to kill someone, I hastily followed him. Jang Jae-gyeong didn’t particularly move cautiously. He just walked and moved on the stairs as if it were his own home, yet strangely, his footsteps were quieter than mine despite my careful movements.
The second floor looked more like an office level than a commercial space. There was only a staircase leading to the third floor, a long hallway, and a single door in the middle. At the end stood one man. The man was leaning his upper body out of the window at the end of the stairs, shaking his legs.
“Damn it, if we catch those brats quickly and beat them up, something might come of it. I’m starving to death.”
Next to the man was a club made from a broken branch. The club was strangely black at the end, with traces of black spatters remaining here and there. Though I should be wary of the man, my eyes strangely kept going to that club. I thought of the children’s parents who had been beaten to death. Even as I thought “surely not,” I couldn’t help but cover my mouth with my hand.
Meanwhile, Jang Jae-gyeong was walking toward the man from behind. Despite his normal gait, the man didn’t notice. Peacefully munching on something, he spat out more curses aimed at the children. Saying he wouldn’t let the kids off easy if he caught them, that he’d make them just like their parents.
At that moment, he looked like garbage rather than a human, and my feeling that I couldn’t kill without resolve instantly evaporated. Should such a person be left alive? While I was contemplating this, Jang Jae-gyeong finally stood behind the man. Jang Jae-gyeong raised both hands without drawing a weapon.
“But why are these bastards so late? How hard is it to find two kids? Always whining… Maybe they’ve already been killed by monsters and can’t be found… Ack!”
The man, who had been rambling to himself, let out a short scream and collapsed to the floor. As Jang Jae-gyeong knocked him down, he tore the man’s clothes. The man, whose top was instantly stripped, tried to curse while struggling, but it was useless. Jang Jae-gyeong stuffed the torn clothes into the man’s mouth.
“Mmph! Mmmph! Mmph!”
Jang Jae-gyeong pinned down the man’s back with his knee and beckoned to me. The man, rolling his eyes around, spotted me and widened his eyes. His bloodshot eyes were fierce, but that didn’t last long.
“How annoying, he’s struggling a lot.”
This was because Jang Jae-gyeong, frowning and clicking his tongue, put his hand on the man’s knee.
Crack.
A chilling sound echoed through the second floor. The man, who had turned bright red, twisted his entire body, trembled, and then his head dropped. His grotesquely bent leg dangled before my eyes.
“Uugh, uuuuugh!”
Because of the cloth gagging his mouth, the man couldn’t even scream and just shed tears. Instead of screams, he let out incomprehensible animal-like cries. Though he was a bad person, the sight was so shocking that I couldn’t approach Jang Jae-gyeong’s side and could only stand at the stairs, watching silently.
“Seongho, what are you doing over there? Come here quickly. The kids are waiting.”
My hesitant steps moved forward at the mention of the kids. The man, who had only been making crying sounds, started struggling again after hearing Jang Jae-gyeong’s words. It was probably because of the word “kids.” Though sweat and tears poured like rain from his fiercely distorted, red face, he didn’t stop scrutinizing Jang Jae-gyeong and me with his bloodshot eyes. If not for his own clothes gagging him, it was clear what curses he would have spewed. Jang Jae-gyeong smiled at me as I finally approached.
“Can you bring something to tie this guy up with?”
“…Ah, just a moment.”
I hurriedly opened the door on the second floor and tore down what had once been curtains, barely hanging from the window.
“Will this do?”
“Anything will work.”
Jang Jae-gyeong easily tore the curtain I had brought, then used it to tie the man’s hands and bind his body tightly. Perhaps he touched the leg in the process? Seeing the man writhing and trembling all over, Jang Jae-gyeong clicked his tongue.
“Want the other one broken too?”
Then he placed his foot gently on the intact leg. The man inhaled sharply and shook his head. I watched this quietly, then turned away. I felt a little sorry for him, but I didn’t want to help. I had not the slightest desire to sympathize with someone who had killed people.
In this situation, with one leg ruined, his future life would be bleak. How would the man’s comrades treat someone with a damaged leg? Thinking about it this way, keeping him alive almost seemed crueler.
“I’ll go to the third floor for a bit. I need to find some medicine in advance and bring the kids too.”
“No, you just find the medicine and wait. I’ll go get them. I’ll move as quickly as possible, but in case they arrive before I do, close the door and hold out.”
“Then how will you get in?”
At my question, Jang Jae-gyeong smiled and shrugged.
“Don’t you trust me? I’ll come back with the kids somehow, so don’t worry.”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
