Leaving the tall palm trees behind as we walked, I heard the faint sound of water from far away. Between the trees, a large, plaza-like circular space opened up. In the middle of that circular space, water was pouring endlessly from above to below.
From a distance, I wondered if it was a waterfall, but when I got closer and looked carefully, it was a fountain. An indoor fountain, circular and about five meters in diameter, was pouring down from above. It looked like a curtain made of water. In the distance, people were approaching the fountain and praying around it. Only after staring for a while at the water falling in a circle did I realize that the way it descended formed the shark shape unique to the Infinite Church.
“Don’t tell me the Infinite Church made that fountain.”
“It was here before. Sometimes famous singers go inside the circle and sing. Base employees also play instruments or dance there.”
Looking around, it seemed to be a small performance venue located within the garden. All I could hear was the soft sound of water and whisper-like prayers. The people who finished praying disappeared at once. A little ways away from the altar, I saw tables and chairs, probably the ones that had been placed in front of the café and moved here. There were one or two people sitting, but most of the seats were empty.
“If you make a racket in the undersea base dorms, there are two options. Either you get thrown into the sea, or you perform for the trees and grass in this botanical garden.”
“Has anyone actually been thrown into the sea?”
“Sometimes. There’s a guy named Dominic on Engineering Team Four, and at five in the morning he suddenly started singing at the top of his lungs. They say people grabbed him and threw him onto the beach, and he kept singing until he was tossed into the night sea. In our team, I heard Sanghyeon got slammed onto the beach because he was playing games too loudly at dawn. I woke up too, and when I came to my senses, I’d been thrown into the seawater.”
The closer we got to the fountain, the stronger the scent of flowers became. Since it was a place where several people had gathered, I didn’t want to go near, but I wanted to see the altar, so I had no choice but to approach.
Remembering that Kim Jaehee had said they didn’t bring people or animals and offer blood or flesh, I felt at least a little relieved as I headed toward the altar.
Black water flowed around the altar. I thought it was because the lighting around the fountain was dim, but when I got closer, even the water flowing from the fountain was pitch-black. Why is the water black? Is it polluted? I wondered for a moment, but only after catching the faint aroma of coffee and seeing the pale color of the water flowing through the fountain did I realize that all of it was coffee. Looking closely, I could sometimes glimpse a dark brown in the water. The fountain and all the water flowing around it were made from hundreds of cups of coffee. It felt strange. If those bastards had dissolved black ink into the water, would it have felt less grotesque? ……I didn’t know.
Inside the circular curtain of dark water, a long, large, gently curved pure-white plate would appear briefly, only to be covered again by the water falling from above. The huge pure-white porcelain plate, about two meters long, was made in an elongated shape, and the rim of the plate was neatly edged in gold.
The plate was large enough to hold a person. Could porcelain even be made that big? As the dark water of the fountain fell over them, believers of the Infinite Church approached and tossed flowers they had picked inside the botanical garden onto the plate, then held jewels in their hands and made wishes.
Perhaps because this botanical garden received sunlight that had passed through the seawater head-on, it was incredibly bright. The scent unique to trees and grass mingled with the fragrance of plucked flowers, and the sound of flowing water murmured softly. It was quiet and peaceful. There were people wearing strange masks, pitch-black clothes, and pitch-black hats praying for salvation, but it did not look as horrific or terrifying as I had expected.
Kim Jaehee plucked several deep pink flowers from an Esel tree blooming on the ground, handed them to me, and asked,
“Would you like to go closer and look?”
“Yes.”
The people who entered the circle would place flowers on the altar or make wishes, then step back so the next people could enter. They didn’t seem to care about kneeling on the floor, getting dust on themselves, or being splashed with water. There were hardly any people in line. When the people praying ahead finished and came out, the person who had been waiting in line with us entered the fountain as well. Black water fell onto our heads and faces, soaking our shoulders and backs.
The person who entered with us wore a black hat, and the mask they had on was covered with dozens of fangs drawn on it. The person, whose face was mostly hidden by a design like a monster’s maw, slowly grasped an earring. The people before had been wearing rings or bracelets, and they prayed or made wishes while holding their rings or bracelets. Perhaps because this person had an earring, they held the earring as they made their wish. I didn’t know whether they had no interest in Kim Jaehee and me, or if this was simply how they prayed, but I could hear the entire prayer.
“It has already been seven years since my younger sister, the pride of our family, was shot and killed by the cartel. Not only does no one care about this unjust death, it seems to have now been almost forgotten. The police, who take bribes and work hand in hand with the cartel, and the corrupt church tell me to forget my sister’s death, forgive the cartel bastards, and live on. Recently, the organization that killed my sister released a statement saying not to touch priests, doctors, nurses, and teachers, and to leave them be. They only keep them alive to use them as livestock, yet seeing the cartel receive thanks for being so merciful makes me think I have lived in this world too long. I am always unable to sleep, filled with the desire to kill everyone involved. I still remember what my mother said when she tried to stop me from taking revenge. When she asked how many I thought I could kill even if I went after them, I studied chemistry to make weapons of mass destruction, and now I am in a doctoral program.”
The person, who had been muttering without even breathing properly, opened their eyes.
“If you pity me even a little, or if you are merciful, please rain missiles down on their heads. Every place where I live and breathe is hell. If that is impossible, then let me meet my sister again. If I can go back to that day, let me kill in advance those who are trying to kill my sister. Or let my sister run away from that place. Let the guilty die over a long time, in agony.”
The masked believer placed a yellow flower and a face photograph the size of a fingernail inside the pure-white altar. A young woman was in the photo, about the size of an ID picture, and the photo slid away and disappeared beneath the violets.
Inside the plate, countless flowers such as roses, violets, morning glories, forget-me-nots, lilies of the valley, and sunflowers were already piled up in heaps. Seeing the types of flowers reminded me of the flowers that had once been laid out in front of the dental clinic. The person kept staring into the altar, then went out beyond the circle where black water was flowing down.
Listening in on this prayer in English from beside them, I felt somewhat dazed. Kim Jaehee showed more interest in the yellow flower the masked woman had left behind than in the contents of the prayer.
“It’s a marigold. We don’t grow those in the undersea base, so where did she get it? Hmm. I’ll make a wish too.”
Then Kim Jaehee politely clasped both hands together and looked not at the altar, but at me. The moment I became conscious of the believers around the altar, cold sweat broke out. Pretending nothing was wrong, I tossed the Esel tree flowers Kim Jaehee had given me into the altar and said,
“Don’t make a wish while looking at me. Make your wish to the altar.”
“But my savior is right here.”
“If you plan on announcing to the whole neighborhood that Park Muhyeon is here, then you may pray to me.”
“Yees. I don’t want to announce to the whole neighborhood that the savior is here. I just want to monopolize you quietly.”
Kim Jaehee held his piercing with both hands and began quietly speaking his wish toward me.
“I gave you flowers just now, so I won’t offer you any more separately. You know my wish, don’t you? I want to go back to that movie theater. If I go back again, I’ll be able to do a little better this time.”
After hearing a prayer that seemed like it would spill out a bucketful of tears just moments ago, I was already disturbed, and now Kim Jaehee was setting fire to my heart. If, like your wish, I could return to a time a little earlier than seven this morning……
A day ago, for example. No. If I had gotten right back on the helicopter as soon as I got off it, if I had never submitted my employment documents to the undersea base in the first place.
……I shouldn’t think like this. I feel like I’m going to go mad too. Taking Kim Jaehee’s wish as a cautionary example, I focused on the altar in front of me and asked,
“I felt this while looking at the size of this altar, but was it perhaps made this size so a person could lie on it?”
“Yees. Doesn’t it look quite comfortable?”
“Surely I’m not supposed to lie here, right?”
Please. Let it not be.
“You can lie down. Aren’t you tired? After diving into seawater once, all your strength drains away. Rest here.”
Kim Jaehee pointed at the altar with his hand. Did he think I’d want to lie down in that huge plate-like thing? I remembered when I had ridden the elevator with the Infinite Church believers. Had they intended to lay me here, decorated with flowers and jewels? Nah. Surely not. They would have sat with me at a table and explained the Infinite Church as if explaining insurance clauses. They wouldn’t have laid a person in a dish like this.
Behind the altar, a large, well-sharpened knife was set out. The knife was so big it was about the size of a person’s forearm, and the blade was sharpened so well it looked bluish. It seemed like it could slice straight through flesh and bone. Surely. They wouldn’t cut someone with that. The word Jeong Sanghyeon surfaced in my mind, but I hurriedly tried to erase it.
“What’s that knife?”
“As you can see, it’s a knife. There are patterns engraved on the blade and the handle. It’s quite pretty, isn’t it?”
Are the patterns really what matters right now? In a complicated voice, I said to Kim Jaehee,
“It looks like they’re going to put someone on that altar and slice them up with the knife.”
“You really have such a good imagination, Savior.”
I pressed my palms together and made a halfhearted show of praying. Since I was holding my bracelet in my hand, from the outside it would look like I was praying. Then, with the black water falling over me, I came out of the fountain. All I could think about was wanting to get away from the altar.
“It’s shabbier than you expected, right?”
“I’ve never seen another altar before, so I can’t really judge.”
“Really? If it were me, I’d make it more splendid. I’d lay out dozens of candles there, and I’d turn off that fountain first.”