<12>
Thwack. The thrown stone landed beneath the wall, piling up thickly. Crouching at the corner of the alley, Ja-kyeong kept picking up stones with his grubby hands and throwing them at that spot. Worn-out sneakers with completely worn-down soles came into his view. His pants, shortened at the ankles, couldn't block the cold wind, and his jumper was also so old that the sleeves were frayed.
While he was throwing stones, children passing by with backpacks whispered among themselves while looking at Ja-kyeong. When their eyes met, they started in fright and ran away. Brat ghost. That's what the children called Ja-kyeong. It was a nickname given because his family was more active at night than during the day, regardless of what they actually did.
"What are you doing here?"
A tall man opened the gate from inside the wall and came out. Even after seeing the stones piled thickly beneath the wall, the man didn't scold him. Instead, he went back inside, brought out a bread, and handed it to him. He was a Chinese man living here, said to have lived here long before Ja-kyeong's family moved in. He had a son older than Ja-kyeong, and the son lived in China with his mother and grandmother, the three of them together.
Having received the bread, Ja-kyeong tore open the bag and shoved it desperately into his mouth. Whenever he hung around here, the man would come out and give him something to eat. Mostly bread, and sometimes he would even let him inside and boil ramen for him. But each time, Ja-kyeong's father would flare up in anger, yelling that the Chinese bastard was trying to corrupt someone else's son.
"Eat slowly. You'll choke."
He had rummaged through the refrigerator since morning but found nothing edible. His father had gone to work three days ago and hadn't returned, and his mother, soaked in alcohol and drugs for days, couldn't get up.
"You really... have a cruel fate."
The man named Wang took out a cigarette, put it in his mouth, and lit it. Soon white smoke scattered into the air and rose upward. Ja-kyeong swallowed the remaining bread in his mouth and stared blankly at the man smoking the cigarette.
"Why. Want to try smoking?"
Wang asked with a smile, and Ja-kyeong nodded. His eyes, sharply elongated, widened then returned to their place. After contemplating for a moment, he beckoned Ja-kyeong to come closer. When he approached, he placed the cigarette end between Ja-kyeong's lips.
"Take a deep drag and swallow."
Puckering his thick lips round, he inhaled with all his might as told. But soon enough, coughing erupted. His eyes stung and his nose burned. He heard laughter from above his head, and a large hand ruffled his dirty hair.
"See. You're a kid with no use for it."
Watching him laugh heartily, Ja-kyeong thought briefly how good it would be if he were his father. Along with that, he envied his son who was said to be in China. After he finished smoking and went inside, Ja-kyeong also went up the alley following the path home.
Ja-kyeong's house was at the very top of the alley. In the middle of the alley was a high and steep staircase, a dangerous place where one could lose their life if they tumbled. Last winter, an old man fell here, and there was even an incident where he rolled down and died from a broken neck.
As the house grew closer, his mood sank lower. Pushing open the iron gate with all its paint peeled off, strange sounds came from inside. Seeing unfamiliar shoes beneath the old floor, Ja-kyeong hesitated. A guest must have come.
"Ah-ng, ah-ah, oppa, more, more, mm? Suck it more."
"Haah, fuck, you like that? Huh? Am I better than your husband?"
Ja-kyeong sat on the floor as if nothing was wrong and kicked the floor with his worn sneakers. Thwack, thwack. His mother's trembling voice stopped, and with a groan from the man, the sound of both people catching their breath was heard.
Did I eat the bread too hurriedly? Feeling like I might throw up, I rubbed my stomach when the old door burst open with a bang as if it would fall off, and the man came out. The man adjusting his pants had a face seen a few times before.
"Hey. Your kid's here."
When the man reached out to touch his head, Ja-kyeong dodged back in dislike. The man laughed with a dismissive face and put a cigarette in his mouth. On the shoulder of the man with his upper body exposed, a fearsome-looking goblin face was tattooed.
The goblin's horns were four in total. Two on the forehead and two on the chin. And the eyes were red. Those eyes seemed to glare at him, so he quickly averted his gaze.
Then an impact struck the back of his head. With a thud sound, his body swayed forward.
"Where did you wander off to since morning, crawling back now!"
When he didn't answer, this time she slapped his cheek. Blood dripped from his nose. Ja-kyeong wiped the flowing blood and glared at his mother. Wrapping her protruding breast with her clothes, she took the cigarette from the man's side and smoked.
The man giggled and threw a rag beside him at Ja-kyeong. Wipe with this. Ja-kyeong received the rag and instead glared at the man. The man didn't care, but his mother, saying she didn't like his eyes, kicked Ja-kyeong with her foot.
His body, thin as a tree branch, tumbled onto the yard. The terribly blue sky came into his view. His eyes were stung and prickly from the sunlight. He thought the feeling of tears about to pour was all because of that sky.
***
"Are you okay?"
When his eyes met Choi Gi-tae's, Ja-kyeong shook off old memories and softly raised the corner of his mouth as he nodded. The man who had held a knife to his abdomen had been beaten to a pulp, barely managed to get up to apologize and leave, and now only the man with a goblin tattoo on his arm remained before him.
"Seok-ju couldn't bring you home himself, so he asked me. Fortunately you came out early, or it could have been bad."
"Then I'll take a taxi."
After bowing and trying to leave, he grabbed Ja-kyeong's arm. He looked once more at the goblin face hanging on his arm.
"If you're Seok-ju's friend, you're practically my friend too. I'll take you."
"Thank you, but I'll decline... I can go alone."
"I don't want to either, but I have no choice. If something happens to you, not just Kang Seok-ju but everyone who was here today would die. That's not an empty threat, they really would die. You know who I mean without me saying, right?"
Choi Gi-tae's sharp eyes curved as he laughed. He seemed to be referring to Kang Il-hyun. Thinking further confrontation wouldn't make him back down, he chose to quickly give in. Choi Gi-tae told him to follow and walked ahead. From his gait, he didn't seem to be on drugs or alcohol. Returning to the front of the shop, a white sports car was parked there. A guard opened the door, and Ja-kyeong sat in the passenger seat and buckled up.
Looking back, the seat back was reclined quite far. He was looking for the button to return it to its original position when Choi Gi-tae, seated in the driver's seat, leaned his upper body and reached his arm toward the button. Suddenly their upper bodies were nearly pressed together, and Ja-kyeong's lips came close to his ear. A strong scent wafted from him.
"Sorry. I did it once in the car during the day."
"......"
"Sex."
Choi Gi-tae straightened his body and smiled brightly.
"Have you ever done it in a car?"
When Ja-kyeong shook his head, Choi Gi-tae laughed, saying he figured as much. The car started and quickly entered a large road after leaving the narrow alley. Despite it being night, there were many cars going back and forth. While driving, Choi Gi-tae glanced at Ja-kyeong from time to time.
"I heard you came from Hong Kong."
"Yes..."
"You speak Korean well."
"My mother is Korean."
"So you're mixed?"
"Yes."
All the way home, mainly Choi Gi-tae spoke, and Ja-kyeong nodded or gave simple answers. When the conversation grew tedious, the car stopped at a signal. Ja-kyeong with a tired face took off his glasses for a moment and rubbed his eyes. Then he realized that Choi Gi-tae next to him was staring at him while rubbing his lips.
"If I had that face, I'd walk around without glasses."
Ja-kyeong put his glasses back on.
"You know the girl who sat next to you earlier? She's a popular CF model these days. Her father is also an impressive person."
Ja-kyeong recalled the woman who had been groping his body beside him.
"When a girl like that comes onto someone, most would fall for it. Are you more picky than you look?"
This time too he didn't answer.
"Or do you like men?"
The signal changed, and the car that had stopped began moving again. Ja-kyeong shook his head immediately. No. He guessed what intention he had in asking. He'd had a strange feeling since he moved the seat back earlier. Living his life, he'd encountered similar cases quite often, so he wasn't particularly flustered. As Wang had said, he simply concluded that this face appealed to both men and women.
While passing off his probing questions with casual nods or short yes or no answers, the car reached near Kang Il-hyun's house. As his house grew closer, the expression of the man in the driver's seat changed to some tension.
Stopping the car in front of the main gate, Choi Gi-tae looked up at the house through the front windshield. Two guards were coming down the stairs to confirm the visit of the unfamiliar car.
"Building a house in such an isolated place. Really peculiar, isn't it?"
Drive safely. When he tried to open the door and get out, Choi Gi-tae grabbed his arm. He took out one of his business cards from his wallet and gave it to him. Only a contact number was written on the card.
"My personal contact. I don't give this to just anyone, so take it."
Ja-kyeong's gaze that had stayed on the business card rose up to meet Choi Gi-tae's eyes.
"If you ever need anything, contact me. I'll give it to you cheap."
What would he give cheap? Drugs? Or his body? Thinking he'd keep clinging if left alone, he accepted the business card and pocketed it. Then when he tried to open the door, a tall man was standing in front of the gate. The moment he realized it was Kang Il-hyun, Choi Gi-tae first spat out a small curse. Then he hurriedly got out of the driver's seat and bowed his head to the ground.
"Hello, Managing Director."
The earlier ease was nowhere to be found. Ja-kyeong, who got out a little later, gave a slight bow. Kang Il-hyun was standing in front of the gate with a cigarette in his mouth, and even in the darkness, his eyes looking at Choi Gi-tae were not kind. Knowing this, Choi Gi-tae was also flustered.
Kang Il-hyun, who Ja-kyeong thought would just accept the greeting and go inside, put his hands in his pants pockets and slowly walked down the stairs. Though it was nothing special, it was threatening. Approaching close, he extended his hand toward Ja-kyeong.
"What you just received."
Ja-kyeong's eyes slightly widened. Even his senses were sharp, how did he see that? Seeing his cold expression, he thought it would be better to quickly give it, so he took out the business card from his pocket and handed it over. Kang Il-hyun placed it between his index and middle fingers and turned direction toward Choi Gi-tae. At his sharp gaze, Choi Gi-tae shrank completely and dropped his head.
"Kid."
"Yes..."
Thwack, the business card flicked with his hand hit Choi Gi-tae's face and fell.
"Don't think about selling drugs to my guest. You'll get hurt."
Even though it must have been humiliating, Choi Gi-tae apologized saying he was sorry instead of making excuses. Whether that wasn't enough, Kang Il-hyun pressed the cigarette he was smoking against Choi Gi-tae's chest and rubbed it. Smoke rose, and inside the thin t-shirt, his flesh was burned by the cigarette fire.
Choi Gi-tae's jaw, with his head dropped, tensed, and his brow twitched and distorted. Kang Il-hyun dropped the cigarette on the ground as is, then turned his body and walked toward the gate. Ja-kyeong wasted no time and quickly followed behind him.