Healer

The dormitory was suppressed by a silence like a portrait house. Methadone’s body was taken away by the thugs. The blood and brain water were removed by the eunuch singers. The thug who had his neck stabbed demanded healing, but Cocaine kept his mouth shut despite threats and conciliation. Eventually, he was taken to the hospital. Cocaine canceled all reservations today and the singers also locked their doors. It was the only rebellion they could make. Hashish locked himself in his room and didn’t even make a sound. Rather than feeling guilty for a colleague who died unfairly instead of him, he might have been relieved at the fact that it wasn’t him who shed brains and dropped down. He would have cursed himself over and over like that.

Yaba was lying on the bed the whole time. He had to take only two pills for dinner, but he ate four. His stomach felt queasy, and his head and limbs melted away. Cocaine went into bed and was covered with a blanket. Shaking intermittently, he melted under the bed.

“Why didn’t you scream?”

At Yaba’s question, Cocaine’s trembling stopped. After not moving for quite some time, he pulled down the blanket. His red eyes were filled with anger and helplessness.

“What are you talking about?”

Yaba said, sweeping his parched mouth over with his tongue.

“You said it. You said you could kill someone if you scream? So Kang Giha was afraid of you, so he even transplanted a chip. We also got caught up in it. If you just scream, you could annihilate those thugs. Of course the other kids will die too though…”

Yaba smiled and continued his words.

“On Christmas day 10 years ago, I heard Imsoo reporting to Kang Giha. I have very bright ears. Imsoo said that, when he went to get you, everyone was dead with a ripped off head… After that, you screamed and killed all the people who were operating on us. Their skull exploded, their brain exploded against the wall, and they died without making a sound. At that time, Imsoo’s ear was blown off so he was deaf in one ear…”

Cocaine raised his dark eyes eerily.

“How many times do I have to tell you that I don’t remember what happened that day? Your bullshit… I’m sick of it now. If you have nothing to do, go and wash your body hard. If possible, even the drug-infused head!”

Cocaine bit his lip as if to hide his shaking eyes. It was that expression again. That look made Yaba want to crush that beautiful face. The appearance of Cocaine was split into two and three. On Christmas day, the only place his older brother would abandon his younger brother and go to was Chaewoo’s house. Yaba asked, fiddling with his pillow.

“Did Jang Sejun also go to your house that day?”

“I don’t remember.”

“Liar. He went to your house.”

Yaba looked deeply into his eyes. He smacked with thorns, poured boiling water into his beautiful face, and tore through the base of the past.

“Did you kill him too?”

He could hear Cocaine inhaling from here. His ivory neck grew paler.

“I said I don’t remember that day.”

“Did you make his head explode too? Like the people you killed?”

“I don’t remember. I said I don’t remember anything—!!”

Cocaine shuddered like he was covered in maggots. His screams came out and vibrated the window. Yaba’s eardrums rang. Cocaine said in a low voice.

“It was 10 years ago. Even if your brother had come, I can’t even remember if he was among the many. Okay?”

Yaba laughed cynically.

“I’ll take your word for it. If you remember that day, you won’t be able to live like that.”

Yaba staggered and walked to the bathroom.

“Then what about you?”

A cold voice picked up his lukewarm legs and bit it. Cocaine was staring at him with a strange face as his scattered eyes focused.

“That day, I heard you were with me when I was castrated. How come you’re okay when you heard me scream when there’s no safety device?”

Cocaine sometimes made such a staggering attack. It was also the moment when him saying that he couldn’t remember was proven to be a lie. He tried to gather loose thoughts, but the effect of the drug messed up his brain.

“Because…”

Yaba blinked as he ripped off the crusts of his lips.

“Because I… was already dead. I guess your power doesn’t work on corpses. Just like Methadone earlier.”

He wanted to watch his noble face contorted, but continued to falter under his gaze. Yaba moved his limp legs and went into the bathroom. He took off all his clothes and turned on the shower. The cold water hit his skin, even to his bones. It wasn’t the first time Kang Giha went to the police station to be investigated. He came back safely back then, so it would be the same this time as well. This cold water reminded him deep in his bones that tomorrow would not come no matter how much he waited.

At that moment, someone was staring terrifyingly in the mirror. It was the pale man. Yaba threw down the shower head without even screaming and sat down. The upside-down shower head wriggled like a snake. His limbs trembled as if the pale man was looking down from above his head.

Whish… Whish… Tap, tap…

The wind knocked on the window. The person who froze to death was calling. It was the sound of a beckoning voice from the messenger of death who had coveted his mother and was attracted to Yiseok’s older sister. The pale man was the proof. He must have been a servant of the frozen corpse. He kept circling around trying to get the next one.

Yaba’s flesh was as cold as ice, but his head was unbearably hot. A heartbeat resembling the sound of drums reverberated throughout his body. He turned his attention to the sound. To the water dripping from the ceiling, blinking incandescent lights, broken tiled walls, cracked toilet bowls, and finally stopped at the bathroom window.

Yaba put on a shirt and pants without even wiping the water. He climbed the toilet and looked out the window. A dizzying floor could be seen under the stacked buildings. He was on the 3rd floor. It was the height at which people felt the most fear. But maybe the bosom of the frozen corpse was safer than this pig cage. He took one foot out of the window and squeezed his fat into it, narrowly stepping on the slightly protruding railing. In the distance from the front door of the apartment, two silhouettes fluttered. Even the thugs seemed to have disturbed because of the previous shock.

“Fuck. What do I say to the boss? He even asked me not to press it recklessly and left it to me! Fuck! Why did I have to press the wrong bastard?!”

“Forget it. Whether Hashish that bastard is thrown away or buried. I’m in a bad mood, let’s go get a drink.”

“What if those bastards escape?”

“Do you think they would run away after seeing what happened?”

“Fuck. Ptui!” The guy who pressed the remote control earlier hacked and spat out.

Swish… Huu… A chilly wind blew through Yaba’s wet hair. The frozen corpse urged. His foot slipped and he nearly fell a few times, but he barely landed. He hastened his footsteps.