Healer

His head hurt so badly that his numb legs staggered uncontrollably. The stairs wobbled, and the railing that he was holding on to fell. In the dark space, the sound of the wind was like the voice of death that seduced the girl into its arms. Below the stairs, the floor with no end in sight was fascinating. The pale man must have been waiting down there. Yaba stepped down the stairs one by one.

Creak… He opened the emergency door. He didn’t see the pale man until he got down the last stairs. He went back to the underground parking lot and leaned against the wall. CCTV cameras installed everywhere were monitoring without blind spots. Soon, a security guard would come and hand him over to the police station for trespassing. He came out in a shirtsleeve and his skin was tingling. The hand on his shoulder trembled gently.

Yaba looked down at his toes. Seed-like blood sprouted from the soiled feet. When a season dies, it would only sprout. In order to germinate, someone had to sacrifice. A wind that came from an unknown place blew and swept through his hair. Even now, the frozen corpse’s servants were waiting for Yaba to fall asleep. He closed his eyes and breathed in the wind from the end of winter.

He suddenly wanted to sing. He wanted to sing with all his might, with eyes focused on him. Closed tightly, bare lips opened and closed. His shaky breath faded. It was time for the wind to turn.

Squeak—!

The sound of the tire scraping was quick and ferocious. The car door opened and then slammed shut. The sound of footsteps rushing into the parking lot echoed. The sound of rapid footsteps slowed the pace and got closer and closer. Someone’s harsh breathing led Yaba to reality. Yaba raised his eyelids. It took time for the eyes, which had been overworked by the cold wave, to find their function.

The first thing he saw was a pair of shoes with a well worn toe. As his eyes climbed up his bandaged hands and elongated legs, his hazy outlines became clear, and the man who got excited by dead bodies stood upon his corpse.

Cha Yiseok took a breath and slowly pulled back the hair flowing down his forehead. The dark beige blazer was open, and a couple of shirt buttons without ties were undone. It was the appearance of falling into drunken stupor. The eyes that traversed the vast universe almost seemed to reach the ignition point. The closed lips seem to be at a crossroads as to whether to smile or not. It all seemed like a mirage.

Cha Yiseok’s gaze fell on Yaba’s soiled feet, and then climbed upright again. The shadows on his forehead deepened. He took off the jacket he was wearing and wrapped it around Yaba’s shoulders and earlobes. He took off his shoes and sat down leisurely, and he put them on each of Yaba’s feet.

There was remaining space in the shoes and it was warm. The body temperature on his clothes melted his frozen shoulders. He stood up like a whirlwind and raised his hand. He touched the tip of Yaba’s slightly wavy hair and wrapped it around his fingers. His fingers slid down softly, brushing his lashes, gliding gently over his lips, stroking his chin under his chin. Then again, Yaba’s eyelids became languid.

“I was already starting the engine before I realized. I got here before I even got an answer on what the hell you were doing.”

The low voice muffled the words he couldn’t understand. Seeing him in a few days, he looked a little tired. His healthy skin was also wrinkled, and his jawline and nose were sharper and sharper. His dry eyes were desert. Yaba walked through the middle of the desert.

“Give me some medicine. it’s all gone…”

He didn’t want to hear the cracked voice. Cha Yiseok stared at Yaba without expression, then removed the hand that touched his chin. A pill case was in his hand, which went into and out of his pants pocket. His heart beat faster. He was nervous. He wanted to take some medicine. Yaba stretched out his hand towards the medicine case. He raised his hand upwards and slowly avoided it.

“It’s only free up to the second time.”

“It’s not funny…”

“It’s the rule of the industry that’s not funny.”

It wasn’t surprising that he said something like that. Yaba bit the tip of his frozen lips.

“I don’t know your situation very well, but I told you not to play with me. I still remember clearly what you tried to do to Cha Myunghwan. I don’t know how you coaxed Cha Myunghwan and Cocaine, but it won’t be easy for me.”

The sound of the wind leaked from his lips.

“Who are you threatening with that look?”

Yaba did not back down.

“You got off the hook, and Giha has nothing to lose. Cocaine will fix Cha Myunghwan and earn his honor. I got nothing but the word swindler.”

“Even if what you say is true, how can you be sure that Cha Myunghwan will believe it? You’ve already been taken as a fraud.”

“Still, you-”

“I can wrap up the truth and write a perfect script.”

It was all planned so far. His Xiphoid process was broken, his throat melted, and what a painful time it was for this day…

Yaba took out the trump card he had saved.

“Even so, you can’t wrap yourself rutting on a corpse.”

He raised his eyes in anticipation that that weak face would be distorted. Cha Yiseok’s eyes frowned and at some point drew a cool ridgeline.

“Such a yawn-inducing boring threat. Bring me something that will catch my eye.”

He was arrogant and vulgar to the point of shuddering.

“You should have a rationale for a threat. That’s courtesy. What’s yours? What are you looking for when you come to me in such a haggard state?”

The penetrating black eyes looked angry.

“I was out of my mind for a moment.”

Cha Yiseok turned his back without hesitation and walked to the car. It seemed that he was not willing to give Yaba medicine. When even the trump card was ignored, his thoughts evaporated. And his body had already run to him and grabbed the hem of his robe.

“Ah…”

Yaba grabbed his clothes and made only strange noises. Only the medicine case in his hand caught his nerves. The stubbornly unwilling hand was nervous. Yaba bit the crust on his right lip. Blood came out without fail. He looked up at his loose shirt and the firm neck. The hoarse voice trembled white.

“Drug price… How much?”

His black pupils fluttered like dark wine.

“Expensive.”

“How much?”

“Very.”

The short voice was full of rest. The cheque was not there now. Yaba had taken it out for a while to take a shower and left it there.

“Money… I’ll give it to you later. Give me the medicine right away.”

Cha Yiseok turned his body and slowly approached him. Yaba was pushed back by the suffocating sense of distance. At some point, the cement wall touched his back. Cha Yiseok stretched out his arm and pressed it against the wall behind Yaba. Long legs pressed between his legs. In this suffocating distance, Yaba caught his breath.

“I will give you the money you want. Just give me one quickly…”

Cha Yiseok’s lips drew a fishy curve. As he tilted his head crookedly, the light fell on his smooth jawline and bridge of the nose.

“When you bargain, you have to throw in something that the other person wants to buy. I can’t give you a single capsule with such a clumsy bait.”

He cupped Yaba’s chin with his hand and touched his lips. His finger, which had drawn the line of his lips, entered the gap and devoured his tongue. A fever crept into the corners of his eyes, and he gasped for breath. His lower part at some point hardened and spat out the hot heat. He traced Yaba’s clenched lips, the nape of his neck, and his jawline with his eyes.

“Ask me to eat you up. ‘Fuck me until the bottom melts’… Then I will give you this medicine.”

The cloudy eyes swallowed Yaba’s consciousness. He couldn’t readily understand what he meant. But it was clear that it was dangerous. Yaba opened his lips.

“No…”

“Then there is no medicine.”

“…”

The interlocked lower body went wild as if it pierced through thin pants. He raised his lowered eyes. The black crystals radiated a vulgar glow.

“Say it. ‘Fuck the hole ragged, and cum inside until it overflows. Like a horse estrus’…”

‘Otherwise there was no medicine’. The vulgar language was poured out like abusive language. His voice was composed of particles of water. Yaba felt like he would go crazy if he didn’t take the medicine right away. A mystical potion that would save him from this melancholy, a pleasure that resembled the color of wine. It was a distance that he could reach with just his hand, but it seemed far-fetched. Yaba closed his eyes and surrendered himself to the dizziness.

It was like that back then too. At that time, he asked his name, told him the meaning, kissed him enough to melt his tongue, hugged him up and took him somewhere, forced him to say obscene words enough to crush his consciousness, and poured it into his flesh enough to make his head dazed.

He was afraid. Seeing him again, and also not ever seeing him again. Every second of longing for him was fear. He swallowed the lump of words on the tip of his tongue. Because lies were revered and truth was ridiculed… Yaba let out a shallow breath. A wild heartbeat controlled his lips.

The sweet nothings he whispered…