I Couldn't Tell You Who It Was

Seoyoon wrote “Goyeon Lee has died. Please call the police” on a scratchpad and stood in front of the camera. But no matter how much time passed, there was no sound of anyone coming upstairs. It finally hit us that we were trapped in this mansion.

For a while after, Seoyoon stared blankly at the surface of the table while sitting on a chair in the hall. Opposite to him, Hawoo rubbed his forehead, pondering about what to do in this situation.

Seogeung took some dried squid and a few cans of beer from the kitchen and cooped himself up in his room, refusing to come out. Some banging noises could be heard from his room; it sounded like he was causing a ruckus after drinking. Seohang also refused to come out of his room since he went inside.

And Woorim… Woorim had lunch.

He got excited when he found his favorite ramen from the kitchen cabinets, and now the smell of the spicy ramen wafted out from the kitchen. Although it seemed that he was carefree, he was making appropriate choices. Nobody knew what would happen and when. It was better to fill one’s belly when one could.

Woorim wasn’t the only one who had starved since morning. People gathered one by one upon smelling his ramen. When people were hungry, they were easily irritable, and their thoughts grew more unsophisticated. Eventually, Seoyoon smiled at the gathered folks and suggested, “Let’s fill our stomachs first, then go downstairs.”

We had a roof over our heads. We couldn’t punch a hole in the ceiling to go up, so the only way to go was down, under our feet—down, into the impenetrable, pitch darkness. At the end of the day, the door to get out existed down there.

While people had their meals in the hall, I rested alone in my room.

‘What is with this mansion?’ I thought as I stared at the ceiling while lying on my bed. The room was freshly wallpapered and had modern furniture, but the house itself was undoubtedly very old. When the coastal wind hit it strongly, the walls of the building creaked. It was a good thing that it wasn’t very cold, but during winter, the draft was probably horrendous. One probably wouldn’t be able to take their jacket off indoors.

Maybe it was because it was old, but I could spot things that were different from modern buildings. Perhaps this was what the interior of the mansions built during the late 19th century looked like. As my train of thought trailed off, I was interrupted by a knock.

“Haeseo, are you not going to eat? I brought some food for you.” It was Hyehyun. I squeezed my eyes shut and opened them. Then, I opened the door with an expressionless face.

Outside my door, Hyehyun stood with a few packaged buns and a carton of milk in his hands. I took and placed the bread and the milk on my table. Hyehyun didn’t intend to simply give me food and leave because he stepped into my room. Of course, he wouldn’t just leave.

“You’re mad at me for what I did back there, right?”

“What about it?”

Hyehyun couldn’t even meet my eyes and stared at the wall. He continued, “But if I didn’t do anything, I thought you would keep being suspected, so I said it.”

Oh, that.

I recalled the hatred-filled gaze of Seogeung that pierced me. It wasn’t as severe, but Seoyoon and Hawoo’s attitude changed slightly from before. They kept glancing at me and cleared their throats more often. And when I drew slightly close, they slowly moved away.

I opened the carton and drank, replying, “Not really.”

It wasn’t a lie. This was nothing compared to the bullying I faced when I was younger. After all, nothing compared to when I was forced to drink mop water in front of my whole class. It seemed like they were more uncomfortable than I was.

Seeing as my reaction wasn’t that cold, Hyehyun grinned broadly. “R-right. You also think that this is better than being treated like a murderer.”

After I heard that, I could tell what Hyehyun would think internally. ‘And people won’t try to get closer to you because they know you’re gay.’

Hyehyun tore open a packaged bun and handed it to me while saying, “I’ll stay by your side so you should be all right.”

Hearing his reply convinced me that I hit the mark. I bit into the bread that Hyehyun passed to me. He watched me eat the bread with a gentle gaze before straightening himself. “Then, you must be tired, so have some shut-eye. Hopefully, the flashlight that woman had is in working condition.”

Hyehyun must have thought that all the misunderstandings from before were resolved and his steps looked light. What a nutcase. We just found someone’s dead body and we were trapped in some unknowable mansion, yet Hyehyun didn’t seem to even care about these facts. I clicked my tongue dismissively to myself.

I tossed the bread that I was eating in the trash and went straight to the bathroom. Then, I spat out the bread that I had only chewed and hadn’t swallowed into the toilet. After vomiting out everything until the taste of the bread didn’t remain, I flushed it. The vortex of water was a dull brown color.

After washing my face and patting down with a towel, I looked into the mirror. The thin man with black hair stared back, looking exhausted. I missed Yeonseon. I closed my eyes and sighed.

I was just a little exhausted.