DMH Ch14

“Haa…”

He was furious inside, but he didn’t show it. He didn’t want to satisfy the human trash who were hiding like thieves and gloating. He didn’t do anything like telling the teacher or kicking the locker door. He calmly took out the gym clothes he had put underneath. Fortunately, the shopping bag containing his gym clothes was not wet. He packed the textbooks and notebooks to dry at home, took the textbooks he needed right away, and returned to the classroom. It was fortunate that he had spare textbooks at home. The perpetrators were annoyed by Wan’s expressionless behavior.

Park Wan was a little tired. There was no guarantee that today’s actions would improve tomorrow or the day after. Until the graduation ceremony, their actions would only get worse, not better. As he wiped the textbooks with a tissue, the bell rang a long time ago. Wan roughly wiped his hands, which smelled of rotten milk, and headed to the science lab.

The science lab, where the teacher had not yet arrived, was chaotic. When Wan entered through the front door, the kids nearby covered their noses and frowned. Wan’s attention was drawn to something else rather than their actions. Telescopes were set up by the windows, one for each window. The telescopes, which looked like they were for experts, were enormous in size. If you looked up at the sky with those telescopes at night, you would be able to see the stars, the moon, and even the hidden clouds in the night sky. Wan carefully touched the body of the telescope at the far back window. As expected, as soon as he touched the telescope, a sharp remark flew at him.

“Hey, be careful. If you break that, you won’t be able to pay for it even if you sell your house, you know?”

Giggles spread from all directions. He could endure physical harassment or throwing milk bombs into his locker. However, he was not mentally immune to stimulating his inherent inferiority complex and mocking his vulnerabilities, which would have no hope in the future. Attacking one against many was the same in Oham High School as it was in this school.

Wan felt like the kids, who wore the same uniform, took the same classes in the same environment, and studied together, were like devils wearing Hahoe masks. They were all below the level of common sense. They were people who fundamentally looked down on and trampled on those weaker than themselves, and were anxious about how to harass them to make them fall apart.

“Stop laughing like pigs being slaughtered.”

“…”

Wan noticed Mu Jeonghoo sitting at the end of the lab table right next to him, wearing earphones. Mu Jeonghoo took one of the earphones out of his ear and quietly said to the giggling devils.

“I can’t hear.”

Faint music was flowing from the hole of the left earphone that Mu Jeonghoo was holding. Mu Jeonghoo did not raise his voice or try to attract attention to control them. The classmates stopped laughing like they had swallowed honey at the slow and quiet voice, and firmly closed their curved mouths into a straight line. Even among them, only Choi Gilhyun was grinding his teeth.

“Sit down. You’re blocking the sunlight.”

Mu Jeonghoo said to Wan. The science lab tables, where students could sit in groups, were large. Everyone was sitting in groups of three or five around them. There was no room for Wan to enter. Reluctantly, Wan ended up sitting at the very end of the table where Mu Jeonghoo was sitting. Mu Jeonghoo, facing Wan who was sitting almost on the edge, opened his mouth.

“Aren’t you going to say ‘thank you’ this time?”

“…”

“You did it so well without being told last time.”

Wan had never signaled for help. Wan didn’t even know Mu Jeonghoo was sitting there. Wan replied in a sarcastic tone.

“Doing whatever he wants—”

“I’m warning you.”

“…”

“Don’t call me ‘‘.”

Doing whatever he wants and helping. That’s what Wan was about to say. However, he felt a subtle pressure from Jeonghoo’s face as he spoke with a faint smile. It was a force that made him gasp for breath, and at the same time, it made him feel a sense of crisis that he might be strangled and collapse if he didn’t do as he was told. Therefore, even though he wanted to speak his mind, Wan had no choice but to shut his mouth like the other kids in this space because of Mu Jeonghoo’s words.

“Why are you ignoring my pretty name? It hurts my feelings.”

Mu Jeonghoo must be a terrible affection-starved person.

***

Mu Jeonghoo frowned as he looked out the window. He was sitting in the back seat of the car, enjoying the cool air conditioning, wearing his school uniform. He was on his way somewhere, even though it was quite early to be leaving school. For the first time in his life, he witnessed houses huddled together.

Can people live here? He slightly lowered the window. It opened just enough to see the top of the head of the person inside from the outside. The air flowing into the comfortable car was similar to the dust blowing around in the desert. Chief Kim opened his mouth to Jeonghoo, who raised the window all the way up again.

“I heard you’re in the same class as Park Wan.”

“Yeah.”

Chief Kim’s nerves, who was gently turning the steering wheel, were a little on edge. It was because the alleyway was getting narrower and narrower. The gray walls, which seemed to block the left and right, were getting closer and closer to the car. It felt claustrophobic, like being in a coffin. The rough walls were covered with strange graffiti written in crayons or spray paint. There were also low-quality drawings of male and female genitalia copulating here and there. It was a low-class neighborhood. Garbage bags were scattered in the alley, which was not managed at all.

Passersby watched the luxury sedan speeding through these alleys with curious eyes. Some people opened their gates and came out to watch, while others sat on the stone floor, fanning themselves and staring. Occasionally, some people stretched their necks like giraffes and stuck their burdensome faces towards the window.

“The kids are kind of bullying him.”

“…”

“But it’s kind of cute how he doesn’t care.”

Chief Kim looked at Mu Jeonghoo’s face in the mirror. His brow, which had been frowning from time to time as he looked out the window, was now wearing a mischievous expression, as if he was thinking about something pleasant.

“Is that so.”

He answered dutifully and narrowly avoided a yellow dog that suddenly jumped out of the alley. He breathed a sigh of relief and the last hurdle he had to overcome was a high hill. It was such a high altitude that if you stumbled with drunken steps, you would just roll down. The uphill road, with gravel embedded in places, was not at all considerate for people using cars. He moved the car slowly. He could feel the rough stone floor as it was.

“Young Master.”

“Yeah.”

“We’ve arrived.”

“Here?”

Chief Kim, who had finally climbed the hill, parked the car in a spacious place. It was a desolate vacant lot where no buildings could be found. A few rusty iron exercise equipment that seemed to leave a metallic smell on your hands if you touched them were set up in the corner. The rusty swing looked old and worn out, as if it would make a noise every time it moved. The distance between the buildings was wider than in the area with the Lego-like houses he had just passed, but there were no houses in particular. Several illegally installed containers were lined up in a row on the high ground where you could at least see the night view at night.

Jeonghoo got out of the car with a bewildered expression. Just then, a hot wind rushed in. Jeonghoo frowned at the dirt wind rising from his toes.

“This way, please.”

Chief Kim walked ahead. An abandoned vacant lot. Broken exercise equipment. A place no one visits. That was Jeonghoo’s first impression of the place. Chief Kim was heading to the row of container boxes. They were all the same shape, with no semblance of style. Socks and underwear were clipped to the clothesline outside, swaying in the dirt wind.

“Is this..”

“…”

“…Where Park Wan lives?”

“Yes.”

The container had two small windows. Iron bars were attached to the outside for safety, but they didn’t look very sturdy. Mu Jeonghoo grabbed the iron bars and shook them once. The loose joints were so loose that they would break easily if you applied force. There was a large rectangular stone under the front door, and a few pairs of shoes were placed on it. One was a pair of slippers with tattered soles, and the other was a pair of shabby boots that Park Gwangcheol wore to work. Judging from the fact that these two shoes were placed side by side, Park Gwangcheol seemed to have gone to do his only hobby in life.

Mu Jeonghoo reached for the round doorknob attached to the front door. But before he could grab it, he noticed the pattern stained yellow with rainwater and muddy water. An unclean look flashed across his face. He hesitated for a moment, then put his hand into his uniform pocket. He used his glasses cleaner as a handkerchief and turned the doorknob. However, the round doorknob turned well, but then stopped with a click, click sound in the middle. It was absurd for the front door of an empty house to be open. He took a step back and said to Chief Kim.

“Pick the lock.”

Chief Kim hesitated for a moment and then took a clip out of his pocket. He stuck the long clip needle, which was longer than a regular needle, into the front door keyhole. Chief Kim moved his hand a few times with a clattering sound, and soon unlocked it. The locked doorknob turned smoothly. Jeonghoo took off his shoes and entered the house without hesitation. There were blue mold stains all over the walls, ceiling, and sides. Mu Jeonghoo wrinkled his nose and looked around the inside of the house, which didn’t even have a single room. The house tour was over before he could even turn his body halfway.

Chief Kim started sweeping the floor, where dirt particles had fallen from Jeonghoo’s footsteps, with a disposable broom next to the front door. Mu Jeonghoo found an unclean aluminum pot on the burner and the greasy dirt around it that had not been properly cleaned. Not only that, but blowflies were crawling on the window frame above the sink. To make matters worse, a frying pan with egg stuck to it was rolling around in the sink.

Mu Jeonghoo, looking at the scene, was overwhelmed with the urge to vomit. He looked at the squalid house with a musty smell and wondered how Wan, who slept and ate in such a place, smelled like that. He headed to the cloth closet on one side of the wall, where the zipper was half-down. When he pulled the zipper down, there was a mountain of unorganized winter clothes inside. The arm part of a garment with an unusual pattern was sticking out from the pile of clothes. He pulled out the protruding garment with his fingertips. It was a shabby thermal underwear with a light blue background and a car picture printed on it.

“Kim-ah.”

“Yes.”

Chief Kim looked in the direction Mu Jeonghoo was calling.

“Is this kind of taste something you acquire?”

Mu Jeonghoo dangled the thermal underwear he had pulled out at Chief Kim. Chief Kim couldn’t find anything else to say as he looked at the messy and childish thermal underwear that Jeonghoo was holding. While Chief Kim was thinking about what to say, Jeonghoo found another garment that was the same as the one he was holding. The fabric was stiffer and newer than the one he was holding. Chief Kim saw one more set of thermal underwear that Mu Jeonghoo had found and opened his mouth.

“Rather than it being a preference…”

“…”

“I think he bought it as a ‘buy one get one free’ deal.”

“Buy one get one free?”

He muttered with an incomprehensible face. Then he threw the thin garment, which couldn’t even be called thermal underwear, back into the fragile closet. He didn’t even think about the homeowner’s surprised heart, who would be coming in later. Mu Jeonghoo walked from the wall to the opposite wall. It wasn’t even three steps. A grown-up father and son were sleeping together in this size. It was a miracle that they hadn’t been taken away due to a lack of oxygen while sleeping.

“Let’s go.”

It was a place he didn’t want to stay long. Chief Kim closed the front door and asked Jeonghoo.

“Are you thinking of bringing him in?”

From Mu Jeonghoo’s actions the first day he saw Park Wan, it was clear he was interested in him. Those who have never lacked anything will do whatever it takes to get what they want. They won’t get their hands dirty. They can have anything they want just by thinking, ‘I want it.’

Mu Jeonghoo stepped onto the dirt and rubbed the soles of his shoes as if he had picked something up from the floor of the house he had just entered. Each time Mu Jeonghoo rubbed his shoes on the dirt, clouds of dust billowed up. The dirt swirling beneath his feet made his mouth feel gritty. He thought of the place as dull, like his gritty mouth, and replied,

“Just leave him be for now.”

“…”

“Wouldn’t he think of me when he’s in need?”

Park Wan had already crossed into his territory. If he had to point out his mistake, it was stepping into the garden without hesitation and catching his eye. Mu Jeonghoo decided to postpone his plan, which had no set date for execution. He could see the small hexagonal roof below. Park Wan’s environment was even more wretched than he had thought. Like how once something is stained black, it can never be changed to any other color, Mu Jeonghoo intended to let Park Wan frolic in clearer waters for a while longer.