PHUW 1

‘What on earth happened?’

Ahn Haeri thought this as he ran like his life depended on it.

The online shopping fitting model shoot that had started at six in the morning finally ended around nine at night. He was paid his modeling fee in cash right there. His bank account had long been frozen due to unpaid phone bills.

With an old phone barely connecting via Wi-Fi, he messaged Lee Sangjin, his former roommate and only friend, to let him know he had some money now, and then boarded the bus. First things first, he planned to pick up his motorcycle that was in for repairs.

Once his outdated phone connected to the bus Wi-Fi, he received a message from Sangjin. He asked him to buy cigarettes and come over. Haeri naturally replied with “ㅗ” (a middle finger).

Sangjin was the only person Haeri could genuinely call a friend and was also one of the rare few who bought him meals. When they lived together, they were practically brothers. When they had no money, they starved together, and when money came in, they spent it together.

Whenever Sangjin got his paycheck, he’d buy thick handmade burgers dripping with yellow cheese, so artery-clogging just looking at them made your heart stop. He’d tease Haeri, who was a quarter-white, telling him to enjoy the authentic taste of his homeland. In return, Haeri, with his tanned, Southeast Asian-looking friend in mind, would buy pho.

Damn Sangjin. Even though he was the same, middle school dropout, high school dropout, orphaned and without any roots, he somehow always figured things out better than Haeri.

Haeri didn’t know where Sangjin had picked it up, but he’d forged a high school diploma somewhere and started doing all sorts of part-time jobs. Without parents, he was freer, and since he was ignorant, he had no clue about the boundaries between legal and illegal work. He jumped into whatever would make money.

As a result, he moved from delivery loading docks to club promotions, then waiter at a hostess bar, and finally landed a legitimate full-time job at a trading company, thanks to a friend of a friend who knew someone from his hostess bar days.

Other people might frown and call it a thug’s life, but to Haeri, who lacked parents, home, and even a high school diploma, someone who’d get rejected from even basic part-time gigs, the word ‘full-time’ was impressive.

Sangjin was the first in their cohort to become a regular employee. Even though it was just a small firm, it offered an annual salary over 30 million won, four major insurances, and even provided a company car. On top of that, he qualified for loans from top-tier banks and had even started a housing subscription plan.

Within half a year of becoming a regular employee, Sangjin moved out of a semi-basement into a two-room apartment on the fourth floor. For a guy who’d crawled out of tiny moldy rentals, it was such a huge success story that Sangjin bragged loudly and proudly at orphanage gatherings.

“You hopeless punks. You can’t just do part-time jobs forever. Hyung will help you, so just find a way to get a high school diploma. Especially you, Ahn Haeri, your face stands out too much to forge documents like I did. You’re stuck taking the GED¹. Once you get that diploma, I’ll get you into my company. A regular employee at a trading company.”

Sangjin, usually rough yet affectionate toward Haeri, had made that promise.

Even after sending a middle finger emoji, Haeri felt obligated enough to at least buy him cigarettes. Besides, the shop where he’d left his motorcycle was near Sangjin’s place.

Originally, Haeri had lived with Sangjin from the time he first moved out on his own. Even after Sangjin upgraded to the two-room apartment, the smaller room belonged to Haeri. But things changed once Sangjin got a girlfriend.

His girlfriend frequently stayed over, and gradually, Haeri felt like an unwanted third wheel. Naturally, he moved out and settled into a semi-basement apartment in a different neighborhood.

Haeri was sad, it felt as if he’d lost his best friend to someone else. Yet, he remained grateful to Sangjin for letting him live rent-free and save enough money for a deposit. In this harsh world, Sangjin was the only person who genuinely cared about Haeri’s well-being.

Born as the quarter-white child of a mother whose father was unknown, and who herself was born to a grandmother who’d worked near U.S. military bases, Haeri was fairly good-looking. Before puberty hit, he was often mistaken for a tomboyish girl. Perhaps because of his background, once it became known he was from an orphanage, all sorts of vile hands reached out for him. Each time, Sangjin stood up for him, throwing punches and even ending up at police stations in defense of Haeri.

While Haeri’s looks had landed him the fitting model gig, even that had been thanks to Sangjin. While working at the hostess bar, Sangjin had become friendly with a shopping mall owner who needed a fitting model. Despite Haeri’s lack of modeling experience, the boss was impressed by his appearance, paying generously and even giving him expensive branded clothing and shoes from the shoot. It was an extraordinary deal.

Though Haeri couldn’t repay Sangjin in a big way, he at least wanted to treat him to a good meal.

‘I should tell him to invite his girlfriend, too.’

Almost there, Haeri stopped by a convenience store, bought cigarettes, and messaged the bastard again, saying he was coming. No reply. Sangjin often ignored trivial texts anyway. With coffee and cigarettes in hand, Haeri reached the villa entrance. Just as he stood before the automatic glass door between the stairs and the ground floor, inputting the familiar entry code.

Beep beep.

Crash! Thud!

The glass shattered, and shards rained down on him. Haeri instinctively ducked into the first-floor parking area as more fragments fell.

“What?”

He found himself peering out beyond the parking roof. A fourth-floor balcony had shattered, one strangely familiar window. Someone’s head suddenly popped through the broken frame. Another person held him by the collar, pushing him dangerously close to the edge. He was about to fall.

“Hey, you?”

Haeri unconsciously called out.

The man held by the collar turned his head. That explained why the window frame had looked familiar…..Haeri’s heart sank.

It was Sangjin, his face bruised and bloodied, dripping blood. A thick arm in a black glove gripped his collar tightly.

The body dangling over the window frame swayed, then slipped back further.

“Aaaagh!”

Lee Sangjin screamed. His body was precariously caught by just one knee hooked over the balcony frame. Haeri froze in shock.

“Speak! Where’d you hide it?”

“I don’t know! I said I don’t know!”

“If you don’t know, who does!”

With a loud shout, one of Sangjin’s calves suddenly lifted upward, only one knee still hooked. Dangling in midair, Sangjin shouted towards Haeri.

“Call the police! Haeri, call the police! Hurry! Call 119!”

Haeri quickly came to his senses, he frantically pulled out his phone.

“You bastard!”

At the word ‘police,’ the hand gripping Sangjin’s ankle reached for his collar instead. In doing so, it lost hold of his leg. Flailing wildly, Sangjin fell headfirst.

Thud!

A horrible sound rang out. At the same time, something warm and wet splattered toward Haeri, who had been close to one of the piloti columns.

White brain matter scattered. Crimson blood. A head twisted at a grotesque angle. Limbs with bones jutting out. Most of all, eyes turned upward from the overturned body, staring directly at Haeri.

Haeri looked down, then up, rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand, and looked again. No matter how many times he checked, it was clear. Haeri’s only friend…

“Ah, fuck. Why’d he go and fall like that? Hey! Grab that one first!”

Someone shouted from the fourth floor window. A man with a rough, unmistakably gang-related look. At the same time, the heavy thuds of leather shoes echoed down the villa staircase.

Strength surged into Haeri’s trembling legs. Before the glass door could open, he threw the convenience store bag aside and ran.

Huff, huff!

With every step, he gasped for breath. His trendy branded sneakers and designer hoodie were soaked with sweat. The distressed jeans, torn and grease-stained on purpose, flapped with every stride.

“Hey, you! Stop right there! We’re not gonna eat you! Why you running like that? Just stop a second!”

A loud voice chased him from behind. In a situation where a murder just happened and some thug was coming after him, stopping would be idiotic. Haeri had dropped out of middle school, but he wasn’t a fool.

Turning the corner of an alley, he glanced back. The guy chasing him was massive, weighing at least three digits (in kilos), but still moved nimbly in his flashy leather shoes.

Soon the main road came into view. Just ahead, a blue bus was approaching. If he sprinted, he might catch it. But he was exhausted. Barely able to move his shaking legs, his vision blurred.

Then, across the street near the bus stop, he saw them. Two large men with menacing faces were scanning the crowd. One held a small folded paper bag. The other had a short club wrapped in black plastic. What was in that thing?

A sashimi knife?

His hair stood on end.

He pretended to look at the tteokbokki stall next to the stop, Haeri turned away. His steps quickened. So did theirs. They were heading straight for him.

.

‘Fuck.’

His whole body trembled.

He had no idea what he’d gotten himself into. But right now, he had to run. His instincts told him so.

One bus after another pulled up to the stop. People getting off after work poured out, others rushed to get on. That helped widen the gap between Haeri and the thugs.

He planned to board a random bus and slip away. But blue or green buses were risky. They’d get caught at the next stop. Just then, a red bus pulled in. This one went straight out to Gyeonggi Province, via a dedicated express lane. No stops. He hopped in it.

1. The GED stands for General Educational Development (or sometimes General Equivalency Diploma). It’s a high school equivalency test used in the United States and a few other countries. ↩︎