PHUW 12

Jeong Mok ran the red lights as he hit the city limits. By the time he skidded to a stop in front of the shelter, even 119 hadn’t arrived yet. As soon as he got out of the car, he heard the sound of a man shouting in the building.

“Hey, you piece of shit! I feed you, clothe you, give you a roof over your head, and this is how you repay me? You know what people like you are called? Parasite. Leech. Scum.”

The voice was loud, and so were the crashing sounds. Something heavy and metal was being slammed against furniture. The sound was familiar, like someone pounding a sandbag, but slightly different. A memory came with it.

His vision flashed white as his whole body turned cold.

Jeong Mok clenched his jaw, fists tight, and strode across the lot. The noise was coming from the first floor, right-side office.

Bang!

He kicked the door open. It swung once, bounced off the wall, then slammed again.

“What is it ”

A man wielding a mop handle stood frozen in front of an old cabinet. Someone was curled up like a turtle at his feet. Brown hair stuck out from between trembling fingers.

Jeong Mok’s ears started to ring, his field of vision shrank. The muffled groans and blows blurred into a memory buried deep.

That kid. Beaten half to death with an aluminum bat by his mother, a psycho upperclassman because he skipped cram school and went to a PC room.

‘Woof, woof, woof!’

Like the stray dog that got beat with a bat just because it looked annoying. The screams echoed in Jeong Mok’s skull.

Fuck.

The man with the mop shifted his grip. Moved his mouth. But Jeong Mok couldn’t hear it. Just noise. His heart thudded louder and louder, drowning everything else.

Crack.

His fist landed clean on the guy’s cheekbone. Space snapped back into shape.

Thud.

The man’s torso twisted with the blow and hit the ground. Jeong Mok grabbed the mop, snapped it over his knee, tossed it. Then he yanked the man up by the collar and punched him again.

Crack.

Only two hits, and the bastard went limp. Looked like he could throw punches but not take them. That wasn’t enough to stop Jeong Mok. His eyes had already rolled back in rage.

Each hit landed square in the face. The man’s nose shifted. His lips split. Blood and teeth spat out with every breath.

“Uh… excuse me…”

A trembling hand gripped Jeong Mok’s wrist. When he turned his head over there, he saw a pale face.

“You’ll kill him.”

Haeri’s voice trembled. His light brown eyes were filled with panic and fear.

Jeong Mok snapped out of it and let go. The man crumpled to the floor. His knuckles throbbed from the last blow to the skull, but it was more important to look at the person who was beaten like an abandoned dog. Haeri pulled his hand back as soon as Jeong Mok looked at him.

“Ahn Haeri-ssi. Are you alright?”

“My back hurts. And my head.”

Haeri twisted his body and grimaced. Jeong Mok turned to look at the bastard on the ground again. Haeri grabbed his arm in a hurry.

“No. No, it’s fine. I’m hurt, yeah, but I’ll live. Murder is a bit….”

He didn’t look fine. His face was pale, covered in sweat. It must have been painful.

“We’re going to the hospital. Can you walk?”

“Yes, yes.”

Haeri moved like someone was chasing him, he tried to stand. But one leg wouldn’t hold him. His body pitched forward with a groan.

“Ahn Haeri-ssi.”

Jeong Mok caught him.

“Ugh…”

The man who said he was fine reached back to his own spine. Jeong Mok held him up with one arm and lifted the back of his hoodie with the other. His thin back was already swollen and red. It would bruise black by morning.

“Let’s go to the hospital quickly”

Just as he was about to hug him,out, sirens blared from outside. It was 119.

“Here! Over here!”

Someone inside the building shouted back at them. Two paramedics appeared with emergency equipment. Behind them, a few men peeked into the room. They were the shelter residents. Not one of them had stepped in to stop it, and they are full of curiosity but no empathy.

The 119 paramedics first rushed to the man who was bleeding and unconscious. One asked what happened. The onlookers pointed at Jeong Mok. When asked what happened, the people who were watching pointed out Jeong Mok who was supporting Ahn Haeri, saying that there was a fight him.”

“No. That bastard hit me first. He’s a pervert. This man saved me.”

“So you hit him back?”

Ahn Haeri lifted his hoodie to show his back.

“Yes. I just got out of brain surgery, he tried to touch me, and when I resisted, he beat me with a mop. He belongs in prison.”

“Tell that to the police later. For now, why is he unconscious?”

The paramedic was not interested in the correlation between the perpetrator and the victim at all. Their job was to deal with the injuries first.

“I hit him. Mostly in the face.”

When Jeong Mok answered, the paramedic glanced at his knuckles, then moved on without another question.

One of them pointed at a bystander and ordered him to help. They put a neck brace on the unconscious man, gave him oxygen, and loaded him onto a stretcher. The other medic opened his kit and checked Haeri’s back.

“I don’t think it’s an emergency, what do you want to do? Do you want to go to the hospital?”

There was only one ambulance. That meant riding together.

“I’ll take him,”

Jeong Mok said before Ahn Haeri could answer.

“Alright.”

The paramedics left. Jeong Mok helped Haeri toward the door.

“I need my medicine. And my documents.”

“Take care of it later.”

Can’t we do it now? I don’t want to come back here.”

Haeri wiped the sweat from his forehead. His fingers trembled.

“Alright. First get in the car. I’ll go back for them.”

They stopped at Jeong Mok’s car. Haeri hesitated. The supercar had wing doors, a low body, and hard seats. Bad choice for someone bruised all over. Worse if he had to endure the ride on top of it.

“Let’s call a taxi.”

“I can manage.”

Ahn Haeri bent slowly and squeezed himself into the passenger seat. Sitting wasn’t the problem. Leaning back was. His face twisted in pain.

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah. It doesn’t feel like anything’s broken.”

He looked awful but forced a smile. Jeong Mok shut the door and went back to the building. He found the room Haeri had mentioned and used his foot to nudge the door open. Grabbed the pills and documents.

By the time he returned, the ambulance was leaving. The rest of the residents stood around, whispering as they stared at Haeri in the passenger seat.

“Get out of the way.”

Jeong Mok’s voice came out harsher than he intended. The men backed away.

Jeong Mok got on the driver’s seat, looked at Haeri before reaching for his seatbelt.

“Seatbelt….I’ll do it.”

Haeri could barely lift his arm. Jeong Mok leaned over and buckled it himself.

“Here we go.”

Ahn Haeri nodded, eyes closed, trying to breathe through the pain.

Hen he started the engine, the strong vibration made Haeri flinch. His hands clasped on his knees.

The car rolled forward. Jeong Mok kept the ride as smooth as he could, careful on the pedals.

“Why didn’t you call me sooner?”

Jeong Mok asked the question he had been holding all the time. It’s not a good timing, but he’d been holding the question in for days. But Ahn Haeri didn’t answer. Jeong Mok glanced over. Haeri was half-conscious. He could raise his voice. But he didn’t. Since they were together now, he can get treated first and talk about it.

Ahn Haeri, who was groaning at first, began to breathe evenly.

The car sped through the quiet night. They soon entered the parking lot of the hospital.

“We’re here.”

Jeong Mok parked by the emergency entrance, checked the person sitting next to him. Ahn Haeri was unconscious with his pale face twisted.

Jeong Mok unbuckled his seatbelt, stepped out, and opened the wing door. Bent down carefully and reached in. Haeri flinched.

“No… no, not me…”

He mumbled like he was fighting something. His arms didn’t move, only his shoulders and hands trembled. Like he was trapped under something invisible. It was time to wake him.