RB 8

The room fell silent. The only sound was Eunho’s uneven breathing.

He barely pushed himself up from the floor and looked at the horror before his eyes. Mr. Oh still had his eyes open, but his pupils had lost focus.

“Huu, huuh.”

Eunho clutched his chest and inhaled a harsh breath. His lungs hurt as if they had collapsed, hit earlier by the military boots.

But that was not what mattered now. He dreadfully crawled toward Mr. Oh. He did not want to touch him, but he had no choice. His trembling fingers stopped beneath the man’s nose.

He was not… breathing.

Eunho’s fingertips turned cold like ice. Goosebumps spread over his whole body and the roots of his hair stood on end.

“Ugh! Hhhk!”

He jumped back in fright and landed on his backside. His body scooted backward in a rush.

His heart started beating wildly as he realized what he had done. His hands shook like aspen leaves and his breathing became ragged.

He’s really dead! I killed him!

Eunho covered his mouth with both hands and trembled. Though it was not cold, his teeth clattered together. Blood from Mr. Oh’s head flowed toward his feet. He curled his toes m to avoid touching the filthy pool.

“What do I do? What do I do?”

He could not think how to fix this. His mind burned white, his thoughts would not work. His heart was beating so hard it felt like it would break through his ribs. The sound boomed in his ears, his eyes blurred with tears.

The floor soaking red, the corpse staring at him with wide eyes, the five-pyeong single room looked like hell to him.

Eunho stared at the body and tears fell. He wished he could just go mad. Anything would be better if it let him escape this reality. But his mind was cruelly clear, and there was no refuge in sight.

He swallowed down the lump and tears in his throat and crawled on his knees. No matter how he thought, there was only one decision left.

By the black plastic bag, Mr. Oh’s knife lay on the floor. Eunho grabbed it with trembling hands.

I should die, what use is living?

He aimed the blade at his throat and tightly held the handle. But though he had decided, his hands would not move.

“Hhhuh… ugh.”

Eunho bit his lips and cried bitterly.

It was unbearably unfair. He had struggled so hard to live, yet in the end he had to cut his own life short. He did not want to live branded a murderer, but he also had no strength to hide as a fugitive forever. His life was already the worst, but the pit had no end.

Is this really the only way? Eunho wanted to live more than anyone. He felt in his bones that if he ended his life here, it would be nothing but a dog’s death. He was so bitter that even in death he would not be able to close his eyes.

Then something suddenly caught his sight.

As if possessed, Eunho scrambled to the trash can. He saw the crumpled business card at the bottom of the dirty bin. He smoothed it flat with shaking hands and stared at the three characters of Choi Yeorok’s name for a long time.

He had no choice left. He grabbed his phone and typed the numbers one by one.

As the call signal rang, Eunho crouched against the wall, trembling. It felt like endless terror eating away at him. He could not even swallow his breath, afraid he would not answer.

Just when fear had reached its peak…

–Yes.

The short reply came through the speaker.

Eunho’s lips would not part. He felt relief at the low voice, but also a deeper fear. He was not in a position to act weak, but he couldn’t help it.

–Sim Eunho-ssi.

Eunho had never given him his number. All he could hear was breathing, yet he knew who it was. He waited patiently through the silence.

–Did you not call because you had something to say?

Eunho swallowed the saliva pooling in his mouth. He gripped the crumpled business card as if it were his lifeline and finally forced himself to speak.

“…Save, huh, me.”

As soon as his mouth opened, his pitiful feelings spilled out. Eunho pulled in his bare legs and begged earnestly.

“Chairman, please help me just once.”

–Are you at home?

Eunho could not answer through his sobs, but he understood the silence. A short sigh came through the phone, followed by a low voice in his ear.

–It will take about thirty minutes. Wait quietly.

There was no hesitation. He didn’t even doubt the sudden rescue call in the middle of the night.

That alone reassured Eunho. The fact that Choi Yeorok, who had no reason to care, was coming made him a little less terrified.

If it is this man… he will pull me out of hell.

–I will be there soon.

The call ended in less than five minutes. Eunho’s limbs lost strength and his head dropped. Now he only had to wait for Choi Yeorok.

The house was terrifyingly quiet. Eunho belatedly picked up his pants and underwear and put them on, then looked at Mr. Oh’s cold body. The atrocity he had committed was still preserved in the same shape.

He remembered everything Mr. Oh had done to him. He was a man who deserved death. It was a thousand, ten thousand times right that he had not ended his own life because of someone like that.

“…Hell is for you.”

He was afraid, but he did not feel guilt.

For the first time in his life, Eunho engraved something like determination in his heart. He would not live this miserably anymore.

If Choi Yeorok was there, he could throw away the name Sim Eunho and start over. It might not be heaven where Choi Yeorok stood, but it was bound to be better than the life he had now.

“Sim Eunho-ssi.”

While he was waiting, he heard someone knocking, followed by a low voice. Eunho stepped carefully over the mountain of Mr. Oh’s corpse and went to the entrance.

Creak, the rusty door opened.

Outside stood the man he had been waiting for. His neat suit and upright posture drew an imposing silhouette even in the dark.

Eunho bowed his head to Choi Yeorok with a dazed face.

“Your face…”

He stopped for a moment when he saw Eunho. His face, beaten harshly, was swollen and covered in bruises. But Yeorok did not show it, he returned to his usual expression and stepped closer.

“May I come in?”

Even now Yeorok kept his manners.

Eunho nodded and moved aside carefully. He stepped onto the yellowed linoleum of the entryway.

Yeorok stood still and looked around the house. When he came earlier, shabby as it was, it had been clean. Now the floor was a mess of blood and glass shards. And a man lay with a wine bottle stuck in his head, his pants down, his pitiful genitals exposed. He didn’t need to hear an explanation to know what had happened.

“Excuse me a moment.”

Yeorok stepped forward. Sticky blood clung to the clean soles of his shoes.

He stood by Mr. Oh’s head and bent slightly. The fallen man showed no sign of life.

“He is definitely dead.”

His voice was calm to a surprising degree as he gave the conclusion. Eunho, even though he had been the one to do it, couldn’t say a word. Choi Yeorok’s was that overwhelming. Enough to make him forget the seriousness of the incident for a moment.

“Are you hurt anywhere, Sim Eunho-ssi? There is a lot of blood.”

“Ah… this blood is not mine. I am fine.”

“That is good then.”

Yeorok straightened his back again. He pulled out his phone. Eunho, thinking he was about to call the police, flailed his hands.

“Secretary Hong, come up.”

He hadn’t expected it but all he had done was give an order. As if he was waiting outside, Hong Namyeong entered the house in less than five minutes. Namyeong checked everything thoroughly in Yeorok’s place and even confirmed Mr. Oh’s condition. He too acted without surprise, handling his job without expression.

Meanwhile, Yeorok quietly looked down at Eunho. His face was mottled with bruises from the violence, his eyes stayed down at the floor without meeting his, and his politely folded hands trembled as if he was cold.

“What should I do for you?”

Yeorok curled his lips into a smile. A seductive smile unfitting for the situation. Eunho only blinked slowly.