Double Junk - 69

Why is that guy here again…

While Ajin was momentarily frozen in astonishment, Jin-Geol approached him step by step.

Ajin, recovering a moment late, struggled to get up. If he were a healthy man, he might have sprung up and run away immediately. However, due to the discomfort in one leg, even getting up was a chaotic endeavor with his body swaying uncontrollably.

Jin-Geol easily caught up with Ajin, even with slow steps. Focusing on easily grabbable parts like the head, shoulders, or arms, he bent down and made the effort to grab Ajin’s knees.

Ajin, who had just managed to stand, fell back to the ground. His forehead stung as it hit the hard surface.

“Ah…”

Ajin groaned, holding his head with both hands. Somehow, his leg felt cold. A fierce chill was scratching at his calves. Ajin quickly turned around.

Jin-Geol was lifting the loose end of Ajin’s pants. Then, he brought the razor-sharp blade to Ajin’s exposed knee, as if intending to carve out the kneecap. Startled, Ajin wriggled his body frantically.

“Stop! Stop, you bastard! Don’t do it!”

Ajin yelled desperately, but Jin-Geol didn’t flinch. He chuckled while firmly pressing the knife against Ajin’s knee. As Ajin struggled, the well-sharpened blade maliciously cut into his pale skin.

“Eek…”

A sharp pain struck. The knife cutting through the skin felt chilling. Ajin stood frozen. Any further movement might result in the knife slicing through his leg.

Trembling, Ajin looked down at his knee. Fortunately, the injury wasn’t deep. A thin stream of blood trickled down the paler-than-ever skin, reflecting the moonlight. Unlike the cold skin, the blood was warm.

“Don’t… please…”

“Do you want me to mess up the other leg too? Crawling for the rest of your life would be quite a spectacle, don’t you think?”

“Please… don’t…”

Tears welled up in Ajin’s eyes. His frail body shivered miserably. Jin-Geol enjoyed the trembling that ran down Ajin’s leg.

Damn bastard. The damn bastard who killed my brother. The devilish bastard. The son of a bitch who sells his body to men. Uttering such words like a chant.

Jin-Geol raised the tip of the knife and jabbed Ajin’s knee. Meanwhile, he casually roamed and touched various parts of Ajin’s leg.

The knife continued to leave traces on Ajin’s leg, creating hole-like wounds. However, they weren’t significant injuries, just pricks from a thick thorn.

Nevertheless, Ajin was terrified as if he would collapse at any moment.

“Do you want me to mess up the other leg too? Crawling for the rest of your life would be quite a spectacle, don’t you think?”

Ajin was frightened not only by the immediate pain of his leg being cut but also by the anticipated contempt in the future.

At that moment, as Jin-Geol looked down at the collapsed Ajin, he suddenly raised his head. Having seen the pig standing at the corner of the house, he released Ajin’s leg as if tossing it aside. Ajin quickly hugged his leg. He also rubbed his knee with his hands. The cold blood had stained his palms.

As Ajin stared blankly at his own palm, Jin-Geol grabbed his hair and lifted his head. Ajin’s upper body jerked up in Jin-Geol’s powerful grip. Jin-Geol shook Ajin’s head in any random direction.

“Ajin.”

“Ugh…”

“Ajin. This fucking bastard deserves to be killed.”

“Ah! Please, don’t… Hng, it hurts… I’m sorry, please, don’t…”

Ajin whimpered as the gleaming knife wavered in front of him. It was impossible to gauge where and how the knife would pierce. To gouge out an eyeball, seize the lips, or cut the neck—anything seemed possible.

As Ajin, consumed by fear, struggled to catch his breath, the razor moved. Ajin tightly shut his eyes.

Slice.

Something was cut.

Above his face, something dripped. At first, he thought it was blood. He thought Jin-Geol was peeling off his scalp. He thought he wouldn’t feel pain or the warmth of blood as he approached death.

But something was strange. Jin-Geol’s hand quickly withdrew.

Ajin opened his eyes with a start. Even though he had closed them for only a few seconds, the moonlight piercing through his eyeballs felt sharp and uncomfortable. Jin-Geol, bathed in moonlight, appeared as he lowered himself to look at Ajin. The razor in his hand was also clearly visible.

…Too clear.

The moisture that had clung to the retina seemed to disappear, and the whole world became pristine.

Ajin lowered his head. Black strands of hair scattered across his leg became visible. The winter wind brushed away the thin hair, making it flutter and disappear. Ajin stared at it blankly.

What Jin-Geol cut was not his scalp but his hair.

Why… Why the hair…

Ajin, who didn’t understand the situation, blinked. Jin-Geol sat down in front of him, drawing imaginary pictures on Ajin’s face with the withdrawn knife.

“Next time, should I gouge out your eyeballs? One crippled eye, one crippled leg, matching set? No, no. Then maybe cut off one ear and one arm.”

…

Ajin stared at Jin-Geol in bewilderment. Every time he muttered about mutilating his body, Ajin’s shoulders trembled. If everything was cut off, he would probably just die without a fuss. No, in this state, it might be a relief to die. While thinking such thoughts…

Suddenly, Jin-Geol raised both arms and let out a strange scream.

“Waack!”

Astonished, Ajin moved his hands and buttocks, crawling backward. Jin-Geol chuckled at his ridiculous appearance, slowly, very slowly, getting up as if giving Ajin a chance to escape.

Ajin truly believed it was an opportunity. Struggling to stand, he began running clumsily. His awkward running style was ridiculous, but in this situation, he felt like he could do anything to escape, even running on all fours.

However, Ajin had to stop after only a few steps. The pig, holding a sickle, blocked his way.

“Uh…”

Stumbling, Ajin anxiously looked around. Then, he spotted the slightly open side door.

It was the back door leading to the factory where he had gone with Seok-Ju for a walk before. The door with several chains and locks was usually tightly secured, but for some reason, it was open today. Although Ajin sensed that something was wrong, his mind was so chaotic that he couldn’t grasp the oddity.

As long as there was a space for his head, be it a dog hole or a mouse hole, he would dive in without hesitation. Ajin’s mind was in such disarray.

As Jin-Geol and the pig approached, Ajin rushed towards the side door. With a decisive push of his shoulder, he entered. The scent of the forest filled the air like a wave.

“Haa…, haa…”

Ajin gasped for breath, running along the forest path.

The untamed dirt path was unfriendly. Long, sturdy grass stalks tried to grab Ajin’s ankles, and scattered stones and fallen branches aimed for Ajin’s toes, opening their mouths to bite.

Ajin reached the front yard of the back house without tripping. There was no chance of stumbling. He frequently looked back, and there was no sign of Jin-Geol, but instead of relief, he felt uneasy. It seemed like Jin-Geol might be silently watching him from the darkness filled with dense grass. Waiting for Ajin to collapse so he could pounce.

Ajin looked back at the back house. Unlike the last time with Seok-Ju, all the lights in the large and tall building were off. There were no members of the organization with guns standing, and the lights that were evenly spaced were not visible.

Nowhere to go. Nowhere to escape, nowhere to hide. Should he go into that building…

It was when Ajin anxiously looked around. Swiftly, a sharp object grazed his ear. It was the sickle. Ajin shuddered, turning to look behind. The pig was chuckling, moving its fat-laden jowls.

“Ajin, even though I’ll leave your right arm, don’t be too scared. You can still use chopsticks. Oh, even with just one arm, the taste of food is the same. Amazing, right?”

Ajin trembled as if he were urinating. Then, wherever his feet touched, wherever there was an opening, he began to run. With Ajin’s stumbling, thudding steps, the pig followed, swaying its upper body as if dancing.

“Don’t come… Don’t come, you bastard…”

Ajin muttered tearfully, traversing the mountain slope. As the back house seemed to get farther away, it eventually disappeared behind a tree. The darker the forest became with dense trees, the darker the visibility. Thanks to this, Ajin had to sway every three steps.

How far had he climbed like this? His breath was too heavy, and the winter wind felt like it would tear his lungs apart. It seemed like ceramics shattered in his chest. It felt as if glass fragments were piercing his chest skin, tearing his throat apart. Truly, he could sense the taste of bitter blood from deep within his throat.

“Haa…, haa…”

Stumbling again, Ajin shook his body, grasping a tree that his hand reached. The rough bark scratched his palm. It was a tingling and even slightly warm sensation, but Ajin didn’t care. In the face of terror, such sensations were insignificant.

Ajin, gasping for breath, continued through the mountainous slope. The winter wind whispered through the trees, carrying with it the scent of pine needles and the bitter cold of snow. As Ajin desperately climbed, he heard a rustle from behind.

Howls of laughter mixed with sobs echoed through the quiet forest. Ajin’s eyes widened, and his heart raced as he faced the tree. The pig’s appearance was no longer visible on the steep mountain path. Only the swaying branches in the winter wind were seen.