Double Junk - 89

Ajin exhaled fake smoke, organizing his thoughts once again.

There’s no Choi Jin-geol. I don’t know where he is, but at least for the past few days, he hasn’t come into this house while I was crumpled up in Seokju’s room. Doeun is also gone. The one who falsely accused me and the one who could prove my innocence are both gone.

“This is a big problem….”

Ajin rested his forehead on one of his crossed knees with a pained expression. Staying like this, he felt like he would become a helpless sinner. Already being a sinner is one thing, but living as a sinner in the future is another. Until he repays the one million won, or maybe even longer, he would have to live as a sinner, hated by Seokju, people, and the world.

As he contemplated this, his mind became distant.

I’m already caught in the noose. In a securely designed, strong noose that had entangled not only his ankles but also his calves and knees so tightly that they could twist and turn. No matter how much he struggled, he couldn’t escape. Realizing this, suddenly, something thick and sour rose from below his chest. It felt like soured rice cake forcefully regurgitating.

Ajin leaned on the storage room wall, bending his upper body forward abruptly.

“Ugh….”

Sour and sticky vomit poured out from his throat. The porridge he had just eaten couldn’t digest and was regurgitating. Ajin scratched the storage room wall with his fingernails, vomiting everything he had eaten.

Tears and mucus covered his face. Disgusting vomitus and saliva clung to his lips. Due to the vomiting, his throat and lungs felt cramped, as he had used all his strength to vomit.

“Haah, haah….”

Ajin slipped down, leaning against the wall. There was no strength in his breaths, which were unevenly released in various colors. Even in the midst of this, with a disgusted mouth, he grabbed a handful of snow and rubbed it against his mouth. He also bit it as much as possible and rinsed his mouth.

Later, even that became difficult, and he weakly extended his hand. The snow that was stuck to his palm melted slowly.

“It’s cold….”

So cold. I hate the cold so much. Why is it so cold?

Ajin muttered while staring at the unnecessarily clear sky. His body was chilling rapidly. There was no sensation in his hands and feet that were dragging on the snowy field however they pleased. His eyesight became blurry.

Will I die if I fall asleep like this?

Well, that wouldn’t be so bad. Rather than repaying money to Seokju as a sinner and dying, or starving to death pitifully in his cold room, maybe freezing to death on the snowy field without anyone knowing would be better.

Ajin slowly closed his eyes and opened them again. The sky, which had been bright blue, turned crimson and soon became violet. The winter sun was impatient, making the day short, as Flower Lady had complained. A faint smile crept onto Ajin’s lips.

As time passed, Ajin’s breaths, which had been flowing steadily, became fainter. The time he spent with his eyes closed became longer than when he kept them open.

Then it happened. Step, step. Footsteps were heard.

As Ajin raised his heavy eyelids, a big, black hand, larger than the night sky, grabbed his hair.

“Ah!”

It was Seokju. Seokju stood in front of Ajin with a face resembling the Grim Reaper, as if he had seen a ghost.

Startled like he had seen a ghost, Ajin instinctively tried to push Seokju’s hand away. However, Seokju swiftly slapped Ajin’s cheek. The frozen cheek felt like it was tearing apart.

“Ah….”

Ajin moaned, holding onto his cheek. Seokju grabbed the back of Ajin’s neck and took a step forward.

Ajin’s footprints, dragged like a dog, extended long on the white snowy field.

A Fantastic Circle

Ajin returned to Seokju’s room. The moment he collapsed on the floor, everything that had happened—going to the yard, seeing the burnt notebook, confirming Doeun and Jin-geol’s absence, and gazing blankly at the sky—all felt like a dream.

Ajin shook his head, trying to regain his composure. While trying to lift his collapsed body, Seokju, who was sitting in front of him, grabbed Ajin’s hair again.

“Ah!”

Ajin’s back was sharply bent backward.

Seokju seemed extremely angry. He had been brooding, cold, and silent, tormenting Ajin for days. But now, there was no hesitation in expressing his anger. Instead, he acted as if he would unleash all the pent-up anger he had held back until now.

“Ajin, there’s not a single person who screwed me over and ran away unscathed in this world. You too. You can’t run away. Not anywhere, even if it means death. You can’t escape.”

“Boss, it hurts….”

“Even if you want to die, you can’t, Ajin.”

“Boss, please… listen to me! Please!”

Ajin shouted loudly! He pushed Seokju’s wrist, which was holding his hair, with both hands and spoke rapidly. He stared directly at Seokju, repeating the same words he had said before.

“I didn’t do anything! I didn’t do anything wrong! I didn’t do anything to Jin-geol or stealing! If this is because of what Doeun said, that was a misunderstanding… someone… maybe, maybe it was Choi Jin-geol. It wasn’t me. Why, what reason would I have to-”

“Haa….”

Seokju sighed. His sigh contained various emotions—irritation, disgust, coldness, and boredom. There seemed to be no intention to acknowledge or understand Ajin’s innocence.

Sensing Seokju’s mood, Ajin asked in an uneasy voice, “Boss, did you hear me?”

“Yeah, I heard.”

“But why…”

Why didn’t he give any response? Why didn’t he apologize? Why didn’t he believe? Why. Why. Why!

Ajin’s eyelids fluttered and twitched. He didn’t know what more he could do or say. Even if he speaks and acts, what can he do if he is not believed? With Jin-geol and Doeun gone. Moreover, Seokju hasn’t even vaguely mentioned knowing what Jin-geol did.

He couldn’t expose his heart. No, rather, he was at the point where he wanted to prove his injustice and die.

When Ajin clenched his fist, it happened. Seokju placed his hand on Ajin’s neck. It wasn’t a gesture of squeezing or suppressing like before. He swept his entire palm down, pressed the protruding Adam’s apple with his thumb, and with the rest of his fingers, he gently caressed the jawline, clearly having a different intention.

How can this happen now? What kind of emotions am I feeling now? Not a single sentence of mine was sincerely heard!

As Ajin’s body trembled against Seokju’s warm fingers, Seokju’s hand slipped inside the collar of his shirt. He firmly grasped Ajin’s rounded shoulder. Ajin widened his eyes and leaned back, as he did before. Seokju’s hand moved away.

Ajin tilted his head uncertainly. “I hate it. I won’t do it. I won’t repay the money.”

“….”

Seokju didn’t answer. He only tugged at Ajin’s collar, which was tightly bound. Ajin, with his red hand, squeezed the collar tightly and yelled.

“I won’t do it! I don’t want to!”

In response to the high-pitched scream that cut through the air, Seokju gritted his teeth. He looked up at the ceiling, exhaling slowly through his nose.

Then, out of the blue, Seokju covered Ajin’s mouth tightly. Ajin’s cheek, pressed by his fingers, became hollow, and his cheekbones became prominent. In the excruciating pain as if his bones were twisting, Ajin pushed Seokju’s arm away and shrunk his neck. Seokju brought his face close and whispered in a low voice.

“Ajin, I’m busy these days. There’s a lot of work at the company.”

“Uh-huh! Uh-huh, uh-huh!”

“I have to make medicine, meet clients to ask for understanding if the products will be delayed, there’s a lot to find, a lot to be cautious about, and a lot to prepare.”

“Uh-huh….”

“I’m working my ass off at the company today too.”

“….”

“A call came.”

“….”

“It was a hospital.”

Ajin blinked his eyes quickly at the mention of the word ‘hospital.’ His eyebrows rose at the word, and his clear blue eyes stiffened. Seokju’s face filled those eyes—a face that appeared angry and sad at the same time, a face that looked tired and burdened, a face with many emotions.

“Jin-geol… stopped breathing.”

“….”

Ajin’s breath also abruptly stopped at those words. He let Seokju’s hand, which he had been pushing away, fall to the ground. The grip of Seokju’s hand that had been squeezing Ajin’s cheek also loosened.

“They said urgent surgery was needed, so they called me.”

“….”

“So, I dropped everything and went. The car was so slow. They even suggested setting up a company right in front of the hospital because of how slow it was.”

“….”

“Anyway, when we reached the hospital, the doctor laughed while looking at me.”

“….”

“He laughed. It was a strange laugh. His eyes were squinting, but his mouth was raised. You know, that kind of laugh.”

“….”

“Why are you laughing? I asked. He said he was sorry. Apologizing to calm me down. I asked again, ‘What are you sorry for? Why would I kill you?’ When they moved Jin-geol to the examination room temporarily, someone had removed the respirator.”

“….”

“If Jin-geol’s lungs are damaged, he can’t breathe without a respirator. So, Jin-geol had a seizure, and his breath stopped for a moment. But now he’s okay. They say surgery may not be needed.”

After finishing his words, Seokju let out a deep sigh, a sigh of relief and self-blame, a sigh as if his head were splitting.

“I… guarded the hospital so carefully. I kept my eyes wide open, observed, watched, and was cautious. Yet, there’s still a gap. Still.”

“….”

“How can I make that gap disappear?”

“….”

“Hmm? Ajin, what about you?”

Seokju shook his hand. Ajin’s face, held by his hand, also swayed back and forth. The bangs fluttered, looking disheveled. Due to the suppressed cheek, the lips protruded like a duck, and the eyelashes swayed slowly. Seokju stared at it persistently.

Seokju had a tough day today. No, it’s not just today. It’s been like this every day since Jin-geol got injured.

Even though he spent every day intensely, when he came home, all he saw was an empty room. His clothes were stuck in the laundry basket, Ajin was gone, and there was a chilling emptiness. All these elements made Seokju feel a splitting headache and anger simultaneously.