CH 3

“300 million…”

Hajin finished the call and sat in the rocking chair before closing his eyes and sighing. If he died, he might receive 300 million won in insurance money. There was only one issue with the insurance money. What was the point of receiving it after he was no longer alive? He didn’t have parents, a wife, or children, and he didn’t have any friends.

So who would be receiving the big chunk of cash of 300 million won after he passed away? That was the issue. Perhaps it would be his blood relatives, with whom he had lost contact, and he could give it to them as a New Year’s gift. It was much more tragic that he had only a few days to live than that he had no one to give the insurance money to.

Bang Bang. Bang Bang Bang.

A rude knock rang around the house by the time his eyelids were heavy. He was irritated since he didn’t have enough time to dive into his concerns. Hajin hadn’t seen him in about ten days. He tried to avoid him as much as he could. Hajin couldn’t figure out why he was beating on the door when he knew the password, but he had given up on understanding him in the first place, so he sighed and opened the door.

“Don’t you know what the password is?”

“Please open the door soon. I nearly died.”

“What’s the matter? Is something going on? What are…”

Hajin’s pupils dilated. The man the size of a bear fell into his arms as soon as the entrance door opened. Well, it would be more true to say he collapsed. Normally, he would have pushed him aside and asked what was wrong, but there was no way he could now.

There was a dreadful fishy scent of blood coming from him, and the white T-shirt was stained with red here and there as if to show it. Hajin pushed the door shut with his shaky hands first, then helped the man inside.

“I’ll call 119. Wait…”

“There’s no need. Don’t call.”

“Let go! Your body is in such a situation.”

“Don’t call. Then I’ll be hauled away.”

“What did you say?”

–It was amazing how he was still alive in that state, but the man even took Hajin’s cell phone away as if he still had some strength left in him. His pounding heart seemed to pass through his throat and pour out. Hajin vaguely expected him to be a gangster, but it must have been true. Until then, they had been living under the same roof without fear, which must have been a courageous act. The man noticed how Hajin’s eyes were shaking, so he smiled and pointed to his room.

“If you open the closet, there is a box with a red cross on it. Bring that to me.”

The man’s voice was losing strength bit by bit. Hajin, who was afraid that he might die at that rate, moved quickly and did what the man told him. His room, which Hajin entered for the first time, was empty unlike his. There was nothing except a cheap bed, a built-in closet and a reading desk which the owner had put in.

“Emergency Kit…”

Hajin couldn’t afford to be sentimental. He quickly opened the closet and took the first aid kit just like the man said. The man was sitting on the floor, with his back resting against the sofa as he breathed heavily, as he held onto his side.

“Did you get stabbed?”

“How did you know?”

“Is that important?”

No matter how much Hajin hated it, he had no intention to ignore people even in that situation. Hajin took the man’s hand off and took off the clothes that had been rendered useless. Sure enough, blood was pouring from the long cut that was the size of an index finger. How much he had spilled on the way to home, had already hardened and a jelly like part could be seen. Hajin covered his mouth with trembling hands. He had only seen it in the movies, but never seen it in real life before.

“I told you. Dying isn’t a big deal.”

“Don’t talk nonsense.”

Suddenly, Hajin couldn’t help but speak informally. Everytime the man laughed, a huge amount of blood spilled. Hajin bought a dish cloth from the table and helped the man bit down on it. He wanted to give him a decent cloth but Hajin lost all forms of rationality by then. Fortunately, the man held onto that smelly dishcloth without any complaints.

“Fuck!”

Hajin opened the first aid kit, and muttered a curse. All that was inside the box was a light green ointment the size of pinky and a bundle of multipurpose bandages. The tired man lying on the floor pointed at the squared bandages box that was inside.

“The biggest one inside. The square one. It fits perfectly if used on the bruise.”

“There’s nothing like that inside…”

“DidI use it all?”

For the man, ‘death’ really didn’t seem to be a big deal. Somehow, Hajin was sad and stared blankly at the man for a moment even though he knew it was not the situation to do so. There was no feeling of fear on his face, even though he was bleeding enough to die soon.

“Oh, I guess I used it all last time. Then, stick these three long ones…”

Hajin pressed the three Daeil bands on the enormous stab wound from which the inside were exposed. Hajin burst into a chuckle without realization and pressed his chest hard before laying on the floor. Then he went into his room and took his car keys. The man’s eyes were on him.

“Just know we’re going to the hospital.”

“I can’t go to the hospital.”

“It’s better to go than die here. I’ll report you if you don’t go.”

The icy voice was registered without interruption. The man who was wiping his wounds with the dishcloths he was biting into just a moment ago, laughed candidly.

“Anything except the police.”

“….What?”

“I’ll die if I really get caught this time. He said they’ll even throw in the sashimi knife.”

“…What?”

“Something like this has happened before too, so that’s why I’m telling you that it’s better with the square bandages.”

This man seemed like he would be dying from infection rather than bleeding too much.

What did Ihave for lunch? Hajin remembered wiping the table after eating pork and kimchi stew. Of course, the dishcloth was washing on the sink but it wasn’t clean enough.

The man groaned lowly, and pressed down the wound with a yellow dishcloth as if his life wasn’t that important. It was D-163, and Hajin realized that the man was more dangerous than he initially thought.

“Did you get stabbed?”

“…Yes, it just so happened.”

The doctor’s expression was more serious than ever. Hajin and the man tried to visit the biggest hospital in the neighborhood but the countryside was still rural. The man lying on the bed for medical treatment was busy shaking the bed, moving his legs up and down which easily crossed beyond the height of the mattress. Apparently, he seemed to be in increased pain. The doctor who narrowed his eyebrows and examined the wound, asked the man a question.

“How did you get stabbed?”

“…Well, there was something.”

The wrong person answered instead. Hajin, who lost his own name because he had to lend his name to the man, looked at the man who began to doze off as if he was comfortable and replied instead. The doctor’s eyes filled with doubt over the glasses were sharp.

“Excuse me, are you awake now?”

Hajin never thought he would knock on the man’s door at 7 am in the morning. He held a tray of a warm bowl and a spoon and sighed deeply, before knocking a couple of times more. There was, ‘Yes’ answer from inside.

“Have some porridge.”

“Porridge?”

“You must have something before taking your medicine.”

“Did you make it?”

Hajin put the desk on the bed without answering the following question. The man raised himself as he watched Hajin put the desk down and put down the bowl on the table, being a bit stubborn. He tried to be patient but contrary to what he intended, he continued sighing. Although there was not much time left in his life, it was worth coming down there to try to finish it off peacefully.

“Since it hadn’t been long since you’ve had your surgery, they told yo0u to have some porridge. I can’t guarantee the taste, so don’t look forward to it.”

“Ugh, it’s so bland.”

The man frowned and stuck out his tongue. It was the moment when Hajin felt pathetic for waking up at dawn and preparing some porridge. Hajin was looking at the man having the porridge and making all sorts of colorful expressions, so he squeezed his eyes tightly and pressed his temples. The nursing of the sick, which seemed to be in his fate, seemed unfair.

“What kind of sickness do you have?”

“…Huh?”

“You said you don’t have much time to live. You are sick. Did you catch a disease or something?”

The man took the bowl and swallowed all the remaining porridge before rubbing his mouth with the back of his hands. It was an untimely question. Hajin, who confirmed that the bowl was empty , organized the table without a word. He lowered the folding desk under the bed and put the water cups and porridge bowl on the tray.

“What kind of disease is it?”

“Why are you so curious about it?”

Hajin’s voice seemed irritated. Fingers that clasped on the tray trembled. He knew that the man was rude but he didn’t know he would stoop so low that he would ask such a question to someone who was waiting for the day to die. But the tactless man shrugged as if he didn’t care.

“Can’t I be curious?”

“Are you really that curious about how someone else is about to die?”

“No. I was just wondering what kind of disease it was.”

Ha. There was a burst of laughter that broke out. Hajin put down the tray on the table and hatred at the man as he swiped his bangs up that came down on his eyebrows. It was the first time that he made proper eye contact with the man but he didn’t think much of it, because he was boiling in anger.

“It’s stomach cancer and I won’t live for more than half a year. Happy now?”

“Stomach cancer…”

Other people’s diseases would not be interesting but somehow the man rolled his eyes, mulling over the disease’s name. Then his eyes were straight. The deep scar stole Hajin’s attention, and his eyes were very light brown, a brown color that didn;’t suit him.

“Hey.”

“What is it again?”

It was not something to get angry about but he was unusually in a bad mood that day. Hajin tapped the approaching man’s hand and stared back at him with courage. His slightly depressed face filled the view. Perhaps it was because he caught sight of it once, he could only notice his brown eyes. Hajin bowed his head and sighed briefly, and added as if he was whispering.

“Sorry. I’m a bit sensitive today.”

“Hey. Can’t you do surgery or something for cancer?”

The man didn’t seem to care about Hajin’s irritation. Hajin snorted at the man who asked with a serious expression. He almost forgot he was teasing him.

“Do you think it’s that easy?”