CH 3.1

That day was the day that Yaba’s ball bag shrunk.

That day, his body sagged and his mind became tardy, like fat. The tongue, which was heavily influenced by the brain, also spoke as it liked. Yaba put his hands in his pants and fiddled with the scrotum buried in the flesh of his thighs. He was saddened by the empty pockets and the hairless penis.

He had no eggs, but his genitals were fine, but he didn’t know what kind of emotion this emptiness should be compared to. Was it the feeling of being reverent in front of a seedless watermelon, or the feeling of solemnity when a woman without a uterus squeezes her tears? The woman longs for it, but the body cannot keep up with the longing, a kind of unbalanced world like that. It was a tragic thing to see his day depended on the condition of his ball pouch.

As he lifted the blinds from his bedside window, sunlight poured down his desk and TV. Yaba sniffed the light and raised his fleshy body. His single bed creaked like it was going to collapse.

He went to the en-suite bathroom and took a shower. He had to move faster than the others because it took a long time to wash the fat stuck on his body. The water vapour receded, and the reflection of a loser with a bad complexion appeared in the mirror. His eyes, nose, and mouth were buried in a pile of flesh on his dull skin, and it took a long time to find himself. He raked his eyes in the mirror and applied shampoo to his hair. He wanted to cut off the drooping flesh with scissors, but it was difficult to find a knife or scissors in the dormitory because it was against the rules. It was one of the reasons Yaba was hanging out in Paradiso’s kitchen these days.

After taking a shower, Yaba went to the water purifier. He took hot water and put white powder in his hand. As soon as the powder dissolved in an instant, the water was placed on the water purifier to cool down further. In the dormitory, the singers shared rooms in pairs, but Yaba and Cocaine shared the largest room. He stood in front of the bed where Cocaine was sleeping. Cocaine fell into a deep sleep with a duvet draped all the way to his head, as was his habit.

About 10 years ago, they woke up in a shabby apartment after they were kidnapped together by Giha. When he opened his eyes, he had more terrifying eyes than those who stole Chaewoo’s testicles. Sejin hated Chaewoo like that and was also sorry, but neither blamed him nor apologised. For words as light as dust could not remedy those terrible circumstances.

After that day, Chaewoo stopped talking about it, and the two became friends again. After that, they both received rigorous vocal training with the children brought here, and learned to behave appropriately for customers. As time passed, Sejin became Yaba and Chaewoo became Cocaine1. Now, at 23, Cocaine had become the centerpiece of “Paradiso” with his miraculous songs, and Yaba had been pushed to the periphery, with only ugly bones and chunks of fat.

Yaba pulled back the blanket covering Cocaine. At the same time, a body wrapped in soft cloth was revealed. It was a curve that he could not have even if he died and was reborn. Cocaine was breathing heavily, with most of his face buried in the pillow. He was in a good position to suffocate if he strangled him just a little bit now. He reached out and wrapped his hand around the nape of Cocaine.

The creatures that had slept in Yaba’s skin and blood vessels began to wriggle. Reason and instinct came and went, and the grip of his hand tightened and released. After arguing for a while, he changed the direction of his hand and shook Cocaine’s shoulder.

“Wake up.”

Shaking his shoulders a couple of times, his bewitching face was revealed in the pillow. The clear skin was radiant without the dullness you would usually see in the morning. Cocaine closed and opened his half-asleep eyes. Yaba picked up a small box from his bedside.

“What’s with the watch?”

“Chairman Kim gave it to me yesterday. I turned it down because it was too expensive, but he insisted…”

Chairman Kim was an old man who was dying of liver cirrhosis, and he received Cocaine’s “healing” and made a full recovery. After tasting a miracle, Chairman Kim blatantly sought Cocaine.

“Are you sure you’re only singing?”

Cocaine looked away.

“What does that mean?”

“The reward is too much for a few songs. Besides, he would have paid enough for the healing already.”

Of course, Cocaine’s singing was not ordinary. Yaba put the indigo case on the bedside of his bed and looked at Cocaine. Contrary to his firm countenance, he spoke calmly.

“It’s not like that. Don’t you know that it’s against the rules to have a personal relationship with a customer?”

“There is no rule that says you have to follow the rules. Previously, Morphine was also caught putting his ass on a customer…”

“That’s Morphine. Don’t talk nonsense. Give it back next time he comes.”

“Are you pretending not to know? Not everyone can get it.”

“The healing cost is enough. I am satisfied with the fact that the Chairman has improved.”

Mhmm… Cocaine let out a sweet groan and rubbed his face against his pillow as if he didn’t want to quarrel any more.

“It doesn’t go into your pocket anyway.”

Yaba bit his tail until the end, but the other didn’t respond. There were no empty spaces in Cocaine’s reservation list. People who were fascinated by his songs developed an addiction like druggies, and there were not only one or two people who used up all of their fortunes giving expensive gifts. It was the start of another addiction, and it was what Giha was aiming for. Yaba rose from the edge of the bed and said,

“I don’t have anything to do, shall I help you clean your mask?”

“Thanks.”

“Wash my sneakers in return.”

Pfft, Cocaine snorted. Yaba went to one side of the room, spread his legs, and practised vocalisation.

Ah~~~ Ah~~

A voice that had not undergone puberty resonated as he stepped up the note. It was not the artificial falsetto of a soprano or a countertenor, but the true pitch of a female soprano. It was a miserable voice obtained in exchange for having his testicles taken away. Cocaine, who returned from a shower after a while, also joined the practice.

Ah~~ Ah~~~ Ah~~~~~

Cocaine went over 3 octaves and outscored it by 7 octaves. Yaba became impatient. He squeezed his voice to widen the gap, but the Cocaine had already gone too far. He lost his will to do it. Yaba gave up practising and lay down on his bed. After practice, Cocaine walked towards the water purifier as he normally would. Cocaine, the center of Paradiso, a key source of income, and even accompanied by a doctor, innocently drank the water Yaba had spiked earlier.

There was no doubt about what was in it.