CH 7.3

cw: slight depictions of cruelty

Cobwebs were strewn all over the narrow warehouse, and dusty wooden boxes rolled over the cement floor. Giha stared at the runaway surrounded by tall men. The runaway trembled to the point of bones clashing, and his ankles were twisted. It was Marijuana. Imsoo, who was standing next to him, spoke.

“He was hiding in a nearby motel. It took a while because the transmission signal was not picked up.”

Giha licked the cigarette filter and asked Marijuana.

“Tell me. What the hell do you have to complain about? I treated you like a human being.”

Marijuana answered in his teary, runny voice.

“I-It was so frustrating that I just wanted to get some fresh air. I was really thinking of coming back! Believe me!!”

“Did you watch the news recently?”

“…”

“Some pimps imprisoned women and forced them to prostitute themselves. They left them in a closet with only a quilt and a chamber pot. Did I sell your body? Did I keep you from going out? Or have I exploited your salary? I’m qualitatively different from those bastards. Of course, I have no choice but to set a curfew for you or examine your call history. Rules are necessary to control an adult man in his 20s, and rules exist everywhere.”

Marijuana’s weeping intensified.

“Even though Yaba walks all over me, do you know why I leave him alone? He has no desire to get out of here. Even if I want to throw you at the necrophiliacs 12 times a day, I bear with it. You have no idea how commendable it is.”

Marijuana was holding his breath and barely let out a voice.

“I- I just… I just wanted to get away for just one day…”

Giha rubbed his cigarette with his feet and grabbed Marijuana’s hair.

“There must have been rules where you were? Do you miss the days of sucking cocks back then? Do you know where people from the streets like you go to see money?!”

Giha spoke as if chewing raw meat.

“You are not a healer, and I can get as many people like you as I want. Do you know how long I endured wanting to press this button? Even if your brain explodes in the middle of the road, no one knows who you are.”

As he held the small remote control in front of the young man’s nose, he saw a small button.

“S-sorry… I’m sorry.”

Marijuana’s complexion turned pale and his trembling intensified. Giha spoke to Imsoo as he looked at Marijuana’s face.

“I told you not to hurt him.”

“I had no choice since he was so rebellious.”

“Take care of it cleanly. He’s already been corrupted so there’s no going back.”

Receiving his signal, Imsoo blinked at his subordinates. Marijuana’s head was crushed by the men as he looked at Giha with desperate eyes.

“Help me! Help me!!!”

There was a mixture of irritation and pity in Giha’s gaze. He would not have been a victim of the necrophiliacs if he had let himself be quietly enslaved. The moment the needle was pierced in the back of his neck, Marijuana screamed with blood vessels popping in his eyes. The drug inhaled the fugitive’s body, the body relaxed, leaving a small convulsion as his last will and thereafter became cold.

Giha left the chores to his subordinates and went out of the warehouse. The warehouse near the dormitory was a place used to discipline the employees. When the employees dealt with perverts they were noisy, but they did not cause major accidents. Singers, on the other hand, are usually obedient, but sometimes big accidents like this occur. Imsoo asked after him.

“Speaking of Director Cha. Is there really no issue?”

Giha answered, biting his cigarette.

“They are people who put a knife in other’s backs with a smile while feeling at ease. Still, as long as we’re on the same boat, we’ll go through the same thing until the end. I have no choice but to get my ‘life insurance’ just in case.”

Paradiso was also the home of closed-room talks as it only dealt with big names. The transcripts of their conversations, the CCTV footage, and books alone were reliable life insurance. But the time to use insurance was only when things had gone far. Just by touching them, you had to be prepared to leave this land and be chased for the rest of your life.

“Executive Director Cha said he would take care of the rest, so we just have to wait patiently until the work is finished and then take the stock. Then Paradiso will fall into my hands.”

Imsoo’s eyes widened.

“Have you met the owner? Is he handing over the store?”

“I don’t know his name or face, let alone having met him. I’ve never even heard his voice. Documents were managed by a lawyer, and communication was only possible through a lawyer. Ah, and it was the owner’s idea to get the ‘life insurance’.”

“Who the hell is he?”

“No matter how much I asked the lawyer, he wouldn’t open his mouth. Seeing that he entrusted all management to me, it seems that he has no attachment to the store, so we should try to persuade him to pass it to me at the right time.”

“Taeryung’s stocks have a good outlook, so you’re holding on to it for a while, right? If it’s not enough, can you get a mortgage on the store and get a loan?”

“Think about it later.”

Imsoo was a meticulous subordinate, unlike his appearance and build. Because he had such a reliable subordinate, Giha accepted the offer of Director Cha. After passing through the alley, he entered the apartment. The dormitory of the eunuch singers was dark and there was no sound. Imsoo went ahead and opened the front door. The light on the sensor came on and the inside was open.

“Why is it so quiet? Are they already asleep?”

“They can’t access the internet, so they’re probably getting some sleep. Speaking of which, why don’t you remove the internet ban?”

“You can take care of it.”

“The kids will love it.”

Imsoo showed a crude smile.

“How much better are these punks treated?”

Giha sighed and entered the dark living room. Imsoo fumbled the wall to turn on the light. At that moment, the two were taken aback when they found a figure crouching in the corner of the darkened living room. The moment he identified the mysterious creature in the light coming through the window, Giha’s forehead wrinkled. It was Yaba, the troublemaker of Paradiso.

“What are you doing there?”

Yaba just looked out the window with an unchanging posture without answering. Giha checked his watch. The time was at three in the morning.

“I’m asking what you’re doing awake at this hour.”

Yaba looked at the city engulfed in darkness and said.

“Can’t you see? I’m waiting for tomorrow to come…”