Chapter 5-1
by Han Yong-un
“Hello?”
The sound of someone calling came from outside the door.
Sun-young, who had been sitting and sewing under the light, did not respond even after hearing the sound.
She only paused the needle and listened intently.
“Hello?”
It was a bit louder than before.
Sun-young's heart sank.
That sound reminded her of the voice that had asked for alms not long ago.
Still not answering, Sun-young came out and sat on the floor.
“Hello.”
The voice seemed to have entered through the front gate.
“Who are you looking for?”
Sun-young asked, almost certain that it was Dae-cheol.
Her voice was trembling.
“Is there a Miss Jang Sun-young here?”
“Why are you looking for me? Who are you?”
Sun-young stepped down from the floor.
“I am a person named Kim Dae-cheol, and I came to see you.”
Upon hearing those words, Sun-young could no longer avoid going out.
“Who are you?”
Looking at Dae-cheol, who was standing darkly in the dim doorway,
Sun-young felt both scared and, on the other hand, sorry for him.
“I am Dae-cheol. Is it alright if I come in?”
Dae-cheol tried to move his feet.
“Oh, what a surprise. Please come in.”
Sun-young led him in front.
“I’m sorry for a beggar like me coming in like this.”
Dae-cheol stood without sitting down even after entering the room.
“Ah! But what’s going on?”
Sun-young asked, standing and hesitating.
“This is what happens to a sinner.”
Dae-cheol clasped his hands on his waist and looked around the room.
“Please sit here.”
Sun-young offered him a seat on the warm floor.
Dae-cheol seemed to struggle even to sit down, making an effort to lower himself.
Sun-young sat next to him on his left.
“But how did you end up like this?”
Sun-young looked at Dae-cheol with a grimace on her face.
“Did you see the letter before?”
Dae-cheol did not answer the question but instead brought up the letter.
“I saw it.”
Sun-young said with a pitiful expression.
“As I wrote in the letter, I fell ill and ended up like this.”
“What kind of illness made you like this?”
“At first, it was an illness caused by anger, but it gradually worsened and became like this.
And while trying to cure the illness, I ended up getting even more sick, and now I am close to death.”
Dae-cheol let out a weak sigh and stretched his legs.
“What kind of illness could turn such a strong and vigorous body into this…
It must be because you drank and treated your body so harshly.”
Sun-young's eyes filled with tears, and she began to cry while covering her eyes with a towel.
Dae-cheol also sniffled and cried.
Their crying continued for a while.
“But where did Soo-bok go?”
Dae-cheol, who had stopped crying first, asked Sun-young, who was just managing to stop her tears.
“Soo-bok?”
Sun-young couldn't continue her words and burst into tears again.
Then—
“He died.”
Her voice was drowned out by her sobs.
“Died?”
Dae-cheol started crying again.
“He died right then.”
Sun-young held back her tears and continued speaking, comforting the crying Dae-cheol.
And after Dae-cheol had calmed down somewhat, she briefly recounted the story of Soo-bok's death.
“Then that means I killed him.”
Dae-cheol sighed deeply, seeming to think of something, then tried to get up using his arms for support.
“That was just because his life was short, he wouldn't have died otherwise, right?”
When Sun-young comforted him, Dae-cheol burst into tears again—
“Oh dear, I have to go.”
and tried to get up from his seat.
“Where are you going?”
“I have to go somewhere.”
“Where are you right now?”
“Where can a guy like this go? My place is where I go.”
Dae-cheol sat down again.
“But what kind of illness is it?”
Sun-young collected her thoughts and asked.
“At first, it was just a minor illness, but while trying to cure it, the medicine turned into the illness, and it hardly gets better.”
Dae-cheol hesitated for a moment before answering.
However, he did not clearly speak about the illness.
Meanwhile—
Dae-cheol's eyes suddenly became hazy, and he sat there blankly, with snot running down, like a person who had lost consciousness.
Then he suddenly took something out of his vest pocket,
and injected himself in the left arm.
His arm was filled with wounds, as if he had suffered from a disease.
“What is that?”
Sun-young asked, frowning even though she had a rough idea.
“This is medicine.”
“What kind of medicine is it?”
“This is good medicine… it’s like opium.”
“It’s like opium?”
Sun-young asked back in surprise.
“Yes.”
Dae-cheol replied calmly.
“They say once a person starts taking opium, it becomes a big problem…”
“What big problem? For people like us who have no money, it’s tough,
but for those with money, what’s so hard about it? The medicine is excellent.”
“Look at this. Just a while ago, I had a runny nose and no energy,
but after one injection, I got better right away, didn’t I? The medicine is a good medicine.”