A Glimpse of the Human Flesh Market

by Kwon Gu-hyeon

1

“Why are you sleeping so late? Get up now.”

A deep voice was abruptly thrown from outside the window. Then the window rattled a couple of times. Someone just passed by.

Ok-hwa barely opened her eyes. Her eyelids felt heavy, as if they were stuck together.

“Yes… Oh…”

Whether it was an answer or sleep-talking, a faint voice escaped even to her own ears. She started to stretch but then curled up again.

A while ago, when she faintly heard the clock chime from downstairs, a tired voice had also come from the adjacent room.

“Good heavens, it’s already ten o’clock?”

I should get up now too.

Ok-hwa thought so.

But her body wouldn't listen. She couldn't tell if she had slept or failed to fall asleep. She lay there with her eyes closed.

Now I really have to get up.

However, both her body and mind were rejecting what was happening. From the top of her head to her limbs, she ached and tingled. Her whole body hurt as if it had been twisted all night.

How can I go outside?

What if others see my face?

The moment that thought crossed her mind, her cheeks burned as if seared by hot iron. But her chest was the exact opposite. A cool breeze swept through, and something like a block of ice suddenly settled within her.

The room suddenly grew dark.

It felt as if a blanket was rising from her toes. Her body seemed to be sucked in upside down. Ok-hwa hugged her chest tightly with both arms and squeezed her eyes shut.

A moment later, her body seemed to be lying straight again.

But this time, something dark reddish-brown wriggled down from the ceiling. It pressed down on Ok-hwa’s chest and covered her nose and mouth.

She couldn't breathe.

Ok-hwa thrashed her arms, pushing it away.

The thick Japanese-style futon flew towards the window and hit it.

Thud.

Only after the sound of the futon falling did Ok-hwa finally catch her breath.

The faint late autumn sunlight hung on the south window. It was a very dim and light glow. Ok-hwa stared blankly at the sunlight with blurred eyes, then let out a long sigh again.

And she pulled the futon over her body.

Her back ached strangely with even the slightest movement. It was an indescribable pain. Her intestines still tingled occasionally as if being stirred by something. Even straightening her legs was difficult.

Ok-hwa covered her lower abdomen with the hand that had been rubbing her face.

She shuddered.

Scenes from last night surfaced haphazardly through her foggy mind.

The smell of alcohol.

A foul smell.

A mouth like a pig's snout.

The sensation of that mouth approaching her without restraint.

Each time, Ok-hwa clenched her mouth tightly and pushed the man's chest with both arms. Then he would grin, his eyes like a python staring at a frog.

"Do you dislike me that much...?"

That voice seemed to echo in her ears again.

Ok-hwa shuddered once more.

They were men who looked like cattle thieves, men she had never even seen in her dreams. Three such men had passed through, one after another. They hadn't just passed through; they had trampled, crushed, and then left her.

Ok-hwa thought.

What if she had resisted to the end, even if it meant being dragged by her hair by the mistress and beaten, like the day before yesterday?

She might have rather been beaten to death than endure such dirty insults and pain.

But it wasn't so.

This house was such a place.

That was the work of this house.

And Ok-hwa's body was sold for three hundred won and brought into this house.

According to the contract, for the next five years, she was an object of this house.

If so.

Whose will was all of this?

Whose sin should it be called?