A Glimpse of the Human Flesh Market
by Kwon Gu-hyeon
3
Every time Ok-hwa saw the women of this house laughing and chattering, her stomach churned.
Their giggling faces.
Their way of living as if nothing had happened.
To her, they seemed like people without internal organs. Dirty, unfamiliar, and utterly unlike fellow humans.
Yet, strangely, San-ok was different.
San-ok coming to visit like this wasn't entirely unwelcome.
"Ok-hwa, are you very tired?"
As soon as San-ok entered the room, she rushed over and began neatly folding Ok-hwa's bedding.
Ok-hwa felt uneasy for no reason.
This kindness was unfamiliar.
But she didn't know what to say, so she just stood still.
"Hey, Ok-hwa. It's only because you haven't been here long, but just wait a bit longer. If you keep waking up this late, Mother will—"
San-ok deliberately lowered her voice.
"—give you a good scolding, out of the blue!"
And then she chuckled to herself.
Mother.
Of course, it wasn't her real mother.
The mistress of this house.
Just hearing that name made her feel suffocated.
"Let her do what she wants."
Ok-hwa leaned against the wall, her head bowed, and spoke brusquely.
She said that, but a fleeting, embarrassed smile crossed her eyes. It was a reaction that had escaped her without her even realizing it.
San-ok snickered, watching Ok-hwa.
"It's already unfair that things turned out this way, so why would I live taking beatings from others?"
At those words, Ok-hwa's face stiffened for a moment.
"Even if not on other days, you really have to wake up early on inspection day."
San-ok counted on her fingers, thinking.
"Let's see... today is Saturday, right?"
"So, the day after tomorrow is inspection day."
"Inspection?"
Ok-hwa raised her head at the unfamiliar word.
"What is an inspection?"
San-ok blinked for a moment.
"You don't know about getting inspected?"
And then she said, as if it were obvious.
“A doctor examines our bodies.”
Ok-hwa frowned.
“A doctor comes here?”
“No. You go to the hospital upstairs to get it.”
“……”
Ok-hwa was silent.
San-ok, feeling playful for no reason, moved a little closer.
“But at first, it’s really embarrassing, you can’t stand it, you know?”
“When you lie on an examination table that looks like a bed, the doctor…”
Trailing off, San-ok finally couldn't hold back and burst out laughing.
“Hohoho… I’m telling you, it’s so mortifying.”
“……”
Ok-hwa’s face instantly flushed.
She didn’t want to hear any more.
She quickly turned around and walked to the window.
She flung the window open.
A cold breeze brushed her face.
Ok-hwa muttered softly, looking out the window.
“This, that… it’s all useless now.”
“It’s kill or be killed…”
In the distance, the noon whistle echoed.
It was around lunchtime for people in the world.
People who were playing,
People who were working,
People with money,
People without money.
Everyone was living in the middle of their day.
But where Ok-hwa was, it was different.
This alley still felt like night.
People still sleeping.
People just barely rubbing their eyes and getting up.
Even the people wandering the alley, one by one, were slumped like beaten catfish.
Not sleep, but fatigue clung to every face.
This was truly a different world.
A wonderland.
A different realm.
Ok-hwa suddenly felt as if this entire alley was a giant market.
No.
A place more terrible than a market.
It was as if—
A night market had opened.
A night market of human flesh.
A night market selling people.
This place was ×××
Where a night market of human flesh had opened.
Cheap.
Cheap.
Bodies bargained for cheaply.
A place for choosing, touching, and pricing.
This was a place where human flesh became merchandise.
And night returned once more.
A hateful night.
The time Okhwa feared most.
This peculiar village only came alive after sunset.
The alleys, which had seemed dead during the day, finally began to breathe as evening fell.
Electric lights flickered on, one by one.
They were lights that seemed to radiate murderous intent.
Women were displayed at every doorway and every window.
Like commodities.
Behind bars, like cages in a zoo.
Faces covered in shoddy makeup and white powder.
Dolls forcibly made to look pretty.
Electric lights shone sharply down on them.
How about this one?
Buy her.
Such voices seemed to echo through every alley.
And people moved between them.
Suit trousers.
Hanbok skirts.
Rubber shoes.
Wooden clogs.
Shadows reeking of alcohol and tobacco, peeking into one doorway after another.
All were guests.
All were customers.