A Glimpse of the Human Flesh Market
by Kwon Gu-hyeon
4
“Are there any beautiful women?”
“Oh, are there any beautiful women?”
“This is wonderful!”
“How much for an hour?”
“How much for an hour?”
The customers wandering the night alleys spoke like that.
As if choosing merchandise.
As if haggling for meat.
They looked at the women, asked for prices, laughed, and pointed fingers.
To them, this place was just a market.
A place to choose and buy desired items.
Those salty gangs were strangely diligent. They didn't miss a single house, looking into each one as if making rounds of greetings.
Each time, an almost screaming sound erupted from the doorway.
“Welcome! Please come in!”
“Welcome, sir! Come on, welcome!”
That voice was not human, but like a sound dragged out of a demon's lair.
The place where Ok-hwa sat was, of course, no exception.
She, too, was a displayed product.
Like others, she had to sit by the window and greet customers.
Earlier today.
She had resolved to resist the madam to the end.
To endure even if she was beaten to death.
But the moment she actually faced the woman—
All her resolutions collapsed in vain.
The madam's gaze.
It was a look of mockery, as if she knew everything about last night, or rather, as if she was enjoying it.
In front of that glaring gaze, Ok-hwa couldn't say a word.
Her lips wouldn't even part.
In the end, her thoughts remained just thoughts.
She was dragged out again,
And had to sit with her rear on this display window again.
The sky had been heavily overcast for a while.
Then, raindrops began to fall one by one, carried by the chilly wind.
Plink.
Plink.
Ok-hwa, who had been cowering like a mouse before a cat, squeezed among the other women, barely daring to breathe, suddenly came to her senses at the sound of the rain.
She slowly raised her head.
She looked out the window.
The raindrops grew heavier.
Soon, they began to beat quite forcefully on the tin roof.
Thud-thud-thud.
People scattered, seeking shelter from the rain.
The shadows on the street began to diminish one by one.
Ok-hwa let out a long breath.
Until just a moment ago, her nerves had been stiff as plaster.
Her body moved, but her mind was still.
But strangely, the sound of these raindrops woke her up again.
This rain would be an annoying rain for the madam, enough to make her curse.
Because it was a night that ruined business.
But for Ok-hwa, it was different.
This rain,
was like a grace that extended life, even if only for a moment.
At least for tonight.
It might allow tonight to pass without incident, at least for tonight.
Ok-hwa looked out the window and prayed repeatedly in her heart.
Please.
Please, don't stop like this.
Let it rain forever.
Even until the whole world is submerged in water.
So no one can enter this alley.
So no one can find me.
Keep.
Keep.
Pouring down.
As if hearing her prayer, the rain did not stop.
Instead, it poured down even more fiercely.
One hour.
Two hours.
As time passed, the street became slick and wet, reflecting the electric lights.
The shadows of customers who had been milling about just a while ago had completely disappeared.
Only the occasional figure of someone hurrying by with an umbrella flickered into view.
Ok-hwa murmured softly.
"Tonight... surely nothing will happen..."
Those words were less of a hope,
It was more like an incantation to soothe fear.
She sighed deeply once more.
Then she slowly looked at the women sitting with her.
Someone was humming a tune.
Someone was exhaling a long stream of cigarette smoke.
Outwardly, their faces showed no concern.
But upon closer inspection, the same thing hovered over everyone's face.
Desolation.
An inexplicable, ingrained loneliness.
Ok-hwa suddenly wondered.
Are they like that because no customers are coming?
Or—
Are they like that because they, too, know their own plight too well?