Boy Monster Chapter 11

Slowly turning the channels with the remote, Eunho finally found something to say.

“I thought you liked action movies, but it’s melodramatic romance? Since nothing happened, I could’ve pressed the button to detonate him.”

The news was again about the sinkhole in the Euljiro area. An interview with the merchants’ association demanding a proper investigation into the cause of the sinkhole was being aired. He changed the channel, and another news report covered the drug bust at Samsung Station.

He desperately wanted to rest. Turning off the TV completely felt like it would allow him to hear Lim Geonhwi showering, so he left a variety show on and leaned back comfortably on the sofa.

“Anyway, I don’t remember anything. It’s been too long.”

A lie. The time he spent with the boy at the Sashimcheon family residence behind the Chosun Hotel became clearer as the years passed.

The boy’s body, like a sculpted statue, before he became the owner of Sa Hwelju.

The boy’s eyes.

The torn pupils of a monster.

“Well, seventeen is just a kid. Not even a man.”

Eunho scoffed at Lim Geonhwi’s words. The boy was already a fully grown physique at fifteen. His rapidly developing frame quickly surpassed Eunho’s height. It felt awkward for Eunho to have to look up at the boy every day.

—Teacher, I heard the Japanese Governor-General is tearing down the rear garden of Gyeongbokgung Palace and building a residence there. I have to see it for myself. Shall I buy you anything when I come back? Is there anything you’d like to eat?

When the voice that called him ‘Teacher’ started to change, Eunho thought it was quite creepy. The deepening, manly voice after puberty resonated in his chest every time, making him feel uneasy, uncomfortable, and even ticklish.

—Teacher, the Yukjo Street is in an uproar because of the 10th anniversary of the June 10th Manse Movement. I’ll go scout for you. What will you give me as a reward?

Jae Eunho remembered most of the boy’s endlessly deep, thick, and boisterous voice.

—Teacher, I know how to drive now. Want a ride?

—No.

—You should. I’ve already parked it in front of the hotel.

—What? A car? Where did you get that?

—It’s a waste for the engine to run without a VIP. Let’s go.

It was back when Eunho’s legs were still fine. Even then, the boy effortlessly lifted Eunho and placed him in the seat. The boy would often lift Eunho without permission or lead him to wherever he wanted. It was both irritating and embarrassing when he did such things with an utterly composed face.

Eunho rode in a car for the first time that day. Like the first time he saw moving pictures in a movie theater, it was a speed and vibration he would never forget.

—Do you dislike discussing nocturnal affairs?

—It’s not a matter of liking or disliking intercourse. How can the act of someone being forced upon by another be good? Even if it’s the king. There’s nothing but pain in a compulsory lewd act devoid of affection, love, or even intimacy.

—Then, what would it be like if you were to copulate with me, who is close to you? Do you think it would be a little better?

—…What kind of question is that?

—Imagine it. These hands touching you, this body violating you?

—Blasphemous.

—Haa- It seems you dislike the act of intercourse itself, Teacher.

Lim Geonhwi’s voice interrupted his recollection.

“Even if that kid were alive, you’d be wrong, Eunho. You just need to stay by my side. It’s time you accepted it. You’ve already secretly married me long ago and are filming sex shows every day. Would I want a Yeonri who relentlessly enjoys perverted sex with another guy?”

“Then, at this point, I want to ask why you relentlessly have sex with a cripple.”

Lim Geonhwi laughed loudly at Eunho’s answer. He uttered one last piece of nonsense before closing the bathroom door.

“Wouldn’t I be tired of you by the time your house arrest is over?”

“That means that day will never come.”

“Just when I might get tired of you, the lunar eclipse comes, so don’t get carelessly affectionate.”

‘Don’t get carelessly affectionate.’

Chewing on Lim Geonhwi’s words, Eunho looked at the annual calendar. The red sticker marked on September 8th stood out. Lim Geonhwi was already preparing for Eunho’s death, which was about two months away. He’d said he’d even recruit top biomedical specialists from overseas, just in case he didn’t reincarnate.

Eunho threw his phone on the sofa and stared at the ceiling.

This time, he might not come back to life. This time, he hoped he wouldn’t. Jae Eunho was tired. He wasn’t sure what he was tired of, but the desire to disappear from this place was intense.

A line from a play resonated in his head.

—‘Even if he loves with all his might for eighty years, it wouldn’t compare to my love for a single day.’

“Should I buy a book?”

Reading that passage might make him a little sad. He might be able to cry if he read the vivid descriptions of the heartbroken Heathcliff digging up his dead lover’s grave.

What am I so tired of?

There was nowhere to voice his question. The Hwelju and Yeonri trusted and followed only Eunho. The primordial power, uncontrollable by human will, was like a curse. They feared the power of the Hwelju, so they controlled it ruthlessly. Furthermore, Jae Eunho, who had committed the act of annihilating the Sa Hwelju, had to appear even more resolute in front of them.

His body smelled strongly of Lim Geonhwi’s cologne and semen.

Jae Eunho raised his hands and strangled his own neck. He gripped his throat until his eyes became bloodshot from lack of air. Only when he was suffocating did warmth and moisture gather in his eyes.

Seven reincarnations. The mandala of curses and karma continues. Eunho was a ghost of this city. Jae Eunho was a non-existent person to the countless people outside the window. He hadn’t been remembered by anyone in all the time he’d lived in this vast place, which had exceeded a century.

So now, he was confused. About what kind of person Jae Eunho was. He had already forgotten when he laughed and how he cried.

He doesn’t remember the past? He remembered it so vividly that he wanted to curse.

—Teacher, don’t go there.

If he were to forget the words the boy, disguised as an imperial guard for the cause, uttered while tightly gripping Eunho’s wrist, it would surely be after the curse had ended and he had finally died.

—I can’t concede any further. Don’t go to him. You said yourself that you didn’t want to be forced into intercourse.

—You know what happens if I don’t go, right?

—I’ll take responsibility. Don’t go. Stay with me.

He’s now used to having sex with Lim Geonhwi? Every single one of the countless sexual encounters was disgusting.

‘Every single one was disgusting.’

The grip on his neck tightened as he repeated the words. Blood vessels bulged on his neck and forehead. Jae Eunho stared into space.

The last scene that came to mind was from early July, a day when time flowed languidly.

—Teacher, they say social swing dancing is all the rage these days. Have you ever tried it?

—No. The sight of me doing that kind of dance would be nothing short of hell.

—Then, shall we descend into hell together?

—Haha.

—I’ll take responsibility.

Is that why you had a small missile inside you and exploded into pieces? To take responsibility?

—Teacher, just hold my hand.

It was Jae Eunho who pressed the button for that missile.

The moment he recalled that fact, the surging emotions vanished as if washed away. He released his grip as two teardrops barely managed to fall.

No matter how vivid the past may be, the dead who have escaped the six realms do not return.

At the sound of Lim Geonhwi finishing his shower, Jae Eunho straightened his shirt as if nothing had happened and held his breath. Staring blankly at the large TV screen, Jae Eunho appeared completely normal to Lim Geonhwi. It was a calmness that made it impossible to imagine he had just strangled himself.

He suddenly woke up. The residence was silent. He must have fallen asleep right after showering, due to the aftereffects of performing large-scale hallucinations.

Eunho looked at the clock. Lim Geonhwi wasn’t next to him. He only had sex with Eunho here and usually went back to his own place to sleep, so it wasn’t unusual. The house was dark except for the light from the electronic clock next to the calendar. As he tried to sit up, a heavy force pressed down on his entire body.

‘Ah. Sleep paralysis again.’

Whenever he depleted his sensory abilities or his energy was low, he invariably experienced sleep paralysis. It was a terrible kind of paralysis where his mind was awake but his body wouldn’t move. Every time this happened, the same hallucination would bind him.

The remains of an exploded monster, reduced to mere mucus, were stuck to the corner of the ceiling. Pieces of flesh and skin, whose original form was impossible to guess, were mixed with a sticky liquid, splattered widely across the walls. Dark red blood, drenching the ceiling and walls, slowly spread outwards.

The chunks of flesh and blood, torn and dismembered by the instantaneous pressure, clung to the walls and ceiling, covering an area as wide as the monster’s original massive body. A horrible smell filled the air. The fishy stench from the glistening intestines and flesh was even more repulsive than the smell of blood.

The horrifying, blood-soaked hallucination was painful because it reversed time. The splattered flesh and blood wriggled and gathered, reforming their shape. The slimy lumps gradually formed the shape of a half-human, half-beast. He didn’t want to see any more. Eunho struggled to break free from the sleep paralysis, but he couldn’t move even a fingertip.

‘…Fuck!’

The grotesque, glistening flesh in the mucus reversed time to the moment just before the explosion. It recreated the monster’s form right before Eunho pressed the missile button and then went back in time even faster.

Back to the boy’s body as it contorted and swelled before becoming a monster.

Eunho screamed and writhed in agony that clawed at his chest.

“…Aaack!!”

Finally breaking free from the sleep paralysis, Eunho looked outside. Seoul was shrouded in impenetrable darkness under a torrential downpour. Above the ridgeline formed by the buildings, the sky was pure darkness, devoid of moon or clouds.

Eunho, breathing heavily, ran out of the high-rise residence. As he stepped out of the elevator and into the open air, the rain instantly soaked him to the bone. His body was already drenched in cold sweat, so the pouring rain didn’t matter.