Gutter Chapter 15.2

He must escape.

Yeonjo’s instincts screamed.

“Oppa. Minwoo Oppa, are you alright?”

Lee Yeonsu approached Yeonjo, noticing him pale and sweating. Yeonjo wanted to reassure him, but he couldn’t even feign composure.

Yeonjo’s head turned towards the hall outside the kitchen. The empty tearoom was no different than usual, but the fear of the men he had just seen only grew.

“My stomach feels a bit off…. I’ll be fine if I sit down for a bit. Thanks for your… concern.”

After a few seconds of moving his lips, Yeonjo finally mumbled an excuse as if squeezing it out. Lee Yeonsu seemed to say something more, but Yeonjo couldn’t hear properly, as if his ears were filled with water.

Only the eyes of the suspicious man staring at him from the hall were vividly imprinted in his mind.

Leaving the tearoom at his usual time, Yeonjo almost ran back to his container. As soon as he entered his room, he bolted the door and started packing.

“I’ve been discovered. They’ve definitely discovered me.”

Yeonjo muttered incessantly in a trembling voice. The way they looked at him. Their demeanor. Everything felt disturbingly ominous.

He swept his belongings into a small bag, just like the day he first ran away. In reality, he had so few possessions that preparing to leave was instantaneous. His grandmother’s keepsakes, a family photo, and some cash were all he owned.

After getting dressed, Yeonjo took his inhaler out of his pocket and deeply inhaled the medicine. His chest, which had felt tight and constricted since he saw the suspicious men, felt a little clearer.

Next, Yeonjo took out a pen and paper. He left a short note saying that he had to leave urgently due to personal reasons, wishing them well, and apologizing. If he didn’t show up for work on time tomorrow, either Lee Yeonsu or the owner would probably stop by the container to check on him.

After placing the note in a visible spot, Yeonjo slung the bag over his shoulder and checked to see if he had forgotten anything. His hands fumbled repeatedly, likely due to his nerves.

Where should he go after leaving this room? What would the tearoom owner and Lee Yeonsu think if he just left like this? And if he were caught and dragged back, how would Boss Gu react…? Disorderly thoughts swirled all at once, making his brow throb.

The image of Boss Gu’s face, enraged and raising his hand without hesitation, flashed through his mind. He also pictured himself kneeling before him, abjectly begging for forgiveness.

He’d rather die than live by Boss Gu’s side again. Just as he had first resolved.

As a precaution, Yeonjo took a box cutter from the drawer and put it in his pocket.

“Hoo.”

He exhaled deeply and turned off all the lights in the room. Then, he gripped the doorknob.

As he opened the locked door, the night air rushed into his lungs. Outside, where even the streetlights barely reached, was pitch black. Perhaps it was for the best. In this darkness, no one would be able to find him.

Yeonjo carefully slipped out of the container. And at the moment he turned towards the road where the buses ran, a road he was now familiar with—

“Huk!”

Someone swiftly grabbed his arm. His body tilted completely to one side before he could even resist.

“Look at this little shit? Got some good instincts, eh?”

The raspy voice of the man who held him firmly clung to his ears. A chill ran down his spine.

“Aaaah! …Umph!”

“Shhh.”

When the startled Yeonjo screamed, the man covered his mouth.

“Keep your trap shut if you know what’s good for you.”

He then threatened Yeonjo, his face so close their eyes almost met. Only then could Yeonjo clearly see the man’s face in his terror-stricken state.

It was the man with the gold necklace who had been staring at him in the tearoom.

He had been discovered after all.

His shoulders trembled with shock. He tried to twist his body to escape somehow, but the man didn’t budge.

“Hup, get off me. Help me…. Is there anyone out there? Help me!”

“No one’s gonna come and help you, no matter how much you scream.”

The man took out a rope and expertly tied Yeonjo’s hands behind his back, then sealed his mouth with tape. After dragging the bound Yeonjo back into the container, he made a phone call.

“Just wait there, even if you’re bored. I gotta make a call.”

“Mmm!”

Kicking Yeonjo’s shin with his foot, forcing him to fall to the floor, the man with the phone closed the open door.

“Hey, 형님, you remember the guy I was talking about? I think it’s him. Pale face, thick lips.”

Yeonjo felt indescribably despairing. To be caught so easily, so quickly. Even though he knew the man on the phone would harm him, Yeonjo had no choice but to lie sideways on the floor and listen to the conversation.

How on earth did they find him? Was it because he called Manager Im? Or did they track him all the way here on the bus? Judging by what the man was saying, he didn’t seem like one of Boss Gu’s direct subordinates. Then was he simply discovered by someone through sheer bad luck?

“Yeah, I got him now, so hurry up and get here. You got the address, right?”

Whatever the reason, it didn’t change the fact that he was now going to be dragged back to Gu Muncheon. Yeonjo imagined Gu Muncheon kicking down the container door. What would his reaction be when he saw Yeonjo lying here like a dog, tied up, despite having barely escaped?

“What? Break his legs?”

The man’s shout into the phone startled Yeonjo, and he looked up at him. The voice giving orders from the other end of the line was faint, but he couldn’t hear the details. This uncertainty pushed Yeonjo into greater fear.

Yeonjo desperately racked his brain for any possible escape. Anything. He had to do something. He couldn’t just lie here passively.

Even in this suffocating situation, Yeonjo remembered that he had brought the box cutter. His pocket. He’d put it in his pocket before leaving the container. Could he reach it in this position?

“Break his legs outta nowhere… So, I just gotta break them, is that right? He looks like he’s worth a pretty penny. Just make sure you don’t say anything different later.”

Finishing the call, the man, as if feeling hot, flapped his clothes and opened the container window. Looking at Yeonjo sprawled on the floor, he put his phone in his pocket.

Mmmmph. Mmm! Yeonjo raised his upper body, pleading to be released. With his hands tied behind him, even maintaining his balance was difficult.

“Let’s see. His legs… what should I break them with?”

Looking at the whimpering Yeonjo, the man scratched the back of his neck, seemingly perplexed. Then he started searching around the room for a tool.

“Oooomph! Mmm!”

Noticing the man’s hesitation, Yeonjo clung to his legs as if begging for his life. He’d rather die than live the rest of his life limping, captured by Gu Muncheon. So even if it meant getting caught again, he was determined to try everything he could until the very end.

As if mocking his desperation, the man kicked Yeonjo away as if he were a nuisance.

“Damn it. I thought there’d be a wooden plank or something, but there’s nothing useful here.”

The man, who had been irritably searching the room, suddenly stopped. He returned to Yeonjo and stared down at his prone body.

“This should be enough to break it with a kick, right?”

“Hup, huh…!”

“It’s better to end it in one shot, right? Better than getting hit multiple times.”

“Mmm, mmm.”

“Anyway, a wooden plank doesn’t weigh much, so it wouldn’t be effective.”

Seemingly resolved, the man approached Yeonjo.

“Yeah, I’ll just kick it.”

Yeonjo tried to crawl away from him, but the cramped room offered no escape. Like a rat in a trap, he was caught instantly.

“I don’t wanna do this either, but what choice do I have? Gotta do what I’m told. Straighten your legs if you don’t wanna become a cripple.”

He pushed Yeonjo down with his foot and kicked his calves as if to intimidate him. It seemed like he was about to stomp on them and crush them.

No.

Yeonjo’s eyes widened as if they were about to pop out. The man ignored Yeonjo’s struggling to avoid the blow, focusing solely on his legs. After a few practice kicks in the air, as if figuring out how to break them, the man finally raised his leg.

“Mmmmph, hhmmmmph!”

Bang, bang, bang, bang.

“Hey, are you in there? Open the door, I’m here.”

Just then, someone knocked on the container door. The man stopped mid-kick, turning his head.

Yeonjo, who had been trembling, felt a deep sense of relief at the momentary distraction and sobbed like an animal.

“What are you doing, not opening the door.”

The urging voice from outside was familiar to Yeonjo. It was definitely one of Boss Gu’s men whom he had seen several times before.

“Damn, impatient bastard. Hold your horses.”

The man left Yeonjo and opened the container door. As expected, the familiar subordinate entered the room. He whistled as soon as he saw Yeonjo sprawled on the floor.

“Madam. Quite the runner, aren’t you?”

“Ooomph.”

“I didn’t know you were such a good runner, considering how timid you are, shit. I’ve been running around like a dog for days to catch you…!”

The subordinate, with a look of pent-up frustration, strode towards Yeonjo. He grabbed Yeonjo by the collar and lifted him up, ripping off the tape from his mouth to get a good look at his face.

“At a time like this, of all times. Huh?”

“Is this the guy 형님 was looking for?”

“He is, damn it. This ridiculously pretty face.”

As soon as the subordinate finished speaking, his phone rang. He dropped Yeonjo as if he were a rag and answered the call. He then handed some money to the man who had initially captured Yeonjo, waving him off as if telling him to leave.

“Yes, Director. I caught him.”

The word ‘Director’ made Yeonjo flinch.

“He’s still intact…. Then I’ll do the right leg. Are you sure you don’t want to do it yourself?”

It seemed that Boss Gu was also on his way. Yeonjo’s face paled.

The knife. Where’s the knife. Yeonjo suddenly remembered the box cutter he had tried to take out earlier but had forgotten about. Could he get it out in this state?

Keeping an eye on the subordinate, Yeonjo thought about his last resort. He wriggled his bound hands, desperately trying to reach into his pocket. The knife barely grazed his fingertips.

“Ah, you mean that bastard Hong Gihyuk. I also heard that he tried to approach you several times. It’s still too early to be certain, but….”

Although his shoulder was twisted painfully, Yeonjo managed to grab the knife in his pocket while the subordinate was engrossed in the phone call.

As he felt the smooth plastic handle of the box cutter, another idea suddenly popped into Yeonjo’s head.

He could cut the ropes with the knife.

His legs weren’t even tied to prevent him from running, so if his hands were free, he could look for an opportunity to escape.

Yeonjo acted as soon as the thought occurred to him. He took out the blade and rubbed it against the sturdy rope around his wrists.

The subordinate, with a serious look on his face, was reporting something else to Boss Gu.

“I’ll make sure to handle this properly so you won’t be disappointed this time. He almost got caught several times, but he managed to slip away every time…. As you know, since that bastard was also from Yongho, it wasn’t easy to track him down again. This time, if he gets caught, I’m going to make sure he doesn’t escape, beat him up, and bury him.”

He seemed so preoccupied with the call that he wasn’t paying attention to Yeonjo. Moreover, the rope was thinner than he expected, and the knife was sharp, so even with his clumsy movements, it was slowly being severed. The fact that the man who first tied him had tied a sloppy knot also helped.

“Keuk…!”

“I’ll be careful, just as you said, Director.”

Suddenly, the ropes around Yeonjo’s wrists loosened, and the blade grazed his palm. A sharp pain made a groan escape his lips. As if noticing Yeonjo’s reaction, the subordinate quickly ended the call.

Was he caught? Yeonjo breathed heavily, hiding his hands as much as possible so the subordinate wouldn’t see. Despite having used his inhaler before leaving, he was experiencing shortness of breath.

“You….”

“Do… do the left leg.”

“What?”

The subordinate, who had just ended the call, tilted his head at the unexpected words.

“If… if you’re going to break my leg, do the left one.”

“The left one, huh.”

He looked a little puzzled as he put his hand in his pocket. Then he took out a heavy tool he had brought and swung it menacingly.

“…I’ve only ever broken right legs. I wonder if I can just swing it the other way.”

“…….”

“This is the first time I’ve ever gotten a request like this, so it’s got me thinking. Anyway, Madam, you’re certainly not normal.”

It was completely loose. Yeonjo, maintaining his composure, opened and closed his tingling hand. Although his hands were free, they trembled uncontrollably, as if beyond his control.

“But leaving a trace here is a bit iffy. There’ll be blood too. It’s better to do it in the car.”

The subordinate, as if he’d changed his mind, grabbed Yeonjo by the collar and pulled him up to move him outside. His limp body was easily lifted. Yeonjo hid his hands behind him, as if they were still tied, and waited for the right moment.

And when the subordinate looked away for a moment, he slammed his forehead into the man’s face.

Thwack!

“Wah, shit!”

As the subordinate’s head snapped back, his grip on Yeonjo’s collar loosened. Yeonjo kicked his shin hard and dashed out of the container.

“You, you fucking bastard! Cha Yeonjo! You fucking son of a bitch, where do you think you’re going! You’re dead when I catch you! Fuuuuuuuck!”

Though the subordinate, regaining his senses, screamed in rage, Yeonjo continued sprinting without stopping, taking a path where cars didn’t travel.

Fortunately, the subordinate was alone. If Boss Gu or other subordinates had arrived even a little earlier, he wouldn’t have had this chance to escape.

“Huk, huk, huuk….”

Yeonjo kept running, ignoring the burning in his chest. This neighborhood had few streetlights and was especially dark at night, making it navigable only for those who knew it well.

As expected, the subordinate, lost and slower, started falling further and further behind Yeonjo.

After quickly shaking off his pursuer, Yeonjo plunged into the bushes. Since this was his first time coming this way, Yeonjo himself didn’t know which direction he was going.

“Ha… ha…”

Deciding he couldn’t run any further, Yeonjo collapsed into the bushes. It was so dark that he couldn’t tell if he was near the mountains or the fields. He’d have to wait until daybreak to find out.

Perhaps he had come quite far from the container, as all he could hear was the chirping of insects. After catching his breath for a while, Yeonjo clenched and unclenched his fist, feeling the pain in his palm. He felt lukewarm blood gushing down his wrist. It was the wound from cutting the rope in the container.

Unable to treat it immediately, Yeonjo curled up like a coiled snake, ignoring the bleeding.

Saaah. Every time the night wind blew, the surrounding bushes rustled and swayed, sounding like whispers.

“…….”

Now that the immediate danger had passed and he was alone, regret flooded in. Should he have just died back there? What was he living for? He’d eventually be caught anyway. He shouldn’t have run away.

Yeonjo wished that daybreak would never come.

“…Cold.”

After sitting there for a long time, lost in despair, he started shivering. Exposed to the constant wind without a single wall to shield him, his body temperature gradually dropped.

Unable to bear the chills, Yeonjo stood up. Trying to shake off his gloom, he brushed off the leaves clinging to his clothes with exaggeratedly large movements.

He decided it would be better to move around a little to raise his body temperature and was about to start walking again when an icy cold hand suddenly clasped his neck.

“Gotcha.”

“Who…! Keuk!”

It was so dark he couldn’t see who it was. As Yeonjo tried to turn his head, the person, with a thick cloth covering their face and his mouth muffled, lifted him up.

It happened in a matter of seconds. Yeonjo thrashed his limbs at the feeling of being lifted into the air. But he was quickly subdued by several people.

The inability to see anything intensified his fear. The cloth covering his face and the rough hand muffling his mouth made it difficult to even breathe.

Who are they? Is it finally Boss Gu this time? His subordinates? But then why bother covering their faces? Are they planning to take him somewhere far away and hurt him again, like last time?

Something felt strange, but there was nothing Yeonjo could do. This time, his arms, body, and even his legs were tied. The rope was thicker and harder than before.

“Ca… can’t… breathe.”

“Hey, just hold on a sec. Almost done.”

An unfamiliar voice. It wasn’t Boss Gu. It wasn’t the voice of any of the subordinates he knew either.

How did they track him here? There were no streetlights, and this wasn’t a familiar path for them. He thought he had lost them, but was he mistaken?

As his mind became increasingly entangled with complex questions, the cloth covering Yeonjo’s face was abruptly pulled away. The darkness in his vision cleared.

“Pretty boy, haven’t we met before?”

A man he’d never seen before grinned grotesquely and acted as if he knew Yeonjo.

The back seat of a car. Large men in the driver’s and passenger seats. And next to him, a man he’d never seen before, sitting with his legs crossed. Everything was unfamiliar.

Words wouldn’t come out properly from his gaping mouth, stunned by this unexpected turn of events.

“Who… who are you…? Are you one of Boss Gu’s men?”

The man scoffed.

“One of his men? Are you talking about me?”

“Aren’t you? Then why did you catch me?”

One of his men? One of his men, you say? The man repeated the phrase, chuckling.

“This is fucking hilarious. Haha. You think I’m Gu Muncheon’s subordinate?”

He wasn’t one of Boss Gu’s men? Then why did he capture him?

Yeonjo tried to calm his confusion and studied the man’s face carefully.

Judging by his narrow, single-lidded eyes and the deep wrinkles on his forehead and around his mouth, he seemed to be in his mid to late forties. And a sharp scar that ran between his eyes. As soon as Yeonjo saw that scar, he recognized him.

It was the man he’d encountered in the supermarket restroom when he was with Boss Gu.

‘Hey, watch where you’re going. Yeah?’

The voice he’d heard then was the same as this man’s.

“At the supermarket….”

“Oh, you remember? You’ve got a better memory than I thought.”

He pinched Yeonjo’s cheek as if he were a child. Yeonjo irritably brushed his face away and glared at him. And a moment later, he flinched, surprised by his own action.

No longer did this extreme situation feel as terrifying as before, now that he had decided that death was the only answer.

“If you’re not one of Gu Muncheon’s men, then who are you?”

“Pretty face, but a nasty temper. Well, I guess your face does warrant some attitude.”

“Tell me why you’re doing this to me.”

“Guys, we got him, let’s move.”

The man cut Yeonjo off and gave orders to the large men in the front seats.

“Yes, Hyung-nim!”

“And call Gu Muncheon in an hour. Tell him we have what he’s been desperately looking for. Kekeke. Ah, just thinking about it gives me chills.”

Judging by the atmosphere, these men were definitely not working with Boss Gu. So, had he been kidnapped by Gu Muncheon’s enemies? He’d barely escaped Boss Gu’s men, only to be caught by the opposing side for reasons he couldn’t fathom. He felt no resentment anymore, only a sense of his own misfortune.

The man with the prominent scar on his face seemed to be the leader among them. He appeared to be planning to lure Boss Gu out using Yeonjo as bait. But no matter what the leader wanted, Yeonjo wouldn’t be able to elicit the strong reaction he expected from Boss Gu. He didn’t know why they were doing this, but their relationship wasn’t affectionate enough for Boss Gu to risk himself for Yeonjo.

How long would it take for them to realize that, contrary to their expectations, he was of no use to them? Half a day? A day? He didn’t know.

Once they realized he was an unnecessary card, they probably wouldn’t bother keeping him alive. Yeonjo had lost even the will to escape. Perhaps this was his fate from the beginning. It seemed pointless to struggle to live even a day longer.

“I don’t know what you’re planning… but threatening Gu Muncheon with me won’t work.”

Yeonjo muttered in a voice close to resignation, glancing at the dark scenery rushing by outside the car window.

“That’s not for you to decide.”

The leader let out an unpleasant laugh. He looked Yeonjo over, noting how he’d calmed down, unlike his earlier fear.

“You’re braver than you look.”

As if amused, the leader rummaged through his jacket pocket. He pulled out a cigarette, lit it, and took a leisurely drag.

Yeonjo, who had been looking at the pitch-black scenery outside, suddenly turned his head and stared at the leader’s hand. Crude tattoos covered the back of his hand and arm.

Narrowing his eyes for a closer look, he saw several overlapping images. Faintly, he could make out a design similar to the dragon on Boss Gu’s back. A more distinct image of a fish and a flower covered it. He guessed that the other designs were added later to cover the dragon tattoo.

As if sensing Yeonjo’s gaze, the leader grinned and pulled down his rolled-up sleeve.

“Ah, this? A little tacky, isn’t it?”

Every time the corners of his eyes crinkled, the long scar between his eyes wriggled like a snake on the ground.

Instead of answering, Yeonjo looked away. He thought about the faint dragon tattoo he had just seen. If it was a symbol of some organization, it meant that Boss Gu and the leader who had kidnapped him had been part of the same organization in the past.

And since the leader had covered the dragon tattoo with other designs, it could be interpreted as him having left in a bad way, or as him being a traitor.

If that were the case, it made sense that he had kidnapped Yeonjo for some reason, holding a grudge against Boss Gu.

Having quickly deduced the situation, Yeonjo continued to think about what he could do here.

“Are you seriously trying to do something to Gu Muncheon with just me?”

“Pretty boy. You’re being awfully informal. You’re young, but there’s a limit to disrespect. Don’t you know about respecting your elders?”

“No matter how much you threaten him with me, Gu Muncheon won’t bat an eye. I don’t know what you want, but unless he’s an idiot…”

“HAHAHAHAHAHA!”

Before Yeonjo could finish, the leader burst into laughter. Yeonjo stared at him wide-eyed, as if he were looking at a madman.

Tears welled up in the leader’s narrow eyes. Yeonjo had no idea what was so funny.

“Do you really think Rags won’t come?”

“…….”

The word “Rags” made Yeonjo’s mind go blank.

It had been so long since he’d heard that word from someone else that his body stiffened involuntarily. Did this man know about Boss Gu’s past?

“Ahahaha, ah. I haven’t laughed so hard in a while that I’m tearing up. I’m being such a fool.”

“…….”

“Looks like you don’t know your own worth at all.”

My worth? What does he mean? A faint crease appeared between Yeonjo’s smooth brows.

The leader grinned at Yeonjo.

“Aren’t you mistaken about something?”

“It would be an understatement to call it a mistake. Of course I would know, since I picked up Rags myself.”

“…What?”

“Hyungnim, we’ve arrived.”

The large man in the driver’s seat interrupted just as the leader was about to say something more.

“Already? Then move him. And take the knife from his pocket. Wouldn’t want him to hurt himself.”

“Yes, Hyungnim.”

“Since they’re both going to die anyway, might as well send them off looking presentable.”

The leader said in a deceptively gentle voice, as if soothing a child. A shiver ran down Yeonjo’s spine.

The subordinate who got out of the car searched Yeonjo’s pockets and took the knife. Then, as before, he covered Yeonjo’s face with a cloth. Someone hoisted Yeonjo, unable to walk with his limbs bound, onto their shoulder.

Thud, thud, thud. The footsteps of several people echoed. His hearing, his only reliable sense at the moment, became acutely sharpened. They entered a quiet building. Where was this? An abandoned building? A warehouse? A construction site? The lack of any other human presence added to his confusion.

It was already hard to breathe, and the cloth made it even more difficult. Just as he felt he was about to faint, the cloth was removed.

“Ha… ha…”

Yeonjo took a deep breath and looked around. Surprisingly, the place they had arrived at was a small room, much like a typical studio apartment. Yeonjo lay sideways on the cold floor, wiggling his bound hands and feet.

“Hyungnim, I just got a call from Gu Muncheon.”

“Good. He’ll be here soon, losing his mind and making a fuss, so tell the guys to be ready.”

Yeonjo looked up at the leader, feeling suffocated. To Boss Gu, he wasn’t even a discardable pawn, just a lingering residue of the past that he couldn’t quite shake off.

“He won’t come. He wouldn’t worry about me that much.”

“Still saying that?”

The leader took out a new cigarette and lit it. Perched on a hard wooden chair, he was still smirking, amused by something Yeonjo couldn’t understand.

“You wouldn’t say that if you knew how Rags became a gangster.”

“…….”

“Aren’t you curious?”

“…….”

Of course, he was curious. How did that boy, who could barely speak properly, become involved in a gang? What happened in the meantime?

The leader, noticing Yeonjo’s reaction, grinned, the corners of his eyes crinkling.

“Yeah, you deserve to know. Seems like he never told you. That taciturn bastard.”

He sucked deeply on the cigarette filter, hollowing his cheeks. He exhaled slowly, and the acrid smoke that escaped his lips filled the small room. A few seconds later, he began to talk about the day he first met Boss Gu, as if it had happened just yesterday.

🚬

“He…Hey, Yeonjo hyung. Ca…can I… can I come with you to…today?”

The boy hated the dawn. When the sun rose, Yeonjo would invariably leave, and then the boy’s agonizing wait, alone in the single room, would begin.

For a mere eleven-year-old, a day spent alone was an eternity.

“Ju…just today. I’ll… I’ll be good.”

That day, unusually, he woke up early. As if his intuition was right, Yeonjo was getting ready to go out from early morning.

Strangely, today he felt like he had to follow Yeonjo. It was always like this, but for some reason, at this moment, he didn’t want to be separated from Yeonjo even for a second.

“I’ll take you next time. Not today.”

Yeonjo’s voice was stiff and firm.

“Wh…when is next… next time?”

The boy carefully studied Yeonjo’s expression. Would he dislike him if he pushed further? He might get angry.

Sometimes, when Yeonjo sighed while looking at him, it felt like the world was collapsing. The boy feared Yeonjo’s disappointment more than anything.

“…Tomorrow. If you wait for me here, we’ll go out together tomorrow. Okay?”

“O…okay.”

When Yeonjo smiled kindly and spoke, the boy readily believed the promise of tomorrow.

“Se…see you later.”

“You have to be good until I come back.”

“Yes!”

The boy nodded vigorously at Yeonjo’s last words. He had to be good. If he just endured today, he could be with Yeonjo all day tomorrow.

After the door closed and he was left alone in the basement room, the boy went and sat where Yeonjo had slept all night. That was the start of a long, tedious day. Every moment without Yeonjo was agonizing for the boy.

He could barely endure even an hour, too immature to fully grasp the loneliness and isolation that gnawed at him. The time spent alone in the small room felt like an eternity.

“…Tomorrow. If you wait for me here, we’ll go out together tomorrow. Okay?”

“You have to be good until I come back.”

With nothing to do, the boy replayed Yeonjo’s words hundreds of times in his mind. Everything Yeonjo said made him feel good. His faint smile, the sound of his lullaby, even the subtle shift in the air when he passed by. Anything related to Yeonjo was delightful and blindly cherished.

Yet, the boy was constantly consumed by a sense of lack.

To somehow cope with his loneliness, the boy wrapped himself in the blanket he shared with Yeonjo and walked in circles around the small room. He spent hours observing ants crawling on the floor, humming the lullaby Yeonjo sang to him, and picking at the blanket’s fluff.

Then, the rumbling of his stomach would shatter his carefully gathered concentration.

The boy was tormented by hunger to the point of nausea. His mind was instantly filled with images of food. He even hallucinated a fried egg on top of a warm bowl of rice.

But as if he had thought of something bad, the boy was startled and tried to distract himself. The hives that had spread across his skin due to malnutrition were increasingly itchy all over his body. Scratching his skinny arms, the boy started picking at the fluff again.

Just then, someone knocked on the door.

“Hy…hyung?”

Thinking that Yeonjo had already returned, the boy jumped up and ran to the door.

“Ye… Yeonjo hyung.”

As soon as he opened the door without a second thought, the boy’s lips drooped. Standing outside was not Yeonjo, but the landlord. The boy looked up at the white-haired old man with a wary expression, hiding behind the door.

“What, you haven’t moved out yet?”

The landlord’s eyes were filled with disapproval. He pushed past the boy without permission and checked the room.

“Where’s your brother, and why are you alone?”

At his questioning tone, the boy stammered,

“Hy…hyung went to… to work… Th…this morning.”

“Huh, he left this morning?”

The boy nodded slightly, and the landlord frowned.

“Then when is your brother coming back?”

“He… he said he’d be back at… at night…”

“Night, my ass! What a brazen little brat. I told him to leave by this morning, and he just took off and abandoned his younger brother?”

Not fully understanding what he meant, the boy tilted his head with a mournful expression. As if exasperated by his attitude, the landlord pressed him,

“What’s your name?”

“Ra…Rags.”

“Rags? Your name is Rags?”

Nod. Overwhelmed with fear, the boy barely managed to nod.

The landlord was silent for a moment, as if thinking. A few seconds later, he clicked his tongue, muttering something about the end of the world.

“This room is vacated.”

The boy, still not understanding, just stood there blankly.

“Get out of here. Your brother left too.”

“N…no. Ye…Yeonjo hyung said he’d be… be back… He… he said he’d take me to… to the… the store tomorrow…”

“What are you mumbling about, you little runt? Can’t you speak properly? You’re so slow-witted!”

The landlord’s shout made the boy flinch. Whenever someone pointed out his slurred speech, the boy would lower his head as if he were a sinner.

“Ah, uh… hy…hyung…”

“Grandpa! You can’t burn trash here again! People are walking by, and it stinks! I’m calling the police!”

Someone shouted from the first floor while the boy was stammering. The landlord, who had been looking down at the boy with displeasure, turned around in surprise at the mention of calling the police.

“Grandpa! Where are you, you old man! Grandpa!”

“Oh, hold on. Wait, I’m coming.”

Without another word, he left the boy and hurried upstairs.

Left alone again in the basement room, the boy quickly locked the door. Wrapping himself in the tattered blanket, he thought of Yeonjo leaving that morning.

Yeonjo hadn’t gone far. The landlord was wrong. If he waited here quietly, he could go to the store with him tomorrow and stay by Yeonjo’s side all day. Yeonjo had said so, so all he had to do was wait patiently.

‘Get out of here. Your Hyung left too.’

Hyung never lied, so the landlord must be wrong. The boy firmly believed in Yeonjo, curled up in a corner, and pushed away his anxious thoughts.

“Be… be good… be… good.”

But his heart wouldn’t calm down. A minute felt as long as a day.

The boy pulled the blanket over his head and, as he always did when he was scared, sucked on his thumb like a baby. He then got up and paced in front of the door.

He couldn’t decide whether to leave or keep waiting. He desperately wanted to see Yeonjo, but unfortunately, he didn’t even know where Yeonjo worked.

Upstairs, the landlord and the stranger were arguing loudly. Frightened by the adults’ harsh voices, the boy trembled and couldn’t stay still, constantly moving around.

Then, overcome by hunger, he collapsed back onto the floor. Scratching at the spots that had spread across his skin due to severe malnutrition, the boy started humming the lullaby Yeonjo sometimes sang to him, as he always did.

That was all he could do.

“Hy…hyung… co…come quickly…”

As time passed, even the lyrics he remembered ran out. The boy, curled up with his back against the wall, closed his eyes tightly.