Black Paradise Chapter 0

In the pitch-black sky, there was a uniquely hazy section.

As the insects and crows wearing human masks held their breath in the darkness, the winter fog roamed every corner slowly, like a reconnaissance team.

At this hour, the back gate of the research institute was the most lively space in the trash village. Clank. The iron gate, with its tightly spaced gaps like iron bars, slowly opened its maw with a great roar. Squeezing through that gap, black trucks entered the grounds.

As the large-bodied trucks came to a stop in an orderly line, the people who had been holding their breath awoke. The surroundings quickly became noisy with their movements as they split open the bellies of the trucks and carried things like coffins and water tanks.

“I think this every time, but it’s really gloomy.”

A man muttered as he got out of the driver’s seat of the truck at the very front.

“That’s not something a person who hauls trucks full of corpses should say.”

Startled by the reply that came from somewhere, the driver looked to his side. But his surprise was brief; recognizing the being that had silently attached itself to his side like a shadow, he let out a smirk.

“It’s not something you should say either, you who stabs corpses with syringe needles.”

Hearing those words, a chilling glint momentarily flashed in the impassive eyes of the man wearing a mask. It was a light that went terribly well with his white face, which emitted a soft glow under the moonlight.

The driver, without realizing it, took a step back and stared at that face. Those eyes always made his five senses tingle. His lower body quickly became heavy. Blatantly stroking its center, he flicked the cigarette in his mouth with his tongue.

“A pity. If only we had enough time, I could have taken off that mask and admired that pretty face for a long while……”

His sticky eyes and flippant tongue were desperate to strip off something other than the mask.

The man’s water-colored eyes above the mask slid downwards. After confirming the bulging lower body, he opened his mouth calmly.

“There is one way.”

“What is it?”

“You just have to come here loaded in the cargo bed of this truck, not the driver’s seat. When that happens, I’ll let you admire my face to your heart’s content. The syringe needles I’ll be sticking and stabbing into your body will be a bonus.”

The driver burst out laughing silently at the man’s scathing words. Even that bewitching tongue was a factor that added to his excitement.

The man in the mask pretended not to notice and spoke as he glanced at his wristwatch.

“Stop with the pointless talk and get to the point. We don’t have much time.”

Without even waiting for a reply, he handed the driver a black briefcase. Of course, what was inside was not something as refined as documents.

“Is this really all for this month? It’s far too little compared to last month.”

“I was busy with work. Hurry up and give me last month’s share and go.”

“It’s a problem if you suddenly reduce the amount like this. I’m the one who dies from the customers’ complaints.”

The driver, having looked inside the briefcase, grumbled endlessly. It was the same repertoire he heard every month, so the man knew well that it was nothing more than whining.

“I’ve packed your share separately in the front pocket. Check it.”

Hearing the man’s words, the driver unzipped the front pocket, and only after discovering a strip of pre-portioned drug packets did he shut his mouth. He soon fumbled inside the inner pocket of his blouson jacket and took out a wad of bills tied with a rubber band.

As if worried someone might see, the man swiftly snatched the cash. There was no time to check the amount. After roughly guessing the sum by its thickness, he shoved it into his pocket and turned his back without a goodbye.

“Let’s see each other again next month, pretty boy.”

The driver laid on a sticky voice behind the man’s back as he disappeared between the trucks as if nothing had happened.

As soon as he turned the corner, Ilyeong roughly pulled down the mask that had been covering half his face. He walked straight into the institute, going against the flow of soldiers and researchers wrestling with corpses. He shoved what was in his hand into the first trash can he saw. When the image of the driver’s eyes, which had blatantly scanned him as if caressing his mask, came to mind, he could not hold back a curse.

“Disgusting bastard.”

Son of a bitch. If it were not for the money, he would have pulled out that filthy tongue long ago.

A fiery impulse rose in his chest, which had been coolly calm. The anger melted the tension that had made his whole body stiff. Then, the headache he had barely suppressed struck his cheek and brain.

It was a dangerous sign. Ilyeong forced himself to recall the hefty feeling in his pocket and turned his steps toward the innermost part of the research institute. Ilyeong’s sanctuary was on the third floor of the institute.

The third-floor hallway, from which people had drained out like an ebbing tide, was quiet. Tap, tap. The sound of his shoes hitting the floor grew increasingly rhythmic.

By the time he arrived in front of his destination, Ilyeong’s chest was rising and falling rapidly, and his cheeks were flushed red.

He immediately scanned his access card and had his fingerprint and iris recognized in sequence. Only after going through the triple-layered, strict security procedure could he step into the space that was barely a pyeong.

“Ha……”

As soon as he opened the door, the smell of old dust greeted him. To him, this smell was sweeter than any welcome.

Only Ilyeong could enter this place. It was a space solely for him. A satisfied laugh escaped even amid the pain that churned his brain.

Ilyeong staggered over and opened the innermost drawer. His emergency medicine was there. It was the same thing the driver had just received as his share and brightened up at, just not pre-portioned into packets.

Ilyeong crushed two small pills with his teeth and swallowed them easily without water. His scratchy throat soon quieted down. Now, all he had to do was wait. Come on, come on, may the drug’s effect drive away this nasty headache…….

Ilyeong’s whole body melted limply onto the floor. As if submerged in water, his mind quickly became languid and hazy. The cold cement floor felt as soft and warm as a cradle. It was a precursor, letting him know that the drug’s effect had begun to seep into every crease of his brain.

The headache grew nastier with each passing day. At first, it was one pill, but from some point on, it would only back down after he took two. It was a high price to pay, but he could not stop. That was why it was a drug. The more money, the better, so he was just sharing it with others as if out of generosity, killing two birds with one stone. Yes, that is all it is…….

The respite was not long. Perhaps the corpse transport was finished, as the sound of the fleet of trucks waking up from their slumber could be heard from outside the window. It was a howling as loud as their bodies. That roar broke the sound of the wind and advanced, greedily devouring even the headache.

Ilyeong curled his body up tightly just like that. Perhaps because he was thoroughly soaked in the drug’s effect, the noise from outside was not so grating today. The sound of the trucks rolling their wheels and pulling out of the sandy ground sounded like the purring growl of a feline.

He closed his eyes and, just like that, waited for morning to come.