Formless Chapter 65

And he froze, looking at the entrance.

His hyung’s appearance was a mess. His entire face was bruised and mottled, dried blood crusted under his nose and chin, and one eye was so swollen that he probably couldn’t see properly.

“Hee-Heehyeon. Why do you look like this? Who did this to you! W-we need to go to the hospital… no, I should call 911.”

“Ah. Be quiet.”

His hyung frowned, then his brow smoothed out as if his face hurt. He passed by the two people standing stunned and bewildered at the entrance. Seeing his limping gait as he entered the room, it seemed he was hurt elsewhere too.

Heewoon turned his head and looked at the entrance. Of the slippers taken off beside Heewoon’s and his mother’s shoes, only one was there.

“Medicine! T-treatment!”

His mother, who had been standing like a broken robot, seemed to snap back to reality and frantically rummaged through the cupboard. Heewoon took out the first-aid kit and followed his mother into the room.

His hyung’s face looked even more of a mess in the bright room. And his body was covered in dust and dirt. Judging by the faint shoe marks, it seemed he had been rolled on the floor and stepped on.

“Shit.”

His hyung muttered a low curse. Heewoon couldn’t take his eyes off his hyung’s face. He had thought countless times about wanting to hit his hyung, but seeing him in that state right before his eyes, he felt strange.

“Heehyeon, what happened? Huh?”

His mother sat in front of his hyung, her voice choked with tears. Her hands trembled as she opened the first-aid kit.

“Hey, Woo Heewoon. How much money do you have?”

“Why, why…?”

“We’re all going to die, so damn it, tell me properly.”

“What do you mean?”

Heewoon crumpled his face. His hyung’s half-normal eye turned towards Heewoon.

“It seems those bastards have noticed we have no more money left.”

“What? The loan sharks?”

“Yeah, damn it. They say if we don’t have money, they’ll take our organs.”

Heewoon stared blankly at his hyung, then asked again.

“What, what…?”

“Because it’s obvious we can’t pay back the money. Whether it’s corneas, liver, or heart. They’ll sell everything that’s worth money, damn it.”

“Then we’ll die.”

Heewoon murmured blankly. Just then, something flew and hit his forehead. Thud, it made a sound and fell to the floor—a medicine bottle. Heewoon’s ears, which had been fixed on the rolling medicine bottle, were filled with his hyung’s voice, cracking even more and sounding rougher.

“Don’t just stand there stupidly, pull yourself together. We’ll all die if we mess up.”

All die.

“…W-Why would we die? Hyung, you have money. You said you earned a lot of money.”

Heewoon grabbed his hyung’s knee. His tone sounded almost pleading. His hyung fiercely slapped Heewoon’s hand away and said,

“Pack only the simple stuff. I barely bought us some time by saying I’d get 300 million won.”

Heehyeon touched his sore mouth and frowned. He had lost all his money, without a single penny. And he hadn’t just lost money. While doing business, he had dabbled in various money lending schemes and accidentally provoked the Filipinos, barely escaping to Korea.

He should have gone to Vietnam, not the Philippines. Who knew Vietnam would become such a rising travel destination? Damn it, if he had opened a massage shop in Da Nang with that money, he would have earned at least double.

“Hee, Heehyeon. What are you talking about? Huh? Our Heewoon sends 200 every month diligently, so why, why… sell organs?”

His mother stammered, grabbing Heehyeon’s arm. Heehyeon irritably shook his mother’s hand off.

“Are they charity workers? Are they going to let us off for receiving an amount that’s not even interest? Those bastards were just waiting for me to come in.”

Heewoon watched his mother, gasping, asking how they could do that, and Heehyeon, sitting there bloody, as if he were watching a show. Everything felt unreal. It felt like watching a B-grade movie. “Oh, so people’s lives get ruined like that,” or “You shouldn’t take out private loans.” “Why did he even take out private loans?” A childish and low-quality movie that one could watch with such casual thoughts.

“We have to get out at dawn. Hey, you bastard. How much money do you have?”

“Eight hundred…”

Heewoon answered, his mind blank.

“What? How much?”

“I have 8 million won.”

“You have that much money?”

His hyung asked again, and his mother, though still dazed, looked at Heewoon in surprise.

“You tenacious bastard. When did you save up that much money?”

His hyung sneered.

That’s right. For the past few years, Heewoon had lived truly tenaciously. He cut down on sleep, calculated his money every day, and trembled when buying necessities.

He had lived so tenaciously, yet he hadn’t been able to save money then.

That was even more pathetic.

He felt as if he was hollow inside. All that time he had lived so hard, forcing himself to hope, was a lie. He had only been running towards the day of his death, not the day he would live.

Stupid, dull bastard. You only believe what you want to believe and blame others. You don’t do anything properly. Heewoon cursed himself.

Why had he ignored the doubts that suddenly arose? Heewoon should have run away too, when his hyung ran away.

“8 million won should let us hide for a few months… Damn it. First, I need to go to China or Japan.”

“…Why are you trying to go alone again, hyung?”

Heewoon raised his head and glared at his hyung. This time too, his hyung had only come to extract money. The anger that couldn’t find a direction now aimed at his hyung.

“No, damn it. You two don’t have passports.”

The bloody face, feigning ignorance, was not pitiful at all.

“Passport! We have passports, Heehyeon.”

His mother spoke loudly. And with hurried gestures, she pulled out two passports from the dresser. Heewoon thought that his hyung’s expression, though not clearly visible due to his swollen face, must have been displeased as he looked at the passports.

“But Heehyeon. Shouldn’t we report it to the police first? Huh? We can just ask them to save us.”

“Ah. Mom! Don’t say something stupid. Can’t you tell by how those bastards waited for three years? They’re damn persistent. And, what can the police do for us when they can’t even catch all those bastards and put them away?”

His mother’s face twisted as if she was about to cry.

“Then… at least tell Auntie…”

“What if those bastards go looking for Auntie? Don’t call anyone.”

Heehyeon said firmly. He continued,

“Let’s go to the airport at dawn. They’ll have surveillance, so we’ll sneak out by climbing the neighbor’s wall and go to a crowded place.”

To the airport. The day he went to the airport alone came to mind. Even then, Heewoon often held his passport and wanted to leave. To abandon everything in Korea.

However, things were a bit different these days. The passport he used to carry in his bag every day was now in a drawer, untouched. He hadn’t even thought about wanting to run away. Instead, he kept envisioning the future. Yesterday, he listened to an online lecture, and he had even looked into which companies would be good to apply to.

“…Then, do we have to keep running away?”

No one answered Heewoon’s question.

“Enough. I’m going to wash up.”

His hyung pushed away his mother’s hand, which was applying ointment to his face, telling her to stop. As his mother choked back tears looking at his hyung, his hyung barked at her to pack her bags. His mother, feeling dizzy, closed and opened her eyes deeply. She swayed as she got up and busily moved around, packing her bags. The sound of water came from the bathroom, where his hyung had gone to wash up.

Heewoon alone sat still in that spot. Until Heehyeon, who had returned to the room, hit him on the back of the head.

“Don’t be so gloomy, you bastard.”

Heewoon, his hair disheveled, remained still, then slowly raised his head. And he looked up at Heehyeon as if glaring.

“This… this is all, because of hyung. Because hyung lost all the money, those people are angry.”

“Hey. It’s thanks to me that you got three years, damn it. If it wasn’t for me, your organs would have been taken and you’d all be dead already.”

Anger surged at his shameless attitude. But this moment, thinking that his hyung’s words weren’t entirely wrong, was terrible. He felt resentful. Of his hyung, and his father. His resentment towards his father grew more than his resentment towards his hyung. Lending money from such frightening people and not saying a word, leaving them behind and departing.

Heewoon had no business knowing the fear or pressure his father must have faced alone at this moment.

“Heewoon, you pack your bags quickly too. Here.”

His mother handed Heewoon a bag. Gripping the slightly peeled leather handle, Heewoon took a deep breath. And he stood up.

He had to live. After all the struggling he had done, he couldn’t die like this. If they just made it to the airport safely, it would be okay. Because they couldn’t rampage at the airport.

Heewoon gritted his teeth and rummaged through the closet. A few winter clothes and a few summer clothes quickly made the bag bulge. He was fumbling through his confused thoughts, wondering if there was anything else to pack.

Suddenly, Gangwoo came to mind.

I have to call Gangwoo first. He was so flustered he almost forgot. Heewoon picked up his cellphone from in front of the TV and habitually tried to call Gangwoo. Heehyeon’s gaze fell on Heewoon.

“Ah, damn it. Woo Heewoon, who are you calling? Didn’t you hear what I said earlier?”

“I have to call.”

Heehyeon, who had been looking at the frowning Heewoon as if he couldn’t believe it, strode closer. And he tried to snatch the cellphone. Heewoon tightened his grip and resisted.

“Let go. What’s wrong with you!”

“Surely you’re not going to call your lover and spill everything, are you?”

“…He’s not my lover.”

Lover. He didn’t understand why people referred to Gangwoo and him that way.

Heewoon struggled desperately not to let his hyung snatch the cellphone. Heewoon’s and Heehyeon’s hands, gripping the cellphone, shook in the air as they wrestled for it.

“Is this bastard crazy? Hand over the cellphone while I’m being nice.”

His hyung painfully gripped Heewoon’s wrist. Heewoon held the cellphone tightly and shouted,

“Just one call!”

“Damn it, who are you calling when we’re about to die!”

His hyung’s eyes bulged. The whites of his eyes, visible between swollen eyelids, were blood-red.

Crack—!