Chapter 587 Chapter 53 Episode 9 Connections
‘Does she understand that he is good-looking?’
I Minju wondered. The young man was good-looking. Even though his face remained concealed behind a cap and sunglasses, she could see that he was quite an attractive man. His long legs, leopard-like waist, bear-like shoulders, and low baritone voice constituted all the conditions of a real man.
For I Minju, an egomaniac, Yeongsuk didn’t look like a girl suffering from the traumatic memories of her abduction but a picky and sensitive young girl. When someone would pat her head or touch her cheek, she would wail as if her mother had died. But this time, she ran right into the arms of a stranger.
I Minju aware of the circumstances surrounding Yeongsuk. She knew she was abducted and an organ donor. She didn’t mind. So what? She could just use the girl to her benefit. She comforted and persuaded the ever crying child with all means whatsoever. Before three days had passed, Yeongsuk allowed I Minju to stay by her side.
‘When was the last time I heard a low, hefty voice like that?’
Unconsciously, she licked her red-lipsticked
lips.
Mussang held Yeongsuk and took out his handkerchief to wipe away her tears and snot. Her feeble heartbeat reminded him of a violet that flowered between rocks. What a cute and lovely girl! Who would ever dare to extract her heart?
Ten pairs of eyes continued to gaze at him. What had they ever done to fall into this kind of hell? Why was the world like this? The injustice mocking common sense began to fill Mussang with anger. “Were you scared, Yeongsuk?”
“Yes!”
“Are you still?”
The interference field enveloped the child.
“No, I am not!”
“Yeongsuk is a good girl.”
Mussang caressed Yeongsuk’s cheeks and gestured at the huddled children.
“Come here! You too!”
A voice as soft as a spring breeze sounded out. Just like the autumn sun would nurture harvest, and the wind would shake the field for crops to shed pests, the voice empathized with their wounded souls and embraced them. The children looked at each other’s faces. ‘He’s a good person!’ They exchanged knowing gazes. They ran out to him.
Teary faces, scared eyes, the tails of their mouths twitching as if to burst into tears at any moment, they looked just like a baby deer who barely escaped the claws of a tiger. They are of the age at which they should act spoiled. But instead, fear tamed them to accept the resignation. They were such sad souls.
“I am sorry that I am late.”
Mussang gave each of them a firm hug. These children were like gourd flowers that can only bloom shyly over a wall after sunset. Would they ever be able to overcome their trauma? Mussang felt as though his heart had caught a bullet.
“Ah!”
Gim Geukdo let out a quiet exclamation. Undeniable charisma and warmth. Now the children had somewhere to lean against. They had someone to tell on something. They had someone to be pampered by. He somewhat was jealous of the children in the man’s embrace.
Had he met the man at that age, things would have played out differently. ‘Korean! When someone shouted, stones soon followed. He wasn’t scared, and his punches were stinging. When the Japanese children ganged upon him, he had no way of winning. His mother would cry as she spread fermented bean paste over his bleeding head like a home remedy. His father had helplessly sighed.
He was called homeless because his family couldn’t prepare him a lunchbox. He had no one to talk to, let alone rely on. His father talked about when they had to turn in all the cutlery and silverware and heat pine-cone soup with carved wooden spoons.
Whenever he heard such stories from his father, he felt a flame of outrage burning hot inside him. His father said that he did not consider his son’s ordeal since he lived like that. That man wasn’t a helpless, sighing being like his father. That man was the powerful, sovereign god he dreamed of being himself.
People held their breath at the unexpected turn of events. The sunglasses-wearing men, who had politely requested their collaboration, were transformed into evil monsters wielding leather bats. Were these men other members of the gang? Were they trying another ruse? Wondering gazes converged on Mussang. Mussang welcomed the looks with his own, which were as calm as a deep lake.
“Some of you may have realized that this place is hell. Some of you may have not. Do not intend to know anything. If you know, intend to forget.”
“Who are you, sir?”
A man in his 40s cut him off. Mussang gazed at him. He looked like someone who worked a day to live for a day. Maybe a peddler.
“Why are you here?”
“It was hard to live. Then, finally, I came to pawn one of my kidneys.” “How did you find this place?”
“I saw an advertisement in a toilet at the East Daegu Station.”
“What?”
What did he say? Mussang looked back at Gim Geukdo.
“The informants put stickers across the public restrooms in the country. When someone calls after seeing an ad, the informant figures out their details and brings them here.”
“That is shudder-inducing.”
Mussang shook his head. They abducted victims themselves, but they also set up a spiderweb for a victim to walk in on their own. They were like vampires. He felt pity for the victims caught on the web, but at the same time, he couldn’t understand a non-disabled person selling their organs voluntarily. It was absurd. He felt the same with the ones who came to sell their blood. All kinds of things happen in the world, but how could they devalue their bodies like this?
“How much were you gonna get for a kidney?”
“Two million won.”
“You risked your own life for that amount?”
“Everyone knows that we only need one kidney to survive.”
The man boasted his excellent knowledge. Ignorance indeed led to blind courage. Mussang looked around at the audience.
“I will tell you briefly. This place is neither a welfare center nor a hospital. You are in the waiting room. You haven’t entered the hell itself. When you enter the operation room, you will harvest all of your viable organs, and your body will be ground up and thrown away or buried. The same with blood donors. It is not a blood transfusion. It is a blood replacement. All of your blood in your body will be sucked out.”
“Could that be?”
The man’s face paled. He had sensed that something was wrong with the vibes of the place. But he hadn’t expected this.
“That’s insane!”
“Something smelled fishy.” “I came because they give good money for some blood!”
“Then what is this place?”
“Who are you?”
People clamored like the frenzied frogs in the paddies in late spring. Mussang clucked his tongue. He explained. If they didn’t understand, it was on them.
“Be quiet. You don’t need to know who I am or this place. You just walked out of death’s maw. Your ancestors must be looking out for you. This place is to be demolished soon. Does everyone have someplace to go?”
“No!”
I Minju yelled. Mussang glared at I Minju with cold eyes.
“I am not like those people. I need to go to Japan with that girl tomorrow. Who are you to ruin my business?”
“What a dumb bitch!”
Gim Geukdo, standing politely with his hands joined together behind Mussang, hissed an insult. If that woman ever got to the Suidobashi Hospital, she would ‘donate’ all of her blood to the recipient and meet the Buddha.
Mussang was confused too. He had saved countless people from death, but he never met someone like I Minju, who protested. People hardly changed. Eight years have passed, but Minju was still as selfish and self-centered as before.
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“Are you this girl’s mother? I doubt it. What kind of mother would bring her daughter to hell?”
“Shut up! You seem to want to be a hero, but you came to the wrong place. Yeongsuk, come here!”
I Minju, running out of retorts, insisted with fierce eyes.
“No! I hate you.”
Yeongsuk yelled.
“That wretched girl!”
“I don’t care if you go to Japan or not. So why does she need to be sacrificed for your business?”
“It is none of your business.”
I Minju yelled.
“Does she know what’s up?”
Mussang, dazed, asked Gim Geukdo.
“I briefly told her when she signed the contract. She didn’t know that she would be robbed of all her blood at once and tossed to be pig feed.”
“What?”
I Minju’s face paled. She signed the contract that said she would donate four times over six months. She had never heard of this.
“Dumb bitch. A contract is between humans. You have just been their prey. Do you still not know that?”
Mussang slapped her just hard enough not to injure her. He had endured the urge so far because she was still Hyeyeong’s mother, but he couldn’t stand to keep watching her face.
“Argh!”
Bloodshot from I Minju’s mouth.
“Filthy bitch. You sold your daughter for power, and now you want to sell a child for money. I want to twist your neck, but I cannot bring myself to.”
“Sold my daughter? Who could that man be?”
That was the last thought she registered as her consciousness faded.
Mussang looked around at the audience with stern eyes. A merciless blizzard raged in the basement that seemed to be filled with a spring breeze.
“Do you have any place to go?”
No one stepped forward. Mussang looked back at Gim Geukdo.
“Sir, the property is guarded by dogs. If they just exist, they will die.”
“I have taken care of it.”
The dogs, frightened by materialized murderous intent, stayed put in their kennels.
“I see.”
Gim Geukdo, always reading the air, took out a bundle of bills from within his clothes. He had already figured out his new master, Mussang’s tendencies. Being an aide was not an easy job.
“Take seriously your newly earned lives. This place will be ashes soon. Get out of here as soon as possible. If you want to meet the Grim Reaper or be beaten by the guard dogs, you may make many noises.”
Gim Geukdo warned them and distributed the money to the people. Few said thank you. Most got out of the basement, glancing at Mussang. In the basement, there was only I Minju, who had passed out, the ten children, and Yeongsuk still in Mussang’s arms.
“Sir, they are quite ingrateful. Does it not bother you?”
“It is but another fleeting moment. Then, I follow my heart’s whim. Shed attachments!”
Mussang was indifferent. They were Les Misérables as well. They were tossed around in an overly competitive society. No wonder they lost all their trust and faith. They were submerged in anxiety and doubt that Mussang may be lying. The moon looks smaller than a mountain because the mountain is closed, and the moon is further. Seeing deceives. The mass shall just live ardently like that. Even the soul of an immense asura was not recognized and forgotten. He didn’t care about their souls. He did as he pleased. It was already out of his mind.
“I thank you for the great lesson.”
Gim Geukdo bowed deeply.
“I must take care of this place. Where is the feed grinder?”
“I buried it behind the building.”
“Let’s go. You kids wait here.”
“I want to come with you.”
“I am scared!”
The children clung to Mussang with teary eyes.
“I get it.”
With Mussang in the lead, the children followed him like ducklings. Gim Geukdo glanced at I Minju, who passed out and followed Mussang and the children. Mussang was not an overly kind person. Gim Geukdo didn’t understand why his master left the shameless woman alone.
The above-ground space was brightly moonlit. Mussang breathed in the fresh air until his lungs were about to burst and looked up at the sky. A half-moon, which was soon to be a full moon in two days, was pinned in the middle of the sky. An early song of crickets chirped loudly.
Headlights dazzled the children’s eyes. Gim Geukdo momentarily disappeared and came back driving a bus. Murai and U Beomseok were dragged out of the bus.
“Argh!”
Recognizing their faces, the children screamed. The girls started to snivel. Mussang looked at Gim Geukdo.
“Murai is a pedophile. U Beomseok is a sadist. They hurt the children a lot.”
“Their sins are indeed staggering. They don’t fear you, on the other hand.”
“I took pity on them.”
Mussang nodded. It was a sort of Stockholm Syndrome. The fear-ridden children must have relied upon Gim Geukdo, who cared for them.
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“I will dig up the machine.”
Gim Geukdo held a shove and stepped forward. Mussang held up a hand.
“That will extend over a millennium. The children should not witness it. So get them on the bus.”
“I see.”
Gim Geukdo took Yeongsuk from Mussang, and the children got on the bus at once. Mussang held out his two hands, set coordinates, and focused telekinetic power. It didn’t surprise Gim Geukdo anymore. A god was able to do anything. He deftly pulled on the cable and supplied the machine with passion. Then he turned on the switch. The grinder’s rollers started to turn against each other.