Rainbow City

Kwak Soohwan slightly bit his lower lip.

“…That’s right.”

“Huh?”

“Oh, Sunbae… What about Bison and the two children of the married life? Tigris… resemble…doctor.”

He still seemed to be talking nonsense due to the high fever. As Seokhwa continued mumbling below, Kwak Soohwan removed his hand. Seokhwa, breathing uncomfortably and feeling cool, put the small ice melting on his collarbone into his mouth.

Crackling sounds echoed in his small mouth, stimulating the ears. Could someone become lewd when bitten by Adam? No, that wouldn’t happen. Kwak Soohwan smiled bitterly. It was just an instinctive behavior to seek coolness, and he felt that way only because it was himself.

“Dr. Seok, what on earth is your identity?”

Is that all? Just lifting and dropping people? Isn’t there really no problem?

Kwak Soohwan, too, felt a bit relieved as he hugged Seokhwa. He stroked Seokhwa’s hot forehead with cold hands. Seokhwa enjoyed that touch and pressed his forehead even deeper.

While the front was cold due to melted ice, the heat inside the back and between the buttocks was still intense. Seokhwa unconsciously brought his damp hand to his back. Then, he took the ice from his mouth and rubbed it from his back to between his buttocks.

“It’s hot.”

Kwak Soohwan wrapped his large hand around Seokhwa’s nape and embraced him tightly. Then, starting from inside Seokhwa, who had the highest fever, he rubbed the perineum with ice. Seokhwa’s panting breath flowed down his collarbone like a stream.

“Haah… Is the heat still inside?”

The humid and hot breath scattered over his shoulders indicated that the heat inside was still there. Even in this situation, Kwak Soohwan made a defeated face at the instinct that showed a reaction.

The sliding ice melted in an instant, making both hands vigorous. Every time, he took out new ice from the container and cooled down Seokhwa’s heat. When he tried to regain the kit, Seokhwa’s limp body followed along. Every time he raised his body to grab the kit, Seokhwa’s body came along completely. They were both soaked as if they had just come out of the water.

He checked the blood again with the kit, and the result was negative. Kwak Soohwan buried his face in Seokhwa’s shoulder and sighed with relief.

Something damp made the spine uncomfortable. Kwak Soohwan couldn’t even put down the backpack with the broken eggs and knocked on the door.

“Ji Hwan, hyung’s here.”

Knock, knock, as soon as he knocked on the door, his younger brother, who ran faster than anyone else, came out and opened the door. Breaking the doorknob was not difficult, but fixing it was more troublesome. However, without hesitation, Kwak Soohwan lifted his foot and smashed the door. The doorknob was pushed inside, and with a creaking sound, the iron door opened.

On the old newspapers attached to the living room window, blood was splattered.

“Kwak Ji Hwan!”

As Kwak Soohwan urgently shouted, the sound of bare feet running out of the bathroom was heard. Without checking who was running, he quickly untied the backpack, and the sensation of even the intact eggs breaking followed.

Kwok, Kwok! The one chewing on the backpack was none other than their father. The parents who showed their faces right after the death of the Vietnamese aunt who had taken care of Kwak Soohwan and his brother from the beginning were no one else but the parents.

The Vietnamese aunt, who took care of them from the beginning, passed away without surgery, suffering from a burst appendix that spread pus into her stomach. After her death, they had to take care of themselves, so they asked the Vietnamese aunt to take care of them. And right after she died, their parents appeared. The parents, who had taken care of them since they were eleven and thirteen years old, showed their faces only once a week.

Their younger brother was full of hope that he could enter Rainbow City. However, Kwak Soohwan was not, and as he expected, his brother’s wish did not come true. The warm touch of their parents, who occasionally visited, was comforting, but in a corner of his heart, there was always a question.

“If she’s a Rainbow City researcher, why did they let the aunt who took care of us die? Can’t surgery be done there? If you’re not a citizen, can’t you get treatment? Is that why they secretly come to check on us?”

It was a question he had never uttered, and now his father was not in a state to answer.

Crack, Kwok!

His father’s red eyes flickered, wanting to bite into his son’s neck. Kwak Soohwan lowered his pained gaze and used the backpack as a shield to push his father against the wall. Awkwardly thin, his father stuck to the wall but revealed threatening teeth to attack Kwak Soohwan.

“Who let you loose? It wasn’t Ji Hwan, right?”

Crunch, Cack!

Kwak Soohwan distorted his face as he observed his father’s wild appearance. He couldn’t bring himself to look at the closed door inside.

“Hyung told you. Stay quiet.”

Looking around, there was no object to tie up his father. Despite his good physical development and strength compared to his age, the exhaustion from running all day without a break took its toll. Eventually, he began to be pushed back by his father’s strength. Kwak Soohwan had to drop the backpack to the floor.

“Crack! Creak!”

Facing his father, who was trying to bite his nose, Kwak Soohwan threw a punch. His father’s broken nose led to another attack, seemingly unaware of the pain.

Quickly getting up, Kwak Soohwan grabbed a dull knife from the kitchen. Although he had raided the Red Zone Mart several times, he had rarely encountered Adam in person. And even then, it was just an experience of running away with a backpack full of groceries.

Kwaak!

Watching his charging father, Kwak Soohwan tightly closed his eyes. He reached out and stabbed the knife into his side. Still, his father continued attacking, relentless. Please… When the slippery hand accidentally touched the knife, it quickly pulled back.

It was impossible to distinguish whether the flowing blood was his own or mixed with his father’s. Although he hadn’t learned it in Rainbow City, he knew that infection could occur through blood. However, he didn’t know how to stop Adam’s body. The adults here always said to run away when encountering Adam.

Even when stabbed with a knife or with a broken nose, his father continued to attack, and Kwak Soohwan couldn’t think of a way to stop him. But he had his younger brother. Kwak Soohwan blurred his vision with tears and struck his forearm against his eyes.

He repeatedly struck his father, who was attacking with a worn-out dining table chair. The sound of splattering blood and the flesh crunching made tears well up incessantly. After hitting the face dozens of times, the body, unrecognizable, no longer moved like a puppet with cut strings.

Kwak Soohwan got up, panting, and looked at the still-closed door. The canned sausage that his brother asked him to eat rolled around in front of the closed door.

“Ji Hwan…”

Kwak Soohwan approached the door and leaned his forehead against it.

“Mother…”

His voice was filled with tears.

Thud! Thud, thud!

The impact of the echoing door made waves on his forehead.

“Ji Hwan?”

Thud! Thud!!! Crunch, thud.

Although the sound was inhuman, the high-toned voice belonged unmistakably to his younger brother. Kwak Soohwan looked up at the ceiling, sobbing.

“This idiot…! I told him to stay still. I told him to wait until Father gets better…”

When he saw the tin can rolling at his feet, he already had a hunch. Perhaps that foolish guy was not trying to give sausages to their emaciating father.

“Hyung told you. If you just get treatment, you can get better. Father… doesn’t need to eat anything.”

Kwak Soohwan began to cry out loud.

“I’m sorry, Ji Hwan. I’m sorry.”

It wasn’t an apology for leaving him behind.

Kwak Soohwan heard the banging sounds as his brother called for him to open the door. “I’ll get it for you, Ji Hwan.” He turned the doorknob and opened it. He even thought it might not be bad to become like Adam. However, something massive pushed against the door.

“Ji Hwan.”

Shackles were hanging on the doorknob and his brother’s wrists. His bloodthirsty brother reached out to Kwak Soohwan, who had shackles on his wrists. He closed his eyes again, trying to wipe away the tears, but the wetness returned in an instant. And there, on the iron bed in the bedroom where their father was tied up, their mother lay. The floor and the glass window were covered in splattered blood.

The torn flesh on their mother’s arms and neck was vivid. She held a handgun in her hand, and there was a bloody hole in her throat.

“Ah…”

Kwak Soohwan couldn’t move and just stood there, shedding tears. He gazed down at his half-closed-eyed mother as tears continued to stream down his face.

Their parents had come to see them just a week ago. And their father started acting strangely that afternoon. After putting down the insulin injection after dinner, he suddenly showed bizarre symptoms, violently biting. Their mother, who screamed a piercing scream, instructed the children to bring something like a power cord or a tie.

She briefly showed tears, clutching her chest in despair and whimpering. Using the iron bed, she handcuffed her husband’s hands. She spread his legs wide, rendering him immobile, and after stuffing a handkerchief into his husband’s chattering mouth, she finally sat down.

Kwak Soohwan couldn’t understand why his father had changed so drastically. His two-year-old brother was even more clueless. Since his younger brother had never experienced Adam firsthand, he only thought of his father as being in pain. His mother calmly explained it to his brother, who pretended to understand. However, in reality, he didn’t understand at all.

To his brother, Adam was just a frightening and monstrous existence. He couldn’t have thought of his father as Adam.

Thunk! Clang!

Kwak Soohwan slowly raised his head.

“But who unlocked Father’s handcuffs?”

The handcuff key would have been with his mother… Did Ji Hwan steal the key from their mother?

Kwak Soohwan looked around. On the blood-splattered desk, there was a jumbled cube toy. It was a toy he had brought home to entertain his sick brother. Next to the cube, a piece of paper was lying askew.

When he picked up the paper, there was rough handwriting in crimson.

Kwak Soohwan turned around and grabbed his mother’s hand, lying on the bed. The tip of her index finger was dry with dried red blood, and there was still a scent of gunpowder. Kwak Soohwan ripped off the ID card hanging on his mother’s neck.

“What’s the use of all this?”

Kwak Soohwan suppressed his sobbing and looked at his brother. The brother, hanging on one arm to the doorknob, crawling toward him, wasn’t the Ji Hwan he knew.

“What’s Rainbow City? What do our parents do if they are researchers?”

Blood continued to ooze from his brother’s hand, cut by a kitchen knife.

“Aunty, while she was dying like that… couldn’t eat once. My brother, born sick, had to take medicine every day to survive. What is this? Are you really my parents? Why did you hide us? Why?”

Kwak Soohwan couldn’t continue speaking and broke down in tears again.

There were numerous things he wanted to say and ask his parents. However, fearing that if he spoke them aloud, they might never find their two brothers again, he forced a smile. Even his younger brother, who was curious as a mountain, kept his questions and curiosity swallowed deep inside.

“Why did you make our brother and me idiots!”

Kwak Soohwan pointed at his brother with his hand, not knowing who he was addressing.

“They say that if you’re born as a Rainbow City citizen, you go to school. They claim to know exactly what Adam is. They say they’ll give vaccines. But my brother can’t even write a single letter… And neither can I!”

I have no idea what these characters mean. Like a child, or rather, just a child, Kwak Soohwan sobbed, crumpling the paper in his hands.

It wasn’t until late at night that a gunshot echoed from the master bedroom. It was the signal that Kwak Soohwan was now alone.

Bang! Bang!

Kwak Soohwan, with lips pale from not eating anything, stared at the front door. The unventilated house was filled with the smell of decaying bodies, so much so that it stung his eyes. Collapsing from the high fever, Kwak Soohwan thought about how much time would pass before he could starve to death.

Bang!

The sound of someone knocking on the iron door grated on his ears. Since he had laid a dining table chair in front of the entrance to prevent the faulty door from opening, the chair wobbled as if it were about to fall.

Leaning against the living room wall, looking at the iron door, he saw through the round hole between the door handles a pair of eyes.

“Hey!”

It was the cross-eyed person from the third floor.

“Hey, Kwak Soohwan. Hm, what’s this smell? Open the door.”

Cross-eyed person called out to the listless Kwak Soohwan.

“I’ve got the medicine you asked for. You’re not going to take it?”

“No need.”

Kwak Soohwan muttered weakly. The cross-eyed person didn’t consider going back and kicked the door with his foot. With a crunch, the chair that had been laid down in front fell apart, and the front door opened.

Holding his shirt to block the overwhelming stench, the cross-eyed person surveyed the carnage in the living room and bedroom before letting out a reluctant sigh.

It was difficult to recognize the figure, but it was easy to deduce that the man with a crushed head in the living room was the brothers’ father. The researcher’s ID served as a substitute for the man’s identity like a military serial number.

“What on earth happened?”

Kwak Soohwan remained silent, staring only at the wall.

“Did you handle everything?”

Judging by the situation, it seemed that Kwak Soohwan had dealt with the father, who had turned into Adam, and his brother. Looking at the gunshot wound to the throat, the brothers’ mother appeared to have committed suicide.

The family that had become mutants, numbering only fourteen, had been killed by Kwak Soohwan, who had survived. He had always thought that the guy was not an ordinary person, but seeing it with his own eyes made the rumors circulating more tangible.

There were rumors that mutants born in Rainbow City possessed superior physical and mental abilities compared to ordinary people. Being the child of a researcher, he speculated that this guy might be one too.

“Tsk tsk, where the heck did he get infected?”

The cross-eyed person, who had covered his nose and mouth with his shirt due to the unbearable smell, let the shirt fall.

“Hey, get up quickly. Look at yourself now. Even if you say you’re Adam, I might believe it!”

Kwak Soohwan forcefully pushed away the cross-eyed person’s hand, attempting to lift him.

It might not be a good idea to leave them here with rotting corpses. The cross-eyed person once again grabbed Kwak Soohwan’s arm.

“It’s better this way, think about it. Carry your brother, who’s living on medication, and it’ll be a burden. You won’t easily lose your life with your level. So think that it’s good that he died, kaboom!”

Kwak Soohwan, who had risen from his seat, strangled the cross-eyed person’s neck. Despite his pitiful state and not having eaten for days, Kwak Soohwan’s grip was incredibly strong.

“Say it again. I’ll pluck out the other eyeball for you.”

Kwak Soohwan, who had raised his fist toward the intact eye, bit his lower lip. As soon as he let go, the cross-eyed person coughed violently.

“Cough, quite the personality…”

The cross-eyed person was quite sturdy and could have easily restrained Kwak Soohwan, but he also knew that the guy left alone was quite young. He had been observing this guy, who seemed unnecessary in the world, since childhood. Despite being a cunning fellow who never shared the groceries piled up in the pantry, there were other tasks his parents had requested besides his brother’s medication. If something went wrong with their couple, they asked him to send the children to the Hwasun Hall. Perhaps it might be better for this guy not to be a citizen of Rainbow City. The cross-eyed person looked at Kwak Soohwan’s family, now turned into rotten corpses, and made a somewhat embarrassed expression.

“Get out of here and go to Hwasun Hall. A person who survived should stay alive.”

“Just let me die here.”

“Would starving to death here be any different from a dog’s death? If I were you, I wouldn’t choose such a miserable death. If you have any thoughts, take this and go to Hwasun Hall. You can say it’s my recommendation.”

Kwak Soohwan was familiar with Hwasun Hall. He had heard about it from people wearing headbands who gathered occasionally, shouting slogans.

“To hell! Perish! Rainbow City! Salvation will come! Believers, to Hwasun Hall!”

“What is Hwasun Hall?”

“Well, it’s like some cult or religious group. They even provide food for the kids.”

The cross-eyed person, with a lowered head, went outside, and he came back dragging a makeshift cart. Kwak Soohwan followed the cross-eyed person’s actions with tired eyes. He placed his father’s worm-infested corpse inside it.

“What are you doing?”

When Kwak Soohwan sharply reacted, the cross-eyed person responded with irritation.

“If you leave it here, even rats will get involved. We have to burn it at the rooftop incinerator. Normally, when people die, they are either buried or cremated. I don’t want to come and clear up your four bodies, so you better go to the place I mentioned. Who knows? Maybe people outside will bring great trouble to this amazing Rainbow City someday. If I were you, I wouldn’t suppress such abilities. Don’t you know it yourself? Where else can you find a fourteen-year-old like you in the world?”

Isn’t it unfair? Even though you’re the child of a researcher, you couldn’t become a citizen of Rainbow City. How absurd. The cross-eyed person, venting various complaints, pulled the cart and went up and down the rooftop several times. And Kwak Soohwan prepared to go to Hwasun Hall, which was quite far away, on the last day.

My brother dreamed of becoming a citizen of Rainbow City, but not me. If Rainbow City abandoned our brother and mother, then I wasn’t needed either. This time, the cross-eyed person helped with packing, and Kwak Soohwan slung a bulky backpack containing water and beverages over his shoulder. The cross-eyed person handed Kwak Soohwan the key to the car with a little oil remaining.

“Since we’re going to abandon the car anyway, follow the map here and go well.”

“Sir.”

“Don’t call me sir. I thought you would call me cross-eyed.”

Kwak Soohwan laughed in a somewhat childish manner and then spoke sincerely.

“Thank you.”

“For what.”

The cross-eyed person offered to carry the backpack to the car, but Kwak Soohwan walked down the stairs without saying a word. When he reached the first floor, a neatly dressed man appeared climbing the stairs. It was an uncommon sight in this neighborhood, and the man even wore silver-rimmed glasses.

“Oh? What brings Major Kim here?”

As soon as the cross-eyed person recognized the man, he bowed his head. Major Kim served as a broker connecting Rainbow City and the outside area, making illegal money.

“Keep it down. Do the guys Kwak Soohwan and Kwak Jiho live here?”

Avoiding any mixed words with the cross-eyed person, Major Kim brought up the matter at hand. Kwak Soohwan raised his eyebrows a bit upon hearing his name.

“Why are you looking for those kids, Major Kim?”

Their parents were citizens of Rainbow City. Even if they turned into Adams, Kwak Soohwan was the one who killed their father. The cross-eyed person felt uneasy, wondering if Major Kim had come to execute the children.

“Why are you asking me for reasons on a petty matter like a bug? How dare you?”

As Major Kim approached, he slapped the cross-eyed person. The slapping didn’t stop, and as it continued, the nose burst, and a tooth flew out, staining the gums red. Kwak Soohwan grabbed Major Kim’s wrist firmly.

“What’s going on with you?”

“You, dare to ask me for reasons from Major Kim? How dare you!”

The cross-eyed person spat out unclear words and narrowed his head at Federal Major Kim. Nevertheless, Kwak Soohwan did not release the grip on his hand and stared at Major Kim.

“Why are you looking for our brothers?”

The cross-eyed person shook his head, indicating that Kwak Soohwan shouldn’t do this. Major Kim forcefully pulled out his caught arm and incredulously examined his own wrist.

“A bit ignorant, thinking it might be someone who grew up outside. Are you Kwak Soohwan?”

Getting no response from Kwak Soohwan, Major Kim chuckled.

“And what about the younger one?”

“Oh, sir. That kid’s brother is already dead. Please have pity on the poor child. This child is innocent.”

“Who killed him? Kid, you’re lucky. You’ll be moved to the learning center soon, so get rid of that ignorance stuffed in your head. If it weren’t for that request, you wouldn’t have set foot in this dirty place. Follow me.”

Major Kim poked Kwak Soohwan’s head with his fingers.

“Is Major Kim really going to the learning center?”

The cross-eyed person held Major Kim’s arm. There was a suspicion in his eyes, as if wondering if Major Kim was lying and planning an execution. Kwak Soohwan tried to convey to the cross-eyed person that he would handle it himself, but Major Kim pulled out his gun faster.

Tang! The sharp gunshot echoed down the stairs. It all happened so quickly that there was no time to intervene. “Sir!” Kwak Soohwan urgently held the cross-eyed person falling backward.

As the head tilted back, something sticky and moist flowed down the hand, supporting the back of the head. Looking down, the intact eye on one side was gone, pierced by a bullet. Kwak Soohwan couldn’t believe it. Unable to blink, he stared at the lifeless body before him.

“That filthy guy touched where he shouldn’t have.”

Major Kim spat on the ground after freeing the arm that the cross-eyed person had grabbed.

“So, are you coming with me, or do you want to die here?”

This time, the muzzle was aimed at Kwak Soohwan.

A man who helped us was killed by a soldier from Rainbow City. He treated us worse than insects. I wanted to rush in and crush his face, but the gun was still pointed at me.