Red Mansion

Kwon Chungrim mostly spent his time at home, but when he did go out, he wouldn’t return until dusk. He mentioned he might be late today because it was the day to collect interest. It seemed he still collected the interest himself. If he got really busy, could he bring someone over here instead of the office? He had entered this place for the first time in the same way, so it was natural for his gaze to keep drifting toward the entrance.Chungrim decided to accept a few old bills as Sung-kyung’s share and returned the rest. As Sung-kyung put the bills back into his notebook, he thought about using them to pay the interest next month.Nyaa. Mero’s cry came from the living room. Holding the notebook, Sung-kyung headed to the living room and placed it under the table.“Why are you crying like this?”Talking to the cat on the sofa had become a habit. With Chungrim out, it was just the two of them at home, and they seemed to have grown a bit closer lately.Feeling stiff, Sung-kyung thought of cleaning, but the house was already spotless with nothing out of place. So all he could do was clean up cat hair or feed Mero at mealtimes. Perhaps knowing that Sung-kyung was the one taking care of him, Mero’s wariness gradually lessened.“You ate all your food. Why are you like this…?”Despite having eaten his allotted amount, Mero continued to cry. He even came close to Sung-kyung, who was sitting on the floor, and meowed. He seemed to want a snack.With a perplexed expression, Sung-kyung scratched his head. Not knowing where the snacks were, he couldn’t give Mero any even if he wanted to. Annoyed, Mero’s tail thumped against the carpet.Just then, the phone on the sofa rang. His heart raced, fearing it might be from the hospital in unit 109, but thankfully, it was Chungrim. Recognizing the familiar eleven-digit number, Sung-kyung answered with a brightened expression.“Yes.”― Open the drawer next to the window.Confused, he quickly moved. Inside the drawer were a bunch of cereal-like snacks.― He’s asking for those.“Ah…”Sung-kyung glanced at the corner of the living room. Chungrim’s words seemed to see right through him. He was watching even now. Did he see him bring the notebook earlier? He should hide it in his robe next time.― Don’t give him too much.With that, the call abruptly ended. After a quick glance at the ceiling camera, Sung-kyung knelt down and opened the snack bag. As he pulled out a few pieces, Mero came closer, rubbing against his legs. His soft fur brushed against Sung-kyung’s calves. The way Mero cried and rubbed against him was quite cute.Mero eagerly crunched on the snacks on the carpet. They looked appetizing, so Sung-kyung picked one up and sniffed it.“That’s it. No more.”Even after shaking his hands and standing up, Mero followed closely, looking up with his tiny teeth bared as if asking for more.“I said no more.”Despite showing his empty hands, the cat wouldn’t give up.“Oh, come on.”Sung-kyung sprawled out on the sofa, burying his face in his arms. Mero, sitting by his head, continued to cry, thumping the sofa with his tail as if to threaten him. It made Sung-kyung laugh. His shoulders shook with laughter until tears filled his eyes, and he tightly closed them.“…”He thought of the cats at Red Mansion. Had they ever had such snacks? They probably only licked food waste or rainwater. Snacks were a luxury. Even he couldn’t remember having such treats. Since Mero had also lived on the streets, it was only natural that he would want to keep eating something so delicious.His thoughts were scattered. He just felt so pitiful—for both the cat and himself. If not for Kwon Chungrim, they would have continued living miserably. Sung-kyung lay there for a long time, crying silently. His tears dripped onto the sofa as he bowed his head. He tried to keep quiet, worried that the sound might be picked up by the CCTV. In his place, Mero cried out loud.He skipped lunch and dinner. For Sung-kyung, enduring hunger was nothing. Though the fridge and dining table were filled with food, he had no appetite. Instead, he sat under the large window in the living room, looking for Chungrim’s car. Hundreds of cars of the same color passed by. Chungrim might have been among them. But the front door remained closed.Placing the notebook on his lap, Sung-kyung took out a pen from between the spirals. After flipping through the densely written pages, he found a blank one and began filling it in with familiarity.“When Chungrim wakes up, the first thing he does is drink coffee. It’s a coffee with a sweet aroma. He usually has bread for breakfast, with strawberry jam being his favorite. I thought I ate quickly, but he eats even faster. We often have dinner together, and the taste is incomparable to the quick meals I used to grab at the convenience store. It’s really delicious. I wish my parents could taste it too. They’ve only had bland, tasteless porridge, so eating must have been a chore for them.”He paused, feeling his eyes heat up again, then moved to the next line and placed the pen tip down.“Chungrim likes Mero. He said it’s because Mero is pitiful but obedient. Doesn’t that apply to me too? I’m pitiful and obedient. So why doesn’t he pet me? Is it because my fur isn’t as soft as Mero’s? No matter how much I wash, my body doesn’t smell fragrant. It just gets mustier, attracting bugs.”He placed a period and looked down at his arm. Sure enough, tiny mites seemed to be crawling just beneath his skin. Grimacing, Sung-kyung scratched his arm. Why do bugs keep clinging to me? Chungrim already says I look shabby enough. If he finds bugs and a bad smell on me, he might kick me out.Terrified at the thought, Sung-kyung quickly closed the notebook and stood up. He rushed to Mero’s room, hearing the cat following him. He shoved the notebook deep into the toy box and, discarding his robe, headed for the bathroom.He continuously lathered and scrubbed his body, pouring hot, steaming water over himself as if to boil the bugs away. Pressing his nose to his arm, he inhaled deeply. While the air was filled with a pleasant scent, his skin still emitted a faint, peculiar smell. Despite his skin turning red from scrubbing, no bugs fell off. It felt like they were crawling all over him inside his veins.Sung-kyung, teary-eyed, repeated the same routine from the start. He obsessively washed his body until Chungrim, who had come home, frowned at the sight.From outside the bathroom, there was an annoyed clucking of the tongue. Startled, Sung-kyung looked up.“What the hell are you doing?”“Oh, nothing. It’s nothing.”Chungrim stood with his hands on his hips, disbelief written all over his face. ‘Nothing,’ my ass. His lips were blue, and his body was red as if cooked. Steam continued to rise from the showerhead, but it looked anything but warm.Suddenly, anger surged within Chungrim. He had rushed home because Sung-kyung wasn’t answering calls or showing up on the camera, only to find him like this. Chungrim entered the steamy bathroom, turned off the shower, and pulled Sung-kyung’s slippery, soaked body out. Sung-kyung squirmed, trying to free his captured arm.“Stay still.”Water dripped from his thin body as Chungrim pulled a towel and placed it over Sung-kyung’s head. Still, black water footprints trailed across the living room carpet.“What happened to your face?”The almost-healed corner of Sung-kyung’s lip was red and raw again. Chungrim lifted his trembling chin and inspected it, noticing scratch marks. Thankfully, the wound wasn’t too deep, with only a slight trace of blood.“Are you trying to provoke me into hitting you more?”Chungrim pressed the end of Sung-kyung’s lip with his thumb. The soft flesh dented under the pressure, a clear demand for an explanation. Realizing this, Sung-kyung stammered through quivering lips.“I kept washing… but the bugs… I don’t know why they keep appearing. But I washed thoroughly.”He was terrified that Chungrim might kick him out for being dirty or smelly. Clutching Chungrim’s shirt with trembling hands, the damp fabric left wet marks.“Really.”Chungrim raised an eyebrow. He was familiar with this kind of babbling, reminiscent of junkies. Clicking his tongue, Chungrim sighed. Sung-kyung shivered, either from the cold air or sheer terror, with a towel draped over his head, dripping wet.“Who said anything, you crazy bastard.”Chungrim stood up, pressing down on Sung-kyung’s small head. The sudden change in behavior was irritating. If that was the intention, it was working. He began to notice the parts of the house the cameras couldn’t see. He finally understood why his brothers had installed them in the living room.＊＊＊Despite finding ways to pass the time, the days dragged on slowly. Had four days ever felt so long? Even the short drive from Chungrim’s house to the Red Mansion felt unusually lengthy.Buzz. Chungrim’s phone rang. It was an unknown number, but Chungrim answered it casually. Who could it be? Sung-kyung was curious about all of Chungrim’s calls. How did they know Chungrim? How close were they? How often did they contact each other? Did they meet separately? There were many questions, but Sung-kyung held back his curiosity.“Yes.”Though the number wasn’t saved, Chungrim responded as if it was familiar.― There seems to be a problem. When will you arrive?“A problem?”Glancing at the number displayed, Sung-kyung then looked at Chungrim, who slowly turned the steering wheel, eyebrows raised. The Red Mansion appeared in the distance.― That hospital and the neighboring house you mentioned… everything’s been cleared out. All doors are locked, and the neighbors claim ignorance.The noise on the other end of the line grew louder. Bang. The sound of something being broken echoed. It felt like the heartbeat in his chest. Cold tension filled the car, and an inexplicable unease weighed down on Sung-kyung’s shoulders. The musty scent of the Red Mansion suddenly filled his nose.— Only people on the bed… Ah… Hey! Lift that side, too.The other side became even more chaotic. Because he could only hear unfamiliar voices in the car, he had to tap his chest to breathe easily.— They’re all dead.“What?”“Oh.”Sung-kyung, who had been biting his thumb, noticed blood. Staring blankly at the phone, he heard curses and an exasperated sigh from the small device. Seconds dragged on. Chungrim abruptly ended the call.“Hey.”Did he answer? The sharp ringing in his ears drowned out everything. Squeak. The car stopped, and Sung-kyung’s body jolted back and forth. The seatbelt restrained him. A firm hand grabbed his opposite shoulder, pulling his thin frame towards the driver’s seat.“Are you out of your mind?”Sung-kyung blinked, looking down. Chungrim’s arm was bracing his body, and what he thought was the seatbelt pressing against his chest was actually Chungrim’s arm. The large hand gripped the passenger door handle tightly, overlapping Sung-kyung’s small, frail hand.“Are you so desperate to die?”Had he tried to open the car door? Sung-kyung clenched his sore thumb inward, pressing hard. He wanted to scratch his wrist, but the watch on his wrist kept getting in the way. No matter how much he rubbed, it didn’t feel any better.— They’re all dead.No, they looked into each other’s eyes just four days ago. But then again, his mother held his hand just two days before she died. Could his father really be dead? Why? It was a hospital, why? They spent so much money. Maybe it was another patient who died, not his father?Questions poured endlessly in his mind. His vision blurred, and Sung-kyung closed his eyes tightly. As the wrinkles on his eyelids deepened, he heard a click, and the seatbelt was unfastened.“Get out.”Chungrim, who had already parked the car, opened the passenger door and called Sung-kyung. Just a moment ago, they were on the road, but when did they arrive so quickly? Time, which had dragged so slowly, now flew by when facing the dreaded moment.Stumbling and nearly falling, Sung-kyung was pulled out by Chungrim’s rough hand. The uneven texture of the cement under his shoes felt familiar. Realizing they had arrived at Red Mansion, Sung-kyung ran. He ran towards Room 109, the hospital that had taken his mother and now threatened to take his father.The entrances to Rooms 109 and 110 were open. A crowd had gathered, and some residents stood in the hallway, peering in with folded arms. Sung-kyung pushed past a man blocking the entrance and went inside. He heard swearing behind him but had no energy to respond or apologize.“Who the hell are you? Hey, get out.”A man in a black suit, despite the hot weather, waved his hand dismissively at Sung-kyung. The man was sweating profusely. The room was stifling. Usually, Room 109 felt cool as soon as you entered, but now it was just as sticky and humid as outside.Sung-kyung quickly scanned the hospital room. Papers were scattered on the table where they signed the admission forms, and the desk near the shoe cabinet where they paid the fees was gone. Footprints were everywhere, and trash and empty medicine bottles littered the floor.“Hey, get out. Didn’t you hear me?”“…Father.”“What?”The man’s expression turned irritable as he rolled up his sleeves. Sung-kyung’s gaze went past the half-open door. Several people were moving inside the room, holding their noses or grimacing. A pungent odor wafted from the room. Sung-kyung’s eyes filled with heat.“Move!”Sung-kyung pushed the man blocking the door and threw it open. The room was stuffy and hot, with no windows open. The three or four people inside all turned to look at him simultaneously.He could hear his own ragged breathing in his ears. Time seemed to slow down again. Tick-tock. The second hand moved sluggishly, and the scene before him came into focus a beat later.The shelves that used to be full of medicine were mostly empty, with only a few empty boxes scattered around. Used syringes lay on the floor, and the fan that usually cooled the room was gone. Three people lay on the mattress, their faces calm as if they were sleeping.“….”Sung-kyung’s gaze fell on a face he knew too well. It didn’t look much different from four days ago. Wrinkled, thin cheeks. Chapped lips. Lifeless face. It was unmistakably his father. Sung-kyung took a hesitant step forward. The man rummaging through the desk tried to stop him, but paused when Chungrim entered the room.“Father.”There was no response. Sung-kyung’s knees buckled, and he sank to the edge of the mattress, reaching out. He groped for the toes hidden under the blanket. There was form but no warmth. How could his father be so cold in this heat? His trembling hand moved up from the calf to the thin thigh. Sung-kyung crawled towards the bed.“Why…”Why is my father dead? He looked up at Chungrim with a bewildered expression. Chungrim stood with his arms crossed, his face unperturbed. He wasn’t holding his nose or grimacing like the others. His father couldn’t be dead if Chungrim was so calm, right?“That doctor was a quack, wasn’t he, Father? I told you he seemed strange from the start.”He turned his father’s unresponsive face towards him, stroking it. His father’s skin was pale, almost white. There was a faint, foamy residue around his mouth. He kept talking to his father, who couldn’t answer.“It’s so hot, our house would be cooler. Right?”He brushed his father’s cheek, accidentally grazing his nose. There was no breath. Sung-kyung’s breathing hitched. His father felt like rubber, not flesh.He’s dead. His father is dead. His father would soon be wrapped in stiff cloth, loaded onto a truck. Eventually, he’d end up in a small urn.“Will Father end up like that too?”“….”Sung-kyung stared at Chungrim. He couldn’t continue speaking as nausea rose in his throat.While he indulged in pleasure in a cool place, his father died. Left in this suffocating heat, his father wouldn’t have lasted long. How hot it must have been. He must have thought time was dragging.He pressed his stinging eyelids. He needed to open a window. It was so stifling, he felt dizzy. His sweat-soaked clothes clung to him like they were trying to hold him back. Sung-kyung struggled to stand, his legs feeling heavy. He stumbled and fell. Through his hazy consciousness, he heard someone calling his name.“Sung-kyung, you need to get up.”Mother? No, Father? He strained to hear the faint voice.“Sung-kyung, let’s go out to eat today.”“Go out to eat?”That was his younger self’s voice. When he asked what eating out meant, his mother kindly explained. In Red Mansion, eating out meant ordering one or two more dishes than the number of people. It was laughable, but to young Sung-kyung, it was a thrilling event that he eagerly awaited all day.“Yeah. It’s because it’s the day you were born.”On that day, which was celebrated as his birthday, they indulged a bit more. They closed the store early and stacked up chocolate cookies they sold there. Sung-kyung clapped his hands with joy. He doesn’t remember what month and day the party was held; it was the first and last birthday celebration he ever had.After that, Sung-kyung was busy working in the laundry room and helping out at the restaurant whenever he had free time. The three of them didn’t have the luxury to celebrate comfortably.The chocolate cookies he ate that day were so delicious. They don’t even sell those cookies at the store anymore. They only stock things that people frequently buy, and seasonal items weren’t brought in anymore. Come to think of it, the cookies didn’t melt at all back then, so it probably wasn’t summer.“Sung-kyung.”“Mom and Dad are sorry for being incompetent. For not being proud, for raising you in a place like this.”“Should we consider adoption now? Are you too grown-up for that?”“Later, when we make a lot of money, let’s live proudly outside.”“Let’s buy a house. Live properly in a house with a yard…”In hindsight, Sung-kyung always subconsciously resented his parents. Why did they choose such a dirty and dangerous place? Was there really no other option? Although he wouldn’t need to call his name often, why did they name him so thoughtlessly? Naming doesn’t even cost money.“It’s less stressful to live here than to be pointed at and live a shitty life outside. This is the only place we have to stay.”Chungrim’s words came to mind. Did his parents come here because they hated being looked down upon, or because they hated living a shitty life? Either way, the result was living a shitty life being looked down upon. It was all a wrong choice, but would they not realize it now that they’re dead?＊＊＊Sung-kyung couldn’t get up until the man’s cremation was over. They considered waiting until he woke up to proceed, but the decomposition was getting worse, so they couldn’t just leave it. The man who had occupied half the mattress was now in a small urn, no larger than a hand span. He was placed next to his wife, who had gone before him.Now, there was no corner in Red Mansion where Kim Sung-kyung could find solace. Not his lifelong home in Unit 422, not Store 3, not his parents, not even the drug addict he used to talk to. Furthermore, Sung-kyung wasn’t even tied to any place on paper. An ID card or birth registration wasn’t necessary within Red Mansion, so it made sense.He had no choice but to bring him home as going to the hospital would’ve been a hassle, and they were waiting for the doctor to come and check on him. During that time, the first thing Chungrim did was break all the CCTV cameras that the twins had installed in the house. So no one could secretly watch Kim Sung-kyung, who had nowhere to attach his heart.As he kicked the pieces at his feet, there was a sound of urgent knocking on the door. It continued, not stopping as if it wouldn’t end on its own. Chungrim glanced at the bedroom door before heading to the front door. It was obvious who the visitor was.“Hey! What’s with you?”“What about?”“What’s with the cameras! Damn, I thought you were high and acting crazy.”Surim barged in through the open door. He quickly scanned Chungrim’s body. Only after confirming that his brother was unharmed did he sigh with relief.“What. Did you think I was really dead?”“…”What did you do to the cameras that made them look so broken? Surim shoved Chungrim aside and entered the house. Even though he was being rough, Chungrim didn’t bother to stop him. He wouldn’t have opened the door if he hadn’t wanted to let him in.“Damn, I thought you messed with something. Everything’s destroyed, oh my.”Surim first checked the living room ceiling. The CCTV cameras in the corners were all smashed. The floor was a mess with their debris. Surim kicked a piece with a frown. Chungrim’s calm voice came from behind him.“Who told you to spy?”“We agreed to keep them in the living room, didn’t we?”They were installed for surveillance, but the twins hadn’t checked the footage for a while. Ever since he started bringing Sung-kyung home, Chungrim had disconnected all the lines, so only he could see the CCTV footage for a while.But the twins had reconnected them somehow, and they had started checking the house occasionally. Chungrim had found out and smashed them all to make a point.“No matter how close we are as brothers, it’s awkward to show that.”Chungrim’s lips curved smoothly as he narrowed one eye deliberately. Surim sighed, rubbing his forehead. Then he realized how eerily quiet the house was. Where was that little brat? He looked around and noticed the door slightly ajar. Surim walked over, half in doubt.He was speechless upon seeing the small figure on the bed. He stepped forward to wake him up and throw him out, but Chungrim’s long leg blocked his path.“Why are you entering someone else’s room?”As he hesitated, Chungrim pulled him back by the shoulder and closed the door firmly. The door shut unceremoniously made him laugh in disbelief. Chungrim never let go once he got his hands on something, even a relative, he wouldn’t hesitate to draw a line. But now it felt more intense than before. It wasn’t a situation where he would play around and discard it.“Why did you bring him home? What does his dad dying have to do with you?”The only quack doctor had abandoned the patients and fled in the late heat. Red Mansion was in an uproar, so the twins would have heard the rumors. His brother kept muttering something, but Chungrim didn’t respond. He just leaned against the door as if guarding it.“Just give him some money and send him away. Why would you bring someone into the house? You should move too. Huh?”His brother, who had barged into the house, kept spouting annoying suggestions about abandoning or kicking out Kim Sung-kyung.“Abandon him? Why should I?”Chungrim had thought similarly before. He felt he might have taken on a troublesome burden for some fun and found it annoying, thinking he could just dump him back in Red Mansion when he got bored.But now he couldn’t do that. If he abandoned Kim Sung-kyung, who had no place to lean on, would someone else just snatch him up? Did they think he wouldn’t know? Chungrim’s eyes turned sharply.“Now I can properly take him in. Who would benefit if I let him go?”“…”The brothers’ eyes met. Chungrim claimed ownership of Sung-kyung, who had nowhere to go and no one to rely on. Since he had no identification, if Chungrim took him in, he would be entirely his. That was what Kim Sung-kyung wanted, and it was a satisfactory outcome for him too. Abandoning him would only benefit his brothers.“Wake up from your dream. I won’t let that happen to you.”As Chungrim smiled, Surim’s expression grew more twisted. It was a stark contrast to the reactions of others who had once crossed paths with his younger brother. Gyurim had tried to intimidate him, but seeing that wretched thing lying comfortably in bed made it clear that their efforts had been in vain. Surim couldn’t shake the feeling that his brother had gotten himself into a mess.“Do you think we want to take what’s yours? Damn, I wouldn’t take that even if you gave it to me for free. You’re always like this.”His face contorted into a more menacing look. Despite this, Chungrim watched his brother’s anger without flinching.“Don’t you realize we’re trying to help you avoid a betrayal? We’re trying to keep you from getting involved in filth. When have we ever taken something from you? Why are you always—”“Brother.”Chungrim gently placed his hand on his brother’s shoulder, as if to share a comradely embrace, while subtly steering him away from the door.“People who take things don’t know they’re doing it.”Ever since they were kids, his brothers pretended to care, pretended to yield, all while isolating him. They lured away anyone he got close to with money—friends, gang peers, even those he attempted light romances with. They would surely try to do the same with Kim Sung-kyung.“Hey, you bastard.”Chungrim opened the front door and gave his brother a light push on the shoulder. Surim, finding himself suddenly expelled to the entrance, raked his hair back.“You saw the state I’m in, right? Go tell Gyurim exactly what you saw. Tell him it’s better to back off. Got it?”Chungrim flashed a smile that was annoyingly kind, knowing his brother was weak against such displays. Meanwhile, he quickly calculated his next steps. Since Surim had seen Kim Sung-kyung in bed, he would need to be even more vigilant. He considered reinstalling surveillance cameras and even posting someone at the door, despite his reluctance.There was much to prepare, but the priority was for Kim Sung-kyung to wake up. Though they had said it wouldn’t be long, several days had passed, and he still hadn’t stirred. Chungrim recalled the sullen eyes that had watched him.After Surim left, Chungrim reopened the bedroom door and entered. Sung-kyung was still asleep. Chungrim casually lifted the blanket and lay down beside him, propping his head on his hand as he gazed at the peaceful face.“Why would I get rid of this?”There wasn’t anyone else who listened to him as well as this kid. No one else satisfied him as much. Now, with nothing left, Sung-kyung would cling to him more desperately. Why would he let that go?He brushed Sung-kyung’s unevenly cut bangs aside, revealing a smooth forehead. When his hair hung messily, it was hard to notice, but he had a rather pleasant face. He traced the fading scars on Sung-kyung’s cheek and lip, noting that the scabs had mostly fallen off and the bruises were nearly gone.As he looked at the now-clean face for a while, Chungrim kept rubbing the soft skin under his eyes with his thumb until it turned red.“You wouldn’t leave even if you were paid, right?”There was no response from the sleeping Sung-kyung.“You’re not interested in money, are you?”Chungrim continued his questioning, though it was more like musings to himself.“If you were swayed by money, you wouldn’t have been sneaking around like a pervert. Right?”He imagined Sung-kyung answering obediently, “Yes, you’re right,” and chuckled. Laying his upper body on the slender frame beneath him, he closed his eyes. Despite the weight he placed on the fragile body, the chest rose and fell steadily. The sound of it made him feel sleepy.＊＊＊Sung-kyung woke up only after several more days had passed. Having not eaten during that time, he had lost a lot of weight, and his complexion was paler than ever. Perhaps the shock of his father’s death was so great that he forgot; he hadn’t asked once about his father since waking. Chungrim planned to keep silent until Sung-kyung brought it up.“Why aren’t you eating?”“…”Though he said he wanted to eat, Sung-kyung merely stared at the porridge in front of him after being seated at the table.“It’s porridge. I used to eat leftovers all the time. Sometimes I even ate spoiled food.”Chungrim rested his chin on his hand, his gaze indifferent. Sung-kyung’s chapped lips kept moving.“Have you ever eaten something like that? It’s really awful.”His bony hand held the spoon’s end, gently scraping the surface of the white porridge. Chungrim cut off his rambling with a low, rough voice.“Stop talking nonsense and just eat.”The spoon, which had been hovering over the bowl, scooped up some porridge. Though it weighed next to nothing, the motion seemed arduous.“Yes, I was going to eat.”He managed to swallow a spoonful of the steaming, bland liquid. Despite its mild taste and texture, his throat hurt terribly. It felt like he had swallowed glass. He clenched his eyes shut and forced down another spoonful. He could vividly feel it sliding down his throat, almost as if he were swallowing blood instead of porridge.Suddenly, Sung-kyung’s eyes snapped open. Dark blue spots dotted the surface of the porridge he had just eaten. As he stared at them, the spots spread rapidly, like mold.“It was fine just a moment ago…”Panicking, Sung-kyung stirred the porridge with his spoon, causing the mold to spread even faster. Did he just swallow that? Is that why his throat hurt so much? Overcome with nausea, he clamped a hand over his mouth and rushed to the bathroom. With nothing in his stomach, he ended up retching bile.Clinging to the toilet for a long time, he eventually rinsed his mouth and brushed his teeth repeatedly. He couldn’t stand the thought of having swallowed mold in front of Chungrim. He emerged from the bathroom, wiping his reddened lips. Chungrim was still sitting where he had been.“…Excuse me.”Chungrim’s eyebrow twitched at the unexpected address. Excuse me? He had corrected this before. His expression turned sharp as he licked the inside of his cheek in irritation.“P-Porridge. It’s moldy. It must have gone bad. Didn’t our… didn’t our parents die from eating stuff like that?”Despite repeatedly wiping his mouth, Sung-kyung’s lips remained wet. He pulled up his t-shirt to wipe his mouth, which became soaked, yet the moisture continued to dampen his cheeks and chin. The scent of toothpaste lingered as sobs started to escape his mouth. Sung-kyung collapsed, as if his legs had given out.“Isn’t that why they died? Because we were poor and had nothing else to eat…?”The mold that covered the walls of room 422 and convenience store 3 must have also entered his parents’ bodies. It was in their cups, their medicine, their porridge. It spread everywhere, and that must have been what killed them. He had lived in that room too. Was he next?Sung-kyung began to shake uncontrollably, as if gripped by fear. He felt a cat brush against his calf. Startled, Sung-kyung flinched and moved away. Mero, surprised, stopped and stared at him.“…”He worried that the cat might get infected if it touched him. His eyes were sharp, checking if any mold had transferred to Mero’s sleek gray fur. Tears streaked down his terrified face.“What the hell is wrong with you, stopping in the middle of eating like this?”Chungrim grabbed the frail, crouched arm and roughly pulled Sung-kyung to his feet. Sung-kyung tried to pull his arm away, clearly frightened.“Y-you shouldn’t touch me…”Chungrim sneered at his feeble struggle. He tightened his grip on Sung-kyung’s arm and dragged him forward. The thin body was pulled along without much resistance.“Why not? Keep quiet before I throw you out.”The nonsense Sung-kyung was spouting came to an abrupt halt. As they crossed the threshold, Chungrim felt the weak grip of Sung-kyung holding onto his clothes. The faint strength in his grip was noticeable. Even in his disoriented state, the mention of being thrown out made him anxious. Chungrim figured that even if Sung-kyung was more broken, just saying “I’ll throw you out” would snap him back to his senses.“…”Despite saying not to touch him, Sung-kyung’s hand clutched desperately at Chungrim’s shirt, his bloodshot eyes continually checking it. He had to let go immediately if he saw mold spreading. Even after sitting on the bed, he kept doing that.He had cried so much that the area near Chungrim’s chest was soaked, much like when he had tried to force his father to take medicine and spilled water everywhere. Sung-kyung wiped his wet chin with the back of his hand.“But… why didn’t Father get angry then? I was so annoyed…”Sung-kyung spoke his thoughts incoherently, as if unaware that he was speaking.