INFB Ch 7

And like that, Seobin was scheduled to become a pretty decent member of society, fitting for his parents’ reputation.

If things went according to the vaguely established plan, after graduating from university, he should have entered his father’s company or a big corporation whose name anyone would recognize, and after that, gotten married and formed a family with generous support from his parents.

But that crude plan was distorted in a single moment.

1 year after entering university. Seobin returned home after finishing his lectures. Arriving after passing a long wall, the front gate of the house was open.

It was a common occurrence. Because many guests used to visit Seobin’s home. So he thought someone must have come today as well. Thinking he didn’t want to stand out needlessly, he also thought he should enter through the parking lot.

So as he turned his body to the side…

“You son of a bitch!”

An unfamiliar curse was heard. It was a curse alien to the ears of Seobin, who had lived in an environment where impurities were thoroughly filtered out. His footsteps froze right in his tracks. As he stood there, another series of curses poured out continuously.

“You bastard, give me back my money!”

“Give it, you piece of shit. Return it!”

“You said you’d inflate it nice and big…”

“Aigo, aigo, my money…”

Seobin walked toward the entrance hall as if possessed by something. Neatly taking off his sneakers and turning them around, he pulled out house slippers. Although the entrance hall corridor was full of shoe prints, Seobin put his feet into the house slippers anyway and headed to the living room.

That path seemed to feel terribly long. Bright red stickers were plastered all over the expensive paintings hanging in the corridor, and his steps had slowed down to look at them.

The living room he faced belatedly was in a shape he had never seen before.

First of all, it was dirty. The orchids his father had painstakingly raised were all turned upside down, their black entrails scattered everywhere. The golf clubs on display on one side of the living room and crystal trophies won at golf tournaments large and small were shattered to pieces, instantly turning the floor into a minefield.

The sofa was turned over, and the TV was broken, its screen messily distorted.

His father was sitting sprawled out on the living room floor. That appearance was truly devoid of energy. He looked just like a piece of tissue someone had blown their nose into and crumpled up. Unfamiliar people were throwing hand blows and kicks recklessly, but all he said was,

“I have no money… I have no money. I said I have no money…”

That was all.

His mother was on the opposite side, in the corridor leading to the master bedroom. What she was doing there was… stroking porcelain. At the entrance of the corridor was a piece of porcelain his mother had bought at an auction for a large sum of money once upon a time, and she was scratching and peeling off the red sticker stuck on it with her fingernails.

“Ah, fuck… This is expensive… They stuck this here, ignorant bastards… Anyway, this is why vulgar guys are no good…”

Disheveled hair, bloodshot eyes, a house slipper worn on only one foot. It was an appearance that could never be seen in his mother, who had always been clean and dignified. The same went for the appearance of his father, sitting down and getting beaten up.

So Seobin briefly had the unfilial thought of: where did my parents go, and why are such monsters occupying the house?

From then on, his memories are broken here and there. Because everything passed by in a flash before he could even perceive what kind of situation it was.

His father was sued for fraud. Other than that, financial crimes, stock price manipulation, embezzlement, and even bribery. The complaints that flew in were not just one or two. The expected sentence was enormous, and the money that had to be compensated was astronomical.

The problem was not just his father. His mother was distant with his father, but they were a married couple anyway, and so they did several things together. Bad things, too, together.

The money his father used also included his mother’s funds, and the smart prosecution found that without much difficulty.

His parents tried to divorce right away, but the Korean legal system was neither that fast nor that generous. Especially under a state of even being sued under the title of tens of billions in fraud, it was even more fierce.

The house vanished. Of course, the luxury furniture and artworks inside evaporated together as well.

His parents met with lawyers every single day, had to appear in court from time to time, and because of loan sharks who came looking no matter where or how they hid, they had to run around like water striders every night.

Seobin was thoroughly excluded from that schedule. Obtaining a small studio apartment near the school, he attended school as if nothing had happened. His parents had told him to do so, but it was unknown whether that was because taking care of Seobin on top of everything was annoying, or because they hoped at least their son would live a normal life.

In any case, Seobin continued his life in a studio apartment as small and stifling as a coffin without hearing any news.

Then one day. A call came from an unknown number. They said it was the police. He conveyed very many things in a calm voice.

At dawn, his father died at the police station.

[It was acute alcohol poisoning. He was transported to the emergency room, but passed away.]

Swallowing his breath backward, as Seobin was about to reply something, the police poured out tragic news without a pause.

[Your mother as well…]

He paused briefly while speaking. Over the receiver, the sound of moving a mouse wheel was heard. It seemed he was likely looking at a file containing Seobin’s personal information. Twenty-one years old. University student. Things like that must have caught his eye.

After a moment of silence, he took a deep breath and added with a sigh.

[Your mother made a suicide… attempt this morning.]

He said he had called because of his father’s matter, but when there was no answer to the call, he went to check, and she was hanging by her neck. Whether lucky or unlucky, she was discovered early and transported to the hospital, but…, the police said up to there and did not finish the sentence he had thrown out. He merely told him the name of the hospital, telling him to go visit.

Seobin headed to the hospital out of his mind, like a person whose brain had slipped out of his skull.

Entering the hospital lobby, he hesitated for a moment.

From his father?

Or from his mother?

His father was in the basement mortuary, and his mother was on the 3rd floor. He hovered for a moment, but decided he should first see his mother, who was still alive.

And like that, he faced his mother after a long time.

His mother’s appearance had changed once again in the meantime.

Her lips, where she used to change lipstick every day, had dead skin rough on them, and were in a dried state as if someone had drained all the fat and blood out. Her cheeks and eyes were sunken as if already dead, and the back of her hand where the IV was stuck was like a dry tree branch.

The strange thing was that his mother was opening her eyes.

One might think, what’s strange about that, but she didn’t close her eyes either. Half-opening her eyes vaguely, she stared into the far-off air. Even as one hour, two hours, three hours passed, she continued staring at the same spot.

She looked just like a person trapped inside time.

The police had clearly said she wasn’t dead. But she was in a state no different from dead.

The doctor said a certain part of her brain had died because of the suicide attempt, and that it would be difficult for her to wake up. He babbled in an emotionless voice about how the family of a patient usually acts in this kind of situation.

A doctor came and went, a nurse came and went, and an insurance company representative came out too. He notified him that his mother had taken out a lot of insurance policies in her lifetime, but injuries from a suicide attempt could receive nothing, and even if they sued, they would lose, before leaving.

“…”

Seobin sat by his mother’s side for several hours. His mother, who didn’t look at him, was unfamiliar. Even though she was a mother who had rarely called his name warmly, she was still his mother. My family, my parent, the person closest to me in the world.

“Eu…”

Seobin slowly broke down. The corners of his eyes crumpled, his shoulders shrank, and his back bent. He wept for a long time with his forehead buried against the back of his mother’s hand, which didn’t smell like a human at all.

Very many emotions were included in that crying.

Though fear and sadness that his mother was broken were the main parts, surprise, embarrassment, and disappointment were also squeezed in.

His mother, and his father too. In ending their lives, Seobin was not in the thoughts of either of those two people.

He was clearly their son. His father went away after being tormented by himself without distinguishing front from back, and his mother bought a rope, wrapped that rope around her neck with her own hands, without thinking of him for even a split second.