JKA 78

“…What do you think you’re doing.”

“I didn’t do anything. I’m just letting you know. That angel doesn’t tell you things like this, does he? Did he act like everything would be fine as long as I was kept from touching souls?”

“…”

“But where in the world is such a thing possible? Were you happy when I wasn’t around? Don’t act like everything will be fine if I just disappear. The devil in your house isn’t me, it’s your father.”

Egarsia, who had been whispering softly in his ear, instantly wiped the smile from his face and shouted as if to make sure he was heard.

“What are you doing, hurry up and go!”

“…”

“Your sister is calling, quick.”

Egarsia deliberately pushed Hanbyeol’s back. It was as if he were telling him to face the misfortune he had forgotten with his own two eyes. He was saying that he could never escape, and that he had only been played by an angel’s word games.

Hanbyeol couldn’t ignore the ringing phone. He couldn’t fully believe Egarsia’s words, but it was impossible to remain at the filming location like this. As soon as he answered the phone, he heard his younger sister’s crying. The moment Hanbyeol heard that sound, he shot out of the house like a bullet, and Jiwoon looked at Egarsia with a bewildered expression. Everyone else did too.

“Something must have happened at his house. I think I heard something breaking…”

“Th-that’s enough!”

It was Jiwoon who stopped Egarsia as he muttered as if worried and naturally tried to bring up Hanbyeol’s story. Jiwoon shot up from his seat, approached Egarsia, and pulled him by the wrist.

“What are you doing…!”

“Th-there’s a lo-lot of clothes, right? I-I made sure to pa-pack a lot so you c-could change. I-I thought Se-Seonwoo’s clothes size would be si-similar to mine.”

Jiwoon forcibly sat Egarsia down and deliberately began pulling clothes out of the box in a flurry.

“I-I’ll just ke-keep wearing the sa-same clothes, but it would be ni-nice if Seonwoo could cha-change into se-several different outfits, right?”

Spouting whatever came to mind to change the subject, Jiwoon picked up a random piece of clothing from the pile and held it up to Seonwoo. At first, Egarsia wore a look of disbelief, but eventually, he couldn’t help but force an awkward smile.

“Ah, y-you can wear them any wh-which way and just sc-scatter them on the fl-floor. They’re all cl-clothes I don’t w-wear.”

“…”

“Cl-clothes are okay, though. The i-important thing is the p-person, right?”

Jiwoon said this and gripped the clothes tightly. Then, he stared at Egarsia with intense eyes. He didn’t know what had happened to Hanbyeol, but it was clear that the culprit was probably Egarsia. It was certain, seeing how he had nonchalantly tried to bring up the story about something happening at Hanbyeol’s house.

“I-I’ll c-contact Ha-Hanbyeol.”

Jiwoon said, trying to smooth over the situation. In the past, he would never have been able to do this. But now he knew that he couldn’t just pretend not to know and let every situation slide. He had promised himself not to hide behind the excuse that it couldn’t be helped.

Above all, he had already promised Hanbyeol. That if anything happened, he would be sure to help. He couldn’t run to him and help him right this second, but he wanted to do the best he could from here. To do that, he first had to shut Egarsia’s mouth, and he also had to keep him tied down here.

“Yeah, hurry and call him. I’m worried.”

Heechan called the club members, saying they should start getting ready now that they had finished eating. Jiwoon was cleaning up the floor when he picked up the kimbap that had been left where Hanbyeol was sitting. Seeing that only the outer wrapper was slightly torn, it seemed he hadn’t even been able to eat. Jiwoon abruptly held out the kimbap to Egarsia.

“H-here, eat this wh-while I’m cleaning up.”

“What?”

Egarsia retorted irritably, as if to say, what kind of bullshit is this, but Jiwoon lowered his voice and spoke as if whispering.

“H-he couldn’t even eat b-because of you. And y-you stole all m-my ramen and ate it.”

“…”

“St-steal this and eat it too. Y-you’re g-good at that kind of thing.”

“You crazy, this one.”

Just as Egarsia, his anger flaring, was about to grab Jiwoon by the collar, he saw the other club members moving about busily and barely managed to suppress his rage. If he got caught up in this pathetic provocation, he could end up having to retreat without accomplishing anything.

In order to keep getting on Hanbyeol’s nerves and finish what he had originally planned to do, he had to blend in here, pretending to be human. That was also the reason he was playing along with this child’s play-like game. He forced a smile.

Jiwoon confirmed that the corner of Egarsia’s mouth was twitching, then shot up from his seat. The thought that he had landed a good blow made him feel a little refreshed.

‘You’re asking for too much for some soggy ramen. Why should I tell you that?’

‘Y-you told me to ask. A-anyway, didn’t y-you come here b-because you had something to s-say?’

‘You’re asking so shamelessly, I don’t feel like telling you anymore.’

It was ridiculous how he had stolen and eaten someone else’s ramen, and was now saying he wouldn’t talk because his feelings were hurt. Jiwoon had known Egarsia wouldn’t answer meekly, but now that he was faced with it, anger welled up inside him.

How could he be so brazen, appearing with the face of his dead brother and pushing people into hell? He was curious about what his purpose was.

‘I-I was just wondering if y-you had ever met m-my brother. And if y-you had ever t-talked to him, things li-like that.’

‘Can you believe what I say?’

‘Th-that’s for m-me to ch-choose.’

‘…’

‘I-if you don’t want to, th-then don’t. I-it’s not like I d-don’t know anything at a-all, you know.’

‘Oh, is that so?’

‘…’

‘Then do you know that your brother’s soul was completely shattered to pieces and became a worthless coin?’

Egarsia said, looking straight at Jiwoon. He explained in great detail what happens to a soul that falls to hell. He said that the soul is shattered to pieces, and after being heated in fire and melted down, it becomes the currency of hell, to be played with in the hands of demons for eternity.

He said that since the soul was already shattered to pieces, it could not be reborn, nor was it even given the chance to wash away its sins. He explained with a chuckle that it just exists in that scattered state forever until it crumbles away.

‘Seen him? I might have. Your brother might have been among the coins rolling around.’

‘…’

‘His shell was all peeled off and sold, so I don’t know if he’d be rolling around intact as a coin. Or just say hi to me, I’ll pretend to be your brother for you. I’m probably the last trace of him left in this world, you know?’

Looking at Egarsia’s beaming face, Jiwoon stood up from his seat, for some reason without any particular reaction. Then he cleared the trash on the table and walked past Egarsia.

At that, Egarsia followed Jiwoon. He watched Jiwoon’s face incessantly, as if teasing him, but he couldn’t find any emotion on his expressionless countenance. Egarsia shrugged as if puzzled, yet he felt Jiwoon was trying his best to hold it together. He was sure that no one could possibly be okay after hearing that their dead brother was rolling around on the floor of hell.

But Jiwoon was okay. In fact, he felt relieved hearing Egarsia’s words. If he had said his brother was serving a sentence in hell, it might have been painful. But Egarsia had just spouted nonsense about his soul being shattered into coin fragments and rolling around. Jiwoon still believed 17’s words more than Egarsia’s.

It was because 17 had apologized to him. Even though it wasn’t his own fault, he had sincerely apologized to him. There was a sense of sincerity in the way 17 just repeated that he was sorry with his head slightly bowed. 17’s words carried far more weight than the words spoken with a mocking laugh for the purpose of getting under his skin.

His brother’s soul must have been annihilated. It wasn’t because he had doubts about that that he had asked Egarsia this and that. It was because he had held on to a small hope that if, by any chance, his brother had met Egarsia before he was annihilated, if they had perhaps had some kind of conversation, he might be able to find some clue in that story.

The reason why his brother had wanted to die was still an unsolved mystery. He knew better than anyone that humans can want to die for even trivial reasons. Hadn’t he himself been like that?

At the same time, he knew that a trivial reason was merely a trigger. There was always a real reason for wanting to die. It was just a pity that only the person themselves knew it. And that person was already dead and gone.

For him, the reason for wanting to die had been clear. His parents were looking for his brother in him, and he knew they implicitly resented him. And he himself felt guilty about that accident. All those emotions were still inside him, and they might exist forever. But the thought of wanting to die was gradually fading.

He felt that he shouldn’t die. It felt like someone was constantly begging him not to die. There was no one who would make such a request, but he kept getting that feeling. It was as if something unknown was protecting him. As if it were begging him to live.

It was fine even if it was a delusion. His life was changing. He now had a friend with whom he could share his inner thoughts, and there was something he wanted to do right now. Jiwoon wanted to make a good film with the members of the film club. He wanted to share enjoyable conversations with them and go through hard times together. It was a shame that he was only now coming to know all this joy.

“I-I’ll help too.”

Jiwoon walked past Egarsia, who looked like he was suppressing his anger, and went to Heechan. Following the others who were busily setting up the location for the next scene, he moved his body busily, albeit clumsily. If you do nothing, nothing will happen. But if you do something, change is bound to follow. Jiwoon knew that now.

Misfortune always spread like wildfire, instantly surrounding a person and acting as if it were impossible to ever escape. Hanbyeol met the gaze of the man sitting in the middle of the chaotic house, chugging soju straight from the bottle. Just as Egarsia had said, a human worse than a devil was rooted there like a post.

At the sound of Hanbyeol opening the door, his younger sister Haneul, who had been hiding in her room, burst out and threw herself into his arms. Hanbyeol naturally hid his sister behind him and confronted his father, who was staring at him with bloodshot eyes.

“Get out.”

“This son of a bitch, doesn’t even greet his own father.”

Reeking of a stomach-turning, greasy smell of alcohol, the man threw the bottle he was holding. The soju bottle hit the wall and shattered with a loud noise, and his startled sister screamed and clung to him.

“Haneul, go inside and stay with Mom.”

Even at Hanbyeol’s words, Haneul shook her head, trembling. She had run out of the room at the fact that her oppa was here, but she was too scared to go back into the room, past her drunk father.

At this, Hanbyeol took Haneul’s hand and headed to his mother’s room. His father, ignoring them, rummaged through a plastic bag next to him, took out a new soju bottle, and with a crack, opened the cap.

“Lock the door and stay put.”

“Hanbyeol.”

As he was letting Haneul into the room, his mother, who had been pacing around unable to sit properly despite her bad leg, came and grabbed Hanbyeol’s hand. She too was trembling, clearly terrified.

“I-I’m sorry for opening the door. I should have called the police right away, but I was afraid he’d come back and retaliate.”

“It’s okay. I’ll get him to leave.”

“I’m sorry.”

“…”

“I’m sorry…”

Hanbyeol could see the whole situation clearly in his mind’s eye without having to witness it. He must have shown up at the house unannounced and caused a disturbance. Calling the police could solve the situation for a moment, but he would hold a grudge and there was no telling what he would do next time. Wasn’t he the type of person to charge ahead without thinking things through?

He had a habit of taking his children hostage, so she must have had no choice but to open the door, worried about Haneul who had to go to and from school alone, even if not for herself. He knew that giving him what little money they had and letting him throw a fit until he was satisfied was the best his sick mother could do right now.