Monster

EP22 Love 

The phone rings. Naturally, the caller is 'Jung Dahae'. 

I answer it, feeling a little sorry for myself because it reminds me of sex with Gyuri.

"Hello."

"What are you doing?"

"I'm just out for a walk."

"Can I see you for a minute?"

"Do you have something to tell me?"

"Yeah."

She continues to look sullen and say nothing. 

A Pilar t-shirt, pressed hat, and workout shorts. 

How did I get so comfortable already. 

We liked a river path in Seoul. 

It was a short bus ride and walk from home, but there was something strangely cleansing about going to a place with running water. 

Dahae suddenly grabbed my hand when the chirping of crickets became deafening. 

I'm embarrassed. 

She takes my hand, wraps her arms around me, and we walk along the stream without saying a word. 

The sound of cicadas and the stream on a summer night. 

We must look like an unlikely couple. An uneasy feeling springs up inside me. 

What if my father's body is found? What good will all this be if my crimes are caught sooner than I thought? 

She walked on without saying a word, feeling a little like sobbing. 

And on and on. 

I was the one who broke the silence.

"Are you just going to keep walking?"

"No."

"What's wrong?"

"Brother, I'm so tired."

"Trouble?"

"I feel so guilty. I'm going to tell you now."

"What do you mean?"

"Brother, I think we should go out."

"I told you the other day, I can't answer you yet."

"Then I'll tell you first."

"About what?"

"My truth."

"I'm actually working in a brothel, bro."

"What?"

"I can't go to college, and I've been working in a brothel since last year because of my mom's light."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I used to have a hard time leaving the cafe in the morning. And the curfew. Now you understand why I always dressed up when I met your brother."

"Why are you bringing that up in this situation?"

Jung Dahae cried for a long time on the spot. Her cries now resemble the sound of crickets. 

"I really want to be with you, I really want to be happy now."

"How are you going to be happy?"

"I'm going to quit the brothel, leave Mom's light behind, and become independent."

"My mom owes me about 8,000, and I paid her back more than half of it. Yesterday was payday."

"I had a big fight with her today and told her I won't pay her anymore."

"And I'm cutting off all contact with my mom. I can't do this anymore, I really can't."

"And your boyfriend from before?"

"No, he was just an asshole who asked for my number on the street."

"What's a brothel like?"

"It's like a rooming house. I was the first person to pour the drinks, never the second."

"Secondary means going to a motel or hotel. I never did any of that." 

"Oh, I see. I'm sorry about that."

"I'm really starting over now."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Not that I'm quitting the cafe, but I'm going out on my own."

Her eyes shone brighter than ever; she had decided to put herself out of her misery. 

"So, this is after all the abuse at home?"

"Is that too rude of me to ask?" 

"Yeah, I never saw my dad's face, and my mom gambled every day and came home and beat me up."

"Then why do you pay them back? They're your enemies."

"It was the last thing I was going to do, really. I work in a brothel. She wanted me to make more money."

"When are you moving out on your own?"

"Right now, tomorrow, I'm looking for a room and moving out."

"Dahae, it's been a long day. Let's stay together until I go to the cafe tonight."

We walked and walked and walked all night. 

I was happy to be able to do something to help Dahae. 

The next day, we looked at real estate together, and luckily, we found the right place. 

I immediately paid the deposit and walked her to the bakery where she works. 

My phone rings with a text from Chul Woo-hyung. 

"Are you coming over today to help me with the meat?"

I don't have time to reply. I'm at the door now. 

Oh, right. I knock on the door of her house, which I've figured out with some weird excuse. 

"Here."

Bang, bang, bang. 

I hear a shout from inside, but no answer.

Bang, bang, bang. 

Then I hear a yell. 

"Who the fuck are you, screaming and shit?"

I didn't even yell.

 Bitch. 

In today's society, people seem to have forgotten the fear of violence.

There are a lot of people with a few lines of legislation written by a bunch of glasses and a few bucks. 

But the funny thing is that most problems are solved by force. 

As she opened the door, she was greeted by a foul odor, a stack of liquor bottles, and shards of broken soju bottles behind her. 

There was also laundry strewn about. 

I was angry. 

"Dahae, in a house like this. 

My own home is a legend, but this place is just as bad.

"You're Dahae's mom, right?"

"I am."

"What the fuck? What do you have to say?"

"What are you talking about, asshole?"

I barely stopped her frantic move to slam the door and pulled off the thin jacket I was wearing. 

Seeing my body covered in scars and tattoos, she calmed down.

"What's wrong with Dahae?"

"Why don't you come out?"

I urged her from a nearby bench.

"Hey, auntie."

"Why are you being so abusive to Dahae?"

"No, this bastard has been talking back to her since earlier."

"Auntie, I'm not here to talk to you."

"How much did you lose on the gambling board?"

"Why do you want to know that?"

"Because I might get shot for real. Just give me a straight answer, sis." 

"Eight thousand."

"Not the one Dahae paid back from her job."

"Five thousand."

"Why 5,000? She said she paid back more than 4,000.

"I'm still gambling.

"Hey, bitch."

I grabbed her by the hair. 

"Look me in the eye."

She suddenly becomes a docile lamb.

"What's wrong with you all of a sudden? You're not crazy. Let go."

"Don't you feel sorry for Dahae?"

She's never seen a human like this before. 

She replied with disdain and fear.

"I'm not sorry for her."

"Really?"

"You, ma'am. Then you don't have to have a daughter."

"Of course. What do you need a bitch like that for?"

She looked dizzy, like she'd been drinking since broad daylight.

"I'll pay you back for your light, and we'll make a deal."

"What?"

"Just treat me like I'm not worthy of your attention and let me go."

"I'll pay you back all five thousand, right now."

"Really?"

"And I'll pay you back now if you stop drinking and gambling for good."

"I heard you're getting visits from lightworkers."

"Okay, bye."

"Give me your ID. Give me the names of the lightworkers."

"And what do you have to do with me?"

"Who do you think you are?"

"I'm Dahae's boyfriend. I came here because I heard you were abusing your daughter in this way. Don't worry, you'll be straight from now on. You trashy bitch."

I would have punched her in the thrush right then and there. 

I put up with it, not as a favor to Dahae, but as a way to express my feelings. 

I called her shill to clear the money and handed Myung-heon's ID to him, asking him to keep her out of any gambling or gambling tables. 

Myung Heon-yi had many illegal connections, so it was easy and powerful to spread the word. 

Luckily, the money he extorted from the nursery school teacher by blackmailing her came in handy. 

The profit on the drugs he sold to Ji-hyun and Min-jae was also good, so he felt comfortable. 

I could do something to help Dahae. 

To be able to take some of the light off her heart. 

How painful and exhausting it must be to have a shill come to your home, to your workplace, and to push you. 

Some things you can do for Dahae.

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)