Chapter : 07
To Hell with Being Kind
“…Are you okay?”
Their bodies, which had been pressed together, finally separated. Hearing the voice urgently checking on her, Cho-won tried to piece the situation together.
Just a moment ago, a truck had come barreling toward them. Baek-gu was hit. The truck didn’t stop. And as she froze in terror, someone had pulled her, and they tumbled into a narrow alleyway. That someone was, quite naturally, the man who had been following her. She stared blankly at Yohan’s face.
“How are your legs? Do they hurt? Can you stand up?”
Cho-won hesitated for a second before nodding. Yohan carefully supported her as he helped her to her feet.
A small crowd began to gather, drawn by the commotion in the alley. From the windows of nearby low-rise villas on the second and third floors, people peered out to watch the scene. Curses and sighs of lament escaped several onlookers. No one dared to step near the mangled carcass of the dog lying in the street.
The truck driver did not get out. He sat behind the wheel, merely observing the situation.
Yohan turned his head toward him. Their gazes met through the windshield. One corner of the driver’s mouth curled upward, as if he had been waiting for this.
He did it on purpose. Definitely.
Yohan approached the truck with a chilling gaze. However, almost as soon as he moved, the truck began to move again. It moved with a momentum that suggested it would plow through anything in its way.
The crowd scattered in surprise. The truck sped through the gap and disappeared into the distance.
Cho-won watched the receding truck, then looked at the back of Yohan, who remained standing there. She could feel his fury radiating from his clenched fists and rigid shoulders.
What is all of this?
Cho-won turned toward where Baek-gu lay. Baek-gu, crushed diagonally across the torso, was no longer recognizable. The ground was stained deep red, with bloody tire tracks dragging away from the site.
A sigh that seemed to start from the depths of her soul escaped her. her fingertips trembled. Slowly, her feet moved toward the dog.
Approaching the dead Baek-gu, she knelt low. She took off her jacket and carefully draped it over the carcass.
Yohan, who had been staring at where the truck vanished, turned around and saw the scene. Walking back with heavy steps, he reached down and gathered the dog, wrapped in Cho-won’s jacket, into his arms. He held it carefully, ensuring that nothing from inside the dog would spill onto the ground.
But there was no stopping the red blood that dripped—drip, drip, drip—onto the pavement. Holding the still-warm body of the dog, Yohan began to walk away.
Where Yohan arrived with Baek-gu was the old, abandoned house on the edge of the village. Cho-won stood leaning against a corner of the unkempt yard, quietly watching him. He was wordlessly digging into the earth, pushing aside the wild weeds. Next to the growing pile of dirt lay Baek-gu, still wrapped in Cho-won’s jacket.
“I thought you would have gone home, but you followed me here.”
Yohan was the first to break the silence. Cho-won’s eyes narrowed sensitively.
“Are you telling me to leave?” “Of course not. I’m saying thank you for coming with me.” “Forget it. I’m just showing respect.” “Respect?” “…Respect for the dead.”
At her blunt remark, the man who had been digging stopped for a moment. He eventually looked up and stared at Cho-won, who was leaning against the side of the yard. Then, as if realizing something for the first time, he set down his shovel and walked toward her.
Startled by his sudden movement, Cho-won watched as he closed the distance until they were only inches apart. Then, he took off his shirt-jacket and draped it over her bare shoulders.
“I’m sorry. I only just noticed.” “What are you doing? Take it off.” “It’s cold. It’s a bit stained with blood, but… it’s better than catching a cold.”
He smiled softly and tucked the oversized jacket around her. Amidst his meticulous touch, Cho-won caught a glimpse of the bandage haphazardly wrapped around the back of his hand. Yohan didn’t miss her fleeting gaze.
“…It’s nothing. I’m always covered in wounds.” “You didn’t take my dream again, did you?” “I wonder. How do you think I got this wound?”
Seeing him act coy and avoid a direct answer, Cho-won knit her brows. Without further explanation, Yohan went back to work, silently finishing the final resting place for Baek-gu.
Cho-won watched him for a while, then looked around the yard of the old house. As the darkness began to settle, the untended grass looked even more eerie. Perhaps that was why the small wooden swing standing in a corner of the yard felt so lonely.
“But is it okay for us to just come in here?” “…Pardon?” “Even if it’s an abandoned house, there must be an owner somewhere.”
Cho-won pointed toward the swing. Yohan’s eyes naturally followed her gesture.
It was a slightly clumsy swing—one that clearly showed the touch of a human hand. Looking at it, a bittersweet smile touched Yohan’s face.
“The craftsmanship is good, right? My father was quite skilled with his hands.” “What?” “That swing was a gift I received when I was a child.” “Is this… your house?” “Yes. I don’t live here anymore, though.” “……” “It seems this little guy took up residence here while I was away. He kept watch over the empty house all by himself.”
Answering in a calm voice, Yohan began to dig again. Once the hole reached a certain depth, he picked up Baek-gu—still wrapped in her clothes—and laid the dog gently inside. No warmth could be felt from the stiffened body.
“So, this is Baek-gu’s home now.”
Yohan spoke while looking down at the dog. As if to say a final goodbye, Cho-won stepped closer and looked into the pit.
It felt strange to realize that the jacket she had been wearing just this afternoon was now shrouding a dead life. Suppressing her churning emotions, Cho-won offered a sincere wish to the small life that had left this world.
It wasn’t a peaceful end, but I hope your eternal sleep is comfortable.
In the dead of night, the windows of all the buildings were dark. Under the glow of the streetlights, there was no trace of the evening’s accident. The local shopkeepers had already washed away Baek-gu’s blood with water.
The traces of death were erased that easily. At least, that was the case until a man with a sturdy build appeared near the site.
He was the truck driver who had run over Baek-gu that evening. The middle-aged man, gaunt but large-framed, loitered around the scene as if looking for a lingering trace. Under the streetlights, the corners of his mouth were turned up unpleasantly. Beneath his black cap, his snickering expression looked almost bone-chilling.
Just then, the sound of someone approaching rapidly from behind was heard. By the time the truck driver reflexively turned around, it was too late. Someone grabbed him by the scruff of the neck with immense strength and pressed an arm firmly against his throat.
Unable to even scream as his airway was blocked, he was dragged like a dog into a dark alleyway where few eyes would reach. Only then did the stranger release him, tossing his body aside. The man crumpled to the ground, gasping for air.
“Ha… ha… Did you know I’d come back?” “I didn’t. I just had a hunch… and as expected, you’re the worst. Are you reminiscing about that moment earlier?”
Yohan looked down coldly at the man who was wheezing and chuckling.
“So you were waiting for me. Well? Are you going to kill me?” “No. That would be a waste of effort. I just… wanted to give you a gift.” “A gift?” “Yes. A gift from me, in place of the dead Baek-gu.”
Yohan slowly knelt down to eye level with the driver. Staring straight into those wrinkled eyes, he began to speak.
“Starting today, you will dream of a white dog every single night. Usually, a white dog in a dream signifies a helper. But in your dream, it will be different. The white dog won’t be a helper—the white dog will be ‘you’ helping someone else.”
As the driver tried to look away, Yohan reached out and grabbed his face firmly. Simultaneously, something dark bloomed within Yohan’s eyes.
As if possessed, the driver’s pupils went dull. His resistance faded. Like a person under hypnosis, he stared blankly into Yohan’s eyes.
Yohan continued, his voice low and precise, as if carving every word into the man’s eyes.
“The entity you trusted so much will roll those heavy wheels and crush you—the white dog—every single night. It will happen without fail. Just like in reality, you will experience the agonizing pain of every bone in your body snapping. Of course, it’s just a dream. You’ll struggle in a pain where death seems better, but every morning, you’ll wake up perfectly fine. And every time, you should be grateful. What a blessing it is to be alive even after committing a sin.”
As he finished speaking, something like black smoke flickered within the driver’s eyes. At the same time, several deep wounds burst open on the back of Yohan’s hand. When he pulled his hand away from the driver’s face, the man’s vacant eyes returned to normal.
“What… what did you do to me?” “I wonder. You’ll find out once you experience it.”
Yohan wiped the blood from his hand with a slight smirk and stood up.
“Then, please get home safely. I hope you have… sweet dreams every night.”
With a mocking tone, Yohan gave a slight bow and turned around. However, he hadn’t walked far before he came to a dead stop.
“I knew it… that person was right!”
The man said this to Yohan’s back as he staggered to his feet. At the sound of his voice—agitated, almost filled with ecstasy—Yohan turned back with a face half-frozen in shock and horror. A bizarre, chilling joy spread across the middle-aged man’s face.
“They told me! That the one to end my nightmare would be you! They said the hope to save me from a night stained with guilt lies with the ‘one filled with sin.’ They said if I harmed him, I would gain a new nightmare, but I would be free from the dream that has tormented me for so long! If it’s just a dream about a dog dying—fine, that’s not bad! I am finally free!”
Yohan stood with a frozen expression, listening to his words. His sunken gaze was sharper and colder than ever before. The man pointed a finger at Yohan.
“O seeker of the world’s evil! O sower of misfortune to all! Someday, according to the Absolute’s providence, everything will return to its rightful place! He who stole the power of God shall pay the price and lose everything!”
In an instant, Yohan turned and closed the gap before the driver could even react. Without a change in expression, he reached out and gripped the man’s throat.
“Gack…!”
The sturdy driver was slammed against the wall. His throat constricted even more tightly than before, and he began to flail, struggling to breathe. Yohan watched impassively as the whites of the man’s eyes turned bloodshot.
“If anything had happened to Eun Cho-won, you wouldn’t be standing here right now. Let me make one thing clear: it’s not that I can’t kill you, it’s that I’m choosing not to.” “Ack… gack…!”
He violently threw the struggling driver to the ground. Finally free, the man gasped for air, his lungs burning.
Yohan knelt down beside him.
“Go and tell your ‘person’ this.”
He then smiled brightly and whispered in a low voice.
“…This is the extent of the mercy I can show.”
End Of Chapter : 07
