[Cheonryuje side story] Establishing Na-L (2)
****
Taang- Taaang-
Teka waited. May that Asian fall miserably.
With loose eyes and loose steps like the residents of this place. The sight of him wandering the streets with a face that couldn’t even erase the tears and spit stains from last night.
It was like the gloomy expectations of a drug addict. Out of ugly jealousy, hoping that the Asian man, whose heart flutters like the heart of a freshly caught bird, will fall to the same level as us.
Since the place is full of people who attack him like animals just by looking at his bed, the only place he can lean on is his sewer. He will be in this place, despairing of the suddenly changed environment. There is probably no one else who can see that scene from the closest location faster than anyone else.
.
.
.
.
Taaang- Taang-
“Hey! Workaholic! “I’ve been looking for food, rice!”
“….”
“Hey, this is a house, a pigsty!”
Wide open!
“Ugh….”
“You can’t pretend to be dazzling the guy in front of you with the electric stove all day. “Eat!”
but. I didn’t know the wait would be this long.
It’s been 3 months since I first met an Asian named Han Seo-ho.
To Teka, who had only seen people living without being able to die since birth, Han Seo-ho’s will to survive was almost a mystery.
First two days. Hitting his head with a hammer to silence him and removing his body. He looked confused enough to think about which of the two would be more bothersome. When told that there was no outlet for electricity, he wiped the battery of his laptop, which was dying by the minute, and tried every method he knew to contact the outside world. He looked like a startled hen.
one week. While running around the streets saying he would find another way, he got hit by someone’s stick and was left crying without leaving a single piece of underwear. He came back crying and thought things would quiet down, but the next morning he wrapped himself in a cloth used to wipe off oil and ran out again.
migration. Using his position as a sane guy on the streets of Kracolanzia, where there are nothing but druggies and dead bodies, to make contact with cartels outside the line? messenger? Seo-ho was excited, saying that he had found a similar job, and that if he saved up as much money as he could and bought someone to send a letter to the outside world, the Korean embassy would come to his rescue. He said he was indebted to me and asked me to go out with him when he left.
one month. The day when someone who was jealous of his survival recommended Seo-ho as a member of the cartel. Asian guides are effective in kidnapping Asian tourists, and the cartel believes their opinion makes sense and invites him to become a member of the organization, which Seo-ho rejects.
At the same time, the day his sewers became quiet for the first time in a month. The day I remembered that when Mateo came running out of breath and said, ‘Your friend has been captured by the cartel!’, I could not sense any sense of heterogeneity anywhere in his expression. He was so anxious that he couldn’t even hold a hammer, but those words made him run out into the streets at dawn. The day he was found abandoned in a sewer with one of his eyes gouged out and the ring and little fingers of his right hand cut off in return for defying the cartel.
All of this was a common occurrence here in Kracolanzia and was the reason why people here resorted to drugs to distance themselves from reality.
However, even after experiencing that reality, Seoho remained unaffected and did not give up on escaping.
‘Ugh… Ugh… The eyes… The eyes…’
‘Morphine is a drug that is used as a painkiller even outside.’
‘Fuck you, I won’t do it because it’s here… Go to the hospital and get a prescription… My eyes… Those bastards like dogs have my eyes… Ugh….’
Two months. After recovering, he blended into this street in his own way. I learned how to stay out of the cartel’s eyes, learned how to be a bit dirty, and on rainy days, I prepared bottles of letters and floated them down the drain. He builds his own relationships among the druggies, who are practically corpses, and makes new plans every day by asking the people who were thrown outside with a kitchen knife and a kitchen knife as the cartel’s ‘bullet’ and luckily returning, what they saw. He boasted.
‘That guy is an addict too.’
That was Teka’s conclusion. If the people here have lost everything they have and even things they didn’t know they had because they are addicted to drugs, then they are addicted to life. Without cause or reason. I can’t believe I’m struggling so hard just to survive.
Watching ‘lively humans’ whom he had never seen before became a small hobby for Teka. Even though I thought it would eventually fall, I often thought that if there were just a few more people like that here in Kracolanzia, this street that the world had given up on could be a little different.
“…Aren’t you going to talk to me again today?”
“rice is.”
“No, I have to listen today! In fact, it’s not even something I don’t know! Teka Teka! That’s what people say! Why are you so refusing to give me a full name? hello! I am Han Seo-ho, a former reporter from Korea who now runs errands for a cartel with a blind eye! What is your name? Now answer!”
“…If you’re not going to eat, I’m going in.”
“Oh, I’m so angry! “I just hear my name coming out of your mouth because I’m coming!”
“…I don’t have a name.”
“Oh my gosh! Yes, what a great lie! I’ve been living in your sewer for three months, and now you have no name! Oh my, it’s so dirty that I really-”
“Really. doesn’t exist. name.”
“…This person is not the kind of person who says nonsense a few times. really?”
“….Eat food.”
So Teka did not want to reveal his name to Seoho.
I don’t know how to express it, though. Should I say that I feel like I want to shake the dirty dirt off my feet?
canister. A name that makes you think that if you roll on the side of the road and get kicked by someone, you will roll away crying loudly.
It took me quite a while to remember that this feeling was an inferiority complex. In such an environment. The moment when Seoho, whose color had not faded even though the outside grime had had enough time to fade, asked his name for the first time. A small sense of shame arose in his heart, which until now had considered him lucky just to have a name.
hello. I am a tin can.
Teka hated hearing people say things like that, so every time her Asian roommate asked her name, she ignored it and turned her head away, pretending not to hear it.
The reason I said I had no name today was because I knew that the Asian man was so stubborn that he refused to take morphine even when he was suffering from having his eyeballs pulled out raw. Seeing that he had left everything he had to do in broad daylight, I could clearly see that if I didn’t throw something at him, he would be crying all day long.
“Teka… Well, it’s a bit weird to say that it’s a name I’ve had since the tin can was born. “Then there was no original name?”
“…Most people born and raised on this street don’t have names or anything. Because there is no reason for anyone to call me that. You weak customer. The people here are not human, they are just pieces of flesh consuming medicine. “There is no need to distinguish between age or gender, so there is no need for a name.”
“…Is that so?”
Munch!
Seoho took a big bite of the sandwich he had worked so hard to obtain, frowned at the sour taste he had become quite accustomed to, and then opened his mouth.
“That’s one lucky friend.”
“….I?”
“okay. I really hated my name. West Lake. West Lake. It sounds like a girl’s name. By the time I grew up and was able to express that I didn’t like my name, everyone in the world had already decided that my name was Seoho. In that respect, you are lucky. After he grew up, he was able to choose his own name, and unlike other drug addicts, there is a guy who follows you around like a leech trying to give you a proper name. “If this isn’t luck, what is?”
lucky. Even though I didn’t try very hard, something good happened. It’s a thought I’ve never thought of before in my life. Teka. canister. A name that has become embarrassing a few months ago. Since there is no one in particular to call me, nothing will happen if I change it however I want.
At least this Asian in front of me. This guy, who is grinning even though the bandages covering his eyes are still soaked with water from the infection, will be remembered by that name from now on.
For the first time in his life, Teka began to think seriously about his title. name. It’s the best-sounding name I’ve ever heard. The most pleasant word.
“….dollar.”
“Don’t be a dick.”
“Umm…Capo.”
“Capo? Kapoooo? In front of my empty eyes, you really said, ‘My name is Capo (Capo/Boss).’ Are you going to say that? huh? Why are they called Don or Capo di Capi (the boss of bosses)? “Would you like to take revenge today for hitting on me when I came here?”
“Hmm….”
Teka played with his portion of the sandwich that was getting soggy and tried to roll his drug-soaked head as best as he could. name. Mine. When someone calls me, it is not the meaning of the word, but the word that can only be used to refer to me.
“….I don’t know. “I’ve never thought about that.”
“Uh, I understand, so don’t look like you’re going to cry. The guy who was always laughing at me with a gloomy expression on his face actually makes me want to hit him. There is no name. I don’t even know how to name it. Um… Then I call it whatever I want to call it?”
“As you wish.”
Crunch! Wow, munching, munching!
While Teka thinks this Asian looks dynamic no matter what he does. Seoho, who was muttering something non-stop and stuffing his share of sandwiches down his throat, suddenly snapped his fingers and opened his mouth filled with sandwiches.
“Uh-huh!”
Cluck cluck kek! Gulp-
“Ugh, it tastes bad. Emperor Cheonryu (天流帝)! How about Cheonryuje?”
“…Chaurujie?”
“Ahh, when you pronounce it that way, it sounds so cheap and counterfeit! Ah try! okay! Stretch the side of your tongue so that it touches your cheek! Stick out your tongue and follow along! cloth! Ryu! my!”
“Chien….Liu….Zue….”
“Yes! Cheonryuje! The emperor who controls the flow of the sky! Wow, I really wanted to have a name like this! Wow Shiba is so cool! When someone asks you, ‘What is your name?’ and other people say Deoksu Jimmy Calem, you say ‘Cheonryujeyo’! hey! Give me the money! “I can get paid for this!”
“Cheon…Ryu…Je….”
Teka, no, Cheonryuje, tried to roll his name on his tongue for the first time in 21 years.
An oriental name that is difficult to pronounce. A shameful meaning that cannot be said out loud. His name is so foreign that he is now clearly distinguished from the other residents of this street.
“Cheonryuje! Hmm, looking serious enough to embarrass me while doing ssammai is just my style! The more you chew, the better it tastes! It won’t work. I will change my name as soon as I get out of here! Han Han… Han Cheon Ma! Han Bikwang! Hannibal!… [This is Hannibal, who miraculously survived from a drug den in Sao Paulo, Brazil. This is Mr. Han.] Keuuuu! kill! “When I go back, all kinds of media will be competing to report that this is a miracle of survival and that Brazil is a hotbed, but I should have changed things in advance!”
“…Heek.”
Looking at him shaking his fist at the sky as if he was feeling unfair. Looking at that fist with only three fingers left, Emperor Chen Liu couldn’t hold back the tickling feeling that was squeezing his lungs and ended up opening his mouth.
“…Hike, hehe, hehe-”
“Are you laughing?”
“Hee hee hee hee hee!” “ Hmm…”
“What are you doing? Are you laughing?”
I don’t know. He also wonders why he reacts like this.
If this is laughter, it will be a different kind of laughter than the laughter he has known so far. It is not a smile that sneaks up with intention or anticipation of something, but a series of short bursts of breath that do not stop without even knowing why you are laughing.
“Wow, it’s uncomfortable to hear. Hey spit it out! Don’t hold back, spit it out! after! under!”
slam!
A palm that is a little lacking in area flies against his skinny back. Cheonryuje was able to exhale the breath that had tickled his insides as his palm flew in coolly, as if scraping off the slag of a hammered metal piece, as if clearing a clogged water channel.
“Hahaha…. Hahaha hahaha!”
I don’t know what’s so funny or what’s so funny, but Chen Liuje couldn’t stop laughing.
‘It was stained.’
Last 3 months. Every time I see a person named Han Seo-ho, there is a moment that comes to mind.
With low expectations. Like a prisoner, the stronger the iron bars, the faster he gives up, waiting for that idiot from outside the country to come to the same conclusion as them.
It was the moment when Han Seo-ho cried out in despair as he faced the reality of Kracolanzia, like a blue bird with cracked bones after hitting its head against a cage.
but. Seo-ho did not lose himself even in this mud where he could not distinguish between humans and filth, and he was smiling with his only eyes as if he had met him for the first time.
His life, which he lived as if he were dead, was being colored with the light of the world.
Cheonryuje was the first to realize that people can respect others.
“Hahahahahahaha! Haheuk crane! Ha ha ha ha ha!”
“Is there a hole in my lung? Hey, try it now. Hello, I am Han Seo-ho from Korea. I am a fool who crawled into this garbage dump on his own feet and I am a friend who has never heard your name.
Cheon Ryu-je let out a sigh of relief and rolled his eyes as if there was nowhere to run now. I faced Seoho.
“This is Emperor Cheonryu… of Kracolanzia. “I make knives.”
“Jooooooooooooooo!!!! Wish No. 1 came true after coming here! After going through not just three hardships, but three hundred hardships, I was finally able to hear the three letters of his name! I don’t know who you are, but I think you are an incredibly amazing person! Cheonryuje! “The name itself is unusual!”
I might be able to get out. I really thought that this guy might be able to get out.
“hmm? “Where are you going?”
“To make a knife.”
“already? “If you don’t eat your sandwich, I will eat it?”
“….It is the value of the name.”
“this? barely?”
Nod.
“I like it. name.”
Emperor Cheonryu rolled up the tent that covered his sewer and turned on the furnace.
Is it because it has a name? Is it because the fire of Seoho has been transferred to him, who feels like a tangle of sticky fish?
I couldn’t feel the pathological appetite caused by the drug or the itching that was scratching my head from the inside out.
instead. It’s been a long time since I felt like I wanted to do something.
‘You’ll need money.’
Seoho won’t stop trying until he gets out. The only compensation I get from my contact is buying trash sandwiches that I feel like my stomach will rot if I eat more.
However, I heard that his knives are sold quite expensively among the mafia.
Until now, it didn’t matter how much I paid for the knife as long as it was the battery, but I was thinking of doing some calculations in the future.
“Anyway, if it’s just metal, you’ll be amazed… Just listen to it. This time, some really good information came in: the Brazilian government was recruiting vagabonds as subjects for testing a very disturbing new drug. It looks like Kracolanzia was also included in that list. If we do well, we might be able to contact people outside!”
“…That’s a good idea.”
“yes? Even if you think so! Even if it was a clinical trial, would it be stronger than the sandwich here? If you take one hit and sneak in between the medical staff and ask them to make a phone call…”
Taaang-
taaang-!
Even today, the sound of Cheon Ryu-je’s hammer echoed through the sewer amidst Seo-ho’s voice as he unraveled suspicious information that he did not know where he had heard it from.
I want to go out. Maybe it’s not someone like Seoho who shines so brightly. If only there was a place out there for someone like him, who was born and raised in a garbage dump.
‘I want to go out and see it.’
Isn’t it possible for someone like him who has nothing to dream that much?
Cheon Ryu-je thought that if there was a world where people like that lived, he would definitely like to see it at least once.
****
Coooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
!
[Notice to the citizens of Sao Paulo. A very deadly gas is currently spreading near Kracolanzia, so we ask citizens to evacuate the area. I’ll say it again. Now, the deadly and potentially explosive gas is-]
“Knock, knock!” Fuck… what is gas and what is evacuation… you bastards.”
“Seoho Han Seoho!”
“
Ryuje
….
_ before it’s too late.”
“….”
Crash.
Exactly 78 hours later. That was his only wish until he pushed the knife into Seoho’s badly distorted throat.
****
