Siblings Work in Business (38)
So that the memory, not even a nightmare, won’t make you shiver anymore
I won’t let go twice
I won’t lose you again
The high note, hitting the ceiling in the highlight, contrasted with the previous calmness and gave me goosebumps.
“Damn it…”
Damn Lee Eun-ho.
Why does he have to sing so well?
Eun-ji’s voice trembled as she cursed.
It was a memory so distant that only a trace remained.
In fact, it was a memory I wanted to believe hadn’t left even a trace.
There were two children.
Two dirty children who lived in a dilapidated house, patching the walls with wooden planks they scavenged.
Two children for whom even a normal school life was a dream.
“Hold my hand. You’ll fall.”
“No! I won’t fall! Let go!”
It was late in the evening, in a dark corner where it was hard to see the road ahead.
Lee Eun-ho offered his hand, but I swatted it away and yelled.
I was throwing a tantrum because he didn’t buy me the 100-won candy I wanted so badly.
‘Foolishly…’
I was just a clueless kid back then.
I didn’t even realize that Lee Eun-ho, who took care of me, was also just a kid.
And that night was darker than usual.
When we came home after playing all night…
“Hahaha. This crazy bastard!”
Usually, the only sound in the front yard of the dilapidated house was the chirping of unknown birds…
But that day, I heard unfamiliar voices.
We shouldn’t have gone in.
We should have run away then.
“Who’s there?!”
Those fearless days when we thought two kids with some spunk could handle anything…
One bad decision brought hell upon us.
It was my fault for stubbornly refusing to hold his hand.
A man suddenly appeared from behind and grabbed me like a sack of potatoes.
Lee Eun-ho reached out, but the man was too tall for his short arms to reach.
“Please, sh… she’s my sister.”
My brother begged.
“Take me instead.”
“Waaaaah…”
“My sister, please, please let her go. Please…”
Men much larger than Lee Eun-ho easily picked me up.
I was scared of them.
Their appearance, their creepy laughter, everything was terrifying.
“Ugh…”
My ankle, which Lee Eun-ho was clinging to, hurt as if it was about to be pulled out.
But even if my ankle was pulled out, it was okay.
I hoped Lee Eun-ho wouldn’t let go of me, so I wouldn’t be dragged away by these scary people.
“Do you want me to let go?”
“Please, hyung.”
“Who’s your ‘hyung’? You little beggar.”
“S-Sorry.”
“Hahaha. If you’re sorry, you should at least bow your head.”
The men, who seemed to be his companions, laughed hysterically.
Lee Eun-ho buried his face in the dirt at their command.
‘What are these people saying?’
Why was this happening?
My heart ached.
I should have just held Lee Eun-ho’s hand.
I kept regretting it.
Because all I could do was cry and regret.
“I’ll do anything… Just let my sister go. Please…”
“Oh, anything?”
“Yes! Anything…”
Lee Eun-ho answered, trembling but resolute.
“What can you even do? You’re just a beggar, famous in this neighborhood.”
“A-Anything, physical labor, anything. I’ll do anything…”
“Haha! Bullshit. Where will you go if I let your sister go?”
“W-We live here. T-This is our home.”
“Isn’t it filthy?”
“T-Then we’ll go somewhere clean.”
“But you’re too dirty.”
Hahaha!
They laughed.
As if they were about to let me go, but not quite.
They kept asking Lee Eun-ho meaningless questions.
But why did it feel like hope back then?
It was the man’s gentle voice, as if he would let me go if the conditions were met.
Thwack!
But instead of me, it was Lee Eun-ho who received their kicks.
“Oppa!!!”
“If you don’t shut up, I’ll kill your beggar brother!”
As I screamed, the man holding me covered my mouth and whispered.
Lee Eun-ho’s eyes rolled back, as if he had been hit hard.
Even with his eyes rolling back, he was reaching out for me with his short arms.
But he couldn’t reach me.
I wanted to scream.
I hoped someone would help us.
But I couldn’t.
I knew our place.
We were dirty and famous beggar siblings, just like they said.
We were used to being treated like trash; help was a luxury.
All I could do, smaller than even Lee Eun-ho, was cry, hoping my brother wouldn’t get hurt any further.
“This is so funny. Hahaha.”
The men, chuckling, left Lee Eun-ho unconscious in the dilapidated house and carried me out like a sack of potatoes.
We, siblings who had been inseparable since the beginning of our memories, were separated for the first time in our lives that day.
I kept thinking.
‘If I hadn’t been stubborn, if I had just listened to Oppa and held his hand…’
Vroom.
The men rode a motorcycle with a Chinese restaurant name on it and went to a different neighborhood.
I was dragged to a building under construction, or perhaps demolition, with only steel frames remaining.
The men, as if playing a cruel joke, left me there and disappeared.
There was nothing around but an empty road.
I was scared.
Being alone, not knowing what to do, everything was worrisome.
“Little girl, what are you doing here?”
That’s why…
“Ajumma…”
A woman with a kind face and permed hair, the kind you’d often see at the local market, got out of a black van and asked.
“Oh my, your body is so cold.”
“Oppa, waaaah. Please find my brother. Waaaaah.”
“You have a brother? Ajumma will find him. Come on, get in, dear.”
Lee Eun-ho often warned me.
That we could instinctively be wary of people who openly disliked us.
But the scarier ones were the adults who approached us kindly.
Forgetting his warning, I got into the black van with the ajumma.
“Little girl, have you eaten?”
“Food… no.”
“Oh dear. Sir, do you have any juice?”
Then…
I looked up in surprise when the ajumma called someone “sir.”
It was unexpected, but also made sense.
The ajumma had gotten out of the back seat.
So there must be a driver.
But when I looked up, I froze.
There was not only a driver, but also someone in the passenger seat.
There were two “sirs” the ajumma called.
“Do you want some of this? I just bought it, so don’t worry. Are you cold?”
“Yes, a little…”
My hand trembled as I took the orange juice from the ajumma.
But the juice bottle had the plastic seal intact.
And there was a ‘click’ sound.
The sound of opening a new juice bottle.
I completely dismissed my suspicions and brought the juice to my mouth.
“Thank you.”
The juice tasted familiar.
But the ajumma’s expression as she looked at me was strange.
And then I thought,
‘I’m screwed.’
…
When I opened my eyes again, as expected…
I was tied up somewhere, my hands bound, a leash around my neck.
Relieved that I was still alive, I looked around.
A blue wall visible through the gap in the curtained window.
The room was empty, except for a hook and the chain connected to my neck.
Perhaps because I was dehydrated…
I couldn’t even cry.
What would happen to me?
Back then, I just desperately wanted to see Lee Eun-ho again.
‘One, two, three…’
Time kept flowing, oblivious to my wishes.
I counted seven sunrises and sunsets through the window.
And it was dawn, before the eighth sunrise.
Click.
I heard footsteps in the house, which had been silent except for the sounds of insects and mice.
“Little girl.”
“Ajumma…”
The ajumma, whom I hadn’t seen in days, opened the door and called me.
She reached out, as if to remove the chain that bound me to the hook, and spoke.
Looking at her approaching hand, I thought,
‘It’s too unfair to die like this…’
I had been starving for a week, but what couldn’t I do with all my might?
The moment the woman came closer, I bit her arm like a ferocious dog.
I could clearly feel my teeth piercing her skin.
I tasted blood, I didn’t know if it was mine or hers.
It was a desperate struggle, fueled by pure rage.
“You little bitch!”
“Aaaaagh!”
The ajumma pushed me away and stomped on my leg.
The pain was breathtaking, but it didn’t end there.
She climbed on top of me and choked me with her bleeding arm.
“Gasp…!”
Ignoring the pain in my leg, I gritted my teeth and struggled to push her away.
I’m going to die.
I’m really going to die.
Lee Eun-ho!
Oppa!
Help me, please.
I’m dying! I’m dying!
Just as my vision blurred and my eyes started to close against my will…
“You fucking bastard!”
I snapped back to my senses at the familiar, enraged voice.
I wondered if I was dreaming because I was about to die.
‘Oppa.’
Lee Eun-ho, running towards us, threw himself at the ajumma.
Then, he quickly adjusted his posture and carried me on his back.
We ran out of the house and saw the light again after days of darkness.
It was dawn, the sun just starting to rise.
I then realized that the blue wall I saw through the gap in the curtains was the color of the front door of this house.
“Come back here! You little bastards!”
The ajumma staggered after Lee Eun-ho, who was carrying me on his back.
“Huff…”
We couldn’t run far.
Instead, Lee Eun-ho, as if he had planned it, lifted a large, red kimchi jar behind a house with no front door and said,
“Let’s hide here.”
The ground was covered in moss or mold, I couldn’t tell.
But there was no better hiding place right now.
We hid inside the damp jar.
A moment later, we heard the ajumma’s voice and the voices of men speaking a foreign language, coming from all directions.
“Damn it!”
“Isn’t she there?”
“She’s not! Why did you let her go?!”
Lee Eun-ho covered my mouth and nodded.
‘Shhh.’
Understanding his signal, I tried to breathe as slowly as possible.
Rapid footsteps echoed around us, but thankfully, they didn’t find us.
It was dark when we finally came out of the jar.
—Woof! Woof!
A large dog barked loudly as we came out, perhaps having been out for a walk.
“Who’s there?!”
An old man, who seemed to be the owner of the house, yelled.
Lee Eun-ho quickly picked me up again and ran away from the house.
It seemed like we had shaken off the ajumma, unless she was still looking for us late at night.
This is horrifying