episode_0007

I found myself in a vulnerable state, surrounded by all sorts of monsters, but thankfully, with the help of the old man, I was able to escape from that dreadful hell.

Of course, those creatures kept chasing after me, but being carried on the old man’s back seemed to keep them at bay.

“Sir… are those… creatures still following us?”

“They are still following, so I’m holding on tight.”

Curious, I glanced down and saw the eyes of numerous monsters staring back at us. Overwhelmed by fear, I buried my face in the old man’s neck and tightly shut my eyes.

Even though I usually wouldn’t be so paralyzed by fear, it felt different this time. In the past, only about 5 or 6 cats would attack, but now nearly 20 were coming at us. Was this even possible?

“Mom! Cats are following those people!”

The voice of a girl started a commotion among the people. The more the embarrassment piled up, the harder I clung to the old man’s arm, determined not to let go.

As the nightmare-like time passed, the old man and I finally arrived at the destination, a large mart, even though the cats had disappeared, all eyes were on us.

“We’re here now, and since the cats are gone, let’s get down.”

The old man’s voice trembled slightly, seemingly embarrassed. But for some reason, it wasn’t easy to get down as he suggested.

“Sir… I’m sorry…”

“Why are you suddenly apologizing?”

“My… body won’t listen… my legs won’t move…”

The tension that had gripped my body due to extreme fear was finally easing, but my lower body felt weak.

Letting out a small sigh, the old man continued walking towards the escalator with me still in his arms.

“I’m sorry, sir… am I too heavy?”

“You’re not that heavy, it’s okay. You don’t have to apologize.”

The more I see this old man, the more I like him. He’s polite, cool, sometimes childish, but also cute. I don’t know about others, but in my opinion, he seems like a genuinely good person.

“But what’s with your arm? Isn’t it too skinny?”

“I couldn’t eat well, so it’s natural. Don’t worry about it.”

“Yeah, it’s natural.” It’s only natural. With the memory of being starved and the intimidating atmosphere of that house, eating peacefully there didn’t seem sane. Come to think of it, I ate alone in some warehouse-like place…

“Alright, now that we’re here, can you get down?”

“Yes! Mmm, smells good~ Let’s go in quickly, sir!”

Upon arriving at the pasta restaurant, I felt relaxed enough in body and mind to move as I pleased. Drawn by the scent of tomato sauce, I grabbed the old man’s arm and headed towards the interior of the restaurant.

The pasta place, decorated with green and white checkered wallpaper, had a simple interior with wooden tables and chairs, along with various character figurines on display.

The interior didn’t seem to match well, but surprisingly, the taste was good, making it difficult to find an empty seat due to the many customers who came here.

“What do you want to eat? I’m going for the Bolognese.”

“Just wait a moment~”

Since I came here to eat, I had to carefully choose to make a choice without regrets.

“Let’s see… The Bolognese the uncle chose is meat-based… Cream is too heavy for me, so maybe the Rosé? Hmm~ It doesn’t seem right… Should I just go for the tomato side too?”

After staring at the menu for a while, I suddenly noticed the uncle’s eyes on me. But I pretended not to notice and calmly made my menu selection.

“I’ll have the tomato seafood pasta! And a lemonade for my drink!”

“Do you want anything else? I had pizza yesterday, but should I order it?”

“If you’re offering, then I’ll gladly accept it!”

With a determined look on my face, I raised my right thumb, and the uncle, smiling as if surprised, started ordering pasta from the approaching waiter.

After about ten minutes, a tomato pasta with plenty of mussels, shrimp, squid, and other seafood appeared before me. I took out my smartphone and took a picture, feeling the uncle’s gaze on me.

“Why are you looking like that?”

In response to my question, the uncle had a proud smile on his face.

“Just. I’ve never seen someone so moved by food before.”

“Oh, you’re exaggerating, uncle.”

“Who’s exaggerating… Let’s eat before the food gets cold.”

“Yes, I’ll enjoy it.”

After taking the photo, I greeted the uncle and picked up my fork. As a Korean, I should use chopsticks, but since I was eating pasta outside, I had no choice but to twirl the fork in the center of the pasta.

“Hey, are you going to eat it all at once again?”

With almost half of the pasta noodles rolled up on the fork, the uncle interjected.

“Uncle, with pasta… you know~ This is how you eat it.”

“Fine, eat it your way… And can you stick to formal or informal speech? It’s confusing when you mix them.”

“I’ll try my best! Ah~”

In reality, I had no intention of changing, so with one ear out the other, I stuffed the pasta on my fork into my mouth. The uncle, witnessing the amazing sight, had his mouth wide open, putting down his fork.

“Did it all go in?”

“I ate it all~ Nothing left!”

“Ugh… Finish eating first. And you got pasta all over your mouth.”

The uncle wiped my mouth with a few tissues from the drawer on the left side of the table. I, with pasta in my mouth, chewed happily, savoring the moment.

“Wow~ Uncle, the food here is really delicious!”

“Sure, sure. Eat a lot. If you’re still hungry, you can have some of mine… You’re so skinny, you need to eat a lot…”

“Hmm? What did you say?”

After swallowing the contents in my mouth, I asked what he said, but the uncle was silently tasting his pasta. Talking to oneself in front of others is really rude, isn’t it?

“Hey! What did I ask you to do!? If you’re not going to help, just shut up or hang up!”

“Hey, Park Minju. If you happen to find that video, you’re not planning to upload it anywhere, are you?”

“Ah! You’re really useless… Hang up!”

From the tip of my head, anger surged up, eventually leading me to throw my smartphone towards the bed. However, the direction it flew in wasn’t favorable, as the phone, propelled upwards by the bed’s recoil, rapidly descended with its screen facing downwards, landing precisely on the power strip on the floor.

– Crack!

“Damn it, damn it!!”

With a foreboding feeling, I picked up the smartphone, only to find that, as expected, the screen had cracked. And right in the center… a large pattern etched as if a meteor had fallen into a volcano.

“This is all because of that loser, Joo Eunhye!!”

Already stressed out from being forced to retake the college entrance exam, that cursed woman had further aggravated me. Due to the repeated appearance of the number 8 on my exam score report, my allowance had decreased. I had tried to get money from Joo Eunhye, whom I coincidentally met, but that crazy woman had gone berserk, not even flinching and instead hurling curses at me in defiance.

“Ow… damn it… damn it!”

Recalling that incident, a sharp pain began to pierce my side. Feeling unjustly treated by the loser who had tormented me for years, I spent the whole day hitting the pillow in frustration.

I had to threaten that woman somehow, but I didn’t have anyone’s contact information, and the girls who used to torment her with me had gone silent after entering college. Even the only person I could contact, Seonyoung, had changed her attitude towards me… darn it!

After causing a ruckus on the bed for what seemed like ages, I finally regained my composure and started contemplating how to get revenge on Joo Eunhye. I began biting my nails, twisting my yellow-stained hair with my fingers.

What came to mind then was the physical punishment I had inflicted on her during our high school second-year math trip. Learning diet boxing at the time, I had held Joo Eunhye down for my friends to pummel her with just their fists, turning her into a punching bag.

Recalling that moment, I picked up the red gloves I had used in the past and put them in a sports bag with the Nike logo, making the large mart where I last encountered her my destination as I dashed out of the house.

For some reason, I had a premonition that even if not today, Joo Eunhye would reappear there someday.

Back in middle and high school, I used to fear teachers’ corporal punishment, but now that I’ve become a respectable adult… if I meet that woman again this time, I will definitely not let her off the hook.