Ch.43Chinese Iced Tea 1

The Angelic Hand had ended.

When I woke up, the first thing my eyes saw was Anna.

She was still straddling me, staring down at me intently.

But Anna’s face was different from what I had seen until now.

It was an unfamiliar face I would never forget for the rest of my life.

Hot tears welled up in her cloudy eyes, as if they had been glued over.

Soon those tears fell and moistened my lips.

They’re warm.

And my heart aches.

Her face, usually emotionless like a doll’s, had become fragile like a young girl’s.

Thanks to that, I forgot that we were both naked, our bodies pressed against each other.

Soon she slowly rose from me.

And staggering, she leaned against the bed wall.

I stared blankly at her as she curled up her legs tightly.

Trembling pitifully, Anna covered her forehead with her hands.

“Anna…”

I murmured, seeing her emotions for the first time in my life.

Anna spoke in a low voice.

“Why are you sisters… so desperate to torment me?”

I couldn’t respond immediately to those words.

I just half-raised my body from my lying position and stared at her blankly.

“The older sister deceives me, and the younger one digs up memories I had barely managed to forget.”

“I didn’t know. I didn’t know my sister was Sunyae.”

“…”

I tried to appeal to her earnestly.

Because this much, at least, was sincere.

Her hair writhed.

Small eyes flashed between the strands.

“How convenient. You can just say you didn’t know, and that’s the end of it.”

“…”

I was left speechless by her two emotionally tangled sentences.

“I wanted to believe you.”

Her eyes, lifeless for her entire life, turned red.

She sobbed as if imitating a wounded woman.

“You were the first person who was kind to me.”

“Since your sister…”

“But in the end, you were just the same.”

“Does it feel good to read people’s memories at will and then toy with them based on what you find?”

Anna spoke as if spewing out emotions that had been expressionless until now.

“I suppose it was all calculated—your kindness, cooking for me, playing the claw machine together?”

She asked me reproachfully.

I shook my head frantically.

“Just like your damn sister.”

“No… I really just…”

I wanted to continue speaking immediately.

But suddenly I was at a loss for words.

Did I really help Anna by chance, out of pure goodwill?

No, that’s not true.

I was scared because Anna was a killer, and I deliberately read her memories to gain her favor.

My pupils trembled.

Reading that movement, Anna made an expression full of certainty.

I knew that expression.

The look of resentment and injustice, as if the whole world had collapsed.

The expression Jisoo noona had worn the day she died.

Seeing it made my heart ache.

I wanted to say something, anything.

But perhaps because of Anna’s expression that resembled Jisoo noona’s,

I couldn’t say a word, my mouth hanging open.

“Get out… now. Before I kill you.”

“Never. Make me. Hope again.”

Anna started speaking in fragments again, as if her emotions had disappeared once more.

I rose in response.

Since I couldn’t think of anything to say to her right away, I thought it would be better to leave as she wished.

I pulled up my pajamas that had slipped down to the bottom of my chest.

It felt like Anna’s scent was deeply imprinted on my body.

I struggled to get up from the bed and looked around.

Where did I put my clothes?

I glanced at Anna.

She was still curled up with her head bowed.

Like she was dead.

It didn’t seem right to casually ask, “Um… where are my clothes?”

I had no choice but to slowly walk to the entrance hallway in my pajamas.

My clothes weren’t there either.

Only my crossbody bag sat there alone.

Well, at least my bag is intact.

Fortunately, all my belongings were still there.

I securely fastened the bag over my pajamas.

Thanks to that, I could somewhat secure the loose part around my chest with the crossbody bag.

It feels like wearing a high school class T-shirt.

I pulled on the front door.

The handle that hadn’t budged when I tried to escape earlier now opened easily when turned the other way.

“—.”

The thick door closed firmly.

I stood blankly in front of the closed officetel for a while.

Thanks to Anna, I had used my ability to its maximum.

I had seen not only Anna’s memories but also Sunyae’s, and learned all her secrets.

The fact that she was an artificially created human.

The betrayal of the only companion she trusted.

And… regret.

At first, I was just afraid of Anna.

A psychopathic killer who took human lives at will.

I thought that was all there was to her.

But now that I knew the truth, all her actions seemed pitiful.

In a way, she was a victim.

“Regret, huh.”

Jisoo noona, who had always been kind to me and smiled at me, was the same.

She said she regretted the time she spent with me.

Of course, she hadn’t deceived me like Sunyae had.

I was the one who had misunderstood.

But still…

Did she have to say that to me even in her final moments?

My heart aches.

I went down in the elevator, repeating the word “regret” in my mind.

The lobby on the first floor was very dark.

Bright light poured in from the main entrance, so I headed in that direction without thinking.

But soon I had to stop in my tracks.

“…”

What unfolded before me as I left the officetel was a street I had never seen before.

All kinds of Chinese signboards and unfamiliar people.

Was there such a place in Korea?

I quickly looked for a sign.

Fortunately, the name of this place was written in blue on a utility pole.

And I realized why this place felt unfamiliar to me, even though I’m Korean.

“Daelim 2-dong”

A neighborhood where many Chinese people lived even before the Gate opened.

It was famous for its poor security in the past.

After the era of anarchy began, Chinese illegal immigrants gathered here and created their own kingdom.

The ultimate shadow in Seoul where the Association’s reach couldn’t extend, despite being in Seoul.

That’s Daelim 2-dong.

And I was standing in the middle of this dangerous area in my pajamas.

“I’m screwed.”

It’s the perfect place for fugitives to hide.

And also the perfect place for weaklings like me to die.

The loud sound of car horns pounded my chest.

Perhaps because of that pressure, I quickly took out my phone.

The phone I had acquired after the possession didn’t have many contacts.

There were only three people in my contacts.

Senior Jiwook.

No, that powerless guy wouldn’t be of any help even if he came here.

Jaei?

She’s probably busy with her schedule right now.

Then only one person remains…

I hesitated for a long time before dialing that number.

The loud shouts of Chinese people reached my ears.

Startled by the sound, I ended up pressing the call button.

“—.”

“—.”

The owner of the contact didn’t answer the phone right away.

My heart pounded with each repeated ring tone.

The more the connection tone repeated, the more depressed I felt.

It’s pathetic how anxious I am because I have no one to call.

Even after possession, I’m still alone.

I feel miserable about myself…

When the call didn’t connect even after 10 seconds, I almost pressed the end button.

But at that moment, “00:01” appeared on the phone.

“Siho…?”

A voice I’ve become somewhat familiar with now.

A voice I was terrified of when we first met, yet also found attractive.

I had called her directly.

But the moment I tried to speak to her,

something caught in my throat and I choked up.

So many things had pierced through me.

And my body, having been penetrated, felt cold and sore.

“…”

“What’s wrong? What happened?”

Jeoksa asks me, as I remain silent after making the call.

“Please help me…”

I barely managed to speak through the lump in my throat.

She then asks me in a very serious voice.

“Where are you now? Don’t cry, tell me calmly.”

“Daelim 2-dong.”

“That dangerous place? Why are you there?”

“I don’t know… I don’t know why I’m here…”

My throat chokes up involuntarily.

I didn’t want to show that side of myself, but this young body even started to stutter.

“Wait. I’ll be there now.”

Through the phone, I heard a chair being roughly knocked over.

With that sound, the call ended.

I wiped my reddened eyes.

Why am I… suddenly like this?

Despite going through countless raids and enduring contempt, I never shed a single tear…

I sniffled.

I’m becoming strange.

It’s scary, as if I’m turning into someone else.

Perhaps out of fear,

I wanted to hide somewhere.

That feeling led me hurriedly back toward the officetel.

I hid in the shadows, breathing heavily.

Maybe I’ve been thinking too much lately.

I feel really bad.

Maybe it’s because I’m in pajamas, but I’m so cold and my whole body is trembling.

It’s only May now.

Summer is still a long way off, so of course I’d be cold in such flimsy attire.

I stare blankly at the road.

Many Chinese people were walking somewhere on the road.

From a child hitting a wall covered in monster graffiti with an iron pipe found at a construction site,

to a woman selling unidentifiable vegetables while leaning against a utility pole.

But what caught my eye most was a man smoking a cigarette in the looming shadows.

The man in a black dress shirt had tattoos on both arms.

And he was looking around, spitting repeatedly.

Don’t make eye contact.

I might get beaten up for being an outsider if I do.

I immediately turned my gaze to the side.

“…?”

But when I turned my head, I made eye contact with a Chinese man I had never seen before.

A smooth, bald head like a hippopotamus.

And a chest and belly bulging against a stretched-out t-shirt.

With chest hair peeking through here and there.

Just looking at him made it hard to breathe.

He approaches me, dragging his slippers.

As the man gets closer, I start to smell spices I’ve never encountered in my life.

“I haven’t seen your face before.”

He asks me in fluent Korean.

“Which shop are you from?”

“Shop? Oh, I work in Sindorim.”

At the mention of a shop, I immediately thought of “Moment Inn.”

“Sindorim? There’s a business there too?”

He scratches his belly while staring at my face.

His black eyes quickly scan me up and down.

“Not bad.”

“Excuse me…?”

“You have decent volume despite your height. And your face has a certain intensity that gives you character.”

He rubbed his own eye as if pointing to the mole under my eye.

Like a chef evaluating food.

I shrank back at that unpleasant gaze.

And clutching my crossbody bag tightly, I ask.

“What exactly are you talking about?”

“Ah, sorry. I operate several businesses in this area. So what’s a Sindorim girl doing here?”

“I’m waiting for someone.”

“A client?”

The man keeps saying strange things.

Sighing in frustration, I answered.

“Not a client, but…”

I briefly wondered how to describe what Jeoksa was to me.

What came out was:

“A noona I know.”

“Noona…?”

At the word “noona,” he tilted his head.

Soon he smirked as if understanding what I meant.

“Ah, I see. The pajamas, the short hair—I guess the client has that kind of taste.”

I frowned at his words.

What taste?

“Then how about this? Instead of that ‘noona,’ why don’t you spend the day with me?”

“What? Why would I hang out with you?”

“Playing hard to get, huh? I’ll pay ten times what that person pays. You’ll have to go through me anyway if you want to work in this area.”

He laughed heartily.

And while I was giving him an unpleasant look, he waved to someone.

I knew the person he waved to.

It was the thug I had been afraid to make eye contact with.

The thug saw the man and bowed 90 degrees even from a distance.

Then he began crossing the road where cars were clearly driving.

Soon several subordinates following the thug appeared from the back alleys.

Four large Chinese men.

Cars had no choice but to stop for their imposing procession.

But the cars couldn’t even honk their horns.

They seemed to know exactly who these men were in this area.

As they approached, I sensed that something was not right.

My body instinctively told me:

I need to escape from here.

I slowly backed away.

But soon my head bumped into something thick.

When I looked up, I saw the chin of a menacing-looking Chinese man.

What I had bumped into was his round belly.

Soon he grabbed both my shoulders.

And like offering merchandise, he pushed me toward the smelly man.

“Don’t worry. I’m very kind. Why else would I know all the businesses around here?”

Soon his lips curled up into a grin.

Saliva dripped from his yellowed gold teeth.

“I’ll teach you various techniques. ‘Ecstatic skills’ you couldn’t even imagine in Sindorim.”

The man’s massive shadow gradually loomed over me.