KEG 44

“Huh? What’s this?”

The bastard laughed.

“Did you open three of them just for me?”

“I was just throwing them away.”

He wasn’t worth my time. As soon as I stepped outside the guesthouse, the guy followed me out and asked,

“What are you doing today?”

“I’m going to catch the bastard who stiffed me on the money.”

“Huh? Where is he?”

I opened the door and didn’t have to go far before I spotted the guesthouse manager sweeping the courtyard. His face was flushed, and he was staggering slightly, maybe he’d had a few drinks.

“That’s him.”

I answered his question briefly and walked over to the manager.

Then I kicked him in the shins.

“Ugh!”

The guesthouse manager fell to his knees. I stepped on his thigh, then lowered my head to meet his gaze.

“Manager, what about the information you promised to find out?”

Even in his shock, the burp that escaped him carried the smell of fermented liquor.

A swindler who’d stolen a week’s worth of purification potions. He was the debtor who’d been apparently sleeping in a ripped down jacket in the freezing cold.

“Th-that…”

“You knew I was staying here. You knew, yet you pretended not to and just swept the yard.”

I put pressure on the foot that was stepping on his thigh.

“Gah…!”

“You’ve got some serious nerve.”

I moved the foot that had been stepping on his thigh to his torso. Then, I poked his bulging belly with the tip of my toe.

“If it’s that big, I could probably cut it off and sell it.”

The debtor’s expression changed by the second.

If he had an excuse, I was willing to listen. I’d hear it with my ears, but I’d beat it out of him with my fists.

“You’re in such a hurry! I found him!”

I raised my hand, then stopped.

Was this a last-ditch effort, or the truth?

Smack!

“Aaargh?!”

I slapped him on the back of the head.

“If you found him, you should’ve contacted me sooner.”

It didn’t seem too late to land another blow.

I lifted my foot from his thigh and crouched down. Now that I was at eye level with him, I could see him straight in the face.

“What did you find?”

“Oh, right! That Go Philip–”

“Open your eyes.”

“Uh-huh, well, I mean, that….”

It infuriated me to see him suddenly lift his head and look at me with those sparkling eyes.

If I hadn’t confronted him, was he planning to keep quiet until I left? Or was he waiting for me to offer more money? Why do deadbeats always act so smug?

“That Philip guy is a local, I tell you! He goes to school here, and his dad’s from around here too…”

Just listening to him made me sigh.

Go Seokhee and Go Philip aren’t from Jeolla, they’re from Gyeongsang Province.

I gave him three whole days and paid that exorbitant price, yet all I got in return was some half-hearted bullshit.

“…Are you sure?”

“I told you I’m sure! The source is crystal clear, I swear! Want me to introduce you? To Go Philip’s friend?”

He was even making up non-existent acquaintances to sell me a line. The more I talked to the manager, the more I craved a cigarette. I fumbled in my pants pocket, found the pack, and pulled it out.

“That’s right! He came back to his hometown~ just like a salmon~”

“Hah… salmon…”

As I spoke, I put a cigarette in my mouth. I looked for my lighter, but it wasn’t there.

This is bad. If I can’t light this, I’m going to lose my mind today.

“Hyung.”

Baek Yejun’s pale hand suddenly appeared in my field of vision.

Hiss–

As he flicked his wrist, the tip of the cigarette caught fire. I took a drag, and the smoke filled my lungs. It felt satisfying to have exactly what I wanted at the exact moment I needed it.

“Did I do well?”

For once, I felt a surge of pride and gently ruffled the back of his head a couple of times. With my mind now calmer, I looked at the manager, who was rambling nonstop.

“Do I look like a good person to you?”

“Huh?”

“Why are you always talking down to me, and why are you glaring at me like that?”

I grabbed the manager by the collar and dragged him into my guestroom.

For a guy who’d swindled me out of my money, I treated him pretty gentlemanly. Thanks to my warm touch, he finally coughed up the cash.

***

“I looked into that contaminated zone where they said Go Philip was living.”

Baek Yejun handed me a takeout coffee and reported on the information I’d asked him to look into.

“I heard that area’s already been redeveloped and completely cleared.”

“If they had found a human corpse, it would’ve caused a huge uproar.”

At my words, he shrugged his shoulders.

“It’s a time when it wouldn’t be strange to find a body on the street.”

In a world where people die almost every day, if a body is found, they usually try to locate the relatives. But what about a construction site racing against a deadline?

“Once it’s swept into the incinerator, there’s no way to tell if it’s a monster’s corpse or a human’s.”

No company wasted time on something that doesn’t make money.

In an era where shortening the construction schedule takes priority over sound corporate ethics.

“If he’s hiding this well, I guess he’s hoping people will just assume he’s dead.”

That was the optimistic interpretation, that he hid himself.

At this point, it was hard to imagine Go Philip was still alive. My head started spinning, so I lifted the lid off my coffee cup and let the rising steam hit my face.

“Oh, they’re selling sweet potatoes.”

I looked up at Baek Yejun’s words. The sweet aroma and smoke from the roasted sweet potato cart rose into the sky.

“Should we buy some?”

“I don’t have any cash.”

The quick-witted sweet potato vendor, who had overheard our conversation, replied.

“Bank transfers and cards are fine~ I’ll take cigarettes or alcohol instead of money~ Rice or canned goods are good too~”

This was a phenomenon occurring as the value of currency plummeted. People gradually began to prefer barter or in-kind transactions over cash. There were even predictions that the gold standard world would shift to a “mana stone standard.”

“Do you accept these cigarettes?”

“Ah, those are way too strong.”

However, things weren’t completely ruined yet. It was a vague collapse where humans could barely maintain their preferences and tastes. I put the cigarettes I had offered back in my pocket.

“Then, would you like to take a picture with me?”

Baek Yejun, who was standing next to me, untied the scarf he had wrapped around his neck and head like a balaclava.

“It looks like you have a social media account here.”

Stuck to the roasted sweet potato cart was a piece of coated, cut-out paper with a QR code and social media address written on it.

The name was ‘Haenam Roasted Sweet Potato Bachelor.’

“Oh my~ You’re even more handsome in person~ Great!”

Baek Yejun signed a quick autograph, took a selfie, and chatted with him. As I sat on the bench waiting, he came back with an armful of roasted sweet potatoes.

“As long as you’re with me, you won’t starve to death. Right?”

He sat down next to me, took out a sweet potato, and peeled it.

“If I had a wife and kids, I wouldn’t let them go hungry either.”

I gestured, took out a sweet potato, and bit into it. I usually ate the skin too, since they say it’s good for the body.

Baek Yejun’s eyes widened at the sight.

“You’re right, you’re not the type to starve to death no matter where you are.”

We sat in the park, picked up a few sweet potatoes to eat, and then headed to the hospital. The rest were meant for the person waiting on the bed.

***

“How are you feeling?”

The man with dyed hair turned his head after staring blankly at the TV. When I placed the bag of roasted sweet potatoes by his bedside, he finally smiled a little.

“I didn’t expect you to come visit me.”

Blood glistened on his dry, chapped lips. It felt as though he wasn’t speaking so much as air was leaking from a tube, such was the frailty of his voice.

“There’s still something I want to ask you.”

I pulled out a chair and sat down. Baek Yejun watched silently from behind. He was unusually quiet, but that made it easier to talk.

“I’ve been sent by Go Seokhee, Go Philip’s mother.”

At the mention of Go Seokhee, the man’s eyes flickered unauthorized copy briefly. It was a fleeting reaction, too quick to tell whether it was interest or sadness.

“The contaminated zone was decontaminated and cleared long ago. So, there’s no longer a house to fear.”

“Ah…”

“Right now, Go Philip is neither dead nor alive.”

He bowed his head and picked up a sweet potato. He peeled it, but didn’t seem to have any intention of eating it. The dry surface brushed against his fingertips, which were even drier than the potato.

“Perhaps you were the one who saw Go Philip most closely during his lifetime.”

The peel was charred and crumbling from being nearly burnt.

The soot smudged on his fingertips and the tender flesh revealed beneath.

“Did Go Philip want to live in this world, or did he want to die?”

Depending on his answer, I planned to make my own judgment and relay it to Go Seokhee.

“How would I know that….”

But this also was distorted information filtered through the eyes of others.

In the end, no one knew Go Philip’s true intentions.

“If you don’t know, just tell me what you saw.”

After all, the truth isn’t always what matters. What was needed was a catalyst for a decision and the bare minimum of information for those left behind.

“Are you shifting the responsibility onto me?”

“I’ll make sure the source of this information remains undisclosed.”

He fidgeted with the sweet potato. The black skin had been completely peeled away, revealing only the yellow flesh.

I expected him not to eat it, but the man brought the sweet potato to his mouth and took a bite.

“Just tell me. I’ll be the one to make the decision and relay it.”

The man rolled his eyes and looked at me. I didn’t look visit our site away; I met his gaze and waited for his answer.

Whether to distort the truth about Go Philip’s fate, or report it as it, is my decision. I am the one who can kill the son inside Go Seokhee.

Erasing him from this world is also my responsibility.

“Why are you going this far…?”

The man asked in a choked voice. I couldn’t tell if it was because of the sweet potato or his emotions.

“I’m only doing what I have to do.”

He closed his eyes for a moment.

Then, as if he’d made up his mind, he furrowed his brow and chose his words carefully.

“Philip…”

He spoke.

And I made my decision.