Chapter 15
Instead of a leather sofa, tempting with its crisp, new texture, I opened my eyes on a damp, musty cardboard box.
The cool autumn night wind slapped my cheeks, urging me to wake up, completely ruining the sweet sleep I was enjoying.
The surroundings were quite noisy, and dazzling lights were flickering. Seoul nights are usually like this.
Uselessly noisy, uselessly dazzling, a paradise for moths blinded and drawn to such useless things—that’s the Seoul streets at this hour.
“If you were to look for the modern Sodom and Gomorrah, there would be no place more suitable than this.’
I sat up groggily and checked the time on my newly acquired smartphone. It was just past 9:09:09 PM. Now 10 seconds, 11 seconds, 12 seconds.
“Haaaaaaaam. I’m craving a bowl of gukbap with thick broth and plenty of meat……”
The reason I woke up in a place like this, leaving behind the office I had worked so hard to get in Hongdae for a year, was that it was necessary.
This is Seoul Station in 2025, known to have the highest population flow in Seoul. It’s a midpoint where all sorts of people come into Seoul or leave for their own purposes.
“Hey.”
Just as I was contemplating whether Kim Mal-ja’s Kongnamul Gukbap or Kim Hye-ja’s Sundae Gukbap would be better for my gukbap craving.
I saw people approaching me as I scratched my head.
They were a group of homeless people, with shabby appearances, unkempt beards and hair, slightly unfocused eyes, and above all, emanating a foul odor and a dangerous aura.
“Who told a punk like you to take a spot here? Don’t you know there are business ethics even in this field?”
“Hyung-nim, judging by your appearance, you look like a newbie to this life.”
“Seeing as your clothes are clean and you’re in good shape, I bet you’re some businessman who ran away after going bankrupt?”
“Heh heh, makes sense.”
Makes sense my a*s.
If I had the financial and mental capacity to run a business, I wouldn’t be here like this.
“I was just about to get up anyway. I didn’t make a mess of the place, so don’t be too upset.”
As I dusted myself off and tried to walk away, one of the homeless men grabbed my shoulder. I just got this coat dry-cleaned.
“Hold on, you gotta pay the spot fee, you b*stard.”
“Did you hear about business ethics through your a*s instead of your ears?”
“This is why kids who don’t know how the world works are hopeless. Back in my day……”
“I don’t care about that. Let’s not make a scene in a place with so many eyes.”
As I brushed off the hand on my shoulder without permission, the atmosphere among the homeless people turned hostile.
These bottom-feeder trash have nothing but their pride, stronger than their yellowed teeth. Even though they know they’re bottom-feeder trash, they get all riled up when they’re ignored.
As if to prove it, the guys behind me were glaring at me, ready to pull out their sashimi knives at any moment. Being homeless people at the end of their rope with their identities erased, they didn’t seem to care about the law.
They’d probably be happy if I sent them to a nice, warm prison with good meals.
‘Actually, I’ve heard that homeless people who find life on the streets too hard sometimes commit crimes on purpose to get sent to prison.’
Thinking that far, I got tired of everything and just kept walking. Screw the hot gukbap, Koreans should eat chicken after all.
“This son of a b*tch is ignoring us?!”
Thud!
The guy who rushed at me swung the metal thermos he was holding at the back of my head.
My brain rattled for a moment, but it was nothing compared to the experience back then that made my soul tremble.
The sticky blood flowing down the back of my head will scab over and fall off on its own.
“Uh, uh, uh……?”
Instead, the guy who had ambushed me from behind looked back and forth between the dented metal thermos and me with a bewildered look.
Countless people passing by took out their smartphones and started filming the sudden violence, and the homeless man finally went back to his spot.
Ignoring the gazes of the crowd, I entered an old-fashioned fried chicken restaurant not far from the station.
And after getting a delicious whole fried chicken to go, I returned to the spot where I had been sleeping.
The homeless people around me stared at me in disbelief, as if they hadn’t expected me to come back.
The sweet and savory aroma of seasoned fried chicken wafted through the chilly night air, and I could hear countless homeless people gulping.
Ignoring them, I put on a pair of disposable plastic gloves and began tearing into the chicken. When my mouth got sticky from the sweet and savory sauce, I munched on a few crunchy pickled radishes and finished it off with a gulp of ice-cold cola.
The owner of the chicken restaurant was so passionate about how cola tastes best at this temperature with ice chips. I think I understand why this place with its old-fashioned signboard is still doing good business.
“If you have something to say, say it now. And if you’re going to hit me with a thermos again, just get lost.”
I muttered as I dropped the chicken bones into a plastic bag, and the homeless people standing near me whispered among themselves.
“Looks like he’s got some money to spare, huh?”
“More than these guys who talk about business ethics while living on the streets. Well, they don’t even have a social identity anymore, so are they even human?”
I retorted to the leader, who grinned, revealing his yellowed teeth, and he chuckled, naturally reaching for my chicken.
I could tolerate him putting his dirty hand on my coat, but the chicken had to remain pure until the last bite. In other words, I grabbed his wrist as he tried to touch my chicken.
“This is strange. Our country has never legally allowed firearms, from the past to the present, but I wonder where you got shot in the head.”
“Heh heh, you’re an interesting guy. Where did you come from?”
“Why do you want to know?”
“I thought maybe I could make some pocket money by selling your organs to those who need them.”
“As if.”
I brushed his hand away and continued eating my chicken.
“The reason I’m here is to prepare for something great that others can’t do. I’m fundamentally different from you guys who have no guts to beg on the streets but no courage to return to society.”
“Kid, talking big like that in this place is like asking to get killed.”
“What difference would it make to my life if I heard that from guys who are stuck here, heads down on the ground, begging for a penny? I’d rather spend my time eating a piece of chicken, it’ll do more for me.”
As even the homeless people who had been watching couldn’t stand it anymore and joined the group, the number of people surrounding me doubled.
These guys know exactly when the police patrol the streets for security checks. They must know that there are no police around at this hour.
“Yeah, yeah, finish your food. We’ll make sure you’re full on your last journey.”
“Heh heh, do these insignificant bastards think they’re gangsters just because they have numbers?”
I know because I’ve lived a life that was insignificant.
I’m confident that I wouldn’t even blink an eye even if a truckload of these guys came at me.
They’re insignificant people who have never encountered anything noble or great, let alone a cause, and who have never even made a choice of their own will in their entire lives.
It’s funny.
After meticulously finishing the entire chicken, I dusted myself off and stood up again.
“I’ve been observing people here since this afternoon, and it seems like there aren’t many people who need my help. But then, watching those who don’t work but beg from early in the morning, I noticed that they all have one thing in common, just like you guys.”
I see the sin dripping from head to toe.
Even if it’s the same sin, the shape and size of the sin that each person carries is different.
Even if they committed the same crime of theft, some might have stolen a single ramen because they were hungry, while others might have boldly robbed a jewelry store, stealing a huge amount of precious metals and cash.
Then, even though they essentially committed the same sin, the depth, size, smell, color, and atmosphere of the sin are all different.
But it’s a different story if these losers, who have rolled in from who knows where, carry similar sins like identical twins.
“Seeing as you casually brought up selling organs, I guess you weren’t completely lying. Right?”
“…What are you guys waiting for? Get rid of him quickly, out of sight.”
The leader’s smirk disappeared, and the surrounding homeless people took out various tools, big and small, that they had been hiding in their clothes.
With time on their hands, homeless people who stay in one place for a long time see a lot of people. And when they spot a suitable prey, they reveal their true colors one by one. Like this.
They’re the real bottom-feeder trash who take free meals from volunteers on the surface, but commit all sorts of dirty deeds behind their backs.
They must have done this before, as some brought a backpack big enough to hold a person, and others stood around like a wall, blocking the view of passersby.
“Even if religious people armed with love and mercy came, you wouldn’t change your ways. You’re trash who will end up in h*ll even after death. But don’t worry. There’s someone who will accept even people like you in heaven. He’s someone who forgives even the most heinous and brutal criminals in the world if they repent and believe in him.”
“What the h*ll is this guy talking about?”
“Is he crazy?”
“Whatever. As long as his organs are fine. It’s even better because there won’t be any repercussions.”
I took out the Bible I had tucked away and opened it randomly. Not to look for a specific passage, but because it just looks cool to hold a Bible.
“Let’s see, the great Lord Jesus, our Father, said, ‘Thou shalt not covet.’ That also means you shouldn’t covet my organs.”
But since there’s also that frustrating passage about turning the other cheek, I closed the Bible.
“You sinners, those who confess their sins and repent before me today will go to heaven. I’ll be the only one going to h*ll, so get the h*ll out of here and go to heaven.”
As I put the Bible away, the homeless people with their tools lunged at me simultaneously.
Instead of dodging the empty soju bottle swinging down at me, I took it head-on with my forehead and grabbed one of the homeless men, asking him,
“Your eyes are clouded, you can’t see properly. There must be someone who has bewitched you, making you capture innocent people and covet their organs. Tell me the truth.”
“Th-this crazy b*stard!!!!!”
“Get him! Don’t worry about anything valuable, just get him!”
“Don’t stab him! Blood is money too!”
“Trample him!”
Even amidst the relentless violence coming from all directions, I tried to look into the depths of the homeless man’s cloudy eyes, seeking to understand him.
I’m curious why you, who have fallen to the bottom of life because of a failed life, carry such a sin.
“Gaaaaaaaaaah!”
As I moved closer to peer deeper into him, the homeless man suddenly rolled his eyes back and started foaming at the mouth.
It felt like someone had hurriedly deleted data before I could see inside him.
“Why isn’t this b*stard going do-down!”
“Put some effort into it, you bastards!”
“I don’t care if his head gets smashed, just hit him!”
The moment the so-called sturdy soju bottle shattered after repeatedly hitting my head, and the metal thermos reappeared, I looked down at the homeless man writhing on the ground.
Red blood trickled down my clear vision, but that wasn’t important now.
There’s someone wicked out there trying to drag these sinners to h*ll.
‘No way. Every single one of them is going to heaven.’
I threw a punch at the guy who was about to swing the metal thermos again. My skin tore and the bones in my fingers cracked, just like that day, but I just kept swinging.
The excruciating pain that burned through my entire body, the blood I couldn’t tell how much I’d lost, all of it was nothing compared to the sense of fulfillment I would feel after delivering all these sinners to Father Jesus.
“Believe in Jesus and go to heaven! 100% discount if you repent now! We’re even taking group reservations today!”
If you don’t believe in Jesus, you’re all going to h*ll! Believe! This isn’t an opportunity that comes every day!
