Joo-wan, watching the two men’s tense exchange, subtly intervened. It seemed like they would continue their argument forever. He nodded at Baek Do-woon, assuring him that he was okay. Then he turned to Kwon Soo-hyuk.
Kwon Soo-hyuk chuckled and drove the point home.
“I told you, didn’t I?”
“Okay. But I’ll come back tomorrow, Joo-wan. I’ll check if you’re feeling okay and how your nutrition is.”
“Don’t come.”
“What?”
“I said, don’t come until he’s plump. You’re just a nuisance.”
When he said “he,” Kwon Soo-hyuk’s gaze landed on Joo-wan’s back of the head before moving away.
“You crazy… what’s ‘he’? What’s ‘he’?”
“Go on now.”
He waved his hand dismissively at Baek Do-woon, who was vehemently protesting. Then the men who were still in the house took him out. It was more like they were escorting him out kindly.
After the door closed, only Kwon Soo-hyuk, the jaguar, and Joo-wan were left in the house. Kwon Soo-hyuk immediately grabbed Joo-wan by the collar and dragged him to the living room.
The coffee table was piled high with food that the men had bought from various places in the city. There was pizza, chicken, kimbap, tteokbokki, chicken feet, seafood stew, sushi, pork feet, and all kinds of bread. It was a menu he hadn’t seen in almost ten years.
He was staring blankly at the spread of food when Kwon Soo-hyuk pushed him in front of it. Then he sat on a single-seater sofa and crossed his arms.
“Don’t leave anything. Eat it all.”
He seemed intent on watching him until he did. Somehow, he couldn’t resist.
Jang Jin-woo sat down on the bed, which showed clear signs of struggle. The white slippers provided with his patient gown were scattered, one under the bed and the other by the door.
He raised his hand and ran it through his hair. What had happened in this place while he was gone? Even if he tried to think optimistically, it wasn’t easy.
The guard watched him, tilting his head repeatedly. Jang Jin-woo didn’t smell like alcohol at all. But he was rougher and edgier than usual. He was so different that it was strange.
“…Were you…?”
“Yes?”
His voice was so low that it was hard to hear.
“What were you doing while a patient disappeared without a trace?”
Jang Jin-woo shouted angrily, his voice filled with unbearable rage.
“…Doctor? Why are you acting like this today?”
He laughed nervously, completely confused. But the hostility that was openly displayed on Jang Jin-woo’s face didn’t subside.
Jang Jin-woo stood up from the bed and walked towards the guard. Was it because he wasn’t wearing his glasses? The area around his eyes, which usually looked soft, seemed unusually sharp.
As Jang Jin-woo closed the distance, the guard instinctively backed away. Soon, the guard’s back was against the hallway wall. Jang Jin-woo stopped there. But the distance between them, neither close nor far, created a strange sense of pressure.
“Who are you?”
“Yes?”

Joo-wan, watching the two men’s tense exchange, subtly intervened. It seemed like they would continue their argument forever. He nodded at Baek Do-woon, assuring him that he was okay. Then he turned to Kwon Soo-hyuk.
Kwon Soo-hyuk chuckled and drove the point home.
“I told you, didn’t I?”
“Okay. But I’ll come back tomorrow, Joo-wan. I’ll check if you’re feeling okay and how your nutrition is.”
“Don’t come.”
“What?”
“I said, don’t come until he’s plump. You’re just a nuisance.”
When he said “he,” Kwon Soo-hyuk’s gaze landed on Joo-wan’s back of the head before moving away.
“You crazy… what’s ‘he’? What’s ‘he’?”
“Go on now.”
He waved his hand dismissively at Baek Do-woon, who was vehemently protesting. Then the men who were still in the house took him out. It was more like they were escorting him out kindly.
After the door closed, only Kwon Soo-hyuk, the jaguar, and Joo-wan were left in the house. Kwon Soo-hyuk immediately grabbed Joo-wan by the collar and dragged him to the living room.
The coffee table was piled high with food that the men had bought from various places in the city. There was pizza, chicken, kimbap, tteokbokki, chicken feet, seafood stew, sushi, pork feet, and all kinds of bread. It was a menu he hadn’t seen in almost ten years.
He was staring blankly at the spread of food when Kwon Soo-hyuk pushed him in front of it. Then he sat on a single-seater sofa and crossed his arms.
“Don’t leave anything. Eat it all.”
He seemed intent on watching him until he did. Somehow, he couldn’t resist.
Jang Jin-woo sat down on the bed, which showed clear signs of struggle. The white slippers provided with his patient gown were scattered, one under the bed and the other by the door.
He raised his hand and ran it through his hair. What had happened in this place while he was gone? Even if he tried to think optimistically, it wasn’t easy.
The guard watched him, tilting his head repeatedly. Jang Jin-woo didn’t smell like alcohol at all. But he was rougher and edgier than usual. He was so different that it was strange.
“…Were you…?”
“Yes?”
His voice was so low that it was hard to hear.
“What were you doing while a patient disappeared without a trace?”
Jang Jin-woo shouted angrily, his voice filled with unbearable rage.
“…Doctor? Why are you acting like this today?”
He laughed nervously, completely confused. But the hostility that was openly displayed on Jang Jin-woo’s face didn’t subside.
Jang Jin-woo stood up from the bed and walked towards the guard. Was it because he wasn’t wearing his glasses? The area around his eyes, which usually looked soft, seemed unusually sharp.
As Jang Jin-woo closed the distance, the guard instinctively backed away. Soon, the guard’s back was against the hallway wall. Jang Jin-woo stopped there. But the distance between them, neither close nor far, created a strange sense of pressure.
“Who are you?”
“Yes?”
“Who told you it was okay to leave this place without my permission?”
“Well, I…”
“It was Kim, wasn’t it? Isn’t it?”
The guard’s gaze, which had been fixed on Jang Jin-woo, slowly shifted to the side. In a situation where he was being interrogated, silence was an admission of guilt. There was nothing left to hide.
Suddenly, all emotion vanished from Jang Jin-woo’s face. When he said, “Ha, ha,” the guard’s head hung low.
“You’re neglecting your duty. I will terminate the contract with your security company as of today.”
“What? No, you can’t do that… I just did what Mr. Kim told me to do…”
“I don’t want to hear it. What I need is a dog who faithfully guards his territory, not a good-for-nothing mutt who takes food from anyone and just sleeps.”
The guard thought he must be possessed by a ghost. Or maybe there were two Jang Jin-woos. There was no other explanation. There was just no other way.
“Ugh…”
Joo-wan buried his head in the toilet and tried to vomit up what he had eaten. He must have overeaten and upset his stomach. He had lost his appetite significantly while he was trapped in the hospital, so he often skipped meals. His shrunken stomach couldn’t handle even half a hamburger.
He flushed the toilet and caught his breath for a moment. His throat was scratchy. The sour smell of vomit was also unpleasant. This was already his third trip to the bathroom. He hadn’t even eaten half of the food yet. He was weak, and his legs felt heavy.
“…….”
He waited for his stomach to settle and tried to organize his thoughts. It seemed like he had become useful to someone again. That was the only reason he had been taken out of that wretched ward and brought here.
For ten years, he had longed for the world outside the white building. As the number of characters he couldn’t read in the newspaper increased, his longing grew stronger. His long-held desire had become a reality, albeit a strange one. If he didn’t have to go back to the hospital, there was nothing he couldn’t endure.
He turned on the faucet. He diligently rinsed his mouth with the pouring water. Then he suddenly looked at himself in the mirror.
A stranger was staring back at him, expressionless. It was unbelievable, but that was him. He raised his hand and touched the reflection in the mirror, feeling dazed. He had wasted too much time in that prison of his soul.
He couldn’t go back there. Even if he vomited ten times, even if all the stomach acid came back up, he would eat it all. If that was the price of even a sliver of freedom, he would gladly pay it.
He braced himself and opened the door. Kwon Soo-hyuk, who had been sitting on the sofa, was gone. Had he gone to sleep?
Taking advantage of the lack of surveillance, he looked around the house. The owner was like this, so everything, from the furniture to the decor, was black. He had been trapped in a white space for ten years, but the world he encountered after escaping was ironically a world of darkness.
He stared blankly at the high ceiling, then shifted his gaze towards a sound. He met Kwon Soo-hyuk’s eyes as he walked out from the kitchen. He was holding a piece of meat of unknown origin. It looked vaguely like chicken, but it was much bigger. Was it a turkey?
Kwon Soo-hyuk tossed the heavy piece of meat in front of Joo-wan. It landed with a thud. Suddenly, something dashed across the floor.
It was the jaguar. It pressed down on the piece of meat on the floor with its large front paw. Then it took a step forward, baring its sharp teeth at Joo-wan. It was a threat to protect its prey. Joo-wan instinctively took a few steps back. Then the beast relaxed and started tearing into the meat.
A loud ripping sound echoed. Even then, he didn’t relax. He could see the fur on its back standing on end. The turkey, its flesh being torn mercilessly, was quickly unrecognizable.
The jaguar, diligently filling its belly, occasionally looked up at Joo-wan, who was watching, and growled. Its wild nature didn’t seem to have disappeared completely. He wondered what kind of person would keep such a creature as a pet.
“I won’t bite your neck anymore. I can’t guarantee that other parts will be safe.”
He looked up at the sudden scent of cool wood. Kwon Soo-hyuk was standing there, without a sound. His shadow completely covered Joo-wan. He stared blankly up at him, and Kwon Soo-hyuk grabbed his arm and pulled him. Kwon Soo-hyuk didn’t seem to be using much force, but he was pulled along easily, unable to resist.
Kwon Soo-hyuk didn’t let go of Joo-wan until they reached the bedroom. The room, larger than the living room, had only a large bed in it. Even the sheets that flowed down, covering the bed, were black. The owner of the bedroom, the bedroom itself, was all black, making the gleam in his eyes stand out even more.
“I didn’t finish all the food you prepared…”

Kim Je-guk, provoking Jang Jin-woo, abruptly flung his hand away. Despite being caught by the collar, he was still sporting a confident smile.
“You think I’m going to die alone? What if your brilliant father finds out what you did to a mentally unstable patient? What if you report it to the police?”
He throws the challenge back. Jang Jin-woo’s face softens. He looks like he’s been hit on the back of the head, his eyes revealing a surprise he can’t quite hide. There’s also a hint of doubt. He must have thought it was a perfect crime.
“Why? Did you think I wouldn’t know?”
Kim Je-guk pushes Jang Jin-woo away and walks towards the desk. He opens a locked drawer and pulls out a small memory card.
“I’ve been recording it, every day without fail.”
It was an unexpected turn of events. A triumphant smile spreads across Kim Je-guk’s face.
The man was violent. He would hit anyone who displeased him, even slightly. If he slapped someone with his big, thick hand, anyone would fly away from the force. That’s where it all started. He would catch the young child, who was trembling in fear, and beat him again, not hesitating to stomp on him with his foot. Even an animal wouldn’t do that.
Maybe that’s why the devilish man was so submissive in front of him. He was almost servile. Yet, the man would often beat him, as if he were shaking out a rug. Looking back, the brutal domestic violence was almost always directed at him. Was he trying to break him? He said he didn’t like his eyes. There wasn’t a single day when he didn’t have bruises.
There was no reason. Or, even if there was an excuse, there was no justification for beating a child who wasn’t even ten years old until he passed out. He was beaten for being in bed when his father came in, for spilling a little water on the floor, for eating messily, for smiling in a way that displeased him. It was always him.
He would always grumble about how he didn’t know whose son he was. He and the man were practically identical, yet his mother didn’t protect him. She would often leave the house if she argued with the man. On those days, he would be beaten until he was dead, taking his mother’s place.
He doesn’t know why the man just left him alone. Was it because he didn’t call him “father,” or because he was able to live without worrying about money because of him? Or was it because he had a different purpose for him than he did for the other boy?
After being beaten by the man, he would always take it out on something. The birds his mother raised were long dead, killed by his stones. The ornamental fish he had released into the small pond had their fins torn off and were thrown onto the dry dirt floor. There was only one left: the puppy that had followed him around since they lived in the small house.
One day, on his way home from school, he heard the animal’s sharp cry. The man’s puppy was hanging from the front gate. Its neck was tied with a noose, and it was kicking its legs painfully.
The man, inside the gate, pulled the rope connected to the noose with all his might. The puppy struggled, and the man’s face became increasingly filled with joy and ecstasy.
‘Stop it! It’s pitiful!’
He pushed the man with all his might. At that moment, the man lost his grip on the rope, and the puppy fell to the ground. He rushed over, and the puppy was gasping for breath. Blood was flowing from its soft nose. Its bent front leg was twitching convulsively.
‘You killed him.’
He blamed it on him. He was so hypocritical, putting on a face full of grief for losing his beloved pet.
He couldn’t stand up to his father, so his anger, deprived of its target, sought out a weaker opponent. It started with ants, flies, and cockroaches, then moved on to birds, goldfish, and finally, a puppy. It was only a matter of time before he hurt a person.
The devil had birthed another devil.
A knock on the door opened Woo Hyung-seok’s eyes. He had been asleep in his chair, and his whole body was stiff. He rubbed his neck and got up from his seat. Soon, something caught his foot. He frowned and looked down. There were several women lying at his feet.
He lightly tapped their bodies with his toes, as if he were sifting through them. Their faces, covered in blood, bruises, tears, and snot, were starkly revealed in the natural light.
“…Well, you should have done a better job.”
He muttered casually and stepped over the women. Then he threw open the window. The outside air rushed in, finally lessening the smell of blood that filled the room.
When there was no response from inside, the man outside raised his voice.
“Boss, it’s me.”
“Come in.”
Soon, a man opened the door and entered. He greeted Woo Hyung-seok with extreme deference. He didn’t even flinch at the women lying on the floor. He just reported the reason he had come.
“I finally found it, Boss.”
“You found it?”

Woo Hyung-seok’s gaze immediately fixed on the man. The man bowed his head again, saying, “Yes.” Then, before Woo Hyung-seok could ask, he revealed the information he knew the man would want to hear.
“There was a patient named Park Joo-wan at a mental hospital in the countryside, called the Central Mental Hospital. His admission date and age match what you told me, Boss.”
“Really?”
A faint smile touched Woo Hyung-seok’s lips. But his face looked more chilling than ever.
“I’m curious. I wonder what that Park Joo-wan’s face will look like when he sees me.”
Woo Hyung-seok turned his head back towards the window and stroked his thigh. There was a distinct, old scar there.