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Chapter 50
“I used to live here.”
Ji-eun turned her head and smiled brightly as she spoke.
But in her eyes was a sorrow that was hard to put into words.
“……”
Caught off guard by Ji-eun’s answer, the two of them didn’t know what to say.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked.”
Chae-rin’s face stiffened, worried that she had asked something inappropriate.
“It’s fine. No need to make that face. Living here isn’t anything remarkable. Now—shall we give it a final push? I’ll buy you something delicious afterward.”
Ji-eun playfully nudged the two of them on their backs, trying to lighten the awkward mood and encourage them forward.
A short while later, the three of them arrived at the last house for today’s volunteer activity.
“This is the last house. Ah—finally done.”
Seung-hyun set the trolley down in front of the house and stretched, seeming a bit tired.
“Yeah, you both really worked hard. Let’s finish quickly and go eat something good. Is anyone home?”
Knock. Knock.
Ji-eun knocked on the worn, flimsy door, barely worthy of being called a door, but no sound came from inside.
Knock. Knock.
“Mr. Kim Guk-seon? Are you here? Where did you go?”
Hearing no response from inside, Ji-eun called louder and tried pulling the door to see if it was locked.
At that moment—
“Oh! It’s open… why is it open?”
The door, which should have been firmly closed, swung open weakly.
And—
“Ugh! What’s that smell?”
A foul stench wafted out from the gap in the door, making Seung-hyun instinctively cover his nose.
“Yeah… what is that? Smells like something’s rotting.”
Ji-eun backed away, covering her nose as well.
It was a smell she had never encountered in her life.
Disgusting, dank, and overwhelmingly foul, beyond what she had ever imagined a stench could be.
A smell she felt she would never forget until she died.
“That smell…”
Familiar. No, unforgettable.
“Wait a moment. I’ll check it out.”
Unlike the hesitant two, Chae-rin, holding her sleeve over her nose, boldly stepped into the house.
Praying it wasn’t the smell she feared.
“Chae-rin, don’t go in.”
Seung-hyun, covering his nose, grabbed Chae-rin’s clothes in shock.
“Yeah, Chae-rin, don’t go in. Something could be wrong inside.”
Ji-eun also looked worried, trying to stop her.
“It’s okay, don’t worry.”
“Then I’ll go with you. You can’t go in alone. You stay behind; I’ll check it out.”
Seung-hyun tried to step in first, but Chae-rin pushed him back.
She didn’t want him to see the horrific scene inside the house.
“Don’t come in. Stay there.”
“Chae-rin.”
Chae-rin’s bold, fearless stance, something Seung-hyun had never imagined, made him unconsciously let go of her clothes.
“Chae-rin, don’t go. I’ll call the police.”
“It might not be anything serious. Let’s check first, then report. I’ll just take a quick look.”
Ignoring Ji-eun’s worried protests, Chae-rin cautiously entered the house.
Suppressing the uneasy, chilling feeling that this incident seemed to be waiting for her.
The space was barely three pyeong—tiny. It was called a one-room, but “single-room” suited it better.
The stench inside hit harder as Chae-rin stepped in.
She tightened her grip over her nose and mouth.
‘Smell of a decaying corpse.’
No matter how much she tried to block it, the indescribable stench crept in, dizzying her mind.
‘What am I doing…?’
Already able to distinguish the stench of a corpse, she found herself moving deeper into the scene without hesitation, letting out a short, nervous laugh.
“So this is what it really looks like…”
Seeing the scene of a crime with her own eyes for the first time gave her a strange thrill and an inexplicable warmth deep in her chest.
“Is this the kitchen?”
Chae-rin slowly surveyed the tiny space barely large enough for one person, storing every possible clue in her eyes.
“Chae-rin! Come out now.”
Seung-hyun’s urgent voice came from outside.
Of course, “outside” was just one door away from the street, so it felt as if he were right behind her.
“Wait a moment.”
But Chae-rin’s hand was already gripping the small side door connecting to the kitchen.
Squeeeak—
“Haa—”
When she opened the door, Chae-rin let out a sigh.
The window, barely a window, let in almost no light and was covered with several layers of yellowed plastic taped haphazardly to block the winter wind.
The floor, with no space to step, was littered with tattered clothes, desiccated ramen stuck to dirty pots, and empty soju bottles.
“Can a person even live like this?”
An old, questionable TV and radio atop a tipped wooden crate were apparently the only connection the resident had to the world.
But the thing that caught Chae-rin’s attention most was the mound of bedding in the center of the room.
‘It must be in there…’
Confident but hesitant because it was too certain, Chae-rin paused.
“Ugh… the smell. This is no joke. What is this smell? Chae-rin, let’s get out.”
“Yeah, let’s get out quickly.”
Seung-hyun and Ji-eun, unable to just watch, dragged her outside.
“Ha—haa—”
Finally outside, Chae-rin removed her hand from her nose and took a deep breath.
But the stench lingering in the alleyway was just as bad as inside.
“Unnie, I think someone’s dead.”
Chae-rin calmly told Ji-eun.
“What! Someone’s dead? Re…really? Where? Where?”
Ji-eun, flustered, stomped her feet, unsure what to do.
“There. In that pile of bedding.”
“Are you saying there’s really a dead person there? Chae-rin, really?”
Seung-hyun shouted, stunned.
“What do we do? What should we do?”
“First, call the police.”
Chae-rin took Ji-eun’s hands, still panicked, to calm her.
“Okay… okay. The number… where? 112? 119?”
But Ji-eun, holding her phone, was still trembling and unsure. This reaction, perhaps, was normal.
“Here, give it to me. I’ll do it. Yes, police station. There’s a dead person. Please hurry. Yes. Where? Here.”
Chae-rin took Ji-eun’s phone and called the police herself.
“Don’t worry. The police will be here soon.”
She wrapped her trembling body around Ji-eun, reassuring her.
“Chae-rin, how are you not scared? You’re totally different from yourself.”
Seung-hyun, seeing Chae-rin so calm, was surprised.
This was not the reserved, quiet Chae-rin he knew.
“Me? I’m the same. Anyway, first, this door needs to be closed because of the smell.”
Chae-rin avoided Seung-hyun’s gaze and firmly closed the door again.
After a while, loud sirens sounded, and hurried footsteps clattered through the alley, oddly out of place in the shantytown.
“You called it in?”
“Who… called… oh! What is that smell?”
Two uniformed police officers ran up, covering their noses.
“I did. I reported it.”
Chae-rin calmly raised her hand.
“Did you really do it?”
“You really called about a dead body?”
The officers looked Chae-rin up and down, disbelief on their faces.
It was surprising that a young high school girl made the report—and even more so that she remained calm after encountering the corpse.
“Yes. I did. Go inside. The body should be under the bedding.”
“Under the bedding?”
“Yes.”
“Did you see it?”
“No, but there’s no other place it could be.”
“Uh… okay… Officer Kim, go check inside. Then set up the police line.”
The senior officer, seeing Chae-rin’s certainty, told a flustered rookie to follow instructions.
“Yes, sir.”
The rookie, eager, ran into the room.
“But how did you know it was a dead person? You didn’t even see it, but you were certain?”
The senior officer glanced at Chae-rin, puzzled.
“Yeah, Chae-rin, how did you know?”
Seung-hyun chimed in.
“Well…”
Chae-rin, unsure how to explain her familiarity with the situation, hesitated.
“Ugh—gack—”
The rookie ran out, covering his mouth, vomiting on the floor.
“What’s wrong? What happened?”
“Sorry… I’ve never seen anything like that before… ugh—gack—”
“Is it really a corpse?”
“Ye-yes.”
“Calm down. Contact the forensic team.”
“Yes… ugh—gack—”
The rookie staggered around, still disoriented.
“Can we leave now?”
Chae-rin spoke to the officers, taking advantage of the chaos.
“You’ve arrived, so we don’t need to stay, right?”
Ji-eun, exhausted, nodded in agreement.
“The officers need witness statements, so wait over there for a bit.”
The senior officer gestured toward a bench in the middle of the alley while speaking rapidly on the phone.
After a while, the three saw an elderly man sitting on the bench, half-closed eyes, listening to trot music.
He didn’t glance at the police, seemingly used to the chaos.
“Sir, we’ll sit here briefly.”
“……”
Seeing no response, the three exchanged awkward glances.
“Sit down instead of standing.”
The grandfather, hard of hearing, finally gestured for them to sit.
“Thank you.”
“Excuse us for a moment.”
They collapsed onto the bench, exhausted.
[♬Ya- Ya- Ya- What’s my age-♪]
Despite the hectic scene with the corpse just steps away, cheerful trot music came from a small device on the bench.
“Sir, what is this?”
Seung-hyun asked, intrigued.
“What?”
“This device.”
Seung-hyun raised his voice to the grandfather.
“Wait?”
“No, what is this device?”
“Oh—this is a Hyo-do MP3. Nowadays, every elderly person has one. Ha ha ha. It plays music, radio, records—very advanced. Someone gave it to me when I was…”
After several loud explanations, the grandfather proudly began showing off his device, launching into stories without end.
“I… when I was ten… oh, I’m tired, I need to rest. Enjoy yourselves.”
“Yes. Goodbye.”
“Goodbye.”
Suddenly leaving mid-story, the grandfather went inside, and the three bowed politely.
Then Ji-eun covered her mouth, laughing.
“Unnie, why are you laughing?”
Chae-rin asked, puzzled.
“This situation is just too funny. We’ve been listening to his Hyo-do MP3 story and childhood memories for thirty minutes, while over there it’s all serious and chaotic. But here, it’s like nothing’s happening—doesn’t that make you laugh?”
Ji-eun pointed at the bustling police and onlookers.
Chae-rin and Seung-hyun turned to look at the house where the incident occurred.
The narrow alley was a chaotic mix of spectators, police, and forensic team, like a crowded market.
“Feels like we’re looking at the wealthy neighborhood from over there, and from their perspective, the people here struggling in the shantytown must look funny and incomprehensible.”
“Thinking that way… maybe it does.”
Seung-hyun wore a serious expression, seemingly reflecting on it.
“Yeah, that’s life. From a distance, nothing seems like a big deal.”
Watching the shantytown, Ji-eun’s bitter expression made Chae-rin’s mood sink as well.
“Hey! You’re Chae-rin, right? Chae-rin?”
At that moment, someone called her name warmly.
