《The Waters That Hated》


 A Harrowing Will

    The following letter is part of the last will and testament left behind by an elderly Korean woman for her estranged daughter. It was returned unread by the young woman to her notary. The reason was the apparently d eep contempt the young woman held for her mother. According to her statements, she had suffered her whole life under the strictness and coldness of the old woman and eventually cut off all contact after one last, heated argument. Against the daughter''s wishes, the notary retained the document in case the young woman would one day change her mind and want to read her mother''s final words, and so the letter survived. In the end, I managed to obtain a copy. I have, of course, changed all the names to protect the a nonymity of the young woman from South Korea, to whom these words are addressed.


    You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

 The Hateful Man

    My dearest Joon-Ho,


    When you read these lines, I will have passed away and will hopefully be reborn, cleansed of the darkness within me. First and foremost, I need to say this: I have always loved you. Please believe me when I say that I have always given everything within my power to ensure that you grow up safe and secure, becoming a capable woman who will hopefully never lack anything.


    I know you will disagree. I have always been a very strict mother, perhaps too harsh with you, but nothing was ever more important to me than teaching you principles, integrity, and morality. It was not only because I wanted to be a proper mother, but also because I didn''t want you to burden yourself with the same mistakes and actions that I carry. The things I am writing down here are words and thoughts I couldn''t tell you in person, my dear Joon-Ho, because I am too ashamed. I know there is nothing but bitterness in your heart when thinking of me, but I have always loved you. You were always the highest, the most important thing in my life, even if you probably don''t believe me.


    I know you hate me. You hate me for the strictness with which I raised you, for the coldness I often displayed. But please believe me that all I wanted was for you to live with care and never forget what is right. That''s why I hope the following words will help you understand why I am the way I am, what I experienced, and what horrors I shielded you from. What I endured so that you lacked nothing, neither food nor education.


    I know you have terrible nightmares, to this day. Of screams and fear and violence and death. Nightmares that you can''t explain, but for which... there is an explanation. I always denied it because I wanted to protect you from the past, but I believe you have a right to know. I unfortunately can''t tell you in person ¨C partly because you don''t want to see again, and partly because... I am too cowardly for it. I am so ashamed and hate myself too much for what I did... But Joon-Ho, I beg you, at least read these words and... forgive me if you can. I want to tell you where you come from. I want to tell you about the scars I carry on my soul. So much in my life has left deep wounds in me, some of which still fester and stole from me the warmth I would have liked to offer you.


    My dear Joon-Ho, you often used to ask me about the small town where you were born. About your father ¨C your biological father. About how we had lived and why I took you away from there. I never answered those questions. I always brushed you off and told you it was none of your business. That the past should be left alone because it was unimportant. That''s what I always told you. But, Joon-Ho, that was a lie. One of the most foolish and terrible lies I''ve ever told, for the greater good: I only wanted to shield you, shield you from the truth, but now I believe it was a mistake. That my lies have caused you only harm...


    You were born in a small town in North Korea near the southern border, which they called "Gipeun." That name won''t mean anything to you and the town no longer exists...


    At first glance, there didn''t seem to be much wrong with Gipeun, but as you well know, appearances can often be deceiving. All those little run-down wooden houses, erected on the stormy east coast of North Korea, looked weathered and desolate. They carried within them many unpleasant, terrible, and bitter stories - as one would expect from that region. But there were also other, older stories. Stories told only by the elderly. Words spoken with reverence and fear, half-forgotten, used during sparse fireside evenings or stormy days to scare children. To warn them not to play too recklessly and far from home, or to be obedient and follow the instructions of the security personnel. But... every time I heard those stories from my grandparents, who had in turn heard them from their grandparents, a feeling would well up inside me. A feeling that was not just pure fear, not just pure dread of the things that were supposedly out there, but something else. It was as if something in me moved when I heard those words. As if an ancient premonition or memory stirred.


    The old folks often spoke of the hills and mountains that surrounded the town, interrupted only on the east side by the Yellow Sea. They talked about the rocky slopes on which Gipeun was built and the stony peaks that bleakly rose into the sky, adorned with trees. They told of primeval horrors that had once haunted this area, of strange, slimy carcasses resembling large maggots, washed ashore and bloated after stormy nights on the beach. Amidst seaweed and driftwood, these repulsive, foul-smelling bodies appeared disintegrated, yet it was also said that twitching sometimes still ran through their slippery bodies, and mournful, dull howling emanated from their misshapen mouths. Other stories told of the slopes themselves and the eerie caves and crevices that led into the depths of the earth like deep wounds, unfathomable and foreign. They spoke of people disappearing near those holes in the ground, of children being taken and lost...


    As time went on, this fear must have subsided at least for some, as they began to build mines, dig deep shafts into the hard ground, and erect drilling rigs in search of oil and wealth. However, even these drilling rigs were surrounded by disturbing reports. Those always seemed less like ghost stories to me and more like real events, as they were not as ancient and fragemented and were still being told by some of the old workers even at the time when you were born. Of course, those old men only shared them after indulging in a few bottles of soju or other cheap alcohol, but if you were careful, you could coax them out of them. Most of the time, it was just cautious words, but sometimes a tale that gave me an almost instant shiver and a sense of unease. Some of the reports from the workers bore a little too much resemblance to the stories my grandparents told me, to prevent me from running too far away or misbehaving and neglecting my assigned community work in the mornings.


    One evening, I was confronted with such a story that contained a bit too much reality, but it didn''t come from my grandmother; it came from a co-worker of my father. It was the man who owned the boat on which my old man toiled until his death. My father ¨C your grandfather ¨C worked on a fishing trawler, sometimes for an entire week. He always came home late and first greeted the rice wine before paying any attention to me or my mother. I can still see that foul-smelling man sitting on his rotting wooden chair, his arms dangling, his mouth half open, his mind intoxicated. His acrid stench is etched into my thoughts. But I must admit that such moments were still better than the ones when he lost himself in anger and disgust towards himself and everyone else. The moments when it was better to follow his requests.


    My dear Joon-Ho, I remember that evening vividly, even though I was very young at the time, maybe eight. It''s all still there, even now, as I am an old woman, and more than sixty years have passed. I still dream of that evening and of the legend that I unwittingly heard...


    I often find myself reminiscing, thinking back to the rushing streams from the clouds that pelted against the wooden shutters, while I sat in the corner of a small, barren room in a shabby wooden house on a sack of rice, gazing at my father, who lay with his head on the wooden table. He still had the bottle in his hand, his unshaven cheeks rested on the wood, and saliva dribbled from his open, foul-smelling mouth. On another chair sat Young-Soo, another old drunkard, but still partially conscious. I couldn''t stand the bitter old man, hated going to his rundown, stinking, leaky abode with my father, and watching them pass out in drunken slumber as they downed what little money we had. My father insisted on taking me with him, wanted to spend more time with me, he said, and my mother had only dared to oppose him once.


    I have always spared you such circumstances, my dear Joon-Ho, and I hope you can see that when you look back on your own late youth. That''s why I never wanted you to drink alcohol and forbade it to your friends when they were at our place...


    So, on that night, I was alone with the old drunks, anxiously huddled on that sack of rice in a corner of the room. It didn''t smell as bad of sweat and stale air as the rest of the room, but the wood in that corner had darkened and become stained. Rainwater dripped through leaks in the roof, and I struggled to stay dry. After a while, during which I didn''t even dare to move, the gaze of old Young-Soo slowly shifted away from his bottle and toward me. My father was just muttering in his sleep and oblivious.


    In Young-Soo''s eyes, there was confusion and a haze, along with distant pain. I knew the man had lost his son early on, and his wife had taken her own life afterward. That had been enough to turn him into a wreck forever, and my father probably only visited him because he worked with him on the boat and felt he owed the old man for providing him with a job.


    "Hey... Hey! Kid! What''s wrong? Don''t like my house? You look like a spoiled brat sitting there like you''re too good for my home!" slurred Young-Soo.


    He burped and wiped some saliva from the corners of his mouth while his hazy eyes continued to fixate on me.


    "No, it''s nice, I just find it a bit... I''m often scared in the evenings, especially in the rain," I stammered.


    I couldn''t make him angry; I had learned that from my father. I knew the old man couldn''t stand children since the death of his boy, especially when intoxicated. Another reason I was uncomfortable around him. Young-Soo''s breath wafted toward my nose, drowning out the smell of rancid wood as he spoke in my direction.


    "Ah, I see... So you''re afraid... Afraid of a little rain? Afraid of an old house that creaks like there''s something in the wood waiting to come out and take you?"


    He let out a dirty, guffawing laugh and reached for the bottle again.


    "You know...there''s so much that can kill you...and that wants to kill you to boot. So many things. My little Kwan. My wife... well, she judged herself. Do you know how she did it? How she killed herself?"


    "No, no, but I don''t want to know either. I''m scared, please, I''ll be quiet too...," I begged.


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    The old man plunged another gulp of soju down his throat. I was afraid he would get up and hurt me. And I also didn''t want to hear what Young-Soo had to say about his wife.


    "Are you afraid...? Yes... I''m sure she was afraid that night too... Do you know what it''s like to lose someone you wanted to spend eternity with? What it''s like to burn and bury your child? No, because you''re just a stupid brat... My wife, my dear wife... my dear Ye-Jin... she had cried again, she often did, at least I think... I wasn''t there, you see, I was at sea... A whole cursed week because nothing had gotten lost in the nets, and a horrible storm had dragged our boat away from shore... That cursed night, can you imagine it, you brat? It had rained more than now, much more! So much that the sea had swallowed the beach and shattered the wooden jetties. We had been lucky, my crew and I. Some of the other boats never came back, the men and boys drowned, dying miserably with salt in their lungs, taken by the icy depths. Have you ever been on a barge? Did your father ever take you out there?"


    Young-Soo quieted down and seemed lost in another time, slumping a little.


    "No, never. He doesn''t allow me...", I said quietly.


    Briefly, Young-Soo nodded, then continued with a hard, dark expression.


    "That''s good. Your father is doing it right, not letting his child go out to the sea. It is deep and greedy and never satisfied. Many have lost their sons. Many. Many lost their parents too... Goddamn it... Well, we got back, back to the harbor. I walked home, exhausted and with not a dry stitch of clothing left on my body. My muscles ached. We had caught a fair bit; it would fetch us a little money, get us by. We had to get by! I went into my house... INTO THIS HOUSE!"


    Tears streamed from his eyes, and his face became a mask of agony. He trembled all over and continued to scrutinize me. My father slept beside him, not stirring in the slightest. I backed away from Young-Soo as far as I could, pressing myself against the wall. It was the first time in my life that I felt true fear coursing through my body, but unfortunately, it was far from the last.


    "I went into this very room... exhausted.... Just wanted to hug my wife, wanted to get some food, a little something to drink... Girl, she was lying there in the corner, right where you''re sitting now. Had slit her own throat with a kitchen knife. The blood was everywhere, dried and dark. Never got it back out of the wood, no matter how hard I tried. Can you still smell her blood? I can. Every night it''s like she''s still here, like I can hear her gurgling, hear the blood gushing from her throat. She''s become a Gosa, yes, I''m sure of it! Do you know what a Gosa is? Did your father tell you? Did he tell you what happens in this town when you take your own life?"


    I didn''t want to listen to him. I wanted to leave, wanted to run for the door, but it was raining outside and that horrible man would have stopped me for sure. I could see it in his eyes, he was just waiting for me to do something he didn''t like. Joon-Ho, I hope you never experienced such a situation. I never allowed you to hear ghost stories when you were little because I knew how bad they could be. I knew about your nightmares. What the old man told me was scary and disturbed me, probably forever. I had shaken my head and he had started to grin. There was sadistic joy in his eyes.


    "A Gosa is the crippled remnant of a person who took their own life. My wife... her grief, her anger, her hatred of the world... They survived. My Ye-Jin, what has become of her? What has become of her...? She visits me at night... Yes, she visits me and whispers in my ear what she was thinking before she plunged the knife into her flesh. She has become a Gosa... An evil Gosa... Do you understand?"


    I couldn''t think straight, it was all so horrible. The image of a bleeding woman with a once beautiful face, looking in my direction, distorted with hatred, cursing, gurgling, appeared in my mind''s eye.


    "No, no, it can''t be, there''s no such thing, that''s what mom said, and dad too..."


    I had clutched my legs and buried my face in my hands, clenching my eyelids as tears ran down my cheeks and I tasted them salty in my mouth.


    "YOU STUPID GIRL! Don''t you know what kind of place this is? THIS TOWN? THESE MOUNTAINS? DON''T YOU KNOW? Oh, in other cities, yes, ghosts are just fairy tales. They''re not real there. But in some places... In some places, emotions and ideas grow into something new, something else, and start haunting people. This here is one of those places. This town. Just beware! JUST BEWARE!"


    I heard him get up and come in my direction.


    No. No, this couldn''t be. What would he do? His stench was unbearable now, and I squeezed my eyes even more tightly shut. I prepared for a blow, to be shaken by him. I heard the creaking of the wooden floor as his heavy steps drew closer. I heard his wheezing breath, which sounded a bit irregular and exhausted, but also angry, full of suppressed rage.


    I was almost driven insane by fear. Then... I heard a clatter beside me.


    "DAMN, where''s the other bottle?"


    I opened my eyes and peeked through my fingers, seeing his weathered face close by and his gaze darting hectically between the bottles on the shelf next to me, searching for more soju he could gulp down. Finally, he found it and pulled it from the shelf, somewhat clumsily, and two other bottles were torn from the cabinet and shattered loudly on the floor.


    "DAMN! Shit... SHIT!," Young-Soo yelled and briefly glanced at me.


    "Pick that up, clean it up! COME ON, OR SHALL I TEACH YOU SOME MANNERS, YOU LITTLE BRAT?"


    As I slowly rose from the sack and knelt next to the shards, he grinned broadly and staggered back to his chair.


    "You little cunt! See, good! You''re learning to know your place, you little shit!," he muttered as I began to pick up the pieces of glass and throw them into an old dirty wooden bucket I had spotted under the alcohol shelf, always careful not to cut myself.


    Young-Soo smiled again and continued to speak.


    "Yes, this place... This place is old. Older than most. My family has been living here forever. For ages. Do you know what they say? That up in the hills, there are shafts and passages in the ground that lead too deep for a human to have made. Shafts finely carved into the walls, a long, long time ago. Shafts that partly lead into caves where, even during my childhood, some of the old folks still offered horrid gifts to foreign gods. Places where disturbed rituals were practiced, unnatural, wrong, and cruel. Nowadays, most have forgotten all about it, or at least they try to, but I remember the stories of my grandparents, which they, in turn, heard from their grandparents."


    "Uncle, why are you telling me all this? Do you really believe in it? Please, I''m scared, please tell me you''re making this up...!" I stammered.


    Once again, something stirred inside me, a restlessness that had nothing to do with being helplessly exposed to the whims of an alcohol-addled, bitter old man on a stormy, rainy night. It was like with some of the stories I had heard from my grandmother, words that hinted at something ancient I should have known.


    Young-Soo froze and stared at me.


    "What did you say? Do you think I''m a liar? Do you think I''m lying about this? For fun?"


    He spoke softly now, his voice no longer slurred but clear and sharp.


    "I''m not lying! WHY WOULD I? I''ve seen them, those chambers in the mountain. When I helped to explore the passages! The Ministry ordered it, they wanted oil and coal... I had to! In those passages, deep, deep down, I saw those chambers. They are beneath the town, beneath the hills. It''s different down there, it feels terrible... in its own way. I saw the wall drawings, disturbing reliefs, with thin, terrifying black lines burnt into the walls. I saw the idols, made of bronze, distorted images of us, once worshiped down there. You have no idea, you stupid girl! You have no idea what has been slumbering beneath us for all these years..."


    He had risen and was creeping towards me. Like a cruel animal, this drunken old man, no longer in control of his senses, approached me. His thoughts seemed to be going everywhere.


    "You little shit, why were you allowed to live while my Kwan died? Why are you sitting there now where he should be, my poor boy? MY POOR BOY! Why? WHY?"


    He had reached me, grabbed my arm, and lifted me up. Then he threw me into the corner, where I landed on the sack with a groan, rolled down to the floor, and fell with my hand into one of the remaining glass panes, causing a sharp pain to shoot up my arm. Warm liquid flowed over my hand; I felt it, saw the thin red trickling.


    "Ouch, OUCH, NO! PLEASE, DON''T! HELP!" I screamed, in a frenzy.


    I tried to crawl further away from Young-Soo, my hand pressed against my chest. Slowly, I pushed myself against the wall behind me. His face was now just a hateful mask, grinning contemptuously at me.


    "You filthy brat! How does your blood feel? Is it warm? You''re such a disgusting little monster... Coming into MY HOUSE, insulting ME, and then defiling the memory of MY WIFE! When I''m done with you, you''ll wish you were NEVER BORN!"


    He roared some of the words, spoke others softly and almost whispering. In his drunken stupor, the dark sides of his soul, which he had probably repressed deep within himself over the past years, had taken over, and he surrendered completely to them. I felt the anger and hatred, the darkness he radiated. I heard only his panting and the rain pounding against the shutters and dripping into the room. And in the rain, next to his maniacal laughter, I heard a bitter, malevolent gurgling that seemed to emanate from the walls surrounding me. Disgust seized me, and dizziness clouded my senses. The loss of blood and panic made everything seem dull, distant, and fragmented. I only remember some parts, Joon-Ho, so I don''t know what was true and what was delirium.


    Just flashing images are left in my memory: A distorted, shadowy female figure with disheveled black hair, pale skin, and a blood-smeared throat, whose proportions were not quite right, staring down at me from large, hate-filled eyes as she emerged from the wall. Her angry, hostile gurgles and disjointed words wishing me a gruesome death and regarding me with a contempt I could never have dreamed of. My father, angrily attacking Young-Soo, pale-faced and with vomit at the corner of his mouth. My father, carrying me through the rain, always homeward, crying that he was sorry. That I had to forgive him. That he was a failure, a miserable nobody. That he despised everything, his job, this city, my mother, except for me. That he was sorry for everything. I remembered my mother, washing and bandaging my wound with a black eye, also crying. Then only the calm of the night. And peace in the darkness, when I finally fell into a dreamless sleep.


    Do I seem as pathetic to you today as my father did to me back then, Joon-Ho? I hope not. I hope you don''t despise me as much as I despised him...


    That evening with old Young-Soo and my father and those terrible events... I still remember too much of it. My father''s crying, which meant nothing to me, his words bouncing off me. Joon-Ho, I think he truly meant them, but I never forgave him. He died the following week while fishing in the storm with old Young-Soo and Ki-Soo, drowned like the dog he was. At least that''s what they said. Who knows, maybe the argument caused deeper anger after all? Maybe Young-Soo despised my father just as much as me since I was alive and his son was dead? Maybe he took his change out there, where no one would see? All of that is possible, but I will never know. It is more likely my father died because of too much alcohol and a slippery deck. I never entered Young-Soo''s dreadful hut again, but I still have his grimace and the womanly shape in front of my eyes, as if it had been yesterday...


    My mother... your grandmother... never let me near Young-Soo again. All I know is that he went to sea less and less and sank deeper into alcohol. One day, they found him dead in his house, with his throat slit. The neighbors who discovered him, after the stench of his decaying corpse had overshadowed the smell of fish after a few days, talked about his contorted face, supposedly frozen in unspeakable panic. In my imagination, I picture how the Gosa, the deranged spirit of his wife, slowly drove him to madness with her gurgling, hateful words and eventually harvested him when he was ripe.

 End of Childhood

    You see, my dear Joon-Ho, that I was confronted with things at a very early age that no child should experience. Things I wanted to protect you from. You see, our hometown carried a history that probably goes back further than one can imagine. I am now certain that there were many things in that place that would make anyone doubt their sanity, and I realize that soon, I will seem like a mad woman to you. You might think that I''m making something up to gain your sympathy, but that''s not the case. I only want you to know the truth, which I have never told anyone else. My childhood, as I have hinted at several times now, was very difficult at times, and there were many things that traumatized me. Things like my father''s behavior or that of old Young-Soo, but also things like the whispering of that terrible Gosa which I believed to have heard. But after I grew into a young woman, found a fine man in your father Eun, and eventually had a child... it got much worse. Much more terrible.


    All the disturbing and unbelievable events that eventually drove me out of the country began at the end of an autumn with long, cold nights and storms churning the sea. The weight of those days crept into our home, and even the feeble fire in the fireplace couldn''t ward it off completely. We often sat together in the living room, crowded around the small hearth, providing each other with additional warmth. Your father and I, my old mother, and... you, Joon-Ho, just a year old.


    Gipeun was not the place where one wanted to raise children, not a place where a family could live happily and carefree. But there was no other choice because inland was worse and more desolate, so the only option was to stay near the sea. The salty beaches and steep slopes where our town lay seemed rather bleak and dull. But when I stood at the top of the slopes and let my gaze sweep over the houses, a treacherous hint of doom always crept into my thoughts. You were too young, Joon-Ho, to be aware of the environment you were born into, but you were unusually restless, as if you felt the despair around you. But at home, there were mostly peaceful times because your father was of the opinion that a family of our social status had to stick together and couldn''t afford to get lost in trivialities.


    Therefore, your grandmother still took it upon herself to look after you for an hour or two in the evenings so that I could take a walk and relax, at least for a short time. Most of the time, during my evening strolls, I managed to forget the harshness of the world around me for a while. However, on the night I want to tell you about, it was different.


    The sky outside the house was overcast and gloomy, but it wasn''t raining that day. I walked away into the approaching night, hoping for a change of thoughts. I sadly regarded the wilting sunflowers that grew at the edge of our small vegetable garden and stepped through our narrow wooden garden gate, which was essentially just a few tied-together branches. My evening walk led me past the small, rundown, white-painted houses of our neighbors, which were essentially old wooden frameworks with mud walls built between them. I quickly walked along the narrow, sometimes foul-smelling path illuminated by weak fires and dim oil lamps behind veiled windows and by the late evening sun. The path wasn''t paved but had been trampled into the ground by thousands of feet and had been further covered with some gravel by some of the children during some of their community work in the mornings. Brown tufts of grass also sprouted from the ground here and there, and dirty water trickled from some of the roofs because it had rained not long ago. The road ascended and led me higher and higher, with fewer houses and greater distances between. Slowly, the overgrown nature replaced the city, and eventually, I had reached the edge of our small town without knowing why I had walked this way. I don''t remember exactly why I went so far, but many thoughts must have raced through my mind, making me lose track of time. I was probably worried, the worries I always had during my walks. Worries about our future, which seemed bleak. Worries about your father, as he hadn''t returned from fishing yet, and the storm in the morning had been unusually strong. And worries about you, Joon-Ho, and whether you would ever have a better, somewhat carefree life. Despite the vegetation, the surroundings were bleak and barren, and in the distance, higher up on the hill, I could see the steel towers and halls erected to steal the earth''s dark treasures. The mines and drilling rigs located uphill had caused more and more people from the surrounding areas to move to this town some years ago. Everyone wanted a secure job and perhaps a little wealth, wanting to get away from hard fieldwork or poorly paid craft businesses. It was ironic that almost all of them had now, as the sources seemed to dry up and they couldn''t repay the debts they owed the government, condemned their descendants to those very jobs. Beyond these relics of the industry, denser, fuller trees and vegetation sprouted, indicating the beginning of pure nature. That''s where my walk took me on that evening. I wanted to be in nature, I wanted to go where I had spent the only moments of peace and joy in my childhood and youth.


    When I finally reached my destination, the sun had completely set, and my gaze swept over the city. I was on a small gravel plateau with some large stones shaped like chairs, and I could see the lights of the houses along the coast, like hundreds of fireflies perched there, enduring their sad existence. This little viewpoint, which me and my friends had always referred to as a viewing platform in my childhood days, was somewhat of a place of peace for me, a place where I could forget my daily life and reminisce about the beautiful days of my past.


    I had always lived in the same small house nearby, a few streets down the hill, where the city ended at that time before the burgeoning greed for oil and natural resources allowed the buildings to sprawl further up the hill. My friends and I often played on that slope, frolicking around, building hideouts with straw and bushes, broken branches, and creeping vines ¨C at least on Saturdays and Sundays when we had the time and weren''t needed for household chores or community services. Those moments on the wooded hills that led to steep cliffs remain fond memories, and I often thought back to the days when I wasn''t busy scrubbing pots, cooking, or doing laundry. Back to the days when I wasn''t sent somewhere before sunrise to help the community clean railbeds, fill roads, or clean the beach. I would have preferred to go to school, but my parents didn''t have enough money to bribe the teachers, so they gave up on education altogether and I had to teach myself all I know in my later years. I''m glad, Joon-Ho, that I spared you the same fate, even though you often resented me for forcing you to do homework and extra studies...


    Standing on our viewing platform, I traveled back to the afternoons or evenings when I spent the time in this area with my friends Jia and Deiji, and sometimes the neighbor''s boy, Hyeon. We would hunt for butterflies and grasshoppers, catch dragonflies, and collect all kinds of flowers. We would pick greens for the rabbits and sometimes even gather berries so our mothers could make jam.


    I cherished my group of friends above all. Jia was a plump girl with coarse black curls and always had a smile on her face. Deiji was slender and not very tall ¨C she only reached my shoulders ¨C and often tied her long straight hair into a ponytail. Hyeon, a muscular, relatively good-looking boy, often helped out at the small shipyard where many fishing boats were maintained and sometimes even constructed, but he still somehow found time for us. The four of us had known each other since we could remember, as we lived in the same neighborhood, and our mothers often took turns looking after us.


    As I stood there on that gravelly plateau, where we had sat so many times and stared into the distance, it was almost as if I could hear and see us, as we sat there first as little children and later as young adults, asking ourselves where the sea ended and how far the horizon was. I remembered how we cut through the thickets nearby, how we climbed the hills and the trees in hopes of getting a better view of the sea.


    This enchanting area... we had thoroughly explored it and had ventured deeper into the wilderness each time, despite the stories we had heard again and again. Like old Young-Soo, the others had also experienced someone among the Elders who vividly spoke of things that sent shivers down one''s spine and made hints that led one''s thoughts down eerie paths. Over time, however, these stories turned into silly fairy tales for us, and we didn''t pay much attention to them anymore. Even I had slowly started to forget and repress them, probably because of my experience with Young-Soo.


    With a smile, I sat down on one of the stones that Hyeon had worked into a more or less comfortable seat for us with a lot of sweat. It''s been a long time ago, Joon-Ho, but I remember how he wanted to impress us and had stolen a chisel and hammer from the shipyard to work on the old rocks. He worked hard, but in the end he turned them into stone seats that almost looked like thrones to me and I just loved them. The seating had since been weathered and eroded by time, and the once bright edges had faded. Nevertheless, I thought of Hyeon, who had sat right there and cursed while pounding on the rocks until we were satisfied, constantly looking over at us to see if we were watching him...


    I leaned back and closed my eyes.


    Hyeon, Jia, Deiji... I remembered us as we explored the area... How we paid no attention to the stories because we were young and foolish, in the end just stupid teenagers... How we enjoyed our weekends, which occasionally provided a brief respite from all the hard work...


    I flinched painfully as I remembered how one day we ventured too far. How the stories caught up with us... The memories came back as I sat on the stones and my gaze was forced away from the bay and towards a half-hidden path, that led to the mountains. When I saw that little track, terrible memories suddenly washed over me. Down that path was the most horrid place I had ever been to in my childhood, more horrible even than Young-Soo''s stinking hut... But you have to know about it to understand some of the crimes I have committed... To see why things turned out the way they did in the end...


    It was an early autumn day a long time ago, and I was already fourteen years old. We had set out together late in the afternoon to play on the hills and find new places to discover animals and explore hidden spots. The sun was still hot, scorching our skin, and the wind carried the salty scent of the sea up to us, refreshing us. We knew, of course, that it was not well-liked to linger so far up by the adults, so far from home, but we were at an age where we believed we could do anything and didn''t have to follow any rules. We knew better, despite what we had been told.


    In those days, the hills were still covered with thick deciduous trees and entwined trunks, full of dense bushes, as winter was still far away. Large, ridged rock walls frequently interrupted the lush greenery, and nearby, the ground suddenly dropped steeply into the cold sea, which continuously crashed against the cliffs. It wasn''t just the four of us there on that day because the twin sisters Ayeum and Joo had also joined us. The two were never seen apart and always wore the same clothes, differing only in various patches and holes, always had the same hairstyles ¨C shoulder-length straight cuts ¨C and always wore somewhat arrogant expressions.


    They had probably come only because of Hyeon, as the two had been trying to get closer to him for some time: with his job at the shipyard, he would probably earn an income that wouldn''t require worrying about food every day, and he was straightforward and mostly honest, making him an even better catch. Plus, he was muscular and all in all very handsome. I knew that Deiji had also taken an interest in him for the same reasons, so things sometimes got a bit uncomfortable between the three of them. I myself did not like to ponder on those things, as they reminded me of the monotonous life I would have once I got married. So, I preferred to focus on looking for dragonflies in the grass and searching for colorful flowers that I could bring home to decorate our living space.


    On that early autumn day that was pushing its way back into my memory, we sat on the hewn stones and watched as the twins struggled up the dirty path to our viewing platform, their faces red and sweat on their foreheads.


    "So, there you are! We thought we''d run into you here again...," Ayeum said.


    I could only distinguish her from her sister by the long scar over her eye, which she had acquired when trying to mediate a fight between her parents.


    "Are you looking for dragonflies again? I hope we find some. I like the blue ones," Joo added dreamily.


    Jia straightened up a bit and studied the two. We all noticed that the sisters were looking at Hyeon for suspiciously long, with playful smiles.


    "Maybe. Actually, we wanted to explore the cliffs near the coast. Over there," Hyeon said cheerfully, pointing to a narrow path, partially hidden behind dense bushes, which wound its way higher up the mountain and towards the sea.


    "Would you like to join us?" Deiji asked politely, though her expression appeared far from pleased.


    Naturally, the two agreed. So, they soon sat down next to us on the dirty ground and joined into our discussions about how far from the town we should venture and how long we could stay away from home. It was Saturday, and we didn''t have to get up early the next day, but we also didn''t want to risk being caught by the autumn darkness.


    "We need to start heading back in about three hours, I would say. Otherwise, we won''t be able to see our hand in front of our eyes when we go back," I said as we began to argue about how long the outing should last.


    "Three hours? Are you serious? That''s not nearly enough! We''d have to turn around shortly after reaching new territory. We might as well not do it, then!" grumbled Deiji.


    "We just need to walk fast. We can do it!" Hyeon was confident and nodded in agreement with me.


    "Yes, great idea, Hyeon, we can do it!" Ayeum also agreed.


    "I don''t know. I don''t have that kind of stamina..." Jia interjected a bit sadly.


    "We''ll wait for you, don''t worry! But we need to head out soon, or it will really be too late. I''m sure we''ll find some beautiful flowers there. My mother always says she saw the most beautiful ones in her childhood up on the hills near some rock slabs! I would love to see them!" I urged.


    Hyeon stood up and nodded at me again with enthusiasm.


    "So it is settled, then! Let''s go! Don''t fall asleep! We will find those flowers!" he said decisively and walked briskly toward the cliffs, casually kicking some stones aside, which rolled down the slope and disappeared into the thicket.


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    We hurriedly stood up as well and followed him as quickly as we could. The path was covered with rubble, and we had to step over small streams to make progress. I could already smell a strong scent of salt after a short time, and I felt light and buoyant as I looked for flowers on the walls next to me that I could pick. You probably didn''t think I was like that, did you, Joon-Ho? You wouldn''t have thought that I was also once just a young teenager who ventured away from home to pick flowers, right? The memories of that day make me realize how much I''ve changed over the years. Back then, I was so excited that we had quickly reached the cliffs and were able to continue on a broad, natural stone path high above the surf, always looking for exciting discoveries. Today, there''s only the coldness inside me, coldness that has hurt you too many times...


    "Hey, Hyeon, isn''t this a bit dangerous? If we slip and fall... No one would even find us. The current here leads away from the city towards the open sea, I think..." Jia cried out, groaning and anxiously looking down beside us.


    "No, this is quite safe. You''d have to fall three times your length to go over the edge. Don''t worry..." Hyeon said, but he still stopped and waited for the rest to make sure everyone was far enough away from the cliff.


    We had finally arrived at a small hollow that opened up to a hidden, overgrown spot. It was a small plateau where unusually lush green shrubbery grew, and it smelled wonderfully sweet. Some purple flowers peeked their heads out here and there from thick moss and underbrush. They weren''t the flowers my mother had mentioned, but they were still incredibly beautiful. We all stood there for a few minutes, marveling at the little spot we had discovered hidden high above the sea.


    "This is a dream! I am in a dream!" Ayeum exclaimed, grinning broadly.


    "Yes, truly wonderful! I couldn''t have imagined finding something like this here," admitted Joo, lost in thought and smiling.


    "Let''s take some of them with us, like we planned! They''ll surely look good next to the sunflowers near the stream. Then we''ll have something to look forward to when we fetch water," Deiji suggested.


    I nodded, and Hyeon joined in. Ayeum and Joo had already entered the plateau and were slowly walking across the moss-covered ground towards the overgrown rock walls. Hyeon and I followed close together behind them, then came Deiji, and finally, a hesitant Jia. I enjoyed the scent which the flowers wafted into my nose more and more. The others seemed to be ecstatically happy as well. Even Ayeum, who could be moody at times, kept a smile on her face. Joo had finally gotten so close to the flowers that she could start picking them.


    "I wonder if dragonflies live in here too. How is it? Can that be? Or do they only lay their eggs in water? I think...-"


    Suddenly, the ground gave way under Joo. She had stepped on a small shrub to reach one of the purple flowers, but it seemed that the overgrown greenery had sprouted from a hidden hole, concealing it. Joo flailed her arms as she plunged into the depths and let out a piercing, chilling scream before disappearing.


    Not even a second after she had vanished from our sight, we heard a gruesome, muffled noise and an ear-piercing wail. The sound sent a shiver down my spine and stunned me like a punch to the face. It didn''t even sound like a human but more like a dying animal. Joon-Ho, I had never heard such a sound before! Not even when our dreadful neighbor slaughtered his rabbit when we were walking by and the animal squealed like hell as it bled out... Joo''s scream cut straight through my thoughts and numbed everything.


    For a moment, time stood still, and no one moved, shocked and frozen in fear. Then, Ayeum rushed forward, stumbled, and fell to the ground, letting out a faint moan. However, she immediately got back up, stumbled again, and finally crawled the last few steps to the hole her sister had disappeared into. As if she was possessed, she began tearing away the old undergrowth to clear the view downward.


    "NO! JOO! JOO, WHERE ARE YOU? WE''RE COMING! WAIT FOR US, WE''LL GET YOU OUT!" she screamed madly into the abyss, but all that came back was a mocking echo.


    The rest of us still just stood there, frozen, but after a short while, Hyeon broke free from his shock and ran toward Ayeum, pulling her away from the hole and holding her with an iron grip.


    "Stop it! AYEUM! She''s... she''s gone!"


    "JOO! JOO! ANSWER US!"


    "Ayeum, you''re going to kill yourself too, stop it! STOP IT!"


    For a brief moment, it seemed like Hyeon wouldn''t be able to hold Ayeum, who was flailing and screaming wildly, but then he abruptly turned her around and threw her down to the ground, where he finally sat on top of her to keep her under control.


    "What were we even doing here... What were we even doing here... WHAT WERE WE EVEN DOING HERE?"


    Jia sat near some bushes, staring into emptiness, trembling, her face ashen. She repeated the same words, occasionally shaking her head in disbelief. Deiji had rushed to Hyeon and eventually helped him keep Ayeum in check, who was about to plunge into the abyss as well. I, on the other hand, saw everything through fog, unable to believe what had happened. The icy wind blew across my face, and the scent of sweet peace still wafted into my nose.


    "Let me go... Please... Let me go... I want to be with her... Joo..." Ayeum whimpered now, her limbs slackened, and she began to cry pitifully.


    "Let me go... Please... I have to check on her, please..."


    I couldn''t believe it. I felt trapped in a dreadful nightmare, along with my friends. I wanted to wake up. Then, a faint, distant voice startled us.


    "Aye... um? Hyeon... Are you... are you there? Are you still there? Help..."


    The voice came from the hole.


    Joo was alive!


    As the words reached her ears, Ayeum began to thrash and struggle once more. Hyeon hadn''t expected it, or perhaps he was just too shocked to hear Joo''s voice, but he was thrown to the side and slammed backward onto the moss-covered ground.


    Ayeum hesitated only for a moment and crossed the few steps that separated her from the dark opening in the ground. I''m sure she contemplated jumping down, but I think the little reason that was still left in her prevailed... and I was grateful for that! She knelt down and peered down with squinted eyes while calling out for her sister. I snapped out of my stupor and ran to her as well, while Deiji tended to the trembling Jia, while Hyeon lay moaning and semi-conscious on the cold ground not far away. He had probably hit his head on one of the stones.


    As I knelt next to Ayeum, close to that now gaping hole, I felt uneasy. I could see several meters down, but then the tunnel curved away, blocking all sight. A musty smell reached my nose from below, and the air felt even colder. It was madness to attempt to descend down that hole; we wouldn''t get back up without a rope. Just as I was about to suggest that we get some equipment to rescue Joo, her voice echoed up once more.


    "Ayeum... I''m... I can''t see much. Everything hurts, hurts so badly... Please help me..."


    "Where are you? Joo, where are you? What happened to you? How badly are you hurt? Please, answer me, can you still move?" Ayeum shouted down.


    "Can you see anything? Are you bleeding?" I added fearfully.


    We had to determine how serious it was. And we had to keep her mind occupied.


    "I''ll get help!"


    Deiji had suddenly appeared next to us.


    "I''ll get someone; we need to get her out of there! Right now! It will be night soon!"


    Without waiting for our response, she went back to Jia, pulled her up, and led her away silently but quickly. I briefly considered joining them, but Hyeon was still lying nearby, groaning and holding the back of his head, and I was horrified to see something red seeping between his fingers.


    I couldn''t leave him alone... couldn''t leave Ayeum alone.


    And not Joo either.


    "Can you see anything? How are you? Where are you injured?" I shouted again into the depths.


    "I... there are only sharp shards here, a pile of dark shards, I''ve cut myself all over, I''m bleeding... I''m bleeding, I think, but it doesn''t really hurt... At least, not the cuts. They''re just very wet and somewhat slimy... But my body... Everything feels shattered. Oh, heaven, my bones... heaven... PLEASE HELP ME!"


    "What do you see? What do you hear? Describe it to us!" Ayeum screamed, and for a moment, I thought she was about to jump down after all.


    But instead, she turned to me.


    "We need to calm her down. We need to distract her; she must stay awake! That''s what my father always says. He''s had to witness accidents before and told me... both of us... about them. It''s important that she stays awake... Please, help me... Please, Haru..."


    Tears welled up in her brown eyes. I swallowed, nodded, and called out to Joo again. This time, it took longer to get a response, and the words sounded weaker, more exhausted. Fear gripped my heart as I heard her faint gargling voice.


    "I can hear the sea. Beams of light fall through some cracks in the wall... higher up... I think they lead to the sea. I can''t see much, just small parts of the... cave... There are flowers here too, between the shards... They''re very beautiful... so beautiful... so red... they''re so beautifully purple. So many leaves. They''re like a carpet, they look like velvet... So beautiful... It''s beautiful here... I''m sweating... I''m sweating so much... I''m getting tired..."


    "Stay awake! YOU MUST STAY AWAKE! PLEASE!"


    More and more restlessness seized Ayeum, and her fingers clenched so tightly on the edge of the hole that her knuckles turned white.


    "I''m getting sleepy... Perhaps I should try... Who... Who is calling me? Who are you? WHO IS THERE?"


    "Joo, it''s me, Ayeum! Your sister! Please stay with us, tell me about earlier! Tell me about our garden! About the sunflowers by the stream!"


    Tears dripped into the abyss. Both of us began to sob. I couldn''t take it anymore. I wanted to get away. But I also wanted to save her. Joos''s voice faintly drifted to our ears once more, this time more indistinct, as if she had water in her throat.


    "Ayeum... I remember. I remember you... We were together, always together... Ayeum... I remember, but only faintly... So long ago..."


    Silence. Only the distant sounds of the sea, the whistling wind, and the rustling of the shrubs. Suddenly, it felt as if a cool hand gripped my neck, like a lump of ice running down my back. A squelching noise was faintly sounding in the distance. But it grew louder.


    It was coming from the hole! This couldn''t be! Joo must have noticed it too, as she began to scream, just like her sister had before.


    "There... there is something... in the darkness... it''s coming... It''s coming, I hear it..."


    I heard Joo, from afar, crawling, sliding over the wet ground, panicking and out of her mind.


    "I hear it... see it ... OH GOD! WHAT ARE YOU? Help... HELP! I WANT TO GET OUT OF HERE! I WANT TO GET OUT OF HERE! WHERE... WHERE AM I...? OH, GOD, WHAT ARE YOU! HELP ME, HEL..."


    She started to shriek inhumanly before something silenced her, something that was now with her. I was relieved that I couldn''t see it. I just heard its dull, squelching noise and watery gurgling.


    Then... nothing.


    We never heard a sound from Joo ever again.


    But after a few moments, the squelching noise reached my ears again. It... grew louder. Approached.


    Something was coming towards us from beyond the darkness beneath us.


    In a daze, I stared into the blackness, only noticing that the putrid stench was getting stronger. Something grabbed my arm, pulled me up, along with Ayeum, and I almost fainted from fear.


    Had it caught us?


    "RUN," Hyeon yelled, dragging us away.


    I don''t remember much about the following minutes. I think that''s for the best. We ran through the forest, just the three of us. I''m still surprised that Ayeum fled with us and didn''t stay there. But a part of her remained in that cave under the mountain, a part that had been with her since birth... When we reached our viewing platform, we collapsed onto the stone seats. I checked Hyeon''s wound and tended to him, while Ayeum stared into emptiness with lifeless eyes.


    It didn''t take long for the men from the town, whom Deiji had alerted, to arrive to safe Joo from the cave. Her father and grandfather were among them, too. At first, they were livid, but when we recounted what had happened, they grew uncomfortably quiet. They didn''t deem us crazy, didn''t scream at us anymore, and demanded to know what had occurred in more and more detail. When we finished, they just looked at us with deep sadness in their eyes. In their gazes now lay the certainty that Joo was dead. And something else was in there ¨C a distant fear of what we had heard down in the mountain and what had torn Joo away from us in the end.


    Ayeum couldn''t believe they weren''t going to search for Joo. She screamed at her father, but her grandfather grabbed her shoulders and forced her to look directly into his old eyes.


    "You foolish, stupid kids! What have you done? You can count yourselves lucky that you''re still breathing. That you''re still who you are! Don''t you know what lurks here in the hills down in the caves? Haven''t you listened to what I told you? You stupid, stupid children! Do you seriously believe the old stories are just fairy tales?"


    Ayeum had started crying again, and tears were running down my cheeks as well. She did not even seem to hear him.


    "We have to go back; we have to get her... What am I going to do without her? She was always there, always with me. Since the beginning... What am I going to do without her? How can I live without her...?"


    "Old stories? What are you talking about? You don''t seriously believe we encountered a Mulgda? Joo is dead, and you give us that shit?"


    The words had come from Hyeon, who had spat on the ground beside him. He got up and walked towards Joos''s grandfather.


    "Those are just tales to warn us about foolishness like this. About gaps in the mountain or slippery cliffs. But there are no monsters anywhere. Don''t treat us like children; we''re not kids anymore. We can still go back and get her..."


    Joo''s father, his expression marked by deep grief and suppressed anger, stepped up to him and slapped him across the face. I screamed, and Ayeum screamed too.


    The men surrounding us, who had looked bewildered and shocked until now, erupted into wild chatter. But Hoon, one of Ayeum''s father''s coworkers, who had joined group to help him save his daughter, thundered through the air, silencing everyone.


    "QUIET! BE QUIET! This, right here, is a moment you should never forget! Remember Joo! Remember her and remember what took her in the end! Foolishness and recklessness led her to fall into that hole, but in the end, it was something else that ripped her away from us! You''re allowed to be angry; you''re allowed to grieve! I grieve too! My heart is torn apart when I think about what a wonderful girl Joo was, the joy she brought us. My soul burns with anger at this injustice."


    Joo''s father also spoke to us now, and his gaze often wandered to Hyeon, lying on the ground.


    "Children, if the circumstances were different, I''d be filled with hatred for you because you were so foolish and arrogant, venturing into places where you had no business to be! Places you had been warned about!"


    He looked into my eyes, and I almost threw up from guilt.


    "I''m angry and sad. But I also know that something like this happens every few generations. It happens to remind us that something endures in the mountains. Deep within the rocks. That the past is still here, resting beneath the hills, and occasionally, it sends its nightmares up to us..."


    The twins'' grandfather nodded bitterly, and Hoon added with a shudder:


    "When I was little, something similar happened. Back then, someone was also lost. It happens every few generations and reminds us: This place... something is here! Listen to the stories people tell! And pass them on, so they''re not forgotten..."


    With these words, which still echo in my ears, they turned and silently walked back to the town below. After some time, we followed them and didn''t look back. The loss of Joo spread like wildfire, and a new story has been told to the children in Gipeun before bedtime since then.


    In the following years, as oil drilling rigs were erected and mine shafts were dug into the rocks, men also disappeared in the tunnels from time to time, but that was mostly dismissed as an accident. They couldn''t afford to stop working and return to hunger. I never ventured further into nature than our viewing platform again. Despite the experiences, I could remember Joo there, whenever I wanted. So that I didn''t forget her.


    You''re probably wondering why I told you in such detail about that experience, probably thinking I''m crazy. Oh, Joon-Ho, maybe I am. But I had to tell you. I had to tell you what I heard deep down in that hole, had to tell you what happened to me in old Young-soo''s house. Both events were important and taught me something: There was a lot of truth in the old stories told in Gipeun. Stories of Gosa, the remnants of people who took their own lives, of Mulgda, the creatures in the tunnels. And of the Whisperers in the Night. You''ve probably never heard of these things, at least not from me. I''ve always kept you away from fairy tales and legends, forbade you to read them. You''ve always hated me for that, for not allowing you to read anything exciting, even though you wanted to... My dear Joon-Ho, I was just afraid of what might be true in those stories you wanted to see.


    I hope you understand that, especially after what I''m about to tell you. About your father, what happened to Gipeun, and how I managed to bring you to South Korea to see you grow up safely and without hunger. I''m sorry for going off on a tangent, Joon-Ho, but I want to tell you everything that might be important to understand it all... To understand me...

 From the Deep

    Nearly twenty years had passed since Joo''s death, and there I was, sitting on our viewing platform, lost in the past and focused on that little trail that had led us to terror. With sadness, my gaze wandered in the direction of the hidden plateau, the flowers, and... Joo''s remains, if they hadn''t been digested long ago. I also thought of Jia, the chubby little Jia who had grown into a beautiful but sickly woman that had died far too young during the miscarriage of her daughter. I thought of Hyeon and Deiji, who had gotten married and lived down near the sea, and of Ayeum, who still remained in her old house with her father and was decaying more and more on the inside due to her loss. Finally, I managed to tear myself away completely from my thoughts and looked back at Gipeun and the adjacent sea.


    The bay that bordered our hometown was vast and entirely surrounded by rocky, mountainous hills, all at least as large as the one on which our viewing platform was located at. Beyond the land, the ocean lurked greedily, giving me dizzy vibes just looking at it. Dirty and foamy, it lay there that evening, seemingly digesting all the waste and ignorance of the people, waiting for careless sailors to drag into its gurgling depths. Pale lights shimmered on the black surface of the sea, reminding me of all the men who ventured out there daily on their small boats to defy the sea and bring us fish so that hunger wouldn''t completely overwhelm us. The city itself was not brightly lit; there was no real electricity, and only in the city center could one find a few small lanterns cutting through the night.


    My gaze wandered to our neighborhood. I thought of you, Joon-Ho, sleeping next to my mother, and how much I loved you. How much I hoped you could grow up in a different place than this stinking, rotten part of the country. I finally decided to go back home and began to make my way down the mountain, leaving the viewing platform behind. My path led me past the desolate slopes, back to the town and down the hills.


    Perhaps I should have gone straight home, immediately back to you, but something inside me prompted me to take a detour through the harbor. To breathe the sea breeze up close one more time. Besides, I often went to the sea and looked out when your father was away overnight, out there between the waves. I missed him a most when he worked out there for days ¨C toiling for us.


    Soon, I walked past houses that were built from dilapidated wood and old clay, some roofed with straw, some protected by bricks, huddled in the night, the small plots surrounded by fences. On my way to the harbor, I passed by gardens that had been planted everywhere to at least secure some food for the upcoming winter. Dim oil lamps shone from some of the houses into the night, and I could hear the families inside, laughing or more often arguing, and occasionally, something being thrown against a wall and shattering loudly. Once again, I was reminded of what a hellish place all of this was around me. I liked the people, the community, but the place itself... the circumstances were numbing and threatened to desensitize me even back then. You know I was very emotionless towards you, Joon-Ho, never really ready for a joke and always withdrawn. I think one of the reasons is that Gipeun''s bleakness rubbed off on me. I''m sorry that I couldn''t show you what you mean to me and how much I love you, but you will never understand me, because you didn''t experience what the city did to me. What the city did to everyone... And what invaded into the houses and the people. It began on that evening, I''m sure of it.


    When I finally finished my walk to the sea, I paused for a moment to catch my breath.


    I stood on the only small piece of coastline that was not rocky or lined with quay walls but still consisted of the old sand, that had been washed ashore a long time ago. Algae and dirty pieces of driftwood were scattered around me, covered in oily slime, and it smelled strongly of dead fish¡ªthe scent that the fishing boats brought with them after they had taken the sea''s inhabitants, only to kill and eat them later. Fish, just like rice, grains, and cabbage, was one of the main food sources in Gipeun, but the fishing business always seemed dirtier and more disgusting to me than any harvest could ever be.


    My eyes wandered over the water and the small waves that brought back garbage and waste from the depths of the sea to the shore, where it all lay like a warning, although no one seemed to care. And there, on the horizon, where the gray sky met the ugly greenish waves and their foam caps, bathed in the last rays of the evening sun, it seemed like there was an abyss, slowly unsettling my stomach. I had often stood there during my evening walks on that decrepit beach¡ªor on one of the hills that ended in cliffs next to the city and seemed to fall into the sea¡ªbut today, looking at the vast water and the unseen depth below it made me feel even more uncomfortable than usual. Wasn''t something moving over there among the foam caps? I could have sworn I spotted something, a massive body... but of course, I knew that whales weren''t usually found so close to the coast, so I must have imagined it. It also seemed like I briefly heard a voice in the wind, softly whispering and murmuring from the unknown abyss of the sea, up to me. It made me think again: Was your father okay? Was everything all right? Had he been caught in yesterday''s storm? I felt worse and worse, and a sudden fear made my breaths more erratic, so I eventually decided to go back to the city to get away from the water.


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    I hastily left the beach and headed home, taking a shortcut through the docks where workers and sailors were loading their catch and, in some cases, crews were loading goods onto some cargo boats. They recognized me in part and didn''t bother me further, knew me because of your father and his great reputation. As I passed a large stack of wooden crates containing various goods, I suddenly could hear frightened curses. The cargo blocked my view, and a horribly biting odor, sulfurous and putrid, reached my nose, forcing me to hold my hand over my face to avoid retching. I had inhaled the fishery stench all my life and thought that no smell would ever get to me again.


    But this unspeakable stench of evil...


    What could it be?


    Finally, I managed to tear myself away from the foul smell and focused on the panicked voices, which were still heatedly discussing something. Although they were quite loud, the wind had started blowing even stronger, and the rising roar of the sea mixed with the men''s words.


    "...not far off the coast... entire catch... dead, just dead... came home empty-handed..."


    What were they talking about? What stank so horridly? I decided to sneak around the crates and get a clearer picture of the situation. Slowly, I leaned against the solid wood and began to circle the huge pile. Part of me was screaming at me to just go home, but what if there was news that also concerned your father? I just had to get closer! I could see that a small group of fishermen was standing near a small cutter moored at the quay. The tiny boat looked old and had probably lived through many storms and rough seas, as I could see brown rust spreading like a cancerous growth all over its metal. The men themselves were wearing raincoats and old rubber boots, as was customary for them, and their bushy, tousled beards made them appear wild and untamed.


    I knew the cutter and its crew, but not well. Because my contemptible father had once been one of the fishermen who set sail daily, I harbored a certain aversion towards these people, even though I had married one of them. Joon-Ho, you must know, your father was something special, not as bad and deranged as these figures I saw there...


    It didn''t help that the gruesome stench was growing stronger. I continued to hold my hand on my face to protect my mouth and nose from the foul air, but it didn''t help much. However, the conversation of the men was now more intelligible, and I could follow their discussion more closely.


    "...and this reeking smell! Disgusting!" cursed one of them.


    "You wanted to take it with you! If it had been up to me, we would have thrown it back into the depths! Such a thing doesn''t belong here, not on land, not on the surface! It''s a spawn of the deep sea, I tell you!" another one retorted bitterly.


    The last one seemed disturbed and stuttered heavily.


    "I-It''s not from the deep sea, I think. I m-m-mean, it''s not that deep here. Maybe a th-th-thousand meters? How could it have gotten here? With the ocean currents?"


    "I don''t know, damn it! It doesn''t even look entirely like a... yeah, like a fish! Completely deformed! No wonder it''s dead. Natural selection," the first one added.


    "Th-thank goodness it''s not alive anymore..."


    "What should we do with it? Show it around? Who would want to see such an ugly, malformed... whatever it is? On the other hand, you know the stories of those things that used to wash up here in storms. Slimy, shapeless bodies... Perhaps we should show it around after all?"


    "No! Of course not, that would only trigger panic and superstition. Those stories are just nonsense, but many still believe in them. I know you both do, you old fools! But this, it looks completely different from what they supposedly found from time to time..."


    "So... what then? What should we do? We should burn it! That''s probably the best solution!"


    "Y-yes, let''s burn it..."


    "No, we should keep it..."


    My attention was finally drawn to a misshapen bundle that had been placed not far from the men and was still dripping wet. However, I could also see a yellowish-brown thick liquid oozing from it and staining the pier. I didn''t want to know what lay wrapped in the old tarp on the ground. But the foul stench undoubtedly came from whatever was hidden inside.


    Suddenly, I saw the tarp move. At first, I thought it was just the wind, but then I could see a bluish, dimly glowing piece slowly emerging from the tarp. It looked like a deformed fin with small anemone-like growths and pustules feeding on it. Thank goodness I still had my hand pressed to my mouth, because it was the only way I could suppress my scream. For a moment, I stared in horror at the bundle, which was now slowly twitching, while the men, who were only a few steps away, started arguing.


    "Hey, that''s enough now, you moron! I''m telling you, we''ll burn it!"


    "Try to take it away with your puny hands, you stinking oaf! Let''s see how far you''ll get! I''ve had enough of your incompetence..."


    "St-stop it, no one here will..."


    I turned around and made my way as inconspicuously as possible away from the docks and the crates, away from the sailors and their musty, stinking thing they had foolishly pulled from the abyss. I didn''t want to know how the situation would unfold, but the panicked, piercing scream and loud yelling behind me hastened my steps until I couldn''t smell the stench and couldn''t hear the roaring sea anymore.

 Black Waters

    The incident by the sea had deeply disturbed me, and I fell asleep restlessly when I arrived back home. You, as always, slept beside me, and your presence gave me solace, allowing me to push aside what I had witnessed. It must have been nothing, just a silly quarrel among sailors and a dead thing from the deep sea that had ventured too close to the surface. That happened sometimes. Very, very rarely, but not never. Whether it was a strange fish with an odd growth or a whale with the marks of large suction cups on its body, every few years, you''d find remnants of the depths of the ocean. Almost as if it wanted to remind you that it was there, lurking.


    Your peaceful breathing relaxed me, Joon-Ho, it always did. I admired your calm sleep, despite the sometimes terrible things happening around you. You gifted me with yet another unexpectedly peaceful, dreamless sleep that night, and I woke up late the next morning. Your father still hadn''t returned, and your grandmother had already left to help her friend repair some window shutters, so I decided to visit Deiji and talk to her about the previous night. I just had to tell someone, someone I trusted with my life. So, I held you close and made my way down to the harbor district.


    During the day, the Gipeun didn''t look much more inviting than it did in the evening. People were now tending to their gardens, hoping for a successful harvest before winter to make ends meet, and a few were taking care of the animals they kept - chickens and rabbits, but occasionally also a dog. As I looked at the grim, focused faces on my way down, faces that, like mine, knew little in life beyond work and the fear of illness, weather, and starvation, I held you tightly. I cursed silently, knowing that you, too, would grow up in this hell, that one day you''d be squatting somewhere in the dirt, watering a few measly cabbage heads while crushing snails and other pests. I am infinitely grateful that I now know you were spared from this fate, Joon-Ho. I''m glad you''re growing up in a better country, but back then, those thoughts burned my soul.


    I greeted the people I recognized. I knew some of the townsfolk, had grown up with a few, helped them with household chores as a child, or looked after their animals. Others I had encountered while doing my community work all over the city. There was something that bound me to them, a network of solidarity that had grown with me throughout my whole life. Though the town was pure hopelessness, the community was the only safety there was. Next to family, of course.


    It was a long way down, but eventually, I arrived at Deiji''s house. She and Hyeon had married more than ten years ago and had moved into Hyeon''s parents'' house together. A small part of me quietly wondered if Joos'' death had ultimately brought them closer. If without our trip everything would have turned out as it had. But, I quickly dismissed those thoughts. I was glad that at least something good had come out of all the horrors. My friends'' house was white and had a front yard with some corn plants growing in it. I knew Deiji treated them with the greatest care, almost as if they were the child she had not been able to have. Holding you close to me, I knocked on the front door and eventually entered. Deiji was sitting at her simple kitchen table, breaking down some ears of grain, probably to bake bread. She was sweating and looked up. She gazed at us, momentarily looking as if she were staring into the distance, but then she smiled and stood up to greet us.


    I sometimes wonder if you remember anything. Her scent? Her voice? What did you take with you from that place, and what did you leave behind? I would like to ask you that, Joon-Ho, but you probably don''t remember anything anymore. After all, you were just a little child, almost a baby...


    "Haru! Are both of you okay? Has Eun come back home yet? Is your mother still in good health?"


    "Yes, we''re doing well. My mother is with Nari, helping her repair some window shutters that were damaged by the storm. Eun is still out at sea, but I''m sure he''ll be back soon. How about you? And Hyeon?"


    "Yes, everything is fine, everything is fine! He''s at the shipyard. I''d love to see him more, but who am I to complain? You''re probably in a similar situation, and even more often..."


    "It''s okay, it''s normal to miss him. That is how life is... Are you baking? Can I help you?"


    Deiji looked across the table, pondered, and sighed.


    "I actually need some water, but I can handle that myself later."


    "I don''t want to stop you from doing your chores! We could go now, together! I have not been at the well for some time, might be good to see the people again..."


    "No, you have the little one to carry, and I don''t want to burden you with an extra trip... It can wait."


    "No, let''s go! I''ll come with you! I just need some company right now. I feel lonely," I pressed her.


    She nodded after a brief pause, grabbed an old, dented tin bucket, and soon we walked down the street. Her presence always comforted me, and I was glad I was not completely alone when your father was away and your grandmother busy. The way down to the well wasn''t long, but we had to navigate a rough road that was more pothole than path, and it was challenging to carry you while trying not to stumble. As Deiji and I slowly made our way across the cracked ground, we suddenly heard an angry shout from one of the houses along the street. Deiji jumped and dropped her bucket, which clanged loudly as it hit the ground. She cursed and quickly picked it up, then looked at me to make sure I hadn''t been similarly startled.


    "Are you okay?"


    "Everything''s fine... Who was that?"


    Deiji didn''t respond but let her weary eyes wander to a half-opened window shutter that looked dilapidated and was now sending loud clattering noises onto the street.


    "That''s the Lee couple. They argue quite often. About money wasted on drinking and about bread that''s no longer enough to fend off starvation. A pitiful couple..."


    I felt uneasy as I noticed Deiji''s oddly sharp tone and the contemptuous glint in her eyes.


    "They have no consideration for others. Imagine if you had dropped your little one? We can consider ourselves lucky that you''re not as jumpy as I am..."


    There was a crash, and another shout rang out, this time filled with more scorn.


    "You bitch, I''ve been working, I want food on the table! Something decent! Not this cabbage slop! Who do you think I am? A bum? Unemployed? Stop being such a lazy piece of shit! Why did I even marry you? You better wash up, you stink! You disgust me!"


    The man''s words made my stomach churn. I felt scared, wanted to get away. It was like hearing my father arguing with my mother, but this was far worse. I was afraid of that malevolent voice, of the anger in those words, afraid it might turn against me. For a moment, I thought I could hear the old Young-Soo, as he called me a stupid brat, hear the gurgling of a bleeding woman...


    "Haru, are you okay? You''re trembling! Are you feeling unwell?"


    I was snapped back to reality as Deiji placed her hand on my shoulder. How had she gotten there? I became scared again, scared that I might black out, and something might happen to you!


    "I''m fine, I just... do you remember Young-Soo?"


    Her sharp gaze suddenly became clear, and sympathy filled her face.


    "That old story...? I see. I understand... Please, Haru, let''s just keep going, forget about this..."


    With a sudden movement, however, the door of the house from which the screams had come was flung open. A man emerged, around forty, with balding short hair, a stubbly beard, and small, venomous eyes. His clothes were loose-fitting; besides his pants and worn-out slippers, he wore only a filthy white shirt. The small cigarette burning in the corner of his mouth flared as he took a drag and marched towards me.


    What did he want?


    For a moment, I thought he was going to charge at us, gone mad and senseless. But his gaze didn''t seek me; instead, it landed on an old, scruffy gray dog. They called him Haeng-Un, and he had been living in a small hollow next to the Hong family''s old fence for almost as long as I could remember. Some of the people passing by had occasionally tossed him bits of food, while others had constructed a makeshift shelter from partially broken wooden crates to shield him from the frequent rains. Thanks to these small acts of kindness, the poor dog had survived. We had all achieved that together!


    Now, however, the enraged man approached Haeng-Un, stood before him, and began to shout:


    "And you, you wretched creature? Barking all day, so I can''t sleep! Eating our food because you''re too dumb to hunt for yourself! WE need the food! There are plenty of rats here, you stinking disgrace! GET LOST!"


    With that, the man kicked at the dog, which yelped loudly and scurried away, hunched over, its whimpers hanging in the air for a long time. Deiji finally pulled me away as onlookers from the surrounding windows tried to see what had happened.


    "Poor Haeng-Un. He never bothered anyone ever. What a drunken idiot!" Deiji hissed.


    I tried to ignore the situation, but it had shaken me deeply. Then, not far from us, we could finally see the small square that housed one of the wells. You know, even though we had rain and snow, the water was often dirty and scarce, especially down by the salty sea. There were indeed some functioning water pipes in Gipeun, further up in my neighborhood at the city''s border, but only the wealthiest could afford to maintain them. So, the clean wells were one of the cornerstones of the port district, and people often came to fetch water there. I myself used a small stream that broke from the rocks at the border with the mountains as a water supply, but I could only do that because I still lived in my parents'' house up on the hill. Nevertheless, I often accompanied Deiji and helped her carry water, so I knew some of the women and children who lined up at the well to exchange news. We finally stood behind Ji-Yeon, a thin, short-haired woman with a reddened and creased face and a hunched posture that made her look at least sixty years old, even though I knew she was barely forty.


    Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.


    "Ah... Yes... You two are here again. How''s the child? Everything the same, Haru? And you, Deiji, have you made progress with your roof tiles?"


    Her voice sounded as warm as always, and she spoke cautiously.


    "I''m in the midst of the renovations," Deiji replied.


    "I''m doing well too. I''m waiting for Eun to return. He''s been at sea for several days now, and I hope nothing has happened to him, especially after the storm... But he''s probably ventured too far out again with the others to reach the richer fishing grounds, and it just takes a long time to come back."


    "Hm, yes, that could be. I remember a few years ago when a ship got caught in the current and was dragged south... The crew didn''t return for almost a month; they had survived on their catch, and soon their teeth fell out, or so they say... But don''t worry, I''m sure Eun will be back home with you soon..."


    Her gaze drifted away, as if she remembered something from a long time ago.


    "South? They''re lucky they weren''t found and hanged by that rotten plague of a people down there," Deiji suddenly spat with disgust in her eyes.


    You must know, Joon-Ho, that even back then, there was hostility between the South and the North. I myself shuddered every time people from down there were mentioned. To me, South Korea was a peninsula of the Western puppeteers who had betrayed our ancient culture and tradition. At least back then. Of course, today, I think differently. Today, I''m glad I went there and did not... But anyway, I understood Deiji''s outburst. I couldn''t blame her for the disgust in her words.


    "Yes, that was lucky... But it didn''t do them any good, did it, coming back without teeth?"


    "No, it didn''t."


    I wanted to change the subject. I didn''t want to expose you to these ideas if I could help it. I know you witnessed a lot in my arms, Joon-Ho, the arguments, the violence... But I still tried to keep you away from it as much as I could.


    "Are you talking about the sea? So you have heard about what happened at the harbor?"


    A woman stepped up behind me, holding two buckets, a neighbor of Deiji''s whom I didn''t know well. Her tone promised gossip, but I wasn''t sure if I was in the mood for it. Unfortunately, Ji-Yeon had already answered, slowly and carefully.


    "No, I haven''t heard. What happened?"


    "People are talking about it everywhere. There was a fight. The sailors, they... well, I''m not sure. It was probably a small fishing boat; they had just come back. They must have quarreled over something, or maybe they were... oh, who knows! Anyway, they apparently slaughtered each other. Like they were gutting fish, except this time it was people. Their entrails were apparently all over the pier... It stank..."


    "Not in front of the child," I snapped.


    "Are you out of your mind?"


    Deiji also glared angrily at the woman.


    "Yes, yes, okay! But that''s how it was. At least that''s what they say. I can''t help it!"


    "Maybe, but I don''t want my daughter to hear about something like that!"


    Still angry, I looked at her, but the woman had already turned around and was telling others about the bodies on the pier. However, it unsettled me that she hadn''t mentioned the thing that the fishermen had brought ashore in their foolishness. Had it not been found? Had it really still been alive and crawled back into the sea...?


    Finally, we arrived at the well. A man from the Ministry of People''s Security stood next to it, watching as the women and children lifted their water from the depths. He ensured that no one took too much, that the well wasn''t completely depleted. There were people like him at all the wells and other places that needed guarding, too. The man looked grim and wore a gray uniform consisting of a jacket with rank insignia, matching pants, and a cap. A small club hung at his side, and its curvature suggested it had often been used. Sometimes he smiled when people thanked him, but such a smile never reached his cold eyes, which continually looked down on us. We knew him; he was often here unless someone else took his shift. You saw security officers like him everywhere. I think his name was Hang-Sun, but I could be wrong.


    We were almost at his side when one of the women in front of us suddenly dropped her freshly filled bucket, letting out a startled cry. The bucket clattered to the ground, and the well water flowed over the ground, eventually seeping away.


    But there... it wasn''t just the water I had seen so often. Something seemed to be swimming in the liquid, a slightly yellowish, barely visible substance that was only briefly visible and then disappeared into the ground. I held you tight as my stomach turned.


    "What was that? Did you see that too?"


    "It was yellow, almost like slime..."


    "Maybe pus? Or bile?"


    "How could that have gotten down there?"


    "It''s in my water too! It''s already dissolving... What''s going on? Yuck! WHAT IS THAT?"


    Loud murmurs erupted, and panic simmered among us. Some of the women who had already filled their buckets flinched as they seemingly noticed something swimming in their water.


    "I don''t know what that is; it smells weird!"


    "I don''t feel well; how long has it been in there?"


    "Yesterday morning, everything was clean, I think, but who pays attention to the water?"


    "It''s dissolved in mine by now; I can''t see it anymore. Is it still there?"


    "Damn, how long has it been in there? Who drank the water?"


    "QUIET!"


    Hang-Sun looked around with a wrinkled nose. I could tell he''d rather be doing something else than watching the women flinch in panic and inspect their freshly filled buckets. Nevertheless, he eventually confronted the woman who had dropped her bucket and ignored the others for the moment.


    "You. Take your bucket and get out of here!"


    "But... the water... I have no water... My boy is sick; he needs something to drink, quickly..."


    "You stupid woman, go to another well! Don''t hold us up! NEXT!"


    He turned to us. We were no more than five steps away from the woman who was now squatting on the ground, digging incredulously into the mud that was the last vestige of her water ration.


    "Please, can''t I have something from here... Please, I''ll take it even if something is in it, please... my boy, he is sick..."


    She crawled toward Hang-Sun and clung to his leg, her dirty face filled with tears.


    "NO, YOU STUPID WOMAN! AWAY!"


    The club came down and struck her in the head. I watched, frozen, as she slumped to the ground, and Hang-Sun pushed her away with his foot. Some red taint clung to his baton.


    All I wanted in that moment was to be somewhere else with you, Joon-Ho. I wanted to be in a place where it was better, where you weren''t exposed to such situations, and I held you tightly to my chest. In my head, a small voice said that I was already in the best country in the world, that it couldn''t get any better. That is what I had always been taught.


    The woman was carried away after Hang-Sun had summoned some old men who had been standing at the edge of the square, watching everything. With lifeless eyes, they dragged the limp body away.


    I never saw that woman again.


    We slowly broke out of our stupor when the official indicated that it was now our turn.


    "You can''t take that. I''ll fetch some from the small stream up above near my house. You can''t drink this! Who knows what''s in it?" I whispered to Deiji so that only she could hear.


    Ji-Yeon was already pulling on the rope; she probably couldn''t afford to forgo a bucket of water, but her bony hands trembled the whole time.


    "Haru, he''d beat us too if we left now... If we''re unlucky... Just look at him! Besides, I can boil it and filter it. It''ll be okay. Don''t worry about it; you have enough to do with the little one..."


    With that, Deiji also approached the well, tied her bucket securely, and lowered it into the depths.


    "Thank you very much!" she said softly to Hang-Sun, bowed slightly, and pulled me away toward the rutted road that would lead us to her house.


    I looked back, back at the line of people, and back at the old well that had provided water for many decades. The stones now looked dark and somehow dim, and the place felt cold and somehow... I don''t know exactly what it was, but I still shiver when I think of that well. Today, I''m pretty sure that there was something down there in the water on that noon, something that would trigger all the misery that would befall the city in the next few days.


    We had barely left the square and walked a few meters up the path when our eyes fell on a small crowd of people huddled around something lying on the ground. Some children were also among them, crying bitterly, but apparently, the others were so shocked that they forgot to keep the little ones away. Every ounce of reason told me to just keep walking, to climb over the potholes and follow Deiji straight to her house, but then I heard the words that made me sick and wish to be home already.


    "Haeng-Un... poor thing... he''d been here for so long..."


    "Who did... this can''t be..."


    "With an axe? Why? Why so many times..."


    "It''s already starting to smell..."


    "Haeng-Un..."


    No, I didn''t want any more cruelty. I just wanted to go home. With you. To cradle you in my old chair and watch my mother as she knitted for us. I wanted to sit with Deiji at a warm plate of soup and relive the joyful times of childhood with her...


    I can''t tell you exactly what had happened, but from the comments... I think it was the aggressive man I had seen before. The one who had marched toward me, or rather toward the dog...


    As I hurried past the crowd, I briefly saw the bloody, grey tattered thing on the ground. Hurriedly, I kept going. Holding on to you probably prevented me from just screaming and running away. I don''t remember how we reached Deiji''s apartment and finally sat down at her table. The tools she had left behind for baking her bread were still on the tabletop, as if nothing had happened.


    But something had happened.


    I could finally cry, and Deiji also stared into nothingness with watery eyes. We didn''t need to say anything; we both knew what we were feeling.


    "What''s happening today, Deiji?"


    "I don''t know, Haru. I don''t know what''s going on. That man, he just... this poor dog. And then that security officer! He was never... so brutal. He usually only used his baton on drunkards. He never had much heart, but he was never a complete monster either... But maybe I''m wrong. I''m so confused..."


    "Me too. A nightmare. If only Eun were here. Or Hyeon..."


    "Everything will be fine, you''ll see. We''ve gotten through everything up until now, together..."


    We had. And we had also experienced many beautiful moments, contrasting this horror. All those past days, just us in the woods, by the cliffs, searching for grasshoppers and dragonflies and flowers...


    Outside, there was a muffled bang.


    Not again...


    Both of us looked at each other, and finally, Deiji glanced at you as you lay on my arm.


    "It''s okay; I''ll see what''s going on again..."


    With that, she got up and went to the front door, pushed it open, and stepped outside. Only the two of us remained. I looked at the table in front of me, then looked at you again. Joon-Ho, I must thank you because you were always a support to me in those times. You were still so small, couldn''t even speak yet, but just because I had you, I probably managed to go on. I saw your little face, your small nose, as you peacefully slept there, wrapped in your blanket. Even back then, I wondered what would become of you, and today, I know and am happy about it. I dreamt of a future where you wouldn''t have to work and toil, where you''d find a man who loved you, just as your father loved me...


    My thoughts allowed me to escape, but then something cut in, soft, whispering voices.


    "Scum... worthless... you should all die... you should be drowned, shouldn''t you... hacked to pieces... lit on fire... Suffocate and bleed... wonder if you can bleed... pain... you shall... pain will be there... only pain... hate you... hate you..."


    I shuddered, but the voices faded quickly. Almost as if they had never been there. But you had started to cry, so... I think, Joon-Ho, you heard it too. I know you sometimes slept poorly, that you had nightmares of a creature whispering dark words to you and wanting to harm you! I always said that there was nothing out there, nothing supernatural or otherworldly that was out to get you. But I lied. Always lied... Something was out there. Many times. The words, the voices¡ªrough like sandpaper and strangely gurgling¡ªcame from the bucket in the corner. The bucket we had brought from the well. The half-rusted metal looked plain, innocent, but I knew... I knew there was something inside. I got up, made sure you had stopped crying, hummed a lullaby and hurried to the door.


    Deiji was sitting outside, cursing as she gathered some pieces of the garden fence that had apparently given way. She grunted, trying to free some jammed wooden pieces that had been too firmly connected with rusty nails.


    "Deiji..."


    "Yes, what is it? Seems like a gust of wind did some damage... Haru, what''s wrong?"


    "The water... don''t drink it. Please! Promise me you''ll pour it out and get new water from the stream up the hill. From the small stream that comes down from the mountains."


    "What? Why...?"


    "Just do it. Please, promise me..."


    I must have looked serious because she quickly promised.


    "Deiji, I want to go home. I''m not feeling well. Please forgive me for not helping with the baking, but..."


    "It''s okay. Go rest. Don''t worry, take care of Joon-Ho and rest..."


    I hugged her tightly, and you let out a joyful chuckle before we headed home.


    "Promise me!" I called back one more time, but Deiji was already focused on fixing the fence and didn''t seem to hear me anymore.

 Old Tales

    The next two days passed somewhat uneventfully - or at least, I didn''t see much of what was happening. I stayed at our apartment and only went out to fetch some mountain water and cook soup for the next few days. So, every news I heard came from your grandmother. There had been some unrest because the well near Deiji''s house wasn''t the only one to have those strange yellow streaks in the water; other wells near the sea had also been contaminated. We sat together in the evening by an old oil lamp that smelled rancid and partially darkened the room with its smoke, casting a dim glow. She sat knitting and squinted to see the stitches, while I had already put you to bed in the adjacent room. Your father still hadn''t returned, and slowly, anxiety began well up inside me. Was he in danger? Had they drifted away and landed in the South, where they had been executed? I needed him, I needed him so badly! Everything else was too terrible... I just needed him! And you, Joon-Ho, I needed you too!


    "Have you heard what they''re saying?" my mother suddenly asked, setting her knitting down on her lap.


    She looked at me with a furrowed brow, as if she expected that I knew what she meant.


    "No, what?"


    "The wells, they''ve been poisoned. They were talking about it today in the gardens near the slopes. I just wanted to check on things, help out as one does, but everyone was in an uproar."


    "What did they say?"


    "I don''t know, it mainly revolved around some things happening down by the shore that aren''t very nice. Not nice at all. They say people from the South are responsible. They must have sneaked across the border. No one knows how many there are, but they must have poured something into the sea near the coast... They say people are getting more aggressive down there. Losing respect for each other. There have always been people who were just sick. People who were poisoned, not by something in the water, but by this place. By their lives..."


    Her expression twisted, and she anxiously looked toward the front door, as if expecting someone to burst in and storm into the room.


    "From the South? That''s terrible!"


    But it made sense. Who else would have contaminated the groundwater? Why else would something emerge from the wells that harmed us?


    But the voices, why had I heard them? Did I also drink something that would harm me?


    Of course, what she said... it troubled me. It troubled me because I knew it was true, even if I didn''t want to believe it. This place, this city, something sick was here, slumbering beneath us, occasionally stretching its jaws to take one of us. But this country... It was the best in the world, wasn''t it? At least, I thought so back then, even though my belief in it was slowly fading with every horror I experienced. The words my mother spoke... If someone had heard them, she would have been taken away. That''s how it was back then. I know you probably can''t even imagine that, Joon-Ho, but it was... like in a different world, where a different, terrible truth prevailed.


    "People from the South... You''ve told me about them. They live like animals, don''t care for each other. Let their children lie in the dirt. Eat each other. You always told me that. Where... where do you know that from?" I carefully asked.


    "Old wives'' tales," my mother said bitterly, "but there''s truth in them, of course. The South is more rotten than this town could ever be. People there only live for themselves and are even poorer than we are. They''re being drained, drained by the monsters in the West, who are draining everything there like leeches, secretive, devious. You know the border is close. Just fifteen kilometers away, and the South begins. Beyond the mountains. Beyond the electric fences and the minefields. It''s not far. Someone could try to come here, unnoticed. Sneak in and harm us."


    "Has it happened often?"


    "No, never. But they''ll surely try one day, now that things are getting worse out there..."


    I had thought about it before but had never witnessed anyone truly crossing over and into the town. I had always assumed the border was well enough secured to protect us. I knew the measures taken for that. No one could cross the death strip, the demilitarized zone... But... what if someone had come? Put something in the water? Dragging us down to their level, so that we lived like rabid maggots as well?


    On the other hand... I had seen something down at the harbor. Had seen something wrapped in a tarp that was still moving...


    "It... I need to ask you something. The... things that sometimes wash up on the beach, after heavy storms and rain..."


    "Also old wives'' tales," my mother cut me off sharply.


    I hesitated, thinking back to that plateau in the mountains, back to Joo''s screams, and the gurgling...


    "But... everyone here knows it. Everyone. Those creatures, what if they were behind it?"


    "Enough of that. Those are just silly stories people tell to keep us from going further out... A sea full of creatures from the depths, waiting to devour sailors. Monsters in the mountains, sliding Mulgda, or whatever... Bah! Those are stories meant to warn us about the world out there. So that children and teenagers like you don''t stray too far and get shot at the border! Just stories! What''s happening today is real! The water was poisoned, and I believe the others when they say it was someone from the South. Who else would do something like this? It''s disgusting and terrible because where else are the people down there going to get their water? Some have started filtering seawater because they no longer want to drink from the wells. Others are desperate and drink it anyway. Yet others dismiss it as a rumor. It''s that scum from the South, I''m sure of it. Who else could be so vile?"


    With that, she turned her attention back to her knitting, and I knew the conversation was over for her.


    But my thoughts were racing. You can guess why, can''t you, Joon-Ho? Because I had been there, in the mountains. On that plateau. I had heard the sounds when Joo died. And I had also heard what had been in old Young-Soo''s leaky room with us. Deep down, I knew there was more to this area, that it wasn''t just vile people from the South, but other ancient things that I didn''t understand. Things that threatened me. And threatened you. You were so young, so innocent, and had already seen and heard more horrors than most people do in their entire lives. I hate myself for not protecting you from them, you have to believe me!


    Your grandmother also knew that there was more to it. I could see it in her face, in her eyes shimmering in the light of the oil lamp.


    She was afraid... Afraid of something she did not dare speak about...


    But I just had to know. I needed to learn more about what was happening here. I had to know so I could protect you from it. And I knew who I had to ask. I knew from whom I might get more answers...


    The next day, I asked my mother to look after you again and set off alone. I dressed warmly because the cloud cover had thickened, and a chilly wind had begun to sweep across the streets. In the distance, I saw some birds flying north, and a strange feeling washed over me. It felt melancholic but also gloomy and hostile, as if the town itself was inhaling to soon unleash a loud roar into the world. I took the road to the outskirts of Gipeun, passing by the desolate sheds and sparse gardens to visit the relatively large house of Ayeum and her family. The path was almost the same as the one I had taken a few days ago to reach our old viewing platform, but just before leaving the town behind, I turned right and walked along a lush green grassy belt and into the Kwon''s garden. As I walked by, I overheard a conversation between two young women who looked up to Ayeum''s property with narrowed eyes and hushed voices.


    Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.


    "Up there, they live so nicely. Where do they get the money? Have you ever wondered?"


    "No, but it is strange. I mean, she''s not even married. Always just sulks! How can she afford all this anyway? Such a lush garden? Such a big house?"


    "I visited them once; they have four rooms! Plus, working water pipes and even candles that don''t smell and smoke like our oil lamps. My pipes are broken, and I have to sit in that stinking smoke every evening, and my eyes hurt..."


    "And then the sunflowers, why does she have so many? They don''t grow so nicely for me!"


    "Yeah, something''s not right, maybe they''re traitors? Maybe they''re getting money from the South? I heard that spies were seen. Down at the harbor. And that they poisoned the water. But they, up there, they have pure mountain water running through their pipes... I''m telling you, this makes..."


    Finally, I was past them and couldn''t hear them anymore. Those two women gave me an eerie feeling. They didn''t care that I overheard everything ¨C they didn''t even bother to lower their voices. I knew that Ayeum, who still lived alone with her elderly father, possessed a bit more than most others in the city. However, this was mainly because the land her house was built on was close to the wooded slopes, making the soil unusually rich and the yield from her property high. The pipes worked, that was true, but that was probably just a matter of luck and not a question of cost. Nevertheless, these circumstances had often led to quiet conversations behind closed doors. Deiji and I had also wondered if everything was on the up-and-up, but today, I''m sure... it was just luck. I also knew that Ayeum never truly enjoyed her home and in her thoughts was still at that pit where her sister had perished all those years ago.


    I briskly walked the last meters to the Kwon''s front door, which was smooth and made of fine wood. It took a moment before Ayeum''s father opened. He was emaciated and trembling. His gray hair looked wild, and a shadow loomed over his eyes, which had grown steadily over the years.


    "Ah, it''s you. Ayeum is in bed. As usual. It''s nice that you''re visiting her again."


    "I... How is she? Am I interrupting?"


    "No, no... Well, she''s had better days. The summer was lovely; she tended to the garden a lot. You know she has a green thumb. She still cares to her sunflowers... I think the garden is her only solace. It reminds her of... you know... I''ll take you to her..."


    "I... actually wanted to see you..."


    He looked surprised and furrowed his brow. His eyes seemed to see me properly for the first time.


    "To see... me? Why?"


    "It''s about... the old stories. I know, I know, but it''s important. I think? The old folks like your father and Hoon knew them best. And you probably know them too, at least most of them..."


    "Yes, I know them. Silly stories. I remember when we found you after... Hoon said it was all a warning, and my father agreed. I believed them. I swallowed down my anger, my rage, my misery. But today... He was an old fool, and Hoon is still spinning his sailor''s tales down by the sea. Old weak men! I should have screamed; I should have beaten Hyeon unconscious. Don''t look at me like that; I know it was him! He always had nonsense in his head. He incited all of you to venture out too far! Who else? You all followed him... My father''s ashes are rotting buried out there in the ground, and with him, his clinging to all the tales he always told. All that remains is me and Ayeum, both broken! Tell me, why do you want to hear these terrible stories? Do you want to scare your daughter with them soon, so she''s not foolish enough to wander too far into the mountains? So you won''t lose her to a stupid boy''s ideas?"


    He spoke calmly and sounded more sad and exhausted than angry, but his words also carried an underlying sharpness.


    "It... No, yes, maybe. It''s about my daughter, yes, but not like you think. I believe something terrible is happening down by the sea..."


    I hesitated and looked at him. Should I tell him everything? Should I tell him that it was suspected that South Korean scum had infiltrated us and poisoned the wells? That people were becoming more aggressive and suspicious because they were drinking some filth since they had no other water? But... what if Ayeum''s family really had a deal with the South? What if they were traitors? What if the two women were right, and this old broken man and his shattered daughter were actually against us?


    Nonsense. Terrible thoughts that I hate myself for nowadays.


    "They say the wells are poisoned. With something that makes people angry. They are strangely furious and hateful; there''s violence... They say it''s people from the South who are responsible..."


    "South Korean scum? Damn it! Only filth and corruption come from beyond the border!"


    The man''s features hardened, and he spat on the ground.


    "That is horrifying! But what does it have to do with the stories?"


    "It... I believe maybe there could be something in the tales that... provides a better explanation. My mother told me there have never really been intruders here, so I just don''t know if perhaps..."


    "Something else is responsible? Come on. You can''t possibly believe..."


    "The water. Do the old stories mention anything about the water?"


    He paused, thinking.


    "No," he said plainly.


    "And about voices? Are there stories about voices?"


    Silence. He thought about it as well.


    Suddenly, he twitched.


    "That... yes. But what does that have to do with all of this? I thought it was about poisoned water?"


    "Please, tell me about it. Please!"


    Finally, he gave in, bewildered, and slowly led me to his kitchen table.


    We sat down hesitantly, and he stared at his ridged fingernails for a while before looking up and sighing.


    "The Whisperers. There are stories about Whisperers in the night. What do you want to know about them, child?"


    "Well, everything! I''ve never heard of them before. I don''t know many of the stories; my mother mostly just told me about the Mulgdas in the mountains. I don''t remember much else. I still know about Gosas, but other than that... It''s been a long time, and I think I just wanted to forget..."


    "Whisperers... Well, those were very vague stories. Not very embellished, not very profound. I think they were told to keep children from going outside at night or leaving the shutters open. The Whisperers in the night... They''re said to be evil, godless devils who whisper hateful, hostile words and wait to snatch those who venture outside too late at night. To take all those who don''t close the shutters, so they can float into the rooms and... I don''t remember anymore. Maybe eat the children? It was something terrible like that. But it''s also said that they''ve disappeared a long time ago, so long that not even a memory of their appearance remains. Maybe they were never here, they say. Maybe they''ve always been in another place, a place before. Maybe they were just a legend from a time when we didn''t live here yet, but somewhere else... Nonsense! Who knows what that''s supposed to mean! But that''s how they tell the story. Well, does it help you?"


    The whispering I had heard. Was that one of those... beings? But it hadn''t happened at night. Not in front of a window. They had whispered to me from a bucket. What did that mean? It did not fit...


    "Thank you, you have helped me a lot," I lied.


    It was an ominous story, but it just didn''t fit. Just an old wives'' tale... Back then, I thought it was just a coincidence. A silly coincidence that I thought I had heard whispers, a delusion produced by my confused mind because of the terrible events I had witnessed. A silly coincidence that there was a similar story. Oh, Joon-Ho, I still don''t know what was true about the Whisperers in the night. But I''m pretty sure they were more than just a silly tale, because... But let''s take it step by step...


    The old man and I sat in silence for a moment, but there was something else I needed to know. Something I had never dared to ask him...


    "You said you wanted to beat up Hyeon back then. Have you forgiven him over the years? Forgiven us?"


    He looked at me for a long time, thought deeply, and seemed tired again.


    "I... a part of me has forgiven him. All of you. But there''s something else. A small, tiny place inside me that''s blind with anger, hatred, and disgust. It''s not even that I directly associate it with all of you. But it''s there, lingering and festering since that day. I would love to say that everything is long gone, that all is forgiven and forgotten. It would almost be the truth, even. But this small part... this scar that the death of my daughter left in me. It still bleeds now and then..."


    I thought back to the plateau. Thought about the cave. About Ayeum, thrashing around like crazy. Hyeon, holding her down...


    "Hyeon saved Ayeum back then. She would have jumped after Joo if he hadn''t held her down. I don''t know if we ever told you. Actually... we never talked about it, did we?"


    "No. It''s good to know that he saved Ayeum, but it doesn''t change anything in me. Those are just words that do not reach that dark place in my heart... I''m tired. Please go now. And don''t come back for a while."


    His suddenly harsh tone stabbed me like a dagger. Tears welled up inside me.


    "I''m sorry. Thank you for the story."


    I could hardly speak. I felt both cold and warm. His judging eyes burned me. Quickly, I turned to leave and hurried out of the house.


    It had started to rain lightly. I was glad for it because that way, people couldn''t see my tears.

 Ghost Lights

    The sun didn''t make an appearance throughout the day, and the clouds continued to gather densely in the sky. It hadn''t rained enough to create puddles, and I kept thinking about the people down by the shore who had likely done everything they could to catch a few drops. In the afternoon, I knelt in our garden, trying to find and remove the small plants that were trying to steal the good soil from our cabbages. You were not far away, wrapped in blankets and lying in a basket. I wanted to play with you, but we needed the cabbage. Some of the passersby reported fights down at the docks, brawls and even some spilled blood.


    "That bastard snuck in here and tainted the water! Just because they have nothing themselves in their rat-infested land!" spat someone as they passed by.


    Others carried filled buckets. Presumably, they had started carrying water from the mountain streams down to the houses below. However, there weren''t enough people to even come close to supplying the people and gardens near the harbor... I quickly brushed these terrible thoughts away. Guilt plagued me. I hated myself because I hadn''t objected to our adventure back when we were young. Would Joo still be with us?


    "Hello, my flower," a voice said from behind me.


    I jumped and looked up.


    Finally! Your father had returned! Eun stood there at the garden gate, his face dirty, and his hair tousled from the wind and weather, still wrapped in his coat that he usually wore at sea. His boots were dripping, and he looked tired and sad, but when he spotted you in your basket, he beamed.


    I miss him so much, Joon-Ho! I wish you could have met him...


    I quickly ran to him and hugged him. I could feel his warmth, but he flinched slightly when I wrapped my arms around him.


    "Is everything okay?" I asked cautiously.


    "It... It was a tough and long journey. We lost Seok..."


    He now trembled and looked at me intensely.


    "What? How?"


    "I... Let me tell you inside. Not here. The people seem so... I don''t know. When we docked, they swarmed us like vultures, asking questions. Whether we came from the South. Whether we had someone on board we had picked up somewhere. Whether we had been away for so long because we had in reality not gone fishing but smuggled food away. Nonsense. The people were hostile, as hostile as I''ve never seen anyone before. They tried to take our catch from us, said it didn''t belong to us, and cursed us as filthy traitors. Madness! The port authorities helped us. I think we were almost attacked. After everything... Well. The catch is unloaded, and the ship is in the harbor. The others said they want to go home too, but I think they''re going somewhere to have a drink together. I can''t blame them..."


    He flinched again.


    "Is everything all right? What''s going on?"


    Wordlessly, he stepped back and rolled up his sleeve. A dirty cloth was wrapped around his upper arm, a makeshift bandage that seemed to cover a wound.


    "But... what? What happened? You''re injured! How, what? What happened? Please, tell me!"


    "Inside."


    His voice now sounded determined, and I got the feeling that it would be better to go inside with you two. I took you in my arms and headed toward the door when I noticed a group of children walking up the street, looking at us with a dark, hostile faces. I quickly got inside the house. When I locked the door behind Eun, he looked at me with a furrowed brow.


    "I think we both have a lot to tell each other some things, don''t we?"


    I nodded slowly and began to heat up some soup for him while he looked after you.


    "We were... gone for too long. I know that. But out there... we saw things, experienced things that you probably won''t believe. But I''ll tell you anyway."


    He started speaking slowly, almost hesitating, but as I nodded to encourage him, he continued more steadily.


    "When we set out, no one expected what would await us. The sea was calm, the weather mild. Everything indicated that we would have a peaceful voyage. The only concern on our minds was whether we would catch enough fish... As usual, we set a course northeast, away from the mainland, towards the center of the East Sea. We even were lucky with the wind, so we could hoist the sails and make progress without the auxiliary motor. Everyone was eager. Seok and I took care of preparing the nets and made sure everything was in order. Hoonmin was at the helm on the bridge, steering the Haenim out to sea. Jisoo helped with navigation, and Jinsung scrubbed the deck. The boy has potential, but everyone starts small, as you know. So, it was really just like any other time... The sun was soon on the horizon, and we had left the mainland far behind. The night brought many stars, a clear sky, and sparkling shooting stars, and I thought of both of you as I looked up there. I wished that things would get better soon. That we would make a big catch and get through the winter well... But there was also doubt within me, the creeping certainty that it would never really get better..."


    "It''s enough for us that you''re here... You know that..."


    "Yes, and I''m infinitely glad about that... I''m glad I have you... You two are everything to me and those thoughts always drive me onwards... The next two days were similar - good weather, but the fish remained absent. We ventured further and further out, but no matter how many times we cast our nets, nothing. Absolutely nothing. No seabream, no squid, no herring. Just algae and trash. With time, we became increasingly disheartened...


    We were almost relieved when a slightly stronger wind started blowing on the fifth day. The Haemin swayed, and we made our way through increasingly foamy waves. Restlessness gripped the sea more and more, and dark clouds began to gather. The spray splashed onto the deck, and we had to put on our rain gear, or we would have been soaked from head to toe. Eventually, the sky on the horizon turned pitch black. A mighty storm was brewing. When we saw the clouds, we decided to turn back. It wasn''t worth being torn apart by breakers. So, we began the journey home..."


    "But something got in the way..."


    "Yes. The current became unusually strong towards evening and dragged us toward the storm. We had to reel in the sails and nets and try to steer against it with the motor. Everyone worked at full throttle. As distant flashes flickered through the pitch-black clouds on the horizon, a growing fear crept over us. The darkness of the sky and the approaching night felt like impending, watery death. My breath quickened, and I exchanged worried glances with the others. ''This will be a big storm! We can''t escape! The motor doesn''t have enough power!'' I shouted, my voice almost drowned out by the roaring wind. Hoomin and Jisoo nodded, their eyes reflecting the same concern, their faces radiating fear of what was to come. You know, we''ve experienced many storms before! We''ve faced the fury of nature before, but... this felt different, more like a premonition. It was as if something out there intended to kill us, to make us atone for unknown sins. With desperate haste, we began to reel in the last net, every muscle fighting against the storm''s onslaught. Everyone pitched in, even Jinsung, who looked like he was about to throw up, but the boy held on. Everyone suffered injuries..."


    This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.


    He gestured to his bandaged arm and clenched his teeth.


    "The rain soon whipped at us, and the waves, monstrous and vengeful, grew higher with each passing minute. The Haenim groaned and shuddered, as if begging the sea for mercy, and she was tossed around more and more. Our net finally came on board, filled to the brim with a bountiful catch - a cruel twist of fate because it meant we were burdened and thus even more vulnerable..."


    "Fish in such weather? How can that be? I thought fish dive deeper when a storm approaches?"


    "I don''t know. It wasn''t the only thing that troubled us. The fish... they weren''t ordinary fish. They were all completely covered with pulsating ulcers and pock-like growths. You could barely tell they were fish... once. Yellow pus ran onto the deck, and a rancid smell of decay, biting vinegar, and rot flooded over us, but the rain washed it all back into the depths."


    I looked at him in shock. What had been out there, beneath the waves? In the depths of the ocean? And... was it still there, now?


    "It was a complete mess. This... catch... played a cruel trick on all of us. I thought I heard biting, nasty voices in the carcasses, but it was over as quickly as it had begun. Seok covered his ears, and Jinsung couldn''t take it anymore and vomited over the railing. But we didn''t have time to wonder. The first lightning soon split the sky right above us, illuminating the turmoil surrounding us. Eventually, we had shoveled most of the dead fish overboard when the sea reared up, and larger and larger waves rose around us. Thunder kept crashing through the air, mocking our defiance.


    ''We need to find shelter!'' Jisoo shouted, his distorted voice barely audible over the wind and rain. But where could we find refuge in this desolation? Desperation tugged at me as I wrestled with the motor, trying to give the Haenim at least some maneuverability back. Every wave we shot over, like a nutshell, felt like a titan threatening to swallow us. More and more fear gripped me, but I couldn''t let the sea win..."


    "How did you get out of it? How...?"


    He shuddered suddenly.


    "It was... suddenly silent."


    "Silent?"


    "The rain whipped at our faces, we couldn''t see anything, we were carried over a big wave, and then... Nothing..."


    "Nothing?"


    "Before us was just a calm sea. No storm. No waves. But the stench, it intensified a thousandfold..."


    "I don''t understand. Darling, how can that be?"


    "I don''t know. I just... don''t know. Behind us, we still saw a dense curtain of rain, saw the liquid mountains raging... but we ourselves were sailing on a water surface smoother than I had ever seen..."


    "So, it was a calm? Were you in the eye of the storm? You all were really lucky!"


    "No. It wasn''t the eye... At least not as you know it. When I say it was a smooth sea surface, I mean just that. Not a single, tiny ripple. Not a bit of sea foam. No wind, not even a breeze..."


    "But that''s not possible..."


    "No. And yet, that is how it was. The motor propelled us forward, slowly, away from the rain curtain behind us. It was as if we were driving over a muddy mirror. And in the distance, there seemed to be a green, pulsating glow that illuminated the ocean and made the night shimmer dimly. It was a dirty glow, and I felt sick just looking at it... Suddenly, everyone was talking, still marked by the shock and strain of the storm... Then...


    ''Ghost lights. They warned me about them. A long time ago.''


    Although Seok had said it more to himself, we all fell silent when we heard it..."


    I couldn''t believe what he was saying. I had never heard of such things. But then again, I had repressed most of the old tales...


    "Ghost lights? What are those supposed to be? Dead souls trying to lure others into the heart of the sea?"


    I swallowed. Ghost lights... It sounded ridiculous, and yet after everything that had happened, I didn''t feel like doubting anything.


    "No, Haru. That wasn''t it. I don''t know for sure either. I''d never heard of them myself. My father used to spin a lot of sailor''s yarn, but I''d never heard of lights like these. No idea what they were. But Seok believed he knew... He told us that there were warnings about them. Warnings from ancient times. That a glow in the sea and a whisper in the wind brought doom and great danger..."


    Whispers! Whispering... again! What was the meaning of it? What did it signify? I knew it was nothing good, of course, but what exactly... what did it all mean?


    To this day, I don''t know.


    Your father continued before I could finish my thoughts, and I just listened to his words, to his voice that I had missed so much...


    "Seok told us - like he often told us things he had heard somewhere. He loved all these horror stories. He probably made up many himself, but a few, a few he probably heard from others. He said they were called ghost lights not because they were real lights, but because they were like the last flicker of dead spirits. A final glimmer of souls before they... Oh, I don''t know. It was quite jumbled. But he also said they were an omen of death and destruction. To underscore it, a murmuring swelled in the air, growing louder and more malicious. Infinitely hostile..."


    "That''s awful! What did they say? Or do you not want to talk about it...?"


    "We couldn''t understand them; there were too many. But there was hatred in the wind. Hatred in the water. Disgust. I can''t say exactly what... The glow... It got closer. The voices... They invaded our hearts. At least, that''s how it felt. Seok... He suddenly screamed. Screamed and screamed... As if he were burning alive... Then he just threw himself overboard. Just like that. He went under like a stone, disappeared into the depths. The rest of us... we barely noticed it. There was so much evil in the air. Pulling at us. The glow grew brighter, brighter, and the voices louder and louder..."


    "And then...?" I asked, full of concern but also horrifically intrigued.


    "Nothing. I don''t remember more. The next thing I recall is that I woke up, and we were adrift amid a light swell. The others were just regaining their senses too... It could have been a bad dream... if Seok hadn''t disappeared..."


    "My goodness... That sounds terrible..."


    "Yes. Well... we decided to head back - obviously. Jisoo used the stars to navigate. We had gone very far out. But eventually, we made it back. We even had a good catch on the way back..."


    His voice trailed off, and he looked at you, Joon-Ho, with all his love. You were sleeping soundly and peacefully. I think you sensed that he was back...


    "I only made it through because I wanted to come back to you two, I think. I''m so glad you''re all right..."


    I hugged him as tightly as I could, pressed myself against his chest. It was good that he was back, despite the circumstances.


    "But, enough about the sea... Darling, now please tell me what happened here! What is going on?"


    And so, I told him. He listened, his face tense. He believed everything, and I was relieved.


    "The water... it sounds like what was in those... fish was in the water as well. Do you really think it comes from the South? How could they cause such an event at sea? It''s beyond human capability..."


    "Yes, probably. I don''t know either. But the water here, it''s dangerous. We must be cautious. We mustn''t drink anything offered to us. And we must protect Joon-Ho from it. I almost believe... that there''s something out there that''s been here for a long time, but has otherwise been asleep. Underground. All these stories, all these terrible myths... Someone once told me they were warnings, warnings about things and beings out there. Outside the town. But perhaps they''re invading here now... Or were they always here? Eun, I... I''m desperate. What if something takes Joon-Ho? What if these Whisperers or the Mulgda or a Gosa or..."


    "Hey. Everything will be fine, we''ll make it. In case... In case we''ll leave."


    He hugged me again. It was good to finally feel safe, even though I knew he probably couldn''t do anything about all the horrors that had come to our city. But at least we weren''t alone anymore...


    Then I flinched.


    "Leave? Where to? Everything we have is here. It''s worse in the south, and we can''t even afford a shed in the north... And they are not better off there either!"


    Eun remained silent for a while.


    "We will find a place and a way," he said firmly.

 Hate of The Crowd

    The rest of the day was finally a peaceful respite from the terrors around us. We didn''t leave the house and didn''t care about what was happening outside. It was just you, me, and your father. I would give anything, Joon-Ho, for you to truly understand how much he loved us both. I can only do so much as to describe to you in this letter what he did in those days. I can''t bring him back to you, and it breaks my heart, as our moments together didn''t last forever. It''s a bittersweet comfort to know that times like those, no matter how long they last, are never long enough. And when I went alone to Deiji and Hyeon the next day while your father rested and watched over you, the beautiful moments passed like smoke in the wind. I just wanted to see if they were alright. I just wanted to make sure that my friends had not been hurt by the darkness in the people surrounding them...


    I realized something was amiss even before I entered the street where Deiji lived. The men, women, and children I encountered looked at me with venomous glares and wrinkled their noses. They began to chatter behind my back, and I felt gazes from the grey houses across the gardens. There was a stench in the air, damp and rotten, and terrible odors kept wafting toward me. Fences were damaged everywhere, and gardens were partly trampled. The further I went, the worse it got, and the more I felt like I was stumbling into a pit of aggressive venomous snakes.


    "She''s from up there; I know her. Maybe she has something to do with it..."


    "Yeah, look at her, casually strolling around here. Just because there isn''t enough good water uphill for everyone down here, she''s acting like she''s something special... We should take it for ourselves..."


    I started to panic. Can you imagine that, Joon-Ho, walking through streets that are so familiar to you, but feeling like a terrible stranger faced with biting disgust on people''s faces? Faces of those who once greeted you with smiles? People you helped tend to their gardens as a child when the officials demanded it? They looked at me as if they barely remembered me, as if I were something they deeply despised, like a cockroach. But I had to get to Deiji and Hyeon; I had to make sure they were okay! Maybe, just maybe, they would come with us? Your father wouldn''t have minded...


    Finally, I reached the grimy door to my friends'' house and knocked, all the while feeling the piercing gazes from the buildings around me.


    Suddenly, an old man stepped up to the garden gate behind me, looking at me as if he were inspecting vermin. An ugly, cold smile curled his lips, and he held an old rusty scythe in his hand, from which, to my horror, blood was dripping.


    Was it human blood? Was my imagination running wild?


    "What''s someone like you doing down here?" the man asked in a sweet voice.


    "Have you lost your way? I... I can help you... I can help you get to where you... belong."


    He took a step toward the property, in my direction, but a shrill female voice interrupted him.


    "You scumbag, what are you doing?"


    Another woman had approached and looked at me. She didn''t hide her contempt but eventually turned away from me to face the man.


    "You''re running around here instead of taking care of the garden! Are you serious, you dumb shit? We need food! You idiot! Can''t you get anything right? I want meat, and you''re leaving it behind to chase after some slut! What if the dirty neighbors steal it? Go and continue with the chopping, or I''ll gouge your eyes out!"


    For a moment, I thought the man would attack the woman, but then he gave me one last scrutinizing look and walked away with her, trembling with cold anger. It took me a while to recover from the shock. Somehow, it felt like I had only narrowly escaped a cruel fate. I had to gather myself before knocking on the door again.


    "Deiji! Hyeon! It''s me! Can I come in?"


    No response.


    "Deiji, Hyeon, are you there?"


    Still nothing. I began to feel anxious, but then, an irritated female voice came through the door.


    "Come in! Come in..."


    As I closed the door behind me, I didn''t feel well. The awful smell had not gone away and still hung in the air, even in this room. Deiji sat in the corner and briefly glanced at me with a dark look. Her eyes hardly lifted from the laundry she was washing in an old, dirty tub as she curtly greeted me.


    "Hello. You''ve decided to show up again...?"


    I hesitated.


    "I was just here recently, wasn''t I? Is everything okay with you?"


    "With me... yes. Everything''s fine. It''s just... the people around here, they''ve become hostile. They don''t have the common good in mind anymore. It''s hard not to let it rub off on you... Sorry. How is it with you?"


    "Eun is back."


    "I''m glad for you."


    Her voice was unusually tense and icy. She did not look up as she pressed a shirt into the murky water.


    "How is it here in the neighborhood, Deiji?"


    "How do you think it is? Terrible. Those foolish kids next door screamed all night long. I couldn''t get any sleep. And everyone is so..."


    She sighed finally and turned to me, somewhat friendlier this time.


    "They''re all losing it. It''s disgusting. The kids have nightmares, wake up at night, and claim that some figures are roaming around the houses. They say they can see them through the gaps between the shutters. Completely insane. And the people, the people... they''re nasty, violent. There have been several fights. Even some more deaths down by the docks. They scream at each other over the slightest things. They trample their neighbors'' gardens to make them starve for asinine reasons. And the security officers are much tougher too. There have been more injuries at the well. Not just the one woman we saw... Some retaliated and beat down Hang-Sun. Since then, more security officers have been brought in from neighboring villages by the administration to maintain order. And amongst all that, everyone is on the lookout for the South Korean shit face responsible for all of this. If we find that rat... he''ll see what he gets. When we catch him. He''ll see..."


    A smile curled on her lips as she spoke those last words. Her eyes lit up with delight as she imagined something I''d rather not know.


    "How do you know it''s a South Korean man?" I asked cautiously.


    Deiji narrowed her eyes.


    "Everyone knows that!" she grumbled and turned back to her tub.


    Suddenly, she licked her lips, and a little saliva ran down the corner of her mouth.


    "Everyone...? Deiji... are you..."


    Without warning, she crouched down, looking at the dirty water as if it were a treasure. For a moment, she lifted her face above the surface, and I heard her whispering softly.


    "Yes... you''re right... I think so too..."


    Then she plunged her head into the dirty tub, greedily and insanely sucking up the water.


    I screamed and tried to rush to her, to pull her out, but she had already risen again and was looking at me. Her black hair hung dirty and wet in front of her face, and her eyes flashed between the strands. It had happened so quickly...


    "Deiji... please, what..."


    Then, a terrible and desperate feeling hit me like a punch to the stomach.


    "You drank it... the water... why... WHY DID YOU DRINK IT?!?"


    As she answered me, water poured from her mouth and splashed onto the floor.


    "I was THIRSTY! THIRSTY! I had to drink, do you not understand? I had to drink! God, you''re so spoiled! YOU never had to live off this well, always had your fresh water from up there. I WAS THIRSTY! YOU BITCH!"


    She was out of her mind and slowly rose up. With her wet muddy clothes, she looked almost like a creature emerging from a dirty swamp.


    I wanted to get away, far away...


    Then, the door swung open.


    Several people were outside, peering in. They all looked disheveled and downtrodden, with bloodshot eyes, some wet and unkempt. Some had sticks in their hands, others carried butcher''s cleavers, and still others had pitchforks and hand drills. They grumbled and hissed among themselves. They kept turning around and scanning the street. A few of them had strange pimples on their faces, almost resembling sea sores, or wore dripping, wet clothes, but there weren''t many of those. One of the women who stood at the front spoke before she even fully entered the room, visibly excited.


    "Deiji, where''s Hyeon? We need you! We''re going to find that miserable bastard! Make him pay for what he''s done to us. He poisoned all of us with his lowly ways and his pus... Wait, who is this...?"


    Suddenly, silence fell. They had noticed me and were staring at me.


    "Deiji, who is this?"


    The words sounded soft, like those of a snake about to strike. The woman''s face now displayed icy anger.


    "Where... where did you come from?"


    A murmur spread through the crowd, and the mob moved slowly toward me. They pushed forward as a single mass, growing steadily. They clutched their improvised weapons, and I could see dried blood on the blades. I felt sick. I looked to Deiji for help, who still stood there, emotionlessly watching me from deep, dark eyes peeking out between wet strands of hair.


    "Tell them who I am! Please!" I begged now, as tears and fear threatened to overwhelm me.


    Then I noticed a smile curling on her lips. But she said nothing, just looked at me.


    "Please, Deiji, tell them that... Please, I''m just visiting! She''s my friend! I''ve been here so many times, getting water. I''ve talked to some of you so often... It''s me, Haru... Haru Choi..."


    Still just cold faces, but slowly something seemed to simmer beneath the people''s features. A darkness ready to explode at any moment, and I was the target. It was pure madness.


    I was certain that I had seen some of these people before. Gipeun was a not a small town, and I didn''t know where this group had gathered from, but the woman who had spoken definitely came from the neighborhood.


    But... these people also seemed foreign. Absent. And seized by something that wanted to tear and shred everything, even if I didn''t know what it was exactly. Had they all drunk the water? Had the voices driven them to madness? Even Deiji, my best friend, was so strange, cold, and insane...


    "Haru! Sorry! I didn''t recognize you at all. Forgive us. We''re all very agitated. She''s from here! She''s from Gipeun, a friend!"


    Yi-Jeon pushed through the people who had frozen at her words and now looked undecided. The frail woman had tied an old apron around her thin waist as if she had been interrupted while cooking. In her hand gleamed a kitchen knife that she let dangle at her side almost carelessly.


    "Child, what are you doing here?" she asked sternly. "In these times, you shouldn''t be in neighborhoods where you don''t live! You could be taken for a traitor where you''re not known! We almost..."


    The woman who had spoken at the beginning now stood less than two meters away. She first skeptically looked at me, then at Yi-Jeon.


    "Are you sure?"


    "Yes, I know her, she''s been here many times. I could not see her clearly from back here!"


    An old man, with greasy, matted long hair partially receding into baldness, backed me up as well. Again, murmurs ran through the crowd.


    "She''s right, she''s my friend! Don''t do anything to her!"


    It now also came from Deiji, who had snapped out of her trance.


    Her ugly smile had disappeared, and now she looked fearfully and confused in my direction as she dried her hair with an old towel. Maybe the water hadn''t completely ensnared her in its terrible spell yet? Perhaps she could resist it...?


    "It doesn''t matter. As long as you''re on our side! Grab anything you can use to give this piece of trash from the South a slow death and come with us. We need more people. You must accompany us! You have to, it''s your duty as someone who is part of this community! Come!" a young woman, almost a teenager, urged.


    I was about to protest when Deiji suddenly stood next to me, also holding a kitchen knife.


    "Come on, Haru, what are you waiting for? Let''s get rid of this filthy maggot from the South!"


    "But... I need to go back to Joon-Ho. She needs me..."


    I tried to get out of the situation. But it was futile. Just as skepticism was about to flare up in the crowd''s eyes again, I quickly stood up and nodded.


    "You''re right. The sooner we find him, the better..."


    Internally, I prayed that they would believe me and stop scrutinizing me with suspicious looks.


    "All right, let''s go," Ji-Yeon said as the others marched out of the house and headed towards the neighboring building.


    Just as I was considering sneaking away, Deiji handed me an old pair of garden shears.


    "Here, take these and come."


    To my despair, the crowd wasn''t large enough for me to slip away unnoticed. When I spotted the uniforms of two young men waiting outside on the street, I gave up any thoughts of a quick escape. I''m ashamed, Joon-Ho. I''m ashamed of not having been strong enough. I''m ashamed of not having shown courage back then. But I also had to think of you. You needed me. You were just a baby. What would happen to you if I were no longer there? So, I decided to join them, to blend in, not to attract attention...


    Our march led us further down the street, towards the shore. It was windy, and the cloud cover still blocked the sun from reaching us, but at least the temperatures had become more pleasant. Despite that, I shivered as I walked there, clutching the old garden shears. Like a single organism, we wound our way through the streets, slowly but steadily growing with each doorstep. Part of me wanted to participate more actively in their search, just to not be alone and vulnerable. I repeatedly heard ominous whispers around me.


    "We''ll get him... make him pay for what he did... poisoned us all with his lowly ways and pus..."


    "He must suffer, he must suffer... Or maybe they sent a woman..."


    "We''ll find out. We''ll definitely find out..."


    The security people marched ahead. They had added rifles to their batons and kept looking around, examining side alleys and debris piles where someone could hide. I was sweating now, despite the mild temperatures. Would they find anyone? And then what? Would they give up the search? Or would they find someone else afterwards on whom to vent their hatred and anger? Someone like me, someone who lived up the hill with easier access to clean water?


    Deiji marched beside me, her face a contorted mask. I had never seen her like this. The water must have overwhelmed her in those moments, turning her usually calm being and demeanor into something that sought only revenge. The other people around me seemed similar. It was almost palpable in the foul air. Suddenly, I became aware that the people around me emitted a repulsive, biting, unidentifiable odor that enveloped them like a cloud. That now enveloped me as well. And in that stench was a feeling, a feeling I couldn''t place, but it was infinitely dreadful.


    Sometimes I thought I saw others like me, still... normal, also trying to hide their panic behind feigned indifference.


    "Deiji, do you think we''ll find... someone soon?" I asked weakly.


    She didn''t answer, but her face twisted. Still, she ignored me, making me even more uncomfortable than I already was.


    "Yes, I think so. I can almost feel him. A man, the man who poisoned us. All of us. Who made us fight against each other... He will pay!" Yi-Jeon hissed instead.


    There was certainty in her voice, and I didn''t want to argue. Who knows what the once kind woman might have done otherwise?


    The further we marched, the more atrocities I had to witness. Houses with their doors kicked in, dead rabbits in front yards, mutilated. Squashed gardens that had once provided food, now reduced to dust amidst torn plants. The worst was the man sitting dead against a house wall, slumped over, an axe still in his chest. I recognized him with horror. It was the man I had seen a few days ago, the man who had killed the poor dog... Now he had himself been judged...


    Decay now permeated the air, completely polluting everything around me. People seemed not to notice any of it, though. As I struggled to contain my fear, they continued forward, clutching their weapons, eager to find someone to blame for all of this.


    Then, after what felt like an eternity, we neared the docks. The path split, and we had to decide whether to head towards the sea or towards the mountains. Something urged me not to go towards the depths of the ocean. I remembered the thing in the tarp, wrapped up - yet alive. I couldn''t go to the sea. I couldn''t. The sea... it was evil. It had come from the sea; I was sure of it...


    "He''s probably headed towards the mountains and hiding," I called out to the crowd.


    People turned to look at me, and I hoped they''d buy my feigned enthusiasm.


    "No, he''s definitely at the beach! He wants to escape across the sea! Behind the mountains is the demilitarized zone; he can''t get through there! They''d just shoot him, or maybe he''d step on a mine. No one''s that stupid!" someone protested from behind.


    "Yes, he must be at the beach, I''m sure of it!" Deiji shouted.


    She shot me a brief, glaring look and then turned towards the beach and the docks. I dared not say anything against her. She was my friend... and worse, she had drunk the water. It was unclear what she would do if I didn''t do things her way... And a part of me had the terrible suspicion that this was exactly what she hoped for...


    "Yes, that''s true. You are right. He probably wouldn''t dare..." I replied cautiously.


    Murmurs surrounded me, sprinkled with bitter words. People started getting restless and expressed their dissatisfaction with those walking next to them. Others began to complain of thirst. There were insults, angry glares, and even more severe accusations. And always with us, the rot in the air.


    "Maybe... Maybe he''s among us? Or her? Maybe it''s one of us...?"


    "Then it could be you, too! Now that I say it, I''ve never seen you before, who exactly are you?"


    "I''ve lived here forever, you fool, but I''ve never seen you..."


    I felt as if I were in a powder keg about to explode at any moment. It was hell, Joon-Ho. It was as if I were trapped in a nightmare from which I couldn''t wake up. I just wanted to live, wanted to see you and your father again and hold you in my arms... But my path led me away from you, away from the mountains and towards the beach.


    As we walked there, now nearly a hundred people strong, we approached the surf and the algae-covered sand. The salty water was fresh in my nose, but the putrid stench still lingered in the air.


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    "It can only be one of us... Isn''t that the best cover? To march along with us?"


    "But how? How could no one have recognized him?"


    "Well, we''re all very upset; maybe we overlooked someone...?"


    "Yes, she''s right. It would be the smartest move on his part. I think it''s him, that one..."


    "Oh yeah? You''re just mad because I fucked your wife, you stupid idiot. And you know what, she was good in bed! Probably the first time she enjoyed pleasing someone!"


    "YOU PIECE OF SHIT!"


    It was too much. One of the men started beating another with his club, crazed and driven by terrible zeal. Dull thuds filled the air as the club met a skull, and piercing screams shattered any remaining composure within me. Two women rushed forward and stabbed at the attacker with their knitting needles.


    "You only beat her, day in, day out, you son of a bitch! What did you expect...?" one of them screeched, repeatedly jabbing her small metal needles into the man''s eyes until he lay twitching on the ground.


    I''m sorry... I must tell you these things too, Joon-Ho. I know it''s horrible and brutal, but that''s how it was. That''s how the place I saved you from was...


    It would have turned into a complete catastrophe if a barking voice hadn''t echoed through the air, freezing everyone in place.


    "I SEE HIM! THERE! THERE HE IS! THERE!"


    And there he was, far away but still visible.


    A man lay on the beach, near the northern slopes. He lay beside the remains of a small wooden boat that had apparently been washed ashore along with him.


    Everyone looked toward the distant figure. No one else was on the beach, and I wondered why no one had noticed him earlier. Where were the people who usually went about their daily business along the seaside roads? Where were the women taking their children to the tracks in the north for community work? Everything seemed deserted, there was only the rough sea and the pale sand, and on it, a body that seemed to be moving slightly...


    As the crowd began to stream towards the stranded man, two corpses were left behind in the sand. No one cared about the man with the shattered skull anymore. The man with the bloody eye sockets, his lifeless gaze fixed on the sky, had become equally inconsequential to the masses...


    I, however, struggled to avert my gaze from them. I wanted to follow the others and play along, but the two bodies on the dirty ground held my thoughts.


    However, soon the people picked up their pace, quickening their steps, and I had to make an effort to keep up, so eventually, the two corpses were left behind, soon forgotten by all those who now walked in rising excitement across the desolate beach to the north. But with each step I took toward the shipwrecked man ahead of us, it became clearer to me that I, too, was approaching a corpse, the corpse of a man who just didn''t yet know he was already dead. Like in a trance, the people around me continued to move forward, and I soon heard faint, hateful whispers around me, spreading like a malignant growth.


    "There... He is there... We''ve got him... This monster..."


    "Yes... he must pay... Pay for our pain..."


    "I think, I think he''s what''s wrong with this world..."


    "We must make sure he understands that too..."


    "Yes, yes, he must understand what you do to people who blasphemously and arrogantly intrude into a better country and poison it with their presence and their venom..."


    The wave of people flowed toward the lone man and eventually reached him. I was part of it, even though I wished to be somewhere else. I wished to be only with you, Joon-Ho. But in the end, we had formed a ring around him, only interrupted by the sea that had spat him ashore. Deiji and I stood in the front row, looking down at him. Dozens of eyes scrutinized him like a trapped animal that would naturally be tormented and eventually killed.


    Now that I could take a closer look at the situation, everything became even worse. It was a simple man in tattered clothing, lying on the sandy ground, breathing heavily, and barely conscious. He had apparently crawled a few steps inland to escape the greedy sea, which had probably almost dragged him into its watery stomach. The wreckage of his small boat lay nearby, but not much was left, and most of the wood had probably already been washed away. He coughed weakly.


    Seaweed and algae clung to his hands.


    But he twitched.


    One of the uniformed men stepped forward. Slowly, like a predator, he approached the castaway. Everyone else just stood there, their eyes on the semi-conscious man, their mouths watery and partly foaming at the corners, as if they were looking at a feast to devour. Eventually, the officer reached his target and nudged the man''s back with the butt of his rifle several times.


    Initially, the shipwrecked man didn''t react, but then water gushed from his mouth, and he coughed terribly. Finally, he opened his eyes, dazed, and looked around at the crowd.


    "Please... please... I''m shipwrecked... my name is Jaemin... Storm, a terrible storm... I was out with my son... It... The currents took us... He''s... He''s... Alone. I''m alone... He''s gone... Please, help me..."


    He twitched and tried to sit up, but was pushed down again by the uniformed man.


    "Where are you from?" he wanted to know.


    His voice sounded low and predatory. Jaemin seemed not to notice, confused.


    "I... Sokcho... I''m from Sokcho... where... where am I...?"


    Slowly, a terrifying realization spread across his face.


    "I... where am I...?"


    The uniformed man just looked at him, and everyone else remained silent. It was as if they were savoring his misery.


    Then, everything happened very quickly.


    At once, men rushed toward Jaemin and lifted him up. They held him in an iron grip, and one of them punched him in the face.


    "Traitor. You''re from the South! Sokcho is in the South! It''s him! IT''S HIM!" the crowd roared.


    But there was no joy in their voices, only seething hatred.


    I... I don''t know if I should describe what happened next, Joon-Ho. The things I''ve written down so far are already terrible and grotesque enough. But I must tell you. You have to know everything. I''m sorry, but what follows now... It was...


    They dragged him away, and I was swept along with them.


    Jaemin protested, semi-conscious. Initially, he didn''t understand what was happening to him. Twitches ran through his body as he struggled against the people who held him tightly and dragged him away. His wet boots left furrows in the sand. He eventually looked around in desperation, his gaze brushing over me as well. I had to give my all not to look away because fear welled up in me, the fear of being noticed, the fear that they might lump me together with him through some insane conclusions. The people around me had clearly lost their minds, and I had to do my best not to draw attention to myself. I had to return to you, Joon-Ho, and to your father! Do you understand?


    Eventually, the mob reached the old square and the well. They tied him to the wooden frame that held the bucket, and everyone gathered around him as voices grew louder, demanding revenge. Jaemin himself whimpered like a dog. His face showed that he didn''t even know where he was.


    But no one cared.


    "What do we do with him? How do we punish him? Fire?"


    "We could skin him alive. Or rip out his fingernails and teeth..."


    "No, we have to bleed him dry... I want to see his blood, every drop!"


    "Yes, I want him to pay for what he''s done to us!"


    The voices grew more insane, and even more horrific things were shouted across the square. Suggestions pierced the air. Amidst it all, Jaemin''s unbearable wailing as he begged for his life.


    "Please! I don''t know what''s happening! I don''t know what you mean! Please, no! Please, let me go..."


    No one paid attention. It was as if the man were an insignificant rat that annoyed people but wasn''t worth their attention.


    "WHAT IS ALL OF THIS ABOUT?"


    Suddenly a voice rang out from somewhere on the edge of the square.


    The shouts fell silent instantly. Angry, frothing looks searched for the one who had dared to interrupt their deliberations. An elderly man with a snow-white beard and countless wrinkles on his face stood there, leaning on a cane. I knew him; I had seen him years ago after I had escaped from the plateau with my friends...


    "What''s this, Hoon, you damn geezer? Why are you defending this maggot? Why...?"


    They snapped at him, but the old man didn''t even flinch.


    "Shut up, you idiot! That is no what I mean! What I am saying is... How does any of this help us?"


    Jaemin seemed to draw hope for the first time and stared towards the edge of the small square. Some approached Hoon, raising their weapons, slowly.


    "You''re truly mad! Or are you... one of them in the end...?"


    But Hoon just stood there, squinting.


    "You''ve always had shit in your brains! You stupid children! Don''t you know what''s going on? What you are planning is so short-sighted and stupid! All of what you stinking pigs are rambling is nonsense... It''s clear what we should do... You know it..."


    Suddenly, he burst into guffaws and spat on the ground in front of the people who had approached him.


    "Hasn''t anyone listened? Has no one ever listened to us? I''ve told you everything! Everything! And you? You dimwits? Do you still think they were just fairy tales? All our stories? Do you? No, you should know better now. It''s clear: His death won''t heal the water! But... I believe there''s a way..."


    Everyone froze. Even those he had insulted just moments ago paused to think.


    "What... what would you propose we do?" Ji-Yeon finally whispered in Hoon''s direction.


    Others followed suit.


    Jaemin seemed close to fainting.


    "Come on! I have told you so many times! You know it... They were once here, a long time ago... the Others. Before they left us, we worshipped them, and you... you''ve forgotten about them! Everything! You fools. All of you have forgotten...! But we... we''ve told you, just as our elders used to tell us... I know... how to offer sacrifices to them..."


    "NO!" Jaemin screamed when he realized that Hoon was also insane.


    No one cared.


    Agreeable murmurs began to fill the square. Some seemed to remember the stories he was alluding to, but I did not.


    "But how... how...?"


    Old Hoon, still standing there on the edge of the dirty square, now almost seemed like a godless prophet who proclaimed an unholy truth. It was a cruel scene. Everyone listened to his profane explanations for the sacrificial ritual, and I was feeling increasingly nauseated. The urge to flee seized me so strongly that it took all my strength not to just run away. After all, they all seemed busy. But what if not? Would they also...?


    So, I decided to push myself to the back of the crowd to not have to see everything. But I couldn''t risk behaving conspicuously either. If I looked away for too long, if I closed my eyes... someone might notice. And then it would be my turn. I knew there were others who felt the same way, who were also trapped here with me in this rabid crowd. But we were too few.


    In the end, I had to witness everything, clenching the shears I still held as hard as I could.


    They brought a table and tied Jaemin to it with outstretched arms and legs, while he struggled so much that eventually his wrists rubbed bloody against the ropes. He screamed like crazy, begged for mercy, for his life, promised everything he could, and more. But it did nothing. Because he was no longer talking to normal people, but to corrupted souls who felt nothing but hatred and contempt for him. While Jaemin writhed and begged, the old man began to chant a monotonous, terrible song.


    "Ebrugh... Ebrugh... Ebrugh..."


    Slowly, the others joined in. They spoke the words over and over again, their voices monotonous, words that meant to summon the Others, to make the planned sacrifice appetizing.


    Then, a burly man stepped forward, dragging a massive blunt axe behind him. He was dirtier than the others, wearing torn clothing, and moved with a determination that filled me with deep dread.


    "NOOOO! NOOOO! PLEASEEE," Jaemin screamed.


    "I HAVE A WIFE! SHE WILL BE ALL ALONE! PLEASE! I JUST GOT CAUGHT IN A STORM... PLEASE! LISTEN TO ME!"


    Ji-Yeon suddenly approached and slowly brought her kitchen knife towards his face. He fell silent and tears welled up in his tired eyes. Silent pleading was visible in Jaemin''s gaze, but it was in vain.


    The sickening sacrificial ceremony had begun. This inhuman ritual that Hoon had proposed to us, and to which everyone had enthusiastically agreed...


    It had begun.


    "You shall never sleep again, never dream again! The path to their perfection shall be forever denied to you! We sacrifice your dreams so that they know we are desperate and need their help!" Hoon shouted into the crowd.


    "Ebrugh,... Ebrugh,... Ebrugh...!" people shouted, some madly dancing.


    I screamed along with them. I didn''t want them to notice me... Oh heavens, I was screaming those words like the other crazed monsters around me who were consumed by blind ecstatic hatred.


    It gave Ji-Yeon a nameless pleasure to torture the defenseless man. Everyone around her only cheered her on with their shouts and contorted dances. The knife brushed across Jaemin''s lips and he tried to stay calm, but his trembling made the flesh press against the blade and first blood trickled from his upper lip. Then Ji-Yeon moved the knife toward the prisoner''s eyes. For a moment, it looked as if she was going to plunge the blade directly into his iris. But then, after what felt like an eternity... she took his eyelids, pulled them toward her, and cut them off.


    I cannot describe the sounds Jaemin made. His pupils were twitching around, blood streaked, but there was nothing he could do. He couldn''t wipe his eyes, and he would never blink again....


    "Ebrugh... Ebrugh... Ebrugh..."


    Now, Hoon raised his voice again.


    "You shall never again speak, never again utter words that go against their wishes! You shall be barred from whispering your words that have the enemy in them!"


    "No, NO!" was all Jaemin could get out before Ji-Yeon began to cut out his tongue.


    The man''s last intelligible words faded away and he spat and retched his own blood into the air. It was cruel that his body was trying to keep him alive while the eyeballs that were twitching around were without a doubt yearning for death.


    But Jaemin did not die from those wounds.


    "Ebrugh... Ebrugh... Ebrugh...!"


    Hoon raised his voice one last time. He looked satisfied, as if his mind had been cleansed by those deeds.


    "You shall lose everything and become what They once planned for everyone!"


    The shouts died away. Everyone around fell silent and looked at the writhing man who was still spitting blood into the air. Suddenly Ji-Yeon stepped back and instead the muscular man who was now standing next to the table raised his axe.


    Soon, he was hacking away at the mutilated man''s arms and legs. The axe was blunt, and it took him several blows, but finally he had amputated Jaemin''s limbs.


    I threw up on the ground and others did the same. I tried to retreat to the far corners of my mind, but I could not. I must have started laughing like mad and thought I was losing my mind. The crowd around me was laughing too... But their laughter sounded joyful, as if new life had flowed into everyone.


    "There, you filth! Become a sacrifice to atone for what you have done to us!"


    "Be silent and remain as you are until the end of your days!"


    "It is done, we have done it, the Others, we have made our sacrifice to them!"


    "They will save us now, they will help us!"


    "Praised be the Others!"


    Gurgling sounds still erupted from Jaemin, but he was now slowly losing consciousness. There was a part in me, a terrible part, that was glad that his suffering had now come to an end as his life faded.


    "The well! Fetch water from the well! Clean the wounds! He may survive... he must survive... he must not go yet...!" Hoon hissed suddenly.


    This insane old man, who was trapped in his old wives'' tales and myths and had finally lost his mind to the tainted waters... Did he know no end at all? No mercy? What sick stories did he still know, what twisted words would he still utter? Couldn''t he leave this poor destroyed man alone? Couldn''t everyone just finally... Oh heavens, what had I gotten myself into...?


    I thought about Eun and about you. I thought about how it was good that you were spared this violence and that I had not taken you with me. I hope you will never experience those depths of humanity...


    They fetched water from the well and poured it over the wounds. Each time the liquid touched his bleeding flesh, Jaemin winced and choked sounds came from his red-smeared mouth. His eyeballs seemed to tremble, but without his eyelids he found it excruciatingly difficult to express himself. Of course, everyone knew what he wanted, but that only made it all the more horrible....


    The water sloshed over him and again and I saw the purulent yellow streaks travel over the wounds. The things in the water, the hateful voices, they were now pouring over his open flesh as the people around him danced and laughed and indulged in a mad ecstasy.


    And Jaemin''s open flesh seemed to proliferate and grow. It turned yellowish brown at first, as if it were moldy, but then little spikes sprouted and intertwined into slimy stumps, at the end of which twitched transparent hairs, almost like the tentacles of anemones. It looked as if Jaemin''s spirit was returning with each new sprout to a body that he would have preferred to give up long ago.


    "Behold! They answer us! They tell us that he is now ours! That we must make him pay for longer! They are really still here, the Others! The stories, they are true! I''ve always said it, you fools!"


    Hoon was dancing now too, leaning on his stick.


    They tied the twitching Jaemin, who was now fully conscious again and didn''t understand why he hadn''t found relief from his misery, to the well with a collar and a leash.


    "Our poor Haeng-Un, that faithful animal, died because of what you did to our water. It is only fair that you take his place. Although, of course, he was a much better dog than you will ever be. You almost look like a Mulgda now, you slimy scum!" an old lady laughed wickedly.


    Others joined in and danced around the mangled man writhing on the floor, unable to do anything. Unable to die.


    To my infinite relief, the crowd now seemed to disperse, the crowd that had set out like a sick, confused animal, intent on finding and killing its prey, boiling with hatred. Grotesquely, the aggression had subsided, and some normalcy returned to the hearts of the people as the ritual was done with. For a dreadful moment, I even thought that everything would be fine now and that we had truly persuaded those so-called "Others" to help us. But that was just a simple, foolish thought, a mechanism to protect myself from what I had seen, what I had been a part of. At first, I stood there dazed, but then Deiji came to me.


    She radiated positivity.


    "It''s over, oh, it''s finally over! We''re saved! Did you see it? They accepted our offering!"


    With that, she pulled me away from the square where eventually only a mutilated body was left behind, its eyes darting around, trying to understand what had happened.


    I fervently hoped that someone would come at night and bring him salvation...


    Upon arriving at Deiji''s apartment, we sat down at her table, exhausted, and I finally put the garden shears aside. I was completely worn out.


    "My goodness, what a day," she sighed.


    I didn''t know how to deal with her, still disturbed and desperate.


    "Deiji... How... How are you...?" I asked her cautiously.


    She looked at me and remained silent but smiled.


    "Deiji... should we wait for Hyeon to come home? Or should I leave now...?"


    I hoped she would just let me go, but somehow, I felt she wouldn''t. Suddenly, she started laughing hysterically.


    "Hyeon? Yes, you''d like to know, wouldn''t you?"


    "Yes...? That''s why I asked..."


    "But of course. That''s why you asked. Of course. I don''t think he''s getting up again, you know?"


    Completely bewildered, I looked at her face, which now resembled a mask again.


    "What? What do you mean...?" I asked quietly, with a trembling voice.


    "He''s in the next room. In bed. He''s been there the whole time... Didn''t I tell you that? Silly me... He drank too much, the poor thing. I made him too much tea, because he was even thirstier than I was... But I think the rat poison I added did not serve him too well. In the end, I had to force it down his throat while that weak drooling fool tried to resist... So ungrateful, considering I''ve taken care of him for so long..."


    "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!?", I yelled at her.


    I had jumped up and was about to lunge at her. Had she really killed him, like one would a pathetic garden rat? Her husband whom she had loved dearly for so many years? Hyeon, who had always been our friend? Oh, Joon-Ho, I couldn''t believe it, it was all too much. Too much, you know?


    Deiji continued to look at me from her hellishly sparkling eyes and then it burst out of her, quietly at first, lurking, then getting angrier and angrier.


    "I gave him what he deserves. I know about you two. I know you and him are fucking behind my back like rabbits. Just because your Eun is always gone. You miserable bitch! And I thought you were my best friend..."


    What the hell was she talking about?


    "I never..." I tried to protest, but she just exploded.


    "LIES! I KNOW IT! He''s had a crush on you ever since I can remember! Everyone wanted him, but he only had eyes for you! He built those stupid stone seats for you! He urged us to explore the wilderness that day because YOU WANTED SOME FUCKING NEW FLOWERS! You arrogant, smug cockroach! And you didn''t even realize it at the time! But I bet you were just playing hard to get. But for too long, am I right? Because then... he chose me! After all those years! I won! At least that''s what I thought, but I also knew deep down I was always just the fallback solution. HE ONLY WANTED YOU! ALWAYS YOU! And your chance and FUCKEND HIM! YOU BITCH!"


    She was out of her mind and once again a trickle of brackish water ran out of her mouth, but now it was also coming out of her eyes as she began to cry, quivering with anger. Or did it just look that way?


    Her words had frozen me, because some of them made horrible sense, even though they could not have been the truth! Or were they? Was she right in some of what she said? Did Hyeon really have a crush on me...? I don''t know, Joon-Ho, I really don''t know. The terrible thing is, it''s possible... Now that I think back, he had always done everything to make me feel good... But we were just friends, you know? That''s what I told Deiji as well. But it only made her angrier.


    "YOU LIAR! I HATE YOU! YOU HAVE TAKEN EVERYTHING FROM ME! MY LIFE, MY LOVE! COMING HERE TO VISIT US, ALL THESE YEARS! You HYPOCRITE! You are the worst piece of shit that walks this earth. Worse than that scum they rightfully make suffer at the well right now! I wish they would have taken you! I so wish you would crawl there like a maggot! Like the filthy maggot you are! I almost did it as well, they almost took you... But that wretched Ji-Yeon saved you! Well, now I must settle for less, but that is still okay... I will slaughter you and feed your corpse to Hyeon! I''ll make sure he still knows what he eats before he dies for good. Then I will get your brat that should have been mine... I ALWAYS WANTED A CHILD! And you, you drag this runt here, day in and day out! Just to hurt me! I will make your child suffer more than you can ever imagine. And then... I will go to Eun and tell him that they tore you and that rotten child of yours apart down at the harbor! He will be very sad and seek comfort.... And then I will fuck YOUR man, you WHORE!"


    I couldn''t even take in those words, so deep and vicious and full of pure hatred were they. More and more of the filthy water ran out of her mouth and the floor turned wet. She walked toward me, smiling at the thoughts she seemed to have. Her words had stunned me, so she had come very close and finally leapt at me like a savage.


    I will make your child suffer more than you can ever imagine.


    These words drove me to reflexively smash my fist into her face. Not a moment later, I found myself grabbing the old shears on the table. I stabbed her in the neck so many times that my muscles went limp. All turned red. Then, silence.


    Finally, I looked at Deiji... or what had once been Deiji before the hatred in the water had overwhelmed her. Everything was bloody and dark. Her lifeless eyes and her mouth were open, but she was still smiling her hostile smile... Finally, the water had stopped leaking out of her and only blood was pouring onto the floor.


    I just sat there squatting and crying. When I was done and had no more tears left in me, I got up and ran to the adjoining bedroom. I found Hyeon, but he was long dead and flies and maggots were already feasting on his corpse. I guess the stench of the city had drowned out his stink and that''s why I hadn''t noticed it before....


    I finally went to the door and ran home, my mind numb. The people seemed not even to care that I was drenched in fresh blood. They looked shocked and happy at the same time, but had their own problems to deal with.


    Deijis last words... Which of them had been true? What had she really thought of me and what had been the water? Joon-Ho, I can''t tell. A part of me fears that they were her true feelings that she had hidden for a long time. But maybe... Maybe it had been just the water...?


    I had killed my best friend... For you... But it was worth it to. Because she was already gone at that time and you''re alive and well now. I''m glad that Jia had died a long time ago and didn''t know about those events... What would she have said? Or had she known some of it back then already, when the four of us went into the mountains...? That Hyeon had always...?


    All lies! Lies of the waters!


    I entered our small dining room with only the oil lamp burning again, I collapsed. Your father came rushing in, stunned, escorted me to the old chair by the fireplace and ran his hand through my hair, soothing me. Your grandmother also came rushing over and asked what was wrong. They were filled with fear when they saw the blood and when I told them what had happened, their faces turned white as chalk.


    "So... Is it over now?" your grandmother asked thoughtfully, almost hopefully.


    "What do you mean? She''s dead!" I muttered, exhausted.


    "No, no, I am talking about the man! They sacrificed him, so is it over now because of that?"


    I couldn''t believe my ears. Was that what mattered? Was that what concerned her? But she looked dead inside and seemed to want to distract herself, I believe... Or had she somehow drunk some of the water when visiting friends...? The thought scared me, but I brushed it aside.


    "No, I don''t think so. I don''t believe it''s over. The poor man, someone has to help him...!"


    "But he is from the South! What does it matter?"


    There was a subtle pleasure in her eyes that made me nauseous. Eun seemed to be in shock and couldn''t say a word.


    "Mom, what do you mean? Haven''t you heard what I''ve told you? What they did? What I did?"


    She looked like she was struggling with herself but then remained resolute.


    "It''s a cruel fate. Terrible. But if it''s over now... Then a dirty stranger from the South is a cheap price to pay... And you, you did the right thing. She wanted to kill you and do worse!"


    Your father finally joined in.


    "It doesn''t matter who it is! What has been done is wrong! And what you''re describing, Haru... What Deiji did, what she has become... Just horrific! I''ve had enough! We''re leaving. We''re leaving this nasty town. I''ll take care of it tomorrow," he said firmly, placing his hands on his hips.


    Away, away from this city, away from Gipeun...


    A strange thought. This city... with its embittered people who became more malicious and consumed by hatred with every passing hour... with its run-down houses and the soil in which almost nothing grew... with the mountainous hills that concealed horrendous relics of a bygone era...


    It was still my home. It was all I knew. It was the place where I had suffered a lot, but where I had also had friends. And my family...


    Still, your father was right, Joon-Ho. He was right! It must have been difficult for him to make this proposal, and I anxiously glanced at the door, fearing that someone might have overheard us and misunderstood these plans... and might even attack us.


    "I''m not leaving here. Never," my mother said defiantly.


    Her words were short and curt, but I knew I couldn''t change her mind. She had a strong will, just like you...


    I just nodded. Your father tried to persuade her, but, of course, he failed. A lump formed in my throat as I realized that I would soon see her for the last time. I remembered all the moments she had been with me, helped me, comforted me. How she had tried to stand up to my drunken father and protect me, even though she never really succeeded, only gaining new wounds and scars each time...


    You were lying in your crib throughout all this, sleeping, while your father and she continued to argue for a long time. Eventually, we went to bed.


    I slept long and deeply, deeper than I had expected, though the horrid images pierced my sleep again and again and made me wake up trembling. They still do to this day...

 End Of Hate

    The next morning, your father quickly set off to organize our escape. I was afraid, Joon-Ho, because you can imagine what would happen if someone got wind of our plans... Someone from the people who had succumbed to the hatred and spite...


    I decided to act as if everything were normal, at least outwardly. I stepped out of the door in the morning and sat with you in the garden, tending to the plants. Your grandmother was at a neighbor''s house again, helping with the canning of some cabbages. I kept thinking about what had happened the previous day.


    Deiji''s words, which might have been true. The hatred in the people who had tortured and mutilated an innocent man, driven by madness and guided by old stories that seemed to contain a bit too much truth...


    When doubts arose about leaving the city with you and your father, I only had to think of Deiji, bleeding out on the floor of her house... Of the weeping figure at the well and the malicious faces of the insane crowd... Of the chants that paid homage to powers from a distant past and... Of you and how you would grow up if we stayed... if you would grow up at all and they didn''t take you away one day, for some insane made-up reason...


    The weeds began to wither and so did the plants, as I sadly noticed. Over time, a more foul-smelling wind blew from beyond the sea up to us. It reeked of the atrocities and malice that had taken place near the shore below... and were probably still happening. The salty note of the ocean mixed in, almost mocking me.


    I angrily stabbed the small trowel I had been using to loosen the soil into the ground, only to stir up dry dust.


    "Yes... It''s dry... Much too dry... yes, yes..."


    I looked up. Su-Ji was standing there, peering over the fence into the garden, nodding sadly to herself. The old woman had silver hair neatly tied into a bun. She wore a traditional hanbok, its once vibrant colors long erased by dirt and time.


    "Ah, Su-Ji, how are you? Has it gotten better for you?"


    "Oh, child, it''s not going so well... my back... you know... And I also have problems with the soil. It''s parched. It hasn''t rained properly for a while now... And water is running low. They say things are getting terrible down by the sea..."


    "I''ve heard about it. They sacrificed a man..."


    "Yes, yes... Terrible... What did it accomplish, other than bring some satisfaction? Nothing... The wells are still poisoned, and even in the surf, this yellowish pus shimmers. Almost like an oil film, but somehow... alive..."


    "What? Since when?"


    It just wouldn''t stop! Why, why couldn''t it return to how it used to be?


    "I don''t know. I heard it from a friend who was down there today. She was completely distraught and disturbed. There have also been problems nearby... It''s a calamity... I mean, neighbors often have heated arguments, there have always been acts of violence... But like this? No... They''ve never behaved like this before. People running through the streets, covered in blood...? There are rumors that even some corpses are lying around, rotting away with nobody caring... Disgusting and eerie..."


    With that, she set off and continued up the street to her small shed.


    Similar reports were brought by others who moved between the different neighborhoods. From people who worked down by the sea during the day or had family there. Even nearby, there were now isolated cases of individuals acting aggressively and treacherously. I was just happy that most did not ask me about the blood on my clothes I had carried through town earlier.


    As the day wore on, the air was finally torn apart by distant screams and gunshots. My guts twisted because your father was down there... I was afraid he wouldn''t come back, afraid we''d be alone, and that the malice in the people would seep into us and eventually kill us...


    I thought about Deiji and what she had done to Hyeon... Thought about her lifeless eyes staring at the ceiling and the blood flowing from her neck...


    In the evening, your father came home. His clothes were torn, his face dirty and he had a bloody cut on his cheek, but he was alive.


    "Down there... It''s pure chaos. Fights, lunatics... Everyone seems to want to go to the well to drink more, and there are disputes and scuffles over the slightest things..."


    He groaned as I began to clean his wound.


    "I never want to go down there again... I can''t imagine what you experienced there... But it worked. I found Hoomin; he was still in his right mind and agreed to help. Had shut himself off in the north for a while to deal with the loss of Seok. He''s getting supplies and will then take the Haemin out to sea, where he''ll make a turn and dock in the south in a small hidden cove. He''ll wait for us there until tomorrow evening. We need to pack the essentials and get going! Immediately! We''ll take as many containers as we can and fill and get water from the stream up above. Then we''ll continue over the mountains to the Haemin. We just have to hope that the madness stays down by the beach for now and doesn''t completely flood up here. This one..." he pointed to the wound, "I got when two teenagers took a liking to my hat as they walked down the street. They said I didn''t deserve it and went completely mad and rabid. Luckily, Dong-Ha was nearby and helped me... It will reach us soon, too, if we don''t hurry..."


    I swallowed and began packing some things for you. It was late noon, and under normal circumstances, we would easily cover the distance, but what if people spotted us sneaking toward the border? What if Hoomin couldn''t make it, had gotten caught or turned mad? What if we set out into the wilderness in vain...?


    But the violence and hatred that were increasingly bubbling up in Gipeun were undeniable and life-threatening. The knowledge of the growing horrors so close to you made me feel a painful tightness in my chest. But it was the only way. We couldn''t go north; the road was too far, and they said it had also started there. Whether that was true, I didn''t know, but I didn''t want to risk it... Though... I also didn''t want to risk fetching water from the streams, or at least not taking suspicious quantities.


    "Ayeum!" I suddenly exclaimed.


    Your father just looked at me, confused.


    "Ayeum! Eun, she has working pipes. We can fill our containers at her place without being seen! Then we can sneak behind her house and into the bushes and make our escape!"


    He thought for a moment and then smiled weakly.


    "A truly great idea!"


    It was a good idea, but today I know it was the wrong one. Today I know that this idea cost your father his life, that because of this decision, you never got to know how much he loved you. Joon-Ho, I''m sorry. I''m sorry for taking your father away from you, even if it was unintentional. But going to Ayeum seemed like the best course of action, the most sensible thing to do... We did not want to get caught! Please, you must understand that!


    We set off less than half an hour later. I had strapped you to my chest, wrapped in one of the few cloths we owned. I also carried a sack with an old metal canister hidden inside, hoping to soon fill it up. Your father was also laden with an old backpack containing several bottles. I packed some valuables into another shoulder bag so that we would have at least something to start a new life with. Finally, we stepped out of the door of our house for the last time. Your grandmother wasn''t back yet, but she knew what we were planning. In the distance, but not far enough away, more and more screams and angry curses were heard, and more and more gunshots reported the use of firearms by the security men. The sounds finally drove me away without seeing your grandmother ever again. She wasn''t far away, but the neighbor she was with was further down the street, and your father said it was too dangerous to go in that direction even a few meters.


    "It''s no use. She knows we''re leaving. She knows how difficult it is. We talked about it extensively yesterday..."


    "But... I... I have to say goodbye! She''s... she''s my mother..."


    But time was running out. Plumes of smoke were rising not far away, and fires were blazing a few streets down the road. In the air, more screams were audible, and more gunfire echoed.


    It almost tore my heart out of my chest, but with a tearful face, I turned away and walked up the path that led to Ayeum''s house. Once again, eyes from the houses along the way watched us, observing what we were doing, but we quickly left them behind. You were sleeping peacefully, and I hope you didn''t witness too much of all those horrors.


    Finally, we crossed Ayeum''s lush garden and headed for the door. After a few brief, heavy knocks, her father opened. He looked worse than usual but waved us inside.


    "What... what can I do for you? You seem to be in a hurry. Ayeum isn''t here right now, she went up to the hills, but she''ll probably be back soon," he said absentmindedly, chewing on his fingernails.


    "We... we wanted to ask if we could..." I began, but the man suddenly cut me off.


    "You know, Haru, I''ve been thinking..."


    "Thinking about what?"


    "Well, our conversation. I''ve been thinking about what we talked about."


    A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    He turned around and looked deep into my eyes, a faint, sad smile on his lips. There was something about his expression that didn''t sit right with me, but I had seen so many horrors in the past few days that I thought I might have become paranoid. How foolish, wasn''t I? I should have known better, after everything...


    "I''ve been thinking," he continued.


    "I went to see Hyun, an old colleague. We drank and talked for a long time, and I''ve been thinking. And something became clear to me."


    His voice was now trembling ominously.


    He had been drinking... what? What had he been drinking? Just alcohol, or...?


    No!


    "You. You and those DAMN BRATS! YOU KILLED HER!" he suddenly screamed out and jumped toward me.


    And at you.


    Why hadn''t I strapped you to my back... Something flashed in his hand.


    Your father reacted reflexively and threw himself on the old man to protect us.


    "YOU HAVE TAKEN HER FROM ME! I HATE YOU! I HATE NOTHING IN THE WORLD MORE THAN YOU! YOU MUST DIE! PERISH! YOU HAVE TO PAY!" the Ayeum''s father screamed as Eun tried to somehow wrestle him down.


    But I also noticed that your father was hesitating. He was big and working on the Haemin had made him muscular and strong... But he had never seriously hurt anyone and the old man was now lashing out like a madman, hitting Eun, seemingly only hungering for one thing - revenge. First on me, then on everything else he could find. Saliva flew around, blood splattered and finally your father hit the old man so hard in the face with his elbow that he went down and didn''t move again. When Eun turned to me, he pressed his hand to his chest and I saw the table knife that had been rammed deep into his ribs.


    The next moments are blurry, I''m sorry. I only remember that I knelt beside your father, you weeping on my chest. I stroked him as he leaned against the wall, uttering only groans, contorted in pain. I didn''t understand what he was saying, but I''m sure it was about both of us. I''m sure your father was telling us how much he loved us. That we should stick to the plan, that we needed to flee and escape. To find a better life. That you were the best thing that had ever happened to him. Joon-Ho, I''m sure he thought exactly that. Your father loved you more than anything and gave his life so we could survive. I saw it in his fading eyes. I''m glad he didn''t go mad. He died as a human. And he died with us. I held his lifeless body, weeping bitterly, hearing only your cries.


    But... we had to go on. I had to stick to the plan, just as he would have wanted. So that you could escape from this town. So that you would have a life that wasn''t as hopeless as those of the others living in that deadly, bleak country...


    I gathered myself, sweaty and again covered in blood. The cloth in which I had wrapped you was now stained red and damp. I staggered into the next room with you, searching for a replacement. I found some of Ayeum''s clothes and changed both of us. I found a backpack among her things and loaded some of the bottles from your father''s bloody bag into it. Then, finally, I went to the old faucets at the sink.


    Would anything come out at all? Were the pipes still functional? Or had the spiteful neighbors, who had drunk the hateful water, already destroyed all the pipelines because they begrudged them to Ayeum and her father? Trembling, I placed my hand on the cold metallic handle and turned it.


    Nothing, just gurgling and escaping air.


    Nothing.


    NOTHING!


    I screamed and hit a cupboard door, not noticing the pain when my hand smashed into the wood. You began crying again as well.


    Your father had died in vain...!


    IN VAIN!


    We should have just gone to the stream, should have simply taken some of its water and left. What a foolish idea I had had! What a stupid suggestion...


    I had killed him...!


    In those moments, something died inside me, and a numbness and coldness entered my mind that I never shook off. It drained the last bit of warmth I had left in me. You''ve experienced that coldness too often, my beloved Joon-Ho, I know, and I''m forever sorry. But back then, in that moment... my world turned gray.


    Then, gushing.


    Water!


    It spurted in bursts from the faucet, and I caught it in one of the bottles. Then I looked cautiously through the glass to see if the yellow, pus-like streaks were visible. Whether this water also carried the hatred within...


    It was clean.


    It was clean!


    I couldn''t believe it.


    It was clean.


    I fell to the floor sobbing and held you close.


    Finally, there was a glimmer of hope!


    The stream of water now bubbled continuously, and crystal-clear, cold water poured into the metal sink with a hiss. I filled four bottles and the canister, relieved beyond words. Carrying all that water and you was exhausting, but I did not care.


    I swore to myself that I would get you out of there, Joon-Ho, no matter the cost! I would take you across the sea to another country, a country where hatred was far away and had not inundated everything... A country where...


    Suddenly, I froze. Icy chills ran down my spine, and you started trembling in my arms like never before. My knees went weak, and I sensed something nearby, something that brought more danger than anything I had ever seen or experienced. When I think back nowadays, I still feel sick and afraid. After all the things that had happened, after the brutalities, the cruelties, the envy, the hatred, the spite, after the crowd that had been on the verge of tearing me to pieces, after the fires in Deiji''s and Ayeum''s father''s eyes, seeking to extinguish me and their dead bodies... There was something worse.


    Something that instilled pure, cold panic and terror in me...


    What could it be? What could possibly...?


    And then, I saw it.


    The water, which was still running and had slowly filled up the sink because the drain was plugged, began to change.


    It wasn''t the yellow-brown substance mixed in there, no voices whispering hateful things... It was... an oily blackness that seemed to slowly bleed into it. It mixed with the water, and soon, everything in the sink was engulfed in an indescribable darkness. Peculiar patterns of thin waves curled on the water''s surface, though they were alien patterns I had never seen before and never have seen since. The sight of this dark liquid nearly drove me mad. It flowed from the faucet, but with peculiar movements, slower, slightly thicker than normal water would have done.


    A part of me felt like I was looking into an eternal depth. Almost as if the water''s surface was just an entrance to a place made of panic and fear itself. It partly felt as if there were things inside, things approaching. But partly it also felt like gazing into an infinite, black void. As the basin began to overflow, I ran out of the room. I rushed out of the back door and up the hill, just up the hill, away from the black... water.


    I left you fathers corpse in that house, and I hate myself for that. What if those waters had taken him and denied him peace in the end...? But I also had to make sure that you got out, Joon-Ho! That was the right thing to do, was it not? What he would have wanted?


    The path up the mountainous hill behind Ayeum''s house was overgrown with thick bushes and dense trees, and I struggled on until I reached the road leading to the viewing platform. We had to get there, and then farther away, just away!


    I had already covered half the distance when a group of panicked people came running towards me. They were coming from the direction of the side path that led to the stream which had saved us from the tainted groundwater in the last few days.


    "RUN, RUN!" a woman shouted.


    "THE MOUNTAIN! THE MOUNTAIN IS BLEEDING!" another screamed.


    "THE BLOOD OF THE MOUNTAIN WILL DEVOUR US! IT''S SO BOTTOMLESS, INFINITELY DEEP!"


    They were gesturing wildly, nameless terror on their faces. Some¡ªvery few¡ªran up the mountain, probably to seek safety there. But most ran downhill toward the town. Perhaps they wanted to warn their families?


    I followed those who kept running uphill. There was nothing to hear, but slowly, I noticed that the strange musty smell that had plagued me in the past few days down in Gipeun was dissipating as I got further and further up the mountain. My sides were throbbing, and my lungs burned, and you still hadn''t settled down. Therefore, the last few meters to our viewing platform, that old gravely plateau, almost escaped my notice, but eventually, I sat with you on one of the old stone seats that Hyeon had made for us so many years ago.


    To impress me...


    The memories were piercing. Everything in me hurt. I had lost your father, my friends... Only us two remained...


    Two other women and a little boy stood with me, trembling. The boy cried, wanting to be with his father. The woman who appeared to be his mother clung to her torn dress, holding him close. The other woman had leaned against one of the stone seats, burying her head in her hands.


    Then we looked down at the city and the sea...


    Plumes of smoke billowed everywhere, and flames flickered from houses and gardens. In many places, tiny groups of people could be seen, seemingly pulsating. I suspected they were busy killing each other...


    The ocean beyond the beach looked almost peaceful as it lay there, touched by the gentle breeze whipping the land. On the water of the bay, there was a shimmering, yellowish film that seemed to surface and disappear repeatedly. A breeze blew up to us, and it was as if I heard those faint voices one last time, the ones I had heard in Deiji''s water bucket, in what felt like an eternity ago...


    "Hate... Hate will help... Hate will bring retribution... Bring better times... Hate you... Hate you... Scum... Scum..."


    Then came the darkness. At first, it was only on the horizon, far out on the ocean. A deep, infinite darkness that devoured the water and seemed to suffocate everything in its path. When it reached the harbor, the clouds also darkened, and distorted black lightning streaked across the sky. I don''t think anyone down in Gipeun even noticed...


    Not far from us, I saw the black water flowing down the hill, the same black water I had seen in Ayeum''s house. I couldn''t make out much, but it was enough. The liquid flowed forth, thick and relentless. The houses it touched disappeared. Although the dark water couldn''t have been more than ankle-deep, it looked like the buildings were simply plunging into an infinitely deep sea. There were no sounds, no sounds at all as the structures vanished. Only the terrible screams of people reached us as they noticed the... water. I saw some fall into it and disappear as well. I couldn''t see their faces, but I''m sure they were so contorted by terror that they couldn''t even be described as human anymore.


    Soon, the sea itself surged. It was completely black now, appeared to churn and boil. All the strange glimmers that had been visible on the surface before disappeared. Higher and higher waves piled up, and then the floodwaters crashed into the town. I... I''m not exactly sure what I saw. The sea seemed to gain consciousness, to become a foreign presence that tore into Gipeun and pulled it into its infinite maws of horror. Not only monstrous waves of darkness ripped the buildings into the infinite abyss of the black sea, but there were also other shapes rising from the water ¡ª almost like claws or tentacles ¡ª that reached for the people and buildings. Sheds and streets and temples and official buildings, all falling down, just down into a void. It was as if the sea itself was reaching for Gipeun. Soon, only the black water in the bay remained, which had partly shot up the mountain but was now slowly receding. Where it had been, the landscape had changed and was partly unrecognizable.


    The sight of the bay now resembled a different, foreign world. I felt terror when gazing into the abyss, and the feeling was a thousand times worse than the sight of that trickle that had come out of the faucet. A hole was in the world. A hole was, where Gipeun once had been.


    "Let''s go. It''s over. I have a boat. It has room for all of us."


    My voice sounded foreign as I spoke. Everyone flinched and turned to me. The boy was still crying, but his mother nodded. The other woman looked at me with tear-streaked eyes. She appeared disturbed but determined as well. We stood up and headed south.


    I looked back at Gipeun one last time. It was now completely consumed by the dark abyss. Holding you close, I turned my gaze away. Our small group didn''t take long to reach the hidden cove. We fought our way through the wilderness and along steep cliffs, the water I had saved helping us to endure. I believe that without the bottles and the canister, we wouldn''t have made it and would have perished somewhere along the way or wasted too much time searching for a clean water. Eventually, finally, the next evening, we found the old boat and the grumpy Hoomin, just as had been agreed. He seemed to have heard nothing of the horrors beyond the mountains. So, in the end, we found ourselves crowded aboard the small ship and set sail, eventually reaching Japan. The rest of the escape was also tough and draining, costing us more than a month, but in the end we made it.

 Farewell

    We were all numb from our losses, but we endured. Ultimately, we scattered in all directions, and I never heard from the others again. Us two, we travelled to South Korea, we were Korean, after all. In that land I had feared and hated for all my life, we were eventually welcomed more warmly than I had ever thought possible. I was initially afraid, but I had been told the truth in Japan, the terrible truth that I had long doubted. That we had been the poor ones, that life in the North was in fact one of the worst ones there was... That everything had been a lie of the government, of the officials, just to improve their own lives. And that South Korea didn''t harbor scum but people with mostly good, kind hearts. In the end, we found a small place to stay. How deeply, deeply ashamed I am today of the thoughts I once had about the people of South Korea... But at least now, I know better.


    I took a job as a seamstress and managed to pull through. You never really knew anything else but this beautiful country, which, while not perfect, never made me worry about hunger again. You grew up as a South Korean, and I believe in your heart, you are exactly that, and I am proud and grateful for it.


    I did some research a while ago and looked at satellite images on the internet, images of that place where Gipeun must have once stood. But there''s nothing left there, just a much smaller bay, a narrow road, a hotel, and a few houses near Changjon. Nothing that reminds me of that ulcer in the world. Maybe the terrible black water even cleansed and healed the place, and people can now live there without hate, but I don''t know for sure.


    Now you know everything I can tell you about yourself and your hometown. About your first year of life and what killed your father. You now know about my guilt, my actions, and my deeds. You know why I became numb and detached... I just never got away from those years. I know that I have unleashed that coldness on you too often, even though I didn''t want to. Though, I made sure you could go to school and in the end to university. You were always a smart girl... But... my warmth died with your father in that hut, and I couldn''t show you much love, even though I gave it to you in my own way. I need you to know that you have always been the most important thing to me. I wasn''t strong enough and too broken from my past to be a good mother. I failed you too many times and would do everything to turn back time and be a better, more loving parent to you... But maybe my toughness also protected you from the dangers out there... I hope so, at least. I hope I haven''t completely failed you in the end. Hope, that the world won''t overwhelm you - ever.


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    So, I beg of you again: Forgive me. Forgive your old mother who couldn''t break free from the cold of the past. Who always demanded discipline from you and was always too strict. I know you hate me, but I hope and pray that after reading my tale ¨C your tale - you now understand me a little better.


    I know we will never speak again. I know you don''t want to see me anymore. My cancer has now won, and I must give up. I must also give up on trying to tell you one last time, face-to-face, that I''m sorry and that I love you more than anything, my dearest Joon-Ho. I hope to see your father again soon, but I''m afraid to face him. I have done too much wrong. But this letter... I hope it reaches you, and you read it with care. And I hope... you forgive me. Please!


    I will always love you.


    Your mother, forever,


    Haru


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