Bound by the Red Thread
I’ve received plenty of confessions from men.
Among them, one still lingers in my memory.
Same age as me. On top of that, a department head at Dang Group with a two-hundred-million-won salary.
Handsome face, tall stature too.
“Somang-ssi, please be my girlfriend!”
The words came with a bouquet of flowers.
Under normal circumstances it might have passed for an ordinary proposal, but tucked inside the bouquet was a car key bearing the triangular-star logo.
I stared at it for a moment, then looked up at his face.
He wore a triumphant expression, as if my acceptance were already a foregone conclusion. It was almost funny.
“I’m sorry.”
“What? Why? Is the car too cheap? Well, I suppose it is a bit low-end for someone like you. Fine, I’ll switch it to a Porsche.”
“…A Benz would be nice. Porsche too. But if we’re talking about things you’re offering…”
“……”
He swallowed hard, tension written across his face.
Smiling faintly, I finished the sentence.
“It’s fucking disgusting.”
“Excuse me?”
I didn’t bother repeating myself. I simply turned and walked away. I could hear him shouting something behind me, but I let it wash over me.
Wealth, looks, personality—he had it all.
He even claimed to understand that I was a follower of Gyeongcheon Church and offered to procure offerings for the rituals. Said he could easily supply a few discarded test subjects from his lab.
Yet it was still disgusting.
To put it more delicately… he simply wasn’t connected to my destiny.
Vague, perhaps, but that was how it felt.
Time passed like that.
I read scripture, attended services, and never once forgot to prepare the offerings for the rituals.
Before I knew it, I was twenty-three.
When will my fated one appear…?
I was volunteering at the food distribution center when the thought crossed my mind.
“Hey, give me more. What’re you saving it for?”
The homeless man snapped.
Hair so matted it would probably ring like a hammer striking stone, clothes so filthy a mop would look clean by comparison. His breath reeked like sewage water dredged from a gutter.
Anyone would instinctively wrinkle their nose and turn away from that stench.
His appearance, his smell, even the vulgar way he spoke—all of it reeked of his filthy nature.
Disgusting…
Endure it, Somang.
Someone once said trials exist to train people to bear a great destiny.
Yes. If I endure this, and keep enduring…
I’ll eventually meet my fated partner.
I swallowed the revulsion and forced a smile.
“I’m sorry. There are people waiting behind you.”
“Aigoo. What a load of bullshit.”
Without changing expression, the beggar’s drunken eyes slowly dragged up and down my body. Chest. Then lower, to my hips. Then to the line where fabric met skin at my collarbone. He tilted his head, trying to peer into a gap that didn’t exist.
“…Girl, those tits look ripe enough to eat.”
“……”
“Fucking hell. Did you rent out the damn spot? If you got your food, crawl the fuck out already. Why’re you causing a scene first thing in the morning? Move. Or should I make you?”
At the angry shouts from behind, the beggar scurried away like the pathetic creature he was.
One by one, I smiled and ladled soup for everyone.
All the while, I asked God when I would finally meet my love.
That was when a peculiar man appeared before me.
Black hair, blue eyes. His clothes were relatively clean, but objectively speaking, he was clearly a beggar.
Yet… yet…!
The moment I saw him, the dreary world burst into color.
The blue-eyed man stared straight at me.
What is it? Could he be interested in me? I hope so…
While I was thinking that,
“Um, the soup…”
“Ah.”
Embarrassed for no reason, I ducked my head.
“Thank you.”
“Yeees…”
My voice came out small and meek.
***
The line had finally thinned.
He’s still eating… Thank goodness!
I grabbed a can of soda from the fridge and approached him.
“Here, drink this.”
“……?”
“Is this your first time here?”
He nodded and took the drink.
His hands were clean, no calluses.
…Even I was covered in wire cuts. This man looked like he’d never been in a fight.
From Seoul, maybe…?
Seoul, where the still-functioning government supposedly maintained order. I’d only heard rumors, but they said it was a paradise on earth with no fights or conflict.
The man in front of me might have come from there.
He ate in silence, every movement precise and refined, as if this shabby soup kitchen were some high-end restaurant.
“I came to Seongnam looking for something.”
He spoke while wiping his lips with a napkin.
“Looking for something…?”
“Yes. I used to live in Seoul, but I followed a trail and ended up here.”
I flinched and glanced around. Only a few people remained eating.
“……Don’t go around saying you’re from Seoul. You won’t like what happens.”
He shrugged and cracked open the soda, gulping it down.
Being from Seoul made you a golden goblin—easy to rob, plenty to take.
If anyone had overheard, he’d probably be found in an alley with a cracked skull and nothing but his underwear. In the worst case, he might even end up sold to a slave trader outside the city.
I looked at his clothes again. Ragged, yet the fabric quality was high-end.
“So, how long are you planning to stay in Seongnam?”
“I don’t know. Haven’t decided yet…”
“If it’s all right, would you like to stay at my place?”
“……?”
He gave me a puzzled look.
“I’m curious. What that neighborhood is like…”
“If that’s all, I could just tell you here.”
“Oh come on… Just one day! Stay even just one night!”
That was how I brought him home.
***
He said his name was Lee Raham.
Hehe. Such a pretty name…
Why did I bring this man home…?
After agonizing over it, I concluded that God must have wanted him as an offering—that was why he’d caught my eye.
…Another reason tried to surface, but I forced it back down. If that were true, my plan would fail.
Please, let my plan fail.
As always, I drugged his food. Once he fell asleep, I wrapped the wire around his neck.
I was about to pull it tight with all my strength when—
“The Heavenly Demon descends, all demons submit.”
“Wait, hold on. What did you just say…?”
It was shocking enough that he hadn’t fallen asleep, but the words that left his mouth were even more startling.
My heart pounded.
Could it be…? Could it really be…?
“I, too, am someone who awaits the Heavenly Demon’s return.”
Ah… Aaaah——!!!
Thank you…! Thank you!!!
I cried out in my heart.
My destiny… my love…! He had finally come to me!
***
That was what I thought. He really was my fated one……
“Hey. Han Somang.”
- Smack.
My body swayed. My head snapped to the side. Everything spun.
Does my cheek hurt?
No… it doesn’t hurt…
My heart. My heart hurts so much. It feels like it’s being torn apart…
“…Raham-ssi?”
“Hey, you crazy bitch. Do I look like a joke to you?”
“No, I… that’s not…”
“No? Then what? Speak up, you fucking whore.”
Raham-ssi… Raham-ssi…
Please, don’t look at me with those eyes…
I was wrong.
I did something wrong.
So please… please…
Don’t look at me with those terrifying eyes, like you’re about to throw me away…
“S-sorry… I’m, I’m… s-sorry…!”
I wanted to say I was sorry.
But the words wouldn’t come out.
***
The sight of her looked like a panicked little rabbit thrashing about. It was cute.
Haah, how the fuck am I supposed to train this crazy bitch?
Patience only goes so far. Who the hell does she think she is?
“Hey. Han Somang.”
“Y-yes…!”
“How many days has it been since we met?”
“One day…”
“And yesterday, what the fuck were you trying to do to me?”
“……”
“Answer me.”
“……I’m sorry—”
“No, answer the fucking question!”
I raised my hand again.
Han Somang reflexively threw both arms up and leaned back, her body jiggling like an inflatable doll.
“I… I put sleeping pills in your food…”
“And?”
“W-with the wire… I tried to… hngh…”
“Don’t cry. Keep going.”
“Huu…! I tried to strangle you with the wire!”
“……”
“I-I’m sorry…!”
I stared at her in silence.
Han Somang shrank into herself, saying nothing.
Yeah. Fuck. She’s so much cuter when she keeps her mouth shut.
I reached out and placed my hand on her head. Her legs gave out and she nearly collapsed.
The Heavenly Demon bullshit, this goddamn city, that idiotic Gyeongcheon whatever cult—nothing ever goes my way.
Why the fuck is my life so hardcore?
But when some bitch like you starts acting up for no reason, do you think I’m not gonna get pissed?
Annoyed, I grabbed a fistful of her hair and yanked her head back.
“Hyaat!”
I slapped her twice, hard. Something in her neck made a cracking sound.
“R-Raham-ssi…”
“Don’t say my name. I’ll snap your fucking neck.”
“……”
“Hey.”
“Yes…!”
“Put yourself in my shoes. If you were me, would you feel like shit or like a dog?”
“Like… a dog… and like shit…”
“You know your place.”
Tears welled in her slightly upturned eyes as she looked at me. They grew larger until one spilled over and ran down her cheek.
I knew something was wrong with me, but I was getting turned on. A lot.
Ha. So this is my kink.
My lower body was already swelling.
“I’m sorry… I’m sorry…”
“……”
What was it you said to me earlier…?
Something about how every single word you say turns me on?
Ha.
You’re damn right.
How the hell do you do that?
—It’s fucking hot.