Chapter 27
Chapter 27
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Translator : M.N 1391
Chapter: 27
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But regardless of all that, Kyung-wan savored the meal cooked with the people’s tax money with genuine gratitude, as if everything else were someone else’s problem.
Even innocent young men who get drafted into the military have to shout at every meal, 'We will gratefully and deliciously eat this food made from the blood and sweat of our parents’ taxes!', so what made that bastard think he was so special that he could throw such an insane tantrum during this sacred meal time? Did he have no mother or father?
Ah, well then, fair enough.
“Five-zero-eight-eight! Stand up.”
5088. It was Kyung-wan’s inmate number. When the guard called his number, he frowned.
“I haven’t finished my meal yet.”
“Stand up!”
“Can’t I finish eating first?”
“I said stand up!”
“Let me eat quickly! Swallow! Just a moment, ugh, hold on.”
Realizing the guards weren’t going to listen to a single word he said, Kyung-wan hurriedly shoveled today’s special, mostly the meat side dishes, into his mouth. The guards finally lost patience.
When two guards grabbed his arms and dragged him, Kyung-wan didn’t resist and simply let them pull him, letting his whole body weight slump into their hands. Being moved entirely by someone else wasn’t half bad.
But for the guards who had to carry that weight, it was nothing but irritating.
“Five-zero-eight-eight! Stand properly!”
“I didn’t finish eating, so my legs have no strength.”
He had already chewed and swallowed everything in his mouth. When he let his body droop and spoke weakly, the guards finally exploded.
“You little bastard! Cut the bullshit!”
Huh? How did they know it was bullshit?
Grumbling, Kyung-wan stood up.
“I guess I’ll have to buy chicken breast. Ah.. I don’t have much money left in my inmate account..”
After living in a cell awhile, he understood why people said “VIP criminals.” Prison was still a capitalist society.
The guards looked at him with annoyance as he fussed. Considering that one of them had already smashed a prisoner’s knees last time and that another big incident had occurred, who wouldn’t be irritated? Sure, on a human level they might think criminals becoming crippled was poetic justice, but their duty was to make sure inmates completed their sentence safely.
Ignoring that would harm their career and salary.
Having experienced many past lives, Kyung-wan fully understood their position. But understanding didn’t mean becoming that position. Many misunderstand the concept of empathy as mutual, when in reality it flows one way most of the time.
The idea that the strong will empathize with the weak is also a misconception. It was a crazy world where people with no money worried about taxes for the rich, and people in 200-million-won homes worried about property tax for people in 900-million-won homes.
Thus, rather than him empathizing with the guards, he hoped they would empathize with him.
“You all saw it, right? That I didn’t hit first.”
“Hey! Even so, there’s a limit. How can you beat someone like that?”
They still didn’t know that the guy’s larynx was completely shattered. If they found out, they’d probably look at Kyung-wan like he was a monster.
“If you don’t want to get hit, don’t pick a fight.”
“So you’re saying you never picked a fight?”
“Not even once. I swear on my father who committed suicide.”
Who would believe the conscience of someone who ended up in prison? But when he brought up his father’s suicide, the guards’ momentum softened noticeably.
It really was a good country. In one of his past lives, he would’ve been smacked in the back of the head with a “You think you’re the only one with a dead dad?”
“Anyway, you’re going to solitary.”
“Yes.”
Kyung-wan nodded. Whether it was a shared cell or solitary, it made no difference to him. When he lay down it was floor, when he looked up it was ceiling.
= = = = =
03-The Garbage Disposal Worker of Human Trash.
Contrary to his belief that he’d spend some time in solitary and be done with it, things grew serious.
The guy whose larynx had been crushed barely survived and became mute, and unfortunately, it coincided with the inspection period for internal prison incidents.
As a result, Kyung-wan received a summary judgment for habitual assault, got an additional three years on his sentence, and was transferred to another prison.
“Your Honor. I would appreciate it if I could be sent back to my previous facility. It’ll be difficult to adapt in a new environment.”
The judge clearly heard his plea as nonsense. Because the prison he was transferred to was notorious for housing violent offenders and long-term inmates.
“Hello. My name is Lee Kyung-wan. Please take care of me.”
Kyung-wan bent low, aiming for a “Wise Prison Life.” But the answer he got was…
“You grinning?”
“What?”
Grinning? What’s grinning? Your head?
A man with a face that looked normal but somehow screamed “inferiority complex,” the kind of face that made one think “So this is how criminals are made,” twisted his expression in a threatening way.
“You grinning like an idiot.”
“Oh, no.”
Kyung-wan shook his head.
The guy, thinking he had established dominance, gestured.
“Come sit here.”
Kyung-wan put his hands together politely, walked toward him… and kicked him.
His heel struck the bridge of the man’s nose perfectly. He felt the cartilage collapse inward.
Crack!
“Ghhhk!”
When the man toppled, clutching his nose, Kyung-wan rushed in and stomped on his head.
“Jumpin’ jumpin’, jumpin’ up! Jumpin’ jumpin’, jumpin’ up! Jumpin’ up! Jumpin’ up! I wanna erase sad memories! Choom! Choom! I wanna catch you, you piece of shit! Choom! Pff! Choom! Pff!”
Putting his whole weight into each stomp, matching the rhythm of his humming, he pounded the man’s skull until the man fainted.
The other two prisoners didn’t even try to stop him. They just watched and snickered. His crazy humming and stomping must’ve looked hilarious. Most of all, it wasn’t happening to them.
If they had the intelligence to consider that this violence might someday be directed at them, they wouldn’t have laughed.
Unfortunately for them, before he could sing another verse, the guard rushed in, and Kyung-wan raised both hands and backed away.
“You bastard! Causing trouble on your first day?!”
While his arms were roughly twisted back for handcuffs, Kyung-wan tried to explain his innocence.
“He started it first.”
“Shut up!”
Kyung-wan became yet another inmate who went to solitary on his first day. Not the first in this prison’s long history of housing irredeemable criminals.
After a month in solitary, nothing welcomed him when he returned to the cell.
A tense, sharp atmosphere. Prisoners radiating the sense that the whole world was their enemy.
Having lived a carefree, well-fed life until now, being dropped here was truly stressful. His previous prison had been a favorite of high-status inmates, its atmosphere was completely different.
Sleeping arrangements? Slightly more uncomfortable, but tolerable.
Meals? Still better than the military.
So what was the problem? Humans. Humans.
These mid-to-serious criminals, who never considered the lives they had destroyed but only that their lives were ruined, were like time bombs waiting to explode.
Did they eat the word “reflection” like candy? Or shove it up their asses? They constantly sharpened their edges, waiting for the slightest excuse to unleash their inner rage. No one had even exchanged names yet.
Kyung-wan judged that silence was best and didn’t try to talk or build relationships.
But in a place where people had dropped their humanity and become half-animals, appearing weak made you a target. This half-bald middle-aged man had made that mistake, assuming Kyung-wan was quiet because he was weak.
“Hey. You clean.”
“It’s not my turn today.”
Even criminals with rotten personalities developed some order when living together. Whether by prison rules or unspoken agreements.
Of course, most of the time it meant the weak cleaned up after the strong.
“You little brat! When an adult tells you, you do it!”
“Hm..”
When Kyung-wan paused in thought, the man pressed him.
“Why aren’t you answering?!”
A threatening tone, but to Kyung-wan, it was simply rude.
Before deciding what to do, he asked:
“What are you in for?”
“Why are you asking?!”
His face flushed with either shame or anger. Kyung-wan answered calmly.
“So I can decide whether obeying you will guarantee my safety.”
A guy who had done some damage outside? Then complying would keep his body intact. But the man shouted:
“You’re nothing, you little brat!”
“Bullshit.”
At that comment, a prisoner in the corner muttered with a smirk. The half-bald man glared at him.
“What?!”
“What do you mean what? It’s just funny that a guy who only preys on weak little girls pretends to be tough.”
“You son of a bitch! Shut up!”
“So you do feel shame?”
“I was just giving her early education for what she’d experience anyway!”
“Oh, fuck off.”
Watching the disgusting worm fume, Kyung-wan recalled a news report about a serial child rapist. This must have been him.
Kyung-wan clapped once to grab attention.
Clap!
When the scum met his gaze, Kyung-wan nodded.
“Alright. I’ll clean.”
“Should’ve said that earlier.”
The man smiled twistedly, thinking, This kid’s a pushover… until a finger stabbed through his left eyeball.
Pook!
“Aaagh!”
“Let’s go! Cleaning time!”
Kyung-wan’s tension shot up.
“You… you piece of shit!”
The man glared at him with his remaining eye, murderous. Kyung-wan hummed as his shoulders bounced.
“Mr. Prison Uniform~ this asshole~ is winking at me~. Up we go~!”
“You fucking bastard!!”
“This idiot keeps winking at me~ oh my, this is a mess~.”
“Die!”
“Oh-ho!~ Wow~ what a crazy little show!”
Whack!
Humming, Kyung-wan flicked aside the man's grasp with a sharp parry and delivered a perfect counter straight into the man's remaining eye. His wrist snapped like a whip, channeling all force into his extended middle finger, rupturing the eyeball instantly.
The vitreous fluid burst and scattered like clear droplets.
“Kkyaaaagh!”
Suddenly plunged into darkness, he clutched his face and screamed. Guards were shouting and rushing over, but Kyung-wan’s shoulder dance and song continued.