Chapter 3: That’s Just How Life Is (2)
Chapter 3: That’s Just How Life Is (2)
Sizzle.
A heated grill. Oil splattering everywhere. On top of it, strips of pork belly writhed as they cooked.
Actually, it would be more accurate to say they were burning. One side of the unturned meat was turning pitch black, sending up plumes of smoke.
However, the former Hero sitting across from me showed no intention of flipping the meat, staring blankly at it instead.
What a waste.
Just as I lifted my small body and reached for the tongs to flip the meat, the Hero before my eyes spoke.
“Exactly how long has it been? I remember it being a little over ten years.”
The man who, in my narrow social circle, could be called a friend and a comrade-in-arms, finally opened his mouth. It was clear he had been carefully choosing his words, wondering what to say to me.
“It’s been seventeen years. Since right before I was dragged off to the military.”
In reality, I had enlisted voluntarily, but there was no need to explain that to him.
“Seventeen years. Has it really been that long?”
There might be a question of whether you can call someone you haven't met in over a decade a friend, but since our bond was exceptionally tight, I didn't think much of it.
Comrades who had been covered in blood and flesh together, sharing the era when evil was rampant. Even if memories faded and contact was lost, the bond would remain eternal.
“I thought you were dead since I lost touch with you, but I see you’ve been living well.”
“I’m sorry for leaving without a word.”
I wouldn't have been able to answer even if he had contacted me while I was in the military, but thinking about it now, I felt a bit slighted. Couldn't he have at least given me a heads-up?
“I’m sure you had your reasons.”
I hid my inner thoughts and spoke quietly.
Perhaps because I was telling a lie, my mouth felt a bit dry. I poured the shallow layer of soju in my glass down my throat to wet it.
Finding the sight of a small child knocking back soju in one go amusing, he chuckled and spoke.
“Pfft. Doesn’t anyone say anything when you drink looking like that? The broadcast is over, so why don’t you undo the transformation?”
“What can I do? My age is printed right there on my Hero Certificate if I show it.”
The transformation.
I suppose I should tell him.
“I can’t undo it.”
“Hmm?”
“A few weeks before I was discharged, I suddenly turned into a Magical Girl, and the transformation wouldn't release. I’ve been stuck like this ever since.”
He stared at me with his mouth agape, seemingly lost for words. Looking at that dazed expression, I continued.
“Un-ho said it’s because I spent so much time as a Magical Girl that my very essence was overwritten into one.”
It was a ridiculous story.
My mouth felt dry again as I spoke, so I tilted the soju glass once more.
“Un-ho? You mean your mascot?”
“Yeah.”
Thinking about the mascot made a sudden surge of irritation rise within me.
Even today, he was probably rolling around the house without doing any work, just putting on weight.
“I think that’s enough about me. What about you? Based on what you said on the show, you’ve been doing volunteer work?”
Since my fat mascot wasn't a topic I particularly wanted to dwell on, I subtly shifted the conversation.
Fortunately, he didn't seem interested in my mascot and followed the new topic without further questions.
“Volunteer work, huh.”
Heh.
He let out a dry laugh and moved his face closer to mine. Perhaps it was the dim lighting of the BBQ joint, but his face suddenly looked aged.
Thanks to his trained body, his face wasn't much different from his Hero days, but the faint shadows of wrinkles carved by the passage of time appeared on his features.
“Ha-ram.”
“What.”
“Have you ever been beyond the Great Barrier?”
“A few times. I was called out to hunt Colossi, and I went out regularly during the large-scale overflows.”
Every Hero has experienced it at least once. The grotesquely altered land, the twisted laws of physics, the area beyond The Wall eroded by the Otherworld. The places humanity had abandoned.
Whether for a story or at the call of the Management Bureau, it was a place every Hero passed through at least once.
Why was he bringing up something so obvious?
“That’s not what I’m talking about.”
As if it were painful to speak, he downed glass after glass of liquor.
In the middle of the noisy restaurant, a quiet silence fell over our table as if it were isolated.
In that silence, only the pork belly sizzled, asserting its presence.
I flipped the meat with my small hands, cutting it into bite-sized pieces while waiting for him to speak.
By the time the wrinkles on his face were hidden by his flushed, drunken complexion, he spoke again.
“Beyond the Great Barrier... have you ever seen the places where people live?”
“I’ve heard people live there, but I’ve never seen it myself.”
Every time I was called out, I was too busy swinging my hammer at the enemies in front of me.
“I was there.”
“For over a decade?”
“Yes.”
Now, that was quite an interesting story.
One could guess what the situation was like on the other side of the Great Barrier, but because information was controlled, it wasn't easy to get actual news.
I used the tongs to move the slightly charred meat onto our plates while listening to him.
“They were living ordinary lives. Crying and laughing. Even as their bodies changed and twisted due to the laws of the Otherworld, they encouraged each other, saying they were still human.”
As if it were painful to recount, he gulped down more alcohol.
“Couldn't we save them if we just reached out a little? If we, if the United Nations just reached out a bit more...”
As he spoke, his emotions became heightened, and his speech grew faster and harder to understand.
It was likely the alcohol talking.
With his face turned red, trying to persuade me with grand gestures, he was no longer the Hero who had spoken so confidently on stage just a while ago.
He was just a forgotten Middle-aged Man caught in the flow of time, talking about the past and the present.
“If that’s what you saw and felt, then I’m sure you’re right.”
“Then...”
He continued to lay out his arguments.
It was a beautiful, dream-like, and righteous story, the kind I hadn't heard in a long time.
The breath of justice he exhaled was blown out with such a straight direction that it almost stirred the embers within the extinguished ashes of my heart.
But you see.
Dong-hun.
The times have changed.
Heroes don't chase justice anymore.
What Heroes chase now...
Is a face that anyone will recognize.
A line of credentials to put on paper.
And the numbers written on crisp bank notes.
The era has changed significantly during the time you were away from society.
But I didn't say those words out loud.
Because I didn't want to ruin my friend's mood. Because there was a part of me that resonated with his words. I simply wanted to recall those days when Heroes still chased justice.
I was a bit envious of my friend, who was passionately discussing justice while drunk.
Since this monster-like body of mine couldn't even get drunk, I just tossed the transparent liquid in the soju glass into my mouth.
* * *
“Should I walk you home?”
“I might be retired, but I’m not so far gone that I can’t walk home.”
“Alright, get home safe. Let’s see each other often.”
I tried to support him as he stumbled from the alcohol, but he refused the help and looked at me with a flushed face.
“Ha-ram.”
“What now?”
“Were we righteous back then?”
Isn't that obvious?
“Don't say such stupid things. Did you forget about protecting people and receiving their thanks? Everyone was sincere.”
“Right... I suppose so.”
He said that and slowly walked into the darkness.
Seeing him wave goodbye, it didn't seem like I needed to worry.
He wasn't stumbling anymore; he was walking straight.
I turned my back on him and headed home.
It had been a day full of events. I appeared on a TV show and reunited with a colleague I had lost touch with for a long time.
To avoid being buried in a repetitive daily routine, special events—whether positive or negative—are important.
I passed through the dark night streets where streetlights flickered and arrived home.
A tiny eight-pyeong villa. Because it was in an area with many incidents, the price was cheap, so I had taken the plunge and bought this little home of my own.
As I opened the door and went inside, the sound of the TV drifted out. That damn furball was definitely lying in the room watching it.
“I’m home.”
I said that and walked further inside, but the furball didn't even come to the front door.
It wasn't that I had expected a welcome, so I didn't mind, but it wasn't exactly pleasant either.
I took off my boots and went into the room, where I saw a white lump with its head buried in a snack bag, munching away.
Irritated, I kicked the damn lump.
“Agh-hu-ack?!”
The way he hit The Wall while letting out a bizarre scream was satisfying, but I was certain he hadn't sustained any injuries.
Still, startled by the impact of the kick, the white lump pulled its face out of the snack bag and looked around.
“Ah. You’re back?”
At the mascot's nonchalant words, I grabbed his face and lifted him up.
“I believe I told you not to eat snacks? What did I say I’d do if you gained more weight?”
“That... well...”
This guy's behavior pattern was as predictable as could be. He probably thought I’d be back late, so he planned to finish the snacks and destroy the evidence.
Finding it loathsome how he kept hedging and rolling his eyes, I applied strength to my grip.
Flesh bulged between my fingers as I squeezed his face, and his round head gradually turned into an oval.
“It hurts, so please stop! Ga-hu-geuk.”
Since he didn't even seem to realize he’d done something wrong, I continued to pour strength into my hand, and the sound of bones creaking and cracking began to echo from within my grip.
“Snacks. I won’t eat them! I’m sorry!”
Only then did the white lump admit his fault, and I released my hold on him.
Thump.
The lump dropped to the floor, bounced slightly, and then smoothed out his messily distorted face with his hands.
“What would you have done if I didn't go back to normal!”
“What else? I’d just keep squashing you with my hands until you did.”
I said that and watched the lump while clenching and unclenching my fist.
I wouldn't actually do it, but this level of threat was necessary to correct his behavior.
“Poyoooooo.”
Terrified by my actions, the white dust-ball screamed and vanished somewhere.
He hadn't used that verbal tic much lately, so he must have been scared enough for it to come out subconsciously.
After a scolding like that, he probably won't scavenge for snacks for at least a few weeks. Keeping my word for longer than that was impossible for that fat ferret.
Looking around the living room where Un-ho had disappeared, snack crumbs were scattered everywhere, making it very dirty.
I swept up the crumbs on the floor with a broom, gathered them in a bag, and threw them into the trash can.
As I was busily cleaning, a familiar voice drifted into my ears.
“Of course. If I could become a Hero again, I would jump back in without hesitation.”
It was Dong-hun’s interview playing on the television.
He looked dignified.
The dignified words and actions of a Hero chasing justice.
When we were filming, I had watched him thinking it was just like him, but seeing it on TV like this gave me a different thought.
Was that appearance a complete expression of his inner thoughts? Or was it a forced disguise because he couldn't show his rotting heart to others?
While watching the broadcast with those thoughts, my smartphone rang.
Everyone~ has a dream~ a single wish~
I cut off the ringing ringtone and pressed the smartphone to my ear.
“Hello?”
“Is this Lee Ha-ram?”
“Yes, speaking.”
“Please come to the Seoul Central Ability Hospital immediately.”
Central Ability Hospital? Why me?
“Is something wrong?”
“Do you know a man named Kim Dong-hun?”
I had a bad premonition.
“He’s my friend.”
“He has been brought to the emergency room. He isn't dead, but he’s in critical...”
Clatter.
The smartphone I was holding dropped.
Voices continued to flow from the smartphone on the floor, but I stared blankly at the television screen.
“The great burden of humanity placed upon your shoulders is not something you carry alone...”
“Lee Ha-ram? Lee Ha-ram? Can you hear me?”
On the TV, he was speaking vigorously, and from the smartphone on the floor, a voice was calling out for me.
Everything felt like a lie.